He squinted, following the koi with his gaze, and spotted the Fourth Miss sitting in a pavilion on the opposite side, with her maid standing behind her.
The pavilion was built by the water's edge. The Fourth Miss leaned against the railing, holding a bag of fish food, looking down at the fish scrambling and fighting below. Seeming to sense his gaze, she looked over. When she saw it was Lu Shuo, a hint of surprise appeared on her face.
All the chaotic thoughts suddenly receded like a tide. The two looked at each other across the pond. After a long silence, Lu Shuo took a deep breath and said, "I didn't know the Fourth Miss was here. Sorry for disturbing you. I... I'll be going now."
With that, he turned to go back the way he came.
Perhaps he shouldn't have come to the back garden to relax. The Fourth Miss didn't like him; it would be better for him to be tactful and not cause anyone displeasure.
But just as he turned around, he heard a rustling sound behind him. When he looked back, he saw that the Fourth Miss had accidentally spilled most of the fish food from her hand, causing the koi in the pond to scramble even more frantically.
She seemed a little helpless, put away the bag, and handed it to her maid.
Then she made a gesture, and the maid nodded, leaning out slightly, and called out to Lu Shuo, "Young Master Lu, since you're here, why not come up and sit for a while?"
Lu Shuo pressed his lips together, uncertain of their intentions, but he did as he was told.
Helan Pei sat in the pavilion, watching Lu Shuo's figure as he rounded half the pond and walked up the stone steps.
She had woken up from her nap with nothing to do and no desire to read, so she had come to the garden to sit and look at the koi in the pond.
These koi had been raised for several years, all plump and lush, swimming gracefully in the water. Whenever she was bored, she would come here and stare blankly at them.
She hadn't expected Lu Shuo to come too.
If he came, he came; but why did he turn around and leave as if she were some tyrant who wouldn't allow others to set foot here?
She was a bit displeased.
It was one thing for her not to like interacting with others, but it was another thing entirely for others to treat her differently.
Moreover, seeing how he kept his distance from her, it seemed unlikely that they would have much rapport during their lessons. That would defeat the purpose of her parents' intention for them to study together.
That wouldn't do. If her parents saw that they had a lukewarm or even cold relationship, they would start to worry again.
So Helan Pei had Zisu call him up.
Lu Shuo entered the pavilion, stood before her, and looked at her with a mixture of confusion and restraint. "Miss, you wanted to see me..."
Just as he started speaking, he saw Zisu take out a piece of white paper and a charcoal pencil from her cloth bag and place them on the stone table.
The second half of his sentence got stuck in his throat. He was somewhat shocked as he stared at the charcoal pencil. He had never seen such an exquisite charcoal pencil before: slender and long, unlike the thick, clumsy ones; it was encased in a beautiful hard shell, looking almost like a brush except for the exposed tip of the charcoal.
Seeing him staring at the pencil, Zisu explained, "Grinding ink outdoors is too troublesome, so it's easier to bring a charcoal pencil. If the miss needs to say something, she can write it down anytime, anywhere."
"That is indeed much more convenient," Lu Shuo said dryly, withdrawing his gaze, and finishing his earlier sentence, "Miss, is there something you want?"
Helan Pei thought, since she didn't want to disappoint her parents and needed to show results of her social interactions, she ought to chat with Lu Shuo. It was hard to do during class, but now was a good time.
She gestured for Lu Shuo to sit down, moved from the railing to a stone stool herself, picked up the charcoal pencil, and quickly wrote a line on the paper.
Lu Shuo's eyes swept over the handwriting, and his face reddened.
The Fourth Miss's handwriting was truly neat and elegant, with even strokes, consistent thickness and lightness. At first glance, it looked like it was printed in a book. And she wrote so beautifully with a charcoal pencil; with a brush, it must be even more exquisite.
No wonder she had laughed at his writing. In comparison, his scribbles were not even writing—they were ghostly scrawls.
Seeing Lu Shuo not respond, Helan Pei frowned and looked at Zisu.
Zisu recited, "The miss asks: 'Why didn't you go out to play with the brothers?'"
Lu Shuo: "..."
He had actually understood part of what Helan Pei wrote, but he hadn't dared to confirm his guess. Now that Zisu had read it out, he was sure and replied, "Class starts tomorrow; I wanted to review the book a bit longer."
Helan Pei wrote again, and Zisu read: "Then why did you come here?"
Lu Shuo picked at his fingernails and said softly, "Tianqing went to buy new books for me and hasn't returned yet. I... I went out for a walk. When he comes back, I'll go back to studying."
Helan Pei thought for a moment, then continued writing.
Zisu read: "Do you know how to play Chupu... Miss, you're asking someone to play Chupu again!"
Helan Pei looked up and gave Zisu an innocent smile.
Lu Shuo asked blankly, "What is Chupu?"
Zisu replied, "It's a game similar to chess, but a bit complicated to play..."
Chupu was a game of chance; some people gambled with it, but the miss didn't gamble—she just played for fun. The rules were that each side had five throwing sticks, and based on different combinations of results, they would move their pieces along a board. There were also rules for capturing, jumping, and stacking pieces. The first to reach the end won.
Helan Pei had taken a liking to this game over the past year. In her spare time from studying, she had pulled everyone in the family to play with her. Unfortunately, her brothers were usually at the Imperial Academy, and her parents, being adults, always had various important matters to attend to. The only ones who could regularly play with her were the maids around her.
But the maids would get bored after losing too many times and didn't want to play anymore. Helan Pei didn't want to force them, so she held back, only finding someone to play with once every ten days or half a month.
Now, looking at Lu Shuo, she suddenly realized that he could become her new playmate—wasn't that exactly what her parents intended!
A faint smile curved at the corners of her mouth. She blinked, and her dark eyes reflected little specks of light.
Lu Shuo had never been looked at with such an expression before. He was at a loss. "I... I don't know how..."
Helan Pei immediately tugged at Zisu's sleeve.
Zisu cleared her throat. "This servant can teach you right now."
At this point, what else could Lu Shuo do?
He didn't know why the Fourth Miss, who had previously looked down on him, now suddenly wanted to play a game with him. But since she had expressed that intention, he couldn't refuse.
He couldn't afford to offend her, and not even her maid.
Lu Shuo had to say, "Then I'll give it a try."
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