“What?!” The wet nurse looked shocked, then her eyebrows shot up and her face showed anger, “So what if she mistook the person? My young lady was willing to take a fancy to that dirt-poor scholar, and he still dares to put on such airs? How detestable!”

“…That’s not how you should put it. If it truly wasn’t him, yet he went along with the mistake and pretended to be someone else, that would show questionable character,” Shi Fa Ke found these words truly grating to hear, so she quickly cut off the wet nurse’s words and argued, “If Yanyan really married such a person of questionable character, wouldn’t that be pushing her into a pit of fire?”

The wet nurse was choked up, tasting these words as if they also made sense, and became somewhat at a loss, muttering, “My poor young lady…” while about to shed tears again.

Seeing the wet nurse about to cry again, Shi Fa Ke felt her head grow as large as a bushel. Once anything was connected to her young lady, this wet nurse would inevitably be in a state of caring confusion. Seeing her advanced age with tears streaming down, Shi Fa Ke quickly took out a handkerchief and handed it to her, “Don’t worry first…”

The wet nurse took the opportunity to grasp Shi Fa Ke’s hand, “Miss Shi, I feel sorry for my young lady… She makes porridge every day and eagerly sends it over, and keeps urging me to come find you for news. If she knew that Scholar Lu refuses to acknowledge her, who knows how heartbroken she would be. Her health had just improved somewhat, and her disposition had become much more cheerful, but now, now… Just thinking about it makes my heart feel like it’s being cut with knives…”

So the porridge at Lu Chi’s place was indeed sent by Zhu Yanyan, and bringing porridge to her was just incidental… Wet nurse, you’ve exposed yourself.

Shi Fa Ke’s mouth twitched.

“Miss Shi, my young lady trusts you the most. Please give us the truth—is there… is there still any hope for this matter to succeed?” The wet nurse grasped Shi Fa Ke’s hand, asking with tears in her eyes.

Shi Fa Ke hesitated, “Based on Young Master Lu’s current attitude, it seems… the possibility is not great, but…”

“But?” The wet nurse’s eyes brightened.

“But I always feel that Young Master Lu… seems to be hiding something,” Shi Fa Ke thought of Zhu Yanyan’s tearful little face, steeled her heart, and said.

The wet nurse’s heart settled down a bit, and she gripped Shi Fa Ke’s hand even tighter, “Please put more effort into this matter, Miss Shi. No matter what the result is, this old servant and Madam are grateful to you, and so is the young lady.”

With that, the wet nurse hurriedly left.

Shi Fa Ke stood in place watching the carriage depart, helplessly looking at the porridge pot in her hand, let out a long sigh, and walked through her own front gate.

The next day was indeed a beautiful day, with bright sunshine and clear, pleasant weather.

However, Shi Fa Ke’s mood was not bright at all. The wet nurse’s entrustment weighed heavily on her heart, but she had no clue how to pry open Lu Chi’s mouth, so today she didn’t go anywhere, staying home and playing with Dog Victory.

Today Shi Zhonghai was also at home. He hadn’t gone out to visit friends for several days, and was currently painting in his study. He glanced at the sulking girl outside the window and the silly-looking fighting rooster staring at each other, then lowered his eyes with a smile and continued painting.

He was painting that very sulking girl and that silly-looking fighting rooster. The scene from the courtyard leaped onto the paper, very vivid and interesting, showing his exceptional painting skills.

Speaking of which, these past few days Ah Ke had been busy as a spinning top, looking like her business was even busier than her mother’s, so why was she suddenly free enough to compete with Dog Victory today? Could it be… that the Zhu family marriage proposal had run into problems?

Not knowing that she was being secretly observed by her third brother through the window, Shi Fa Ke silently glared at Dog Victory. This fellow actually dared to stand on the high haystack looking down at her from above with an extremely disdainful expression—simply too much!

How annoying!

Just as she was having a staring contest with Dog Victory, she suddenly heard someone knocking at the door.

Shi Fa Ke unwillingly glared at Dog Victory once more, then turned to open the door.

Opening the door, she saw that standing outside was He Kexian.

“Big Brother He?” Shi Fa Ke’s expression was somewhat surprised. He Kexian was someone who never visited without cause. Although they had often played together as children, after He Kexian took over the family business, he became busy as a spinning top with no leisure time, and they gradually grew distant. After growing up, she only thought of him as her friend’s older brother… and the type with a bad temper who was difficult to get along with.

Coming to call so rashly now, he must be looking for Ketian?

Thinking this, before He Kexian could speak, Shi Fa Ke very consciously said, “Ketian didn’t come to find me today, she’s not at my house.”

He Kexian subconsciously hid the snow flake pastries he was carrying behind his back, somewhat uncomfortably picking up the conversation, “Cough, didn’t she borrow my set of jade chess pieces, saying she wanted to play chess with you?”

Unexpectedly, Shi Fa Ke’s expression became somewhat strange, “Ketian said you treasured that set of chess pieces very much and would only lend them to her for two days, and she already returned them long ago.”

He Kexian froze. Very good, his foolish sister had made him take the blame again.

He Ketian, who was sitting at home practicing calligraphy, sneezed hard and for some reason suddenly felt her neck getting cold.

Seeing He Kexian holding back his anger with an expression of gritted teeth, Shi Fa Ke immediately laughed, “I knew Big Brother He couldn’t be so petty. That Ketian clearly didn’t want to play chess with me and was using Big Brother He as an excuse.”

He Kexian was almost moved. Compared to his foolish sister, Ah Ke was indeed the most understanding person.

“Cough, if Ketian isn’t at your place, she probably went somewhere else,” He Kexian coughed lightly, inwardly calculating what excuse he could find to stay and chat with her.

However, Shi Fa Ke had already actively smiled and said, “Since you’re here, come in and sit for a while. My third brother is also at home.”

He Kexian hadn’t expected that in broad daylight, Shi Zhonghai would actually be at home, but since Ah Ke had rarely invited him in, he went with the flow and walked into the courtyard.

“Third Brother, Big Brother He is here,” Shi Fa Ke called out.

Hearing this, Shi Zhonghai, who was painting in his study, raised an eyebrow, put down his brush, washed his hands and walked out, bowing to He Kexian with a beaming smile, “Oh my, Big Brother He, what a rare guest.”

He Kexian felt a pang in his heart.

How had he become a rare guest? He had clearly grown up playing with Ah Ke as childhood friends too… But thinking carefully, he seemed to indeed rarely visit the Shi family. Thinking this way made him somewhat depressed. What exactly had happened in between? They had clearly played together as children, yet Ah Ke and that foolish scholar Chu Yizhi had always remained close, while she had grown distant from him. Ah, he couldn’t think about it—the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became.

Hehe, fortunately that foolish scholar Chu Yizhi had already married a troublesome wife and wouldn’t come to be an eyesore anymore.