The light in the room was dim, not good for embroidery work. Wen Yu picked up a stick placed against the wall base and propped the window open. Cold wind immediately poured in, and the snow covering the window frame also rustled down.

Some accumulated snow fell onto her hand. Those slender five fingers bearing faint red rash marks were like orchid leaves unfurling—lustrous and smooth as porcelain. The snow flakes half-concealed and half-revealed those rash marks. It truly deserved the phrase “red plum blossoms covered in snow.”

The back of her hand felt cool, yet Wen Yu didn’t raise her hand to shake off that patch of cold. Instead, she looked at the vast snowy sky beyond the courtyard wall and revealed the first faint smile since being separated from her trusted confidants.

Everything was getting better, wasn’t it?

She had a temporary place to shelter, and also had a method to contact her trusted guards.

Soon she could continue on to Southern Chen, making a marriage alliance to borrow troops and resolve her father the prince’s urgent crisis.

At this moment, a knocking sound came from outside the door. Wen Yu turned her head. For a moment she couldn’t quite guess who was knocking. She hesitated slightly before speaking, “Please enter.”

The one who pushed open the door and lifted the curtain to enter was actually that ruffian.

His back was to the light. His tall form nearly blocked all the brightness from the doorway. The pair of eyes he raised to look at people were black as obsidian.

Wen Yu almost instinctively tensed all the nerves in her body. The hand resting on the windowsill also tightened somewhat. Her whole person looked frail, yet every bone in her body, every inch of meridian was forcibly pressing down in a guarded posture.

The atmosphere of the two people sharing one room was like two fierce beasts, each occupying a mountain as king, forcibly placed together.

Only one was pretending to show weakness, while the other was pressing closer step by step in exploration.

Wen Yu tried her best to make her expression look sufficiently timid and harmless, asking in a small voice, “Do you have any instructions?”

After speaking, she also covered her mouth and began coughing.

In her heart, she pondered—it couldn’t be that he wanted to punish her because she didn’t clean up the bowls and chopsticks after the meal, could it?

She had wanted to collect them then, but after that ruffian finished eating, he collected all the bowls and chopsticks from the table himself. She hadn’t felt right about chasing after him to fight over doing the work.

Xiao Li could see that the person standing by the window was completely tense. He just didn’t know whether it stemmed from fear or from something else.

That hand placed on the windowsill—the thin snow falling on the back of the hand melted, fusing into cool water stains that trickled down from between the finger joints. The fingertips pressed against the window frame were tinged with frozen red, inexplicably eye-catching.

Xiao Li frowned slightly. His gaze didn’t linger too long on her. He lifted his foot and walked toward the trunk in the corner of the room, saying, “I’m getting some clothes.”

The nerves tensed throughout Wen Yu’s body suddenly went numb. Even her eyes revealed some bewilderment.

She watched helplessly as that ruffian walked to the corner, lifted the trunk lid and took out a set of clothing that clearly belonged to a man, then lifted his foot to walk out.

When he reached the doorway, for some reason he stopped again, turned his head to glance at her, and said rather coldly, “My mother is kind-hearted. If she learns you caught cold doing embroidery work while being blown by the cold wind, she’ll inevitably blame herself. The family isn’t short on charcoal for the fire.”

With these words, he lowered the curtain and left.

Wen Yu was still bewildered and hadn’t recovered her senses. Her gaze fell extremely slowly onto that not-large wooden bed.

This room was actually that ruffian’s room?

The impact of this realization was too great, making Wen Yu’s mind somewhat dazed.

She heard that ruffian shout from outside to Xiao Huiniang, “Mother, I won’t be coming back tonight.”

A reply came from the inner room—Xiao Huiniang telling him to be careful on the slippery snowy roads.

Immediately came the sound of that ruffian’s departing footsteps. Soon the courtyard gate outside opened and closed. Clearly that ruffian had already gone out.

Wen Yu stood rooted in place, wooden for quite a while, before she lifted the curtain and left the room, as if wanting to verify something.

Xiao Huiniang was resting in the inner room. There was no one in the main hall. Wen Yu pushed open the door and went into the courtyard. Goose-feather-like heavy snow formed a net covering the ground. The ground surface that had only been covered with a thin layer of snow in the morning now made “crunch crunch” sounds when stepped on. The snow accumulated on the rim of the courtyard water vat was so thick it looked like a white fox fur collar had been draped there.

Wen Yu gazed at the entire courtyard in the wind and snow but only saw a side shed used as a kitchen.

In this home, there truly didn’t seem to be any extra rooms.

Wen Yu couldn’t help but turn to look at that reclining chair by the fire pit, her beautiful brows furrowing.

So… the past two nights, that ruffian had been making do sleeping on that reclining chair?

When Xiao Li arrived at the gambling house, it was already close to the hour of Shen. He wore a bamboo hat but still got a whole collar full of snow blown on him.

A man cracking roasted melon seeds and chatting with people while keeping watch outside the gambling house saw him and immediately threw the melon seeds back into the dish, greeting him, “Brother Xiao, you’re here!”

Xiao Li took off his bamboo hat and threw it to him, wiped the snow from the back of his neck and continued walking inside, asking, “How are things inside?”

The man shook his head. After glancing left and right, he lowered his voice to say, “Not too good. That bastard Wang Qing has been badmouthing you in front of Boss the whole time, saying you received bribes from Chen Laizi and deliberately let him escape. Who doesn’t know what calculations he has in his heart? Isn’t it just that he saw Big Brother Song step down from the head position and wants to use Chen Laizi’s matter to make trouble and compete with you for the head position!”

Xiao Li scoffed lightly, “That’s all he can see in his eyes anyway.”

But the man’s expression still didn’t brighten. He said, “However, I saw Boss’s expression didn’t look too good either. Just now he even summoned the accountant upstairs.”

Hearing this, Xiao Li frowned slightly. The man was about to say more when Xiao Li raised his hand, signaling him to stop talking.

When the man looked up, he discovered that at the main hall entrance ahead, a group of men who had been gathered together drinking and playing finger-guessing games suddenly turned in unison to look at them.

Among them, a man with a short beard even kicked away his bench, stood up with folded arms, eyes full of provocation staring at Xiao Li. Behind him, a group of lackeys also imitated him and stood up.

If not Wang Qing, who else could it be?

The man immediately looked at Xiao Li with some worry, saying in a low voice, “Boss is still upstairs. What does he want to do?”

Xiao Li made no sound. Only when looking toward the opposite side did his face reveal that habitually frivolous, dissolute smile. “The snow is heavy today. In order to collect debts for Boss, I rushed about east and west outside for most of the day. Brother Qing led all the brothers under him to drink and gamble in the building—neither blown by wind nor frozen by snow. It truly makes me envious.”

Wang Qing’s face twitched, yet he forcibly suppressed his anger. He only spoke mockingly, “I know Brother Xiao your lip service skills are formidable, but you accepting bribes and letting Chen Laizi escape—this is an ironclad fact. Save that glib tongue of yours and explain it to Boss!”

Xiao Li smiled roguishly and lazily, saying, “I naturally will explain to Boss, and it also saves certain people from stirring up trouble behind the scenes.”

“You!” Wang Qing’s folded arms came down. His eyes held vicious qi. The lackeys behind him also had unfriendly expressions.

The man following behind Xiao Li hurriedly shouted loudly, “What’s this? Are you trying to bully the few with the many, taking advantage of the fact that my other brothers are still outside collecting debts and haven’t returned?”

Xiao Li picked up a candied orange from the tray holding roasted goods, tossed it lightly twice in his hand, looked lazily toward the opposite side, and said with a smile, “How do you know it’s not that with New Year approaching, they want to kowtow to their Master Xiao?”

No sooner said than done—the moment anger appeared on Wang Qing’s face, the candied orange in Xiao Li’s hand had already flown straight toward his face.

Wang Qing tilted his head to dodge. Xiao Li’s hand supported the wooden railing with a leap and he was already in the inner hall. When a lackey overestimated himself and lunged at him, Xiao Li pressed down on the back of his head and pushed down. That lackey’s head immediately struck the table with a loud “bang.” When Xiao Li released his hand, the person had already fallen to the ground, forehead bleeding profusely.

Xiao Li turned his head to avoid a bench swung by a lackey, raised his elbow to strike the opponent into stumbling away, then kicked away another lackey trying to draw his blade. Still walking leisurely toward Wang Qing as if strolling in a courtyard, his tone also very amiable, “Don’t rush. If you want to kowtow to your Master Xiao, come one by one. Everyone gets a turn.”

The lackeys no longer quite dared to come forward. As Xiao Li approached step by step, they shrank backward.

Wang Qing felt humiliated. So angry his teeth itched with hate, he slapped the table. “All of you attack him together!”

A group of lackeys holding knives and clubs rushed toward Xiao Li again. Xiao Li horizontally kicked a bench from the hall, striking the knees of several lackeys running on the edge. Instantly another group of people fell.

The commotion here was too great and finally alarmed the people upstairs.

The gambling house steward appeared at the wooden railing of the second floor platform, shouting, “What’s all this racket? Boss is reviewing the accounts!”

The lackeys holding knives and clubs immediately didn’t dare be presumptuous anymore. They glanced at Wang Qing with their eyes. Wang Qing made a gesture to retreat, and only then did they all withdraw.

Xiao Li raised a handsome face tinged with some roguish air, smiled at that steward and said, “Steward, you can’t blame me for this. I came back to report accounts to Boss. Who would have thought Brother Qing would be so inconsiderate—insisting that the brothers under him kowtow to me with New Year greetings?”

That steward with two small wisps of mustache at the corners of his mouth didn’t take up the conversation. He only said, “Boss is waiting for you in the room. Come up.”

Xiao Li agreed readily, lifted his foot and walked upstairs. Only in the backlit area did his gaze completely darken with gloom.

With such a big commotion downstairs, Boss couldn’t have just heard it.

Not stopping it earlier, not stopping it later—stopping it only when he had almost beaten Wang Qing’s group of lackeys until they were searching the floor for their teeth—this was saving face for Wang Qing. Otherwise, how would Wang Qing mix in the entire gambling house in the future?

Boss tacitly allowing Wang Qing to set up this formation was originally intended to use Wang Qing to dampen his prestige first.

When walking up to the second floor, all the gloom in Xiao Li’s eyes had already hidden away. He showed everyone a three-part smile, still his usual roguish appearance.

The steward with the figure-eight mustache led him to the front of a private room, raised his hand and knocked twice on the door, respectfully saying, “Boss, the person has been brought.”

From inside came a refined voice, “Enter.”

The steward pushed open the door and indicated Xiao Li should go in.

Xiao Li lifted his foot and stepped in. His face revealed some suppressed anger as if unable to contain his temper. Opening his mouth, he said, “Boss, you saw today—that Wang Qing led the brothers under him and insisted on making trouble for me.”

Not the slightest intention of swallowing what just happened as a silent loss.

The gambling house boss was surnamed Han—a thin, dry middle-aged man in his early forties. Hearing his complaint, he faced the account book without even raising his head, only asking, “Did you suffer a loss?”

Xiao Li then smiled, “How could that be!”

Only then did the gambling house boss raise his eyes. He pointed at a round-backed armchair opposite the desk and said, “Sit.”

Xiao Li didn’t decline either. He walked over and sat down directly in a sprawling manner.

The gambling house boss said, “When you were fifteen years old, you followed Song Qin to work at my gambling house. It’s been six years now. You were brought up single-handedly by Song Qin. In terms of fighting, no one in the entire gambling house can fight better than you. You’ve also handled affairs beautifully these years. By rights, after Song Qin stepped down, this vacant head position should go to you.”

He paused here for a moment, stared at Xiao Li for a while before saying, “But Wang Qing is also an old hand at the gambling house. Song Qin used to suppress him. Now that Song Qin has stepped down, if I let you—a youngster a whole cycle younger than him—suppress him again, his heart can’t be guaranteed not to feel aggrieved.”

Xiao Li scoffed, “In our line of work, don’t we all speak with our fists?”

The gambling house boss said, “Though that’s true, if you surpass him everywhere and he’s not convinced, that’s one thing. But at this juncture, letting him catch you making a mistake—now the entire gambling house knows you accepted favors from Chen Laizi and let him off the hook. If I still give you the head position, what will become of the atmosphere below in the future?”

Xiao Li then said, “Boss need not explain so much. The Chen Laizi matter is my fault. Just give the head position to Wang Qing.”

But the gambling house boss looked at him and said, “Who said I’m giving the position to him?”

He leaned back and said, “You’re the one I’ve always favored.”

Xiao Li raised his eyes to meet his gaze.

The gambling house boss smiled, “I have a job on hand. You go do it, and Chen Laizi’s account won’t matter. It’ll also let me see your loyalty.”