Coming out of Muye Lane, Shi Fa Ke was in an excellent mood because this marriage arrangement had gone unexpectedly smoothly. She hadn’t felt so refreshed and invigorated in quite some time.

Being in such a good mood, Shi Fa Ke started craving wine again, and thinking that Shengxing Restaurant now belonged to her sister-in-law, surely they couldn’t refuse to sell her wine?

So she triumphantly made a detour to Shengxing Restaurant.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Miss Shi, the plum wine is sold out.” The young waiter rubbed his hands together, looking apologetic.

His expression was quite sincere indeed.

Shi Fa Ke chuckled and pointed at her own nose, saying, “You know who I am, right?”

“Of course, Miss Shi, I naturally recognize you.” The young waiter smiled ingratiatingly while secretly lamenting in his heart.

This was the little tyrant of Copper Gong Town! Who wouldn’t recognize her? Not that this Miss Shi was particularly fierce, but mainly because she had a fierce father…

“Right, my surname is Shi, your owner is my third sister-in-law, and I’m not here to freeload – I’m paying for the wine just like anyone else. Do you think it makes sense not to sell to me?” Shi Fa Ke raised her eyebrows menacingly.

“This… this this…” The young waiter was in great difficulty.

Indeed, the current owner was the former owner’s sister, who was this Miss Shi’s third sister-in-law…

“Alright, alright, I won’t make things difficult for you. I know you have wine, so bring it out quickly.” Shi Fa Ke lifted her chin with a very spoiled expression, while mentally dragging He Kexian out to curse him over and over.

He actually wouldn’t sell wine to her! How much did he dislike her!

If he wouldn’t sell it, she was determined to buy it anyway!

Finally, under the intimidation of Miss Shi’s authority, the young waiter reluctantly handed over the plum wine with a pitiful expression.

Miss Shi happily paid for the wine and strutted away with her head held high, carrying the plum wine with triumphant steps.

However, just as she reached the entrance of Shengxing Restaurant, she saw a strikingly beautiful woman rushing toward her in panic, unable to stop in time, and crashed right into Shi Fa Ke.

“Bang!” The wine jar in Shi Fa Ke’s hands fell to the ground.

Shattered into pieces.

The distinctive fragrance of plum wine spread through the air…

Shi Fa Ke stared blankly at the shattered wine jar and the wine spilled all over the ground, swallowing with a “gulp.”

Her wine…!

“Little matchmaker, I’m so sorry…” The woman apologized frantically.

“Mrs. Duan?” Shi Fa Ke looked at her resentfully, “Why are you running so urgently? Are there dogs chasing you from behind?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard an angry voice shouting in the distance.

“Jiao Jiao, you stop right there!”

Shi Fa Ke looked up and saw a man shouting and chasing after her.

Well… there really were dogs chasing her.

The one chasing Jiao Jiao was a young man, quite handsome in appearance, but his furious expression made that reasonably handsome face look mean and fierce. As he spoke, he had already caught up and grabbed Jiao Jiao’s arm tightly, angrily saying, “Why are you running! Didn’t you hear me calling you?!”

Shi Fa Ke recognized this man – it was Jiao Jiao’s brother Jiao Qi, who had passed the children’s examination.

He seemed afraid that Jiao Jiao would run away, gripping her arm tightly. Jiao Jiao cried out in pain from his grip, “Let go.”

“Let go so you can run again?” Jiao Qi’s brows furrowed, completely distorting his decent-looking face into something hideous.

Seeing that Jiao Jiao was in so much pain her face had turned white, Shi Fa Ke frowned, unable to stand it any longer. She stepped forward and knocked Jiao Qi’s hand away, “Let go, can’t you see you’re hurting her?”

Perhaps because Shi Fa Ke’s action was so sudden, Jiao Qi instinctively released his grip.

Shi Fa Ke took the opportunity to pull Jiao Jiao behind her.

“I’m talking to my sister, what business is it of yours?” Jiao Qi snapped back to his senses and said angrily.

“So this is your sister? Those who don’t know would think you’re catching a thief.” Shi Fa Ke sneered.

Jiao Jiao cowered behind Shi Fa Ke, craning her neck to say, “Jiao Qi, go back and tell our parents that I will never marry that old scholar! Tell them to give up that idea!”

“Mother and Father saw you alone and lonely, guarding that senseless fool from the Duan family, with no one to rely on for the rest of your life, so they found someone to arrange a marriage for you. Don’t be ungrateful.” Jiao Qi gritted his teeth and lowered his voice slightly.

Jiao Jiao laughed angrily and raised her voice, “That old scholar is almost fifty, old enough to be my grandfather! Can he live long enough for me to depend on him for the rest of my life, or can he give me another son?”

On the side, Shi Fa Ke had been feeling indignant for her, but hearing this, she nearly choked on her own saliva.

“You you you… shameless!” Jiao Qi’s face turned red instantly, so angry his face and neck were flushed.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m shameless, as long as you know shame.” Jiao Jiao stuck out her neck defiantly.

Jiao Qi was so angry he couldn’t speak and stepped forward to hit her, but with Shi Fa Ke blocking him, he instinctively moved to push Shi Fa Ke instead.

“How dare you push her! Do you know who she is?!” Jiao Jiao screamed.

“…Who?” Jiao Qi was actually frightened by her and stopped momentarily.

“She is the little matchmaker Shi! Fa! Ke!” Jiao Jiao said each word distinctly.

Jiao Qi was stunned, looked at Shi Fa Ke, and actually backed away instinctively, putting some distance between them…

Shi Fa Ke twitched her lips. So her reputation was this useful?

“Sister, we’re doing this for your own good. Look how you protected that fool from the Duan family, and what came of it? Wasn’t he still incited by those with ill intentions to drive you out?” Jiao Qi backed away a few steps but was still unwilling to give up. He put on a seemingly earnest expression and tried to persuade her, “Only we are family and would consider what’s best for you.”

“Bullshit! Even if I had to beg on the streets, I wouldn’t beg at the Jiao family’s door!” Jiao Jiao poked her head out from behind Shi Fa Ke, acting like a fox borrowing the tiger’s authority as she shouted.

Shi Fa Ke twitched her lips again.

“Fine, fine, fine, let’s see how long you can keep up this tough talk!” Jiao Qi spat hatefully. Seeing Shi Fa Ke standing in front and not daring to hit or scold, being timid and unable to gain any advantage, he left this harsh remark and stormed off angrily.

Jiao Jiao didn’t relax until Jiao Qi had gone far away, then said gratefully to Shi Fa Ke, “Little matchmaker, thank you so much this time.”

“How did you end up in such a sorry state? Where are those two bodyguards who never left your side?” Shi Fa Ke asked strangely.

Jiao Jiao’s expression darkened, “A’Shao drove them away.”

A’Shao was her rather dim-witted stepson, now twelve years old, tall and sturdy, and when he threw a tantrum, ordinary people couldn’t restrain him at all.

“Didn’t he usually listen to you fairly well?” Shi Fa Ke was somewhat surprised.

Although Jiao Jiao had a volatile temper, she was kind-hearted. Boss Duan loved wine and women, and had bought a servant woman to care for his simple-minded son, usually paying no attention himself. After Jiao Jiao married into the Duan family, she discovered that the servant woman was not only lazy but also made fun of A’Shao, giving him food that was worse than pig slop. So she drove the servant woman away and cared for the simple-minded boy herself. Over time, A’Shao had become very obedient to her.

“His birth mother’s family came looking for him.” Jiao Jiao said with a bitter smile, “Now he sees me as an enemy.”

Boss Duan had a violent temper, and it was said that his former wife had been tormented to death by him. That family, having lost their daughter, hadn’t even dared to show their faces. Now that they knew Boss Duan was gone, they started visiting again. By the time she realized what was happening, A’Shao had already been coaxed into seeing her, his stepmother, as an enemy, constantly telling her to get out of the Duan family.

Shi Fa Ke frowned.

“Look at me, why am I talking about this.” Jiao Jiao smiled, trying to appear relaxed, “I am the legitimate wife who married into the Duan family with proper ceremony. If I don’t want to leave, who can drive me out…”

Shi Fa Ke continued to frown at her.

Her natal family certainly couldn’t be relied upon – not only couldn’t they be relied upon, but they were watching like tigers, wishing they could tear a piece of flesh from her. Her stepson had now been won over by outsiders… Those people’s goal was nothing more than the Duan family’s wealth. Jiao Jiao, a lone woman, was in quite a precarious situation.

“Alright, alright, don’t look at me like that.” Jiao Jiao sighed, somewhat helplessly rolling her eyes, “Actually, I’m quite disheartened too, but… that bastard wasn’t wrong about one thing. I’m so young and beautiful, rather than spending the rest of my life lonely and helpless guarding that senseless little fool, I might as well remarry myself.” At this point, her eyes lit up, “Hey, don’t I have a ready-made skilled matchmaker right in front of me? Little matchmaker, help me find someone.”

…She’s taking this opportunity to request matchmaking services?

Shi Fa Ke was simply amazed.

“I know I’m remarrying and not a maiden anymore, so my requirements aren’t high, but it definitely can’t be that old scholar who’s old enough to be my grandfather!” Jiao Jiao wrinkled her nose.

Shi Fa Ke was almost amused by her.

“Alright, I’ll keep an eye out for you.” Shi Fa Ke agreed.

“Mmm… not just the old scholar, no scholars at all, no scholars whatsoever.” Jiao Jiao said fiercely, then shrugged her shoulders with some self-mockery, “Although scholars probably wouldn’t look at me anyway, but just in case, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Alright.” Shi Fa Ke readily agreed. She could understand why Jiao Jiao so disliked scholars – after all, their family had sold her to support Jiao Qi, the scholar, and now it seemed they were planning to sell her again.

“Then thank you very much.” Jiao Jiao thanked her without any pretense.

Although Jiao Jiao didn’t have a good reputation, Shi Fa Ke actually quite liked her straightforward manner. Her life could hardly be called smooth, but she never complained about heaven or blamed others, always finding ways to appear happy. Thinking this, Shi Fa Ke had already started mentally going through whether there was anyone suitable for her.

And she actually thought of someone – Zhao Zhu, a colleague of her eldest brother at the yamen. He was a very witty person, in his thirties, reasonably handsome, but for some unknown reason had remained unmarried until now.

Shi Fa Ke decided to ask her eldest brother about it when she got home. If he was reliable, she would help make the connection.

As she was thinking this, the fragrance of plum wine kept drifting into her nose, making it impossible for her to concentrate. She could only gaze at the wine spilled all over the ground and sigh deeply.

“Oh my, look at all this wine spilled on the ground, I’m really sorry about that.” Jiao Jiao said somewhat embarrassedly. Seeing Shi Fa Ke’s pained expression, she covered her mouth and laughed, “Alright, alright, it’s just one jar of wine. Sister here will compensate you with two jars.”

“Really?” Shi Fa Ke’s eyes lit up.

“Would I lie to you?” Jiao Jiao laughed heartily, pulling Shi Fa Ke back into Shengxing Restaurant and grabbing a young waiter, “Give me two jars of plum wine.”

The young waiter’s face immediately scrunched up when he saw them, “Miss Shi, how is it you again?”

“This time it’s not me buying, it’s her buying.” Shi Fa Ke pointed at Jiao Jiao, looking completely innocent.

“But the plum wine is already sold out.” The young waiter said with a bitter expression.

Shi Fa Ke’s eyebrows shot up again.

“Hey, no! This time it’s really sold out! The one we just gave you was the last jar. If you don’t believe me, go ask our manager!” The young waiter waved his hands helplessly.

Shi Fa Ke’s raised eyebrows immediately drooped listlessly, making Jiao Jiao laugh.

“You’re really that fond of wine.” Jiao Jiao nudged her waist with her elbow, laughing.

“…You wouldn’t understand.” Shi Fa Ke said with a melancholy expression.

“Do you know what the Jiao family used to do?” Jiao Jiao suddenly said mysteriously.

Shi Fa Ke was stunned, then her eyes lit up…