Chapter 311: Return

Wang Jianjun was immediately interested; he and Qian Dahu had lived here together for less than half a year before going their separate ways, and these two fellows were always coming and going like ghosts.

Plus, the two of them were truly skilled in martial arts; he had wanted to learn back then, but unfortunately, he was too old, and Level Eight Fist was extremely fierce and forceful, not suitable for him—it would have been fine ten years earlier.

Moreover, apart from coming back every month to buy some medicinal materials, they were almost never seen, and he hadn't expected them to have already cultivated so many people.

This coincided with many situations he had encountered in Baocheng back in the day, and his calm heart began to stir faintly.

"Alright, I'll have a word with Dahu and the others."

"Mm, you must tell them; I'll go take a look tomorrow."

"Fine, fine, fine."

Zhang Ping'an hadn't expected that a casual remark of his would pique his brother-in-law's interest.

After leaving the Wang Family, Zhang Ping'an and the others returned to the medical clinic; after asking Wang Chang'an's wife and learning that the two had already consumed the Medicinal Diet, Zhang Ping'an did not return to the Back Courtyard.

Instead, he sat quietly on the second floor reading Lao Wang's medical records from these past years, while also telling Lao Wang about the special cases he had encountered over the last two years.

"Master, I'm leaving at dawn; keep these three stalks of Wild Ginseng for backup. There is also a lot of good wine stored in the basement, and perhaps next time I come over, I'll be able to take you back for a visit."

Lao Wang is eighty-four this year; with his physical and mental state, plus his own Space Water and Tiger Bone Wine, living another twenty or thirty years would be easy.

"Hehe, alright."

In truth, Lao Wang was no longer as obsessed with returning to the Mainland as he had been at the beginning; after all, his whole family was here, though it would still be nice to be able to go back and visit from time to time.

At 6:30 in the evening, Zhang Ping'an's whole family, including the two women, sat around a dining table filled with chicken, duck, fish, and meat, though everyone's spirits were low.

"Alright, alright, since Ping'an could come the first time, he will certainly come a second and third time if time permits, right Ping'an?"

After Lao Wang finished speaking, he glared at Zhang Ping'an; even if he had been slow, he understood now that Lou Xiaoe and the other woman were sitting there.

"Yes, yes, yes, everyone eat; Grandfather, let's have a drink."

With Zhang Ping'an's assurance, the atmosphere became a little more lively, and the mood of parting eased slightly.

After the meal, the grandparents returned to the Front Courtyard, leaving this place to his family; the three women washed the dishes in the kitchen, while Zhang Ping'an interacted with the children.

"Sons, you must study hard, and don't let your martial arts practice slide; you too, daughter."

"Daddy will come to see you often when I have time; Grandpa and Grandma miss you very much too. When you miss us, take out the photos and look at them."

Zhang Ping'an still had the habit of taking photos every year, recording the changes in the family year by year.

Zhang Ping'an took out last year's family portrait; Wang Xiaoling and the other two women were aware of Li Aihua's existence, and Lou Xiaoe was even gnashing her teeth.

"Hmph, that little vixen Aihua, thinking of her brother-in-law at such a young age, and she even got her way. Hmph, when I have time to go back, I'll definitely make her pay."

Zhong Mingzhu felt somewhat despondent; if it hadn't been for her family's opposition back then, she should have been the one standing openly by Zhang Ping'an's side, though things seemed fine now as well.

"Alright, children, go to sleep; you have to get up to exercise tomorrow morning."

The four sons were easy, but his daughter needed to be coaxed; it was already past eight in the evening by the time Zhang Ping'an coaxed her to sleep.

Upstairs, after Zhang Ping'an finished washing up, he found that the three women were each in their own room; naturally, he had to go to Wang Xiaoling's first.

Exhausted from the night, Zhang Ping'an left quietly at three in the morning, leaving thirty thousand US dollars in each room.

Zhang Ping'an drove the dilapidated van at full speed to the seaside he had visited last time, then stored the vehicle in his space and dove headfirst into the sea.

By eight in the morning, Zhang Ping'an had returned to the place where he had parted ways with Hu Jianguo, carrying a large parcel on his back as a disguise.

"Captain Hu, has the cargo been loaded?"

"Section Chief Zhang, you're back? The goods have already been allocated, and we should finish loading the trucks by the morning; we can set off before twelve noon."

"Mm, good, then you all go ahead and get busy." Both men tacitly avoided mentioning each other's itinerary and gains.

"You got it."

Zhang Ping'an hadn't had a chance to look around here carefully, having only caught a hurried glimpse that day; he decided to take advantage of the remaining time in the morning to wander around and buy some local specialties to take back.

At eleven, Zhang Ping'an returned with another parcel in his hand; by this time, the transport fleet had entered its final inspection and could depart at any time.

"Section Chief Zhang, we can set off in half an hour; I've already placed your previous parcel with the others."

"Good."

Zhang Ping'an knew that the drivers all had dedicated places to store their private goods, and keeping his with theirs would save him some worry.

After four and a half days of long-distance travel, Zhang Ping'an and his group finally returned to the Sijiucheng area.

"Section Chief Zhang, you can just come to the Transport Team to pick up your parcel after work."

"Fine." It was only three in the afternoon, and carrying a large parcel out would indeed be a bit too high-profile.

Zhang Ping'an reported his work briefly to Zhu Weiguo, then carried his small parcel back to Procurement Section Two.

"Uncle, you're back."

"Mm, these are some specialties from Pengcheng; distribute them among everyone."

"Alright."

However, most people were not in the section right now, so he could only divide them equally and leave them at everyone's workstations; these were all colleagues who had worked together for many years, and none of them were light-fingered.

It was quite a while after work before Zhang Ping'an went to get his parcel; once he left the Rolling Mill, he stored the items in his space.

Zhang Ping'an did not go home immediately, but instead delivered Jia Youwei's letter and photos to San Jie Fu, Lao Jia.

"San Jie Fu, this is a letter from the second brother; he has already started a family in Xiangjiang and has a child, who will be born soon."

"Hahaha, good, good, good."

Lao Jia's hands were trembling with excitement; he didn't rush to read the letter, but looked at the photos instead.

"This... are these foreigners?" Lao Jia asked in surprise; in the photo, Jia Youwei looked like a handsome man in his thirties, being hugged on the left and right by two blonde, blue-eyed women.

"Hahaha, that's right." Zhang Ping'an was very satisfied with Lao Jia's reaction; he had been the same way back then.

"Then these two are also...?"

"Yes, twins; they are both the second brother's wives."

The corners of Lao Jia's mouth twitched, but he was mostly happy; his Jia Family was going to branch out again, and it had even spread abroad.

"San Jie Fu, keep these safe; it's not appropriate for outsiders to know about this yet."

"Yes, yes, yes," Lao Jia hurriedly tried to stuff the photos and letters into the iron box under the bed.

"No rush, San Jie Fu, put them away after you finish looking."

"Right, right," Lao Jia smiled awkwardly.

Zhang Ping'an understood Lao Jia's actions just now; after all, if these things were reported by someone with malicious intent nowadays, he wouldn't be able to clear his name even with a hundred mouths, and he would be back in his hometown herding cattle in a heartbeat.

"Well, San Jie Fu, then I'll head back first," Zhang Ping'an left behind another portion of Pengcheng specialties and packed up his parcel to head home.

"Alright, alright."

Returning to the small courtyard, his family was all waiting for him to eat, clearly having known he was back for a while.

"Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, Aihua, how did you know I was back?"

"Dongxu came back and told us, why did you come back so late?"

"I was just waiting for there to be fewer people so I could bring the parcel back."

Zhang Laohan nodded and didn't ask any further; such matters indeed required avoiding people.

"Let's eat, let's eat."

At night on the bed, during his moment of post-coital clarity, Zhang Ping'an was hesitating over whether to tell Li Aihua about this trip.