According to Shi Tou, Zhang Xiaoyu has been coming over before dawn to check on newspaper sales, watching the performance of audiobooks downstairs during the day, and keeping an eye on the restaurant's business during mealtimes. She doesn't leave until it's dark and the restaurant closes at night.
Hearing this, Jing Zhe was both amused and exasperated.
Fortunately, Zhang Xuexian is no longer involved in business, otherwise he would definitely think that his daughter is too biased towards outsiders and is not paying enough attention to the family business.
Aside from occasionally returning to Zhang's Winery, Zhang Xiaoyu spends most of her time at Wenxiangju. Since there's nothing much going on downstairs, she takes the account books upstairs to check the accounts herself.
Jing Zhe left Shi Tou to keep watch downstairs while he went upstairs.
Following his suggestion, Zhang Xiaoyu specially prepared a side room in the corner of the second floor, close to the street. The window of the side room faces the main street, and when you open the window, you can see the crowds surging on the street below and hear the bustling hawking sounds.
Based on his understanding of Zhang Xiaoyu, Jing Zhe knew that she was usually a quiet person and should have chosen a place with her back to the street. He couldn't understand why she would choose such a noisy room as her office.
Thinking of this, he suddenly paused.
Could it be that she was waiting for him?
With that thought in mind, she went to the door on the second floor.
Because it wasn't mealtime yet, there were no guests upstairs, so the second floor was very quiet. Jing Zhe listened to the rooms, but there was no sound either. He knocked twice, but no one responded.
Jing Zhe thought for a moment, then pushed the door open with a little force.
The room wasn't large. There was a bed against the wall near the door, covered with clean and tidy pink bedding. Zhang Xiaoyu probably rested here when she was tired.
A desk was placed by the window, and Zhang Xiaoyu was sitting at it. On the desk was a thick stack of account books and two issues of the newspaper, both of which were open to the literature section, in the section on Jing Zhe's poems. Judging from the wrinkles on the newspapers, they must have been read many times.
At this moment, the window was open, and Zhang Xiaoyu's face was turned towards the outside, her body slightly twitching, indicating that she had fallen asleep at some point.
The noise from downstairs came through the window; no wonder Jing Zhe knocked on the door several times without any response from inside.
It was already late autumn, and the cool breeze outside made it a bit chilly, especially since I was asleep like this; I was sure I'd catch a cold when I woke up.
Jing Zhe had been trying to wake Zhang Xiaoyu, but before he could bring his hand down, he stopped.
According to Shi Tou, Zhang Xiaoyu has been running back and forth lately, arriving before dawn and returning after dusk. She must be exhausted. If she wasn't so tired, why would she fall asleep on the table?
Seeing that she was sleeping so soundly, Jing Zhe couldn't bear to wake her.
I first went to close the window, and then took a thin blanket from the bed to put on her, but after thinking about it, I decided against it.
How can anyone be comfortable sleeping here?
Finally making up his mind, he went to Zhang Xiaoyu's side, bent down, gently stretched his arm under her knees, and then wrapped his other arm around her from behind, lifting her up gently and forcefully.
Seemingly sensing something, Zhang Xiaoyu frowned slightly, but perhaps because Jing Zhe's embrace was too comfortable, she rested her head against his chest and fell asleep again.
She would occasionally smack her lips, like an innocent little girl, which was very cute.
Jing Zhe moved even more gently, coming to the bedside to put her down. At this moment, Zhang Xiaoyu, perhaps dreaming of something, wrapped her arms around Jing Zhe's neck, softly murmuring "Don't go," looking utterly endearing.
Instead of putting her down immediately, Jing Zhe sat on the bed, leaned against the headboard, and gently patted her back. Once Zhang Xiaoyu's body had relaxed, he gently put her back on the bed.
Seeing her serene expression and her obedient appearance with her long eyelashes fluttering slightly, Jing Zhe gently brushed her forehead with his hand, then covered her with the blanket, and quietly closed the door before going downstairs.
The moment the door closed, Zhang Xiaoyu, who had just been sound asleep, suddenly opened her eyes, her eyes sparkling with starlight, and a satisfied and happy smile on her lips.
"Young Master..."
Thinking about the scenes that had just happened, Zhang Xiaoyu whispered softly, then hugged the quilt tightly and fell asleep.
...
Coming downstairs, Jing Zhe, just like yesterday, instructed Shi Tou to prepare a few more dishes to be delivered to his home later.
Then he asked Shi Tou to tell Zhang Xiaoyu that he would come to talk to her again tomorrow.
As Jing Zhe was leaving Wenxiangju, he ran into a member of the distribution department. He asked a few questions about today's newspaper sales, and then went home.
Zhu Xinning was still sitting in the courtyard, but instead of lighting the stove to cook—perhaps she had already accepted the fact that she had no talent for cooking. At this moment, she was cutting and mending clothes, with several newly sewn clothes next to her.
"Xin'er!"
"Ouch~"
Zhu Xinning was sewing carefully when she suddenly heard Jing Zhe's words. In that moment of distraction, the needle pricked her finger.
Seeing this, Jing Zhe quickly stepped forward. A trickle of blood was seeping from her fingers. Without saying a word, he picked them up and put them in his mouth.
"Zhe'er~"
Even though they had been intimate, Zhu Xinning still blushed when Jing Zhe suddenly and boldly sucked on her finger.
Jing Zhe ignored it, sucked for a while, and only stopped when he found that there was no more bleeding.
"Alright, you're too careless."
After saying something to her, Jing Zhe looked at the clothes she was sewing again: "Are these all for me?"
Zhu Xinning nodded. In this world, apart from Jing Zhe, there was no one else she could sew clothes for. She had never even sewed clothes for herself.
"Xin'er has already done a lot, hasn't she? It won't take more than a few days to go to Jinxi, so there's no need for so much!"
At a glance, two or three pieces had already been sewn on the side, which is why Jing Zhe said that.
“They are different.”
Zhu Xinning shook her head: "The clothes we had before are getting a bit thin. It's getting colder and colder, especially in Jinxi, which is much colder than other parts of Anguo. If you stay there for ten days or half a month, or even longer, it might snow! In such cold weather, the clothes we sewed before won't be enough!"
Upon hearing this, Jing Zhe picked up the clothes that Zhu Xinning had sewn and examined them. He found that they were lined with a thick layer of cotton, making them much thicker and warmer than the thinner clothes he had worn before.
But she still smiled and said, "If it's really that cold, we can just buy it there. Why bother having Xin'er sewing it here?"
"It's not hard work at all!"
Zhu Xinning shook her head, then looked at Jing Zhe with tender eyes and said, "Doing these things for Zhe'er is not tiring at all; in fact, it makes me very happy!"
"..."
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