Lin Jinlou lazily glanced at Xianglan and said, “Just put it on the table.”

Xianglan placed the tea on the small table. Lin Jinlou reached out with his long arm, grasped her small hand, and pulled her to the bedside, saying, “Sit here.” Xianglan sat down and couldn’t help asking, “Why have you come in the middle of the night?”

Lin Jinlou caressed her fingers, saying carelessly, “Your master was feeling stifled at home and came out for a walk. Just happened to pass by your house and thought I’d look in.” He then chuckled and asked, “Are you happy?”

Xianglan wasn’t happy at all. She silently complained that he had disturbed her peaceful sleep because he was restless in the middle of the night, and still acted as if he were doing her a favor. Lin Jinlou was truly acting like a tyrant. Moreover, in front of her parents, he had brazenly entered her room late at night – while it clearly showed his lack of shame, Xianglan felt particularly embarrassed.

She kept her face down without speaking. Lin Jinlou pressed, “I asked you a question – are you happy or not?”

Xianglan could only say, “My humble home might not be adequate for the young master.” She still hadn’t answered whether she was happy or not.

Lin Jinlou paid no attention to this and smiled, “Well, you’ve become more sensible after just two days at home. Your house is a bit small, too narrow. You should move to a different place soon.”

Xianglan lowered her head and pursed her lips.

Lin Jinlou sat half-reclined against the headboard, looked around, and said, “The furnishings in your room are quite elegant. Did you write that couplet?”

Xianglan gave a soft “mm” in response.

Lin Jinlou said, “The first line is good, but the second is too melancholic.”

Xianglan thought to herself, “You only appreciate lusty verses like ‘Soft jade and warm fragrance fill my embrace, spring arrives and flowers show their colors, dew drips as peonies bloom’ – how could you evaluate anything refined?” She didn’t respond and tried to withdraw her hand, but Lin Jinlou held it tightly, so she had to let him.

After those few comments, Lin Jinlou didn’t know what else to say. He saw Xianglan’s bare face, with lowered eyes, showing beauty like distant mountains and moth-like eyebrows. Feeling a slight itch in his heart, he reached out and pinched her cheek, finding it soft and delicate. He then grabbed her arm and pulled her close to kiss her. Xianglan was startled and quickly struggled. Lin Jinlou laughed, “Hey hey hey, it’s just a few kisses, why are you dodging?”

Fearing he would become aroused, Xianglan quickly pleaded, “This is my family’s home, please have mercy, young master.”

Lin Jinlou smiled mischievously, “Just a few kisses, after a few kisses I’ll show mercy.”

Worried that the maids in the next room might hear, Xianglan had no choice but to let Lin Jinlou kiss her a few times. Suddenly feeling something pressing against her lower body, she knew he was aroused and quickly broke free. Her face had turned red as she retreated behind the small table, pushing the teacup toward Lin Jinlou, saying, “Please have some tea, young master.” She added, “I’ll go bring some food for you,” and hurriedly lifted the curtain to leave.

Lin Jinlou let out a long sigh, thinking this girl was just difficult. He got up from the bed and walked around the room, then went to the desk to examine the four treasures of the study one by one, and looked through the books on the shelves.

After quite a while, Xianglan returned with a tray holding two plates of fruits and pastries, along with a pot of hot tea.

Lin Jinlou said, “Don’t trouble yourself, I just ate at home before coming. Just add some hot tea.” As he spoke, he noticed an ancient qin in the corner of her room. He plucked a few strings and asked, “You can play the qin? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Xianglan quickly said, “How could I play this? It’s just an antique my father acquired. No one has bought it yet, so it’s temporarily stored in my room.”

Lin Jinlou shook his head regretfully, “Tsk tsk, with those slender fingers of yours, you’d be perfect for learning this. Don’t sell the qin to anyone else – take it back with you, and I’ll hire a teacher to teach you how to play.”

Xianglan smiled coldly, “My family relies on my father selling antiques to make a living. If I take this back, what will we eat?”

Lin Jinlou snorted, “Look at how money-minded you are. Consider the qin bought by your master – I’ll give your father silver for it, will that do?”

Xianglan ignored him and continued arranging items on the kang table, setting everything in place and refilling the tea.

Lin Jinlou was curious about everything in Xianglan’s room, even opening the cover of the incense burner to look inside, and rummaging through her cosmetics and hair oils on the dressing table. Turning around, he saw Xianglan sitting on the bamboo daybed, staring blankly at her shoetips. He walked over and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Xianglan shifted uncomfortably and said softly, “Nothing.”

Lin Jinlou sat beside Xianglan and asked, “What have you been doing these two days at home?”

“…Just talking with my parents.”

“Oh? What did you talk about?”

Xianglan replied, “Just ordinary family matters, who remembers specifically?” She added, “It’s gotten so late, young master should rest early.” She walked to the bed, re-laid the bedding, gave her quilt to Lin Jinlou, then took out an osmanthus incense cake, lit it, and placed it in the lotus burner, covering it again. She pushed the teacup forward and asked, “Would young master like hot water to wash up?”

Lin Jinlou said, “I already washed at home.” Seeing an osmanthus cake in the dish that appeared freshly steamed, he took a piece to eat, used Xianglan’s tooth powder to brush his teeth, and took tea to rinse his mouth.

Xianglan helped him undress. As Lin Jinlou sat on the bed, he saw her opening the cabinet to take out new bedding and asked curiously, “Didn’t you just make the bed?”

Xianglan said, “Young master can sleep there, I’ll make up the daybed for myself.”

“Who said you could sleep on the daybed? Come here.”

“The bed is narrow, I’ll be fine on the daybed…”

“I told you to come here, are you disobeying?”

Xianglan had no choice but to go over. Lin Jinlou had her blow out the lamp and take down the bed curtains from the silver hooks, then pulled her onto the bed to lie with him. Seeing Xianglan still wearing her padded jacket, he reached to undress her.

Xianglan was startled and quickly held his hands, saying, “Young master, it’s cold at night, I’ll sleep in my clothes.” She pleaded softly, “This is my family’s home, it’s not appropriate to…” Her face had already turned red.

Lin Jinlou said nothing but continued to undress her. Despite her frantic struggles, Xianglan was no match for Lin Jinlou’s strength. In a few moves, she was stripped to just her undergarments. However, Lin Jinlou just held her and said lazily, “Let’s sleep.”

Xianglan was so frightened she dared not move. After a while, she heard Lin Jinlou’s breathing become deep and even behind her. She stared at the bed curtains for a long time. Although she had been in the Lin household for some time now, whenever she was with him, she felt like she was walking on pins and needles, completely ill at ease. She lay awake for a long while before finally closing her eyes and slowly falling asleep.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, while it was still dawn, Chunling and the others had already risen, hurriedly preparing washing items, while the kitchen stoves were starting up for careful cooking. Xianglan had slept uneasily all night, waking at every sound from outside. Seeing Lin Jinlou still asleep, she quietly got up, felt around for her clothes, lifted the quilt, and got out of bed.

She went to the adjacent room to wash her face and comb her hair, changing into fresh clothes. By then, Lin Jinlou had awakened and was calling for someone. Chunling and others hurriedly entered with copper basins and towels. Once everything was settled and breakfast was ready, Lin Jinlou said to Xianglan, “Have them set the meal in the main hall, we’ll eat with your parents.”

Hearing this, Chunling rushed out to arrange the meal. When Mr. and Mrs. Chen heard that Lin Jinlou wanted to eat with them, Chen Wanquan was so frightened he could barely breathe, trembling all over and unable to sit still. He said to Mrs. Xue, “Perhaps, perhaps I should tell Young Master Lin that I caught a cold last night and skip the meal?”

Mrs. Xue, though anxious herself, angrily replied, “How can you as a father not give face to your daughter? How can you make excuses to avoid this!”

Chen Wanquan had no choice. The couple quickly rummaged through their clothes, changed into their most presentable outfits, and stood waiting expectantly in the hall.

Soon after, Lin Jinlou arrived with Xianglan following behind. The hall was silent as a grave. Lin Jinlou sat down first, and seeing the Chen couple still standing, he smiled at Xianglan, “Why haven’t you asked your parents to sit?” He reached for Xianglan’s hand as he spoke.

Xianglan stiffened and quietly withdrew her hand. Lin Jinlou’s face showed some displeasure. Chen Wanquan, smiling profusely, waved his hands repeatedly saying, “We wouldn’t dare, we wouldn’t dare! Let the young master eat at the main table, my wife and I will eat at this small table.”

Lin Jinlou stopped insisting and nodded, saying with a smile, “I apologize for the intrusion last night.”

Chen Wanquan, who had just sat down at the small table, immediately sprang up upon hearing these words, bowing repeatedly, “Not at all, not at all! How could it be an intrusion? It’s our great fortune to have a young master visit – our humble home is honored, hehe, truly honored!”

Xianglan felt terrible seeing her father’s fawning manner. Lin Jinlou glanced over and noticed the hidden sorrow in Xianglan’s expression, which displeased him further. He frowned, picked up his chopsticks, and began eating.

The room fell silent, with barely even the sound of chopsticks against bowls. The Chen couple could hardly eat, just going through the motions. Finally, when Lin Jinlou finished and left, they let out a sigh of relief, their bodies going limp.

As for Lin Jinlou, he hadn’t enjoyed the meal either. He returned to Xianglan’s room with a dark expression. Seeing his face, Chunling and the others were terrified into silence. Chunling only brought a cup of tea before quickly disappearing.

Lin Jinlou gulped down half the cup of tea and slammed it on the desk, one hand on his hip, breathing heavily. He thought to himself that he had come to see her in the middle of the night – any other girl would have been moved to tears of gratitude and burning incense to thank the ancestors. But she, despite her beauty, only knew how to irritate people, acting as if his visit was some kind of punishment. Last night she hadn’t said a single caring word, speaking to him as if frightened, and this morning at breakfast she had worn a mournful expression.

Lin Jinlou cursed angrily, “Ungrateful wolf, truly an ungrateful wolf!” In his anger, he swept all the books from the desk onto the floor.

Xianglan had just finished comforting her parents and was steeling herself to enter the room when she heard the commotion inside. She shrank back, tiptoed to the window, peeked inside twice, and dared not enter.

Lin Jinlou’s eyes swept around and suddenly noticed what appeared to be a fan beneath the books. He pulled it out and opened it to find a scene of clear water and distant mountains painted on it, the artistic conception was excellent. At the bottom of the fan were three characters: Song Yifei, along with an oval seal.