Hao Cheng stared at the two words for a long time, her expression changing from crying to laughing. Fortunately, no one else saw it, or they would have thought she was in a state of delusion.
After she calmed down, Hao Cheng restored the letter into a heart shape according to the marks it had been opened, and then carefully placed it together with the envelope into a small locked box that she had asked a craftsman to make.
After putting the letter away, Hao Cheng counted the stack of money again. Each silver note was worth one thousand taels, and there were about thirty notes in the thick stack, which meant a total of thirty thousand taels.
Hao Cheng looked at the huge sum of money and felt a little happy at first, but then he started to feel troubled.
Jiang Mengzhen gave her so much money at once without explaining his purpose. He certainly wasn't taking the 30,000 taels as a dowry.
In this era, men marry women, and even if a widow remarries, there is no reason for the man to pay for the dowry first. Although Jiang Mengzhen is remarrying, this is her first marriage and will be her last, so naturally she has to give him a grand betrothal gift.
Although she didn't have much money to run the restaurant, she didn't need Jiang Mengzhen to pay for her dowry. She temporarily sealed the 30,000 taels of silver, and wrote a letter of longing, asking about the purpose of the money.
As soon as she finished writing, she couldn't wait to mail the letter herself. On her way back, she was bumped into by someone. Before she could scold the person for walking more carefully, the other person blamed her, the victim: "You didn't have eyes when you walked. You didn't know how to avoid it!"
Hao Cheng was about to explode when he felt that the voice was very familiar. He looked closely and realized that it was none other than Qiao Yu, whom he had not seen for a long time.
She called out tentatively, "Mr. Qiao?"
The latter looked up at her, with tears still on his face. At this time, Qiao Mu's voice came from not far away. The other party seemed to be very tired of chasing, and his heavy breathing sounded like he was out of breath.
"Hide me quickly! Don't let my sister find me! Otherwise I will smash your restaurant." Qiao Yu said almost in an imperative tone. Before Hao Cheng could react, the latter hid in a corner.
The position where Hao Cheng stood was just enough to block the outside world's view of that corner.
Qiao Mu appeared in Hao Cheng's sight in a few seconds. When he saw her, he was a little stunned at first. He didn't know if it was because he hadn't gotten over the previous cold war, so he just pretended not to see her.
Hao Cheng had no choice but to call her out: "Sister Qiao."
Qiao Mu turned around, with a bit of impatience on his face: "What do you want from me?"
Hao Cheng asked: "Are you looking for Mr. Qiao?"
Qiao Mu didn't care about being arrogant at this time, and asked anxiously: "Did you see Xiao Yu'er? Where did he go?"
Hao Cheng felt as if the gazes behind her could burn several holes in her body, but she remained expressionless, nodded, and then pointed in a random direction: "I saw him go that way."
She immediately felt that the lethality of the sight behind her had slowed down a lot. Qiao Mu looked at her doubtfully, but there were not many people in this place. She didn't believe Hao Cheng, so she could only continue looking in a random direction.
Qiao Mu only glanced at her for a few seconds before leaving in a hurry. Hao Cheng stood there and watched Qiao Mu and his group leave. When they were completely out of her sight, she moved her steps and walked towards home.
She hadn't walked a few steps when she realized Qiao Yu was following her. The other party didn't say anything, so she didn't take the initiative to speak. Anyway, the two siblings were not good people, and it was good enough for her to help Qiao Yu. If she took the initiative to show her kindness, Qiao Yu might think she was flattering him and then mock her.
One walked, the other followed. When Hao Cheng returned to her own residence, Qiao Yu, who had always been unfriendly to her, followed her all the way. When Hao Cheng entered the house, he even wanted to follow him in.
The courtyard door was only half open, so Hao Cheng closed it in time, then turned around and pointed to the house next to it: "Your sister's residence is next door, Mr. Qiao, just go in, and don't lose your mind and go to the wrong residence."
She obviously did not welcome this Mr. Qiao, although Qiao Yu was indeed young, beautiful, and had a strong personality. But she already had Jiang Mengzhen, and she could not afford other men, nor did she have any desire for him.
Qiao Yu was reminded of this by her, and his face became a little embarrassed. He didn't know if it was because he was really hurt, but he endured it.
Hao Cheng thought he couldn't stand the cold face, but when she entered the yard, Qiao Yu took the opportunity to follow her in.
Anyway, the young master was very willful, so she just ignored him. Hao Cheng closed the door, completely ignored Qiao Yu, and walked straight into his room.
Qiao Yu glanced at her and said coldly, "None of you women are good. You are all full of lies."
This was really unfair. Hao Cheng ignored him and continued to talk to himself: "My sister was so good to you, but you just lied to her. And she is the same, she is also a liar!"
Oh, it was obviously he who threatened her first, and if she followed his will, she would be in trouble. She didn't like Qiao Yu, but she chose to help him instead of Qiao Mu, just because Qiao Mu was a maniac who loved his brother. If she sold him out, he would smash her restaurant right away, given his temper.
Qiao Mu was grateful to her now, but when Qiao Yu said that, he didn't know where his heart would go.
No matter what she does, Qiao Yu will ridicule her, so of course she has to make a choice that is beneficial to herself.
Hao Cheng closed the door and ignored her. There were originally two servants in the house, and Hao Cheng sent them both to work in the restaurant. It was still early, and the two of them had not returned yet. Apart from Hao Cheng, Qiao Yu had no one to talk to.
It has to be said that people are all mean at heart. For example, other women who like Qiao Yu are willing to cling to him, but he ignores them. The woman he likes shows no interest in him in every way, but he can't help but stick to her.
Hao Cheng in front of him was also cold to him. Although he felt embarrassed, he still followed him here. In such a small courtyard, he felt inexplicably at ease.
There was no movement in the room, and Hao Cheng ignored him. They were both scholars, and although they had different temperaments and family backgrounds, at this moment, he felt that Hao Cheng and that person seemed to overlap.
He couldn't utter any threatening words. He just stood in the yard, gritting his teeth. It seemed as if his feet had taken root. He stood there motionless, like a piece of wood.
Hao Cheng was not soft-hearted. To her, the Qiao family was simply insane. Qiao Mu was usually quite normal, but when it came to her brother, she felt that the two of them had completely different values. They couldn't be close friends, but they could be friends who were maintained by interests.
Anyway, there was no unsolvable conflict between them, and being ordinary friends was better than being enemies. As for Qiao Yu, she had no intention of provoking this young master from the beginning to the end.
Qiao Yu was arrogant and domineering, and was the nemesis of ordinary scholars like them who did not have a strong family background. She remembered everything about the day she first came to Mingzhou City.
When Qiao Yu's legs were numb from standing in the yard, she still stayed in the house to review her homework, and for a moment she completely forgot about Qiao Yu's existence.
Anyway, such a delicate young man would leave when he was hungry or tired. If it weren't for Jiang Mengzhen, she might have softened her heart. But considering Jiang Mengzhen, she was unwilling to wade into Qiao Yu's muddy water.
After hearing the movement from Dong Xue and Wang Yang outside, Hao Cheng stretched himself and walked out of the study room filled with the scent of ink.
The Lantern Festival had passed, and it was still chilly in spring, with the sky getting dark early. When Hao Cheng came out, a crescent moon was already hanging on the treetops, and a few stars were scattered in the deep blue sky.
With the light coming through the room, she glanced at the place where Qiao Yu had stood before, and the stubborn young master had indeed left.
Hao Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. Dong Xue had already prepared the meal and was about to come out to call her to eat. Seeing her in the yard, she said, "Master, the meal is ready."
Hao Cheng nodded and entered the dining hall, but saw that there was an extra person in the hall. It was none other than the charming young master Qiao Yu.
Hao Cheng's face immediately darkened: "Who left him here?"
Both people in the mansion knew Qiao Yu's identity, and they thought he was Hao Cheng's guest, so they certainly didn't have the courage to let Qiao Yu go. Dong Xue said timidly, "I was the one who kept Mr. Qiao."
His eyes were red, and he looked like he was about to shed tears. Never mind, Hao Cheng couldn't vent his anger on the servants, so he put two bowls on a long wooden plate, took out a portion of rice and a bowl of his favorite dish, and prepared to eat in his room.
Qiao Yu was a proud person after all. Seeing Hao Cheng's attitude, he finally couldn't stand it anymore and burst out on the spot: "Hao, what's the point of your attitude!"
Hao Cheng looked at him with strange eyes: "Of course I am avoiding suspicion. Young Master Qiao is not married yet. Even if he doesn't care about these things, I have to consider my own reputation."
After that, she turned around and walked out the door without paying any attention to Qiao Yu. Qiao Yu immediately smashed a bowl. Dong Xue and Wang Yang were both servants of the Hao family. They were concerned about his status and did not dare to control him.
After being so angry with Hao Cheng, Qiao Yu certainly couldn't stay in the Hao family. He slept in his sister's yard next door for one night and returned home the next day.
From the time he was born till now, he had never been so disliked by others. Even that person had never ignored him so much. He temporarily put aside the painful and doomed first love. Like a child throwing a tantrum, he and Hao Cheng had a complete fight in order to get revenge.