It was midnight again. A lamp lit up the study. Zhu Ping'an was writing by the window. The rustling sound of the brush brush rubbing against the rice paper was endless. There was a steaming cup of strong tea next to him, and a steaming bowl of white fungus and lotus seed soup next to him. In a corner of the desk near the door, Hua'er was sitting there with a tray in her arms, her cheeks supported, and her little head dozed off little by little.
Inside the study, the enchanting woman Ruonan, who occupied the small bed, was dazed for a moment, as if she had returned to the most relaxing days in the Anqingfu Inn: oil lamp, sitting by the window, a young man, writing all night... ...
"Zhu Ping'an, what time is it now? You have passed the imperial examination and won the first place, why are you still not sleeping?!"
The enchanting girl Ruonan held her cheek with one of her slender jade hands, laughed, stretched out her little feet frivolously and nodded at Zhu Ping'an, pouted her little lips and said in a coquettish voice, half teasing and half blaming Zhu Ping'an for staying up late and affecting her rest.
In her opinion, Zhu Ping'an had already passed the imperial examination and became the top scorer, so there was no need for him to stay up late reading and writing.
"Tomorrow we will have to provide work-for-relief. I need to draw up a plan. Don't worry about me. Just go to sleep."
Zhu Ping'an replied without even raising his head, and continued to concentrate on drafting the work-for-relief plan.
"It's just work-for-relief, why don't you just give the order?"
It turned out that they were drafting a work-for-relief plan, the seductive woman Ruonan curled her lips and said disapprovingly.
In her mind, being an official is the easiest thing to do in the world, much easier than farming or doing business. Being an official only requires sitting in the hall and giving orders, and naturally the people below will take care of it.
"Without due diligence and contingency plans, you just give orders directly? Is that how officials do it?! What is the size of the work-for-relief project, what is the scale, what is the budget, what is the construction period, how to organize the construction, how to ensure the quality of the project, how to pay the workers, how to deal with emergencies... ... If I don't make a comprehensive plan in advance, then the work-for-relief disaster relief I'm planning will become a shoddy project of 'making decisions on the spur of the moment, making promises with promises, and then walking away'?! Is this disaster relief, or is it just adding to the disaster?"
Zhu Ping'an raised his head and glanced at the evil woman Ruonan, pulled the corners of his lips downwards, and said speechlessly.
No wonder the evil woman Ruonan has no good impression of officials. Her understanding of officials is completely wrong.
However, there are indeed some officials like this in reality, but I, Zhu Ping'an, am not such an official.
"You..." The evil woman Ruonan habitually started to argue.
"Please, stop disturbing my uncle and wasting his time, okay? He always has to finish writing before going to bed. If you disturb him, he will have to stay up a little longer. My uncle hasn't had an early rest for more than a month! Even a man of iron can't stand it, and you're still wasting his time!"
The chubby little maid Hua'er exploded, her almond eyes widened, and she shouted at the evil woman Ruonan angrily like a hen protecting her chicks.
In fact, Hua'er was obviously very afraid of the evil woman Ruonan, but at this moment, she was extremely brave.
Have you been staying up late like this for more than a month? !
The demon woman Ruonan was stunned when she heard this. It turned out that Zhu Ping'an had worked so hard for the Jingnan flood... But the people outside didn't know. Not only didn't they know, they didn't understand. Especially after Zhu Ping'an reduced the treatment of the flood shelters and raised the price of grain, the people kept scolding him, especially when they thought that they were also among those who had been scolded.
The evil woman Ruonan couldn't help feeling a little guilty.
Zhu Ping'an has given so much to Jingnan, but in return he was scolded... How pitiful.
For a moment, the eyes of the demon woman Ruonan looking at Zhu Ping'an were filled with maternal radiance...
After knowing that Zhu Ping'an had been staying up late to formulate a work-for-relief plan, the seductive woman Ruonan tactfully stopped disturbing Zhu Ping'an.
She just lay on the bed and watched Zhu Ping'an quietly, watched Zhu Ping'an drink three cups of strong tea to refresh himself, watched Zhu Ping'an rub his forehead hard in thought, watched Zhu Ping'an write on one piece of rice paper after another. Finally, after Zhu Ping'an wrote on another piece of rice paper, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He placed the brush in his hand on the pen holder and stretched himself, as if he had finished his work.
"Son-in-law, have you finished writing? Drink this goat milk while it's hot. Mrs. Wang, who sells goat milk, said it helps you sleep."
Huaer diligently presented a cup of goat's milk, opened the lid with her little hands, and the goat's milk inside was still steaming.
Hua'er saw Zhu Ping'an staying up late these days, and it hurt her heart. When she was buying vegetables, she heard Wang Pozi, who was selling goat milk, say that drinking goat milk at night would help with sleep, so she bought the goat milk without hesitation. If she didn't have time to feed the sheep, she would even want to buy the sheep back.
"Thanks for the hard work. It tastes good."
Zhu Ping'an smiled gently and did not reject Hua'er's kindness. He reached out to take the goat milk and drank it all.
"Hehe, if my uncle likes it, I will heat up a cup of goat's milk for him every night. Tomorrow, I will ask Mrs. Wang if there are other ways to cook goat's milk. I will try a few more ways so that my uncle won't get tired of it."
Hua'er was a very competent maid. As she spoke, she took out an embroidered handkerchief and helped Zhu Ping'an wipe the corners of his lips.
Zhu Ping'an is now accustomed to Hua'er's service. It is indeed easy to go from frugality to luxury.
"Miss Ruonan, you and Huaer go to the inner room to sleep. I'll rest in the study." After tidying up the desk, Zhu Ping'an saw that the enchantress Ruonan was still awake, so he said to her, asking her to go to the inner room to rest with Huaer, while he would stay in the study to rest.
"Haha, I don't want to do anything to spoil the mood. Just hug your little lover and go to sleep."
The demon girl Ruonan chuckled when she heard this.
Huaer blushed.
What?! Zhu Pingan pulled the corner of his mouth speechlessly and insisted on driving the evil woman Ruonan to the inner room.
"What, Zhu Ping'an has never slept with you?"
After the demon girl Ruonan and Huaer went to the inner room to settle down, the demon girl Ruonan still couldn't believe what Huaer said.
"Speak softly..." Hua'er said with a red face.
"Aren't you a dowry maid or a concubine? You are pretty, and your figure is voluptuous and attractive..." The seductive woman Ruonan looked Hua'er up and down, and suddenly seemed to think of something. She couldn't help but giggled, "Hehehe... You don't eat the meat that is delivered to your mouth. I'm afraid Zhu Ping'an is useless, right?"
"What nonsense are you talking about! Don't slander my uncle. My uncle is very useful. Our young lady is pregnant."
When the chubby little maid Hua'er heard the evil woman Ruonan saying bad things about Zhu Ping'an, she couldn't help but get angry.
(⊙o⊙)…
The demon woman Ruonan was surprised when she heard this.
Zhu Ping'an is really hard to figure out. If I were a man and put myself in his shoes, I would have eaten him a long time ago.