“You can paint?” Chi Can stared at Qiao Zhao. His eyes were long and narrow with slightly upturned corners, and even with the faintest trace of mockery flowing from them, it was difficult to hide his magnificent bearing. “And then what? Are you perhaps going to paint one for me so I can go back and fulfill my duty?”

Yang Houcheng stood behind Qiao Zhao and coughed lightly, reminding the young girl not to speak carelessly.

If she truly angered that fellow, he wouldn’t care about gender or age—he’d throw her off the boat just the same. How pitiful the young girl would be then.

Zhu Yàn gently reminded: “Anyone who has studied painting can paint ducks, but this ‘can’ and ‘can’ are different things—”

Qiao Zhao curved her lips: “Big Brother Zhu, I understand.”

After speaking, she looked at Chi Can again, her tone calm but full of sincerity: “I’ll paint a duck playing in water painting for Big Brother Chi, as thanks for Big Brother Chi’s helping hand.”

Chi Can was already irritated, and Qiao Zhao’s sincerity appeared to him as ignorant arrogance.

He stared at her intently, not angry but smiling, though his tone was ice-cold: “Fine then, paint it.”

He paused, then added: “If you make it impossible for me to fulfill my duty, when the boat stops midway, you can get off!”

“Shixi—” Zhu Yàn gently patted him, “Isn’t this a bit…”

Unreasonable?

Zhu Yàn ultimately didn’t say those four words aloud.

The three had played together since childhood, so he naturally understood his friend’s temperament.

The affair between the Eldest Princess and the Prince Consort had changed Chi Can’s character considerably, but even then, it hadn’t reached such extremes. As Chi Can grew older and his elegance became more outstanding, troubles multiplied.

He still clearly remembered one time when Chi Can had kindly rescued a girl being molested by a bully. That girl insisted on following Chi Can back to his residence. Chi Can naturally refused, but unexpectedly, the next day, that girl hanged herself from a tree outside the Eldest Princess’s residence, leaving a note saying she lived as Chi Can’s person and would die as Chi Can’s ghost.

Good news doesn’t travel far, but bad news spreads a thousand miles. This incident instantly spread throughout the capital’s streets and alleys. Later, who remembered that Chi Can had saved someone? Everyone was discussing how he must have seduced the girl and then refused to acknowledge it, causing her to seek death.

Chi Can was only thirteen that year. Public opinion was terrifying, pressing down on the youth like a mountain until he couldn’t breathe, while his mother, the Eldest Princess Changrong, picked up a whip and gave her son a body full of lash marks.

From then on, Chi Can’s temperament became increasingly ill-natured.

Honestly, he had been surprised that Li San’s plea for help from his friend that day hadn’t been refused.

Zhu Yàn sighed softly.

Forget it. If Miss Li was thrown off the boat, at worst, he would secretly look after her—he couldn’t let the young girl truly have no way to get home.

“Don’t any of you interfere. She brought this on herself,” Chi Can said coldly.

Women were all like this—from age three to eighty, greedy, vain, arrogant, lacking self-awareness…

Over ten adjectives flashed through Chi Can’s mind with practiced ease.

Qiao Zhao blinked.

This person was rather different from her impression of him.

Back then, he had merely been thick-skinned—she hadn’t seen this mean and petty side.

“So Big Brother Chi gives aid without expecting gratitude,” Qiao Zhao said.

Chi Can narrowed his eyes, momentarily puzzled by her meaning.

Zhu Yàn, observing from the sidelines, understood after brief consideration and couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

Yang Houcheng pulled at Zhu Yàn and asked quietly: “What riddle are you solving?”

Zhu Yàn shook his head without speaking.

Chi Can glanced at the two, then at Qiao Zhao, whose expression remained unruffled, and suddenly understood.

The little girl was saying that he had originally agreed to take her back to the capital, so her painting for him out of gratitude actually risked being thrown off the boat—showing he didn’t seek her repayment.

So this was mocking him for being mean-spirited, wasn’t it?

Chi Can couldn’t help but glare fiercely at the young girl.

Was this girl even thirteen? Already so full of twists and turns in her thinking, making people puzzle over every word she said—what would she become in the future?

Qiao Zhao felt rather wronged, her black and white eyes looking at Chi Can.

She had only spoken the truth—how had she earned another glare?

Chi Can looked away and sneered: “It’s too late to regret now. This young master is waiting for you to paint.”

Qiao Zhao especially couldn’t bear hearing the word “master” right now. Suppressing her displeasure, she said: “My grandfather has long since passed away.”

Chi Can was stunned, then flew into a rage, pointing at Qiao Zhao: “You—”

After “you-ing” for a long time, seeing her eyes reddening, he couldn’t squeeze out a single word.

Zhu Yàn and Yang Houcheng heard that Qiao Zhao was deliberately needling Chi Can, but she did it so cleverly that people couldn’t vent their anger, and they couldn’t help but chuckle.

Chi Can became even angrier hearing this.

Qiao Zhao had always been thick-skinned, and at this moment, she was wearing a young face, making her even more unconcerned. She asked calmly: “Are there brushes, ink, pigments, and such on the boat?”

“We have everything. I’ll take you there,” Zhu Yàn said, afraid the atmosphere was too tense, and actively led Qiao Zhao into the boat’s cabin.

This passenger boat could originally carry over ten passengers, but the three wealthy men had chartered the entire vessel, so they had cleared out one cabin specifically as a study.

Qiao Zhao followed Zhu Yàn inside and looked around. Though the room’s furnishings were simple, it had all the necessary items like a writing desk, a low couch, and so forth.

“You can freely use all these brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones,” Zhu Yàn said as he led her inward. “Just don’t randomly flip through those books, or you’ll make Shixi angry again.”

“Thank you, Big Brother Zhu. I understand.” Qiao Zhao curtsied to him to show her gratitude.

“Then I’ll go out first.”

Painters generally didn’t like interference from others nearby, and besides, since they were man and woman, being alone in a room wasn’t quite appropriate.

Qiao Zhao nodded slightly: “Please do as you wish, Big Brother Zhu.”

Seeing the young girl had already seated herself properly at the writing desk, spread out rice paper, and gracefully lifted her hands to begin grinding ink, Zhu Yàn paused and said softly: “Don’t worry. Shixi has a sharp tongue but a soft heart.”

Qiao Zhao looked up to meet Zhu Yàn’s gaze, somewhat startled, then curved the corners of her mouth: “Thank you, Big Brother Zhu. I’m not worried.”

Chi Can having a sharp tongue but soft heart was false, but this Big Brother Zhu having a soft heart was indeed true.

She had nothing to worry about. Once she repaid the debt of gratitude owed to them, she probably wouldn’t have any further dealings with these three people.

The young girl’s tone was too calm, her expression too composed. Zhu Yàn felt somewhat embarrassed, nodded to her, and left.

Hearing footsteps, Chi Can turned back with a half-smile: “Why did you come out?”

Zhu Yàn walked to his side and lightly punched him: “What kind of talk is that?”

Chi Can lowered his eyes and smiled, gazing toward the river surface.

The spring scenery was wonderful. Weeping willows on both banks reflected their graceful forms on the water’s surface, like young girls preening before a mirror, freely displaying their soft and gentle beauty. Only the ripples stirred up by the passing boat destroyed that tranquil beauty.

“Nothing much. Just worried you might cause trouble for no reason,” the man whose appearance surpassed even the spring scenery said leisurely.

Zhu Yàn was stunned, then laughed helplessly: “Shixi, you’re overthinking.”

The image of that young girl who held herself straighter than a poplar tree flashed through his mind, deepening his smile.

That girl probably couldn’t wait for both sides to be even.

The boat moved slowly forward as the sun gradually declined westward.

Yang Houcheng’s gaze frequently turned toward the cabin.

“The little girl has been inside for most of the day and didn’t even come out for lunch. Could it be she can’t paint it and is afraid of being thrown off the boat by Shixi, so she doesn’t dare come out?”

Chi Can and Zhu Yàn looked at each other.

It seemed very possible!

“I’ll go check,” Zhu Yàn said softly.

Chi Can stopped him and sneered: “I’ll go. Let’s see how long she plans to hide!”

Faint footsteps approached, and the three men looked over to see Qiao Zhao walking toward them.

Chi Can’s gaze moved downward. Seeing that her hands were empty, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow: “Where’s the painting? Did you eat it?”