Friends Back Home

That's life; everything that happens in life urges us to grow and strive forward.

After the incident with the Human-Face Sore, Su Ziyang realized his shortcomings and began to study even harder than before.

Daoist Jin noticed this change and couldn't help but secretly admire the young man who was just over twenty years old.

Besides studying medicine and reading books, Su Ziyang also continued to practice the Midnight-Noon Heaven and Earth Art taught by Mr. Mengfei, persisting in his daily practice. His Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Steps were also making more and more progress; now Su Ziyang could quickly move between nine mineral water bottles without touching them, although he still couldn't do it with his eyes closed.

Daoist Jin advised Su Ziyang to take it slow, and told Su Ziyang that this skill could not be mastered in a year or two. He himself had been practicing from the age of eight to sixteen before he had achieved some success.

In the blink of an eye, the end of the year is approaching.

The Daoist Medicine Clinic is affiliated with a Daoist temple. Because Daoist temples have many customs and hold grand religious ceremonies, the Daoist Medicine Clinic closes its doors and suspends services on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Daoist Jin was a Daoist priest himself, so he naturally stayed behind to help with the preparations for the rituals and ceremonies.

During this time, Mr. Mengfei appeared once, stayed for half a day, and then left in a hurry. Before leaving, he gave Su Ziyang a large red envelope, saying it was Su Ziyang's New Year's money. Su Ziyang opened it and found that there was 6,600 yuan inside.

Since Su Ziyang couldn't help and didn't have many friends in the area, he booked a train ticket to go home after having a short get-together with Fairy Li.

Before heading home, Daoist Jin called Su Ziyang into his room and handed Su Ziyang a red envelope, saying it was a New Year's gift in advance.

Su Ziyang took it and felt it; it was a thick wad of cash. He opened the red envelope and saw that it contained ten thousand yuan. His second master had given him more than his own master had.

Su Ziyang was immediately overwhelmed with emotion and excitement. These masters were too kind, so kind that Su Ziyang felt a little overwhelmed. Not only did these two impart knowledge, teach skills, and resolve doubts, but they also gave him lucky money at the end of the year. Apart from his parents, Su Ziyang had never seen anyone treat him so well.

Su Ziyang bought a hard seat train ticket. Although it wasn't yet the peak of the Spring Festival travel rush, the carriage was still packed with people like dumplings. It was difficult to even turn around, let alone go to the toilet. Su Zi grabbed his backpack, curled up in his seat, and took a nap before arriving home.

As soon as he exited the station, Su Ziyang saw a tall and burly figure waving at him from the crowd.

"Ziyang, over here!"

Su Ziyang smiled at the figure and quickly walked over, "Su Zang!"

Su Zang was more than a head taller than Su Ziyang, but looked younger. Seeing Su Ziyang Su Ziyang over, he chuckled and said, "Hey, how can you be so disrespectful! Call me Uncle!"

"You're kidding me!" Su Ziyang rolled his eyes at Su Zang.

"I misspoke!" Su Zang, seeing Su Ziyang rolling his eyes at him.

"That's right, that's right! Uncle! You're absolutely right!" Su Ziyang looked at Su Zang helplessly.

"Hey! Good nephew! Get in the car!"

Su Zang drove a Volkswagen Sagitar, opened the trunk, and threw the suitcase Su Ziyang had brought inside.

Su Zang's teasing of Su Ziyang wasn't actually to take advantage of Su Ziyang; he was indeed Su Ziyang's uncle.

The Su family is a large clan in their village. Su Zang is the child of Su Ziyang's ninth grandmother. Although he is younger than Su Ziyang, he is indeed a generation older than Su Ziyang. This is what is meant by "the radish is not big, but it is big in the generation"!

The two grew up together and had a very good relationship. When Su Ziyang went home for vacation, he heard that Su Zang was at home, so he called him and asked him to drive over and pick him up.

"Let's go home!" Su Zang waited at the traffic light, looking at Su Ziyang looked somewhat tired, sitting in the passenger seat.

"Where else would you go if not home?" Su Ziyang looked at Su Zang.

"If you ask me, let's find a place to have a drink first!" Su Zang took out a pair of sunglasses from his handcuffs, put them on, and turned on the stereo to play upbeat music in the car.

"You're kidding me! My mom will kill me!" Su Ziyang said, looking at Su Zang swaying to the rhythm.

"Alright, I'll take you home first. I have something to do later. Are you free tonight? I'll make arrangements for you," Su Zang asked again.

"Probably not. Let's talk about it!" Su Ziyang replied casually. "I'm going to take a nap, I'm a little sleepy!"

"Okay!" Seeing that Su Zang Su Ziyang really sleepy, Su Zang turned off the music in the car and drove quietly without talking to Su Ziyang.

Forty minutes later, Su Zang drove his flying car to Su Ziyang's courtyard.

Su Ziyang was still greeted by Heizi's hungry tiger pouncing on its prey and his drooling red tongue.

"Mom!" Su Ziyang hugged Heizi's head and shouted into the house.

Knowing that her son was coming home today, Su Ziyang's mother had been busy in the kitchen since noon. When she heard Su Ziyang calling from the yard, she came out of the kitchen.

"You're back!" Su Ziyang's mother smiled broadly as she saw her son return.

"Sister-in-law!" Su Zang quickly greeted her.

"Xiao Zang! Hurry up, you two go inside!" Su Ziyang's mother replied to Su Zang, who was greeting her.

"No, sister-in-law. I'll drop Ziyang off and head back. I have some things to do. Ziyang and I will go out for dinner tonight! I'm leaving now, Ziyang!" Su Zang took the luggage out of Su Ziyang's trunk and drove off without waiting for Su Ziyang's mother to say anything more.

"Mom, where's Dad?!"

"He's still at the shop!" Su Ziyang's mother said, then went back to the kitchen.

Su Ziyang put his luggage in his room and then went to the kitchen. "Mom, don't bother. Su Zang and I are going out for dinner tonight!"

"I'm telling you, you absolutely cannot go out drinking with Su Zang! Do you understand?" Su Ziyang's mother's tone became serious when she heard that Su Ziyang was going out to eat with Su Zang.

"Why?" Su Ziyang looked at his mother in confusion.

"Didn't you know he got into trouble a while ago?" Su Ziyang's mother suddenly became very quiet, as if afraid that others would hear.

"What you're saying sounds so scary, what exactly happened?" Su Ziyang was a little confused.

"He got into a fight with someone after drinking a while ago and seriously injured them. He almost got arrested, but your great-uncle pulled some strings and paid a lot of money so they wouldn't pursue the matter!" Su Ziyang's mother explained.

"Oh!" Su Ziyang replied casually after hearing his mother say that.

"What are you 'oh'ing about! I'm making you pork ribs tonight! Don't go out."

"I'm going to the store to check on my dad!"

Go!

Su Ziyang got up and Dada over to his family's shop on the commercial pedestrian street.

As soon as I entered the store, I heard my dad arguing with a woman.

Woman: "I only have four hundred yuan! Just give me a discount! Nobody else's clothes are this expensive! It's just a casual outfit."

"This is custom-made! Do you understand what custom-made means? We agreed on the price beforehand. If you think it's too expensive, you don't have to make it. If you're going to do it this way, you can't take this garment. I'd rather throw it away than let you take it!" Su Ziyang's father was getting a little impatient, and it seemed that the two had been arguing for quite some time.

"I get clothes made on the street next door, and they only charge 300 for a set, but you're asking for 500! That's way too expensive!" The woman's voice sounded extremely sarcastic and mean to Su Ziyang.

"Then why don't you go to his house to cook!" Su Ziyang said as he walked in.

"I..." The woman started to speak, but then swallowed her words, turned to look at Su Ziyang, and changed the subject, "Hey~ boss, look, your son's back. He hasn't been home for a year, has he? Hurry up and be happy, give me a discount! I'm a regular customer!"

"No way. 500 yuan. Hurry up, I won't take a penny more than you owe. Don't come back next time, I won't make any more clothes for you!" Su Ziyang's father had been a tailor for many years, possessing the stubbornness and persistence of traditional craftsmen.

Although Su Ziyang's father was stubborn, people still flocked to him to make clothes because Su Ziyang was skilled and his prices were reasonable.

"Sigh, really. I've never seen anyone as stubborn as you! Chasing away a customer, huh? It's just five hundred yuan. Here you go!" The woman opened her handbag, pulled out a wad of cash, counted out five hundred, and placed it on Su Ziyang's father's sewing machine table. "Let's go, boss!"

"Don't come back! I'm not doing business with you anymore!" Su Ziyang's father was clearly still angry, and he said this to the woman's retreating figure after taking the money.

The woman didn't reply, but went outside, got into a white Mercedes, and drove away...

"Who is this, Dad? Isn't this crazy? Driving a Mercedes with so much money, and still haggling over the price!" Su Ziyang said, watching the woman's departing figure.

"Sigh! She's a lunatic. She's had her clothes made here ten times in two months, and after each garment, she tries to haggle. After haggling for ages, she always gives you the original price. She's just haggling for fun, trying to make you angry! Last time she came, I refused to make her clothes, and she sat here all day..." Su Ziyang's father sighed helplessly at this person.

"What a lunatic!" Su Ziyang exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course! When did you get back?" Su Ziyang's father glanced at Su Ziyang and changed the subject.

"I just got back and I'm here to report to you!" Su Ziyang said with a grin.

"You came back by bus!"

"Xiao Zang picked me up! Dad, I heard from Mom that Xiao Zang had an accident recently?" Su Ziyang mainly wanted to ask his dad about this, because he felt that his mom was exaggerating.

"Yeah. I heard from your ninth grandfather that he was eating skewers at a barbecue place that night, and apparently he got into a fight with a little girl. He's so big, and he got beaten up by three people. He had to pay a lot of money, and your ninth grandfather was furious! He insisted on beating him up, and as soon as the kid heard your ninth grandfather was going to beat him up, he ran away. A couple of days ago I went back to my hometown, and your ninth grandmother said he hadn't been home for six months! This kid is getting more and more disobedient!" Su Ziyang's father's words were full of helplessness as he spoke of his youngest brother.

"He also does interior design?" Su Ziyang asked.

"Yeah, he's made some money these past two years. If he didn't, would he dare to challenge your Ninth Grandfather? He's got too big for his britches! You young people these days, sigh! We just can't control you." Su Ziyang's father sighed again.

"Dad, Su Zang wants me to go out to dinner with him tonight. My mom won't allow it!" Su Ziyang then voiced his request.

"Go ahead. We're getting old, and you work out of town. You need at least two good friends at home. You can have fun, but don't fight or start banging hammers!" Su Ziyang's father was much more open-minded.

"Okay. I see my mom is stewing pork ribs. She can't be angry if I go out to eat, right?" Su Ziyang grinned at his dad.

"He'll most likely be angry!" Su Ziyang's father pursed his lips and nodded meaningfully at Su Ziyang.

The father and son had only exchanged a few words when Su Ziyang's father's phone rang.

"Hey, do you still blanch the ribs? Besides ginkgo, cinnamon, and Sichuan peppercorns, what other spices do you put in the stewed ribs? How much salt do you put in it? And do you caramelize the sugar?!"

Su Ziyang's mother's voice came through the phone, and a series of questions made Su Ziyang's father's scalp tingle.

"Blanching the water, I've already wrapped up the spices for you, they're in the cupboard next to the cutting board. Just add a small spoonful of salt for now! Don't bother stirring the soup!" Despite his tingling sensation, Su Ziyang's father answered all of his wife's questions.

Okay! I understand.

After hanging up the phone, Su Ziyang looked at his father and said, "Dad, if it's not working out, why don't you come out to dinner with me tonight?"

"I want to too..." Su Ziyang's father was a little speechless.

From Su Ziyang's perspective as a son, his mother is absolutely happy in her parents' marriage. Over the years, his father has spoiled her like a little girl.

Aside from doing laundry and cleaning at home, she hardly manages anything at the shop. You wouldn't call her a full-time housewife, because Su Ziyang's mother is completely inept at cooking; her meals are quite terrible.

That evening, fearing his mother would be angry, Su Ziyang ran away from the shop.

Su Zang picked up Su Ziyang in the car. "What do you want to eat, Ziyang?"

"I don't know! I'm not home much these days! I don't know what's good to eat. Just tell me what to eat!" Su Ziyang said softly.

"Let's order some takeout and then eat at my place. It's getting cold outside, so let's not go out. I ordered two cases of liquor; it'll just be the two of us having a good drink tonight!" Su Zang said.

"Okay! You arrange it!"

Su Zang and Su Ziyang had a good relationship since childhood. Su Zang Su Ziyang a junior college and graduated two years earlier than Su Ziyang. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in five years, Su Zang graduated five years earlier than Su Ziyang.

In the past five years, whenever Su Ziyang returned, Su Zang would call Su Ziyang out, and whether it was for a meal or entertainment, he never asked Su Ziyang to take any money.

Whenever Su Ziyang mentioned paying, Su Zang would immediately reply, "You're still in school, how could I let you pay! Wait until you finish school and make a fortune, I won't even give you money!"

Even so, now that Su Ziyang has a job, Su Zang still paid for dinner tonight. When Su Ziyang saw that Su Zang had ordered the food, he wanted to order the drinks, but the drinks had already been ordered by the time Su Zang Su Ziyang to pick him up.

"So you're staying here now?"

Su Zang parked the car on the side of the road, and the two entered a very old residential area. Su Ziyang followed Su Zang to a unit.

"Yes, this is a place I rented myself! Come in!" Su Zang led Su Ziyang into the house.

The room was about 40 square meters, and the furnishings were very simple. There was a double bed, some spare clothes scattered on the floor, and an iron pot on the gas stove in the kitchen.

There was also a table in the living room with a tablet on it, and a bunch of graphic design sketches piled up around it.

"Damn, the house's a bit messy, and I'm too lazy to clean it myself. Hey, go boil some water. I'll tidy this up first!"

After Su Zang finished speaking, he began to tidy up the mess of papers on the table. Su Ziyang picked up the electric kettle on the table and went to the kitchen to boil water.

The two had just finished tidying up the things on the table when the takeout arrived.