Chapter 234: Little Boy
Shopkeeper Luo's servant was very capable. He squatted in the yard with Niu Niu. In a short while, he made two grasshoppers for Niu Niu using long and thin wild grass.
"Once upon a time there was a little grasshopper who worked very, very hard..."
The servant even told a little story while holding a straw grasshopper.
Niu Niu listened with great interest. Even when Manager Luo and Liu Xiaoru came out of the room, Niu Niu was still not satisfied.
"My dear, do you want to eat noodles for lunch?" Liu Xiaoru asked with a smile.
Niuniu's eyes lit up, and then she looked at Shopkeeper Luo and asked, "Uncle Luo, have you made peace?"
"Niuniu, do you know that I had a quarrel with your Aunt Liu?" Shopkeeper Luo asked with a smile.
Niuniu straightened up proudly and said, "Of course, I have sharp eyes and I can tell at a glance that something is wrong between you two!"
"You're such a smart kid!" Liu Xiaoru reached out and gently tapped Niu Niu's forehead.
Niuniu covered her head and smiled, "You guys should thank me! If there's anything awkward, just talk it out. We'll all be good friends forever!"
Liu Xiaoru turned her head to look at Shopkeeper Luo, and it happened that he was also looking at her. She was so scared that she quickly turned her head back.
Shopkeeper Luo looked at her lovely appearance and couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.
We had lunch at Xianyue Building. Niu Niu once again had the pickled vegetable and shredded pork noodles that she had been craving for, and also tried a lot of new foods.
"How long have you been in Beijing, and you've discovered so many good chefs?" Liu Xiaoru asked.
Shopkeeper Luo did not hide the truth from her and said, "Some of the chefs are brought here from other places. There are not many chefs in the capital."
"People from other places are also willing to leave their hometown and follow you?" Liu Xiaoru was puzzled.
"The wages are adequate, I also provide accommodation, and I promise that if they stay here for five years, I will give them a house so that they can bring their families over."
Hearing such a generous gesture, Liu Xiaoru was dumbfounded and said, "You are too generous."
Shopkeeper Luo said, "They are paid enough, and their lives are better, so they work extra hard."
Liu Xiaoru thought that whether in the restaurant in Guang'an County or in the restaurant in the capital, it seemed that the waiters in Manager Luo's place were particularly hardworking and smiled sincerely, unlike the waiters in other restaurants who had fake smiles all day long.
Liu Xiaoru was just thinking about whether she should raise the wages for her own small workshop, but Shopkeeper Luo brought up the old matter again.
"Your workshop is different from a restaurant. It relies entirely on recipes for profit, so the recipe is of utmost importance. You still need a trustworthy person to oversee it. It would be best if you buy a few people and keep the indentures firmly in your hands." Shopkeeper Luo suggested.
Liu Xiaoru didn't argue with him this time, but said to Niuniu, "I'll ask Niuniu to accompany me to the human traffickers and buy two suitable people."
Liu Xiaoru's idea was very simple. She would buy for two people and let each of them take half of the recipe ratio, so that she could feel at ease.
Niu Niu has a good intuition and she can help eliminate those unsuitable people.
"Go after dinner. After picking the people, I will go to see your sister." said Manager Luo.
"Why do you want to see my sister?" Liu Xiaoru was puzzled.
"While we are talking about you and me, there are other things to talk about as well."
With Niu Niu's help, the selection process went quickly until they returned to Gu's house.
Shopkeeper Luo brought up other things first.
"Madam Gu, I heard a piece of news from somewhere else earlier that something happened at the entrance to the Imperial Examination Hall. Several candidates were injured, and some even died on the spot. But don't worry, Mr. Gu should be fine."
When Zhang Yunniang heard this, she was so frightened that her face turned pale.
"The scholars who got into trouble are now all being well taken care of by the court. If anything happens to Mr. Gu, there will definitely be officials coming to inform us." Shopkeeper Luo explained in detail.
Zhang Yunniang said, "I also sent people out to inquire, but to no avail. I wanted to ask Niuniu's godfather to find out, but I found out this morning that he has been ill these days and has not attended court."
Shopkeeper Luo explained, "When something like this happened in the Imperial Examination Hall, the court also intentionally kept the news secret, so not many people knew about it. The news I received was that there was a scholar who had failed the exams many times and was so poor that he decided to die. He went to the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall to cause trouble, hoping to drag a few other candidates with great prospects down with him."
Zhang Yunniang was very surprised when she heard this and said, "Isn't he afraid of implicating his family by doing this?"
Shopkeeper Luo said, "It is said that this scholar's relatives have all died out, and he is all alone."
When the people present heard this, they were all filled with fear. This kind of person, when he is unhappy, will drag others into trouble, and pretends to be just like an ordinary person. It is really hard to guard against him.
After everyone sighed for a while, Zhang Yunniang stood up and bowed: "Manager Luo, this time thanks to you, if you hadn't come to tell me, I would never be able to feel at ease."
Shopkeeper Luo smiled and said, "Madam Gu, you don't have to be polite. This is what I should do."
Just as Zhang Yunniang was about to decline, Liu Xiaoru said, "Sister, you don't have to be polite with him."
Zhang Yuniang didn't know what was going on between the two of them, and gave Liu Xiaoru a reproachful look.
Shopkeeper Luo whispered, "Madam Gu, I will probably have to call you sister in the future. Xiaoru has already agreed to my request to marry her."
Zhang Yunniang never expected to hear a loud thunder in the plain.
Her first thought was to worry about her sister: "Have your parents agreed to this?"
"After a while, my parents will come to Beijing and propose marriage." said Manager Luo.
Zhang Yunniang saw that he was sincere and was serious about proposing marriage, and most importantly, Liu Xiaoru also agreed, so naturally she would not say anything against it.
"Although my sister is remarrying, I don't want you to treat her with any disrespect. Everything must be done according to the rules for a first marriage." Zhang Yunniang was rarely firm in her attitude.
Shopkeeper Luo nodded and said, "Of course. It is my great fortune to marry Xiaoru. I will cherish her."
Zhang Yunniang was also happy for Liu Xiaoru when she heard this.
Niuniu listened for a while and asked, "Is Aunt Liu going to be a bride?"
Zhang Yunniang smiled and agreed, then said, "This matter has not been finalized yet. You can't tell anyone else for the time being, understand?"
Niuniu nodded vigorously: "Don't worry, I'm very tight-lipped."
Everyone burst into laughter when they heard this.
In a blink of an eye, the first exam was over, and the whole family was waiting outside the Imperial Examination Hall early in the afternoon.
The gate of the Imperial Examination Hall opened, and a group of people came out carrying examination baskets. The examinees had different expressions on their faces.
Gu Mingda supported someone and walked among the crowd.
Qi Dashan hurried over to greet him: "Master, isn't this... isn't this the prince?"
At this time, Qi Dashan also saw clearly that the person being supported by Gu Mingda was Qin Jing, the son of Duke Xianguo.
Qin Jing's face was pale and he looked sick.
"Someone is coming to my house. Thank you Uncle Gu for your support." Even though Qin Jing could hardly stand, he still forced himself to bow to Gu Mingda to express his gratitude.
Second update
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