Chapter 224: Zhang Long’s Repayment

Chapter 224: Chapter 224: Zhang Long’s Repayment

Zhang Yun kept some of the snake meat for their own family to eat. Zhang Fu didn’t have any special cooking techniques; he simply stewed it.

Thinking about how it could sell for two thousand yuan a catty, Zhang Fu kept nagging. He felt they should have sold it all, as their own family didn’t need to eat anything so Advanced.

It wasn’t that Zhang Fu didn’t know this was good stuff. The main issue was... they were just two single men at home!

Just the Medicinal Wine his son had bought last night was enough to make his entire body burn with heat after drinking it. He had been energetic all day today. When he went out to work in the fields and ran into the village women, he hadn’t dared to look at them too much, deeply afraid of stirring up desires.

Now, to eat this highly nourishing meat on top of that...

As a widower, he didn’t need the extra nourishment. His son didn’t have a steady girlfriend yet, nor was she by his side right now. If the internal heat was too intense and caused some other kind of trouble, it would be a disaster.

Even if it didn’t cause any real trouble, getting a nosebleed from all that rich food wouldn’t be good either. It would have been better to sell it for money.

Zhang Yun simply laughed it off. He had already kept it anyway. Given his father’s personality, Zhang Fu would never bring himself to go out and sell it now, nor would he be willing to give it away. Ultimately, they were going to eat it.

"Brother Yun!"

After taking a shower and changing clothes, Zhang Yun was waiting for dinner when he noticed Zhang Long watching TV in the living room.

"What brings you here?" Zhang Yun glanced toward the kitchen and lowered his voice. "Are you guys experiencing any aftereffects?"

Zhang Long smiled bitterly. "We were all terrified. Even though you explained everything clearly later, the atmosphere at that time... Anyway, everyone is traumatized now. Bao Sheng has it the worst since he was already scared once before. This time, even the usually gutsy Jin Lu is shaken..."

"How about... I ask around for you? The county hospital should have psychologists."

Zhang Yun took out his phone, genuinely preparing to ask Zhang Lifeng. Given what they went through last night, it was very easy to be scared sick. When he had seen them this morning, everyone’s faces had been pale green.

In the countryside’s view, this was a clear sign of being haunted.

As for whether there was actually anything supernatural going on, even he wasn’t sure. He wondered if there really were ghosts.

Zhang Long hurriedly waved his hand. "Don’t! If you do that, how could we keep it a secret? If word gets out, everyone will treat us like a bunch of losers."

"Then it’s no use coming to me. Should I have my dad ask around to see if there’s anyone who... knows how to call back a frightened spirit?" Zhang Yun didn’t want his father to know, but he also wanted to help them resolve this.

Zhang Long shook his head. "I don’t think it’s that serious either. I specifically bought some liquor and came to drink with you. If I get drunk tonight and sleep it off, I should be fine."

He placed two cheap bottles of local white liquor on the table.

Zhang Yun took one look, immediately realizing what was going on, and patted his shoulder.

"You little punk, you just want to freeload some snake meat and Maotai, don’t you? Damn! Just say it straight, would I ever turn you away? You actually had me worried that you guys were suffering from trauma!"

Zhang Long looked momentarily embarrassed. He had heard the news, but couldn’t afford the snake meat or the Maotai, yet he really wanted to satisfy his cravings.

Zhang Yun caught himself and smiled apologetically. "Don’t mind me, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was genuinely worried about you guys just now."

Having gotten past the awkwardness, Zhang Long relaxed. "Sigh! That’s exactly it. I can’t afford it, but I still want a taste. I know you’re a good bro and wouldn’t judge me, but a man still has his pride! Haha!"

Simply laying his cards on the table made him feel much better.

Zhang Yun patted his shoulder again without pressing the matter. Young men all had their pride; saying too much would only make things more awkward. "As long as you’re okay, that’s what matters. If anything comes up, just tell me. Later, when my dad is around, it won’t be convenient for me to ask too many questions. How about we call the others over for a drink?"

"They drink beer, they can’t handle hard liquor. Let’s forget it. I’ll just find them Ming Tian to drink beer," Zhang Long immediately shook his head.

Leaving the Maotai aside—just a taste of that would be fine—but that cobra meat was a superb tonic. It was originally meant for the father and son. Now with one extra person, if a few more came over, how many pieces would everyone even get?

It wasn’t that Zhang Long just wanted to eat more himself. He was the one who had brought it up, and if too many people showed up, he would feel incredibly embarrassed.

Zhang Yun didn’t insist. In the countryside, people were much more sensitive about generosity. Giving away home-grown fruits, vegetables, or homemade snacks was seen as generous. But with something like Maotai, if you insisted on inviting people over to drink it, they would later say you were just showing off your wealth.

"Right, there’s something I need to tell you..." Zhang Long hesitated for a moment before speaking in a low voice.

It was about the snake meat from earlier. Because Zhang Youcai had driven the price up, some who wanted to buy couldn’t bear to spend the money, while others who could have bought more were forced to buy less. There were a lot of complaints behind his back.

Aside from the main village group chat, there were various smaller group chats for families and friends, and private complaints quickly began circulating. Everyone felt that Zhang Yun had changed now that he had money, and by partnering with a profiteer like Zhang Youcai, he had become just as deceitful.

Zhang Yun chuckled. "It’s fine, I don’t care. There was only so much meat in total; whether it was two thousand yuan or two hundred yuan, that was all there was to go around. If some people bought more, others wouldn’t be able to buy any. If more people bought it, the portions would be smaller. It’s not like it was a fat pig, and even a fat pig wouldn’t be enough to supply the entire village."

"They just feel it was too expensive!"

Although Zhang Long was just passing this on to Zhang Yun, he actually leaned toward their side too. If it had been two hundred yuan a catty, would he have needed to shamelessly freeload? He could have just openly bought a catty!

But two thousand a catty was unaffordable. It wasn’t like he could just buy an ounce, right?

Zhang Yun didn’t mind. Compared to the opinions of ordinary villagers, he naturally cared much more about his relationships with Zhang Lifeng and Zhang Youcai. Ordinary people would only make sour remarks behind his back, while those two could help bring in tangible benefits.

Zhang Fu soon finished cooking. Zhang Long was around the same age as Zhang Yun and was a child he had watched grow up, so there was no awkwardness between them. They opened a bottle of Maotai and paired it with the snake meat, eating and drinking heartily.

There was still time after dinner, so Zhang Long grabbed Zhang Yun and said they should go find Jin Lu and the others to hang out.

Zhang Fu also felt that his son shouldn’t just stay home playing on his phone; he needed to go out more. So, he encouraged him to go along.

Having nothing else to do, Zhang Yun went out with him.

"The guys are in town, I’ll take you over on my bike!"

"Don’t! I don’t feel safe with you driving."

Zhang Yun had originally thought they would just go to one of their houses to play cards or something. He hadn’t expected Zhang Long’s motorcycle to be parked outside.

Since they were already outside, he didn’t bother going back in. With his current physical constitution, drinking a little alcohol had no effect on him, whereas Zhang Long, though not drunk, was definitely buzzing.

Zhang Yun drove the motorcycle, carrying Zhang Long all the way into town.

"Where are they? The billiards hall?" Zhang Yun rarely came out to play in town at night, so he didn’t know where they usually hung out. In his mind, it was probably somewhere like a billiards hall.

"Up ahead! Over there, see it?" Having had some drinks, Zhang Long was highly excited, babbling on constantly about who knew what.

Zhang Yun had no idea what he was saying either. He drove the motorcycle closer, stopped, and looked around, but didn’t see Jin Lu and the others.

"Get off!" After hopping off the bike, Zhang Long slung an arm around his shoulder and laughed. "Last time we asked you to take us out for a good time, you said you didn’t know the ropes. Hehe, we asked around, and tonight, your bro is taking you out to have a good time!"

A dark expression crossed Zhang Yun’s face as he wondered what the hell was going on. Zhang Long had said they were looking for Jin Lu and the others, but he had actually brought him to a shady massage parlor.

He hadn’t seen anyone when he looked around earlier, but now he understood. Zhang Long’s actual destination was the pink-lit hair salon right next to them. Seeing their motorcycle parked outside, a few scantily clad women had already stepped out the door to smoke, shooting flirtatious glances their way.