The old housekeeper woke up early as usual.

He had been with the Yue family for many years and, at his position, he no longer needed to do these trivial tasks.

Yue Dingtang and the others had long regarded him as a member of the Yue family and one of its masters.

However, he was old and couldn't sit still. He still saw himself as a Yue family servant and refused to enjoy the service of others.

Every morning, he busied himself and helped Yue Dingtang prepare breakfast.

Today, there was an extra guest, Ling Shu.

This wasn't unusual either.

Ling Shu occasionally stayed at the Yue family's residence, although far less often than he came here to mooch off their food.

But it wasn't a rare occurrence.

The old housekeeper heard that they had done something big last night, poking a huge hole that was related to the local big shot Lu Tongcang, involving both black and white forces, and it seemed that foreigners and high officials from Nanjing were also involved.

It was complicated, and he didn't understand half of it, so he decided not to ask.

He just focused on running the household well, making sure there was a light on and a hot bowl of soup waiting for the children when they came back.

Yue Dingtang got up earlier than usual, casually combed his hair, and had a visible good mood with a relaxed home style.

The old housekeeper smiled knowingly, guessing that yesterday's events went smoothly.

"Is everything okay, Fourth Young Master?" The old housekeeper asked, implying whether the Yue family needed to intervene.

Yue Dingtang nodded, reassuring the old housekeeper. "Fortunately, it's not our business. Ling Shu happened to come across a poor woman and helped her out, which led to this debacle. Lu Tongcang is already dead, and it has nothing to do with us in the future."

He summarized the situation in a few words, and the old housekeeper didn't ask any more questions.

At his age, he had seen too many storms and it was difficult to show too much surprise at any upheaval.

He simply praised, "Young Master Ling is truly a kind and brave person."

Yue Dingtang was already used to the old housekeeper's fondness for Ling Shu.

Moreover, sometimes it was sweet to hear words that he himself couldn't say, spoken by someone else.

He remained calm on the surface, but deep down he may have hoped that the old housekeeper would praise Ling Shu a few more times.

"Ling Shu is probably going to sleep in. Just leave him a breakfast." Yue Dingtang picked up an oil cake.

Just then, he heard the old housekeeper say, "Young Master Ling."

He turned around and saw Ling Shu walking down the stairs, still half asleep and moving slowly.

Yue Dingtang raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why didn't you sleep a little longer?"

Ling Shu: ...

It was fine if Yue Dingtang hadn't spoken, but now that he had, Ling Shu felt like his body was falling apart.

He couldn't express his discomfort in words, so he could only suppress the anger that was building up inside him. He regretted giving in to temptation and making a mistake last night.

Looking at Yue Dingtang again, he realized that there was nothing attractive about him. He was just a cunning and treacherous man with a sly and deceitful face.

Ling Shu wondered if he had been cursed by Yue Dingtang, who might have learned some tricks from the Miao witch people in Hunan.

Slowly shuffling over to the table and taking a slow seat, Ling Shu felt like he had lived through a century.

To outsiders, it didn't seem too out of the ordinary, they just thought he had suddenly adopted a refined and cultured demeanor.

He was quiet, which even the old housekeeper found a bit unusual. "Young Master Ling, would you like to have fried dough sticks or oil cakes?"

"Dough sticks..." Ling Shu began to say, but suddenly changed his mind. "Actually, I'll have soy milk. I feel like having something light today."

The old housekeeper chuckled. "We have light food too, like soy milk and chicken noodle soup. You were talking about it last night, so I had someone make it for you this morning. I'll go have it brought out for you."

"You're so kind, Uncle Zhou. Thank you." The old housekeeper treated him with such care, like he was his own nephew, and Ling Shu naturally acted a bit spoiled.

"Your eyelash fell off." Suddenly, Yue Dingtang spoke up.

His hand reached over the table and lightly brushed against Ling Shu's cheek before he could react.

Ling Shu instinctively grabbed his hand, hoping to stop him from being so handsy.

"Don't be so forward," complained Yue Dingtang, playing the victim.

Ling Shu was so angry that he could barely contain himself.

He swallowed his rage when the housekeeper appeared and decided to channel his frustration into his appetite.

He ordered chicken soup noodles, soy milk, and pan-fried buns, devouring everything that came his way.

As he ate, even the housekeeper became concerned.

"Don't eat too much, it won't digest. Who eats like this?" he warned.

Ling Shu didn't even look up. "I had a nightmare last night," he explained.

The housekeeper was confused. "A nightmare?"

"I dreamt that I was being chased by a giant toad and it bit me hard. I woke up starving," Ling Shu recounted.

Yue Dingtang was speechless.

Ling Shu continued to eat, unfazed by his strange dream.

The old housekeeper showed his affection, "Eat more, usually bad dreams mean good things will happen in reality, don't worry about it."

Ling Shu said, "That toad is so ugly."

The old housekeeper replied, "How about tomorrow I have someone cook a pot of frog porridge to dispel the evil spirits for you?"

Yue Dingtang: ...

As Yue Dingtang finished his meal and prepared to leave for work, Ling Shu put down his empty bowl and said in a loud voice, "Captain Yue, I'm not feeling well today, I need to take a sick leave!"

His tone sounded as if Yue Dingtang owed him a large sum of money.

Surprisingly, Yue Dingtang responded naturally with an "Mm" and even came over to pat his head.

"Then rest well at home," Yue Dingtang said.

Ling Shu replied, "Actually, I want to go home."

Yue Dingtang offered, "I'll take you there."

But Ling Shu changed his mind, "Actually, I don't want to go home anymore, I want to go to the movie theater."

"Shall I drive you to the movie theater? I have a meeting to attend and won't be able to accompany you," said Yue Dingtang.

Why am I acting like a little girl throwing a tantrum? Ling Shu realized this and suddenly became listless, slumping over the table and shooing away flies.

"You can go, don't worry about me," Ling Shu said.

Yue Dingtang furrowed his brow, surprised by Ling Shu's response.

"I think I'll stay here," he said.

Last night, Yue Dingtang had restrained himself, despite the inevitable passion.

He hadn't left any marks above the neck and had even carefully cleaned up afterwards.

Ling Shu, on the other hand, had been very involved and had left several scratches on Yue Dingtang's back.

Now, he seemed like a man who regretted his actions and was unwilling to take responsibility.

Even Yue Dingtang, who usually had everything under control, couldn't guarantee that Ling Shu wouldn't just walk away from everything. If a person suddenly regrets and refuses to admit what happened last night, it seems like there's not much they can do. They can only learn from those scoundrels who use every trick in the book, or maybe learn from those heroic women who cry, scream, and even hang themselves.

Yue Dingtang realized that despite his years of education, he was powerless in this matter, as if he had returned to the young boy who could only peek from behind a tree.

After Ling Shu kicked him out of the house, he felt dejected for only three minutes before a new matter came knocking on his door.

Shen Renjie came to visit and said that Jiang He wanted to meet with him and asked if he was interested in participating in the interrogation of Lu Zude.