Bai Yanzhou was the one who had caused the trouble and gotten himself caught, yet somehow Guan Zhongjin was expected to explain everything for him.
Guan Zhongjin ran a hand through his already messy hair.
“What is there to explain?” He looked at Shen Mo’an.
“Didn’t my cousin want to see your sister yesterday?” Shen Mo’an said nothing.
“And you wouldn’t let him, right?” “No.” “Then there you have it.” Guan Zhongjin spread his hands.
“You wouldn’t let him see her, so he came over himself.
He only wanted to check on her.
What’s wrong with that?” Shen Mo’an opened his mouth, but for once, nothing came out.
Below them, Shen Qinglan’s eyes brightened.
Finally.
Someone had actually managed to leave her brother speechless.
Her opinion of Guan Zhongjin improved immediately.
Unfortunately for Shen Mo’an, Guan Zhongjin wasn’t finished.
“Besides, this is Bai Manor.” He straightened his robes and suddenly looked far more serious.
“My cousin is the eldest young master of the Bai family.
You’re the guest here, yet you climbed onto someone else’s roof, started fighting the owner’s son, and broke half the tiles in the process.” He looked Shen Mo’an up and down.
“Aren’t you embarrassed?” Shen Mo’an’s face darkened.
Guan Zhongjin considered him for a moment before glancing at Bai Yanzhou.
“Although, to be fair, his face does look rather punchable.” Bai Yanzhou’s expression changed.
Before Guan Zhongjin could react, a foot landed squarely against his backside.
“Ow!” He stumbled forward and barely managed to keep his balance.
Guan Zhongjin spun around.
“You kicked me?!” “You said my face deserved to be punched.” “I’m helping you!” “By encouraging him?” “I didn’t encourage him!
I only said your face looks punchable.” Bai Yanzhou lifted his foot again.
Guan Zhongjin immediately backed away.
“Fine!
It doesn’t.
Your face isn’t punchable at all.
Happy?” Bai Yanzhou lowered his foot.
Guan Zhongjin glared at him.
“We’ll settle this later.” He turned back to Shen Mo’an and continued as though nothing had happened.
“Now, about the important matter.” Shen Mo’an frowned.
“What important matter?” “The roof, obviously.” Shen Mo’an closed his eyes.
Of course it was the roof.
Guan Zhongjin pointed at the damage around them.
“You broke the tiles, so they have to be replaced.
New tiles cost money.
The workers cost money.
Transporting the materials costs money.
Then someone has to supervise the repairs, which also takes time.” He tapped his chest.
“And time is money.” Shen Mo’an already had a bad feeling about where this was going.
“If I send people here to supervise the repairs, they won’t be able to do their usual work.
If they don’t do their work, business gets delayed.
If business gets delayed, customers complain.
Then we’ll have to compensate them, which means losing profit.” Guan Zhongjin was warming to the subject now.
“And once we start losing profit, we’ll have less money to buy goods.
Without enough goods, we’ll have less to sell.
With less to sell, we’ll make even less money, and eventually—” He suddenly clapped his hands together.
The sharp sound made several people jump.
Guan Zhongjin looked Shen Mo’an straight in the eye.
“The Bai family goes bankrupt.” The courtyard went silent.
Even Bai Yanzhou stared at him.
Below, Shen Qinglan covered her mouth, but she couldn’t hide the laughter in her eyes.
A few broken roof tiles had somehow become the beginning of the Bai family’s financial collapse.
Guan Zhongjin, meanwhile, looked completely serious.
He pointed at Shen Mo’an.
“Do you understand now?
You nearly ruined the entire Bai family.” Shen Mo’an stared at him.
Shen Yuxing stared at him.
Bai Yanzhou looked away.
Bai Zhongchuan closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.
He was already tired, and the day had barely begun.
Shen Mo’an knew Guan Zhongjin well enough to understand that arguing would only make things worse.
Once money was involved, Guan Zhongjin could turn a few sentences into a lecture that lasted until lunchtime.
“Fine.
I’ll pay.” Guan Zhongjin stopped immediately.
“For the tiles?” “Yes.” “The workers?” “Yes.” “Transport?” “Yes.” “And—” “I’ll pay for everything!” Shen Mo’an’s voice echoed across the courtyard.
“Is that enough?” Guan Zhongjin finally looked satisfied.
“That’s more like it.” He folded his arms, looking as though he had personally saved the Bai family from bankruptcy.
Bai Yanzhou turned his face away.
At times like this, he preferred to pretend they weren’t related.
Now that the fate of the Bai family’s finances had been secured, Guan Zhongjin finally remembered that the broken roof wasn’t the reason everyone had gathered here in the first place.
“Oh, right.” He gestured toward Bai Yanzhou.
“As for my cousin…” Shen Mo’an immediately looked at him.
“He didn’t do anything serious.
He was worried and wanted to see how badly his fiancée had been hurt.
Did you really need to guard her as though you were keeping out a thief?” No one answered.
Guan Zhongjin waited.
Then he noticed the silence.
The servants had stopped moving.
The maids were staring at him.
Shen Mo’an’s expression had gone completely still.
Even Bai Yanzhou was looking at him differently.
Guan Zhongjin frowned.
What?
Then he remembered exactly what he had just said.
His fiancée.
Ah.
That might have been something Shen Qinglan didn’t know yet.
Guan Zhongjin slowly turned his head.
Bai Yanzhou was staring straight at him.
For once, Guan Zhongjin had nothing to say.
He had made a mistake.
A rather large one.
Below the roof, Shen Qinglan was still staring upward.
Fiancée?
She looked at Bai Yanzhou.
His fiancée…
meant her?
The realization took a moment to settle in.
To everyone’s surprise, she didn’t look upset.
Quite the opposite.
The initial shock quickly faded from her face, and her eyes began to brighten.
Before she even realized it, a smile had appeared on her lips.
Shen Yuxing noticed immediately.
He had expected his daughter to be confused.
She might have been angry that no one had told her, or at the very least demanded an explanation.
Instead, she looked pleased.
Far too pleased.
Shen Yuxing looked at Bai Yanzhou, then back at his daughter.
Why was she smiling like that?
A suspicion slowly formed in his mind.
Surely not.
He studied Shen Qinglan’s expression again.
The girl was still looking at Bai Yanzhou.
Shen Yuxing’s brows drew together.
Did Lan’er already like him?
The thought left him completely confused.
Since when?
And how had he, her own father, failed to notice?
Up on the roof, Guan Zhongjin was beginning to feel increasingly uncomfortable.
He glanced at Shen Qinglan.
Then at Bai Yanzhou.
Then at Shen Mo’an.
Shen Mo’an had gone very quiet.
That was probably the worst sign of all.
Guan Zhongjin took a small step backward.
Perhaps this was a good time to leave before anyone remembered who had let the secret slip.