Seeing the wet nurse like this, Zhu Yanyan also felt somewhat helpless.

“Ah Ke, I’m sorry you had to see this.”

Shi Fa Ke came back to her senses, knowing it wasn’t appropriate for her to interfere in such matters, so she suppressed her worry and smiled: “My third brother was also often beaten by my father when he was young.”

Well, he still gets beaten often now.

But father knows when to stop—usually it’s all thunder and no rain, which has made third brother increasingly mischievous and completely unafraid of him, hmph.

At that moment, Third Brother Shi, who was drinking and composing poetry with fellow students at a street-side tavern, sneezed and rubbed his nose. Who was thinking of him again? His charm was truly great.

Since the Zhu family had matters to attend to, Shi Fa Ke didn’t feel comfortable staying longer and soon found an excuse to take her leave.

Zhu Yanyan reluctantly held her hand, making her promise to visit often. Under the wet nurse’s keen gaze, Shi Fa Ke nodded somewhat awkwardly in agreement.

Walking out of the small kitchen, when passing around a corner, Shi Fa Ke bumped into a little maid holding a clay pot.

The little maid was walking rather hurriedly and nearly collided with her.

Shi Fa Ke quickly steadied her, accidentally knocking off the lid of the clay pot she was carrying. Immediately, an indescribable smell wafted out from the pot… just one whiff felt like it could poison someone.

The little maid was startled and hastily picked up the lid to cover it.

“What is this?” Shi Fa Ke was truly curious.

In that brief glimpse, she had only seen something colorful and variegated inside—the colors were even more spectacular than the smell…

The little maid felt embarrassed about nearly bumping into her, and seeing her question, looked around and, seeing no one, whispered: “Please don’t tell anyone, but this is porridge our young lady made. The wet nurse told me to find a deserted place to bury it.”

Porridge? That indescribable substance was actually porridge?

…And it needed to be buried?

Shi Fa Ke’s mouth twitched, suddenly recalling Zhu Yanyan’s luxury version minced meat porridge with many ingredients, feeling like she had discovered some incredible truth.

Shi Fa Ke walked out of the Zhu family’s main gate with complicated feelings, then suddenly spotted a somewhat familiar figure lurking sneakily in the distance, peering this way.

…He Ketian?

He Ketian had come specifically to spy on the enemy today. She had watched with her own eyes as Shi Fa Ke entered the Zhu mansion’s gates, anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Now seeing her come out, she hurriedly tried to hide, but it was too late—Shi Fa Ke had spotted her.

Meeting Shi Fa Ke’s gaze, He Ketian froze, instinctively wanting to hide, but then realized that hiding now would show a guilty conscience. Therefore, instead of hiding, she boldly approached with great momentum.

“Ketian, what are you doing here?” Shi Fa Ke was somewhat surprised.

She felt like He Ketian had been appearing and disappearing mysteriously lately.

“Just passing by.” He Ketian said with a stiff face. “Why are you coming out of the Zhu mansion?”

“Miss Zhu invited me to visit.” Shi Fa Ke said cautiously.

The marriage between Zhu Yanyan and Lu Chi was still completely up in the air, so naturally it couldn’t be spread around. Besides, she wasn’t completely lying—she had indeed been invited to visit today.

Who would have thought that upon hearing this, He Ketian’s face would fall, saying sourly: “You haven’t come to visit me at home for a long time. Now that you’ve made new friends, are you tired of me?”

…Hey, hey, what’s with this tone like a resentful wife in her boudoir? Don’t make me sound like a heartless scoundrel.

“I was planning to visit you this afternoon.” Shi Fa Ke said.

She was also somewhat uneasy about leaving Lu Chi’s painting at home, always feeling like Third Brother might sneak it away at any moment. It would be better to compensate He Ketian early for peace of mind, and to settle this matter once and for all.

“Really?” He Ketian was somewhat doubtful.

She had just said this, and Shi Fa Ke immediately responded likewise—wasn’t she just being perfunctory?

“Why would I lie to you?” Shi Fa Ke looked at her strangely, thought for a moment, and decided to give her a heads up first: “That set of painted porcelain bowls of yours…”

“It’s just a set of painted porcelain, what’s so special about it? I was just getting tired of it anyway.” He Ketian panicked inside, and having only heard the beginning, interrupted Shi Fa Ke with a very obvious attempt to cover up, saying arrogantly.

After speaking, she wanted to beat herself to death—this was just a conditioned reflex to be stubborn!

Clearly, she had taken her most beloved set of painted porcelain to Young Master Lu, only hoping he would be pleased, but when Shi Fa Ke asked about it, she didn’t dare acknowledge it… How cowardly!

Hearing this, Shi Fa Ke breathed a sigh of relief. So she had gotten tired of it—then breaking one piece shouldn’t make Ketian too angry. Adding compensation with a painting by Young Master Lu should make everything fine.

“Then I’ll come find you this afternoon. I’ll go home first.” Shi Fa Ke, having lifted the weight off her heart, waved and left.

Leaving He Ketian standing there speechless.

What a great opportunity—she could have used this chance to hint to Shi Fa Ke how much she liked Young Master Lu… but she had ruined it again…

Shi Fa Ke naturally didn’t know how much He Ketian was beating herself up inside. While thinking about Zhu Li’s situation and Zhu Yanyan’s matters, she unknowingly walked to her own front door, where she discovered a familiar clay pot.

Opening it for a look, it was completely empty.

Already washed clean.

Shi Fa Ke thought, having eaten her porridge, his anger should have subsided, right?

She planned to go find Lu Chi, since Zhu Yanyan was determined to marry him and had solemnly entrusted this matter to her—she needed to sound out his intentions again… If she could successfully arrange this marriage for the Zhu family, she would no longer be an unknown little matchmaker, but would likely become a prestigious grand matchmaker!

Envisioning that scene, Shi Fa Ke immediately felt full of energy.

After returning the clay pot to the kitchen, Shi Fa Ke went to the academy to find Lu Chi, but he wasn’t there—he had taken leave.

Shi Fa Ke couldn’t help but worry. Yesterday he had been so seriously ill but hadn’t taken leave, so why had he taken leave today instead? Somewhat concerned, she went to Willow Leaf Lane.

The door was still latched.

Shi Fa Ke raised her hand and knocked.

The door opened very quickly—so quickly it was… somewhat eerie.

As if someone had been standing right behind the door waiting to open it. Was it her imagination?

Shi Fa Ke looked at Lu Chi, who was wearing casual thin robes, his complexion still somewhat pale, looking indeed like he hadn’t fully recovered.

“Thank you for the porridge. I’ve washed the clay pot and left it at your door.” Lu Chi stared at her fixedly for a moment, then lowered his eyes again.

“Mm, I saw it.” Shi Fa Ke nodded. “I went to the academy to find you and they said you had taken leave. Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Hearing this, Lu Chi looked up at her again: “What did you want me for?”

For some reason, Shi Fa Ke strangely detected a hint of resentment in that question.

“Uh… I plan to go compensate Ketian with the painting this afternoon, and thought I’d bring back the food container you have here to return to her while I’m at it, to save you the trouble of returning it yourself.” Shi Fa Ke felt she was being very considerate.

After all, Lu Chi had previously had some unpleasantness with the He family, so whether to return this food container, and how to return it, were somewhat difficult matters.

However, Lu Chi seemed completely oblivious to her thoughtfulness. A vein pulsed at his temple, and he silently pressed his lips together, turned around and brought out the food container from the kitchen, containing the cleaned bowls and dishes: “I trouble you with this.”

Shi Fa Ke took it, thought for a moment, and found another topic: “I went to the Zhu family today. Zhu Li seems to have been beaten by his grandfather.”

“Mm.”

That brat would climb on the roof and tear off tiles if not beaten for three days—getting beaten was quite normal.

“The beating was quite severe, it seems they even called a doctor.” Shi Fa Ke added.

This time, Lu Chi frowned slightly, and after a long moment, still gave a light “mm.”

Seeing his awkward behavior, Shi Fa Ke finally couldn’t help it: “Young Master Lu, what on earth is wrong with you!”

Lu Chi lifted his eyelids to look at her once, then lowered them again: “Nothing.”

Shi Fa Ke thought about it—wasn’t it just about not getting to eat minced meat porridge the previous two times? But the first time was because He Ketian had broken it, which was beyond her control, and besides, He Ketian had sincerely apologized and had her family’s cook prepare a sumptuous meal for him. The second time was indeed eaten by Zhu Yanyan, but she had explained that too…

Was it necessary to be sulky until now?

However, considering that he was still ill, being somewhat willful during illness was understandable. Usually Young Master Lu was quite reasonable, but seeing his poor mood, Shi Fa Ke thought this wasn’t a good time to bring up the Zhu family marriage proposal.

“Then I won’t disturb you. Rest well.” Shi Fa Ke gave him a sweet smile, picked up the empty food container, and turned to leave.

Behind her, Lu Chi was stunned for a moment.

She was just… leaving like that?

Wasn’t she going to coax him a little?