When Jiang Mengzhen saw this scene, Hao Cheng was awkwardly avoiding the embroidered handkerchief that was reaching out to wipe her sweat.
In public, he suddenly showed his affection to her, which made her really embarrassed. However, she couldn't do that in front of so many guests and lose face for the son of the city lord.
Speaking of which, the identity of the person living in her house is still a mystery. Even if he is noble, being neglected for a few days will not affect her life in the short term.
But if she offended this spoiled young master, she would be immediately disgraced.
Since he couldn't afford to offend her, Hao Cheng said tactfully: "It's in broad daylight, it won't have a good influence."
Qiao Yu snorted coldly, but Hao Cheng did not hide. He finally wiped the sweat off her forehead with a handkerchief and said disdainfully: "They think their own way, and I do mine. I want to see who is so bold as to meddle in my business!"
It was just wiping Hao Cheng's sweat in the street. When he was dressed as a woman, he had done things with those good "sisters" that were even more outrageous in the eyes of these people.
Of course, hugging and kissing was out of the question. But as an unmarried man, going out alone with those young ladies had already been labeled as immoral in the eyes of those old scholars.
But so what? Those old women still didn't dare to say anything about her in front of him.
Hao Cheng sighed: "I didn't say no, I just think it's not good. If you are happy, I won't stop you."
She secretly complained: He is not her husband, why is he wiping her sweat in the street!
Qiao Yu put away the handkerchief, looking a little surprised. He condescended to wipe her sweat, but she still felt wronged.
A scholar is a scholar. I used to think he was flexible, but he is still pedantic at heart.
Hao Cheng didn't think too much about it, but Qiao Yu has always been willful.
In her opinion, this kind of rich young man is just bored and always wants others to cooperate with him to do this and that.
Qiao Yu was just wiping her sweat, which was not unusual. She really shouldn't have made a fuss about it.
Qiao Yu showed up after she went to Mingjiang Pavilion that day. Hao Cheng was taking care of Jiang Mengzhen that day, but was shocked by his suspected confession and thought about avoiding him for some time.
Originally, the matter of purchasing materials had been handed over to Wang Yang. In order to avoid Jiang Mengzhen, she got up early the next morning and went to the market.
As a result, when she went out early in the morning, she saw Qiao Mu at the door, and next to him was a young boy who was so tender that water could be squeezed out of him. It was none other than Qiao Yu, the son of the city lord, who had met Hao Cheng once when she came out.
The boy was not wearing women's clothes today. He was wearing the most popular style among young men in Mingzhou City.
He seemed to like red, and today's robe was a bright red. The bright red robe was like a ball of fire, which made his porcelain-like skin look whiter than snow.
His facial features are very bright and outstanding, and he is obviously very confident about his appearance. His makeup is very light, and there is almost no trace of powder.
The men in this world seemed to take good care of their hair, and the other party's black hair was also well kept. He was younger than her, but his hair had already reached his waist, and it was smooth and black, like the finest pine soot ink.
In order to match the simple makeup, his hair was simply tied with a white jade crown. Apart from that, he only added a green jade hairpin and a jade pendant of the same color tied around his waist. It was generous but not too plain, luxurious but not gaudy.
Seeing Hao Cheng looking at him, he smiled. Qiao Mu, who was standing next to him, was still yawning, but his brother pinched him calmly, and he immediately perked up: "Come on, Hao Cheng, let me introduce you, this is my brother Qiao Yu, you met before..."
Whenever Qiao Yu was mentioned, Qiao Mu would be full of praise for him, and would only mention the good things about his great achievements. She almost praised her beloved brother as a fairy in the sky or a compassionate Bodhisattva who saved all living beings.
Sometimes she would talk too much and let something slip, so even though Hao Cheng had only met Qiao Yu once, he already had some understanding of him.
She nodded slightly to him, who covered his "claws" with his wide sleeves and pinched the soft flesh on his sister's waist, making Qiao Mu shut up. Then he nodded to Hao Cheng: "I am Qiao Yu."
When he spoke, his chin was slightly raised, like a proud little peacock. Qiao Mu saw this and said, "My brother is very interested in your stall. He also plans to invest in the store we will open together in the future. Take him to the market in the next few days and let him learn more."
Hao Cheng frowned: "Sister Qiao..."
Without waiting for her to say no, Qiao Mu gently pushed Qiao Yu and asked him to stand in front of Hao Cheng: "It's settled, my baby brother is now handed over to you. You are my good sister, so you are not allowed to bully him."
Since Qiao Mu said so, Hao Cheng naturally had no way to refuse.
The two walked for a while, and Hao Cheng took the initiative to start a topic in order to avoid a dull moment. Since Qiao Mu said Qiao Yu wanted to know about the shop, the first thing she said to him was about the shop: "Sister Qiao and I talked about opening a restaurant. The location has been decided, at the junction of the east and west of the city. The original restaurant was not doing very well, and it was thanks to Sister Qiao's help..."
Because it was something that had been planned for several days, Hao Cheng couldn't finish her speech even if she spent half an hour. But after she said only a few words, Qiao Yu became impatient and said in a very arrogant manner: "I'm not interested in this. If I can make money, I'll invest in it."
As the youngest and most favored son in the family, he was relatively well-off than his two older sisters. Not only did his parents often give him pocket money, but he also owned several profitable shops.
With an income of at least a hundred taels of silver every month, the city lord and his wife were afraid that their son would not have enough money, so they were generous in giving him money on weekdays.
Although he usually spends a lot on entertainment, the small treasury he has saved over the years is enough for him to squander with such wealth.
Qiao Yu's attitude was so perfunctory that it didn't seem like he was interested in the shop.
Hao Cheng couldn't continue the sentence. He just secretly complained in his heart, "Evil rich people", and then fell silent.
Next, she answered every question from Qiao Yu, but she never took the initiative to say anything to him, so as not to be disliked for being noisy.
After all, she had no intention of making friends with this young man except for doing business. She only accompanied him on his journey, not eating, drinking or chatting with him, so as to avoid others misunderstanding that she had any improper thoughts.
Perhaps because he found her stall setting up interesting, Qiao Yu would go to the market with her in the next few days, but he didn't get up as early as he did on the first day.
For example, when she does morning exercises or goes to negotiate with suppliers, the young man usually does not accompany her.
Even so, Qiao Yu's existence still caused Hao Cheng a lot of trouble.
Because Qiao Yu's reputation is obviously very loud in this market, these days, it has attracted a lot of people to come and watch the fun, but there are fewer customers who are afraid of trouble.
Moreover, if she wanted to make pancakes, she couldn't spare the time to entertain Qiao Yu. If she wanted to entertain Qiao Yu, she couldn't entertain the guests who came to taste her cooking.
Fortunately, Wang Yang and Dong Xue both learned the recipe from her, and she also spent a lot of time preparing the raw materials. With these unique ingredients, the hand-pulled pancakes they made tasted pretty good. Not too many customers came for the hand-pulled pancakes, which helped her a lot.
However, for Qiao Yu's sake, Hao Cheng still complained to Qiao Mu in private: "I've only been doing business at the stall for the past few days. I put up a sign announcing the price cut so that more customers would know that I would be opening a shop soon. But since your brother came, my stall has even fewer customers than the quietest day before."
Whenever she made a move, Qiao Yu would stand there and glare at the customers. She didn't think his eyes were that scary, but often when he glared at them, the long line in front of the stall would be reduced by two-thirds.
In the past, the four hundred cakes could be sold out very quickly, but as long as Qiao Yu was around, she would definitely have to close the stall very late.
The stall could be handed over to Dong Xue and Wang Yang, but if she went back alone, she would have to confront the one at home. In comparison, she would rather stay outside.
Qiao Mu was silent for a long time after hearing this, then patted her on the shoulder and said, "My brother has always been willful, and even mother and father can't control him. For my sake, please be more tolerant. After a few days, he will find it meaningless and will naturally stop provoking you."
Because his mother, the city lord, expressed opposition, Qiao Mu openly gave up the idea of bringing Hao Cheng and Qiao Yu together.
But Qiao Yu came to her again. She had always doted on her younger brother to the point of lawlessness, so of course she couldn't refuse his request.
She couldn't bear to let Qiao Yu suffer, so she could only let Hao Cheng suffer.
Hao Cheng also understood that his position in Qiao Mu's heart could never compare to that of her beloved younger brother.
After all, the Qiao family is the master of Mingzhou City. If she wants to get rich, she has to rely on this family. Society is so realistic. What else can she do but endure it.
Because of his dislike for Qiao Yu, when preparing the ingredients at home, Hao Cheng used extra force when chopping the chopping board with a kitchen knife: "My good sister's brother, bear with it! The son of the city lord, bear with it! It's only a few days anyway, bear with it!"
Anyway, her attitude towards Qiao Yu became colder day by day. In her opinion, this kind of nobleman could not stand other people's cold faces. When Qiao Yu found it boring, she would naturally feel at ease.
Of course, Hao Cheng did not tell Jiang Mengzhen about Qiao Yu's affairs, because she felt there was no need to do so.
After all, Jiang Mengzhen was not related to her, and she and Qiao Yu were innocent. If she tried to explain deliberately, it would seem as if there was something dirty between her and Jiang Mengzhen or Qiao Yu.
Because of this thought, when Qiao Yu suddenly took out a handkerchief to wipe her sweat, she felt goose bumps all over her body. Qiao Yu, who was obviously dissatisfied with her, still called out to her like a spoiled child: "Idiot."
This sound of "idiot" that was neither angry nor angry was so shocking that Hao Cheng felt that she was going to be sick. However, she soon noticed that Qiao Yu's eyes were not on her, but through her to look at the person behind her.
Hao Cheng turned his head and saw a green figure from the corner of his eye. The woman was thin, and her clothes were almost washed white. In her right hand, she held a book, and in her other hand, she held a dry pancake in an oil paper bag.
Hao Cheng recognized the pancake. It was an ordinary pancake sold in the worst location in the market. It was made with cheap coarse grains and had two or three black sesame seeds sprinkled on it symbolically. It didn't taste very good, but it was cheap and very filling.
She saw that the woman was pretty and Qiao Yu looked a little silly, and she understood immediately. Anyway, this young master was just using her as a shield.
The action of wiping her sweat with a handkerchief just now was probably just to stimulate the woman by taking advantage of the closeness to her.
Just looking at the woman's reaction, she didn't pay any attention to this side. Qiao Yu guessed that Qiao Yu's relationship was also because the King of Xiang was interested, but the goddess was ruthless.
After all, he was just a young man who had just begun to fall in love, and he fell in love with someone he didn't like at all. For a moment, Hao Cheng felt a little more sympathy for this pretty young man.
Qiao Yu looked at her and said unhappily, "What kind of look is that? What do you know? Don't let your imagination run wild."
Hao Cheng just smiled: "Mr. Qiao is right, I naturally don't understand anything."
When the two of them were talking, they were very close to each other. From a distance, it seemed that their postures were very intimate, even like they were flirting.
The two of them had only talked for a few words when Hao Cheng felt a gaze that made her feel uncomfortable from head to toe focused on her.
Qiao Yu's reaction was even more intense than hers. Hao Cheng just felt a little uncomfortable. He felt that the gaze was like stabbing him in the back with thousands of fine needles.
At that moment, he no longer thought about any romantic things. He followed the line of sight and saw a man wearing a cone hat standing far away. There was a thin veil on the cone hat, covering the man's face.
Hao Cheng also saw the man's figure, and her face changed immediately. Qiao Yu didn't recognize this man, but she couldn't fail to recognize him. With that figure and those clothes, this man could only be Jiang Mengzhen.
To escape or to stay, Hao Cheng was struggling fiercely in her mind. Before she could make a suitable decision, the opponent walked towards her step by step.
Jiang Mengzhen's steps were actually very light, but every step seemed to be stepping on the tip of her heart. In her mind, his steps were slowed down and heavy at dozens of times the speed of slow motion.
Hao Cheng felt his heart pounding violently, not the kind of nervousness that comes from a beating heart, but the kind of guilty feeling that comes from being caught cheating on an exam.
It was like she was saying something bad about her homeroom teacher, but when she turned around, she saw the homeroom teacher standing next to her.
Obviously, there was nothing between her and Qiao Yuqing, and she had never promised Jiang Mengzhen anything. Why did she feel so guilty after being looked at by those eyes under the thin veil
But she was guilty and nervous. Every cell in her body seemed to be shouting, "Run!" But her feet seemed to have taken root, firmly rooted to the ground.
One step, two steps... Seeing Jiang Mengzhen getting closer and closer, Hao Cheng swallowed nervously.
Qiao Yu, who was beside her, took the lead and walked away from her side, standing in front of Jiang Mengzhen.
The two men were about the same height. Qiao Yu raised her chin towards the man in front of her like a proud swan. His neck was long and white, and his whole body exuded a youthful aura.
He said in a very arrogant manner: "The one who just looked at me and that scholar, it was you, right?"
The man's slightly deep voice came from under the cone hat: "So what if it's me?"
Qiao Yu didn't expect this person to be so straightforward. He originally wanted to retort to him, but he miscalculated and was a little speechless.
But Qiao Yu was Qiao Yu after all, and he was very strong mentally. He immediately asked, "Then what did you mean by looking at us like that just now?"
Jiang Mengzhen looked at the young man in front of him. His face was undoubtedly beautiful, and the most important thing was that there were two big words written all over his body - young.
If he remembered correctly, the villagers of Xinghua Village said that Hao Cheng was only nineteen years old, and the boy in front of him looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, which was the perfect age for her.
There was a hint of indifference and coldness in his voice: "Whoever I want to see is my freedom. What does it have to do with you?"
Hao Cheng was not far away from the two of them. As soon as Qiao Yu opened her mouth, she felt that the invisible pressure on her had completely retreated.
She took two steps forward and just happened to hear the entire conversation between the two men.
Just listening to their conversation, she felt her face twitching violently. If it were in a martial arts drama, this conversation would be full of mysterious pretense, but this was real life, and she found it funny no matter how she listened to it.
Besides, Qiao Yu is young after all. Although she is a little arrogant, her aura is completely suppressed when she stands in front of Jiang Mengzhen. Moreover, Qiao Yu is slightly taller than Jiang Mengzhen, but as soon as Jiang Mengzhen opened his mouth, she felt that the former was suddenly shorter.
Even Hao Cheng, a bystander, felt so. How could Qiao Yu not realize that he was at a disadvantage when he was facing Jiang Mengzhen directly
He couldn't find a better sentence to mock the man in front of him. He was so angry that he whipped out his whip and lifted the man's cone hat, saying sarcastically, "Why are you wearing a cone hat in broad daylight? You are too ugly to be seen."
As soon as he finished speaking, Hao Cheng involuntarily took a breath of cold air. Jiang Mengzhen's cone hat rolled to the ground along with the whip, right at her feet. The onlookers' eyes were all focused on Jiang Mengzhen's face.
That face was still a little far from that of a fairy, but it was definitely not ugly at all. To be more precise, if he was not presentable, then someone like Qiao Yu would have to be sent back to school for retraining.
Obviously, Qiao Yu was aware of the difference in appearance between the two of them. But how could he admit his mistake to a man who had ill intentions towards him from the beginning? He muttered, "The more good-looking a man is, the more evil he is."
Hao Cheng burst out laughing. Qiao Yu was scolding herself as well. With this laugh, both men focused their eyes on her face.
The excitement was not so good to watch. Hao Cheng hurriedly took a few steps back, turned his face away and pretended that he saw nothing.
Not only her, but the people watching the fun also took two steps back unconsciously, as if they were afraid of provoking them and getting into trouble.
That laugh obviously made Qiao Yu realize his mistake, which made him feel inferior in front of this strange man again. His face puffed up with anger, just like a hamster chewing food with puffed cheeks.
He is so lively and lovely that any other woman would have stopped being angry with him. If she were a woman from the Qiao family, she would immediately admit her mistake and coax him with soft words.
But unfortunately, Jiang Mengzhen is a man who never understands what it means to be gentle with women. He bent down to pick up the cone hat that had fallen in front of Hao Cheng. His voice was as cold as a knife, and he sarcastically said, "Beautiful people can't have bad hearts. What's terrible is that they are ugly, vicious, and stupid without knowing it."
"You!" Qiao Yu's whip stood up straight. As long as the man in front of him dared to say one more word, he guaranteed that the whip would fall directly on him.
Hao Cheng had seen Qiao Yu's fighting ability before, so she couldn't pretend she didn't exist at this time, so she quickly jumped out to smooth things over.
"Don't blame me, Mr. Qiao. He is a distant cousin of mine. He may not be in a good mood recently."
After pacifying Qiao Yu, she gestured to Jiang Mengzhen, asking him to give in first: "Cousin, why don't you apologize to Mr. Qiao quickly."
"Apologize?!" Jiang Mengzhen felt extremely unbelievable about the two words Hao Cheng said.
The word "apology" has never appeared in his dictionary. Only those who were against him wanted him to admit his mistakes, but those who succeeded in admitting their mistakes now have grass three feet high on their graves.
Qiao Yu is just the son of a city lord. Although Mingzhou City is prosperous, the city lord of Mingzhou City, Qiao Shan, is just a fifth-rank official.
Qiao Yu's mother should bow to him whenever she sees him. It was obviously Qiao Yu who offended him first, so why should he apologize to him
Hao Cheng felt very uncomfortable with his gaze, but she also knew Jiang Mengzhen's fighting ability.
If Jiang Mengzhen faced Qiao Yu head-on, he would have no chance of winning. If the whip landed on Jiang Mengzhen, it would only injure other parts of his body, but if it disfigured him, it would be unthinkable.
Moreover, just now, she felt uncomfortable just standing beside Qiao Yu. The malice that Qiao Yu felt when he stared at her with that kind of gaze must be extremely strong.
As a socialist youth who grew up under the red flag, Hao Cheng could not understand at all the self-esteem of those noblemen, which was different from that of ordinary people.
To her, this apology was just a few soft words that meant nothing. But to Jiang Mengzhen, apologizing to the noble Emperor was no big deal. But apologizing to the son of a small city lord who was of lower status than him and dared to whip him and speak ill of him was tantamount to humiliation.
Seeing Hao Cheng's reaction, Jiang Mengzhen closed his eyes and dug his rounded nails deeply into his palms. Fortunately, his expression was hidden under his veil, and his hands were covered by his wide sleeves, so no one could see them.
He opened his lips slightly, ready to say an apology. But Hao Cheng spoke again: "Forget it, this happened because of me, so if Mr. Qiao wants to blame me, then blame me."
She reached out her hand and quickly squeezed Jiang Mengzhen's palm, then took her hand back and whispered, "If you don't want to say sorry, then let's not say it. I'll take care of this matter."
Although she didn't know what was so difficult about a simple apology, she always felt that at that moment, a huge storm seemed to be brewing under the gauze of the cone hat.
Anyway, there are three people involved, one of whom is the young master of the city lord, whom she can't afford to offend.
She didn't know what Jiang Mengzhen's background was, but it was definitely much better than her own, who had no parents and an uncle who was a murderer.
It's not appropriate for anyone to give in, so why not for her? Anyway, she is not a native of Jin, and she doesn't have the inflated and somewhat deformed self-esteem of the women and scholars here.
Jiang Mengzhen obviously didn't expect that she would suddenly change her mind for him, and was a little stunned for a moment. He saw Hao Cheng saying a few words to the stall car, and Wang Yang shouted: "Today the host treats everyone, each person will get a free hand-pulled pancake, while they are sold out!"
A group of people immediately rushed to the stall and took advantage of the crowd.
Hao Cheng leaned over and whispered a few words in Qiao Yu's ear, then hesitated for a moment and took Jiang Mengzhen's hand - the separation between men and women in Jin State was not very strict, and as long as there was a relative relationship, it would not cause criticism if the opposite sex held hands on the street.
Of course, she absolutely could not hold Qiao Yu's hand.
Before Jiang Mengzhen could react, she grabbed him tightly and ran away.
After jogging for a while, she stopped and leaned against the cold stone wall, breathing heavily.
Jiang Mengzhen's cone hat fell off during his intense running. A few strands of black hair slipped quietly from the bun fixed by a jade hairpin, and his pale cheeks were stained with a faint pink.
After his breathing stabilized, he asked, "What did you say to him just now? Why did you suddenly pull me up and run away?"
Hao Cheng had a serious face, but he couldn't help but laugh and said, "I didn't say anything. I just apologized to you alone, so I wanted to make you nervous for once."
This man always looks calm and composed, as if everything is under his control. His previous lamb-like behavior was just an act.
The feeling that she was a hunted prey was really uncomfortable. She had pulled him away just now just to see him panic.
Jiang Mengzhen was not annoyed, and continued: "You apologized to him just now because of me."
"Ah?" Hao Cheng didn't react for a moment. When she understood what the other party was saying, she smiled again and said, "Nothing, just a few words of flattery, it's not a big deal."
In her previous life, she worked in a hotel, doing hotel management work. She often said sorry to others. From childhood to adulthood, whenever there were conflicts, as long as one party was not unilaterally abused, they would usually apologize to each other and say a few soft words. She really didn't think it was a big deal.
Jiang Mengzhen didn't say anything, but just stared at her until the smile on Hao Cheng's face disappeared.
He then approached step by step until he forced Hao Cheng into a corner.
She was clearly a woman in a superior position, but she was forced into a corner by a weak man, as if she was a little white rabbit being targeted by a big-tailed wolf. Hao Cheng felt that she was about to lose face.
Jiang Mengzhen stared into her eyes and said word by word: "I promise that I will never let you suffer this kind of grievance in the future. As long as I am here, you don't need to apologize to anyone in the future!"