What nonsense about Second Brother Lu! Especially that line about “since you acknowledge Elder Brother Lu, you’ll call him Second Brother Lu too”? Lu Chi felt utterly aggrieved.

Earlier, he had coaxed her into calling him A’Chi as he had hoped, and later he had secretly wanted to coax her into calling him Elder Brother Lu… Well, Brother Chi would have been even better, but he still had some face left and didn’t dare speak up, or perhaps he simply hadn’t found the right opportunity.

Now look what happened – he’d been directly ranked as Second Brother Lu!

A tiny difference, but the outcome was completely wrong!

Had he known this would happen, he should have shamelessly coaxed her into calling him Brother Chi from the beginning…

“Mm, you don’t like this form of address?” Shi Fa Ke blinked her eyes and asked.

“…I like it.” These two words were squeezed out from between his teeth.

What else could he say? That he didn’t like it? Then why wouldn’t he like it?

No matter what… Second Brother Lu was still better than Young Master Lu.

He thought through gritted teeth.

“Then I’ll call you Second Brother Lu from now on!” Hearing him say he liked it, Shi Fa Ke smiled so brightly her eyes curved into crescents, declaring this decisively.

The way she smiled was simply radiant with sunshine, as if the entire sky had cleared up.

Lu Chi watched and watched, and couldn’t help but smile along with her, then silently cursed himself in his heart – what was he competing with this silly girl for?

She probably still had no idea why he had been angry earlier.

When the two returned to the courtyard on Willow Leaf Lane, the courtyard was completely quiet without a single person in sight.

At this time, Father Lu and Mother Lu should have gone to visit the Zhu residence. She wondered how their discussion was going. Shi Fa Ke thought to herself as she casually placed the wooden box on the table and looked around. “Elder Brother Lu isn’t home either?”

“He discovered some problems when inspecting the betrothal gifts sent by Golden Mansion, so he should be at Golden Mansion verifying things right now.” Hearing her ask about his elder brother, Lu Chi felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Especially after Shi Fa Ke had actually misunderstood that it was Lu Zhuxi who had taken a fancy to her… he had become unusually sensitive!

Thinking this, he turned around and saw Shi Fa Ke staring straight at him. Lu Chi felt his scalp tingle under her gaze and unconsciously swallowed. “Why… why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’re clearly the one getting married, yet I feel like Uncle Lu and Aunt Lu, and even Elder Brother Lu, are all much more enthusiastic than you are.” Shi Fa Ke touched her chin. “Your lukewarm attitude is quite strange indeed.”

Heh, finally noticed something was wrong?

Lu Chi felt a bit weary and was just about to take this opportunity to explain clearly who the actual groom was… when he heard her chattering on again.

“Lu Chi, you can’t go on like this. Since you’ve decided to marry Yanyan, you must treat her well. This lukewarm attitude won’t do. You haven’t even passed the test with Madam Zhu yet – with your attitude, how can people feel at ease entrusting their daughter to you?”

She spoke with great earnestness, very much like a matchmaker.

Lu Chi twitched the corner of his mouth and didn’t want to deal with her again.

“Second Brother Lu, what’s wrong with you now?” Shi Fa Ke looked like she was thinking ‘why are you being unreasonable again?’

Lu Chi felt his heart sink again.

Good heavens! He really didn’t want to be some damn Second Brother Lu!

As a result, Shi Fa Ke waited at Willow Leaf Lane until noon, but Lu Ting and Xu Feiqiong still hadn’t returned, and even Lu Zhuxi was nowhere to be seen…

“Why haven’t Uncle Lu and Aunt Lu returned yet? Could it be that the discussion isn’t going smoothly?” Shi Fa Ke looked at the sun’s position and said worriedly.

“If it weren’t going smoothly, they should have been chased out with their tails between their legs by now.” Lu Chi said indifferently.

Hearing this, Shi Fa Ke thought it made sense! Her heart immediately relaxed.

“As expected, scholars are different – they always have different perspectives and ideas.” Shi Fa Ke looked at him approvingly.

The corner of Lu Chi’s mouth curved up, but then he remembered she also knew a scholar named Chu Yizhi, and immediately suppressed the smile at the corner of his mouth, saying indifferently, “Not all scholars are like this.”

Shi Fa Ke nodded, looking very agreeable. “Of course not. Zhu Li told me that even Old Master Zhu says you have great talent.”

What kind of person was Old Master Zhu? He was a proper scholar who had passed the imperial examinations and risen all the way to the position of a third-rank official. What he said must be correct.

So Lu Chi’s mouth couldn’t help but curve up again.

Shi Fa Ke watched and secretly smiled.

Second Brother Lu was quite easy to coax too.

Just as she was secretly smiling, her stomach suddenly rumbled.

Ah… she was hungry.

Shi Fa Ke somewhat embarrassedly covered her stomach. “I’m hungry… are you hungry?”

Lu Chi glanced at her and got up to go to the kitchen.

Shi Fa Ke didn’t know what he was going to do, so she simply followed him into the kitchen shamelessly.

The kitchen was kept very clean and tidy. Shi Fa Ke looked around and saw a large piece of cured meat hanging from the rafters, several fresh vegetables and fresh meat on the shelf in the corner, and a few fish kept in the water vat. It could be said that the ingredients were quite abundant.

“Second Brother Lu, you’re quite blessed to have Aunt Lu around.” Shi Fa Ke sighed.

Having a mother nearby really made a difference – none of these things had been available before.

Lu Chi responded to this comment with a wooden expression and a mental ‘heh’, completely too lazy to refute it. He simply rolled up his sleeves and prepared to scoop rice from the rice jar… Speaking of which, he was almost getting used to being called Second Brother Lu.

Habit was truly a terrible thing!

Lu Chi ignored her, and Shi Fa Ke didn’t mind. She was still speculating that as a scholar, he probably wasn’t good at cooking, and with Aunt Lu not at home, she very thoughtfully said, “Let me cook the rice.”

Lu Chi glanced at Shi Fa Ke and silently stepped aside.

Shi Fa Ke had just finished washing the rice and putting it on to cook when she turned around to see Lu Chi cleaning fish by the water vat. His movements were clean and efficient. Although the act of cleaning fish really didn’t match his appearance and temperament, when he did such mundane tasks, they somehow looked graceful, and even the bruises on his face couldn’t affect his handsomeness!

Watching him, Shi Fa Ke couldn’t help but sigh inwardly that being good-looking really was an advantage.

Noticing her staring at him, Lu Chi looked up at her. “This fish has been kept for two days and has expelled all the muddy fishy smell. It’ll be good stewed with tofu for soup.”

He seemed quite knowledgeable about it. Shi Fa Ke was somewhat surprised and curiously walked to his side to watch him clean the fish. “Doesn’t it say that gentlemen should stay away from the kitchen?”

Lu Chi raised an eyebrow. “Gentlemen still need to eat the food of mortals.”

Shi Fa Ke laughed and speculated, “Aunt Lu must be an excellent cook.”

It must be because Aunt Lu was such a good cook that Second Brother Lu had learned a few tricks through observation.

Lu Chi still didn’t answer, but his expression was somewhat complicated.

Shi Fa Ke watched Lu Chi busily preparing the fish and helped by making a dish of preserved vegetables with pork, plus stir-frying two dishes of fresh seasonal vegetables.

By this time, the fish soup was about ready. The tofu and fish soup was snowy white, bubbling away in the pot with tender tofu tumbling about inside, looking mouth-watering just from the sight.

“It smells so good.” Shi Fa Ke took a sniff and praised, “Who would have thought you have such good cooking skills.”

Seeing her eyes sparkling brightly with a look of complete bliss, Lu Chi unconsciously smiled. His gaze fell on her fair, round face, and his fingers moved. He couldn’t help but reach out and pinch her cheek.

Just a light pinch, then he withdrew his hand.

Though it was just a very light touch, Shi Fa Ke felt as if her face had been stung, and her heartbeat suddenly quickened. “What… what’s wrong?”

“You had something dirty on your face.” Lu Chi said matter-of-factly, and calmly showed her a fish scale he had pinched from his sleeve when he had accidentally gotten it on his clothes while cleaning the fish. “Look.”

Shi Fa Ke glanced at the fish scale on his fingertip. Her previously quickened heartbeat immediately calmed down. She hadn’t touched the fish at all from start to finish, so how could she possibly have gotten a fish scale on her?

She grinned. “Thank you.”

“No need to be polite.” Lu Chi put his hands behind his back, lightly rubbing his fingertips together, and nodded with an air of moral righteousness.

Shi Fa Ke mentally let out a ‘heh’ and walked to the stove to check, then quietly got her hand covered with black soot. She looked at Lu Chi with ulterior motives, saw that he was seasoning the soup, and grinned mischievously as she walked behind him.

Lu Chi glanced at her and ladled a small spoonful to her lips. “Try this – is it too salty?”

Shi Fa Ke instinctively obediently tasted it from his hand, and her eyes narrowed with the delicious flavor. “It’s delicious.”

“Then I’ll take it off the heat.”

“Wait a moment.” Shi Fa Ke called to him.

“Mm?” Lu Chi turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

Shi Fa Ke smiled at him, then suddenly reached out her paw and wiped it across his impossibly handsome face, immediately leaving five black claw marks on his fair face.

“You had something dirty on your face. I helped wipe it off for you.” Shi Fa Ke beamed at him.

Lu Chi’s mind was drawn away by the temperature and sensation of her fingertips, but he didn’t miss the mischief in her eyes. Though he knew perfectly well this was a small act of revenge, he didn’t expose her. Instead, he smiled slightly. “Thank you.”

He maintained the bearing of a proper gentleman.

Only the five claw marks on his face were somewhat comical, and Shi Fa Ke’s eyes were full of mirth.

Seeing her happiness, Lu Chi was content to indulge her and didn’t wipe off the claw marks, carrying the dishes to the table with exactly that face.

A full table of dishes that was quite sumptuous indeed. Just as the two were about to start eating, they heard the sound of a door being pushed open outside. Shi Fa Ke’s eyes lit up, and she didn’t care about eating anymore, hurriedly running outside.

Leaving behind Lu Chi, whose face had darkened.

Indeed, Lu Chi’s face was very dark – as dark as the soot on his face.