Lu Chi’s body suddenly lurched to one side, nearly falling off his stool. He quickly steadied himself and asked somewhat gloomily, “…Why?”

“Ah, aren’t great painters like that usually very old gentlemen?” Shi Fa Ke answered very matter-of-factly, then looked at him and asked, “What do you think?”

Looking at Shi Fa Ke’s innocent face, Lu Chi pressed his forehead and said somewhat helplessly, “Probably…”

With that, he continued lowering his head to copy his “Mencius.”

After finishing the “King Hui of Liang” chapter, Lu Chi looked at the sun. It was nearly the end of the shen hour (3-5 PM). Seeing no more business, he packed up his stall.

After bidding farewell to Shi Fa Ke, Lu Chi went to the pawn shop.

At this time, the pawn shop was also about to close. The shop assistants were tidying up and balancing accounts, Shi Chongshan was inspecting the storeroom, and Shi Changhuai was sitting behind the high counter drinking tea and resting.

Then they saw the junior assistant suddenly rush out very attentively, saying with a beaming smile, “Young Master, you’re back again! What do you have to pawn this time?”

“Are you preparing to close?” the visitor asked.

“No hurry, no hurry. Customers are always welcome. Please come in,” the junior assistant said, smiling broadly as he invited the person inside.

Such attentiveness… was truly remarkable.

Shi Changhuai looked up and immediately understood. The visitor was none other than that foolish scholar who had “dead pawned” a jade bracelet at their shop. That day, having gotten such a good deal, he had happily given the assistant handling the transaction fifty copper coins as a reward.

No wonder the junior assistant looked like he’d seen a fat sheep… he must have made quite an impression.

At this moment, the foolish scholar entered carrying a chest containing rolled-up paintings—roughly a dozen or so rolls at first glance. Shi Changhuai sat up slightly, thinking he might be coming to pawn those paintings.

“Young Master, do you want to pawn these paintings in your chest?” The junior assistant glanced over and smiled so widely his eyes curved. He wasn’t some ignorant fool—calligraphy and paintings were worth real money. Moreover, seeing how this gentleman had been generous before, these paintings must also be valuable items. He continued attentively, “According to our rules, these paintings must first be appraised by our manager.” Then, stepping forward mysteriously and speaking quietly, “Our manager is actually our young master. You met him last time. He’s currently taking inventory in the back. His appraisals are generally accurate.”

Thinking of the paintings in his chest, Lu Chi felt somewhat conflicted, but he didn’t plan to sell them.

“Not so,” Lu Chi smiled. “Actually, I came this time hoping to redeem the jade bracelet I pawned before.”

The junior assistant’s smiling face immediately disappeared. He frowned and said expressionlessly, “I’m sorry, Young Master, what did you say?”

…Why are you acting like you don’t recognize me when you just said “you’re back again” with such a bright smile, clearly saying “again”!

Lu Chi’s mouth twitched as he stated directly, “Didn’t I pawn a jade bracelet here before when I was short of silver? Now I want to redeem it.”

“Oh? When did you pawn it? How much silver did you get?” The junior assistant tucked his hands into his sleeves, stepped back slightly, and asked in a completely businesslike manner.

Acting as if he completely didn’t remember!

“Five days ago, for six hundred taels of silver.” Lu Chi sighed inwardly, knowing his bracelet was probably unredeemable.

That bracelet was something his mother had saved for his future daughter-in-law. He had originally thought that pawning it to marry a wife would be putting it to good use, but now he hadn’t married a wife and the bracelet was gone. If his mother found out, she’d probably skin him alive… Just thinking about it made him shudder.

“Oh, where’s the pawn ticket?” the junior assistant asked again.

Lu Chi took the pawn ticket from his sleeve and handed it over.

The junior assistant looked at it, then pointed to the ticket and said, “Look carefully—this is a dead pawn, it can’t be redeemed.”

“It’s only been five days. Can’t you make an accommodation?” Lu Chi struggled desperately.

“I’m sorry, it’s not that I’m unwilling to accommodate, but dead-pawned items are generally disposed of after three days,” the junior assistant spread his hands, looking helpless.

“…” He had known it.

Lu Chi sighed.

This was his first time dealing with a pawn shop. That day, it was this pawn shop’s young master who had appraised it, initially offering three hundred taels. Then he said the jade bracelet was of decent quality, and if he urgently needed silver, he could discuss with the manager to price it at six hundred taels as a dead pawn.

At the time, thinking he couldn’t shortchange the girl who would spend her life with him, and that within his means he should naturally give her the best wedding, he had made it a dead pawn.

Now thinking about it, he had indeed… been swindled.

Behind the high counter, seeing the junior assistant successfully dismiss the foolish scholar, Shi Changhuai was quite satisfied. He sipped his tea and nodded approvingly at the assistant—the boy was teachable.

Meanwhile, Shi Fa Ke had just returned home when she ran headlong into Tao-shi charging out the door with a cleaver, breaking into a cold sweat. She quickly grabbed her. “Mother… what are you planning to do?”

Seeing Shi Fa Ke, Tao-shi nervously looked her up and down. “I heard that the Chu family’s evil woman and her new daughter-in-law cornered you on the street and gave you trouble?”

“How does Mother know?” Shi Fa Ke was startled.

“With so many people on the street, someone was bound to bring word to my ears. Don’t ask me how I know—just tell me if it’s true or not?” Tao-shi waved the cleaver in her hand, speaking furiously.

“It is… but I was lucky to run into Young Master Lu setting up a stall selling calligraphy and paintings on the street. He helped me out of the situation.” Seeing Tao-shi’s murderous expression, Shi Fa Ke carefully took the cleaver from her hands, feeling both regretful and fortunate—regretful that she hadn’t returned earlier, yet fortunate that she’d returned in time. She dared not imagine what would have happened if she’d come back a bit later…

“Simply outrageous! That evil woman has grown bolder—not daring to come at me directly, she only bullies children!” Tao-shi roared.

Shi Fa Ke wiped away cold sweat and quickly explained the whole situation. “Actually, it’s because Chu Yizhi was beaten the day after his wedding and is now bedridden with serious injuries. His right hand was also injured, and according to the doctor, it might affect his future ability to hold a brush, so… that’s why they were so angry and anxious.”

Tao-shi laughed coldly twice. “So they wanted to pin the blame on your father?”

“Exactly!” Hearing this, Shi Fa Ke also nodded indignantly. “I told them it absolutely couldn’t be Father, because Father promised Mother he would never fight with anyone!”

Tao-shi’s gaze flickered, and she cleared her throat. “…This matter isn’t your father’s fault. I agreed to it.”

“Eh?” Shi Fa Ke was dumbfounded.

This story begins from the day Shi Fa Ke caused a scene at Chu Yizhi’s wedding and ended up spraining her ankle.

Shi Fa Ke thought she could hide this from her father and brothers, but Tao-shi had said this foolish girl was deceiving herself. When Shi Changhuai sent Chongshan to call Qianqian for dinner, Tao-shi knew what was up. Sure enough, after the two brothers had a private heart-to-heart, they quickly figured out the whole sequence of events, which naturally reached Shi Changhuai’s ears…

Then that night before bed, Shi Changhuai consulted Tao-shi about the matter.

“Wife, I need to teach that boy a lesson. Although I promised you not to use my hands lightly, but…” Shi Changhuai worked up courage and gave a long preamble.

But before he could fully explain, Tao-shi nodded decisively. “Fine.”

“Hm?” Shi Changhuai blinked, looking incredulous.

“Go ahead, I agree.” Tao-shi said lightly and turned to sleep.

Shi Changhuai stared at the back of her head for a long time without moving, almost wondering if she was speaking ironically.

“Ah Ke has a gentle and naive nature without so many scheming thoughts, but I can’t swallow this insult.” Tao-shi suddenly spoke, her voice flat. “The Chu family looks down on Ah Ke. In their eyes, Ah Ke’s pure heart has become something dirty. They were worried Ah Ke and Chu Yizhi were too close and that she might want to marry into the Chu family in the future, so they hastily arranged Chu Yizhi’s marriage while avoiding Ah Ke, hoping to eliminate future troubles… I had thought Chu Yizhi was a good child, but it turns out he’s also someone with soft ears who can’t think clearly.”

Tao-shi could see his feelings for Ah Ke at a glance.

Tao-shi also knew Ah Ke had no such feelings for him.

But in the end, it was her Ah Ke who suffered this injustice. How could Tao-shi swallow this insult?

“Since the Chu family wants to eliminate future troubles, then let’s make a clean break.”

That’s what Tao-shi said.

As soon as she finished speaking, Shi Changhuai suddenly hugged her from behind, saying excitedly, “I knew my wife was the most understanding!”