By afternoon, Yu Yuan had returned, and they had nothing else to do—now they just had to wait and see if Master Qian could discover anything.

Yu Wen waited anxiously, playing chess with the innkeeper to pass the time. Yu Yuan couldn’t sit still, so after greeting Yu Wen, he went out to wander the streets, wanting to see what businesses were thriving in Hangzhou, what kinds of trades people were doing, and how they conducted their business.

Yu Tang stayed in her room making hair ornaments.

Someone came in asking, “Does Master Yu stay here?”

Yu Wen looked up and said, “Who’s looking for me?”

The visitor appeared to be fifteen or sixteen years old, with red lips and white teeth, dressed as a servant. He smiled and said, “I’m Master Zhou’s page. My master sent me to see if you were at the inn.” With that, he ran off in a flash.

Yu Wen said curiously, “Master Zhou? Which Master Zhou?”

His words had barely fallen when he saw the page return accompanying Zhou Zijin and Pei Yan.

Yu Wen broke into a smile and hurried forward, performing a bow as he said, “I wondered who it was—so it’s the Top Scholar Zhou. What brings you here? Is there something you need from me?” He also bowed to Pei Yan.

Pei Yan maintained his usual cool and indifferent demeanor, nodding faintly at Yu Wen.

Zhou Zijin said, “I heard your daughter fell ill? We should have come to visit yesterday, but yesterday we had arranged to meet someone, and lunch stretched into the afternoon. I got quite drunk too, and didn’t want to be disrespectful, so I didn’t come. How is she? Is your daughter feeling better? Is there anything we can help with?”

Yu Wen was very touched by this and said, “Children, you know—she ate something that didn’t agree with her. I already used Master Pei’s calling card to request Imperial Physician Wang to examine her. He said it was nothing serious, just needed to fast. Thank you both for your concern. I was actually planning to visit the Pei residence in a couple of days to express my thanks, but I never expected you both to come here first. I feel terrible about this.” After speaking, he thanked Pei Yan separately.

Pei Yan said nothing and accepted Yu Wen’s courtesy.

Yu Wen said, “Do Top Scholar Zhou and Master Pei have any matters to attend to later? If not, allow me to be the host—let’s find a restaurant or eatery nearby, and I’ll treat you both to a few drinks.”

Zhou Zijin’s eyes lit up, clearly very interested in this idea. Who knew that Pei Yan beside him would speak before he could: “No need. You surely still have many matters to attend to. We’ll have another opportunity to drink together in the future.”

Yu Wen took this as mere politeness and became even more sincere: “We can talk about future matters when we encounter them later. That you both came to see my daughter fills my heart with such joy! If you just left like this, how could I feel right about it? Especially you, Master Pei—if it weren’t for your calling card yesterday, who knows what suffering my daughter would have endured!”

“That was just fortunate timing!” Pei Yan said indifferently, insisting on leaving.

Zhou Zijin actually wanted to stay, but seeing that Pei Yan didn’t seem to be merely being polite, he had to step in and say, “We’re really not being polite with you. We came today just to check on your daughter. Since she’s fine, we’ll take our leave now.”

Of course Yu Wen couldn’t let them leave just like that, and blocked their way.

Zhou Zijin said helplessly, “It’s not that I won’t give you face, old friend, but it’s really because Xiaguang… your daughter had an upset stomach, and because of this, he’s stopping me from going to the night market at Little River Imperial Street…”

He looked very regretful.

But before he could finish speaking, they heard a “bang” of a door closing from the guest rooms on the second floor.

Everyone couldn’t help but look up together.

They only saw the tightly shut door.

Yu Wen thought for a moment and smiled, “That must be my daughter—she’s embarrassed!”

“Of course, of course!” Zhou Zijin said with a laugh.

But Pei Yan’s expression hadn’t changed in the slightest from beginning to end.

Inside the room, Yu Tang’s face was completely flushed as she bit her fingernail and paced in circles.

Wasn’t Pei Yan supposed to be visiting some Censor? What was he doing here? Plum Family Bridge and Ruyi Inn were one to the north and one to the west.

However, the Pei family pawnshop was here.

Could it be that he came to the Pei family pawnshop on business and was dragged over by Top Scholar Zhou on the way?

How had she not thought of this!

This was so humiliating!

Getting an upset stomach from eating.

Something Pei Yan could laugh about for the rest of his life, right?

Yu Tang felt she had no face to see anyone.

Especially just now—when she heard someone calling her father’s name, she had run out, but when she saw Pei Yan in her excitement, she lost control when closing the door and made a very loud noise… She really wished there was a crack in the ground to crawl into!

Yu Tang felt utterly vexed in her room, then suddenly felt a bit grateful that she was still fasting.

This way she could hide in her room and not go out.

Yu Tang breathed a sigh of relief, feeling she should properly finish making that hair ornament. If she worked quickly enough, she might even be able to make one for her mother too.

But with the needle in her hand, she didn’t know where to insert it for the longest time. Her mind was a jumbled mess, not knowing what she was thinking about. She clearly knew this wasn’t right, yet she felt too lazy and listless to muster any energy, thinking that everyone deserved to slack off sometimes, and she could catch up later without delaying anything.

Thinking this way, by the time she came back to her senses, the sun had already moved westward, and the innkeeper’s wife had brought her warm water.

Yu Tang suddenly felt so hungry she could barely sit up straight.

She quickly asked, “Where’s my father?”

“He’s downstairs playing chess with my husband!” The innkeeper’s wife said with a beaming smile, adding enviously, “Yesterday when I saw Shopkeeper Tong’er come with Master Pei’s calling card, I was thinking how good the relationship between your family and the Pei family must be. I never expected Master Pei to personally come visit the sick today. Your family must be people of standing in Lin’an, right? Yet Master Yu seems very modest—truly befitting of a scholarly family, so low-key and refined in conduct.”

Yu Tang was taken aback.

Her father hadn’t invited Pei Yan to dinner?

She couldn’t help but ask, “You, you also know the Third Master of the Pei family?”

“Know him? Of course I know him!” The innkeeper’s wife said cheerfully, “Who in this area doesn’t know the three masters of the Pei family! We all make our living thanks to the Pei family. This inn we run rents from the Pei family, and that street where you bought your hair ornament beads is also the Pei family’s. However, this is the first time the Third Master has come to our place. The Third Master is really handsome! Last time I saw him, the Old Master was still in his prime, and he was only about thirteen or fourteen. The Old Master came to check the accounts at the pawnshop here, and he seemed very disdainful, just sat outside on the stone railings by the Imperial River. Everyone had never seen such a person of exceptional grace and beauty, wanted to look closely but didn’t dare, so they found excuses to walk back and forth near him. Only Miss Cai from the house at the end of the back street was boldest—she threw a flower at him. He glanced at it but didn’t say anything. Everyone found it amusing, so several people copied Miss Cai and threw flowers at him, and some threw handkerchiefs too.

“He got so angry that he ran off in a flash.

“I still remember how he looked back then to this day.”

“Really!” Yu Tang found this incredibly amusing and laughed heartily.

“Really!” The innkeeper’s wife also laughed, her expression becoming tender. “In the blink of an eye all these years have passed, the Third Master has grown more and more handsome, but it seems his temper has also gotten worse and worse.”

“Exactly!” Yu Tang agreed, thinking of his expression the several times she’d encountered him, then thinking of the innkeeper’s wife’s words. Not only did she no longer feel afraid, she inexplicably felt a sense of closeness. She asked, “When did Master Pei leave? Did my father not invite him to dinner?”

“He did.” The innkeeper’s wife, who probably rarely had anyone to talk to about Pei Yan, said with a smile, “Master Pei wouldn’t agree, so Top Scholar Zhou had to leave with him too. He’s still the same as before, doesn’t fit in with others.”

Yu Tang smiled with pursed lips, all the gloom in her heart swept away, and the matter of getting an upset stomach didn’t seem so important anymore.

After all, compared to Pei Yan being pelted with flowers by young ladies until he fled in embarrassment, what did her situation amount to?