Chen Ping'an was eating a tanghulu for the first time in close to 10 years as he made his way back to Clay Vase Alley with the locust branch on his shoulder, and a sense of guilt welled up in his heart as he passed by a house that was even dilapidated than his own. He was considering borrowing some silver from Master Ruan to have the house repaired. 

Even though he had been living on Clay Vase Alley his entire life, he had never seen anyone live in this house. During his plot to lure Bai Yuan into the mountains, he had intentionally led the Mountain-moving Ape to this house, causing him to smash a massive hole into the roof of the house. Chen Ping'an felt a sense of responsibility to have the hole repaired. 

In its original state, the house would've perhaps been able to last two or three more decades, but now that it was more exposed to the elements due to the gaping hole on its roof, it most likely wasn't even going to be able to last five years. 

Essentially, it was the same concept as Cai Jinjian forcibly "pointing the way" for Chen Ping'an, leaving his body open and exposed, much like this house was. Hence, Chen Ping'an was determined to have the house repaired no matter what. It didn't have to be a very grand or spectacular repair job, but it had to be sturdy and serviceable.

He had considered swapping a gold essence copper coin for silver or actual copper coins. Perhaps he could go to Old Man Yang or Master Ruan to have one of his gold essence copper coins exchanged, but he had a feeling that these things were exceedingly...