Sailing in the rain, the river water is boiling and the sails are crackling.

The candlelight flickered in the cabin, and before I knew it, it was dark.

"This arrangement should be enough to barely cope with it." Zhao Hao stretched lazily. Personnel arrangements were so troublesome and tiring.

"It should be okay now..." Xu Wei and Wu Cheng'en looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

More than that, this configuration is more than enough for the governor, right?

Of course, it’s mainly because of the two of us…

However, we still need to observe a moment of silence for the second master, the third master, the fourth master, the sixth room clerks, and the third shift of runners of Kunshan County.

I'm afraid they will have to live a miserable life in the next three years.

"I'm so tired, so tired." Mr. Zhao felt overwhelmed after listening for just one day.

There are so many things in this government office. If I were to take up the post alone, I would be played to death by those local tyrants.

I'm so scared. I have to drink some wine to calm down.

He then asked Xu Wei and Wu Cheng'en to drink together.

Before Zhao Hao could open his mouth, he pointed to the sky and swore, "Today is the last time we drink. From tomorrow on, I won't drink a drop of alcohol until the flood recedes!"

The official ship still had to sail on the Grand Canal for another day to reach Suzhou, so Zhao Hao didn't say anything else.

~~

As soon as he entered his cabin, Zhao Hao smelled the rich aroma of stew.

Then Qiaoqiao was seen wearing thick gloves and placing a large steaming casserole on the table.

"Wow, a casserole." Zhao Hao couldn't help but salivate and said with a smile, "Casserole and rainy days go best together."

Unexpectedly, the girl wrinkled her nose at him and turned away without saying a word.

"Are you still angry?" Zhao Hao asked Ma Xianglan who was bringing him water to wash his hands.

"How can I not be angry?" Secretary Ma adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and said impartially, "The young master said he would call her Qiaoqiao, but when he left, he actually wanted to dump her."

"I wanted to dump you." Zhao Hao rolled his eyes and said, "Didn't you see that they didn't bring any female relatives with them? It's not right for me to be treated specially."

"You are still young, so of course you need someone to take care of you." Secretary Ma took off her glasses and teased him with a charming look, "No one will laugh at you, Master, for this."

"I can't argue with you." Zhao Hao had never won an argument with Secretary Ma, so he hung up the banner of no contest and sat at the table waiting for dinner. "But to be honest, Kunshan is still quite dangerous. You two should wait until the water recedes before going."

"Then what's the point?" Secretary Ma also sat at the table, looking at Zhao Hao with his chin propped up, and said, "In times of danger like this, shouldn't we all be together?"

"Hey, aren't I worried about you?" Young Master Zhao couldn't resist Ma Xianglan's slightly resentful look, so he turned his face to the other side.

But then he saw Qiaoqiao coming in with a tray, and a faint smile appeared on her round little face involuntarily.

When she heard Zhao Hao say that he wanted her to stay in Jinling because he was worried about her and not for any other reason, she calmed down all of a sudden.

Ma Xianglan covered her forehead helplessly. Shouldn't she say "But I'm more worried about you!" at this time? This sentence would be very rewarding.

"Eat, eat." Qiaoqiao felt that she was too willful for not talking to Zhao Hao all day. But she was not good at speaking, so she could only express her apology through food.

When Qiaoqiao lifted the lid of the casserole, they saw that the golden soup in the pot was still boiling.

In the center of the soup is a layer of chicken, a layer of duck, a layer of abalone, and a layer of winter bamboo shoots. Each layer is stacked and interlaced, one on top of another, looking like a circle of dams, guarding the small city made of Dongpo pork and square tofu inside. There are also some exquisite egg skin dumplings dotted around.

You don't have to eat it, just take a look at it and you can appreciate how much thought Miss Qiaoqiao put into it.

"I've been stewing it for the whole afternoon, and I don't know if it's delicious or not." Qiaoqiao nervously took out the charcoal under the casserole and extinguished it.

"How can it not taste good when so many good things are stewed together?" Zhao Hao swallowed his saliva and picked up the chopsticks to taste it.

But just as the tip of the chopsticks was about to touch the stacked dam, Zhao Hao suddenly had an idea and asked Qiaoqiao, "What is the name of this dish?"

"Solid as a rock..." Qiaoqiao's voice was as soft as a mosquito.

The decisive blow.

Ma Xianglan couldn't help but cover her forehead again, thinking that she should not worry about her in the future.

In the afternoon, this girl said that the food on the boat was not complete and that they could only make one pot for dinner. She actually believed it...

What is the line in the discordant song that the young master often hums?

It turns out that every girl is not simple...

~~

As expected, Mr. Zhao was immediately excited. "Sister Qiaoqiao, is this your best wish?"

"Yeah." Qiaoqiao nodded, her ears red as she said, "I know you're going to fight the flood with the master. I'm not good at speaking, so I wanted to cook a dish for you. But it's a mess..."

Qiaoqiao would not admit that she had spent the past few days at home thinking about how to make this dish. She even asked the chef of Wei Jixian for advice, and only when she thought it was delicious and tasty would she present it to the public.

Don't take action easily, and if you do, you must catch someone... This is what my mother taught me.

Miss Qiaoqiao couldn't help but feel ashamed of her own scheming.

But Zhao Hao picked up a small egg dumpling and asked, "I can understand the others, but what is this?"

"Boat," Qiaoqiao said, covering her face. In fact, it was to add color to the soup. "If something happens, we can run while sitting..."

“Hahaha!” Zhao Hao laughed heartily, ate an egg-skin dumpling in one gulp and said, “Thank you, Sister Qiaoqiao. But we don’t need the boat anymore. We will definitely be able to hold the Wusong River embankment!”

"Yes, I can do it!" Qiaoqiao nodded heavily.

"Can I eat now?" After Qiaoqiao had performed enough, Secretary Ma asked pitifully, holding the bowl of rice.

"Eat, let's eat together!" Zhao Hao pulled Qiaoqiao to sit down, picked up a piece of abalone with chopsticks and tasted it, and found it extremely delicious.

As a result, the three of them were full after this meal...

~~

The next afternoon, the two ships arrived at the official ship dock outside Suzhou's Changmen Gate.

Zhao Shouzheng, who had just woken up from a hangover, was dressed neatly and was about to get off the boat, but he saw an official in sixth-rank uniform coming on board with an umbrella and a stern look.

"Where is Zhao Shouzheng, the acting Kunshan County Magistrate?"

"It's you, my humble servant." Zhao Shouzheng hurriedly clasped his fists towards the official. "May I know who you are?"

"I'm Zhang Jiong, the magistrate of Suzhou Prefecture. I'm waiting for you at the dock on behalf of the prefect!" said the magistrate Zhang Jiong, pulling out a rainproof cowhide document bag from his bosom.

Then he handed a handwritten letter from the Suzhou prefect to Zhao Shouzheng and said, "The prefect has ordered that floods have swept across Kunnan this morning. The floods are merciless and urgent. Forget the visit from your county and go to Kunshan immediately to provide disaster relief. There must be no delay!"

"Yes, sir!" Zhao Shouzheng quickly took the letter with both hands and handed it to Xu Wenchang behind him. Xu Wei opened it and glanced at it, then nodded, indicating that it was okay.

Mr. Zhao then clasped his fists towards Zhang Jiong and said, "Thank you, judge. It's a pleasure to meet you today. When the flood control is over tomorrow, I will prepare some wine for you. I hope you will come and enjoy your presence."

"Okay, okay." Judge Zhang felt relieved, returned a salute to Zhao Shouzheng, and quickly got off the boat.

As a result, Zhao Shouzheng's official ship had just tied the rope when it untied and set sail again.

ps. I will post two chapters first, then I will continue writing and post again at 12 o'clock