The next day, Shi Fa Ke went to the Zhu house to find Zhu Yanyan. She had just left when He Ketian arrived again.

At this time, only Shi Chonghai, the idle one, was left at home.

“…Ah Ke went to the government office again?” He Ketian felt somewhat frustrated. “Didn’t you tell her I was coming to play with her today?”

“You didn’t tell me yesterday that you were coming today.” Shi Chonghai looked innocent.

Well, that’s… nonsense!

“Then didn’t you tell her that I came looking for her yesterday and the day before?” He Ketian glared at him.

Shi Chonghai suddenly realized, slapping his forehead, “I wondered what I had forgotten – I forgot to tell her about this.”

He Ketian was speechless with anger. Did he think she was blind? This was clearly deliberate!

“However… Ah Ke didn’t go to the government office today.” Shi Chonghai gasped dramatically, speaking slowly.

“Then where did she go?” He Ketian asked, somehow feeling that Shi Chonghai’s smile seemed malicious.

“She went to find Miss Zhu.”

She actually went to find Zhu Yanyan! She went to find Zhu Yanyan but didn’t come to find her! He Ketian was even more angry. Not only did Zhu Yanyan steal the Master Linyuan she had her eye on, but she also wanted to steal her good friend? How detestable!

Although He Ketian usually acted like she disliked Shi Fa Ke, but… but how could she leave her behind to find new friends! Wait…

“What did she go to find Zhu Yanyan for?” He Ketian suddenly asked with wariness.

“Probably to discuss the marriage.”

“Marriage? With whom?”

“With Young Master Lu.” After Shi Chonghai finished speaking, he suddenly covered his mouth, looking like he had “accidentally let something slip.”

Young Master Lu? Lu Chi? Master Linyuan?!

He Ketian suddenly stiffened, so angry that tears were about to fall. She bit her lip, said nothing, and turned to leave.

“Hey… don’t tell Ah Ke that I told you!” Behind her, Shi Chonghai was still shouting.

He Ketian walked even faster.

Shi Chonghai watched He Ketian’s retreating figure and chuckled mischievously. After laughing, he felt something was off… Eh, why was he increasingly enjoying teasing the He family’s little sister?

However, the angry He family little sister was quite cute indeed.

Shi Fa Ke didn’t know that her loose-tongued third brother had indeed sold her out, nor did she know that He Ketian was angrily coming to find her. On her way to the Zhu house, she saw that the queue at Laifulai was unusually short, and since it was still early, she excitedly went to queue up.

Sure enough, it was her turn soon.

“Two portions of snow crisp.” Shi Fa Ke took money from her purse to pay, and when she raised her hand, a crystal jade bracelet on her wrist was revealed.

“Miss, your jade bracelet is really beautiful.” Someone behind her struck up a conversation.

Shi Fa Ke turned around and felt somewhat embarrassed… it was Chu Yizhi’s mother.

When Mother Chu saw it was Shi Fa Ke, her expression also stiffened, then she pulled a long face.

Shi Fa Ke thought that they had nothing to do with each other now, and she didn’t feel like looking at her cold face, so she nodded at her, took the snow crisp, and left.

Mother Chu was immediately unable to swallow her anger and grabbed her, “Stop right there!”

Shi Fa Ke was grabbed so hard that her arm hurt, and she couldn’t help but hiss, “What’s the matter?”

Mother Chu had no real business; she was just angry that the little girl who used to sweetly call her “Aunt Chu” now acted as if she hadn’t seen her. After a pause, she said, “Don’t you know to greet your elders when you see them?”

Shi Fa Ke was almost amused by her anger, “How should I address you?”

“Don’t I deserve to be called Aunt Chu by you?” Mother Chu frowned, “You were more sensible when you were young. You’ve really become more ill-mannered as you’ve grown up.”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t dare accept such a form of address from me?” Shi Fa Ke said, trying to withdraw her arm that was being held, but Mother Chu gripped it tightly and she couldn’t break free.

Mother Chu remembered what she had said before, her face immediately flushed red, and she became angry from embarrassment, “You ill-bred thing! How dare you speak to an elder like this!”

Shi Fa Ke was stunned for a moment, too surprised to be angry immediately. This Aunt Chu had always been very kind and amiable in her memory. Even when she came to cause trouble in the street last time, the memory of her kind and amiable image was so deeply rooted that it couldn’t be changed immediately. Moreover, last time it was because Chu Yizhi had been beaten for no reason and injured his right hand, so her misunderstanding and seeking revenge was understandable… but this current mean-spirited face was truly surprising.

“This… madam? You’re so well-bred, but if you’re not buying anything, could you please step aside and not block the way? I’m queuing here.” Just as Shi Fa Ke was stunned and didn’t respond, a voice suddenly emerged from behind, with a gentle and soft tone, but the words seemed somewhat unpleasant.

Both Mother Chu and Shi Fa Ke turned to look at the person. The one who spoke was a beautiful woman whose age was hard to determine, currently smiling at them.

She wore a head full of pearl ornaments and was dressed in silk from head to toe, clearly someone who lived in luxury. It was just unclear why such a lady would come out to queue personally…

Mother Chu was stunned. Though the woman’s age was hard to determine at first glance, looking closely at the wrinkles around her eyes from smiling, one could tell she wasn’t young. Mother Chu had worked hard all her life, supporting her husband’s studies in early years. Unfortunately, her husband only became a child scholar in the end. Later, when she had a son, she started supporting his studies. Fortunately, her son was clever and understanding. Now that her son had finally become a scholar and married a teacher’s daughter, she could finally relax a little and enjoy a few comfortable days with someone to serve her… but because of years of hard work, she looked much older than her peers.

She thought of Tao Shi again. Though Tao Shi was actually two years older than her, they looked like they belonged to different generations. This was also one of the reasons she moved away and didn’t want to associate with her anymore…

Now seeing this woman adorned with pearls and dressed in silk, that long-lost feeling of inferiority surged up again. Moreover, this woman actually called her “madam”!

“If I’m not buying, why would I be queuing? Now I’m in front, so you can only wait.” Mother Chu glared at her and spoke harshly.

“At your age, bullying a young girl in the street and being so unreasonable, yet having the nerve to talk about others lacking manners – has your breeding at this age been eaten by dogs?” The beautiful woman sneered.

Mother Chu’s face immediately turned purple with rage, trembling as she pointed at the beautiful woman’s nose, “You you you…” She was so angry she couldn’t speak.

“I say, madam, where did this sister speak wrongly? If you’re not buying, don’t stand there wasting everyone’s time.” People behind began to protest impatiently.

Being called “madam” wasn’t particularly offensive, but this woman was being called “sister.” Mother Chu was immediately so angry she wanted to vomit blood. But as more and more people behind protested, she didn’t dare offend the crowd. Angrily pointing at Shi Fa Ke and the woman, she said “good, good, good” several times, her fingertips trembling, with a look of gritting her teeth, clearly filled with hatred.

As if afraid that Shi Fa Ke would get away, although Mother Chu was trembling with one hand pointing at them, her other hand still gripped Shi Fa Ke’s arm tightly, and even more forcefully, making Shi Fa Ke frown in pain.

“This madam is really interesting. You’re the one holding onto the young girl, you’re the one blocking people’s way and being criticized for it, so why are you taking it out on the young girl? With such behavior, you still dare call yourself an elder. Let go quickly – can’t you see the young girl’s face has turned white with pain?” Seeing this, the beautiful woman reached out and grasped Mother Chu’s hand.

Mother Chu naturally didn’t want to let go, but the beautiful woman was quite mysterious – somehow, her hand went numb and she unconsciously released her grip.

Shi Fa Ke withdrew her hand and looked at the beautiful woman gratefully, “Thank you.”

Seeing that she was free, the beautiful woman quickly pulled her out of the queue. Only then did Shi Fa Ke realize that in just that short time, a long queue had formed behind them, no wonder Mother Chu had angered the crowd.

Mother Chu was also squeezed out of the queue and became angry, no longer caring about Shi Fa Ke, saying angrily, “Why are you cutting in line? I haven’t bought anything yet!”

“You’ve been dawdling for so long. If everyone was like you, we’d be queuing until the year of the monkey.” Someone retorted.

“You’re wrong to cut in line. Let me buy first – this is for my son to eat!” Mother Chu said angrily.

But no one paid attention to her. When Mother Chu tried to squeeze in, she was pushed and staggered. Just as she was about to make a scene, she suddenly heard someone softly exclaim.

“That unreasonable woman looks familiar – seems like Scholar Chu’s mother?”

Mother Chu immediately stiffened and didn’t dare cause more trouble. She could be shameless, but Yizhi couldn’t be – he was a scholar with a bright future ahead. So although she was holding back her anger, she still covered her face with her sleeve and didn’t dare push forward. She wanted to turn and leave, but thinking of her son who was working hard on his studies and growing thinner… thinking of how when she asked him today what he wanted to eat, he had zoned out for a moment before saying he wanted snow crisp… she obediently went to queue at the back.

After queuing at the back, she suddenly remembered the culprit of this whole farce. When she turned to look for her, Shi Fa Ke was long gone. She couldn’t help but feel hateful. Fortunately, she had made the decision to marry Yizhi to Lady Sun. If he had really married this poor wretch as he wished, that would have been truly disastrous. Although Lady Sun wasn’t entirely satisfactory, she was still better than this poor wretch!