“Wait, that’s impossible…” Lin Yuchan said firmly, refuting his speculation. “From Chang Baoluo down, they all trust me. They shouldn’t think so badly of me… no one has ever mentioned…”

“Because they’re simple, lacking a certain awareness,” Su Minguan evaluated bluntly, gripping her hand in return and saying helplessly, “If I were Rong Hong, I would have fired them all three years ago.”

Lin Yuchan breathed a sigh of relief, secretly reminding herself to be more careful in the future, trying to avoid placing herself under suspicion.

But she still half-seriously argued with him: “Simple people have simple blessings. If those uncles and gentlemen were even slightly more selfish, Boya would have fallen apart long ago.”

Su Minguan laughed: “It’s my fault for judging others by my standards. Don’t take offense.”

The safe key had somehow ended up in his hand. He caressed the raised patterns on the brass surface, toying with it for quite a while before solemnly returning it to her hand.

Lin Yuchan looked down silently, her expression somewhat obscure.

Indeed… honest people had their ways of dealing with the world.

But someone like Su Minguan, who had seen much of the world’s darkness, would probably be very puzzled by her straightforward money-grabbing operation, enough to slightly question her motives.

This was understandable.

That gentle trap just now was both a subtle warning and a premeditated test.

Realizing this, Lin Yuchan felt somewhat sad and said flatly: “Did I pass the test? What’s my reward?”

“When you finally settle Boya’s assets, notify me. I’ll be there to help supervise,” Su Minguan replied without blushing, matter-of-factly. “To prevent you children from blindly stepping into traps and getting completely skinned alive.”

He smiled, pulled a pear from his pocket, placed it on her bedside table, then said softly: “Enough to repay your newspaper favor, right?”

Lin Yuchan nodded and thanked him in a businesslike manner.

One must guard against others. He was also careful when repaying favors, not forgetting to make one final confirmation—when faced with the temptation of vast wealth, was she, Lin Yuchan, one hundred percent reliable?

To avoid misplacing his goodwill and getting into trouble.

Outside, the sky gradually darkened. The lamplight also flickered dimmer. Lin Yuchan took scissors from the drawer and trimmed a section of the wick.

Her hands were quick with the scissors. After a few light snipping sounds, the room brightened again. The shadows of people and objects became clear, outlining sharp silhouettes.

Lin Yuchan pointed to the door and smiled: “The sisters need to rest. You should hurry out and bid them farewell, or it’ll be rude.”

Su Minguan nodded, noticing the slight coolness in her words.

He pretended to be relaxed and asked with a smile: “Do you like me less now?”

Lin Yuchan bit her lip and turned the tables: “Boring.”

He had a scale made of ice in his heart, precisely weighing everything in the world. Unbreakable, unable to be melted, the warmth from his chest couldn’t thaw it.

Who would naively think they could break his usual patterns in his eyes?

Of course, reason immediately told her that those who became dizzy upon meeting their girlfriends and unconditionally protected them were brainless tyrants from third-rate novels. Such people, if thrown into the Qing Dynasty, would be finished in two days.

Su Minguan deliberately sneered lightly: “That’s just my nature. I weigh the pros and cons even when picking up a needle. I thought you were used to it by now.”

Seeing her expression darken, her eyebrows slightly drooping, her chest rising and falling. Having a passionate nature, yet forcing herself to learn from him, putting on a heartless, indifferent act, pretending not to care.

He thought quietly—she was someone who lived by her emotions. Why make her sink too deep?

He would eventually let her go.

This was already good enough.

Like a thirsty traveler in the desert, he had tasted a sip of water, comforting his desperate and frantic heart—he was already satisfied.

He didn’t dare hope for springs and oases.

Carrying his chest full of absurd worries, he pushed the door to leave, but saw her chase after him, handing him a coat.

Su Minguan was suddenly stunned.

Early summer was damp with rain and dew, cold in the mornings and evenings. He had removed his outer garment before dinner and had forgotten it.

Like a forgetful child.

He thought himself calm and detached, yet revealed flaws in the smallest details.

“I’ll get used to it. Don’t change,” Lin Yuchan smiled with pursed lips, answering his earlier statement. She raised her hands to drape the coat over his back, her clear gaze meeting his eyes. “People’s hearts come in a hundred varieties. Whoever I fancy, I fancy completely.”

Su Minguan finally felt somewhat ashamed and flushed. All under heaven bustle for profit; all under heaven struggle for gain. He had stumbled and fought his way through the world, his chest long filled with various experiences in dealing with people: how to probe hearts, how to guide situations, how to manipulate gains and losses to maximize his interests.

If he hadn’t happened to fall for a girl, he would almost have forgotten how to write the four characters “follow one’s heart.”

He hesitated to explain: “Actually…”

Lin Yuchan suppressed that touch of disappointment, gazing at those evasive, handsome eyes, then smiled sweetly and vengefully replied: “According to the principle of reciprocity, I’ll just be more guarded against you in the future.”

A typhoon suddenly swept through his mind, and he turned to embrace her tightly. The coat fell to the ground.

“Don’t,” he pleaded.

Only when the moment came did he realize how selfish he was, wanting to monopolize her heart and forever see her most innocent side.

The little girl in his arms laughed with shaking shoulders, her thin voice brushing against his heart: “Only officials are allowed to set fires while common people can’t even light lamps—you’re very unreasonable.”

Su Minguan lowered his head, his lips brushing her forehead hair. That mouth of his that could turn black into white could argue any point. But being stirred by that voice until his heart was in chaos, he could only surrender: “I won’t do this anymore.”

“You’ll teach me bad habits.”

“With others, you’d better be a bit bad.”

“Then I should wait for you in Macau.”

He was rendered speechless, gritting his teeth, feeling both love and hate for this soft little thing in his arms—even more annoyed than when she had taken advantage of his vulnerability to claim one twenty-fifth of his shares.

He urgently wanted to do something to express his feelings. His arms loosened slightly, releasing her from his embrace, then gently but firmly cupping her face.

She easily saw through him and pushed: “Go on. This place doesn’t accommodate overnight guests.”

He lost another round, his earlobes slightly red, suddenly asking: “Do Aunt Hong and her sisters know about our relationship?”

Lin Yuchan answered with a smile, deflecting: “They know. I’m the little servant girl you bought and freed. When I said I grabbed my indenture contract, they thought I was bragging.”

Su Minguan’s eyes crinkled as he pursued with ill intent: “Do they know the little servant girl has improper thoughts about her young master?”

Finally making her blush, she squirmed slightly in his arms: “Go ask them yourself.”

“I guess they know. Otherwise, with her sense of justice, she should be breaking down the door to rescue someone by now.”

Lin Yuchan suppressed a laugh: “No, the righteous heroines play two rounds of mahjong in the kitchen every night.”

Su Minguan was rendered speechless for the third time, so angry that an inexplicable fire rose in his heart. Finally unable to restrain himself, he resorted to violence, bending down to scoop up her knees and lift her in one motion.

This caused her to cry out softly, momentarily losing her balance and frantically holding onto his waist.

“What round are they on now?” He whispered in her ear, his voice carrying mischief. “You’re so eager to send me away?”

Lin Yuchan struggled frantically for a moment, then stopped moving, obediently nestling in his arms, stealing glances upward and saying coquettishly with a laugh: “Young master, have mercy.”

She thought to herself: I’m not afraid of you, you paper tiger. You don’t even dare to kiss, so don’t pretend to know anything.

Her body swayed as he set her down on the bed and steadied her.

“Don’t move,” Su Minguan’s voice was low, his eyes carrying a faint gleam. “Let me look.”

She instinctively felt momentary fear, then boldly looked at him and protested quietly: “I won’t let you look.”

He grabbed her right hand without ceremony. Looking challengingly into her eyes, he deliberately moved slowly, gradually rolling up her sleeve bit by bit.

Lin Yuchan held her breath, not knowing what strange quirk he had developed, gripping the bed edge as her heart pounded.

Her slender wrist was exposed, then her forearm with its faint blue veins under the skin. He was very patient, fold by fold, arranging her sleeve very neatly.

Finally, the loose sleeve was pushed down to below her shoulder, her slender arm extended, with several shallow red marks at the elbow crease, etched quite regularly.

Su Minguan lowered his eyes slightly, smiling faintly: “Let me see if it’s healed.”

He didn’t dare do other things, unsure if they would anger her. But this little arm had been extended to his eyes of her own accord, so presumably she wouldn’t mind today. The weather wasn’t cold either, so she wouldn’t catch a chill.

Lin Yuchan pretended to spit: “How are you still thinking about this?”

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t dare touch your arm.”

She said nothing, letting him gently touch the scars with his finger, asking: “Does it still hurt?”

She shook her head.

He smoothed the bedding, sat beside her, also rolling up his own sleeve, putting his arm around her shoulder, their bare arms adjacent, comparing them.

He lowered his head and chuckled: “Almost the same now.”

One thick and one thin arm, skin tones slightly different, with the same marks at the elbow creases. Even the positions of those marks weren’t far apart. The Guangzhou Western doctor who had given him the vaccination and the old director of Shanghai’s Renji Hospital might have been trained in the same batch.

Lin Yuchan felt inexplicably heartbroken, thinking: Why are my arms so short?

Suddenly, another amusing thought occurred: It’s like a couple of tattoos.

His body temperature ran warm, lightly touching against her arm. Though this was the least intimate body part, when viewed side by side, there was an indescribable lingering quality. The dim lamplight dyed both arms the same warm yellow hue, with undercurrents flowing beneath the skin, almost able to feel the strong pulse underneath. Two vital lives, using only touch, communicated silently.

This made her suddenly flush red to her ears. Though she hadn’t drunk wine in the evening, she felt slightly intoxicated.

She nervously tried to withdraw her hand, but he gripped it firmly. Wrist brushed against wrist. Her whole body trembled.

Su Minguan gently lifted her right arm, his gaze carrying inquiry.

She bit her lip and nodded.

He immediately kissed the scars on her elbow crease. She was tickled terribly, repeatedly dodging backward, laughing softly, and scolding: “You’re so strange!”

“Just realizing that?” He contentedly lowered her sleeve, his peripheral vision moving upward to catch the interesting micro-expressions on her face, lips curving. “Too late.”

Just as he was about to practice some other improper thoughts, he suddenly heard Lin Yuchan speak softly, asking curiously: “Little White, if I had just answered that I indeed planned to abscond with the money, how would you view me?”

Su Minguan looked up, gazing at her gently for quite a while before saying in a low voice: “The journey to Macau is long and distant. I would help you book a reliable ship ticket. At market price, taking a ten percent commission.”

—

Su Minguan indeed punctually fulfilled his promise. By the time summer arrived, silk, tea, and cotton goods were all in peak season, with Yixing’s clerks and sailors all busy to their limits. He squeezed out time from his packed schedule, skipping his work to personally attend Boya Trading House’s liquidation proceedings.