Chapter 322: Stealing the Beam and Replacing the Pillar

"Old brother, the Kidney Meridian's active time is the You hour, which is to say five to seven, a time when people are usually full of energy."

"Yet you have been yawning incessantly, are abnormally exhausted, and the dark circles under your eyes are so heavy right now; it is clearly..."

In truth, Zhang Ping'an did not want to say these things, but he had also been impulsive upon seeing the jadeite earlier, and having suddenly brought out over five hundred yuan to buy Jade, he had to find something to plug Zhang Yadong's mouth.

"Don't say it, don't say it."

"..."

"Ahem, little brother, you also know medicine?"

"I know a thing or two."

"Then, then... actually, I have a friend with symptoms similar to what you described. What do you think he should take?"

The reason Zhang Yadong was willing to believe him was that he knew Zhang Ping'an's age; he was two years younger than him, yet looked a decade younger. With such methods of self-care, his medical skills could not be that bad.

"Old brother, actually, inserting two needles and combining it with a Decoction would have a better effect." Zhang Ping'an was somewhat speechless; this was a case of someone refusing to admit it even when their pulse was being held.

"Ahem, is that so? Then you try it on me first; if the effect is good, I'll recommend it to my friend."

"..."

"Very well." Zhang Ping'an did not expose him further, knowing that the kidneys are a man's taboo; you can say he is deficient anywhere, but never that he has kidney deficiency.

"Then let's try it tonight once we're settled."

The people at the market had gradually dispersed, and Zhang Yadong led the seven vehicles to park at the Brigade Headquarters of a village not far from the market.

"Little brother, this place was built with pooled funds from the several factories around us. There are ten rooms in total, seven of which belong to our factories. We come here at fixed times every month; everyone has a schedule, and it's an unspoken agreement."

"So that's how it is."

Zhang Ping'an had been wondering before; there was more than just the Steel Mill nearby, so why hadn't he seen other factories purchasing here? It turned out they were on a rotation.

Seven rooms, four beds to a room; even in the peak season of summer, it was enough for the coming and going drivers and purchasers to stay.

Everyone quickly started a fire to cook, working with tacit understanding, and before long, everyone was eating a hot meal.

After the meal, everyone chatted for a bit before going back to sleep; after all, they had been driving for most of the day and had been busy for several hours, so they were already tired.

Once the others had gone into the rooms to sleep, Zhang Yadong spoke up:

"Little brother, it's the off-season now, and there are few of us here this time. Just pick an empty room to stay in."

"Alright, many thanks, old brother." Zhang Ping'an truly did not like sharing a room with others, especially a group of grown men.

"That..."

"Done. However, old brother, you just finished eating not even half an hour ago, so it's not suitable for acupuncture; it must be at least two hours after a meal."

"Fine, I understand. Let's talk about it tomorrow then."

Zhang Yadong was also exhausted today; if he were made to wait another two hours, he would likely fall asleep, so it was better to talk about it tomorrow.

"Mm, that's also fine."

The next morning, Zhang Ping'an got up early to exercise. It must be said, the temperature here was truly comfortable—fifteen or sixteen degrees, neither cool in the morning nor hot in the evening.

Entering his space to wash up briefly, Zhang Ping'an began to boil porridge and stir-fried two simple dishes, and the others were woken up by the fragrance.

"Little brother, up so early?" Zhang Yadong said, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"I'm used to it. Old brother, hurry up and wash up so you can come eat."

"Alright." Zhang Yadong washed up on his own without calling the others.

"Little brother, actually there's no need to be so early. Although there are many stalls at the market, we only need to go over at ten o'clock. It's my fault for not telling you in advance."

It was only a little past seven, and Zhang Yadong thought Zhang Ping'an had gotten up early to cook just to leave time for his acupuncture, and his favorability instantly exploded.

"Uh, is that so?"

Zhang Ping'an did not explain, simply letting the misunderstanding stand. He still needed to buy Jade over the next few days, and Zhang Yadong's favor and gratitude would be the key to keeping his mouth shut.

About an hour after the two finished eating, the others woke up one after another. They had smelled the fragrance of the food earlier and thought it was a dream, so they had drifted back to sleep.

At this moment, in Zhang Yadong's room, many Silver Needles were inserted into his lower back and abdomen, and he only felt a warm sensation in both places.

Fifteen minutes later, Zhang Ping'an withdrew the needles. Zhang Yadong no longer felt the sleepiness of the early morning; instead, he was full of vigor.

"This, little brother, it's simply too miraculous."

"Hehe, just a small trick. Once you go back, buy some medicine to take with it and the effect will be even better. If your wife's health is good, having another child will be no problem."

"Good, good, good."

Zhang Yadong was even more excited now, grabbing Zhang Ping'an's hand and shaking it repeatedly. He only had one son and one daughter, and he hadn't succeeded in having more children since; now, he had been given hope again.

Like him, traveling for work year-round with an irregular schedule was the main reason for his physical deficiency.

At ten o'clock, Zhang Ping'an and his group arrived at the market again, and even more people surrounded them than yesterday afternoon.

"These few days are the main time for trading. Yesterday, it was just the permanent residents guarding the place; these guys now are the ones who got the news and rushed over yesterday. They are the main buyers."

Zhang Ping'an nodded. If he hadn't observed carefully, he really would have thought it was the same group of people from yesterday; they all seemed to look the same.

At noon, taking advantage of the break for lunch, Zhang Ping'an told Zhang Yadong and ran off to the same place as yesterday to buy Jade.

This time, Zhang Ping'an only bought two pieces; he spent more time observing the "Original Stone Mountain." While observing, he created stone blocks of similar size and shape inside his space.

Zhang Ping'an also discovered that no one watched the "Original Stone Mountain" during the day; there was only a tent nearby, presumably for someone to keep watch at night.

Thinking about it, it made sense. A single original stone was so large, weighing at least half a ton or even over a ton; without professional tools or a dozen or twenty people, it couldn't be moved. No wonder they were so unconcerned.

Zhang Ping'an returned to the vehicle carrying the two green jadeite pieces.

"Little brother, there's really no need to spend so much money on these things. If you lose money, half a year's work will have been for nothing. Just thinking about it makes my heart ache," Zhang Yadong whispered.

"Old brother is right. I just can't help but want to buy them every time I see something green. Forget it, I'll listen to you; from now on, I'll only buy one a day."

"That's right. Let's not spend that wasted money."

At night, Zhang Ping'an quietly slipped out of the courtyard and came to the market's "Original Stone Mountain." Sure enough, someone was snoring loudly in the tent on the side. He lit a stick of incense to induce sleep, causing the guy to fall into a deep slumber.

Then, Zhang Ping'an began to use his space to hollow out the interior of the "Original Stone Mountain," topping it with the giant stones he had made himself.

"Hahaha, refreshing."

Inside the space, Zhang Ping'an looked at these raw stones like an Ersha, and the ones he picked were all lush green inside, which was pleasing to the eye.

Zhang Ping'an stripped off the outer skins directly and threw them into the pond, leaving only two pieces with the deepest green untouched.

Zhang Ping'an kept these intact stone skins, boiled some paste, and stuck the stone skins onto other stones, using the pressure of the space to make them firmly attached, preparing to use them to replace the outermost raw stones.

For the next few days, Zhang Ping'an would give Zhang Yadong acupuncture in the morning, go for a stroll at noon, and perform a switcheroo at night; he was quite at ease.

Five days passed in a flash, and the "Original Stone Mountain" had been swapped by Zhang Ping'an; except for a few that had no Jade inside, the others had all been replaced by Zhang Ping'an, and without cutting the raw stones open, one could not see any traces of them having been tampered with from the outside.

Zhang Ping'an was very satisfied with this purchasing trip, and even his intention to cut weeds and dig up roots had faded a bit; of course, the main reason was that the distance was far and time did not permit it, otherwise he would not have minded making the trip.