Sweeping the floor of her bakery to tidy the place before finally returning home, Shengsi couldn't keep the curve on her lips from lingering. The day had ended far better than she'd expected, even with her face still faintly flushed from her drained qi. Had she stayed home, she would've only endured Chengxu’s endless scolding and tended once more to Xie Chuanhu’s still-healing wounds.

That young man truly was like a sleeping beauty!

Giving her a nightmare the night before was something she still couldn't forget. Had nothing pleasant happened today, she doubted she'd have shaken off the unease from that dream. Fortunately, Young Master Qin had done her a favor and helped her gain another customer.

Sweep, sweep, sweep. In the midst of cleaning, the door opened. It happened often enough that Shengsi wasn't surprised whenever someone wandered into the bakery without realizing she was already preparing to close.

Glancing toward the doorway, her smile gentled even more.

“Good afternoon, but I have to apologize—” A child in dirt-stained clothes peeked from behind the half-open door, only his head and upper body visible as he clung tightly to its side. “What can I do for you?”

The child looked as though he was about to leave.

“Wait.” Shengsi’s gaze gentled. “Come here.”

The ragged child stepped inside, though each movement was hesitant and small, his posture stiff with caution. His body was frail, almost famished, and his complexion carried a sickly pallor. His untied hair hung loosely down to his waist. Though his clothes might once have been white, layers of dirt had turned them dull gray, the same grime staining his skin.

“I don't have any bread left, but I can give you some copper coins so you can buy food.” Kneeling, she loosened the pouch at her waist and handed him twenty copper coins from her recent earnings. “I hope this is enough for you to buy some steamed buns.”

The child nodded quickly, as though afraid she might change her mind.

“Where are your parents?” she asked softly.

The child shook his head.

“They're... gone?”

He looked at her silently, yet the meaning was plain enough.

Shengsi sighed. Then she gently clasped both his shoulders and looked into his eyes. “Do you have siblings?”

The child lifted two fingers.

Her heart nearly sank at that. “Tomorrow, come back here. I'll bake bread for all of you to take home.” Her tone gentled further. “As much as you want. But you have to keep it between us, alright?”

He nodded even faster this time.

Shengsi lightly patted his shoulders before standing again. “Now go on. Be safe.”

The child bowed so deeply he nearly collapsed forward, but Shengsi caught him by the arms and steadied him before letting him leave.

Just as she bent to pick up the broom again, her eyes drifted toward the still-open doorway.

Someone else was standing there.

As though he'd been watching for quite some time already.

The man wore simple commoner robes of muted pale red. The fabric wasn't fine silk, yet neither was it cheap, soft enough to suggest modest comfort without extravagance. His figure was broad and heavyset, though not unpleasantly so, and faint stubble lined his chin beneath a trimmed mustache. His features were plain, carrying a restrained sternness softened by quiet weariness.

“Mr. Yue Ren.” At the sound of his name, the warmth on Shengsi’s face noticeably dimmed. “What brings you here?”

She leaned the broom against the wall beside the counter.

“Aren't you aware that there are thugs rampant everywhere now, stealing from shop to shop?”

The other didn't respond.

Yue Ren rubbed at his throat before speaking again. “Shengsi, can we talk for a moment?”

She gave him a dry look. “Mr. Yue Ren, whatever do you mean? As you can see, we're already talking.”

Crossing the room, she closed one of the wooden windows, dimming the shop slightly.

“It’s about Young Master Zhang.”

She froze. “Zhang Yiran?”

“Who else but your childhood friend?”

“What does that drunkard want from me?” Shengsi scoffed.

Yue Ren let out a weary breath. “Why speak of him like that? Shengsi, your Yiran still cares for you.”

“Cared,” she corrected coldly as she moved beside the doorway. “After Aunt Li died, where did he even disappear to?”

“He had matters to attend to back then.”

“You mean drinking himself senseless and wasting his days among courtesans until sunrise?” The veins at her neck nearly tightened as a dull ache throbbed in her head. She gestured toward the open doorway. “I think it’s best you leave, Mr. Yue Ren.”

“Shengsi, your Yiran needs you now.”

Her expression stiffened further. “He isn't mine, Mr. Yue Ren.”

“But the two of you promised to marry—”

“We were children.” She closed her eyes briefly. “Things changed. And if you saw what became of him, what the heavens witnessed that drove him into becoming a drunkard...” Her voice lowered. “Please leave. This conversation won't go any further.”

Yue Ren looked at her with visible pain. “Can you at least hear me out first?”

Shengsi only stared at the hand still gesturing toward the exit.

“This humble Yue Ren will take his leave, then.” He gave her one final bitter glance before quietly departing.

For a long while, Shengsi continued staring at the empty doorway.

Then slowly, she leaned against the wall and slid to her knees.

The timing truly couldn't have been worse.

It felt as though a hundred soldiers were pressing against her chest, squeezing the breath from her lungs. Why now? Why did it have to hurt now of all times? Covering her face with trembling hands, she could feel her fingers shaking faintly against her skin.

Just like that, the day she'd cherished so dearly had been ruined.

A young nobleman in pale ash-gray outer robes layered over muted silver garments beneath munched over his serving of chicken feet at the table, while flatbreads, steamed buns, and sticky rice dumplings sat piled at the side. One might've thought the spread was meant for a family of four, if not for the fact that he was the only one seated there.

He still couldn't believe he'd embarrassed himself earlier and been proven wrong by the bakery owner herself. What was her name again? Zhi Shengsi?

His hands were already stained red by the sauce from the chicken feet, yet he continued indulging in the products he'd bought from Lizhi Ju. Though they had gone cold by now, they were still savory enough to enjoy.

Especially the loaves.

“I should've made a bargain with that Young Master.” He clicked his tongue. “I mean, what other fillings are there?”

His brows knitted at the thought as he chewed another chicken foot clean of meat.

The sun had already dimmed faintly by the time he finished eating. The young nobleman dipped his hands into a basin of water to wash them clean. Taking several coins from his pouch, he waved lazily toward the server before placing the payment on the table.

“Here's the pay for my food!”

Then he departed.

Walking now with a full stomach, the young nobleman barely had time to react when a ragged child brushed past him, nearly knocking the child onto the ground as several copper coins scattered across the busy street.

“Watch where you're going, dear child.” The young nobleman crouched and helped gather the fallen coins before placing them back into the child's hands.

Just as the child was about to bow, the young nobleman lightly clasped both his shoulders, shook his head, and smiled.

“No need.”

He stood and patted the child's head before walking past him.

Yet when he glanced back once more, the smile on his face faded.

Four figures had suddenly seized the child and hurried into a dark alley.

Those thugs!

The young nobleman clenched his fists.

He couldn't turn a blind eye.

Before he even realized it, he was already making his way toward the alley they had dragged the child into.

Shengsi was walking along the street when she passed by a restaurant selling chicken feet.

From one of the tables, she overheard two men talking.

“How much did the child have?” one asked.

“Twenty wen.”

“And the young nobleman?”

Both men leaned closer toward one another.

The other lowered his voice and said, “Five taels of silver.”

The first slammed his palm against the table. “Five?!”

The other quickly hushed him. “And if we take him hostage, we might squeeze even more from his family.”

Hearing that, Shengsi couldn't help but slow her steps.

Those two were clearly thugs. And hearing that a child had twenty wen immediately reminded her of the ragged child she'd given twenty copper coins to earlier at the bakery.

Thinking about how quickly the day had shifted from good fortune into trouble, she almost cursed the heavens for ruining her peace the moment she'd begun savoring it.

And so Shengsi sat at a nearby table and called to the server, “One serving of chicken feet.”

It didn't take long before her order arrived. As she ate, she quietly kept watch over the two men. By the time the sky had darkened, the thugs finally left payment for their meal and entered a nearby alley.

Shengsi only continued eating until they disappeared from sight.

Then she placed down her own payment and followed after them into the same alley.

It seemed trouble wouldn't stop hounding her unless she did something about these increasingly bothersome circumstances herself.