Hao Cheng opened his eyes wide unconsciously when he heard this: "What did you just say?"
Qiao Mu retreated again: "Don't you understand what I just said? Of course, I want you to chase my brother here, so that he won't marry that scholar, and he won't have to live a hard life with that woman."
Hao Cheng immediately rejected her proposal: "No, I don't agree."
Qiao Mu immediately blew his beard and glared: "Isn't my brother handsome, or do you think he is not worthy of you!"
Hao Cheng shook his head: "Mr. Qiao is very good."
"That's it!"
Hao Cheng still shook her head. She didn't say anything nonsense. She just said, "Hao already has someone she likes. Hao is not worthy of your brother."
Qiao Mu narrowed his eyes and looked at her: "How come I didn't know that you had someone you liked? When you came to Mingzhou City before, you said that you didn't have anyone you liked."
She had lived with Hao Cheng for such a long time, and she had never seen any man come to Hao Cheng's house. If Hao Cheng used such an excuse to perfunctorily deal with her, it would be too disrespectful to take her seriously.
Hao Cheng explained calmly, "He came to me these past few days. I was worried at first and didn't like him that much. I also thought that we might never meet again in this life, so naturally there was no such thing as someone I liked. But now that the misunderstanding has been resolved, I can't let him down."
She paused, and then said, "If Sister Qiao can't do it, you can go back and ask your brother. Speaking of which, he and Mr. Qiao had some minor friction that day. I'd like to ask Sister Qiao to say sorry to me when she goes back."
Her eyes were clear and her attitude was sincere, without any trace of lying. Qiao Mu believed most of it, but still felt very sorry: "Is it really impossible? What kind of wonderful person is this, who is better than my little Yu'er?"
In her heart, Qiao Yu was naturally the best, and it was Hao Cheng's loss that he didn't like her younger brother.
Thinking of Jiang Mengzhen, Hao Cheng smiled lightly: "Compared to Mr. Qiao, he naturally has many shortcomings. But to me, he is the best in the world. Since I have someone I like, I naturally cannot pursue Mr. Qiao. Otherwise, I will not only let him down, but also let down Sister Qiao's trust in me. What do you think?"
That's right. A woman who is thinking about other men is definitely not worthy of her brother. However, Qiao Mu was still dissatisfied that his proposal was rejected so quickly by Hao Cheng. He frowned and said, "What if I force you to pursue my Xiaoyuer?"
Hao Cheng was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Of course not."
"Then why not just put on a show? At least let that woman get jealous and let her see that my little Yu'er is not someone who doesn't want him!"
Hao Cheng continued to shake his head: "No."
Qiao Mu was also annoyed: "You are not willing to help your sister with such a small matter. If I say that if you don't help me, I will not do business in this restaurant anymore."
This time Hao Cheng hesitated for a moment, but after a moment, he said firmly: "No, I can't let him misunderstand because of this."
Regardless of whether Qiao Yu was willing to cooperate, even if she was, Jiang Mengzhen should be unhappy, although it was understandable. But this era was not her previous world. What if Qiao Mu said she was performing and then turned around to force her to marry Qiao Yu because of the reputation issue
You should not have the intention to harm others, but Hao Cheng was also on guard. Qiao Mu had already handed over the deed to her for the restaurant. If she regretted it temporarily, she would definitely suffer losses and there would be troubles later, but it was not impossible to solve it.
Money can be earned again, but people can never be saved. If Jiang Meng was really angry, she always felt that the consequences would be more serious.
Qiao Mu patted the table, snorted, and put on his cloak and went out. Hao Cheng didn't know what this man was thinking, so he continued to look at the account books and waited for the sun to set before coming out of the restaurant, putting on a thick cloak and holding an oil-paper umbrella to walk towards home.
This umbrella was made of a picture by Jiang Mengzhen. The plum blossoms on it were elegant and pure, with red plum blossoms dotted on the snow. Hao Cheng liked it very much. There were three similar umbrellas at home, each with orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum painted on it.
These were all paintings that Jiang Mengzhen had drawn in front of her. Hao Cheng watched them for a long time and thought to himself that he had really picked up a treasure.
Because it was snowing, although the sky was dark, the snow piled on the street made the whole house bright.
As soon as Hao Cheng entered the room, she saw the orange light on in the study. The door was ajar, and an umbrella of the same style as hers was placed against the outer wall.
She glanced at the pattern on the umbrella in the light of the snow. It showed a clump of green bamboo rooted on a rock. There was still some unmelted snow on the umbrella. It was obvious that the person in the house had just returned not long ago.
She folded her umbrella and walked into the courtyard, placing it on the ground. She then pushed open the half-open door and went in, leaving the two umbrellas of the same style leaning closely against each other, looking like a pair, which made people feel happy.
An oil lamp was lit in the study. Jiang Mengzhen sat upright at the desk with a pile of papers similar to official documents in front of him.
Hao Cheng turned around and closed the study door, then turned around again and met Jiang Mengzhen who had raised his head.
When Jiang Mengzhen saw that it was her, he simply stood up and asked, "Why did you come back so early today?"
"Things have been almost dealt with, so I came back a little early." Hao Cheng came over curiously and saw that the table was covered with words, and there were many places with red circles drawn with a red pen: "What are these things for?"
"It's the test questions." Jiang Mengzhen would place things in the study with the door ajar, and of course he didn't hide anything from her. Seeing that Hao Cheng was interested again, he generously made room for her to have a good look, and even pushed a stack of papers over to him, motioning Hao Cheng to pick them up and take a closer look.
"Test questions?" Hao Cheng picked up the papers on top and asked with some confusion.
Jiang Mengzhen nodded: "Didn't you say you were going to prepare for the imperial examination? I saw that you were so busy these days, so I thought of sorting out some exam questions from previous years, maybe it would be helpful to you."
As a man, he cannot become an official, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about the things in the court. Since Hao Cheng wants to study and comes from a poor family, he must rank high if he wants to stand out.
He had talked to Hao Cheng before. The other party's basic skills were quite solid and his handwriting was good, but it was not eye-catching.
He pointed to a few calligraphy copies placed on the other side and said, "Your handwriting is not yet finalized. This copybook is Yan Jiaqin's. The examiner who will take the exam next year likes Yan style the most. Practicing with it for a while may help you get extra points in the exam."
Jiang Haocheng had heard of Yan Jiaqin, a very famous calligrapher in world history. She was probably as well-known as Yan Zhenqing of her time. An authentic copy of her work could be worth a lot of money, and Jiang Mengzhen even got several of them.
Considering Jiang Mengzhen's identity, she didn't ask him where he got these things, nor how he knew the examiner's preferences. Jiang Mengzhen wouldn't harm her anyway, so she happily agreed: "Thank you for taking so much trouble."
Jiang Mengzhen didn't mention the difficulty of highlighting those knowledge points. Seeing her happy, he smiled unconsciously and said casually, "They are not rare things. I just paid a little attention to them. It would be great if I can help you."
He knew that most women didn't like their husbands tinkering with these things. Originally, he didn't care about them, but when people really fall in love, they tend to worry about gains and losses.
Even a fairy would worry that she is not beautiful enough in the eyes of her mistress, not to mention that he has a lot of problems. If you do some things carefully, you still have to worry about not being able to please her and making her unhappy.
If it had been in the past, he would have just laughed at this kind of man and called him a fool. But when he really got into it, he finally understood what it meant to be happy with it.
Fortunately, Hao Cheng didn't dislike him. She seemed to accept all his shortcomings. But the more she did this, the harder it was for him to let go. Unconsciously, he became more and more serious about her.
Hao Cheng put down the manuscript in her hand and reached out to touch the back of Jiang Mengzhen's hand. As she expected, the other party's hand was still cold, like an ice lump. She shivered at the coldness, then frowned and wrapped the other party's hand in her warm palm.
She frowned and complained, "Why don't you wear more clothes? Or use a hand warmer. Your hands are so cold."
Jiang Mengzhen felt warmed by the warmth from her hands, and his tone became as gentle as spring water. He explained, "I'm not cold, but in this kind of weather, my hands are a little cooler."
Hao Cheng didn't say anything else. He just held his hands silently for a while. When his hands were no longer so cold, he told Dong Xue to fill the hot water bottle for Jiang Mengzhen to warm his hands.
She went into the kitchen again to check the inventory, and packed some vegetables and meat and said, "It's so cold today, let's have some hot pot to warm ourselves up."
Considering that Jiang Mengzhen couldn't possibly eat with Dong Xue and Wang Yang, and that there was absolutely no such thing as a master and a servant eating at the same table in this world, she thought about it and decided to ask Wang Yang to borrow a small pot from next door, and the four of them would split into two groups and eat their own food.
While eating, she wanted to mention Qiao Mu's matter, but hesitated for a moment and finally didn't say it. Jiang Mengzhen noticed her hesitation, but she didn't want to say it, so he didn't ask, but just casually said: "Do you think the few people I introduced to you before are still easy to use?"
The accountant and the shopkeeper were recommended by Jiang Mengzhen. Hao Cheng considered them carefully and hired them directly. They have been of great help to her in the past few days. "They are very useful, but I think it is a waste of talent to let them manage the restaurant."
Jiang Mengzhen smiled and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? It is your blessing that they can help you."
After eating the hotpot, Jiang Mengzhen's forehead was covered with sweat. Hao Cheng came over and shook his hand. Finally, his hand warmed up. He then smiled with satisfaction.
After all, the two of them were not married yet, and she was concerned about his reputation, so she only held his hand in the past few days and didn't do anything too reckless.
The kiss was basically just a light touch. It wasn't that she didn't have the courage, but the women in this world seemed to have stronger sexual desires. She was afraid that while kissing, she would overstep her bounds.
Jiang Mengzhen told her that the wedding was being prepared and that there was no rush after he had everything sorted out. When the time was almost up, Hao Cheng reluctantly left and even thoughtfully closed the door for Jiang Mengzhen.
The next day, Jiang Mengzhen left the house not long after Hao Cheng left. When Hao Cheng arrived at the restaurant, as soon as he entered, the waiter who lived in the restaurant and was in charge of night watch said, "Boss, Manager Bai went out today for something, let me tell you on her behalf."
Anyway, the matter has been dealt with almost, Hao Cheng waved his hand to indicate that he already knew.
Manager Bai went out early in the morning because he had something to do. He waited for a long time in an inconspicuous attic before his master came.
When she saw the man with an umbrella coming in, she immediately went out to greet him and took the umbrella from his hand with great respect. The umbrella was very beautiful, with a clump of green bamboo growing on the rocks painted on it. It looked full of vitality and greenery in the ice and snow.
"My master's painting skills are even better than before." She bent over with an almost flattering smile.
The latter didn't say anything, but with just one look, she knew what he wanted to hear. She cleared her throat and recounted everything that happened yesterday in vivid detail: "Yesterday, the second daughter of City Lord Qiao came, and this is what she said at the time..."