Chapter 318: Marriage X3

Bang Geng bought some snacks and canned goods at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, then followed Zhao Fangyuan to Yu Xiangcao's home.

"Uncle Zhao, why are you with Bang Geng? Do you know each other?" Just as they arrived at Yu Xiangcao's door, she asked in surprise.

"We know each other, he is..."

Zhao Fangyuan repeated directly to her what he had said to Yu Jiahui earlier; hearing this, Yu Xiangcao blushed slightly, as she indeed had a favorable impression of Bang Geng.

"Hehe, Sister Xiangcao."

The Yu Xiangcao that Bang Geng usually saw was always in the mold of a big sister, so seeing her shy appearance now made his little heart thump wildly.

"You, Bang Geng, how dare you tease your sister, take this!" Yu Xiangcao felt completely uncomfortable being watched by Bang Geng, so she jumped over and gave him a beating.

As the two fought, Zhao Fangyuan noticed something; this Bang Geng really knew martial arts.

After they reached Body Refining Great Success, Zhang Ping'an had taught each of them a martial art, the purpose being to help them become more familiar with their bodies after the baptism, but Taiji was a required course.

"Eight Trigrams Fist?" Zhao Fangyuan saw at a glance that Bang Geng's footwork was flexible and ever-changing, and his body transitions were effortless, showing traces of the Eight Trigrams Fist.

"Alright, you two stop messing around." Seeing the two about to embrace, Zhao Fangyuan hurriedly interrupted.

At this moment, Yu Xiangcao also realized something was wrong, let go of Bang Geng, and ran back into the house shyly.

"Hehe," Bang Geng stood to the side and laughed awkwardly.

"Bang Geng, who did you learn this martial art from?"

"My great-uncle. We were all taught by my great-uncle."

"You all?"

"Yeah, my uncle, my aunt, my little great-uncle, and my dad."

Bang Geng's words immediately made Zhao Fangyuan think of Zhang Ping'an; back then, they had even conspired to help his nephew Li Chen get rid of the Feng family.

"Looking so gentle and weak, I didn't expect him to be an expert," Zhao Fangyuan muttered to himself.

"That's right, Uncle Zhao, my great-uncle is very formidable, and he is also quite skilled at hunting."

"Haha, not bad, not bad."

The two ate a meal at the Yu family's place before heading home separately, and the relationship between Bang Geng and Yu Xiangcao was settled.

Their relationship at the Rolling Mill had already been close, and now that the window paper had been pierced, they were even more intimate.

Time passed unknowingly to May, and Dongzi gave birth to a boy. The grandson generation of Yi Zhonghai used the character "Xue," so he was named Yi Xuezhi.

Yi Zhonghai and his wife were now grinning from ear to ear, repeatedly praising Dongzi as a great contributor to their Yi Family, and that very evening they distributed red eggs and candy to the neighbors in the courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai even dug out the Small Yellow Fish he had buried under his bed ahead of time.

"Xiaocui, take this later and secretly have a gold lock made for Xuezhi to wear."

"Alright, alright, alright."

Lao Jia only had one daughter, and he also valued his grandson very much; he was currently discussing with Zhang Xiaohua what gift would be appropriate.

"Let's prepare everything that is usually required, and how about adding a silver longevity lock?"

"Good, there are still quite a few big-head coins at home, that will be enough."

Both families attached enough importance to this newborn, and as a result, the two old sisters met at the craftsman's house.

"Old sister-in-law, you are?" The two were now in-laws, but their form of address remained the same as before.

"Having a longevity lock made for my grandson, what about you?"

"Having a gold lock made for my grandson."

"You know each other?" The craftsman looked puzzled.

"Haha, we are in-laws."

The craftsman immediately felt sour, and in his heart, he was incomparably envious of this child, who was born with a gold and silver spoon in his mouth and had received two good things at such a young age.

The full-month banquet was also just a meal between the two families, though the neighbors in the courtyard all received Steamed Buns.

In September, Yi Jiabao was transferred back and became a glorious Maintenance Apprentice; this job had cost Yi Zhonghai 1,200 yuan.

At the end of September, the younger brother Zhang Xile got married, in October Donglai got married, and at the end of the year, Bang Geng also got married...

Zhang Ping'an knew about the others, but Bang Geng's case surprised him; he had only been with Yu Xiangcao for a little over half a year before getting married, and the key was that he didn't even know when his age had been changed.

It wasn't until they got married and Zhang Ping'an saw Zhao Fangyuan that he suddenly realized.

This Zhao Fangyuan gave him the feeling of being indifferent to everything and caring about nothing; just because of this composure, Zhang Ping'an felt he was not simple.

"Ping'an, we meet again."

"Indeed, long time no see, Brother Zhao."

"Hahaha, it has indeed been some days."

Now Zhao Fangyuan was very curious about Zhang Ping'an; after Bang Geng told him about it, he had pulled Zhang Ping'an's file, noting how he had established a foothold in Sijiucheng by his own strength.

Later, reporting an Agent, killing a wanted criminal, becoming a section chief, his wife's family fleeing, and having deep connections with the Mu family, Zhong family, Li family, Xu family, and so on.

Any one of these things would not seem strange on an ordinary person, but when all of them were concentrated on one person, it was worth investigating deeply.

As for his relationship with the Zhong family, he knew as soon as he asked; the Xu family was likely because their daughter's strange illness had been cured, and the illnesses of the old men of the Mu and Li families should also have been cured by Zhang Ping'an.

Zhang Ping'an had never shown his medical skills in front of outsiders, and those who had been cured had not spread the word.

This restraint made Zhao Fangyuan look at him with new eyes; who could possess such extraordinary medical skills at a young age and not show them off?

Zhao Fangyuan looked at his own lame leg, and then thought that if the Li family's old man's such serious illness could be cured, then curing his leg shouldn't be difficult, right?

To tell the truth, when he calculated the result, Zhao Fangyuan was tempted; a large part of the reason he retired from the military was because his legs and feet were not agile.

However, thinking that this lame leg had followed him for nearly twenty years, he didn't hold much hope in his heart.

Just like that, Zhao Fangyuan struggled for a long time, and it wasn't until he met Zhang Ping'an now that he finally made up his mind to try.

"Ping'an, let's chat after we finish drinking."

"Alright."

Now that the two sides had some kinship, and he owed him some favors from before, plus the other party's status was likely not simple, Zhang Ping'an did not refuse.

After the wedding banquet ended, the two of them started chatting in the private room.

"Ping'an, let me apologize to you first; I have checked your file."

"Mm."

Zhang Ping'an nodded slightly to signal for him to continue, his heart becoming even more certain that the identity of Zhao Fangyuan was not simple.

"I see that you have good relations with the Mu, Li, Xu, and Zhong families. The recovery of the Xu Family's daughter, and the improvement in the health of the Mu and Li Laoyezi—taking all these things together, I suspect you have deep attainments in Traditional Chinese Medicine."

"I have a presumptuous request: could you take a look at this lame leg of mine?" Zhao Fangyuan felt apprehensive.

"Fine, but we have both been drinking today, so a diagnosis might not be accurate. Let's do it tomorrow."

Since the other party had already guessed most of his situation and was now asking him for a favor, Zhang Ping'an did not mind taking a look, though he held little hope; after all, it had been over ten years, and the bones had long since fused together.

His situation was different from that of Qi Qinghai; Qi Qinghai had been forced to drag things out due to a lack of money, but the key was that the duration was short. In this case, he had surely sought help from others to no avail, and he was likely just holding a "give it a try" mentality.

"Good, good, good. Then tomorrow we shall..."

"Let's go to your place; it will be more convenient."

"Alright, here is my home address."

"Good."

The next day, Zhang Ping'an went to Zhao Fangyuan's home. It was different from what he had imagined; he thought Zhao Fangyuan would at least be living in a large compound, but he did not expect it to be just an ordinary Siheyuan.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Ah, is it Section Chief Zhang? Come in quickly, Lao Zhao is inside." Lao Zhao's wife was shocked by how young Zhang Ping'an was.

"Yes, it is me, sister-in-law."