"Yin'er is having a wonderful time."

The sound came abruptly in the still of the night.

Upon hearing the sound, Shen Qiyin looked over and saw a handsome young man, holding a folding fan, walking slowly towards her.

It disgusted her.

She looked away and said calmly, "It's already autumn, aren't you cold, brother? What are you pretending for with that broken fan!"

Shen Yaozu awkwardly closed his fan and walked over to sit in the spot that originally belonged to Ren Dong.

He wanted to eat something, but seeing the table full of crab shells and grape skins, he silently withdrew his outstretched hand.

With nothing to eat, he didn't bother to stay any longer and cut to the chase: "You must have heard about Aunt Zheng being punished by family rules, right?"

"Mmm." She secretly chuckled for a while.

"That old woman was really ruthless; my aunt is still crying out in pain."

"Go and take a look at her. Whether you should brew some medicine for her to drink or prepare some ointment to apply to her, you decide." His tone was casual, but it subtly conveyed a sense of command.

She pursed her lips slightly and remained silent.

Shen Yaozu frowned slightly, but his tone remained gentle: "Yin'er? Are you even listening to me?"

"I heard it!" I heard it with both ears!

Only then did his expression relax.

As he was about to get up, he suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, the teachers at the academy really liked the palindrome poem you wrote last time and praised me highly."

Chen Xi remained noncommittal about marriage.

She helped Shen Yaozu with his studies at the academy.

Unlike Shen Guangzong's cold attitude, Shen Yaozu acted like an elder brother in front of Shen Qiyin.

He would affectionately call her "Yin'er," and when he learned that she also wanted to study, he would give her his own books. When Madam Shen prepared sachets for each child but forgot her, he would give her his own.

That was the only sense of kinship that Shen Qiyin felt in this cold mansion.

So she used all her knowledge to compose poems and secretly help him, successfully making him a famous scholar in the capital.

Of the six arts of a gentleman, even archery and horsemanship, which only require physical action and not brainpower, he still needed Shen Qiyin's help.

Once, while shooting an arrow, he accidentally shot the academy teacher. It was Shen Qiyin who gave him some wound medicine and asked him to give it to the teacher as an apology. Only then was the matter barely considered over. However, he was subsequently ordered not to enter the shooting range again.

Another time, while riding a horse, he fell and injured his leg. He lay in the mansion for nearly half a year, and it was only through Shen Xiyin's daily care and meticulous treatment that his leg was saved.

He secretly competed with Shen Guangzong, unwilling to be outdone, so Shen Qiyin studied diligently day and night, racking her brains to help him.

But her later visit to the Qin residence almost cost her her life.

Before he was sent to the manor, she specially had someone call him over, wanting to give him one last piece of advice to study hard.

This wasn't the first time she'd said this, but this time, instead of her usual gentle smile, she snapped, "Who do you think you are! Trying to boss me around?"

"If you weren't still somewhat useful, do you think I'd bother with you?"

The look of disgust on his face and the coldness in his eyes when he said those words are still fresh in Shen Qiyin's memory.

This person was completely different from the one who was smiling warmly at her now.

Shen Yaozu: "My brother has now risen to fame, Yin'er, this is all thanks to you."

Shen Qiyin nodded without any hesitation.

That's right.

He owes his success to her talent and learning.

Whether he will return depends on her mood.

But he said, "So, how does my brother plan to thank me?"

Shen Yaozu obviously did not expect that she would actually take credit from him. In the past, didn't she always nag him like his grandmother, urging him to study hard?

What's wrong with me today?

Coming to his senses, he said calmly, "...In the past, when I said I wanted to thank you, you always declined, saying that it was too formal for siblings to express their gratitude, but I took it seriously."

This is a roundabout way of saying that Shen Xiyin is hypocritical.

Fortunately, she didn't care at all.

But he said, half-truthfully, "Those words were indeed from the heart."

"Just like... my brother always makes sure to thank me."

"Uh...hehe, yes, yes..." His eyes flickered, and he seemed a little guilty.

"I just thought that once or twice would be fine, but I can't keep refusing my brother's kindness. If those people who love to gossip behind my back find out, they'll just think that my brother is stingy and won't even give his own sister a little something."

"...How could that be?" Shen Yaozu chuckled dryly. "We are the closest of flesh and blood. If I don't love you, who will I love?"

"Tell me what you like, and I'll buy it for you!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiyin finally gave him a look and smiled, "Then I want the rouge from Pink Butterfly Pavilion."

Upon hearing the words "Pink Butterfly Pavilion," Shen Yaozu's smile vanished.

That's the best rouge shop in the entire capital!

He tentatively asked, "How much silver do you want?"

"Six taels."

"Six taels?!" Shen Yaozu jumped to his feet, exclaiming excitedly, "What kind of lousy rouge costs so much silver? Is it made of gold?"

Shen Qiyin looked completely innocent: "It was my brother who asked me what I liked."

"Then you can't just blurt it out like that!" He felt she was taking advantage of him. "Is that something someone of your status should like?"

"Besides, you know our household situation; how can we afford to squander money like this!"

"I'm not trying to criticize you as your older brother, but you're all grown up now. You should be more mindful of things. Do you expect to continue spending so extravagantly in your husband's family after you get married?"