Chapter 258: Qiao Youyou is unmoved

The next day, Qiao Youyou completed her roll call early in the morning. As soon as she entered the office, she heard someone say that the head of the office was looking for her.

As the head of the Ministry of Finance, Min Yuan had a private room to handle official business. When he saw Qiao Youyou push the door open, he immediately put on a friendly and amiable face and motioned for her to sit down and talk in detail.

"Mr. Qiao, have you been doing your work smoothly these days at the Ministry of Revenue?" Min Yuan took a sip of tea and asked casually.

Qiao Youyou didn't know what he was up to, so she said bluntly, "It's OK, but there are too many rules."

Min Yuan laughed, "Mr. Qiao is a newly-appointed Jinshi, so his ability and wisdom must be outstanding. However... the officialdom is like a battlefield, and the work of our Ministry of Revenue is extraordinary. Sometimes, for the sake of the court's major plans, we need to work harder to ensure that everything goes well. Do you understand what I mean?"

Qiao Youyou blinked and nodded, "Of course, Master, don't worry, as long as I'm on duty, I will work diligently and never slack off."

The smile on Min Yuan's face froze. Although he didn't understand what she meant by "slacking off", it didn't matter.

"No, you didn't understand what I meant." Min Yuan put down the tea bowl, leaned forward, and slowed down his tone.

"I mean, you should work harder and give more for the court and the people. Our Ministry of Revenue has a lot of complicated affairs, and sometimes we have to add more time to manage the affairs. Look at your colleagues around you, who is not working diligently..."

"I work diligently, too." Qiao Youyou's big eyes blinked with innocence. "Any account book that has passed through my hands will never be wrong. If you don't believe me, you can check it out. As for the increase in the number of directors... I have finished my work and am on duty according to the hours stipulated by the court. Is it wrong to be efficient?"

"You..." Min Yuan opened his mouth and looked at her in surprise.

It doesn’t make sense, why doesn’t it make sense!!!

Is she really stupid or just pretending?!

This is really a matter of life and death. Why would the Minister send such a young and foolish person to the Ministry of Revenue?

Look at the other official Xiao Wan who came in with him. He wishes he could live in the Ministry of Revenue every day. He can do the work of three people by himself.

If only everyone could be like her!

Look at this guy named Qiao in front of you. How come there is such a big difference between the two Jinshi who passed the same imperial examination?

Min Yuan took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

Don't be angry, don't be angry.

Since reasoning doesn't work, the only thing we can do is appeal to their emotions.

"Well... Mr. Qiao." Min Yuan said carefully, "Listen to my advice, it's good for young people to suffer more. If you don't suffer, others will be one step ahead of you. Alas, I really think you are a good seedling, so I tell you these heartfelt words. If it were someone else, I wouldn't say these to you."

Qiao Youyou blinked her innocent eyes and said nothing. Min Yuan thought she had heard him, so he continued:

"As the saying goes, the government office is your second home, and your colleagues are like your family. We are a whole, and everyone is busy, but you leave at the hour of You. You are too independent, and others think that our Ministry of Finance is not united."

Qiao Youyou seemed to understand something. "Master, you are right. This does not seem to be a good idea."

Min Yuan was delighted, thinking that she finally got it, but the next moment the smile froze on his face.

"So why not ask everyone to improve their efficiency when on duty and stipulate that no one should stay after the You hour arrives. In this way, everyone can go off duty together, and it will be neat and tidy!"

Qiao Youyou thought her idea was great.

"You...you get out, get out!"

Min Yuan finally couldn't bear it anymore.

Oh my God, why do I have to deal with such an unyielding subordinate!

Since it doesn't make sense, if we let such a person stay, I'm afraid it will disrupt the discipline of the entire Ministry of Finance. No, we must not let this happen!

Qiao Youyou was directly kicked out by Min Yuan. She curled her lips indifferently, as she did nothing wrong anyway.

As soon as I got out of the door, I ran into someone head-on.

"Wenren Yuebai?" Qiao Youyou was a little surprised. "Why are you here?"

"Official business connection." Wenren Yuebai said concisely.

Qiao Youyou said "Oh", "Are you here to see Master Min?"

She glanced behind her and lowered her voice to say seriously, "Lord Min is in a bad mood and just scolded me. Don't provoke him now, or he will scold you too."

"He won't. After all... I've never been on duty at twilight hour."

Wenren Yuebai said this lightly, then pushed the wheelchair in.

When they passed each other, Qiao Youyou vaguely saw a faint curve at the corner of his lips, and for a moment she thought she was seeing things.

This guy... just laughed?

Also, how did he know that he was on duty at the hour of You every day? Could it be that this matter had already become known to everyone in the Ministry of Revenue?

Qiao Youyou was confused and walked away in doubt.

…

Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan left the palace after finishing their shift at the Hanlin Academy. Zhu Qingyan was curious about the steamed buns that Mr. Dong mentioned, so Zhu Lan went with her to Zhengyang Street to look for the Xinfeng steamed bun shop.

It was still early at this time, and Zhengyang Street, a road wide enough for eight carriages to run side by side, was bustling with people coming and going.

The bun shop is not difficult to find. Looking around, you can see the long queue in front of the shop. The aroma of buns wafting from afar is mouth-watering.

Zhu Lan and the other person were at the end of the line. Zhu Qingyan looked at the endless line and suddenly felt a little regretful.

If I had known that I would have to wait so long in line, I would have brought a book with me when I went out to avoid the boredom of waiting so long.

"Bang!" A gavel exploded in the crowd.

Everyone who was queuing up out of boredom was immediately attracted by the sound.

I saw a thin man in a gray and white gown. He put a table in the street and stood behind it with a gavel in one hand and a folding fan in the other hand, looking like a storyteller.

Zhu Qingyan perked up a little and whispered, "This storyteller really knows how to pick and choose business places."

Zhu Lan narrowed his eyes slightly and pointed at the storyteller, "Look—"

"What are you looking at?"

"neck."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Qingyan looked towards the storyteller's neck and was suddenly stunned.

"…female?"