The next morning, Meng Zhao stretched sleepily in bed. The bed was soft and the blankets were thick. After sleeping in the warm bed all night, Meng Zhao was immersed in the comfortable environment and felt extremely comfortable.
She lingered in bed for a while longer, enjoying the warmth of the covers, until she was completely wide awake before finally taking her toiletries and leaving the room.
In the courtyard, Madam Gu had been busy for a while. Meng Zhao was too tired yesterday and didn't tidy up many things, but just soaked them. By the time Meng Zhao got up, the tidying up was almost done.
"Mother, you drank alcohol yesterday, why didn't you sleep a little longer? Don't make yourself feel unwell later."
Madam Gu stopped what she was doing and replied with a smile, "I didn't drink too much yesterday, and I slept well all night and I'm fine now."
As Meng Zhao brushed her teeth with the toothpaste stick, she noticed that Shen Qinghe's door was still closed, so she asked, "Mother, is Second Brother awake yet? Isn't he supposed to go to the academy today?"
“Qinghe hasn’t drunk any alcohol before, so he’s probably still drunk. We’re close to the county school, so I thought I’d let him sleep a little longer.”
After Meng Zhao finished washing up, Shen Qing and the two children also got up. Because of what happened yesterday, Meng Zhao did not take the initiative to speak.
The group sat down to eat together, and Madam Gu asked, "Zhaozhao, when should we start setting up the stalls at the dock?"
"It has to start today. When Xiaoping went back yesterday, I already asked him to tell Aunt Feng'e to come over early this morning."
After Meng Zhao finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Shen Qinghe in front of him, and asked softly with a hint of probing in his tone, "Qinghe, how did you like the dumplings from yesterday?"
Shen Qinghe looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, sister-in-law. I drank some wine yesterday and don't remember some things. It's a pity about the dumplings you made."
Hearing this, Meng Zhao felt relieved. It seemed that Shen Qinghe didn't remember what happened after he got drunk. So she said in a light tone, "What's the big deal? As long as it's eaten, it's not a waste. We can make it again next time when we have time."
Watching Meng Zhao eat and drink heartily, Shen Qinghe's mind stirred slightly, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face as he said, "I just don't know why, but when I woke up this morning, my legs were particularly sore."
These words caught the attention of the others at the table. They had all gone to bed early the night before and didn't know why, so they looked at Meng Zhao, who had gone to bed late.
Meng Zhao coughed awkwardly and said calmly, "Tsk, Qinghe, I'm not trying to be mean, but you should drink less in the future. Yesterday when you went back to your room, you were so dizzy that you bumped into the door threshold and fell flat on your face. It took me a lot of effort to get you to bed."
Hearing that his usually calm and composed older brother had done something so embarrassing, Shen Qingze and Shen Qingyu couldn't stop laughing.
Shen Qinghe appeared calm on the surface, but secretly gritted her teeth and squeezed out a sentence, "Then I still have to thank you for taking care of me, sister-in-law."
Meng Zhao didn't realize the hidden meaning in his words and waved her hand, "No need to thank me, no need to thank me."
Shen Qing felt a little helpless at his relaxed appearance. Although he was drunk yesterday, he had not lost his memory.
He didn't mind spending so much time in the horse stance. He wondered to himself why his sister-in-law was so nervous, as if she was afraid he would hold a grudge. What had he done to make her think of him like that? He wasn't the type to hold grudges over such trivial matters.
Seeing her distrust him like this, Shen Qinghe felt a sudden surge of grievance. She tried to remind her again, but was rebuffed and had no way to express her bitterness.
Before Shen Qinghe went to the county school, Meng Zhao told him to come back early after school and ask him for help if needed. Shen Qinghe thought it was just physical work to do, nodded, and went to the county school.
Actually, Meng Zhao wasn't asking him to do any work; it was about another important matter.
Based on Xu Ping's experience of going out to discuss business yesterday, she felt that it was quite troublesome to go and call the village head to sign the contract after the business was settled. You know, once something is agreed upon, the other party may change their mind if it is less than fifteen minutes away.
It's alright now, they have no competitors. But if there are more competitors in the future, they'll probably be overtaken by the village head in the long run.
They set up stalls at the dock, and each meal cost a fixed amount. When they sold skewers, they simply counted them out one coin per skewer, so there were never any mishaps.
Once her shop opens, keeping accounts will be difficult, and she can't guarantee she'll be in the shop all the time.
But while the wages are high for hiring educated people, many scholars, considering their social standing, probably wouldn't be willing to do these kinds of jobs for her.
The best solution is to improve the cultural literacy of the employees around her. Although she graduated from a prestigious university, she has become half-illiterate here. She can only recognize words but not write them. The only person she can teach is Shen Qinghe, so naturally she has to ask him for help.
Before long, Aunt Feng'e arrived. The group chatted and worked together, and Aunt Feng'e also talked about the interesting things happening in the village.
"You moved to the county yesterday, so you missed the lively events in the village."
Gu asked curiously, "Are you talking about Yunxiang jumping into the river? Didn't you say she's already awake?"
When they left the village yesterday, Gu wanted to visit Li Yunxiang, since they had worked together before, but Meng Zhao stopped her.
Aunt Feng'e said with a smile, "Yes, Yunxiang woke up not long after the doctor left yesterday. According to the doctor, Yunxiang's health may prevent her from doing heavy work in the future."
Madam Gu felt a little sorry for her. "Alas, Yunxiang has had it tough too. Originally, the whole family depended on her for work. Now that she's sick, how are we going to get by?"
"Haha, this may not be a bad thing. You don't know, after that doctor left yesterday, Er Ya stayed by her mother's side the whole time. When Granny Fang cooked dinner in the evening, Er Ya went and filled a full bowl with rice and brought the whole plate of freshly cooked dishes into the house."
"Ah, will Granny Fang agree?" Gu Shi knew a little about Granny Fang's temperament, and she could tolerate it.
"That old woman Fang naturally refused to listen and went up to stop her. As a result, Er Ya went directly into the house and took out a kitchen knife, saying that she would chop anyone who tried to stop her. This scared the old woman Fang and her family to death, and they immediately went to ask the village head to come over."
Meng Zhao was a little worried at this point, because although the village head was a good person, he preferred to maintain harmony in the village.
"Aunt Feng'e, what are they saying over there?"
Aunt Feng'e said with a smile, "I heard that the village head was busy at the time. When he saw that Granny Fang was bothering him again, he said that Er Ya did the right thing and told her to stew another chicken for Yun Xiang. Hahaha, I don't know if the chicken was stewed or not, but Granny Fang really had no choice. Er Ya put the knife on the bedside table, which scared Li Dayong so much that he didn't dare to go into the room to sleep."
Meng Zhao sneered inwardly. Sure enough, the only way to deal with such a villain was to be even more wicked than him. Just the fact that Li Yunxiang dared to die was enough to frighten Granny Fang and the others. After all, no one knew if Li Yunxiang would try to take them with her before she died.
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