Su Minguan reached out and gently touched Lin Yuchan’s jaw.

A small warm spot, slightly red, the flesh a bit swollen, like a mosquito bite, but the bone was fine.

Indeed, as she said, it would be better in two days.

Fortunately, he had pre-sanded that gun stock smooth, or it would have cut her. Otherwise, if the little girl’s face was scarred, what would happen? No one would want her in the future.

He was amused by his thoughts and pressed his lips together. Fine sweat beads rolled in her hair, her eyebrows cleanly shaped, traced on her full skin like two tender willow leaves in early spring.

He suddenly leaned down, pressing half his cheek against her warm little face.

Then immediately separated.

By the time Lin Yuchan reacted, he had already straightened up. She bewilderedly covered her face with her hands.

“You, you…” she stammered, not knowing what to say, finally blurting out, “Explain yourself!”

Su Minguan suppressed a heavy breath, eyes downcast. While she was still stunned, his mind had already lined up a circle of backup excuses, but all seemed unconvincing: saying he was feeling the temperature of the injury—wouldn’t using his hand work? Saying he was cooling it for her—there was cold water right there, why not use it…

Finally, he blinked and said, “Don’t foreigners all have cheek-kissing customs? You must have seen plenty at the customs. I… I wanted to follow the fashion.”

At the end, he even covered his ears while stealing the bell, looking at her with particular certainty.

Lin Yuchan had been glaring at him angrily, but hearing this she laughed out loud.

“I’ll give you one more chance. Be serious.”

Su Minguan also felt this performance was far below standard, but he would die before admitting he was actually at a loss for words.

His gaze darkened slightly, his thinking rarely disconnecting for a moment.

A white egret probably spotted a mud crab in the mudflat, screeching and diving straight down. Flying closer, it discovered two people standing there, frantically climbing back to the sky in panic, shaking water from its wings all the way, dropping a tuft of white feathers that drifted down beside Su Minguan.

He seemed inspired by this feather, smiling gently like a spring breeze, and asked her in return:

“Did you like it?”

Lin Yuchan: “…”

He had just washed his face with cold water, his skin ice-cool, and on such a hot day, a touch like that was indeed… quite comfortable.

But this isn’t the primary contradiction, dear!

She was clear in her heart. The way the two of them were intimate, even by her standards, seemed ambiguous, and in the Qing Dynasty, it was practically the template for adulterous lovers.

But even on the Qing Dynasty’s time-worn burial mounds, occasionally unusual crops grew—some abnormal humans sprouted up. The person before her was one of them.

Having been in the Qing Dynasty so long, Lin Yuchan had learned to tailor her approach to different people. Faced with traditional rule-followers like her landlord’s mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, she obediently played a proper little widow, virtuous in appearance, speech, and conduct, not giving anyone grounds for criticism.

But facing an “abnormal” person, she couldn’t quite figure out his behavioral standards.

Calling him a frivolous playboy type didn’t seem right; besides, he didn’t have the means—with his monthly spare change of one or two silver taels, he couldn’t even afford tea service at Tianxiang Tower.

Calling him proper and rigid… what about that slightly upturned mouth corner and that smug expression?

A guy who dared rebel—what wouldn’t he dare?

She stole glances at that clear, distinguished face, thinking with self-abandoning resignation: as long as it was within her psychological tolerance, let him do as he pleased.

Poor child—if he’d followed his original life trajectory, he’d have been carousing until twenty with a string of kids by now.

While she was lost in random thoughts, Su Minguan had already packed up, smiling at her politely.

“The sun’s getting high. Let’s go. We’ll practice again next time.”

Originally, he was using offense as defense, not necessarily waiting for an answer from her.

Seagulls flew overhead, heat waves rose from the mudflat, shrouding it in mist. The ruins of Wusong Fort still stood among the mudflats, having passed another peaceful, uneventful morning.

Everything seemed to return to normal. But Lin Yuchan felt unsettled, as if there was still something left unsaid…

It wasn’t until Su Minguan carried her on his back and put her on the small boat that she suddenly realized something and sternly reminded him:

“Comrade Xiao Bai, I… I’m still underage.”

By the time she returned to her rental room, it was afternoon. Lin Yuchan had been traveling all day and was covered in sweat.

She had a good wash in her room, washed her hair, changed into clean clothes, and finally felt refreshed.

She touched her cheek. The redness and swelling had mostly subsided, barely hurt anymore.

But her right shoulder socket was bruised black and blue, painful when pressed.

She grimaced and cursed inwardly—Helmsman Su was ruthless enough.

Not even considerate of her being underage…

She sighed deeply. The “underage” label didn’t carry much weight in his mind either. When she spoke those words, she only remembered afterward that the coming-of-age standard for ancient women seemed to be fifteen, after which they would have their hair pinned up, receive adult names, marry, and bear children in one swift sequence. Those in a hurry, like Su Minguan’s mother, at her age…

Better not think too much about it.

In any case, her “underage warning” had minimal effect, only earning a puzzled look.

But she decided she must stick to her principles—no early romance before eighteen.

She didn’t even have time to make money, what romance?

She’d visit Yixing less often in the future—it interfered with her wealth accumulation.

Having made this resolution, she combed her hair and went to the main room to greet the Wu father and son—the landlord’s mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had reaped rich rewards from painting tea cans. Though they hadn’t bought the high-end shrine as promised, they had removed the old memorial tablets, had new ones written, and the offerings below had become more abundant. Lin Yuchan felt the two deceased gentlemen should be quite satisfied.

Mrs. Wu Yang was embroidering handkerchiefs. However, compared to the income from painting tea cans, she wasn’t embroidering very seriously.

Seeing her come downstairs looking fresh and clean, Mrs. Wu Yang couldn’t help praising: “The Su family’s little lady has such a pretty face. If she dressed up, she’d be absolutely beautiful and charming.”

Mrs. Wu Yang was a traditional woman who rarely praised people’s appearances so directly. Lin Yuchan was flattered and quickly said modestly, “Anyone looks good when dressed cleanly.”

While being modest, she wondered—did her big feet not detract today?

She went to the kitchen and lifted the pot lid—no rice.

Mrs. Wu Yang quickly said, “Little lady, let me discuss something with you. Today, several aunties and I are going to visit a familiar family and have dinner there. You should come along too…”

Lin Yuchan started, about to politely decline, but Mrs. Wu Yang spoke faster, not giving her any chance to interrupt.

“…Auntie is telling you, at your young age as a widow, without family property to support you, you can’t guard your widowhood for long. Auntie is someone who’s been through this, and seeing how smart and capable you are, that’s why I’m saying this—it’s for your good. Better to find another match early, to avoid… I mean, just in case, don’t blame Auntie for speaking harshly, but in case something unseemly happens, even if it’s just groundless rumors, wouldn’t your whole life be ruined? My mother-in-law has a cousin’s little grandson’s neighbor, who grew up in the same alley. We know his background well, he’s been asking us to matchmake for ages…”

Lin Yuchan understood halfway through and tried several times to interrupt, but Mrs. Wu Yang grew more excited as she spoke.

“Listen to Auntie finish. Originally, we didn’t like to randomly arrange matches, but I see you’re smart, and this young man is truly rare. He said he doesn’t care about big or small feet, doesn’t mind if the woman is remarrying, as long as she’s pretty and capable—such an honest man is impossible to find even with a lantern nowadays! Auntie is telling you, you must seize this opportunity. He has proper work too, earns quite a bit, completely able to support a family. If you marry him, you won’t need to work so hard making money, just be a lady and enjoy life…”

Mrs. Wu Yang finally caught her breath. Lin Yuchan seized the gap to state her position: “Auntie’s kind intentions I understand completely, but…”

“No buts! Just consider it accompanying us to play mahjong—we need a fourth! You don’t need to prepare anything, the young man just needs to take a look at you! If you don’t fancy him, just refuse, say you want to keep your widowhood—what’s embarrassing about that!”

Lin Yuchan listened with one ear in and one ear out, only thinking about quickly getting to Monday to start that tea processing job and find these aunties some tea can painting work, so they wouldn’t spend every day idly and randomly matchmaking.

Seeing her silence, Mrs. Wu Yang dropped her handkerchief, clearly irritated.

“I’m telling you, girl, at your age as a widow, who are you keeping proper mourning for? You’re still young and desirable—when you’re older, people will have opinions! Besides, Auntie already promised them all, if you don’t go, I’ll lose face!”

Lin Yuchan was amused inwardly. She was still “underage” yet already being considered too old.

She understood—she was being used by Mrs. Wu Yang as a tool to maintain sisterly relationships and build prestige in the neighborhood.

On second thought, “tailoring approach to different people”—such a small matter wasn’t worth falling out with the landlord over.

“Don’t worry, Auntie.” Lin Yuchan helped Mrs. Wu Yang put away her embroidery basket and asked: “Really just going to someone’s house to play mahjong? If we don’t fancy each other, that’s that?”

Seeing her soften, Mrs. Wu Yang clapped her hands happily: “Several ladies will be there, don’t worry! The young man is also respectable, won’t pester you. If you two like each other, then we’ll exchange names and birth dates for the next step; if not, Auntie won’t let him have a chance to talk to you!”

Lin Yuchan pondered briefly and said, “I don’t just go to other people’s houses casually.”

Mrs. Wu Yang laughed: “Silly caution, you’ve earned Auntie so much money, would Auntie harm you? Alright, alright, we’ll go to a teahouse, come back when it’s dark, okay?”

Lin Yuchan smiled: “I’ll go pack my things.”

It was just being a tool person once—taking such cheap rent, giving back a little was fine. Not worth falling out with the landlord over this.

One more friend, one more path. Su Minguan still kept that calling card from Tianxiang Tower. And reportedly he’d recently completed several small business deals, transporting silk and incense for the girls, earning some pocket money.

Anyway, she wouldn’t lose any flesh. She wasn’t a shy little widow—afraid of being looked at?

When the time came, she’d just casually reveal some fatal flaw to scare off the young man. Those extreme blind date stories from her previous life weren’t followed for nothing.

Taking the opportunity to meet more aunties was also good—she still needed people to paint tea cans.

…

Lin Yuchan’s mind made up, she put on her going-out clothes. But Mrs. Wu Yang immediately disliked them as too plain, coaxing and persuading her to remove the white flowers and white sash, tying on a foreign cloth flower hair ribbon instead. Mrs. Wu Yang also urged her to draw her eyebrows, paint her eyes, and apply rouge. Lin Yuchan was very obedient, cheerfully going upstairs to fuss around. When she came down—

“Girl, you’d better wash it off. Your foundation is good, you look fine without makeup.”

Lin Yuchan secretly laughed.

The matchmaking party met at a nearby small teahouse. Indeed, several ladies came, booked a private room, and first praised Lin Yuchan from head to toe with clicks of approval. Then everyone ordered tea and snacks and began playing mahjong.

Lin Yuchan played the proper little housewife role and got along very well with the ladies. She didn’t know mahjong, but after watching several rounds, she quickly caught on. After joining, she lost more than she won, but it was just a few copper coins.

Suddenly, the ladies seemed to collectively receive some signal, suddenly losing interest in cards, several pairs of eyes unanimously looking out the window.

A fair-complexioned, refined male guest walked into the teahouse, quietly asking the server something. He was far away, only his back and queue visible.

Two aunties immediately claimed they needed to go home to watch their grandchildren and slipped away.

Lin Yuchan observed this, silently lifting her trouser legs to expose her shoes.

Claiming not to care about foot size was probably lip service—seeing the real thing would likely give quite a shock.

Mrs. Wu Yang quickly gestured for her to lower her trouser legs. She pretended not to see.

Moments later, the male guest arrived at the private room door, carefully arranging his appearance, then lifted the curtain and showed his head.

“Excuse me, is Mrs. Wang here?” he pretended to seek someone, asking, “Ah, sorry, wrong room…”

Several aunties smiled as they played along with the act.

“No problem, no problem, who are you looking for?”

The male guest nervously made conversation while taking the opportunity to sweep his eyes over the table of female guests—

At the same time, Lin Yuchan looked up and her mouth fell open.

“Chang… Manager?”

Chang Baoluo tripped on the threshold and tumbled in: “Little lady?”