Chapter 326: Running Between Two Places

Zhang Ping'an set off a little after eleven o'clock at night, and it took nearly eight hours to reach the entrance of his grandparents' house; now, the horizon was just beginning to brighten.

At this moment, Zhang Ping'an had already put away his van and switched to a horse. Since it was still early, Zhang Ping'an dusted himself off inside his space before coming back out, and only when he saw the faint white of dawn in the east did he start knocking on the courtyard gate.

"Bang, bang, bang."

"Grandma, Grandpa!"

Inside the house, Grandma had just finished washing up and was preparing to cook when she heard someone outside seemingly knocking and calling, "Grandma, Grandpa."

"Old man, it's Ping'an! Hurry up and get up," Grandma shouted toward the inner room before rushing off to open the door.

As soon as Grandma opened the door, she saw the travel-worn Zhang Ping'an leading a large horse, and her heart immediately ached for him.

"My dear grandson, come in quickly. You must be exhausted, right?" Grandma stepped forward to brush the dust off Zhang Ping'an's clothes.

"Grandma, I'm not tired. This business trip came up suddenly, so I didn't tell you in advance. I have to rush back to Wushi before tomorrow morning."

Without realizing it, ten years had passed since they last met, and Grandma was clearly much older.

"Why are you still running back and forth with so little time? You child," Grandma said, feeling both pained and gratified.

"Grandma, I'm fine..."

"Where is Ping'an?" Grandpa's voice arrived before he did.

"Grandpa, I'm here."

"Good lad." Seeing Zhang Ping'an had arrived on a large horse again, he felt just as pained as Grandma, but in his heart, he was increasingly satisfied with this grandson.

"Ping'an, go wash up quickly; I'll go start cooking."

"Alright."

After a simple wash, Zhang Ping'an stayed in the kitchen with his grandparents, chatting about what had happened over the years while they cooked, and he also took out the photos.

Aside from Lao Jia, Zhang Ping'an had only told his grandparents about his trip to Xiangjiang.

"My dear grandson, keep these photos safe. We'll keep the family portrait you have now."

"Mm, okay."

"Xiao Ling has it hard too. You lad are quite the flirt; I don't know who you take after." Grandpa regretted saying it as soon as he finished.

"Hmph, who do you think? It runs in the family, that's who," Grandma glared directly at Grandpa, and Grandpa could only smile awkwardly.

"..."

Zhang Ping'an didn't feel it was appropriate to ask about the elders' affairs, but he could roughly guess that Grandpa was likely a bit of a romantic in his youth.

"Ahem, Grandma, there are also some clothes prepared by Mom and Dad, some local specialties from Sijiucheng, and some Medicinal Wine I brewed."

"Da Ni is really something; we have everything here, yet she still had my dear grandson go through the trouble of bringing it all this way." Although Grandma said this, she was surely very happy inside.

After breakfast, the sky was fully bright, and Zhang Ping'an noticed that there were five or six extra Tea Tree saplings in the Front Courtyard.

"Grandpa, did you plant these?"

"Hahaha, that's right." Mentioning this, Grandpa became spirited.

"Ping'an, let me tell you, ever since that Tea Tree of yours was planted in the Back Courtyard, it barely grew for five or six years, which really worried me."

"But it didn't look sick or damaged, so I kept tending to it, and it only started growing slowly in the last two years. Now, it's barely as tall as I am."

"I followed the tea-planting methods I saw and pruned some of the stray branches, but I felt it was a waste to just throw them away."

"So I planted the cuttings in the empty space in the Back Courtyard and the Front Courtyard. It's a pity that only these five survived. They're still just saplings; I reckon it'll take five or six years for them to start growing."

Zhang Ping'an didn't find it strange; the first two Tea Trees had taken two or three years in his space before they started growing.

Although these branches had been optimized by the space, they were still the same variety after all, so slow development was normal, especially without the Space Water to accelerate them.

"Grandpa, these might be a rare variety that grows slowly. Have you harvested any tea yet?"

"Cough, not yet. I was planning to harvest next spring. It's quite sparse right now; maybe it's my fault for pruning it too hard in the spring."

"Mm, that's possible."

As they spoke, they arrived at the Back Courtyard. Compared to the dragon-coiled branches in the space, this Tea Tree could only be described as slender.

"Grandpa, when did you get a Water Storage Tank here?"

"Built it the year before last. Look at the horse pen and sheep pen; there are many more now. Carrying water every day is a hassle, and it's inconvenient when it's cloudy or raining, so I just built a Water Storage Tank."

Zhang Ping'an went into the sheep pen and took a look—good heavens, seven sheep, and two more horses; they must all be offspring of that original Sweat-Blood Horse.

"Grandpa, can you and Grandma keep up with all this work?"

"Why wouldn't we be able to? We just drive them to the gate and they can graze; there's not much to manage, and we'll be slaughtering two before the year ends."

"I have some time today, let me fill the Water Storage Tank for you," Zhang Ping'an said, looking at the tank, which was less than half full.

"Hehe, alright."

Grandpa didn't refuse; at his age, carrying water was indeed a bit strenuous, though it wasn't too bad—just one trip a day.

Originally, every time Grandpa went out to herd the sheep, he would bring back four or five barrels with the horse cart. He used two barrels for his own daily water consumption, and the livestock needed about two barrels, so it basically maintained a balance.

Zhang Ping'an set up the horse cart with six empty barrels; he estimated it would take five or six round trips to fill the tank. Grandpa sat on a lounge chair in the Front Courtyard, smiling as he watched the busy Zhang Ping'an.

Zhang Ping'an went to the Back Courtyard, collected all the existing water in the tank into his space, cleaned the bottom of the tank, and then poured in the water he had just transported.

Twenty drops each time; Zhang Ping'an made six round trips, adding one hundred and forty drops of Space Water into the tank. For the water that wouldn't fit in the tank, Zhang Ping'an directly watered the crops in the front and back courtyards.

"This child is covered in sweat, come inside and drink some water," Grandma said, grabbing him and pulling him into the house before he could refuse.

"Grandma, I'm not tired. This bit of work is just a drop in the bucket for me."

"I know, I saw it all just now. The crops in the courtyard will be fine for a long time after this one watering."

"..."

Afterward, Zhang Ping'an made three more trips to fill the kitchen's Water Storage Tank, not stopping until the water barrels were empty, all of which also had Space Water added.

After lunch, Zhang Ping'an and his grandparents herded the sheep and horses to graze in front of the house, the three of them lying on the horse cart enjoying a rare moment of leisure.

"Grandma, Grandpa, do you usually live like this?"

"Mm, pretty much."

Zhang Ping'an felt a bit envious; herding sheep and horses at his doorstep every day, this was what life was all about.

At three in the afternoon, Zhang Ping'an drove the horses and sheep into the pen, while his grandmother and grandfather were in the kitchen kneading dough and preparing filling, getting ready to make some steamed buns and naan for Zhang Ping'an to take on the road.

The three of them busied themselves until past seven, and after Zhang Ping'an ate a little something, he packed up the steamed buns and naan and prepared to set off.

His goal here had been achieved, and since he had already come, he had to go see his eldest uncle and second uncle.

"Grandma, Grandpa, it's windy, you two go back, I'm heading off now."

"Alright, take it slow on the road."

"Mm, alright, giddyap, giddyap, giddyap."

At eight-thirty, Zhang Ping'an arrived at the town; he didn't go to his eldest uncle's house, but instead found his eldest uncle and second uncle directly at the cooperative, gave them each two bottles of Medicinal Wine, and left after a brief exchange of pleasantries.

Zhang Ping'an rode his horse forward, and only after the sun had completely dipped below the horizon did he switch to the van.

Arriving in Wushi just before six, he switched back to his horse, and after Zhang Ping'an finished his breakfast in the space, he headed to the office to rendezvous.

"Section Chief Zhang, here is your ticket."

"Good, thank you, the goods have all been arranged, right?"

"Yes, Section Chief Zhang, they were shipped yesterday, and the rest will be finished today."

"Good, thank you all for your hard work; distribute these two packs of cigarettes among everyone, I'll be heading off now."