Chapter 28: Extreme Joy Begets Sorrow

  Xiao Xuan helped Zhi Quan up and looked at Xuan Sheng with a headache, asking, "What's wrong with you again? You scared him like this?"

  Xuan Sheng looked at Zhi Quan with an inexplicable gaze and asked, "Are you really that timid? I just called out to you, what's the big deal?"

  Zhi Quan shivered with cold sweat, "I told you! My courage is just a little bit bigger than that of a ghost!"

  Luo'er smiled and asked Xuan Sheng, "What just happened?"

  Xuan Sheng's gloomy face cracked a smile as he explained the situation, "Just now when I came over, I heard him muttering to himself, so I didn't call out to him. Then I stood there and listened for a bit, and discovered that every single sentence of his was about monsters - saying things like 'there are monsters', 'big monsters', 'terrifying monsters', he wants to beat the monsters, kick them to death, chop them to death... finally just going on and on about wanting to trample the monsters to death so they can't bully him again! I was afraid he'd go mad from exhaustion, so I called out to him, and he just fell to the ground..."

  After hearing Xuan Sheng's laughter, Luo Er and Xiao Xuan couldn't help but burst into loud laughter. Luo Er laughed while looking at Chen Zhi Quan and said, "You're so shameless, haha!"

  Xiao Xuan also laughed and continued to say, "Alright, Chen Zhiquan, I really found it too much fun! However, your way of venting is worth referencing ~ haha ~"

  Xuan Sheng looked at them with a puzzled expression, "What are you talking about?"

  Luo'er shook his head, "Nothing! I just find it ridiculous!" Xiao Xuan also nodded, only Zhi Quan was on the side, gently patting his chest, coming back to himself.

  "Alright, La'er, stop smiling, we need to cover the top! Otherwise it will get even hotter later and we won't be able to bear it!" Xiaoxuan tightened the bamboo strips again.

  "Uh-huh! Alright... shall we two go up?"

  "Good!" said Xiaoxuan, and then she and Lu'er moved the ladder to the wall opposite the kitchen, where they had just tied up the stakes. The two of them climbed up onto the roof very nimbly.

  "Lu Xiansheng! Hold the rattan pole steady and pass it over to us slowly!" Xiaoxuan said, standing on the wall in the north. But Luoer walked slowly to the wall next to the kitchen, which was the west side.

  "Be careful!" Xuan Sheng and Zhi Quan slowly handed the rattan pole to Xiao Xuan and Luo Er, who each grabbed one end of the top of the pole, trying to cover it over the four stakes. Possibly due to its weight, no matter how hard Luo Er and Xiao Xuan tried, they could only lift the top of the pole a little bit, and couldn't pull it up, let alone cover it.

  "Zhiquan, I'm holding it down below, you lean the ladder against that wooden stake in the southeast direction, and pull one side up after going up, so the force is even! Don't worry, that stake was pounded by me, it's absolutely solid!" Xuan Sheng said to Zhiquan as he looked at Luoer and Xiaoxuan struggling.

  "Alright, got it!" Zhi Quan quickly moved the ladder to the wooden stake and climbed up to the third rung from the bottom. He stepped on it firmly with his foot and pulled over the rattan strip that Xuan Sheng handed him from the other side.

  "Alright, I've started counting. When I shout three, everyone will use force to pull it up and cover it on the wooden stake!" Xuan Sheng shook off the sweat from his hand and began to prepare for shouting, "Are you ready?"

  "Alright!" Lao'er responded with one voice.

  Xiao Xuan also nodded, "I'm fine too!"

  Zhi Quan also tightly grasped one end of the rattan rod, "Ok ~ let's start!"

  "1, 2, 3, heave!" With Xuan Sheng's loud "heave", Luo Er, Xiao Xuan and Zhi Quan simultaneously exerted their strength, and the bamboo pole was finally lifted up by them, steadily covering the four wooden stakes.

  Wiping the sweat from his forehead, "I'm exhausted... finally done!"

  "Hehe ~ How can we fix this pole now?" Xuan Sheng asked Luo Er with a smile.

  "Go find a rope on the short wall, hemp rope!" Luo Er said to Xuan Sheng.

  "Oh? This one?" Xuan Sheng held up a hemp rope and asked Luo Er, "Hmm! That's the one! Now divide the rope into four parts, give me two parts, Xiao Xuan one part, Zhi Quan one part!"

  "I understand!" Xuan Sheng carefully divided the hemp rope below.

  "Li Luoer, I won't wear suspenders!" Zhiquan said sullenly from the top of the ladder.

  "Can you even tie your shoelaces?" Luo Er asked him helplessly.

  "Generally speaking, it will be!" Zhi Quan said with a silly smile.

  "What's so ordinary about it?" Xiaoxuan asked.

  "Hehe, it's just that I usually wear shoes without laces, so in general, I would be able to!" Zhi Quan said with a mischievous grin.

  "Alas... just wear them randomly, can you see if there are deep marks on that wooden stake?" Lu'er asked gloomily.

  "It is ~ It has several Taoist seals!"

  "That's it! This rope is very long, you just need to tie it randomly, not too tight or too loose, as long as you fix it on the wooden stake. When fixing, you can go up and down, left and right, as long as you wrap it around those few lines, the rope will be stuck there. Finally, when tying, tie a dead knot, from the wooden stake, pass the rope through the top of the rattan, and tie it to the top! Do you understand?"

  Luo Er's explanation was so confusing that even she herself got a headache, she didn't know if Chen Zhi Quan would understand or become even more confused...

  "Oh! I get it now!" Zhi Quan looked at the hemp rope in his hand, then glanced at Luo Er and Xiao Xuan's way of threading, and also imitated them, randomly threading up and down, left and right.

  "Are you dressed yet?" Luo Er asked Chen Zhi Quan after he himself finished tying his shoelaces and sat on the wall.

  "It's actually very simple! Haha ~ just this big little thing, can't it be okay? " Zhi Quan excitedly shook the wooden stake while showing off to Luo Er.

  "Hehe, just wear it and you're done!"

  "Can I go down now?" Zhiquan asked Luoer.

  "Just wait a bit longer and you'll be back on the ladder again. There should still be plenty of rope left in Sheng's hands!"

  "Hmm... I still have a few left in my hand, what should I do now?" Xuan Sheng asked Luo Er.

  "Now you tie up each bundle of straw with not too much grass, hand one end of the rope to us, and then we'll pull the straw up to complete the final layer on top. Once this is done, everything will be all set!"

  "Alright!" Xuan Sheng said and got started right away.

  "Zhiquan, be careful!" Xuan Sheng warned, looking at Zhiquan standing on the ladder excitedly flapping his arms on top of the rattan.

  "Haha, it's so fun, what's the big deal? It's just a small matter! Actually, you should be concerned about that one over there!" Zhiquan said nonchalantly.

  "Which one?" Lu Xiangsheng's eyebrows furrowed again.

  "Uh... you go then, whether it's Chang'e or that Miss from Gao Lao Zhuang, I don't know, only you know!"

  "You really think I'm Pigsy!"

  "That's it! This wasn't even said by me, but by xx who said they only wanted to be the eighth concubine of xxx! Some people won't forget so easily, right?"

  Xuan Sheng stared at Chen Zhiquan with a gloomy face, "Just be honest up there, I won't bother you, and don't get so excited that you fall off!"

  "Alright, Zhiquan, stop messing around. This isn't on the ground, if you were on the ground we wouldn't care how you messed around, but if you fall from here, that's no joke!" Lu'er also warned him.

  "Alright alright~ I get it! I'll just keep quiet then!"

  "Zhi Quan!" Xiao Xuan shouted.

  "What's wrong?"

  "I can't reach the middle part, and the grass on your side is too thick. Can you move some of the grass from your side to the middle and even it out?"

  "Alright, got it!" Zhiquan said, slowly sweeping the grass in front of him towards the middle.

  "Hey, be careful!" Xuan Sheng said again, looking at Zhi Quan with concern.

  "Got it!" Zhi Quan didn't notice Xuan Sheng, and he continued to spread the grass towards the middle. Perhaps he was too focused on his work, Zhi Quan stretched forward with all his might, but couldn't reach! He felt like he was standing on flat ground, tiptoeing forward to spread the grass, but this time he was in trouble. His center of gravity was too far forward, and the ladder was on a slippery wooden stake, so the ladder naturally slid backwards. By the time Xuan Sheng realized something was wrong and went to steady the ladder, Zhi Quan had already lost his balance and fallen headfirst into the rattan top...

  "Zhi Quan..." Xiao Xuan shouted with her eyes closed in fright.

  At this time, Zhi Quan had already pulled the top down from the wooden stake with a loud crash, and together they fell heavily to the ground...

  Under the wisteria trellis, lies the tomb of Zhiquan...

  Hamidiy Hotel

  "Switchboard - connect me to the manager's office! I'm Lu Meiyou!" Meiyou lay in bed looking at the clock waiting for Wang Jun to answer the phone.

  Wang Junfeng rushed to the counter and asked, "Hey, Mei You, what's wrong?"

  "Not much, Director Wang, you're very busy?" Mei You said with a smile, looking at the clock that had ticked away two big grids.

  "Oh, just now in the dining department, today is a Uyghur comrade's wedding banquet, arranged until tonight, so it's a bit busy right now, really sorry to have kept Miss Meiyou waiting for such a long time!" Wang Jun said while wiping away the sweat on his head.

  "Hehe~ I didn't mean anything else, of course I'm happy when business is good! Now there's something I need to ask you, so I'm bothering you at such a busy time." Meiyou switched the phone to wireless and walked towards the window while talking, "I just want you to help me find someone this afternoon and arrange for her to come work at our hotel. Just give her an ordinary job, as long as it's not too tiring!" Meiyou said, looking out the window at a small, unassuming shop across the way.

  "Oh, don't worry, Meiyu! Just tell me her general situation and I'll take note of it!" Wang Jun took out a piece of paper and waited seriously to write.

  Her name is Li Jinyun, she should be over 40 years old. She works in that slightly larger restaurant across from us, probably as a dishwasher. The job is too lowly and the working hours are too long, so no matter what method you use, you must bring her to our hotel this afternoon and arrange a decent job for her. Also, all of her wages at that place must be settled by the boss over there...