Chen Caozhi and his two servants spent the night at the Lu Clan villa in Huating and set out for home early on the twenty-fourth day of the fourth month. As the ox cart passed through the Lu Clan Estate's enormous wooden gate, Chen Caozhi looked back. At the very summit of Plum Ridge, he could faintly make out a figure in plain white, like an unfading white magnolia whose fragrance seemed to penetrate ever more deeply the farther he went.
Ran Sheng had exceptional eyesight and could see farther than most people. Sitting on the cart shaft, he followed Chen Caozhi's gaze. The thirteen-year-old seemed lost in thought. Only after they had left the Lu Clan villa far behind and Plum Ridge had disappeared from view did he ask, "Young master, do you like the Little Lady of the Lu Clan?"
Chen Caozhi raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes slightly. "What makes you say that?"
"You can tell," Ran Sheng said. "The Little Lady of the Lu Clan likes you too. Didn't she climb the hill so early just so she could watch Master Chen go farther?"
Lai De thought nothing of it. "That's nothing unusual. Aren't there plenty of young ladies in Wu Commandery who like our young master? They gave him dozens of sachets—the whole carriage smells sweet. We haven't finished the eggs they gave us even after three days. Xiao Sheng ate more than twenty yesterday, and I ate over ten myself."
Chen Caozhi laughed and warned them, "You mustn't tell anyone about the Little Lady of the Lu Clan, not even when we're back at Chen Family Cove. Do you hear?"
Lai De answered yes. Once he promised not to speak, he would not say a word even if he were beaten to death.