Chapter 16
The man, wearing a top black hat, made no attempt to hide his flirting: "Miss, you look absolutely stunning in that red dress. Would I have the honor of inviting you to dance at the ballroom tonight?"
If it ended there, Han Meng would have politely declined. But the next second, a pretty girl ran between them and said angrily, "You said something similar to me yesterday. What, you're turning your back on me now that you've done it?"
The man's face flushed red and then paled, and he hurriedly pushed the girl away: "I've only known you for a few days, do you expect me to take responsibility?"
After understanding the situation, Han Meng replied with a forced smile, "Sir, you are too generous, but I like listening to opera and not dancing. So next time I come to listen to opera, could you please book the whole place? I'll come every day, and you can book the whole place every day, how about that?"
The man tried to explain, "That was really a misunderstanding..."
The opera had ended, and Han Meng got up to leave, but this person still wanted to follow.
At this moment, a female opera singer who hadn't removed her makeup jumped off the stage, walked up to them, and said, "Sir, the play is over. We need to hurry up and clean the theater to prepare for the next performance. Please leave immediately."
At the same time, Hua Dan grabbed Han Meng's hand and gestured to her not to leave yet.
Fearing that the man might be waiting for her outside the theater, Han Meng devised a delaying tactic: "Sir, why don't you wait in the ballroom first?"
And so, with a lewd smile, the man left the theater.
Han Meng smiled, thinking that she had finally gotten rid of the person who had tried to pick her up.
At this moment, she had no idea that this was the blind date her kind cousin had arranged for her.
"Thank you," she said, thanking the actress.
The actress asked her to stay a few more minutes before leaving, saying that she had seen the man harassing girls in the theater for the past few days. At first, no one did anything about it, but unexpectedly, several girls were deceived without realizing it, so she spoke up to stop him just now.
Within minutes, Han Meng and the actress started chatting and got along quite well. Han Meng even recommended a throat-soothing pill from a traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy to her.
Actress: "Okay, if it works well, I'll recommend it to my colleagues!"
With this unexpected gain, Han Meng's mood wasn't too bad today. Before going home, she bought a bunch of strange and fun things.
When Xu Ning saw it, her eyes almost popped out of her head. She wanted to scold her for being extravagant and wasteful, but she immediately took her things upstairs, not giving Xu Ning a chance to scold her.
"Xiao Liu, would you like to do a part-time job?" Han Meng asked the boy who was cleaning the hallway while carefully arranging the trinkets.
The young man glanced at the exquisite ornaments: "Miss, would you like me to accompany you next time you go out and help you carry your things?"
Would you be willing to wash someone's feet?
The boy's cheeks flushed: "Huh? What?"
"I plan to open two foot massage shops next to the pharmacy. It shouldn't be long before we can start. There might not be many people at first, so I plan to hire one man and one woman. We'll probably only be open for about two days a week. I was thinking of asking you and Yuzhi if you'd be willing. The pay is one silver dollar a day, which will save me the trouble of looking for someone else."
If she remembered correctly, both Xiao Liu and Yu Zhi came from poor backgrounds, which gave them a good opportunity to earn more money.
As for the work inside the mansion...
Han Meng: "Could you please inform Yuzhi for me? You two should both think about it. Oh, and also tell my aunt that my dad is coming back tonight. Could you please clean the house and make sure to cook a nice dinner?"
The boy was stunned: "But..."
Han Meng's eyes flickered slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips: "But what? Isn't my dad her ideal man? It's normal to sacrifice for your ideal man, isn't it? After all, he's your ideal man!"
She then gave the boy a brief explanation of the meaning of "white moonlight".
The boy nodded, seemingly understanding, "Then I'll go and inform her first."
"If she asks you for money, just say you don't have any, and go ahead."
...
As dinner time approached, Han Meng went downstairs early and found that Xu Ning had indeed prepared a table full of delicious dishes. Not only that, but she had also dressed up carefully.
Han Meng was relieved to find that the food boxes she had prepared in advance were already packed into the boxes, and she quickly brought in bowls and plates one by one.
Xu Ning immediately became furious and stood up to take it back: "What are you doing! Your dad will be back soon. If you take it all, what will your dad eat?"
Han Meng, quick as a flash, grabbed the plate of braised fish from the other woman's hand and said sarcastically, "Auntie, you'd better think this through. My dad spoils me the most. If I complain to him when he comes back, what do you think he'll think of you? If he has a bad opinion of you, how will you get his money?"
Xu Ning gritted her teeth, her grip still tight: "No way, why would a girl like you eat so much? If you get fat, who will want you?"
She still chose to snatch it, so Han Meng had no choice but to let go.
As a result, when she let go, the sauce flew onto Xu Ning's pure white and elegant new clothes.
Feeling the stickiness and smell of soy sauce on her body, Xu Ning broke down: "You!"
Han Meng quickly filled the food box, ran back upstairs, and then, following the "old custom," called Yu Zhi, Xiao Liu, and the housekeeper over to eat together.
Soon, the aroma of food filled the second-floor corridor.
She also stipulated in advance that whoever finished eating last would stay behind to wash the dishes, and she herself participated in doing so.
Yu Zhi and the old housekeeper ate very quickly, while Han Meng ate slowly and deliberately, seemingly unconcerned about winning or losing.
As for Xiao Liu, he ate almost all of it, but stopped when he had only one or two bites left.
He suddenly spoke up: "Miss, you don't need to eat so slowly..."
Han Meng looked up at the ceiling. "I was thinking of selling this place next year. I wonder how much it would fetch."
Xiao Liu was taken aback: "Sell it? Why?"
"In less than two years, there will be war," she said calmly.
Although she came from another peaceful world and knew the historical context of the book, she was, after all, just an ordinary person who couldn't change the bigger picture. The only thing she could do for the characters in the book was to relocate them to a place that might be relatively safe.
Xiao Liu: "But the master and mistress will not agree..."
Han Meng sighed: "Let's talk about it next year!"
After all, whether I'll stay here in the future is another matter.
*
Xu Ning did not wait for Han Xianfei to return to the house.
That night, she was so angry she couldn't sleep. She went upstairs and banged on Han Meng's door, yelling, "Didn't you say your dad was coming back today? You lied! Come out and give me an explanation!"
Han Meng opened the door, still half asleep: "Maybe my dad doesn't want to come back right now!" She then immediately closed the door.
Xu Ning was so angry she felt like vomiting blood: ...
She couldn't take it anymore; she was going to make sure that brat was taken away by a man who took a liking to her tomorrow!
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