On the other side, Second Madam Zhu hadn’t waited for that sanctimonious Mr. Lu to be thrown out of the Zhu family by the old master. Instead, she heard that he had a pleasant conversation with the old master, and the old master even broke precedent by inviting him to stay for dinner. Her face immediately turned slate with anger.

For some reason, she always felt like she had fallen into a trap.

However, all of this was no longer related to Lu Chi.

While the little fatty was trapped in Old Master Zhu’s study in dire straits, the well-fed and satisfied Lu Chi had already leisurely left the Zhu family…

After leaving the Zhu family, Lu Chi saw that it was still early, and remembered that yesterday when he went to see A’ke, he hadn’t been able to speak with her alone because of Third Brother Shi and Miss He’s relationship. So he went to the Shi family again.

As a result, when he reached the Shi family’s main gate, he saw a very familiar carriage. Lu Chi couldn’t help but feel extremely frustrated.

Miss He… had she come again today?

After hesitating for a long while and weighing his options, Lu Chi still turned around and left before being discovered.

At this time, in the Shi family’s courtyard, He Ketian was accompanying Shi Fa Ke playing chess, completely unaware that the Master Linyuan she yearned for was right outside the main gate, having come and gone…

He Ketian accompanied Shi Fa Ke playing chess for the entire day, only leaving when the sun set.

Today, Shi Fa Ke didn’t have her super powerful external aid, and lost so badly that her forehead was covered in sweat. But she also got her fill of chess addiction—you should know how difficult it usually was for her to find someone to play chess with her!

“It’s so late now, why don’t you stay and have dinner before leaving? We could play another game,” Shi Fa Ke said with lingering interest.

“No, I’ll come again tomorrow,” He Ketian smiled somewhat reluctantly.

She really couldn’t hold on any longer today. If she continued playing with her, it would shorten her lifespan!

She’d better wait until tomorrow to battle again… After sleeping and waking up refreshed, she’d be a good fighter once more.

Seeing her insistence on leaving, Shi Fa Ke didn’t force her to stay. She watched He Ketian’s carriage leave, still muttering to herself, wondering why Ketian seemed a bit strange, as if she was very disappointed.

What was He Ketian disappointed about?

Of course, she was disappointed that she didn’t get to see Master Linyuan!

She had inquired early on that the academy was closed for rest today. She originally thought she would see him again, but waited until sunset without seeing him come.

Although she knew it was impossible to see him every day, since she had seen him yesterday and even played chess with him, she couldn’t help but harbor hope today… She had also pretended to casually mention him to Shi Fa Ke, but Shi Fa Ke completely ignored the topic, her heart and eyes entirely focused on the chess board.

Perhaps finding Shi Fa Ke to play chess was a wrong decision…

Although she thought this way, the next day, He Ketian came again.

Although Shi Fa Ke was also puzzled that she had been coming so frequently lately, she was still very happy, because today only she was home alone. Even Third Brother had gone out to meet friends, but she was still confined to home because of the previous drinking incident… Yes, although He Ketian had helped plead her case at the time, in the end, Mrs. Tao still ordered her to stay home and reflect.

She was so bored that she was teasing the dog Sheng for entertainment, and nearly got pecked by Dog Sheng, injuring her hand. It was precisely when she was extremely bored that He Ketian arrived, so of course she was happy.

He Ketian brought some chestnut cakes made by the cook at home. Learning from painful experience, today she didn’t bring that set of jade chess pieces, only claiming that the jade chess pieces had been demanded back by He Kexian, because she really didn’t want to play chess with Shi Fa Ke anymore!

“Those jade chess pieces were found by my brother, you know. He treasures them greatly and would only let me play with them for two days before wanting them back,” He Ketian said without any psychological burden, making He Kexian take the blame.

“So petty?” Shi Fa Ke was somewhat surprised, thinking to herself that He Kexian didn’t seem like a petty person, and he had always been very generous to He Ketian. He had even given Ketian a painting worth thirteen hundred taels, yet now he was reluctant to part with a set of chess pieces?… This was a bit illogical.

“Yes, very petty indeed,” He Ketian casually agreed.

As long as she didn’t have to play chess with her, let alone just calling her brother petty… even saying something harsher would be acceptable. After all, this wasn’t the first time her brother had taken the blame for her. He Ketian was quite skilled at this, and figured her brother should also be quite skilled at it by now.

At this moment, at the He family, He Kexian, who was looking through account books in his study, suddenly felt his nose itch and sneezed. He couldn’t help but feel suspicious: “…Could it be that those two stinky girls are talking bad about me again?”

He Kexian muttered to himself with great suspicion.

Thinking of that stupid girl Shi Fa Ke, He Kexian felt his teeth itch with irritation. After the incident at Shengxing Restaurant that day, she hadn’t thought to give him any explanation at all. These past few days, she hadn’t even set foot in the He family’s door, as if the matter would just be left unresolved… He Kexian would never admit that he had been waiting at home for her to come and explain.

But she never did!

Hmph!

He had always been petty and held grudges, so how could he possibly swallow this insult? These days he had been suppressing his anger, not actively going to the Shi family to settle accounts with her, but silently keeping a mental record of every grievance, waiting for the day to deal with her.

But his He Ketian had been acting strangely lately. That stupid girl Shi Fa Ke didn’t come to the He family to play, yet she was breaking precedent by going to the Shi family every day. Not only that, she had even taken away his set of jade chess pieces, saying she wanted to play chess with Shi Fa Ke! Shi Fa Ke, that terrible chess player… playing one game of chess with her would cost at least half a year of life. What was his stupid sister thinking?

Hmm, He Kexian suddenly stroked his chin, thinking that perhaps… the problem lay with the Shi family’s three brothers. Maybe Ketian had taken a fancy to Shi Fa Ke’s older brother? But the eldest Shi was crude, the second Shi was mercenary, and they definitely wouldn’t catch He Ketian’s eye. Moreover, although she used to often go to the Shi family to play with Shi Fa Ke, she had never been as abnormal as recently… So perhaps the problem lay with the third Shi?!

He Kexian’s heart skipped a beat, suddenly remembering that baby-faced young man who had openly taken Shi Fa Ke away from the restaurant that day. Hostility immediately arose in his heart.

Yes, the third son of the Shi family had just returned home from his travels for study, the timing matched up, and he was also a scholar… He was quite handsome too, which indeed fit his stupid sister’s consistent taste.

He Kexian felt he couldn’t sit still. He immediately stood up and strode out of his study.

“Prepare the carriage!”

Well, he was going to the Shi family for his stupid sister’s sake, not for any other reason.

Just as He Kexian stepped onto the carriage, he suddenly paused again and turned back to look at the servant who was looking at him with trepidation.

“Young Master… You?”

What’s wrong with you now?! The poor servant nearly collapsed inside. Their young master had been acting unpredictably lately, with his moods changing constantly. It was very difficult and exhausting for those of them who served him!

“Did you buy snow puff pastries today?” He Kexian raised an eyebrow and asked.

“I bought them…”

Yes, the young master sent him to buy Laifu Records’ snow puff pastries every day. When he bought them back, the young master didn’t eat them, just left them there. Snow puff pastries didn’t keep well—if not eaten the same day, they would definitely go bad. So every evening, the young master would angrily have him throw away the snow puff pastries!

Young Master! Not to mention how expensive they are—you have money so you can be willful—but do you know how hard the snow puff pastries are to buy?! He had to queue up every day, which was also very exhausting!

Naturally, he couldn’t bear to throw them away, so these days he had been eating snow puff pastries every day, eating until… he was about to vomit.

No matter how delicious something was, he couldn’t handle eating it every day like this, Young Master!

“What are you standing there for? Did you get addicted to eating them? Hurry up and bring them to me!” Seeing his servant’s silly expression, He Kexian furrowed his brow and snapped.

The servant tearfully ran to get them.

He Kexian grabbed the snow puff pastries and finally set out.