Chapter 401

After the two arrived at the Zhang home, Zhang Qingwan had already prepared most of the dishes with her grandmother; only one or two dishes remained to complete the meal.

"Come, come, come, nephew Yida, hurry in and sit."

"Alright, thank you, Zhang Shu."

Today was a day off, so Zhang Weiping's eldest son and daughter-in-law were also at home; after everyone introduced themselves, they took their seats as hosts and guests.

"Yida, your father's business is quite large, isn't it?"

Zhang Qingwan's father, Zhang Guangzong, had already learned from her the amount of Zhang Weiping's donation, which was more than his family's savings over these years.

"It's alright, the company isn't just my father's; there are several other shareholders."

Zhang Weiping wasn't lying; besides his father's foreign shell, there were three aunts, so weren't they just several "antique" shareholders?

They were all Workers and only had a vague understanding of company structures, but they heard the gist: it was a company started by several people in partnership, not a sole proprietorship.

"Then is this a nationwide donation and investment of yours?"

"Yes, I plan to travel across the country, hoping to provide children with a good environment for education."

Zhang Guangzong clicked his tongue in secret; how much money would this require? Just the village primary school in Zhang Weizi had cost one hundred thousand, and that wasn't even counting other locations in Quancheng.

Assuming there were ten places in Quancheng, that would be one million; there were currently seven cities in Lu Province, which would be seven million; across thirty provinces nationwide, that would be over twenty million. Hiss—terrifying, too much to imagine.

Zhang Qingwan, however, didn't calculate these figures; she only felt that Zhang Weiping's company was very compassionate, and this was an extremely meaningful endeavor.

"Ping'an is remarkable, and nephew Yida is also following in his father's footsteps; you are both good men."

"Zhang Shu, you are too kind; we are just doing what we can."

"Nephew Yida, no need to be overly modest. Nowadays, no one can say they can easily take out hundreds of thousands or even a million to help some strangers' children, yet you have done it."

"That's right, Zhang, General Manager Zhang, it takes ten years to grow a tree and a hundred years to cultivate a person; at this time, it is very rare for your company to be able to do this."

Seeing this young face, Zhang Qingwan really couldn't bring herself to call him Zhang Shu, so she could only call him General Manager Zhang like the people at school.

Hearing the words of the old man and his daughter, Zhang Guangzong felt a bit ashamed; he had only been thinking about the money just now.

"Don't, Zhang Shu, niece, please stop praising me; I'm getting embarrassed. Let's drink."

"Hahaha, alright, come, let's drink."

"..."

Zhang Qingwan was suddenly unhappy, but she couldn't show it in front of her grandfather.

The Zhang family had a very good family atmosphere, and what Zhang Weiping was doing was a good deed, so everyone had plenty to talk about, and for a time, they chatted happily.

This meal lasted about an hour; Zhang Weiping had to rush back in the afternoon, so he stopped after drinking half a jin, and after chatting for a while longer at the Zhang home, he prepared to return.

"Qingwan, aren't you also rushing back to school this afternoon? Go with your Zhang Shu; you can look out for each other on the road."

"Oh, alright."

"Done." Zhang Weiping didn't refuse either; having a companion on the road to talk to was good.

At three in the afternoon, the two set off on their Bicycles, and the four people seeing them off, Zhang's mother, sighed slightly:

"Don't say, the two of them look quite a good match."

"Nonsense, wouldn't that be a generation gap?"

"What generation gap? You and Ping'an aren't blood brothers; if they could end up together, I would approve," said Zhang Weiping's wife.

Zhang Weiping opened his mouth but didn't refute; looking at it this way, they really did look like a good match, whether in appearance or personality, and both were people full of love.

On Zhang Weiping's side, the two were riding in silence; after all, they weren't that familiar with each other, but thinking of the tone Zhang Qingwan used earlier, Zhang Weiping couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"General Manager Zhang, what are you laughing at?"

"Don't mind me if I say it."

"It's fine, go ahead."

"I just think your local dialect is very interesting, especially 'An Ye' (my grandfather), 'An' (I) tell you, 'An'..."

"..."

Zhang Qingwan originally felt there was nothing wrong with it; one had to speak the local dialect at home for it to feel right, but hearing it from Zhang Weiping's mouth, she felt it sounded strange.

He was clearly a very imposing boss, but after saying these words, he sounded like a young boy; could it be that when she spoke like this, she was just a country girl in his eyes?

Thinking of this, Zhang Qingwan's face flushed slightly; she glared at Zhang Weiping and sped off on her bicycle.

"Cough." Seeing this, Zhang Weiping was also slightly embarrassed and sped up to catch up.

"That, niece, don't misunderstand; I'm not making fun of you, I just purely find it interesting."

"Just like when you go to Sijiucheng, the taxi drivers at the station always greet people with 'Auv', don't you find that very interesting?"

As he spoke, Zhang Weiping even demonstrated for Zhang Qingwan.

"Oh my, this young lady, where are you going?"

"Puchi."

Zhang Weiping was stunned; he let go of the handlebars with both hands, picked up his camera, and with a "Crack!", recorded this beautiful moment.

"General Manager Zhang, you..."

"Hahaha, sorry, I can never help but snap a photo when I see something beautiful."

"The way you laughed just now was very pretty, and with the sunset behind you, it was simply a painting. Once I get it developed, I'll mail you a copy; my photography skills will definitely satisfy you."

"Um..."

Zhang Qingwan only felt her head buzzing; only the phrase "the way you laughed just now was very pretty" kept echoing.

Zhang Weiping didn't pay much attention and would snap another photo from time to time; just like that, the two returned to school without realizing it.

"Alright, niece, once I get the photos developed, I'll mail you a copy."

"Oh, alright."

The next morning, Zhang Weiping and his group left Quancheng, preparing to start in the next city.

"Forget it, everyone should just take a break; it's almost the end of the year, and everyone has worked hard this year. Go back and reunite with your families; we'll see each other after the Lantern Festival."

Weiping flipped through the calendar, thought for a moment, and realized there was only half a month left until the New Year, so he gave them time off in advance.

"Yay!"

"Thank you, General Manager Zhang."

"General Manager Zhang is mighty!"

They hadn't suffered much while following Weiping this year, not to mention they had business trip subsidies, and now they were getting time off early; it was simply wonderful.

Weiping first made a phone call back to Xiangjiang and learned that everyone had returned to Sijiucheng, so he didn't need to make another trip to Xiangjiang to pick them up.

In Sijiucheng, inside Zhang Ping'an's Sijinyuan, the whole big family had gathered together again.

"General Manager Zhang, it seems someone was following us on the way back from the airport."

As soon as Zhang Ping'an entered the courtyard, the security personnel following the three women came over immediately to report.

"Oh? Can you be sure?"

"Eighty percent sure, but the other party is very vigilant; they switched cars four times in a row, all Longteng Automobile, so we can't be one hundred percent certain."

Zhang Ping'an frowned slightly; he couldn't think of any enemies he still had, and the only one, Zheng Zhiming, was already dead.

"Alright, keep a close eye on the area around the Siheyuan during this time and see if there are any suspicious individuals."

"Understood, General Manager Zhang."

On Weiping's side, he had someone send the film to be developed into photos, while he returned to his study to start planning the route for next year.

For several days in a row, no suspicious individuals were found around Zhang Ping'an's Siheyuan, but Zhang Ping'an didn't dare to relax; these security personnel were the elite of the elite and certainly wouldn't make mistakes, which meant the other party was hiding very deeply.

From then on, whenever the children and the three women went out, there were at least ten security personnel following them, both openly and covertly.

Zhang Ping'an also put on a disguise and followed along; with Space Perception activated, he indeed saw three capable-looking men who were always glancing intentionally or unintentionally at the three women and the children.