Seeing Zhou Shaojin both angry and annoyed, Cheng Chi forcibly suppressed his laughter and said: “I need to talk to you about something!”

Zhou Shaojin immediately stood respectfully.

Since Uncle Chi already knew about her rebirth and believed what she had told him, whatever he wanted to discuss with her wouldn’t be a trivial matter.

Cheng Chi then quietly told her how he had explained to Old Madam Guo about her knowledge of the competition between Huang Li and Cheng Jing for the position of Minister of Rites.

Zhou Shaojin’s mouth fell open in surprise, not knowing what to say.

Uncle Chi was so skilled at improvising!

He lied without even preparing, just spoke off the cuff.

She had spent over two years trying to figure out how to make Uncle Chi believe her words so she could warn Cheng Jing, yet Uncle Chi had managed to convince Old Madam Guo with just a few words.

Could this be considered having the talent of Su Qin and Zhang Yi?

Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help but say: “Uncle Chi, you’re amazing! You even deceived Old Madam!”

Cheng Chi’s face darkened upon hearing this.

How could this little slip of a girl say such vexing things?

He said in a low voice: “What do you mean ‘deceived’? This is ‘strategy’! ‘Strategy,’ do you understand? Did you want everyone to know about your rebirth? Aren’t you afraid of frightening my mother? Aren’t you afraid those ignorant people would treat you like a monster and drown you in a pond?”

Zhou Shaojin turned pale with fright and shook her head repeatedly.

But she also knew Uncle Chi was doing this for her own good… Uncle Chi had said not to tell anyone, so he had truly kept it even from Old Madam Guo.

She was very grateful.

Seeing that she had learned her lesson, Cheng Chi felt somewhat better and said: “Be smart about this! If anyone else mentions this matter, you say exactly this. Don’t slip up in front of my mother, understand?”

“I understand! I understand!” Zhou Shaojin quickly and obediently promised: “I promised you I wouldn’t tell anyone, so I won’t tell anyone.” After finishing, she thought for a moment and added: “I haven’t even told my elder sister.”

Cheng Chi’s expression softened slightly.

Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief.

Uncle Chi treated her very well. She didn’t want to anger him.

She gently asked Cheng Chi: “Would you like to come inside for some tea? They just set off a lot of firecrackers here—the smell of gunpowder smoke is everywhere. It’s quite choking!”

Cheng Chi actually wanted to discuss the adoption matter with her, so he said: “Tea isn’t necessary. Everyone in your household is busy with Zhou Chujin’s wedding—who has time to boil water? But I do have more to say to you. It would be good to sit in the main hall. The smell of gunpowder smoke here really is too strong. The Liao family must be very satisfied with this marriage—setting off firecrackers as if they grew them in their own fields, never stopping. I didn’t expect my eldest brother to be so good at matchmaking!”

Zhou Shaojin smiled with pursed lips. She was about to head to the hall with Cheng Chi when Cheng Jia came running in, saying: “Shaojin, why are you standing here? I looked away for just a moment and you disappeared. Sister Chujin’s sedan chair is about to leave Pingqiao Street, and you’re not even going to take a look…” As she spoke, her voice came to an abrupt halt. She called out “Fourth Uncle Chi” in surprise, standing with her hands lowered, but her large eyes curiously looked at Zhou Shaojin, then at Cheng Chi, and finally settled on Zhou Shaojin, her face clearly expressing “Why is Fourth Uncle Chi here?”

“Uncle Chi came to drink at the wedding banquet,” Zhou Shaojin smiled slightly. “We happened to meet here and exchanged a few words. Cousin Jia, did you come to find me just to tell me Elder Sister’s sedan chair is about to depart? I deliberately stayed here. I was afraid that if I saw Elder Sister’s sedan chair leave, I would start crying!”

“What are you saying?” Cheng Jia stepped forward and grabbed Zhou Shaojin’s hand. “If you don’t watch, you’ll regret it!” After speaking, she smiled sweetly at Cheng Chi: “Uncle Chi, please wait here for a moment. Second Cousin and I will return shortly.” Then, without allowing any argument, she pulled Zhou Shaojin outside.

“Cousin Jia, Cousin Jia!” Zhou Shaojin said urgently. “I can’t just leave like this. Uncle Chi is still here!”

But Cheng Jia said: “Uncle Chi can have a servant come keep him company. We should hurry to the main gate! Just now, several madams all started crying.”

Forget it!

Even if she didn’t go with Cheng Jia to watch the excitement, given Cheng Jia’s temperament, there was no way she’d get to speak privately with Uncle Chi.

She would just have to find another opportunity later to ask Uncle Chi what else he wanted to tell her!

Zhou Shaojin smiled apologetically at Cheng Chi and was pulled away by Cheng Jia, stumbling as they went.

A flash of displeasure crossed Cheng Chi’s eyes.

***

Cheng Jia was still a step too late.

By the time she dragged Zhou Shaojin to the main gate, Zhou Chujin’s sedan chair had already left. The entrance was covered only with red paper scraps and gunpowder smoke still lingering in the air.

Cheng Jia said reproachfully: “See, you missed it!”

But Zhou Shaojin murmured thoughtfully: “With some things, if you don’t see them with your own eyes, you can pretend they never happened. Since I didn’t see Elder Sister leave home, it’s as if she just went out visiting—she’ll be back in a few days…”

“I really can’t win with you!” Cheng Jia said helplessly. “If you want to deceive yourself like this, there’s nothing I can do. But when is Sister Shaojin coming back for her return visit? I’d like to come see her then.”

“After one month.” Zhou Shaojin walked toward the main hall while talking with Cheng Jia. Along the way, servant women bowed and greeted them. “That day you said you wanted to stay overnight at our house—was it because you wanted to tell me about Li Jing?”

Cheng Jia blushed and said quietly: “I also want to hear what Cousin Chujin thinks. When Sister Chujin comes for her return visit, let me know. I’ll see if I can find an opportunity to spend time with her!”

Because the two families lived far apart, the return visit that was originally going to be canceled was changed to a one-month return visit at Fang Shi’s insistence, and Zhou Chujin would even stay at home for three days before going back.

Zhou Shaojin laughed softly.

If her heart wasn’t wavering, why would Cheng Jia go to such great lengths, wanting to hear her opinion one moment and Elder Sister’s opinion the next?

Cheng Jia’s face flushed red, and she reached out to tickle Zhou Shaojin: “You little brat, letting you laugh at me!”

Zhou Shaojin turned with a laugh to avoid Cheng Jia’s hand and quickly headed toward the main hall.

But the hall was already deserted.

Zhou Shaojin was quite disappointed and asked a maid sweeping the floor in the hall: “Where is Fourth Master Cheng?”

The little maid had no idea who Fourth Master Cheng was and said: “Second Young Miss, when I arrived, there was no one in this hall!”

Perhaps he had gone to the banquet.

Zhou Shaojin instructed the little maid to go see where Cheng Chi was seated.

The little maid left at her command.

Cheng Jia said: “Why do you care where he’s sitting? Are you afraid he won’t have a seat?”

“Of course not!” Zhou Shaojin said. “I gave instructions to the stewards early on to keep track of Uncle Chi’s whereabouts and save him a seat. I just feel bad about leaving Uncle Chi in the hall like that.”

Cheng Jia said dismissively: “Don’t treat Fourth Uncle Chi like he’s made of glass, will you? He’s so shrewd and capable—are you really worried he can’t find a place to eat? If he really couldn’t find one, he’d be wasting the reputation of ‘Fourth Master Cheng’!”

Zhou Shaojin thought back to the first time she met Cheng Chi… She asked hesitantly: “Is Uncle Chi’s reputation very prominent outside?”

“Oh my, what can I say to you?” Cheng Jia chided Zhou Shaojin. “You should go out and socialize more instead of staying home all day, not even knowing what kind of people are around you. Like my eldest brother—he’s one of Jinling’s Four Young Masters. Second Branch’s Elder Brother Shi is the last disciple of the great painter Master Shuangxi, skilled at painting flowers and birds. He has quite a reputation throughout Jiangnan. Someone once offered five hundred taels of silver for Elder Brother Shi to paint for them.

“Uncle Chi is a famous god of wealth—who would make things difficult when it comes to money!

“Everyone in Jinling City who encounters him respectfully calls him ‘Fourth Master Cheng’! Do you think the heir of Duke Liangguo’s mansion is so close to Fourth Uncle Chi for no reason? It’s because that year when there was heavy rain that destroyed many houses, the Emperor ordered Duke Liangguo’s mansion to help the government office maintain order in Jinling City.

“Who knew that Duke Liangguo would transfer his men to Duke Liangguo’s mansion to repair his own house, and the supervising eunuch reported him. If Uncle Chi hadn’t stepped in to mediate for them, who knows what would have happened to Duke Liangguo’s mansion?” At this point, she became somewhat indignant. “Who knew they would set their sights on marrying me! When I think about how Duke Liangguo’s mansion, despite their fine clothes and rich food, lives day to day in uncertainty, I feel sorry even for Azhu…”

Zhou Shaojin listened somewhat absentmindedly.

If Uncle Chi really was as Cheng Jia described, now that he knew about the Cheng family’s future circumstances, what action would he take?

Should she go ask Cheng Chi for help? Or should she quietly start thinking of countermeasures herself?

***

After sending off the guests, the Zhou household gradually grew quiet.

Li Shi looked at the servants cleaning up like they were dealing with the aftermath of a battle and sighed to Zhou Shaojin: “No wonder no one wants to marry off their daughters. Just this silence after the excitement is enough to make one’s heart ache.”

Yes indeed!

Who knew where Uncle Chi had run off to?

He surprisingly hadn’t attended the banquet.

Had he left early because of something? Or had something else happened?

Zhou Shaojin exchanged a few pleasantries with Li Shi, then used exhaustion as an excuse to return to her room.

Chun Wan and the others were sitting under the lamp whispering when Zhou Shaojin entered. They all stood up with smiles. The increasingly bold Bitao even laughed: “Second Young Miss, the Liao family was really generous! They gave you two banknotes of one hundred taels each.”

Zhou Shaojin smiled and said: “That’s wonderful! Go have Chun Wan withdraw five taels from my account and have the kitchen prepare a banquet table for you all.”

Everyone laughed and thanked her.

But Zhou Shaojin was thinking about Cheng Chi.

What exactly did he want to tell her?

The fear was that it concerned her rebirth—she couldn’t even send someone to ask!

When he left, did anyone see him off?

Uncle Chi had always been that quiet, unnoticed person in the Cheng family. If he was treated the same way as a guest at the Zhou household, that really wouldn’t do justice to his two-hundred-tael gift!

Zhou Shaojin felt like she had a stone lodged in her heart and couldn’t feel at ease.

But Chun Wan and the others, knowing that after Li Shi finished preparing Zhou Chujin’s return visit gifts they would be going back to Baoding Prefecture, began packing the trunks.

When Li Shi, having finished with Zhou Chujin’s wedding affairs, came to check and saw Zhou Shaojin had only a few trunks, she was very surprised.

Zhou Zhen sent dowry items for both daughters every year. There was no reason Zhou Shaojin should have only these few trunks!

Zhou Shaojin explained with a smile: “I hadn’t decided earlier whether to continue staying with the Cheng family or go to Baoding Prefecture, so I didn’t bring some things out.” Before she finished speaking, she couldn’t help but laugh.

No wonder Uncle Chi thought she was foolish—she really was a bit foolish.

She could completely use the excuse of going to Jiuru Lane to pack up her trunks to ask Uncle Chi what he wanted to discuss with her!