Chapter 70: Human Relationships and Worldly Affairs

"Ping'an, since everything is settled, I'll head back now," said Zhang Laohan.

He was truly bored here; it was better to be at ease back in the village. That acre of land hadn't even taken him two days to tidy up properly.

"Alright, Dad, you head back first. Mom will come with us when the time comes."

"That works too."

Early the next morning, Zhang Ping'an sent his old father off on the Ox Cart of Uncle Zhang Laiyuan, who had come to sell meat, before returning.

"Uncle, leave this meat to me; I will definitely sell it for a high price for you."

"Done."

After sending the two off, Zhang Ping'an didn't dawdle. He put the meat on his tricycle and rushed to the Rolling Mill. It was all cured wild rabbit, cured pheasant, as well as cured pig legs and pig heads.

"Director Lou, take a look. Can this replace the wild boar you've been longing for?"

"Whoa~ Not bad, not bad. Where did you get these?"

"Back home."

"Hmm, the price for cured meat is higher, but in the end, it can't compare to the freshness of freshly slaughtered pork."

"......"

"Hahaha, I'm teasing you. If there's a wild boar, naturally that's even better; if not, don't force it. Safety first. Here, this is 970,000; let's round it up to 1,000,000."

"Thank you, Director Lou."

"No need to thank me. If you have meat, just keep sending it here. I won't treat you unfairly."

"You got it."

A week later, the Clothing Shop opened for business. Zhang Ping'an had his nephews go to the places where they used to set up stalls to tell their regular customers the location of the shop, and then they just waited for customers to come.

The West Wing Room had been renovated three days ago, and Si Jie and the four nephews had all moved in, saying they were worried about the shop. Zhang Ping'an went along with them; besides, there was a kitchen and everything else over there anyway.

Now, only Zhang Ping'an and his mother were left in the courtyard. However, in this past week or so, Dong Dani had also learned the Sewing Machine quite well. Si Jie's talent was likely inherited from her mother.

Ever since she learned, Dong Dani hadn't been idle. She used some fabric scraps to practice, and a small sack of scraps had been turned into the three pairs of tiger-head shoes they had now.

Don't say it, really don't say it—ginger is still spicier when it's old. His mother, Dong Dani, already knew how to make tiger-head shoes, and now, with this color coordination, they looked even more like tigers.

San Jie hadn't been idle either. While taking care of her daughter-in-law during her postpartum recovery, she also had to make two smocks every day and take care of the twins. She was very busy, and the fat on her body was visibly decreasing.

Early this morning, Zhang Ping'an put a wild boar and three five-jin pieces of pork belly in his tricycle and headed straight for the Police Station. It just so happened that Li Gong'an was on duty that day.

"Li Ge."

"Hmm? Oh? Ping'an? Why are you here so early?" Li Gong'an rubbed his face to wake himself up.

"Ahem, I promised Li Ge last time that if I caught any game, I'd let you have a taste. Take a look." Zhang Ping'an lifted the sack, revealing the wild boar in the cart.

"Whoa~ You really caught a big one!" Li Gong'an was instantly energized.

"Hehe, I got lucky," Zhang Ping'an said, pointing to the large bow on his back.

Only then did Li Gong'an notice the hunting bow on Zhang Ping'an's back. He had a bit of an eye for these things; an average person probably couldn't even draw this hunting bow.

"Impressive," Li Gong'an praised sincerely.

"Li Ge, does your Police Station take wild boar? These other three pieces of meat are to thank you, Li Jie, and Chen Ge for your help last time."

"We take it, of course we take it. But the other pork is unnecessary."

"Li Ge, there is righteous wealth among friends. Besides, this is just social etiquette, it's not against the rules."

"Well... alright then." Li Gong'an hesitated for a moment before accepting it.

The two of them carried the wild boar to the cafeteria in the back, while the other three pieces of meat were wrapped in a black cloth bag and left on the cart.

"Ping'an, I'll bring you the money once the Chief comes to work."

"That's fine, I'm not in a hurry. By the way, Li Ge, I still don't know your full name," Zhang Ping'an said awkwardly.

"Hahaha, you kid, my name is Li Aiguo."

"Good, Li Ge, I've got it."

Zhang Ping'an put down the black cloth bag and rode away. When he turned toward the Rolling Mill, there was another wild boar and five one-jin pieces of pork belly in the tricycle.

"Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling."

"It's probably Ping'an or Dongxu. Xiao Sheng, go open the door." No Workers would be coming to work at this hour; it was most likely someone from the Procurement Section.

"You got it, Captain."

"Captain, it's Ping'an. Ping'an, what good stuff did you catch this time?"

"Sheng Ge, I had good luck today and caught a wild boar."

"Whoa~ Impressive." The Security guard surnamed Sheng was sincerely impressed; he had long known that Zhang Ping'an relied on his hunting bow to hunt.

"Tan Ge, this is five jin of meat. You and the brothers can split it."

"Done. Ping'an, here is 40,000; take it. I'll go weigh it with you."

"Good." Every time Zhang Ping'an caught a wild boar, he would almost always sell ten or eight jin to the Security Department.

"Two hundred and twelve jin. I'll write it down for you."

"You got it."

Back at the Police Station, Li Aiguo had just finished reporting to Chief Wang and was about to run off with the meat when he was grabbed by the collar.

"Ahem, Li-er, you and your sister can't finish that much meat between the two of you. How about leaving a portion for me?"

"Not a chance." Li Aiguo took off running as soon as he finished speaking; he knew their Chief's character all too well.

"This brat, am I really that scary?" Chief Wang was left between laughter and tears.

"Phew, good thing I ran fast."

Chief Wang was right; Li Chunhua was indeed his sister, but she was married, so naturally, he couldn't make the decision to keep it.

"How is Chen Lie? Was my little brother decent enough?"

"Enough, enough, enough."

"Right? In the future, help my little brother out more if he needs anything."

"No problem, we're all brothers," Chen Lie said, carrying the pork belly and grinning with his teeth bared.

That afternoon, Li Aiguo brought the money over to Zhang Ping'an.

"Ping'an, it's one million seven hundred thousand in total, count it."

"Alright, that's exactly right."

Zhang Ping'an took it and fanned through it, knowing immediately; after all, with the current fifty-thousand denomination, about thirty-some bills was the right amount.

"In the future, whenever you hunt a Wild Boar, you can bring it here."

"Deal."

That evening, Lao Jia also brought back the money for the Wild Boar; time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the day of Jia Dongxu's child's full-month celebration, and Lao Jia set up a table in the Siheyuan as usual, with one person from each family attending.

Zhang Ping'an also saw the big winner of the Siheyuan from the original story, Jia Banggeng, a chubby little Xiaopang who was very likable.

"Good grandson, look, this is your great-uncle," San Jie Zhang Xiaohua said while holding Bang Geng.

"...."

Zhang Ping'an was only fifteen and already had a grand-nephew; if that were in his past life, it would have blown up the entire internet.

When Zhang Xiaohua gave birth, Zhang Ping'an had given each of them a bright green Jade Pendant, which Zhang Xiaohua had strung on red cords and hung around the two children's necks.

Today, Zhang Ping'an wasn't stingy either and gave another Jade Pendant, all of which were rare collectibles belonging to the adults.

After Bang Geng's full-month banquet, Dong Dani also prepared to return to her hometown.

"Alright Mother, then I'll see you off; let's wait until it's warmer at noon to leave."

It was already the end of November and cold enough, already below zero; if they waited until the end of the year to go home, it wouldn't be good if they caught a cold.

"Alright," Dong Dani looked at her sensible son, her eyes full of gratification.

Zhang Ping'an lined the carriage with thick straw, spread a layer of bedding over it, and then took another quilt to cover it, which was enough to handle the weather outside.

At eleven o'clock, the mother and son finished lunch, packed up simply, and set off for their hometown.

"Ping'an, I think your master's granddaughter is quite good; although her figure is a bit lacking, she is your classmate, so after you graduate from middle school, do you want to try seeing each other?"

"Mother, don't worry about my affairs; your son is loved by everyone, are you afraid I won't be able to find a wife?"

"Stop being so full of yourself; son, I think I've remembered your maternal grandparents."

"Huh?"