The shopkeeper’s eyes flickered for a moment, vanishing in an instant, then his face filled with indignation again.

“What nonsense are you spouting? I’m not lying. It was this boy who broke my jade pendant.”

As he spoke, he gripped Wei Yi’s hand even harder.

Wei Yi winced in pain, his brow furrowing tightly as he looked at Ji Yunshu pitifully.

Ji Yunshu lowered her eyes and slightly raised the two halves of the broken jade pendant, saying calmly, “You claim this jade pendant was just broken, but that’s clearly an outright lie. Whether it’s jade or just a common stone, if it had just been broken, the fractured edges would be uneven and jagged, definitely sharp enough to hurt your hand if you touched it. But the broken edges of this jade pendant are smooth and flat, even somewhat rounded, as if they’ve been worn down by long-term friction.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the shopkeeper’s face went blank.

It was poorly concealed panic!

Yet he struggled desperately, unwilling to concede: “This is high-quality jade. Even if it’s broken, the fractured edges will be smooth. That’s perfectly reasonable.”

Perfectly reasonable? Pure sophistry!

Fine, let’s see what else you can come up with.

Ji Yunshu’s gaze rolled over to the hand of the greedy shopkeeper as she continued, “Shopkeeper, if I’m not mistaken, you must have just eaten soup dumplings! There are still traces of grease on your hand that you haven’t wiped clean.”

Eh!

The shopkeeper’s face filled with astonishment. He looked at his own hand, then frantically wiped it on his clothes, appearing quite embarrassed.

“Is eating dumplings also a crime?”

“Of course not,” Ji Yunshu stepped forward, “But precisely because your hand has grease on it, this jade pendant also has the same grease stains, and when I held it in my hand, I naturally got some on my hands too.”

As she spoke, Ji Yunshu suddenly raised Wei Yi’s hand, spreading his five fingers apart.

She explained, “If this jade pendant had truly been broken by falling from this fool’s hand, then his hand would definitely also have grease stains on it. But coincidentally, there’s none at all on his hand. This can only mean he never touched this jade pendant at all. This pendant was clearly broken by you yourself long ago, and seeing he’s simple-minded, you blamed it on him, planning to swindle him out of money.”

“I… you…”

“If you still won’t admit it, then we’ll have no choice but to report this to the authorities and let the county magistrate make a judgment. How about that?”

The shopkeeper’s conscience faltered. He released Wei Yi and rubbed his hands together tightly, withdrawing them into his sleeves!

The crowd began pointing and discussing among themselves!

The shopkeeper swallowed hard, his eyes wavering, his voice trembling: “Forget it, forget it… let’s just… just pretend nothing happened.”

Forget it?

That won’t do!

Ji Yunshu turned to look at Wei Yi. At this moment, he was rubbing his arm with a pained expression—the shopkeeper must have used considerable force when hitting him earlier!

Her attractive brow arched as she asked, “Wei Yi, when he said you broke his jade pendant, were you angry?”

Wei Yi puffed out his cheeks and glanced at the shopkeeper, nodding earnestly several times.

“When he hit you, did it hurt?”

He nodded again!

“Good, then extend your hand.”

He obediently extended his hand!

“Make a fist.”

He clenched it tight!

“Hit his arm with force.” Ji Yunshu gave the command!

Wei Yi, like a little turtle, immediately withdrew his hand, even shuffling behind Ji Yunshu and shaking his head.

Seeing him like this, Ji Yunshu actually wanted to laugh, but she still maintained a stern, serious expression.

“Why won’t you hit him? He cursed you and hit you.”

He shrank behind Ji Yunshu, a head taller than her, his hands like cat paws weakly resting on her shoulders as he stammered.

“I can’t. Mother said I can’t hit people casually. Even though he cursed me and hit me, I can’t curse him back or hit him. Otherwise, Mother would be unhappy, and I would be unhappy too. Brother, I won’t hit him, I won’t hit him…”

“Really?” She asked him with a sidelong glance.

He nodded vigorously, those downcast eyes still pitiful.

Ji Yunshu stopped pressing him and turned instead to the deceitful shopkeeper, saying, “Listen well. If you falsely accuse others again, I’ll invite you to sit in the yamen for a while. Those red wooden boards they use for beating haven’t been unsealed in quite a long time.”

“Yes, yes, yes, Young Master’s lesson is well taken. It won’t happen again, never again.” The shopkeeper bowed at the waist, speaking in honeyed tones!

Some people are just like this—without a lesson, how would they know their wrongs?

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

She was laughing at herself!

If not for the promise from two years ago, why would she need to swallow her pride and remain at the Ji family, enduring cold looks and beatings in neither servile nor arrogant manner?

What she worried about wasn’t really these things, but rather that person—ultimately, would he come? Or not come at all?

Ji Pei, two years have passed. Where exactly are you?

Her thoughts gradually drifted off course, and she immediately brought herself back.

Seeing the shopkeeper’s attitude of admitting his fault was good, she left the jade shop and continued on her way.

Behind her, Wei Yi’s slow, wooden figure kept following her.

When she took a quick step!

He also took a quick step!

When she slowed down!

He also slowed down!

Finally, Ji Yunshu stopped and turned around. She saw his head slightly lowered, but his gaze unhesitatingly met Ji Yunshu’s. His ten fingers interlaced back and forth across his chest.

Little thing, quite adorable!

“Why are you following me?” Ji Yunshu asked.

His lips pressed into a line, no answer.

“I’m asking you, why are you following me?”

He carefully shuffled forward a step and spoke, “I don’t know where I should go.”

So innocent!

“You can go home.”

“I don’t want to go home.”

Ji Yunshu’s head began to ache. Even if you don’t want to go home, don’t follow me!

“I have things to do now and no time to play with you. Find somewhere to sit by yourself, and when you’re tired, go home.”

Having said that, she was about to continue walking when Wei Yi ran forward and blocked her path. A bright smile slowly bloomed on his face, his eyes filled with longing: “Brother, where are you going? Take me with you. I like playing with you. Is that okay?”

“No.” She rejected him outright.

“Why?”

“No reason.” Bypassing him, Ji Yunshu continued walking.

Who knew Wei Yi would grab her hand? Probably because he couldn’t judge the proper strength, when Ji Yunshu’s arm was pulled, her back and shoulder blade hurt. She immediately frowned and let out a soft “Ah.”

Wei Yi was startled instead, waving his hands frantically.

“I… I didn’t mean to. Brother, I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Ji Yunshu held her own arm. After the pain in her back eased somewhat, she exhaled and looked at the frightened Wei Yi.

In the end, she couldn’t bear it and opened her lips: “You want to follow me, don’t you? Let’s go then.”

Holding her arm, Ji Yunshu walked forward, and Wei Yi followed.

“Brother, did I hurt you just now?”

“No.”

“Then why did it hurt?”

“Because…”

One tall and one short figure gradually moved into the distance, their footprints, one deep and one shallow, extending all the way to Guangqu Courtyard in the west of the city!