Jing Zhe?

Huaqin felt a sense of familiarity with this name.

But for a moment, I seemed to have forgotten where I had heard it before.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up: "Is it Miss's...brother?"

Hua Qin said, somewhat incredulously.

She had heard Jing Zhe's full name, but not many times. What she heard most often was "Zhe'er" as Zhou Ziqiong called him. She also knew that Zhou Ziqiong's previous godfather's surname was Jing, and that's when she realized it.

Zhou Ziqiong's eyes narrowed into crescent moons as she smiled and said, "Yes, he is my Zhe'er!"

Sometimes, happiness cannot be hidden.

"this…"

Hua Qin looked at Zhou Ziqiong, then at Jing Zhe, her face showing an incredulous expression: "This is too amazing!"

"Yes, when I heard that he was Zhe'er, I thought it was amazing too. I couldn't believe it at first!"

Looking intently at Jing Zhe, she said gently, "But that's the truth, he is Zhe'er!"

Huaqin said sincerely, "Perhaps this is fate! Young Master came all the way here and ended up helping Miss, while Miss usually doesn't even look at any other young master, yet she has a special affection for Young Master!"

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Zhou Ziqiong slapped Hua Qin and said with dissatisfaction, "Who's in love with him?"

"Of course it's Miss! Miss praised Young Master for a long time last night, saying that he is smart and talented, and that he is handsome. But Miss, don't be shy, because this is Young Master!"

"Nonsense! You're the one who said all that!"

"Hehe, I seem to remember it was Miss who said that?"

"You little brat, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you? I'll tear your mouth apart!"

As she spoke, Zhou Ziqiong rushed forward and started playfully fighting with Huaqin.

“Ziqiong…”

As the two were playfully bickering, a slightly aged voice sounded from outside the door.

"Father, I'm here."

After quickly stopping her playful fight with Huaqin and straightening her clothes, Zhou Ziqiong finally agreed.

"I heard you brought a young master back? Is it convenient now? If so, I'll come in!"

"square--"

Before the word "convenience" could be uttered, the door was suddenly pushed open.

Then a middle-aged woman with heavy makeup, but still unable to hide the meanness on her face, rushed in, followed closely by a middle-aged man with a large belly, who was still complaining, "I haven't finished talking to Ziqiong yet, why did you just push the door open and come in?"

“This is my Zhou family home, not hers. Why do I need her permission to enter?”

The mean-spirited woman sneered.

"..."

The middle-aged man was Zhou Gui. He opened his mouth, but then closed it again in resignation, looking at Zhou Ziqiong with an apologetic look in his eyes.

Zhou Ziqiong smiled at him, seemingly used to it.

Jing Zhe's expression turned somewhat amused. It seemed that even though Sixth Sister had built the Zhou Family Cloth Shop to its current scale, she still hadn't earned the respect she deserved from certain people!

After entering the room, the mean-spirited woman kept scrutinizing Jing Zhe. She was first shocked by his handsome and refined appearance, and then she was disgusted by his cynical attitude.

"Ziqiong, who is this man?"

"Mother, he is—"

"Reporting to Madam, he is the young master who helped us at Juxianlou last night!"

Before Zhou Ziqiong could speak, Hua Qin spoke first, but he didn't reveal Jing Zhe's true identity. Zhou Ziqiong looked at her with some confusion, but Hua Qin just winked at her, which made Zhou Ziqiong even more confused.

"So it was you, young master, who guessed the riddle correctly and did our Zhou family a great favor? Meeting you today, I can see you are indeed a promising young man! On behalf of the Zhou family, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you!"

Zhou Gui clapped his hands in praise.

"Uncle, you flatter me!"

"..."

Jing Zhe addressed him as "Uncle" instead of "Master Zhou," clearly following Zhou Ziqiong's example.

The mean-spirited woman was immediately displeased upon hearing this.

"Who are you? You call me uncle? I don't think you've helped the Zhou family at all. I heard you offended Prince Yu and Prefect Liu last night! Did you do it on purpose, making them think you're on good terms with the Zhou family, so we'd get into trouble?"

Jing Zhe was polite to Zhou Gui because he was polite to Zhou Ziqiong.

As for this mean-spirited woman, Jing Zhe wouldn't tolerate it.

"What, you don't want me to help the Zhou family?"

Jing Zhe raised an eyebrow.

"Heh, do you really think the Zhou family needs your help?"

The mean-spirited woman sneered.

Jing Zhe then asked, "You said that this Zhou family cloth shop belongs to you?"

"Of course it's mine! The land deed originally had my name and my master's name on it!"

The sarcastic woman glanced at Zhou Ziqiong and said smugly.

"Since that's the case..."

Jing Zhe stretched out his hand and said, "Then pay up!"

"Pay up?"

The mean-spirited woman paused for a moment, then asked, "What money?"

"As you've probably heard, I solved all five hundred riddles at Juxianlou last night. According to the rules, Zhou Family Cloth Shop and Juxianlou should each pay me 12,250 taels of silver. Manager Hu already gave me the silver last night, and now it's Zhou Family Cloth Shop's turn to pay!"

Jing Zhe stretched out his hand again and said coldly, "Give me the money!"

"..."

The mean-spirited woman opened her mouth, but finally said, "I heard you don't want the money from our Zhou family's cloth shop!"

"Yes, last night I thought this fabric shop belonged to Miss Zhou alone, so I didn't want it. Who would have thought that this fabric shop doesn't belong to Miss Zhou? Then why shouldn't I want it? Hurry up and pay!"

"..."

The mean-spirited woman's expression was as ugly as if she had soiled her pants; she was in a difficult situation.

Zhou Gui glared at her fiercely, then said with a forced smile, "Ziqiong is a member of the Zhou family, so the cloth shop naturally belongs to the Zhou family too!"

Jing Zhe shook his head: "I used to think so, but I don't dare to think so now. I just heard that the land deed for the Zhou family's cloth shop has both of your names on it?"

Zhou Gui gave a wry smile, but still nodded.

Jing Zhe said directly, "Fine, then I won't ask for the 12,250 taels of silver!"

Thank you—

Before he could finish speaking, Jing Zhe said directly, "However, we need to remove her name from the land deed and replace it with Miss Zhou's name!"

"You're dreaming!"

The mean-spirited woman trembled with rage.

"If you're unwilling, then pay up. If you can't pay up today, I'll either throw you in jail or give me your entire Zhou Family Cloth Shop! Oh, I forgot to remind you, Manager Hu didn't want to give me the land deed for Juxianlou, and he's already been arrested!"

"Manager Hu...has been arrested?"

Zhou Gui asked incredulously, "Was it Prefect Liu who arrested him?"

In Zhou Gui's view, Prefect Liu and Manager Hu were in cahoots, so why would he arrest him? He didn't quite understand.

"no."

Jing Zhe sneered, "Because Prefect Liu was also arrested!"

"..."

————