Chapter 92: Grandma's House

At eight o'clock, the group finished packing and prepared to set off. The family of four was assigned to the passenger seats in the front and back cabs, while Zhang Ping'an carried the little one.

The roads these days were truly hard to describe, and the trucks' shock absorption was poor; it was simply hell for people prone to motion sickness. Zhang Ping'an was fine and didn't feel much, and the little one bobbed up and down with the car, even giggling.

"Heh, this little one is really here to repay a kindness. Most adults can't stand it, yet this little one is still happy."

"Hehe, Uncle Sun is right. My younger brother can be raised on just a mouthful of food. At home, there's basically no need to worry about him; he sleeps when he's full, or plays quietly by himself."

"That's really great."

"Uncle Sun, your children should be about my age, right?"

"Mm, the eldest is about your age, and the fourth is about the same age as your brother, but he's a handful and can't be left alone for a second." Well, Uncle Sun was also a man who remained vigorous in his old age.

"That just means he's attached to you and Auntie."

"Hahaha."

While Zhang Ping'an was chatting and laughing, his parents were having a miserable time; they were motion-sick beyond words and had vomited up most of what they ate in the morning.

The driver had seen this many times before, so he didn't mind and even shared his own embarrassing stories from the past with a chuckle.

"Brother Zhang, Sister-in-law, when I first joined the transport team, I was just like you, maybe even worse. But ever since I started driving myself, I haven't felt sick or vomited. If you two learn to drive, we could take turns."

"I can't drive this thing; I can manage a tricycle, though," Zhang Laohan waved his hand weakly.

"..."

"It's fine, you'll get used to it after vomiting enough."

At night, since there were no villages or shops in sight, they set up camp on the spot, built a fire to cook, and had designated people on watch while they slept.

Zhang Ping'an gave his parents a few acupuncture treatments, and their complexions improved significantly, no longer deathly pale.

"Dad, Mom, rest well after eating. I'll give you another treatment tomorrow morning, and you should feel much better."

"Mm, your younger brother is in your hands."

"Alright."

Zhang Ping'an truly witnessed the vastness and sparse population of Beijiang; sometimes the convoy would travel for an entire day without seeing a single person.

Ten days later, Zhang Ping'an's group finally arrived in Wushi, where Zhang Ping'an's eldest uncle was already waiting.

"Uncle Sun, thank you for all your care along the way."

"Hahaha, it's nothing. I've nagged you quite a bit on the road."

"It's fine, it's fine. I've learned a lot."

"Hahaha."

It was strange; he would usually be exhausted after a ten-day journey, but now he felt full of energy. A strange matter, but Sun Jianmin was broad-minded and didn't take it to heart.

This was naturally Zhang Ping'an's doing. Since Sun Jianmin had taken good care of them along the way, Zhang Ping'an naturally had to return the favor, dripping a few drops of Space Water into Sun Jianmin's canteen every day.

"Da Ni, brother-in-law, Ping'an, you've finally arrived! Where is Xile? Let me see him quickly."

"He's still sleeping. We owe a lot to Ping'an this trip, otherwise, it would have been really troublesome."

"That's fine. It's already late evening, so let's rest in Wushi for the night and talk about the rest later." It seemed they were still quite a distance from where Grandpa and the others lived.

"Alright."

The family boarded a Jeep and followed the eldest uncle to a courtyard where they stopped.

"This place was left behind by a comrade-in-arms of mine. We'll stay here for the night. You go in and rest first, I'll go buy some food."

"Alright."

They had a simple meal in the evening, and then the parents took the little brother to sleep.

"Eldest Uncle, is it very far from here to Grandpa's place?"

"It's alright, it takes a day."

"..."

Although the current Jeep's speed wasn't fast, it should be able to do fifty or sixty; if it took a day, that would probably be seven or eight hundred kilometers.

"Yili River Valley?" That was truly possible, though he didn't know which county or city it was. The key was that the names of many places were different now.

The next morning at six, Zhang Ping'an's group was packed and ready to go.

"The river valley is a day's journey from here. We can only take a short break in the middle, otherwise, it will be hard to arrive before dark."

"Understood, Eldest Brother. We aren't familiar with this place, so we'll listen to you."

They finally arrived after nine in the evening. Zhang Ping'an felt like his backside had been shaken off, and little Xiao Xile was wailing. Fortunately, the speed had dropped, making it much better; otherwise, they should have arrived after seven.

The trucks couldn't go fast because of the heavy cargo, but the weight also helped with shock absorption, unlike the Jeep, which could shake you into the air just by hitting a pothole.

"Hey, friend, fighting is one thing, but give me some air!"

Just as they parked, Zhang Ping'an heard Mandarin with a Lamb Skewers accent and looked over with curiosity.

"That's Wasta Alifu and Jianguo messing around. Wasta is a local. This area used to be the Gobi Desert, and it was reclaimed by us over a dozen years."

"It's too dark to see now, but you'll know tomorrow."

"Dayong, did you pick up Da Ni and the others?"

"I did, Mother. Let's go in quickly."

"Quick, quick, come in. You've had a hard journey."

"You all eat something first and get some rest early. We'll talk about everything else tomorrow."

"Alright, Dad, Mom."

"Jianguo, are they the relatives from the Mainland?"

"That's right, my eldest aunt's family. That's my cousin, he's even stronger than me."

"Pfft, I don't believe it." Wasta looked at Zhang Ping'an's "frail" appearance, his face full of disbelief.

"Heh heh, alright then. I'll call you tomorrow morning, and you two can compare."

Dong Jianguo wore a mischievous grin. He and Wasta were evenly matched in strength, and they often had wins and losses when roughhousing, but he was certain they weren't as strong as Zhang Ping'an.

Moreover, when they wrestled, Zhang Ping'an wasn't even sixteen yet; now that over a year has passed, his strength has surely grown, and they are even less of a match for him.

"Good, I'll let him witness the bravery of a Wasta who grew up eating meat."

Zhang Ping'an's ears twitched slightly, and he heard the two's conversation; he couldn't help but laugh and cry, as it seemed these two fellows had a very ironclad relationship.

Zhang Laohan, his wife, and Zhang Xile all had unpleasant expressions; they were clearly shaken up quite badly, though other than his backside aching from the jolting, Zhang Ping'an was otherwise fine.

After the two finished eating and washed up briefly, they took their youngest son to rest.

"Ping'an, aren't you tired?"

"I'm alright."

"Then tell me about the situation along the way."

"Alright." Zhang Ping'an recounted everything he had experienced along the way, including saving people.

"It must have been hard on you all; just have a good time here for a while, and tomorrow I'll have Jianshe and the others take you around to see the local customs."

Not having seen him for over a year, his grandson had matured and grown much stronger; an ordinary person would have long since collapsed from exhaustion after a half-month-long journey, yet he was as if nothing had happened.

"Alright, Grandpa."

"Mm, you go get some rest too."

"Alright."

Although Zhang Ping'an was not tired, his nerves had been taut while sleeping in the wild, which was nowhere near as comfortable as being at home; he finally relaxed completely and quickly drifted off to sleep.

At five o'clock in the morning, Zhang Ping'an was woken up by his internal clock; he got up and took a look, and the land of Beijiang was still pitch black.

Zhang Ping'an didn't go back to sleep; he replaced a small half of the water in his grandmother's Water Storage Tank with Space Water, and replaced all the water in the kitchen buckets with Space Water.

Afterwards, Zhang Ping'an washed up briefly and then stretched and practiced boxing in the courtyard; by nearly six o'clock, the sky was just beginning to brighten, and when his grandmother got up to cook and saw Zhang Ping'an sitting in meditation, she didn't disturb him.

Having worked up a sweat, Zhang Ping'an felt refreshed; he returned to his room, locked the door, and slipped into his space to take a shower before coming back out.

"Grandma, is there anything I can help you with?"

"That works, you drink some milk tea first; there's also naan here, have some to pad your stomach, and then help me wrap the steamed buns later."

"Alright."

Zhang Ping'an had indeed been a bit hungry after exercising for an hour in the morning; he took a sip of the salty milk tea, which tasted quite good, and broke off some naan to soak in it, enjoying it immensely.

A bowl of milk tea and half a piece of naan served as a simple snack, and there were thin-skinned steamed buns to follow; he had just seen that the filling was packed full of lamb.