Chapter 40: Outing and Treasure Hunting

The two returned to the Siheyuan, where Lao Jia and Zhang Xiaohua were waiting anxiously inside the room.

"Ping'an, Dongxu, you're back. Hurry home; Jia Laoge and his wife are worried sick."

"Alright, Teacher Yan."

Lao Jia in the Middle Courtyard also heard the commotion and hurried out, circling the two of them before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"Dongxu, Ping'an, are you two alright? The Public Security just came by and only said you were assisting them with a mission; they didn't say exactly what happened. Damao and Zhuzi wouldn't say a word either. You really scared your mother (sister) and me to death."

"Dad, we're fine, and we even performed a meritorious service," Jia Dongxu whispered.

"Zhang Shu, Brother Dongxu," Ersha heard the noise and ran over too.

"You came just in time. One pheasant each. Tell your parents about today's events, but don't go spreading it around outside."

"Don't worry, Zhang Shu. My lips are sealed. Even when Grandpa Jia asked me, I didn't tell him."

"..."

This Ersha had finally recovered his energy. When he first heard Zhang Ping'an mention Agent, the look in both their eyes was clearly one of fear. Of course, Zhang Ping'an could understand; after all, they were just little kids. Now that there were more people around, their courage had grown.

Back at the Jia Family, Zhang Xiaohua scolded the two of them relentlessly. As she scolded, she eventually burst into tears. Heaven knows how she had spent these past few hours. Both of them were her closest kin, and she didn't want to see either of them get into trouble.

"Mom, aren't we fine?"

"That's right, San Jie."

"I don't care. In any case, you are not allowed to go hunting anymore. Just stick to fishing honestly."

"Yes, yes, yes, we'll listen to you," the two didn't dare to argue at this moment and agreed wholeheartedly.

Over the next two weeks, both of them quieted down. Zhuzi went back to work at the restaurant, and Damao was taken by his father to work as a projectionist, saying he needed to experience the hardship of work to realize that studying was a happy thing.

Zhang Ping'an continued to study at Xingyi Jishitang every day, went fishing with Jia Dongxu every few days, and played with the two children when he returned in the evening.

Zhang Ping'an's Si Jie had already returned to their hometown to help with the farm work, as their parents were currently working the land for seven or eight people.

Fortunately, Zhang Ping'an would go home every week to replace the water in the large vat at home with Space Spiritual Water. Now, his parents' physical fitness was like that of people in their early thirties; perhaps they could even give him a younger brother or sister. Moreover, during the busy farming season, Zhang Ping'an would also go back to help with the harvest.

"Zhang Ping'an, let's go on an outing tomorrow. It's so boring being in the pharmacy every day."

"An outing?"

"Yes."

"It's the middle of summer; aren't you afraid of the heat?"

"What of it? Where isn't it hot in this weather?"

Zhang Ping'an thought about it carefully and realized this was true. In this day and age, let alone air conditioning, even an Electric Fan was a rare sight.

"Fine, is it just the two of us?"

"Yingnan and her younger brother Yingren are coming too."

"Alright."

"Then it's settled. Let's meet here at seven tomorrow."

"Deal. I'll ride the tricycle tomorrow and try to tour all of Sijiucheng."

"Great."

Wang Xiaoling was also full of anticipation. She was usually a well-behaved girl and rarely went out alone. Her parents were busy, and although she had grown up in Sijiucheng, there were truly few places she had been.

After agreeing on the time and place, they each went home. Zhang Ping'an went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy two Military Water Bottles to prepare.

One bottle of watermelon juice and one bottle of orange juice, both submerged at the bottom of the pond for physical cooling.

The next morning, after finishing his workout, Zhang Ping'an grabbed his satchel, pedaled his tricycle, and headed out, grabbing a quick bite at a breakfast stall.

When he arrived at the entrance of the Pharmacy, two tall figures and one small one were already waiting there. It wasn't even seven o'clock yet.

"You came so early? Have you eaten?"

"We've eaten. This is Yingren, Yingnan's younger brother. Yingren, this is your Brother Ping'an. Let's hurry and set off while it's not too hot yet."

"Alright. Yingren, here's some candy for you," Zhang Ping'an fished a few hard candies out of his pocket.

The previously listless little kid Mu Yingren instantly perked up, while simultaneously looking at his sister.

"Go ahead and take it."

"Great, thank you, Brother Ping'an."

"What a good boy. Get on the cart. Today, wherever you point, I'll take you."

"Let's just ride around Shichahai. It's bound to be cooler near the water than other places."

"Deal. Sit tight, then let's start from the Bell and Drum Towers."

All morning they headed north along the Bell and Drum Towers, passing Guanghua Temple, Wanghai Tower, and all the way to the Deshengmen Arrow Tower. The four of them felt hungry and found a roadside stall to grab a bite to eat.

"Xiao Ling, this is watermelon juice and orange juice. You guys share it," Zhang Ping'an had taken them out of his space a while ago, so they were only slightly cool now. He also had three homemade straws.

"Zhang Ping'an, you're so good to our Xiao Ling. Do you have designs on her?"

"Yingnan, what nonsense are you spouting?" Xiao Ling's face turned slightly red. Her face was already flushed from the summer heat, and now it was even redder.

"Ahem, aren't we all classmates? Besides, I'm the only guy here, so I have to be a bit more considerate," Zhang Ping'an had even specially made three straws.

"Brother Ping'an, I'm a guy too."

"You're too small, you don't count."

"..."

"The watermelon juice can't even plug your mouth; just drink your drink."

At noon, the four of them rested in the shade for an hour or so before continuing their outing for the day.

Old university sites, former residences of famous people, and so on. It wasn't until they reached the residence of Lord He (Gong Prince Mansion) that Zhang Ping'an was suddenly startled. He remembered that in his past life, it seemed craftsmen had discovered treasures in the partition walls during renovations.

Everyone was familiar with Lord He, the great corrupt official of the Jiaqing era. Rumor had it that he had embezzled over a billion taels of silver and countless antiques, calligraphy, and paintings, not to mention gold and jewelry. The confiscation back then was merely the tip of the iceberg; much more had been hidden away.

At Lord He's residence, Zhang Ping'an subconsciously used his space to scan every wall. Good heavens, this hidden treasure in the partition wall was actually real! Zhang Ping'an's mind immediately became active; it seemed he would have to find time to come back here.

Scanning further underground, Zhang Ping'an almost cried out in shock. Holy crap, the underground treasure room was filled with Golden Bricks and large chests. Damn, how much is this?

"Whose children are you, and what are you doing here?"

"Sorry, we are students, we came to visit during the summer break."

"Get out, this is a private place now."

"Oh, alright, sorry to bother you."

Zhang Ping'an was also startled awake; now that this place was occupied and used by over ten organizations and more than two hundred households, it was truly difficult to take out the treasure without anyone noticing.

This feeling of guarding a treasure mountain but being unable to enter was truly unbearable and made him feel restless; Zhang Ping'an decided to scout the location first and then act according to the situation. He could forget about the treasure hidden in the partition wall as the commotion would be too great, but the treasure underground could still be worked on.

The four of them had no interest in continuing their stroll after being chased out, and it was getting late, so Zhang Ping'an dropped them off at the Pharmacy and returned home himself, but his mind was now filled with those golden, golden Golden Bricks.

No, he had to retrieve them, otherwise his thoughts would not be clear; therefore, for the next few days, Zhang Ping'an wandered around the Na Family's house, and after some inquiries, he learned that directly above the basement was the Music Academy, so he could only dig a tunnel over at night.

After calculating the shortest route, Zhang Ping'an collected enough waste bricks, soil, and wood, and began his tunneling journey from an abandoned Siheyuan.

Utilizing his space, after three hours of digging, he finally saw the Golden Bricks he had been longing for; he packed them all up and took them away, and the collected waste bricks, soil, and wood replaced the original positions seamlessly, so it would not collapse, at least in the short term.

Zhang Ping'an cleaned up all traces before quietly returning home, diving headfirst into his space, and looking at the glittering expanse, he was as happy as Ersha.

This was much more than what he had dug up in the pond of his current courtyard; each Golden Brick weighed about one jin, and there were a full twelve hundred of them, while the boxes contained silver and antiques he couldn't identify; Zhang Ping'an was now prepared to lie flat completely.