Chapter 50: The Lou Family

"San Jie, brother-in-law, let me borrow Dongxu's Bicycle for a moment, I need to drop someone off."

"Is that Director Lou's son, Lou Xiaojun?"

Lao Jia had previously seen Zhang Ping'an helping Lou Xiaojun into his courtyard, and Director Lou's gift this time was not small—a full twenty thousand—all of which was out of respect for Zhang Ping'an.

"Yes, he just sobered up."

"Alright, go ahead and ride it."

"Uncle."

Qin Huairu also came out upon hearing the commotion to offer a greeting. Zhang Xiaohua had just told her about Zhang Ping'an's exploits, and combined with her previous interactions with Jia Dongxu, she held his uncle in high regard; Qin Huairu was also full of respect for this young uncle.

"Hey." Zhang Ping'an could be considered half a matchmaker for them; their coming together had been helped along by his push.

"Alright, we're here, Brother Xiaojun."

"Good stuff, thanks. Want to come in and sit for a bit?"

"No, some other day."

"That works, be careful on the way back."

"Okay."

Zhang Ping'an wandered aimlessly; he had truly never been here before. It was all small villas, and he guessed the Lou Family home was likely nearby.

"Young Miss, slow down, be careful."

Zhang Ping'an suddenly heard a familiar voice, though he couldn't immediately recall where he had heard it.

"Thump."

"Screech!" A four or five-year-old little girl tumbled down in front of Zhang Ping'an's Bicycle, but fortunately, he braked in time.

"Young Miss, are you alright?" The middle-aged woman behind her hurried over to help the little girl up and brushed the dust off her.

"Xu Shener?" Zhang Ping'an recognized that this middle-aged woman was none other than Xu Damao's mother. The two didn't see each other often, so it was no wonder Zhang Ping'an hadn't realized it immediately.

"Ping'an?"

"It's me, sister-in-law." Seeing the little girl pouting and about to cry, Zhang Ping'an hurriedly spoke up.

"Little girl, don't cry. Big brother will perform a magic trick for you. One, two, three—ta-da! Orange, banana, apple, jujube, longan. How about that?"

The little girl's attention was indeed captured, and her teary-eyed expression was adorable.

"I want sugar-roasted chestnuts," the little girl said in a milky voice.

"I have some." Zhang Ping'an flipped his hand and produced a small paper bag of chestnuts, then pulled out a candied hawthorn skewer, handing them both to the little girl.

These were all items Zhang Ping'an usually collected—chestnut trees and hawthorn trees—which he would process and store in his space to coax children with. He hadn't expected them to come in handy now.

"Sister-in-law, take the little girl back." Zhang Ping'an had roughly guessed that this little girl was Lou Xiaoe.

"Alright, thank you, Ping'an."

If Lou Xiaoe had cried out just now, she would inevitably have been questioned. Now that she was pacified, she let out a long sigh of relief, unaware that Lou Bancheng had seen everything clearly from upstairs.

"A Fu, go and investigate that young man."

"Very well, sir."

These were sensitive times, and Lou Bancheng did not believe anyone would pass by his house for no reason.

"Mother Xu, who was that young man just now?"

"A neighbor from my courtyard; he works in the Rolling Mill Procurement Department."

"Oh?" That made the investigation simple.

A Fu made a direct phone call to the Lou Family Rolling Mill.

"Get me the file on Zhang Ping'an from the Procurement Section."

"Yes."

Twenty minutes later, the file was placed before Lou Bancheng.

"So this Zhang Ping'an was introduced by Lao San?"

"Yes, Zhang Ping'an is skilled at both fishing and hunting; much of the meat in the factory is secured by them."

"Fine, I see. Dismiss Mother Xu next month, and give her some extra compensation."

"Very well, sir."

Now, apart from a few servants born into the household, almost all other servants at the Lou Family had been dismissed. Only Xu Damao's mother, who was still caring for Lou Xiaoe, remained. The first and second wives, along with their offspring, had all fled to Xiangjiang. Now, the masters of the Lou Family were only Lou Bancheng, the third concubine, and Lou Xiaoe.

"Xiao'e, is it good?"

"Mm, it's good. Mommy, can I see that big brother again tomorrow?"

"Uh, I suppose so?" Tan Shi had to coax her first.

Zhang Ping'an did not yet know that his magic trick had already caught the little girl's fancy.

That evening, Xu Damao's mother came over specifically to thank Zhang Ping'an; after all, she was a servant, and taking good care of the young miss was her duty.

In the afternoon, Lou Xiaoe hadn't just fallen; she had almost cried, which would have been a huge responsibility for her. She hadn't expected the steward to only ask a few questions about Zhang Ping'an.

"Ping'an, Steward Fu asked about you this afternoon, and I told him the truth."

"It's fine, sister-in-law."

Zhang Ping'an knew that no Capitalist was a simple character, let alone a major Capitalist like Lou Zhenhua, who was known as Lou Bancheng.

Half of Sijiucheng belonged to his family; although that was an exaggeration, it showed the scale of his family's assets.

"Also, Ping'an, the mistress asked me to buy some of the sugar-roasted chestnuts and candied hawthorns you had this afternoon." Xu Shener handed over one hundred thousand.

"Ah?"

"The young miss likes them, and it's to coax her."

"Alright, I do have some chestnuts at home that haven't been roasted yet, and I don't have any candied hawthorns right now, only hawthorns."

"That works too." As long as the ingredients are good, what can't the Lou family's Chef make?

Zhang Ping'an packed two bags of chestnuts and hawthorns for them and accepted the 100,000 yuan; since they were paying to buy them, he would not stand on ceremony.

Moreover, Zhang Ping'an did not believe the Lou family would risk a favor for a small amount of money; for a Capitalist, anything that can be solved with money is not an issue.

"Zhenhua, try these chestnuts, they are really delicious." The candied hawthorn had already been finished by Lou Xiaoe.

"Oh?"

Hearing his wife say this, Lou Zhenhua became curious; he knew his wife was a successor to Tan Family Cuisine, and there were not many things that could make her say they were delicious, so he also picked one up to taste.

"Hmm? Truly not bad. The size is plump, the color is golden, the texture is fine, sweet but not cloying, and it's also chewy—a rare, excellent product."

"Right? And it's not like the chestnut varieties in our Sijiucheng; it's actually a bit like wild ones, but wild ones rarely have such a large size."

"I gave Mother Xu 100,000 yuan and asked her to find that young man to buy some more."

"Fine, it's not bad to eat them occasionally." Lou Bancheng could not help but eat two more.

"Zhenhua, save a few for Xiao'e to eat tomorrow."

"Oh, oh, right." Lou Bancheng laughed awkwardly; he had been very anxious during this period and had not been eating well, so it was rare for him to eat a few extra bites.

At seven o'clock in the Middle Courtyard of the Siheyuan, a group of half-grown boys were squatting at the corner of the Yueliangmen; it looked like they were preparing to eavesdrop on Jia Dongxu.

"Go, go, go, all of you go back to sleep. A bunch of little brats not learning anything good." Zhang Ping'an held a tree branch and swatted each of them on the butt.

"Zhang Shu, you can even see in this darkness?"

"Nonsense. This is a bag of apples; take them back and share them, stop feeding the mosquitoes here."

"Hehe, alright!"

In fact, they didn't understand anything; they were just purely curious, and with the adults at home egging them on, they gathered together to listen at the wall.

Damao and Zhuzi had long been warned by Zhang Ping'an, so they were obedient and didn't come over. Seeing that no one was left, Zhang Ping'an returned to his own courtyard.

Fortunately, when renovating the house, Zhang Ping'an had asked Dongxu to ensure the soundproofing was done well; at least for now, he didn't hear any noise.

"Brother Dongxu, have they left?"

"They've left, they were all chased away by Uncle. *Cough*, let's hurry and start too."

"Mm~" Next came the two people's muffled, not-for-children sounds.

The next morning, Damao's mother brought the chestnuts and hawthorns to the Lou family, first preparing breakfast before calling the master and mistress to eat.

"Mother Xu, those chestnuts..."

"Oh right, Ping'an didn't roast them; they are all raw chestnuts and hawthorns."

"Fine, give them to me, I'll have Daqing roast them," said Lou Bancheng.

"Very well, Master."

Damao's mother went to help Lou Xiaoe get up and wash, and it took a great deal of effort to coax Lou Xiaoe out of bed.

"Xiao'e, be good and stay at home, Daddy will bring you sugar-roasted chestnuts." Lou Bancheng even held up the bag in his hand.