Chapter 310: The Father-in-Law's Family

Zhang Ping'an found it amusing; yesterday they were each more formidable than the last, but now they were incredibly shy.

"Alright, alright, breakfast is on the bedside table, hurry up and get up to eat."

As the sound of the door closing echoed, the two of them poked their heads out from under the covers, only to be met by Zhang Ping'an's smiling gaze.

"Oh my, brother-in-law."

"Brother Ping'an."

"Hiss~" The slightly lazy, coquettish sound from the two made Zhang Ping'an's scalp tingle; he almost jumped back into bed.

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore, hurry up and eat." Zhang Ping'an really did go downstairs this time; he was heading back tomorrow and still had quite a few things to do.

Zhang Ping'an drove the van out and returned with a vanload of meat ingredients, which he placed in the basement; they were mainly various air-dried meats, and he had also prepared two large jars of Water-Soaking Medicinal Pill.

He prepared two fifty-jin jars of Tiger Bone Wine, fifty jin of Ten-Year Aged Wine, and fifty packs of tea, one jin per pack.

Zhang Ping'an thought about it again and also prepared thirty cans of Milk Powder; they hadn't used any protection last night, so in case they hit the jackpot, it was good to be prepared.

He also put away five bags each of flour and rice—it was hot in Xiangjiang, so keeping too much would make it spoil easily; he also prepared about a hundred jin of dried seafood, chestnuts, hawthorn, and various other easy-to-store fruits.

"That should be about enough, right?" Zhang Ping'an muttered to himself as he looked at the fully arranged basement.

Checking the time, it was already past nine o'clock. Zhang Ping'an returned to the kitchen and made a Medicinal Meal Soup, simmering it on low heat; it would be ready to eat by around eleven.

"I've prepared Medicinal Meal Soup for you in the kitchen, remember to go down and eat at eleven. Your sister Xiao Ling and I are going out for something," Zhang Ping'an called out from downstairs.

There was no response from upstairs, so Zhang Ping'an had to go up and push open the bedroom door, only to find both of them fast asleep. Helpless, Zhang Ping'an had to leave a note.

In the van, Zhang Ping'an had already prepared one jar each of tiger bone and tiger penis, ten pounds of tea, one jar of pills, and various air-dried meats. Thinking that his father-in-law still smoked, Zhang Ping'an took out six cartons of Huazi cigarettes.

Zhang Ping'an had wanted to give him special supply cigarettes, but then thought it wasn't appropriate; if he were noticed by someone with ulterior motives, it would be troublesome.

"Xiao Ling, let's go."

"Mm, okay."

"Sister-in-law, I've stewed some Medicinal Meal Soup in the back kitchen; please go help me turn off the heat around eleven."

"Sure, no problem."

The sister-in-law Zhang Ping'an called was Wang Chang'an's wife. He didn't dare trouble his grandparents, fearing he wouldn't be able to explain things clearly, especially to Lao Wang—he would likely figure it out the moment he smelled the Medicinal Meal Soup.

Zhang Ping'an drove for less than five minutes before arriving at his father-in-law's villa. His brother-in-law, Wang Jianjun, was walking his little grandson at the entrance. That's right, at forty-one, he had just had a grandson at the end of last year.

"Ping'an, you've finally come. How is it that you haven't changed at all over these years, you rascal?"

"Big Brother, I couldn't have studied medicine in vain. Isn't Traditional Chinese Medicine best at health preservation? Besides, you should practice the Body Refining Technique more often when you have time."

Wang Jianjun thought of his grandfather's assessment of Zhang Ping'an and shook his head with a bitter smile.

"I can't practice it anymore; my bones have already set."

Wang Xiaoling had also taught him the Body Refining Technique when she first arrived here, but unfortunately, at over thirty years old, he couldn't perform many of the high-difficulty movements, so the Body Refining Technique was useless to him.

"Let's go, I brought you a lot of good things. You can show me where to put them in the basement."

"Alright."

Zhang Ping'an parked the van in the courtyard, and one item after another was moved into the basement.

"Ping'an, why did you bring so many things?"

His mother-in-law, Liu Shuhua, was busy in the kitchen. Hearing the commotion, she came out and saw Zhang Ping'an moving jars down one by one.

Liu Shuhua was fifty-nine this year, but she looked only in her early forties.

"Mother, these are all local specialties shipped from the Mainland; you usually can't buy them here."

"Good, good, good, you child..."

Seeing Zhang Ping'an sending bags and boxes to the house just like he did back then, his mother-in-law felt deeply comforted. She turned and went back to the kitchen to get busy, leaving him to it, and Wang Xiaoling followed her in.

"Big Brother, where is Dad?"

"Still busy with his medicinal herb business; he'll be back around eleven." Wang Jianjun curled his lip.

Wang Jianjun hadn't been interested in business back in Baocheng; his wife managed the pharmacy. However, he still had a say in his own little patch of territory in Baocheng.

Wang Jianjun had loved wielding spears and sticks since he was a child and wasn't interested in the soft Family Martial Arts, but he hadn't studied under a famous master, so his talent was wasted.

Later, he focused his efforts on firearms. Before the founding of the country, he had the reputation of being the number one sharpshooter in Baocheng, and because of this, no one dared to provoke his pharmacy.

After the founding of the country, he had children and became much more low-key. Every day at home, he would practice his Family Martial Arts and occasionally go hunting in the mountains; he lived a comfortable life.

The calluses on his hands when Zhang Ping'an first met him and shook his hand were from years of handling guns. Even now, he maintained the habit of practicing with his guns every day.

"Hehe, Big Brother, you still need to pay more attention to the business. Sooner or later, you'll have to take over, and Dad isn't young anymore."

"He's in good health. I really can't muster any interest in doing business. In the future, I'll just let my wife manage it, or if that doesn't work, we'll just hire a few professional managers. I'll just be responsible for collecting the money, hahaha."

"..."

His father-in-law was standing outside the door with a dark expression, not knowing when he had arrived. He really had no way to deal with this son. Part of the reason he opened a shop in Baocheng back then was because he didn't want to follow him around doing business.

If he didn't look just like him, he would have suspected whether he was even his own seed; he hadn't inherited a shred of business talent. Fortunately, his grandson was still salvageable and had learned quite a bit from him.

"Dad, you're back."

"Uncle."

Wang Jianjun awkwardly touched his head, then glared at a young man of about twenty, who was his son, Wang Zhiyuan.

"What are you glaring at? You're lazy yourself, but you can't stand your son being smart?"

"No, no."

"Dad, how is the business here?" Zhang Ping'an saw his brother-in-law's awkwardness and hurriedly tried to smooth things over.

"Hahaha, Ping'an, although it's not as wildly profitable here as when I was doing business in the Mainland, it makes up for it with small profits and quick turnover."

"With the help of the Lou family, we've also gained a firm foothold in Xiangjiang over the past few years. Your second uncle and I can earn about two or three hundred thousand a year now."

"Impressive, it really has to be you," Zhang Ping'an praised sincerely.

When it comes to business, you still need the older generation. Even with the help of the Lou family, it wasn't easy to open up the market so quickly, let alone make so much profit every year now.

"Hahaha, it's alright, it's alright."

The father-in-law's mouth was crooked from grinning; there was nothing more delightful than having one's itch scratched, and his son-in-law was truly pleasing to the eye and spoke words that were music to his ears, though he then cast a look of disdain at his own foolish son.

"Come, come, come, let's go inside to talk."

"Alright."

The two were chatting happily in the living room, while the dining table was already filled with all sorts of dishes.

"Stop chatting, you two, go wash your hands and eat," the mother-in-law said, interrupting as she watched the father-in-law and son-in-law showing no signs of stopping.

"Fine, we're coming," the father-in-law smacked his lips, looking as though he still had more to say.

Everyone was very happy during this meal, except for the eldest brother-in-law, who felt uneasy.

"Big Brother, don't be unhappy anymore. If you have nothing to do at home and want to practice martial arts, you can go find Dahu and the others; they have a hundred or so people there now."

"However, there are no guns for you to play with there, and they are all just a bunch of children."

"That's fine, being with children is exactly what will spark my motivation."