Xu Lu Cha's hand holding the flower branch tightened slightly as he said: "I found her quite boring."
"Ah?" Zi Yi looked up.
"She was even distracted while talking to me." Xu Lu Cha's fingers tightened, and with a "snap", the flower branch broke.
"Young, young master."
Xu Lu Cha tossed the broken flower branch into the pond and said flatly, "As the saying goes, 'like master, like man'. I guess that Zhang Meng learned her gluttonous behavior from her."
Zi Yi wisely kept his mouth shut and lowered his head to continue studying the two ribbons.
"Zi Yi, it seems you and that glutton got along quite well?"
Zi Yi's face stiffened: "No, young master."
"Throw away the ribbons."
"Yes."
"Zhang Meng, did you upset the boss again today?"
Jin Yue squatted to the side eating watermelon as she asked.
Zhang Meng sighed while washing dishes: "When have I not upset her?"
Jin Yue said: "I'll probably quit in four or five days to go back home and marry a husband. When the time comes, you can ask the boss for leave and come back with me. Not only can you attend my wedding ceremony, but you can also escape from the boss for a few days to relax. How about it?"
Hearing this, Zhang Meng praised: "That would be excellent."
That night, Zhang Meng wrote a leave request of several hundred characters, and submitted it to the boss the next day.
"Denied."
Zhong Huo threw the leave request back at Zhang Meng.
"Why?"
"I remember you just took leave a few days ago."
Mentioning this made Zhang Meng feel aggrieved: "Boss, how was that considered taking leave? I cooked dinner that day, weeded the grass, and watered the flowers."
Zhong Huo glared at her: "As a member of the yamen, aren't you ashamed to be so calculating?"
"Boss, although I want to dedicate everything to the yamen, my adoptive father wants me to find a man I love before he'll see me. I'm not playing around on my few days off, I'm busy with a major life event."
Zhong Huo's face darkened: "A woman should establish her career before talking about starting a family."
"Isn't it start a family first, then establish a career?" Zhang Meng retorted softly.
Unable to get Zhong Huo's approval for leave, Zhang Meng was listless on her street patrol. Usually she could easily push an old man's cart uphill with one hand, but now she could barely manage with both hands.
Moreover, she wore a bitter expression all day long.
"Constable Zhang, you seem to be in low spirits today!" the vegetable seller uncle said with a smile.
Zhang Meng replied: "Just so-so."
The uncle placed two bundles of vegetables on her cart: "Since Constable Zhang is in such low spirits today, I won't mind making you feel even worse - no discount on vegetables today."
"Uncle, how could someone as generous as you do something so stingy? It doesn't match your noble character at all." Zhang Meng pushed the cart full of vegetables out of the market. It was still early, with the sun blazing hot.
Not in a hurry to return to the yamen, Zhang Meng sat at the entrance of a teahouse, drinking free tea provided by the owner to cool off.
"Constable Zhang."
A clear, pleasant male voice sounded.
Zhang Meng gulped down some tea and waved at the person in front of her: "What a coincidence, Young Master Xu. Zi Yi."
Xu Lu Cha smiled shyly, his beautiful eyes bright and moist, like rippling spring water.
Zi Yi stood behind Xu Lu Cha. Seeing Zhang Meng wave at him, he lowered his eyes with a slightly reddened face.
"Constable Zhang, how come we don't see the boss out inspecting today?" Xu Lu Cha asked, seeming a bit embarrassed.
"She's busy with something." Busy docking employees' benefits.
Xu Lu Cha nodded: "The boss has many official duties, naturally she can't come out to inspect every day."
Zhang Meng said: "She'll come out when she has time."
Sadness can be contagious. Seeing Zhang Meng's dispirited look, Xu Lu Cha thought to himself: Who is she putting on that dead face for? Given her glutton-like nature, she's probably just upset because she hasn't eaten today.
Though Xu Lu Cha thought this way, his face didn't show it. He just gently curved his lips in a smile, gripped the silk handkerchief in his hand, and brought it close to Zhang Meng's face to wipe her sweat.
"Constable Zhang has patrolled the streets all day, you must be tired. Look at how sweaty you are." His tone was gentle with a hint of coquettishness.
Zhang Meng was startled by the cool, fragrant handkerchief. She leaned her head back to avoid it, then used her sleeve to wipe the sweat from her forehead: "I can wipe it myself."
Xu Lu Cha's beautiful eyes darkened, but his smile remained unchanged as he naturally put the handkerchief away.
"Yesterday, because the boss was there, Lucha was too nervous to speak much with Constable Zhang. Lucha deeply regrets it."
Zhang Meng took out two empty cups, filled them with tea, and pointing at the two empty seats opposite her, said to them: "Please sit, have some tea."
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