After dinner, Shi Fa Ke intercepted her Third Brother by the screen wall.

“The ten taels of silver as agreed, thank you.” Shi Fa Ke smiled and extended her hand to him.

“…I don’t believe you can win.” Third Brother struggled desperately.

“Ketian couldn’t help herself today and almost lost her temper, nearly laying her cards on the table with me. It was exactly three days.” Shi Fa Ke extended her hand forward with curved, smiling eyes, “A bet is a bet, Third Brother.”

“Why couldn’t she endure a few more days? How can she accomplish great things with such poor self-control!” Third Brother was heartbroken, looking as if he was disappointed in her failure to live up to expectations.

Ten taels of silver! That was about a month’s expenses for him. He needed money for everything when going out to visit friends… If he wasn’t short on cash, how could he have come up with such a crooked idea to swindle his sister’s money? But now he had trapped himself! Gambling truly was a sinful abyss—nine out of ten gamblers lose, the ancients did not deceive me!

Under Third Brother’s reluctant gaze, Shi Fa Ke put the two five-tael silver ingots into her purse. These were the fruits of her victory, and it was rare to see Third Brother suffer a loss. Shi Fa Ke’s mood was naturally very pleasant, and this pleasant feeling far exceeded the value of ten taels of silver. The taste of victory was indeed extraordinarily sweet.

Shi Fa Ke was savoring this feeling when suddenly she had a flash of inspiration and thought… could He Ketian’s beloved be her Third Brother?

Although her Third Brother had a baby face and a somewhat unreliable personality, he was quite impressive outside. He had always been favored by teachers, and while he had no official title, his scholarly abilities were quite good. He had even taken a reclusive great scholar as his teacher… Of course, outsiders didn’t know about this, but a person’s abilities and temperament could always be somewhat reflected in their appearance.

Moreover, He Ketian’s daily visits began after Third Brother returned from his travels, and the timing seemed to match…

At this moment, Shi Fa Ke and He Kexian’s thinking strangely synchronized.

Third Brother shivered under his sister’s strange gaze, “Didn’t I already give you the silver… Why are you still staring at me like that? It’s quite creepy.”

“Third Brother,” Shi Fa Ke said suddenly.

“What…”

“What do you think of Ketian?”

“Hmm…” Third Brother thought of that Miss He with her difficult personality who liked to pretend to be a lady but always showed her fox tail, and couldn’t help but want to laugh, “Well, she’s quite cute.”

Shi Fa Ke’s gaze became somewhat meaningful.

“A’ke… hasn’t Third Brother always doted on you the most?” Just as Shi Fa Ke was looking thoughtful, Third Brother suddenly grabbed her sleeve, smiling ingratiatingly.

…Why was he suddenly being so sickly sweet? Shi Fa Ke’s gaze immediately became alert. She thought seriously and shook her head, “No.”

Third Brother’s face immediately fell, “A’ke, is it really okay for you to be so heartless?”

“Third Brother… you’re the one in the whole family who likes bullying me the most.” Shi Fa Ke said, unable to bear it any longer.

Where did this confidence come from…

“A’ke, little girls who hold grudges aren’t cute.” Third Brother advised seriously.

“…What exactly do you want?”

“Well… Third Brother wants to discuss something with you. I just returned this month and have been visiting friends quite frequently, so I’m a bit short on cash. How about you lend me the silver first, and I’ll pay you back next month? I’ll give you interest, five percent! How about it?”

Shi Fa Ke’s mouth twitched. So he had bet with her because he was short on money and wanted to swindle her. This was truly a case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead.

…Really promising.

Shi Fa Ke showed Tao the invitation from the Zhu family and was finally released from house arrest.

The next day, Shi Fa Ke took the invitation to the Zhu family, only to see a familiar chubby boy at the main gate of the Zhu residence. She was greatly surprised, “What are you doing here?”

Wasn’t this Lu Chi’s student? But… in just these few short days since she’d last seen him, how had he lost so much weight?

His originally plump face had slimmed down considerably, his double chin was gone, and he actually showed some youthful handsomeness.

Zhu Li, who was no longer a chubby boy, lifted his eyelids to glance at her and said listlessly, “Because this is my home. What are you here for again? Has my great aunt perhaps had a change of heart?”

Shi Fa Ke was even more surprised, “Great aunt?”

“Zhu Yanyan’s mother is my great aunt. I’m from the second branch.” Zhu Li said with drooping eyelids.

“…Why do you look so tired?” Shi Fa Ke finally couldn’t help but ask.

Clearly when she last saw him, he was still a spirited little chubby boy! In such a short time, what had he experienced…

“It’s a long story.” Zhu Li said with a profound expression.

In just these few days, he felt he had experienced all the hardships of the world and tasted the sinister nature of human hearts… Thinking back to his carefree days before, it was truly a story of bitter tears.

Wuu… he was about to cry.

Speaking of which, he had only accidentally overheard his great aunt refusing the teacher’s marriage proposal, which made him think of marrying Fourth Sister to the teacher, which led to the teacher coming to their door… it was truly like inviting a wolf into the house!

Shi Fa Ke noticed that he had used the phrase “change of heart” earlier, obviously knowing the inside story, so she probed, “Actually, I received an invitation from the Zhu family yesterday. I still don’t know the reason why Madam Zhu invited me over.”

How clever was Zhu Li? He immediately heard the probing intent in these words and his eyes turned, “I do know something about the reason.”

Indeed!

Shi Fa Ke’s eyes lit up, “Could you tell me about it?”

Zhu Li showed a cute smile, “Could you help me with a favor?”

It must be said that the slimmed-down Zhu Li’s smile was quite devastating.

“What favor?” Shi Fa Ke was somewhat curious.

“My grandfather wants me to return to the family school, but I don’t want to go. I want to become the teacher’s disciple.” These past days, Zhu Li had been tormented quite enough by Old Master Zhu, and having seen the faces of those teachers in the family school, he really didn’t want to go back and suffer. He’d rather stick with the teacher.

Although angry, Zhu Li wasn’t someone who didn’t know good from bad.

Compared to those sanctimonious hypocrites in the family school, he’d rather follow the teacher.

But… the teacher was unwilling! And he had refused him mercilessly! What happened to teaching and educating people?!

“If you want to become his disciple, wouldn’t it be more sincere for you to speak with him yourself?” Shi Fa Ke was puzzled.

“I’ve already begged the teacher, but he won’t agree.” Zhu Li looked very dejected.

“This… how can I help?”

“You help me persuade the teacher to take me as his disciple.” Zhu Li looked at her expectantly.

This was a brilliant idea that had occurred to him when he saw her just now. From his observations, the teacher very likely secretly liked this young lady. No… not very likely—the teacher had once shamelessly admitted it in person.

Words from the girl he liked would definitely be very effective, Zhu Li thought darkly.

But the teacher was also quite strange. Finding a matchmaker but falling for the matchmaker was simply incredible… Should he say this was worthy of being the teacher? Always so shocking…

His great aunt probably didn’t know about this either. She was asking this young lady to be a matchmaker simply because she was on good terms with Teacher Lu, but how could the teacher be casually influenced by others in matters of marriage? Fourth Sister’s wishes would probably end up disappointed.

As for the teacher’s wishes, Zhu Li looked at the young lady before him and chuckled inwardly. That probably wouldn’t be so easy to achieve either.

Thinking about it now, the teacher’s harsh treatment of him was probably because he had given the bad idea of marrying Fourth Sister to him… His desire for revenge was really too strong! Where was his professional ethics as a teacher!