Chapter 385: Azu

According to the security feedback monitoring Zheng Zhiming this year, he indeed never went to a formal Hospital, but he did find an old Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner to prescribe a few doses of herbal medicine.

Zheng Zhiming also had no extreme behavior; he basically stayed indoors and kept a low profile now, so Zhang Ping'an stopped paying attention, though the security still monitored him.

When Zhang Ping'an returned home, he discovered two extra cars at the entrance, exactly the one parked by Jia Youwei and the one belonging to Dongzi, and before he even entered the house, he heard the broken Mandarin of Jia Youwei's wife.

Jia Youwei's two wives had each given birth to three children for him, three sons and three daughters; miraculously, the figures of the two wives had not lost their shape much.

"Hahaha, Ping'an, congratulations on becoming a grandfather."

Seeing that Zhang Ping'an was younger than him yet already had a granddaughter, Jia Youwei felt slightly regretful for not getting married sooner, but looking at the children beside him, he was full of happiness.

Jia Youwei's oldest child was only fourteen; he was fifty-five this year, and although he looked around forty, he estimated he would have to be sixty-three or sixty-four to hold a grandchild.

"Hahaha, regretting not getting married sooner, are you?"

Mentioning this, Zhang Ping'an was no longer sleepy, even though he hadn't seen what his granddaughter looked like yet.

"How about our two families become in-laws?" Jia Youwei said in a low voice.

"I don't manage that; it depends on the children's opinions. In our family, starting with me, it's basically all free love."

When Jia Youwei's two sons were young, the traces of being mixed-race were still very obvious, but now they were growing to look more and more like him; although they still carried some exotic features, their facial features followed him more, while the three daughters followed their mother.

Zhang Ping'an didn't mind becoming in-laws with Jia Youwei, but as he said, the children's opinions came first.

"That's true, but seeing them get along so harmoniously now, we really might become in-laws, hahaha."

"If that really happens, then we will be even closer as families."

"Hahaha, that's right."

The two chatted a lot more in the afternoon, and the children played very happily, until Jia Youwei's family returned in the evening.

At night, four cars were parked at Nanluoguxiang, and the whole Jia Family got into the cars to go to Jia Youwei's Siheyuan for a hot pot and to celebrate the New Year.

In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve; the Zhang family had added a new member, and the grandparents had also been brought over from their hometown, making the atmosphere in the Zhang family lively for a time.

Zhang Ping'an was currently preparing dumpling fillings; shrimp, cabbage and pork, beef, and lamb were all arranged.

The main room was crowded around two eight-immortal tables; those kneading dough were kneading, those rolling dumpling wrappers were rolling, and those wrapping dumplings were wrapping. Soon, tray after tray of dumplings were carried outside to the natural refrigerator to freeze.

It was nearly ten o'clock when they finished wrapping; there was no Spring Festival Gala to watch yet, so Zhang Ping'an sent the children to sleep, and his parents and grandparents also washed up and went to sleep, while he and the two brothers, Weidong and Weijun, stayed up for the New Year.

"Forget it, you all go check on the children; stay up next year."

Guan Xiaoguan and Liu Shujun were both new mothers, and if the children fussed at night, they would likely be overwhelmed; Zhang Ping'an had also come from being a new father.

If the father was there, the infant would sleep very peacefully, although he still didn't understand the principle behind it to this day.

"This..."

"Alright, go."

"Then, Dad, we'll head back to our room first."

"Mm."

Time quickly reached twelve o'clock; fearing he would disturb the infants, Zhang Ping'an ran outside the courtyard to set off a string of firecrackers before returning, and after eating two boiled dumplings, he went back to his room to sleep.

The next morning, Zhang Ping'an still got up early to set off firecrackers, do stretching exercises, and wash up.

"Happy New Year!"

It was fortunate that the soundproofing in the rooms had been done well initially, otherwise the sound of firecrackers going off from time to time would have been enough to wake the children.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, he boiled water for small dumplings; Zhang Ping'an gave every security guard in the Front Courtyard a large plate of dumplings and a big red envelope.

"Thank you, General Manager Zhang."

"Eh, it should be me thanking you all for working even on the New Year. Take these red envelopes, sit down and eat dumplings; if it's not enough, there's more, go to the kitchen and serve yourselves."

"Understood, General Manager Zhang."

That Zhang Ping'an could personally boil and serve them dumplings was already enough to move them, not to mention the real money he gave; where else could they find such a good boss?

Zhang Ping'an was also a miserable worker in his past life, so he could naturally understand their feelings; saying anything else was fake, nothing was as practical as real money.

In the blink of an eye, it was the fifteenth day, the Lantern Festival. After eating sweet dumplings, Lou Xiaoe and Zhong Mingzhu took the children back to school first, while Wang Xiaoling stayed behind to wait until the granddaughter finished her full-month celebration before returning.

The next day, Sijiucheng Airport.

"Don't forget to call back after you get home."

"Alright, Brother-in-law, you go back."

Lou Xiaoe waved her hand, and she and Zhong Mingzhu took the children into the waiting room, with six security guards following behind.

"Mm."

Another half month passed in the blink of an eye. For his granddaughter's full-month banquet, Zhang Ping'an didn't invite many people, just the maternal families of Guan Xiaoguan and Liu Shujun.

He Daqing was the Head Chef again; this time the ingredients were all Space Ingredients. After tasting the food, He Daqing's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked Zhang Ping'an:

"Ping'an, where did these ingredients come from? If they could be brought to the Lu Cuisine Garden..."

"Brother He, better not think about it. This is Foreign Exchange Meat, it's very expensive; there aren't many people here who can afford to eat it."

"Is that so? Then never mind," He Daqing said with a look of regret.

"Brother He, take the leftover ingredients back later for Zhuzi and Yuliang to practice with."

"Cough, alright, that would be great."

Just as He Daqing finished the conversation, Guan Daye came over from the opposite direction.

"Ping'an, that, A Tai is getting married on the eleventh of next month. I heard from Zhuzi that your hotel has a wedding motorcade?"

"Yes, Uncle Guan, are you looking to arrange that for A Tai?"

"Yes, A Tai and Chun Yan are not young anymore, it's inevitable that some people will gossip; having cars can also make most people shut up." Guan Daye was standing up for Han Chunyan.

"Alright, understood. Are six cars enough?"

"Good, six is good; everything will go smoothly."

"Alright, I'll tell Zhuzi."

"Good, take these two Big Yellow Fish."

"Uncle Guan, you are slapping me in the face with this. I haven't even paid you tuition for all the knowledge I've learned from you over these years, and now you..."

"Ping'an, you are running a business, so you must follow the rules," Guan Daye said with a serious expression.

"Fine, fine, fine, then I'll listen to you."

Zhang Ping'an didn't want to argue with this old man; at worst, he would just give A Tai some good things to nourish himself with when he got married.

"Eh~ that's right," Guan Daye only regained his smile after seeing Zhang Ping'an put away the Big Yellow Fish.

There were quite a few ingredients left over from the full-month banquet this time, but in the afternoon, He Daqing only cut two or three jin of each, leaving the rest untouched. Zhang Ping'an shook his head with a smile; this He family really were all people who observed propriety.

Ten days passed quickly, and today was the day of Chen Tai—oh, he should be called Guan Tai now—Guan Tai's wedding. A row of six small black cars blocked the entrance to Han Chunming's alleyway completely, also blocking the words some gossips were about to say right in their throats.

As firecrackers rang out in unison and handfuls of candies and peanuts were scattered, Guan Tai carried Chun Yan out the door. After picking up the bride, the motorcade circled back to Guan Daye's house along another route.

At this time, in the Middle Courtyard of Guan Daye's home, He Daqing and Cai Quanwu were the Head Chefs; Shazhu, Yuliang, and Cai Kangning, as the groom's relatives, returned from the wedding procession and tied on their aprons to start serving dishes to the tables.

This time, besides the wedding gift, Zhang Ping'an also brought two jars of Medicinal Wine: the Tiger Penis Wine for Guan Tai, and the Nourishing Wine for Guan Daye.

"Uncle Guan, you must drink this wine; then you'll have the strength to hold your great-grandson."

"Hahaha, good, good."