Because of Qiao Yu's "harassment", Hao Cheng even reduced her outings. But she never stopped writing to Jiang Mengzhen, writing one letter almost every seven days.
She didn't waste time writing about boring trivia, but mainly picked out things that she found interesting. Every seven days, she would report the progress of the restaurant's business in her letters, after all, Jiang Mengzhen had a share in the restaurant. On the one hand, it showed that she was not greedy for Jiang Mengzhen's money, and on the other hand, it was a disguised way of seeking credit.
After all, it was the first real step in the early stage of entrepreneurship. Although she later had more wealth in her name, this Ruyi Restaurant always meant a lot to Hao Cheng.
From the chilly winter to the peach blossoms in March, Jiang Mengzhen's letter box had already been piled with a thick stack of letters. In addition to recording the restaurant's affairs, Hao Cheng also wrote to him about the progress of memorizing the information.
According to his understanding of Hao Cheng, the other party was not interested in those obscure textual materials, but was more interested in business dealings.
She had obviously put a lot of thought into it, and in just over two months, she had memorized the thick stack. Jiang Mengzhen was really surprised that his efforts would be responded to in this way.
In the second letter between the two, Hao Cheng made an agreement with Jiang Mengzhen that when she passed the imperial examination, she would marry Jiang Mengzhen.
Jiang Mengzhen spread out the letter written by Hao Cheng and smiled slightly at the place where the ink was smeared. Originally, Hao Cheng wanted to write the top three, but she obviously felt that she couldn't be too firm, so she crossed out the two words and changed it to "top of the list".
She was a scholar, which meant that if she could pass the imperial examination, she would marry him. You have to know that the imperial examination in Jin was held every three years. Although Hao Cheng was young, it was okay for him to wait three years before marrying. But Jiang Mengzhen was already 28 years old. If he delayed for another three years, he would be an old man in her eyes.
Even if Hao Cheng was willing to delay that long, he definitely couldn't wait that long. In his reply to Hao Cheng, he wrote a big "Yun" (meaning "Yes"), and before folding the letter, he hesitated for a moment and wrote a line of small characters in small regular script next to the big characters: Even if I haven't passed the imperial examination, I must get married before August this year.
There may be many good women like Hao Cheng in this world, but there is only one Hao Cheng in the world who is willing to treat him as well as he is.
However, he couldn't tell others about Hao Cheng's kindness, firstly because his grandfather, Mr. Lin, didn't approve, and secondly because of the Prince Ying's mansion. The matter he asked his cousin to investigate last time finally had some clues, and the Prince Ying had no grudge against him.
The reason why he wanted to kill him last time was because Prince Ying was jealous and thought that Prince Ying had coveted him and wanted to marry him.
He didn't know whether Prince Ying had any inappropriate thoughts about him, but everyone in this world knew that Prince Ying was vicious and jealous. It was not enough that he was vicious, but his brain was not working well. He was worried that Hao Cheng would be implicated by him and be targeted by Prince Ying.
Hao Cheng could not get enough protection from him in Mingzhou City, and for her safety, he was unwilling to expose her too early before Hao Cheng came to Beijing to marry him.
Of course there is another reason. Even if two people are in love with each other, there is nothing to brag about. After all, private transactions are not a good reputation.
As the time for Hao Cheng to take the imperial examination drew closer, Jiang Mengzhen became more and more eager to see her. He originally wanted to wait for a while, but he received an urgent letter from Manager Bai, and he could not wait any longer, so he ordered his servants to rush to Mingzhou City.
This time Jiang Mengzhen's close confidant Zhu Qing accompanied him. In the bumpy carriage, he plucked up the courage to ask, "Master, you looked so sad after reading the letter. Can you tell me about it so that I can help you solve your problems?"
Jiang Mengzhen was originally busy dealing with the Wei family's property, and in his spare time he also had to prepare his own dowry. After all, even if Hao Cheng proposed marriage after passing the imperial examination, the marriage had to be scheduled in August.
It was an auspicious day, and it gave him relatively ample time to get everything done. He asked the people in the mansion to prepare the phoenix coronet and bridal gown, and he could only do it better than when he got married for the first time.
He couldn't make the wedding dress, but his boss insisted on embroidering it himself, because there was a saying in Jin State that the bridegroom could live a happy life only if he wore the wedding dress embroidered by himself.
He had never looked forward to his marriage with Wei Yanan, but this time with Hao Cheng, he took action personally just to ensure an auspicious and perfect marriage.
However, he was obviously not very good at needlework. His fingers were pierced by many needle holes, and he could only recently embroider two extremely ugly ducks.
Jiang Mengzhen folded the letter and sighed again: "She always reports good news but not bad news. If it wasn't for Manager Bai writing to tell me, I would never have known that she was being bullied by someone."
He paused, and then continued: "She has always been kind and never quarreled with others. If I don't come, wouldn't I just let her be bullied?"
The "she" that Jiang Mengzhen mentioned was naturally Hao Cheng. Zhu Qing didn't know what exactly happened, but seeing Jiang Mengzhen's expression, he just agreed with his words and scolded those people who bullied Hao Cheng.
Hao Cheng was worried that Jiang Mengzhen had not replied to her letters on time in recent days. She ran to the post office for the third time and asked the lady in charge of delivering letters: "Mrs. Song, please check again today to see if my letter has really not been delivered. It should have arrived a few days ago."
The postman was annoyed by her urging: "No, no, I've told you so many times. If there is, I will definitely send it to you as soon as possible. You have come so many times in the past three days. I have errands to do. Come on, come on!"
Mrs. Song's attitude was relatively mild. Hao Cheng walked out reluctantly, looking back every few steps at the place where the letter was left. When he reached the door, he couldn't help but turn back and remind her: "Be sure to notify me in time when you get there!"
Her sad look was simply unbearable. Song Er rubbed the goose bumps on his hands and replied impatiently: "I know, I know. I will definitely send it to you when you get there. My ears are almost callused from hearing so much."
After leaving the post office, she still felt a little disappointed, not knowing that she was about to receive a big surprise.
On the way back home, someone came to the restaurant again. Hao Cheng glanced at the person running over and showed a little surprise on his face: "Why is it you who came this time? Can't you just let Xiao Erniang notify her directly?"
The waitress in the restaurant ran faster, but Manager Bai was quite old and was panting heavily after running only a few steps.
Manager Bai wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Mrs. Xiao Er is busy in this restaurant, so I happened to be nearby, so I came to inform you."
Hao Cheng put down his hand that was pushing open the gate and turned to face her: "What happened this time?"
Manager Bai glanced at her and said hesitantly, "Of course that evil spirit has come again."
Since Qiao Yu announced that she was going to fight with Hao Cheng, she has been always looking for trouble with her. Qiao Mu learned the general cause and effect and asked her to be more tolerant.
At this time, she lowered herself again and took the initiative to ask for reconciliation: "Xiao Yu'er is upset. If he wants to vent his anger on the two of us, my elder sister and I don't mind. I know it's not easy for you. If he causes any losses, all the losses will be deducted from my original share. After the deduction, this restaurant will be yours. But in name, my Qiao family will still protect him. After all, we are sisters, so please coax him this time for my sake."
In Qiao Mu's opinion, it was a great thing that Qiao Yu could be distracted. If he didn't torment Hao Cheng, he would only torment himself. Men can go crazy for love. Some time ago, Qiao Yu was desperate for that handsome scholar. Of course, she couldn't tell Hao Cheng, an outsider, about this family scandal.
Qiao Yu finally found a new hobby and stopped torturing himself physically and mentally, and the entire Qiao family breathed a sigh of relief. Not to mention a new restaurant, even if it was two or three new restaurants, they would be willing to give them to Qiao Yu to trouble himself.
With this way of pampering children, Qiao Yu was blessed by God that he didn't raise his children in a particularly bad way. Hao Cheng had seen Qiao Mu's changing faces so many times that he had long lost the idea of giving advice to such a family.
Anyway, they were not from the same dimension, so she also promised Jiang Mengzhen that they would settle in Beijing after they got married. Thinking that she would not have any intersection with Qiao Yu in the future, she mostly let Qiao Yu do whatever he wanted, and only intervened to avoid a stalemate when he went too far.
In fact, there were a few times when she said something very unpleasant, but the next time Qiao Yu came over before she was fully revived. I don't know what happened this time, and it made Manager Bai come to find her in person.
She walked towards the restaurant, and seeing that Manager Bai had not yet followed, she turned back and urged him, "Hurry up, and explain his affairs to me clearly."
Manager Bai said, "This time it was actually pretty much the same as usual. It was just that a guest looked at Mr. Qiao a few more times, and he got into some conflicts on the spot. But it seems that the female guest also has some background."
Hao Cheng paused and said, "Since you have offended a guest with a background, have you called Sister Qiao over?"
Manager Bai nodded and said, "When I came out to look for you, I sent Xiao Erniang to invite Lady Qiao Er."
"Since you invited Sister Qiao, why did you ask me to come?"
Manager Bai glanced at her and said, "I think since you are the boss, it would be better for you to go and take a look."
Having walked most of the way, Hao Cheng didn't want to turn back, so after walking a few steps, he arrived at a restaurant in the center of the city.
This time it seemed to be quite a big deal, and the restaurant hung a sign saying it was temporarily closed. Hao Cheng entered the building, and when she went up to the third floor, a carriage stopped outside the restaurant.
Hao Cheng went upstairs. The scene was unexpectedly peaceful. Qiao Mu must have settled the matter before she came. Qiao Yu squatted on the ground, his shoulders twitching, and it was unclear whether he was crying.
She walked up to him, without saying a word, and just squatted there.
Noticing someone coming, Qiao Yu looked up and then stood up. Hao Cheng looked at his face. It was clean without any traces of tears, but his eyes were red, making him look like a rabbit.
Hao Cheng asked, "Mr. Qiao?" Not sure if her words touched Qiao Yu's nerves, but he suddenly threw himself into her arms.
Hao Cheng suddenly felt a chill on her back. She subconsciously turned her head and saw the face she had been thinking about day and night.