Chapter 46: Starting Middle School

"Brother He, your culinary skills are absolute; I haven't eaten anything better than what you make in all of Sijiucheng."

"Hahaha, Ping'an, Old He used to be a head chef at a restaurant. He only went to the Rolling Mill to make it easier to take care of Yushui, and it was even at the personal invitation of Boss Lou."

"Eh~ why bring up the past, brother?"

He Daqing's wide mouth was about to stretch to the back of his ears, and his words undoubtedly confirmed that everything Lao Jia had just said was true.

"Well, you, Old He."

"Hahaha."

Zhang Ping'an couldn't help but chuckle either. These old men; it must be said, the main residents of this Siheyuan all have their own special skills.

As the banquet dispersed, the godparent relationship between the Deaf Old Lady and the Yi family was completely finalized, and the two families were thoroughly bound together. Everyone was happy to see it happen, little did they know...

Another three days passed. Zhang Ping'an pedaled his tricycle to the Lei family of master craftsmen's place again. Seeing the finished product, Zhang Ping'an finally set his mind at ease; he had forgotten to say not to apply lacquer at the time.

"Little Boss, this is polished from pure wood. It hasn't been lacquered; not even clear varnish has been applied."

The Lei family of master craftsmen might not have known the dangers of paint, but they knew it had a strong odor and was highly irritating. Infants are active and might chew on the stroller, so they hadn't applied any lacquer.

"Good, good, good. Thank you for your hard work, Master Lei."

"It's nothing. If you're afraid of the wood cracking, you can rub some oil on it."

"Done, I'll keep that in mind."

Zhang Ping'an tied the stroller securely onto the tricycle and returned. He had plenty of oil; he had forgotten to ask just now, but he wondered if peanut oil would work? It shouldn't be a big problem, though.

"Ping'an, is this a baby stroller? Why does it look a bit strange? It's for your nephew and the others, right?"

"That's right. This is a unique design by the Lei family, specifically for two babies. Alright, Teacher Yan, this stroller still has one more step in the process, I have to get to work."

"Alright, go ahead." Yan Bugui also roughly guessed it was something like rubbing oil on it.

It was currently noon, the time for lunch, so only Yan Bugui had finished eating early and was resting on a lounge chair.

Zhang Ping'an poured a bowl of peanut oil and, holding a handkerchief, began to wipe the inside and outside of the stroller thoroughly, then placed it in a corner to air-dry. At that moment, the courtyard was filled with a faint fragrance of peanut oil.

By evening, when Zhang Ping'an returned to the courtyard, the smell had mostly dissipated; one more night would be enough.

The next morning, after Zhang Ping'an finished his workout, he pushed the stroller to the Jia Family.

"San Jie, San Jie Fu, this is a stroller I prepared for Xiao Zi and Donglai. It will be convenient for you to push them wherever you go."

"Good, Ping'an, you have a heart." The more Lao Jia looked at Zhang Ping'an, the more satisfied he was. They both had to work, and having this stroller could indeed make things much easier for his wife.

"It's still Ping'an who knows how to care for San Jie. You two father and son only know how to work."

"......" The father and son looked at each other, and the look of satisfaction Lao Jia had just had for Zhang Ping'an instantly turned resentful.

"You guys eat, I have things to do, I'm leaving."

"......"

"Why do I smell a scent of peanut oil on this stroller?"

"That spendthrift Ping'an wouldn't have used peanut oil to wipe the stroller, would he?"

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for school to start. Si Jie Zhang Lanhua had returned to the Siheyuan a week earlier, and the corn Zhang Ping'an had dried in the courtyard had been harvested and stored in the Ear Room.

The one mu of land in the courtyard was just right for one season of winter wheat and one season of corn. The first crop of wheat was harvested in June.

Zhang Ping'an didn't dare use the space-grown wheat seeds for fear of not being able to explain it later, so the yield was quite pathetic, only a little over two hundred jin.

Even so, compared to the outside, it was already considered a high yield. Zhang Ping'an only told outsiders it was about a hundred jin.

The corn was a bit better, because a lot was eaten while it was still tender corn. Even so, the output was over two hundred jin, but to the outside world, Zhang Ping'an still claimed a halved harvest.

This year, Zhang Ping'an planned to plant the space-grown wheat seeds, which were already comparable to the yield per mu of hybrid rice from later generations.

This year's yield was already out, and everyone's enthusiasm for farming had dropped to the lowest point. They all felt that Zhang Ping'an's purchase of this land wasn't worth it, which was exactly what Zhang Ping'an wanted to see, so he planned to harvest it secretly by himself next June.

In the morning, Zhang Ping'an rode his bike with Wang Xiaoling and Mu Yingnan to the middle school. Although his master, Lao Wang, had already put in a good word for him, he still needed to show his skills to dispel Principal Fu's doubts.

At this time, the registration area was packed with people. Everyone looked at Zhang Ping'an pedaling the tricycle with envy, not to mention the two beauties in the carriage.

After registering and sending the two to their classrooms, Zhang Ping'an went to find Principal Fu.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in."

"Hello, Principal, I am Zhang Ping'an."

"You are Zhang Ping'an?"

"Yes."

"Come, just in time, I have already prepared the test paper for you. Although your master interceded for you, if you don't strive for yourself, you can't blame me."

"Done."

Zhang Ping'an took the test paper without hesitation and began writing away. Everything else was fine, but he hit a snag with the Damao language; he couldn't understand it at all.

"Principal, do we have to learn Damao language too?"

"Of course."

"I haven't been exposed to this, I've finished everything else."

"Fine, wait for me to finish grading before we talk."

Principal Fu took the test paper directly and began to grade it. This kid was truly a monster; he could hardly find any points to deduct.

"Not bad, but your Damao language is not up to standard. How about this, take the textbook back, come over once a week, and I will teach you the pronunciation. Let's start today."

"Good." Zhang Ping'an couldn't refuse; he also wanted to try rolling his tongue.

"Ha, harasho."

"......"

An afternoon was spent in the strange tongue-rolling teaching. Zhang Ping'an also initially mastered the pronunciation of the thirty-three letters and some phrases.

"No wonder you could easily learn the middle school curriculum; your memory is truly terrifying."

"This kid only has this one strength; I will have to trouble the principal more in the future."

"Easy to say, come back in seven days," Fu Guoqiang said.

"Alright, goodbye, Principal."

"Hmm, go ahead."

"Divine Doctor Wang really wasn't boasting; this kid has some skills, and quite a few at that," Fu Guoqiang muttered to himself.

Zhang Ping'an walked out of the principal's office, and seeing that it was almost time for school to let out, he simply sat in his tricycle to wait for Wang Xiaoling and the others.

"Clang, clang, clang," it was still a manual iron bell.

Zhang Ping'an stood on the vehicle and spotted Wang Xiaoling at a glance, waving to signal them to come over.

"Zhang Ping'an, why didn't you go back? Are you specifically waiting for our Xiao Ling?"

"Yeah, I have to come here once every week to learn Russian from the principal," Zhang Ping'an was used to being teased by Mu Yingnan and didn't mind.

"Wow, I heard our principal once studied abroad in Russia; it's so fortunate to have him teach you."

"The principal studied abroad too?" No wonder Zhang Ping'an felt his pronunciation was quite authentic.

Although he had never studied Russian before, he had watched plenty of Russian science fiction movies in his past life.

Now that he had a near-photographic memory, many things from his past life were becoming increasingly clear in his mind, so he could discern a thing or two.

"Yeah, everyone says so; it should be true."

"Zhang Ping'an, you have to teach us once you've learned it."

"No problem, let's go, we can talk on the way. By the way, Yingnan, which direction is your home? I'll drop you off first; I'm heading the same way as Xiao Ling."

"Just drop me off at the courtyard entrance."

"Done."

The three of them chatted all the way about new classmates and the new knowledge they had learned, and amidst their laughter, they arrived at the courtyard.

"Just stop here; my home isn't far from here."

"Done."

This place was not close to Nanluoguxiang, over ten miles away; he hadn't known before that Mu Yingnan lived here.

"Go on back, come find me if you need anything." After dropping Wang Xiaoling off at home, it was already evening, and Zhang Ping'an couldn't help but rub her head.

"Mm, okay," Wang Xiaoling ran off shyly.