A tingling itch ran down her waist, and Sun Miao'er felt the hairs on her back stand on end. She hurriedly turned to the side and whispered, "Master, there are too many people around, I have to go."
Seeing her blush like a rabbit again, Fu Yuchi released her hand with a sense of pride, instantly feeling much better. He picked up the porcelain cup and drank his tea.
As lunchtime approached, the restaurant became increasingly crowded, with almost all available seats filled. Fortunately, burgers are convenient to eat and don't necessarily require sitting down. Some people in a hurry bought their burgers, found an empty spot in the restaurant, and ate them standing up.
Fu Yuchi was sitting in the corner when a figure in white suddenly appeared outside the door.
The warmth in his eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by silence as he stared at the spot where the figure stood.
"Why didn't you tell me when you opened your business, Manager Sun? I could have brought you along to support you." Ji Changru was dressed very elegantly today. His white robe with plum blossom patterns was adorned with large peonies outlined in gold thread. People say that peonies are tacky, but on him, they exuded an air of refined nobility.
Sun Miao'er glanced sideways and saw that it was Ji Changru, and couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
For no other reason than that Ji Changru was, after all, a shareholder of the store, having invested real money. But when she thought of how jealous her master looked when they left Yunmiao Manor that night, she didn't think to send someone to inform Ji Changru.
Originally, her master said he would return to Kezhou after her shop opened, and she planned to book a table at Xianweilou to entertain Ji Changru after her master left.
Now that they've come to her of their own accord, she's in a difficult position to explain herself.
Sun Miao'er brought up a prepared meal from the kitchen and found an empty seat for Ji Changru to sit down. "Manager Ji, I was so busy that I forgot. Please have something to eat first."
As soon as Ji Changru sat down, he could feel the extremely oppressive gaze of the man in the opposite corner. Undeterred, he raised his head and met Fu Yuchi's eyes.
When Fu Yuchi saw Ji Changru's gaze coming over, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, and he actually smiled at him, pushed back the chair behind him, and walked over.
"Miao'er, I should point out your fault. How could you not inform Manager Ji about such a joyous occasion as the opening of the store?" Fu Yuchi stepped in front of her, cleverly separating her from Ji Changru.
Sun Miao'er's inner thoughts: Don't you know why I didn't tell my master?
"How is this dish cooked? Manager Sun, could you tell me a thing or two?" Ji Changru, who preferred chicken nuggets, tried two pieces and began to subtly inquire.
Sun Miao'er smiled and said, "This is made by mincing chicken, coating it with batter, and then deep-frying it. It has a crispy outside and tender inside texture. If Manager Ji likes it, you can try making it according to my method."
"Qingxin Food Shop" opened with great fanfare. Everyone outside said that the owner was good at business. In the first month after opening, the first fifty customers every day would be given a cup of milk tea.
As a result, the shop was closed for three consecutive days, but the queue outside was still very long.
On the morning of the fourth day, Sun Miao'er took a rare break from work. She had stayed up for several nights in a row, something even someone made of iron might not be able to endure.
When she got up, Fu Yuchi was sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard. "I've come to say goodbye."
Sun Miao'er's smile froze. After a moment of stunned silence, she asked, "Is Master leaving?"
He lowered his head, half his face buried in the shadows, and said, "Wait for me to come back."
In a single sentence, just four simple words, it seems to have contained all the longing for the rest of the days.
"Can I write a letter and have the pigeons deliver it to my master?" She had prepared her farewell words in her mind, but when it came to her lips, she only said this one sentence.
He turned to look at his little girl, who had indeed grown much taller since then and was now a young woman.
The sky outside was dark and gloomy, with layers of dark clouds covering the sky. A cold wind was blowing from the north, like a harbinger of snow.
However, Yingzhou is in the south, and it rarely snows for decades; the cold weather often lasts only for a short while.
He said, "Of course you can, but times have changed. Little Miao'er, you stay in Yingzhou and remember, don't go anywhere."
Yes, when he left last time, the world was peaceful and prosperous. This time when he returns, things may be different.
"good."
Black Steed chewed a few mouthfuls of hay in the stable, and seemed to sense its master's presence, shaking its head.
A pristine white snowflake landed on the glossy black back of the black horse, standing out vividly.
Then, fine, salt-like snowflakes began to fall from the sky, landing on the ground and quickly melting. The bricks, dampened by the snowflakes, became even darker in color.
"It's snowing." When Sun Miao'er opened her mouth, her warm breath met the icy air, creating a white mist.
That afternoon, a letter was delivered to Pingting Cloth Shop.
It was a letter from Wang Xueru. The letter exchanged a few pleasantries and recounted her experiences in Licheng and how the wife of the Prefect of Yingzhou was delighted with the white silk gift she received.
When Sun Miao'er saw the last part, her heart skipped a beat. Licheng was in trouble, and Wang Xueru was trapped in the prefect's mansion and wouldn't be able to return for a while.
Yingzhou is located in the southeast of Dashang, while Pingnan City is in the southwest corner of Yingzhou, bordering Huizhou to the north. Licheng, as the main city of Yingzhou, is located northeast of Pingnan City and directly east of Huizhou, bordering the river and the sea. It is also the closest place in Yingzhou to Shangjing.
Previously, the army of the King of Wei and the army of the imperial court fought on the eastern foothills of Lushan Mountain. The nearby villages suffered heavy damage and their homes were destroyed. People in several small towns fled south for their lives.
The governors of each prefecture were preoccupied with their own affairs and had no energy to care about the lives of the common people. So when the refugees tried to escape into Licheng, they were stopped by the city's soldiers. Anyone who tried to force their way in was to be killed without mercy.
Licheng was rich in resources and relatively stable. The number of refugees in the surrounding area was increasing, and they were showing a tendency to resist the government troops. They were unarmed, but they had reached a critical moment of life and death. Even if they were killed without mercy, it would not shake the desire of those refugees to squeeze into the city.
The men, wanting their wives and children to have enough to eat, were the first to charge forward, willing to fight to the death.
In less than half a month, the group of refugees had gathered their strength into an army, elected a general, and fought several battles with government troops outside Licheng.
Perhaps the soldiers of Licheng had been corrupted by a life of ease for too long and had long forgotten how to fight. In their fierce battle with these desperate men, the two sides were evenly matched.
Left with no other option, the governor of Yingzhou had to seal the city gates and temporarily prohibit anyone inside the city from leaving, including Wang Xueru.
Sun Miao'er looked at the letter and sighed deeply. It seemed that since their last parting, everything had changed and people were no longer the same.
In just a few months, she acquired two shops, but with war approaching, no one knew how long Pingnan City could hold out, especially since Licheng was about to fall.
Should she move away with her grandmother and two younger brothers?
But as she had told Sun Caiyun and her husband before, where could they run to?
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