“Of course I know. Do you really think I don’t know in my heart that I’m a terrible chess player?” Shi Fa Ke said, and couldn’t help but lean on the table and laugh again.

“You did it on purpose!” He Ketian realized what was happening and was very angry, feeling like she had been made a fool of.

“Yes, I even made a bet with Third Brother,” Shi Fa Ke said with a smile.

“…What did you bet?”

“I bet you would endure me for three days at most,” Shi Fa Ke said, barely able to contain her laughter.

Today was exactly three days, wasn’t it?

Third Brother insisted that He Ketian had great ambitions and would endure her for at least five days, but she knew that three days was already He Ketian’s limit… After all, He Ketian had never been good-tempered.

She and He Ketian had grown up together since childhood, so naturally she understood her better than Third Brother.

See, she had won after all.

“…You’re too much!” He Ketian glared at Shi Fa Ke through gritted teeth.

“Alright, alright, don’t be angry,” Shi Fa Ke said, supporting her chin with one hand and playing with the scattered chess pieces on the board with the other. “So, what’s been making you act so strange these past few days?”

He Ketian choked.

“Third Brother said you have a favor to ask of me, and that your ambitions are great,” Shi Fa Ke blinked. “I’ve thought about it for a long time but can’t figure out what it is. Since we’ve already revealed the truth, why don’t you just tell me directly? We’re good friends, so why be so roundabout? If it’s something I can help with, I’ll definitely help.”

He Ketian bit her lip. Of course she knew Shi Fa Ke’s character, but… what if it was something she couldn’t help with?

Previously, when Shi Fa Ke came to the He family to propose a marriage, she had offended her terribly and spread unfavorable rumors about Scholar Lu throughout the town. These were all things that violated her taboos… Now if she said she had changed her mind, she probably wouldn’t believe it.

Even if she did believe it, she might not necessarily help her.

But… there was no better opportunity than now. No matter what, she would have to speak eventually. How could anything be accomplished if she didn’t speak up?

He Ketian steeled her heart and was about to speak when she suddenly heard someone knocking at the door.

…Someone knocking at the door?!

Could this be what they meant by “when one path ends, another opens”?!

He Ketian’s eyes immediately lit up. She urgently stood up wanting to open the door, but then thought this wasn’t dignified enough, so she could only stand in place and cough lightly, “A’ke, someone’s knocking at the door.”

Shi Fa Ke naturally heard it too. She glanced somewhat strangely at the overly excited He Ketian and got up to open the door.

He Ketian followed closely behind Shi Fa Ke to the door. When the door opened, her bright, shining eyes immediately dimmed rapidly… Her entire person was like a flower wilted by frost, instantly withering.

Standing outside the door was not the Master Linyuan that He Ketian yearned to see, but an ordinary-looking middle-aged servant woman.

“You are…?” Shi Fa Ke hesitated, feeling that this servant woman looked somewhat familiar.

“I dare not presume, Miss Shi. I am a servant from the Zhu family,” the servant woman said with a pleasant smile, respectfully presenting a very familiar gold-embossed invitation with both hands, her attitude extremely courteous.

Looking at that very familiar gold-embossed invitation, Shi Fa Ke suddenly remembered—the last time the Zhu family’s invitation was also delivered by this servant woman.

But… why was the Zhu family sending another invitation? Hadn’t Madam Zhu already declined the marriage proposal before?

Shi Fa Ke accepted the invitation and watched the servant woman leave, lost in thought.

“The Zhu family? Why is the Zhu family sending you an invitation?” He Ketian asked curiously, though disappointed.

Among the families surnamed Zhu in Copper Gong Town, one whose servants were so impressive, He Ketian immediately knew which family it was, but… when did Shi Fa Ke get involved with that Zhu family?

Shi Fa Ke shook her head and didn’t answer her. She still had professional ethics as a matchmaker. These matters involved a young lady’s reputation and shouldn’t be spoken of lightly.

He Ketian had only asked casually. Seeing that she didn’t answer, she didn’t intend to get to the bottom of it. However, she didn’t know at this moment that the Zhu family’s eldest daughter was also eyeing Master Linyuan covetously. If she had known, she probably wouldn’t have been so calm.

With this small interruption, He Ketian’s hard-won determination began to waver again, and for a moment she didn’t know where to begin.

Shi Fa Ke wasn’t in a hurry to ask her. Instead, she went back to her room to put away the invitation, then brought out a pot of tea, planning to have it with the chestnut cakes He Ketian had brought.

The He family cook’s skills were quite good. The chestnut cakes were very soft and delicate, perfectly complementing the tea.

After eating a piece of chestnut cake and seeing that He Ketian still showed no signs of speaking, Shi Fa Ke couldn’t help but find it strange. “…What exactly is it? Is it very difficult to say?”

He Ketian looked at her silently.

It was very difficult to say!

Meeting He Ketian’s gaze, Shi Fa Ke’s mouth twitched. “…So are you going to say it or not?”

He Ketian silently lowered her head and took a sip of hot tea to calm her emotions. Only then did she bite her lip, gather her courage, and begin to speak: “Actually…”

But just as she started, she heard knocking at the door again.

He Ketian reflexively stood up with a whoosh, then coughed lightly and looked at Shi Fa Ke. “A’ke, someone’s knocking at the door again…”

Shi Fa Ke looked at her silently, feeling that He Ketian was strange in every way.

The knocking outside continued. He Ketian became anxious and finally couldn’t contain herself, running to open the door herself… She consoled herself that she was a guest at the Shi family, and if Shi Fa Ke was momentarily unable to open the door, it was nothing for her to help.

Thinking this way, she felt justified.

After all that mental preparation, when she opened the door, He Ketian’s expectant face immediately fell.

“Brother! Why is it you?” He Ketian said irritably.

He Kexian, standing outside the door, witnessed his stupid sister’s spectacular change of expression firsthand, from full of expectation to complete disappointment…

“Why can’t it be me? Or are you waiting for someone?” He Kexian raised an eyebrow and asked very sharply.

He Ketian’s eyes flickered, and she said somewhat guiltily, “I… I wasn’t.” Then she looked at her brother with some suspicion, “But why did you come here, Brother?”

“I came to see you, and I brought your favorite snow puff pastries,” He Kexian said, raising the paper box in his hand—it was indeed snow puff pastries from Laifu Records.

He Ketian glanced at the snow puff pastries in his hand with little interest. That was clearly something Shi Fa Ke liked, okay! Was this really her biological brother?

He Ketian gave her stupid brother a look, took the box, and walked with big steps to Shi Fa Ke’s side, stuffing the paper box containing the snow puff pastries into Shi Fa Ke’s hands. “Here, for you.”

“Thank you, Brother He,” Shi Fa Ke said happily, holding the snow puff pastries.

She really loved Laifu Records’ snow puff pastries, but they were very hard to buy and required queuing for a long time each time.

He Kexian walked over leisurely with his hands behind his back, glanced at her, and said with a half-smile, “Oh, Miss Shi finally recognizes me now.”

Shi Fa Ke’s smile stiffened. She knew he was referring to that day at the Golden Abundance Restaurant when she had clearly seen him but ignored him… But thinking about the situation that day still made her very angry. Those irresponsible rumors at the Golden Abundance Restaurant had made it extremely difficult for Lu Chi to find a wife. What if Lu Chi couldn’t get married in the future—wouldn’t she, as a matchmaker, lose face?!

“Brother He, if you hadn’t brought it up, I would have let this matter pass, but since you mentioned it, let’s discuss it properly,” Shi Fa Ke said with a serious expression. “It was your He family who proposed the embroidered ball marriage competition, and it was also your He family who refused to acknowledge it in the end. When Young Master Lu got the embroidered ball and came to propose according to the agreement, he was very gracious even when refused. Where did the talk of forced marriage come from? If you didn’t want the marriage alliance, that would have been fine, but why did you have to create enmity?”