Lu Chi watched the little fatty’s short legs moving rapidly as he fled, his mouth twitching. He shifted his gaze back to the book that had been upside down in front of him for so long, and inadvertently turned to a poem by Yan Jidao, “Long Yearning.”

Long yearning, long yearning.

If you ask when this yearning will end,

Only when we meet again.

Long yearning, long yearning.

To whom can I speak of this yearning?

Those with shallow feelings would not understand.

Lu Chi stared at it in a daze for a long time before suddenly realizing… this was the feeling of being haunted by thoughts and dreams.

Lu Chi had always considered himself a very rational person. He would approach everything from a relatively objective standpoint, carefully weighing the pros and cons, rarely acting on emotion… even when he liked someone, he was quite restrained.

To put it bluntly, he was called heartless.

Indeed, “heartless” was the evaluation his father gave him.

His father had always looked down on him, saying that although he appeared to be filial to his parents, loving to his brothers, and even gentle in character, he was actually an extremely arrogant person who looked down on everything, with nothing catching his eye or touching his heart.

Lu Chi slowly stroked his chest, feeling it ache and swell.

It was a bit uncomfortable, yet also gave him a sense of fullness.

So he decided to follow his heart and go to the Shi family to see the girl who had made him worry and dream for the first time in his life.

After all, Yan Jidao had written it this way too: “If you ask when this yearning will end, only when we meet again.”

Hmm, Lu Chi felt at peace with his decision.

He left as soon as he decided to go. When passing by a pastry shop, there were freshly baked sugar cookies that looked very sweet. Lu Chi thought Ah Ke would surely love them, so he bought a package and headed to the Shi family.

He hurried excitedly all the way to the Shi family, but when he reached the front gate, he became somewhat hesitant, thinking that Ah Ke’s three brothers and father… were all not people to be trifled with. He wondered if their anger had subsided? They wouldn’t really treat him as a lecher and beat him up, would they…?

Then he remembered last night’s rather unspeakable dream and felt that if he got beaten… it would perhaps be deserved?

Because he was so conflicted, he completely failed to notice that the He family’s carriage was parked not far from the front gate.

Just as Lu Chi was hesitating greatly, the door suddenly opened.

A baby-faced man stood at the door. Upon seeing Lu Chi, he first looked stunned, then his face broke into an enthusiastic smile, “Oh my, Young Master Lu, why didn’t you knock? Please come in quickly.”

Third Brother Shi?

Why was he so enthusiastic?

This wasn’t what he had expected… For some reason, Lu Chi felt somewhat uneasy.

But regardless, not only did they not beat him up, they even let him in… that was surely a good thing, right?

“Young Master Shi, I’m intruding.”

So Lu Chi politely cupped his hands and followed him inside. However, just as he walked through the front gate, he heard the sound of the door closing behind him. He turned around to see that Third Brother Shi had already closed the door and put the bolt in place… the movement was as smooth as flowing water, as if he was afraid Lu Chi would run away.

…Well, it was probably just his imagination, right?

It couldn’t be that they were luring the enemy deep in and closing the door to release the dogs, could it?

This doubt flashed through his mind and was then cast aside, because he saw Ah Ke sitting in the courtyard playing chess. She was wearing a madder-red spring shirt, holding a chess piece in one hand and supporting her chin with the other, frowning as she pondered deeply, looking like she was in the midst of a difficult battle, completely unaware of his arrival.

Hmm, she was truly very adorable.

Lu Chi was staring at Shi Fa Ke to comfort his lovesickness when Third Brother Shi closed the door and walked over with a smile, “Young Master Lu, are you here to see Miss He?”

Who? Miss He?

Lu Chi’s mind hadn’t caught up yet.

It wasn’t until Third Brother Shi raised his voice and called out, “Miss He, Young Master Lu is here to see you!”

Only then did Lu Chi notice the girl who was playing chess with Ah Ke. She was wearing a lilac-colored cross-collar chest-high ruqun. Upon hearing Third Brother Shi’s call, the girl quickly turned around. He could see her hair was like dark clouds and her skin like congealed fat, making her originally unremarkable face appear radiant and beautiful. It was obvious she had dressed up carefully.

When Lu Chi saw that face clearly, his heart sank, and he silently cursed repeatedly… it was actually He Ketian!

Recalling Third Brother Shi’s earlier shout, he instinctively looked over and saw Third Brother Shi giving him a brilliant smile. At that moment… he suddenly understood the deeper meaning behind Third Brother Shi closing the door earlier.

It was full of malicious intent!

He Ketian, however, was extremely delighted. Although she had invited Shi Fa Ke to visit the He family, when noon came and she still hadn’t arrived, she couldn’t help but bring the promised jade chess pieces as an excuse to visit the Shi family herself.

But soon He Ketian regretted it. She knew Shi Fa Ke was a terrible chess player, but she didn’t know she could be this terrible. Playing chess with her was simply a great torture. She suffered through it, trying to steer the conversation toward Scholar Lu, but every time she barely started, she would be interrupted by Shi Fa Ke, who would earnestly admonish her to concentrate on the game.

Concentrate?! He Ketian was so angry she wanted to overturn the game full of holes and chaos. She could win with her eyes closed! If it weren’t for trying to make her happy, would she have to painfully maintain this chaotic chess game?!

…However, all the suffering vanished the moment she saw Scholar Lu appear. She had thought about possibly seeing Scholar Lu again at the Shi family, but she ultimately didn’t dare to hope for it. Even so, she had still dressed up carefully, just in case they might meet.

The impression she had left on him before was really too terrible. She wanted to seize every possible opportunity to salvage her image in his mind.

And now, Scholar Lu had truly appeared before her.

If this wasn’t telepathic connection, what was it?!

He Ketian couldn’t help but stand up, feeling that the sky was particularly vast and distant, and even the air in the Shi family’s small courtyard had become exceptionally fresh. Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she softly and sweetly called out, “Young Master Lu.”

“Oh my, Ketian, sit down quickly. We’re in the middle of a game. Please show some respect for your opponent.” Shi Fa Ke muttered while staring at the chess board with bitter hatred.

He Ketian’s mouth twitched as she barely maintained the smile on her face, softly complaining, “Young Master Lu, look at Ah Ke, this terrible chess player. Her chess addiction is quite something.”

Her words were full of feminine petulance.

Upon hearing this, Lu Chi glanced at Shi Fa Ke, who was staring at the chess board with bitter hatred, her head not even lifting. She was playing so seriously that she hadn’t even noticed him standing right in front of her? Thinking this, he couldn’t help feeling somewhat sour, and after feeling sour, he became protective, feeling that Miss He’s words carried a tone of superiority and disdain for Ah Ke’s chess skills.

Lu Chi didn’t care if Miss He looked down on him, but he couldn’t tolerate her looking down on Ah Ke.

His heart stirred, and he walked forward to stand behind Shi Fa Ke, looking at the chess game that was troubling Ah Ke.

With this look, Lu Chi froze. Cough… even though he was fond of Ah Ke, he couldn’t in good conscience say that Miss He was wrong to look down on Ah Ke’s chess skills, because… she had no chess skills at all!

Reason told him that this game full of holes was really hard on Miss He to have accompanied her for so long…

But he was completely devoid of reason right now!

So he gently patted Shi Fa Ke’s shoulder.

Shi Fa Ke looked up, “Eh? Young Master Lu, how did you get here?”

Hmm… she really hadn’t noticed him arrive.

Lu Chi smiled good-naturedly, “Just now, while you were deep in thought.”

Shi Fa Ke touched her nose tip somewhat embarrassedly, “I’m making you laugh. This chess game is very difficult.”

This time, Lu Chi rarely found himself in sync with He Ketian’s thinking, as both fell into an eerie silence.

“Hmm… how about I help you play?” Lu Chi suggested.