She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

Chapter 11 Sweeping Snow

At the end of that day, somehow both of them felt that they had crossed the line and unconsciously avoided each other.

There was another large screen outside the bedroom screen, with a soft couch in the middle.

It looks inconspicuous, but when the quilt is spread out at night, A'an sleeps on odd-numbered days and Heng'an sleeps on even-numbered days, to show fairness.

If you tell it to others, most likely no one will believe it.

After that day, Hengzhi said he had to go out for something and didn't come back for several days. Ah'an was happy that she didn't have to squeeze into this place and slept comfortably in the big bed for several days.

She had been busy decorating the shop these days and had no time to think about a certain unintentional remark that had caused trouble for her.

Yes, that's right. Ah-yi was standing in the wind with the blueprint rolled up in her hand, and she didn't hear the waiter's series of questions.

"Boss? Are you sure this red silk is laid horizontally on the table?"

In order to cater to the festive needs of the new year, A'an and Mrs. Zhou discussed and decided to decorate the red event first.

The assistants were also hired temporarily to do the work. Once the store officially opens, the people needed for each department will be recruited so that the work can be divided in an orderly manner.

Mrs. Zhou went on a special trip to look for Wanlang today, so she is the only one looking after the shop now.

"Yes, there will be nothing to do after the paving is done. But there is one more thing I need to trouble you three with, and it is considered heavy physical work. I will pay extra money, I wonder if you can do it?"

Seeing that the shopkeeper's wife was smiling and friendly, Zheng Da, who was leading the group, had a good impression of her and said, "Tell me about it."

It snowed yesterday, and when the wind blew, a lot of the snow particles accumulated on the eaves were blown away.

A'ao was standing in the corridor, and the snow grains fell all over her head.

She shivered from the cold, but Ah-yi brushed it off without caring, and continued, "Look, there's a lot of snow on this street. It's muddy when pedestrians and horses walk by. When the snow melts and the sun comes out, it freezes and becomes slippery, which is very inconvenient."

Zheng Da looked at the ground and saw that it was indeed muddy and wet.

"Boss, do you want us to clean the street? But such a long street..." Zheng Da hesitated. Even if the three brothers were willing to work, they couldn't sweep an entire street.

"Don't worry." Ah-yi wrapped her sleeves tightly to prevent the cold wind from getting in. She felt her lips were frozen and stiff. "I mean you must know a lot of guys who do hard work like this. See if they are willing to come."

The three brothers of the Zheng family looked exactly like they were cast in the same mold. Ah-yi didn't know which one was the eldest brother, Zheng, who was in charge, so she had to look at each of them one by one.

"I am, I am Zheng Da." The person standing in the middle hurriedly reminded him when he saw this. It can be seen that this is not the first time he has been misidentified.

"Yes, Zhengda." Ah'ao smiled awkwardly, "You were able to recruit guys who work fast and well. Besides the wages, I naturally want to thank you extra. I'll ask someone to cook a lot of dumpling soup to drive away the cold, and pack lunch for the brothers. What do you think?"

Zheng Da looked at his two younger brothers and didn't think this job was bad.

There was also heavy snow at this time last year. The head of all the shops, Liu, hired snow sweepers to deal with it. I heard that all the shops paid a lot of money, so they couldn't help but complain.

But this year, for some reason, the shopkeeper Liu did not come forward to make the decision.

When we first discussed with the state government about the self-management of the merchants, the contract stated that if there was snow or water accumulation, they would deal with it themselves, and the state government would only be responsible for extinguishing fires. For several years, we had been able to get through it smoothly, but this year, they didn't clean it up?
Yes, if they wanted to control it, they wouldn't have just let the snow pile up and turn into ice. Small merchants naturally didn't want to pay, so they just pretended they didn't see it and walked carefully.

Everyone wrote this tacitly, and had allowed several heavy snowfalls to cause people to slip.

Ah'ao also valued this point, so she came up with such a stupid idea, hoping to gain some favor from the neighbors so as to avoid having to handle the funeral as well, which would cause her a lot of trouble.

"Of course I can help you find someone to do the work, but does your job require us to use shovels like a snowman? We don't have any land at home, and I'm afraid we don't have these tools." Zheng Da rubbed his hands and explained embarrassedly.

Ah's eyes lit up and she took out a strange piece of wood from the empty space under the stairs.

"Look at this. I asked a carpenter to make a tool like this, but I don't know if it works well."

The three Zheng brothers opened their six identical eyes and looked at the thin shopkeeper's wife in surprise as she lifted up a few pieces of wood, and then they looked at her with admiration.

It is supported by a main wooden pole as thick as an adult woman's wrist. The main pole is embedded in the thin wooden strips underneath for sweeping snow using mortise and tenon structures. The side that touches the bottom is sharpened and made with even teeth to shovel away the compacted ice and snow on the ground.

There are two short pieces of wood next to it, which are also embedded in the middle and lower part of the main pole. In this way, two Pythagorean shapes sharing the same main pole are formed to firmly support the snow sweeper.

A'ao took the thing to the door and demonstrated its specific usage.

What surprised Zheng Da was that this wood was actually very easy to use. He thought that Ah-yi was very strong, so it looked easy for her to do it, but when he tried it himself, he discovered its subtlety.

"Madam, did you invent this yourself?" Zheng Da asked curiously as he fumbled with the snowplow.

"That's not the case. I just had some preliminary ideas. The specific details were improved with the help of Carpenter Sun from West Street. Although wood is cheap, it will rot if it gets wet after a long time of use. So it can only be used temporarily." Ah'an stood in front of the door. "How about I order eight such tools? Will it be convenient for you to do things?"

Zheng Da readily agreed, and before noon he had gathered seven people.

Two of them were holding shovels and baskets, and eight could use snowplows, so everyone had the right tools.

"Listen to me, everyone. Our shopkeeper Cui is a smart man. He has prepared some dumpling soup to keep everyone warm. Let's finish our work quickly and well and come and eat dumplings together!"

Zheng Da was a man of great leadership ability. After his mobilization, the crowd was as excited as if a general was beating the drum before going into battle.

The ten men were divided into two sides of the street, working opposite each other.

When the merchants heard the noise, they all came out to watch.

"Oh, Madam Cui, I didn't expect you to be such a kind-hearted person!" This is Madam Wang who runs the noodle shop opposite.

"Yes, I could see you and Madam Zhou were both capable people on the street that day. Now that you have opened your business, please visit more often." This is Brother Feng, the winemaker next door.

Ah'ao used her special talent of sweet talk to thank everyone one by one.

When doing business, the most important thing is to build good interpersonal relationships. In fact, I didn't have to spend the money today. But after spending it and seeing the results immediately, Ah-yi felt happy from the bottom of her heart.

This is what she learned in the year from the capital to Kezhou.

Mr. Huai once taught her how to paint, saying that there are so many painters in the world, each with their own strengths. It is also your ability to learn from the strengths of everyone.

With these words in mind, Ah'ao has been studying silently and has come to where she is today.

Looking at the lively and cheerful scene before her, Ah-yi felt the courage to do something big.

When guests hold wedding banquets, they can also introduce Brother Feng’s wine and drinks; after a long period of time, they can also order two servings of noodles from Aunt Wang for the guests.

In short, there are many things that can be done, far more than what you can think of right now, and there are reasons to earn money everywhere.

When I have saved enough money, I will recruit soldiers and horses, and then...

Before she could finish her thought, the sound of horse hooves interrupted the scene in her mind.

The group of people came in a grand manner and stopped in front of A'an's door.

She turned her head and saw Hengzhi in the crowd. It was still his heroic horse, and Hengzhi was wrapped in a light-colored cloak, looking very dignified.

Since he ascended the throne, he rarely went to the military camp outside the city. The bloodthirsty aura he had when he first met him had also dissipated a lot, and now he looked more and more like a prince.

Hengzhi didn't look at Ah's wife, but gently pulled the reins in his hand, and said in a not-so-friendly tone, "Wei Gongcao, I've been away from the city for a few days. Is this what you meant by the thick ice on East Street that makes it difficult to walk?"

Wei Guohui was also dumbfounded.

When I walked in the morning, I specifically looked at the road surface and it was indeed frozen and very slippery!

Then I glanced at A'ao standing at the door again, and suddenly realized that she had found someone to shovel the snow.

It's so busy! It's so busy!
Wei Guohui cursed in his heart for a long time. If the funds were not approved today, how would he report to his work?

"This...I don't know this shopkeeper, this..."

After hearing him unable to utter a word for a long time, Hengzhi asked first, "Did you come up with this idea?" He pointed at the snow-clearing pole in Zheng Da's hand, but his eyes never left A's facial features.

Ah-yi: Pretending not to know him? Great.

"Reply to this lord."

Before he finished the ceremony and bent his knee, Wei Guohui interrupted him in a stern tone, "How dare you! This is Zhao Hou!"

This is nonsense.

Hengzhi saw that Ah-yi was wearing a round-necked jacket, with her black hair tied up in a bun. She had no earrings, and her ears were red from the cold.

Originally, we could see the princess performing a beautiful blessing ceremony, and when she lowered her head, we could even see a bit of her fair neck...

Heng Zhi glanced at Wei Guohui.

Wei Guohui: Did I do something wrong again?
"My Lord, this is a solution that I and the carpenter came up with. We hired a few guys to clear the snow. I don't want to take credit for it. If you think it's useful, you can take it."

Ah'ao was the best at pretending to be humble, and her words were flawless, leaving Wei Guohui no room for criticism.

Heng Zhi still acted like a proud young marquis and questioned, "Your Majesty has finally given me gold and silver, but Wei Gongcao has to find an excuse to take my money?"

"I am not..."

"Oh? You know I still want to make jewelry and clothes for my wife. Do you mean that my wife bewitched me?"

Wei Guohui was dumbfounded, not knowing how the conversation could have ended up involving his family.

The family members stood in the corridor, with their brows lowered, but their cheeks bulged from gritting their teeth.

"Wei Gongcao, no matter what you are thinking, I am in a good mood today and will not bother with you for making such a wasted trip. Even if the money is not approved, you must ask Liu Jingming to clear it for me, and return the money paid by the shopkeeper. Otherwise, I will cause trouble for this self-managed chamber of commerce."

The young marquis was so majestic and the wind was so cold that all the people standing in the snow were shivering with cold.

Hengzhi glanced at A'ao out of the corner of his eye, and after showing off his power, he planned to ride away on his horse.

A'er spoke.

"My Lord, your wife said the other day that the red candles here are beautiful, so I left a few for you. Please come in and sign the receipt."

His eyes were scorching, and it was hard to tell whether he was inviting a wolf into the house or if he was willing to take the bait.

For some reason, A'ao felt like she wanted to talk to him alone.

Hengzhi hesitated for a moment.

Finally, I took the bait.

Seeing Zhao Hou following the shopkeeper's wife into the room, Wei Guohui couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

At the counter——

Ah-yi took out a piece of white paper and slapped it on the table. "Okay, young marquis, is this how you slander Madam's reputation outside?"

Hengzhi naturally rested one arm on the table, and there was suddenly a very close distance between the two of them.

"Okay, Madam Xiaohou, you are already blaming me like this after not seeing me for a few days?"

When their eyes met, no one was less excited.

But they each kept their distance, and no one wanted to go too far and expose the relationship to outsiders.

Ah'ao moved closer, with the tip of her ear just touching the profile of Hengzhi, and her voice became lower and lower.

"This Wei Gongcao, is he also trying to embezzle money? I helped Liu Jingming do his job, and I kept my name. The shopkeeper Wu of West Street also swept West Street in the same way."

The warm breath lingered on Hengzhi's neck, and his heart felt itchy as if it was being scratched by a rabbit.

"Okay, we'll split the money we saved in half, or I'll make it known right now and let everyone outside know."

"what do you know?"

Hengzhi lowered his head and really saw part of Ah's neck.

Question and answer, and become addictive.

"I know you bought two red candles, but you didn't have cash to pay for them."

Hengzhi: ...

Okay, we still can’t avoid money.

He stepped back with a cold face, saying "Let's talk about it when we get back".

Then turned and walked out.

His clothes were flying all over the place, and he looked unhappy.

I even remembered to fold the crumpled white paper and take it away.