Recaps

Xiao Yuan arrived in Jing'an Prefecture and discovered that Zhou Yan had concealed a murder investigation involving Zhu Huaizhang. While Xiao Yuan kept Zhou Yan under watch, Zhu Huaizhang and Li Xiao caught Fang Rui helping smuggle Five Minerals Powder and persuaded him to testify.

• Zhou Yan learned that Lu Chi had arrived, then recognized Xiao Yuan as the Crown Prince and hastily paid his respects.
• Xiao Yuan learned that Yao Dahai and Madam Yao had come seeking Zhu Huaizhang, questioned Zhou Yan about the murder, and ordered the Provincial Surveillance Commission summoned.
• Xiao Yuan kept Zhou Yan beside him while the Yao couple waited for Zhu Huaizhang, preventing Zhou Yan from warning Fang Rui.
• Zhu Huaizhang, Li Xiao, and Fang Rui watched men load Five Minerals Powder onto a carriage, and Li Xiao held Fang Rui at knifepoint after the shipment left.
• Zhu Huaizhang offered to spare Fang Rui the death penalty if he helped expose the smugglers, and Fang Rui agreed to testify.

Zhu Huaizhang took charge of Yao Yuniang’s disappearance case after the crown prince ordered him to hear it, and his investigation exposed Zhou Yan’s fabricated confession against Jiang Wancheng. He cleared Jiang Wancheng and Anzhi Hall, while Zhou Yan realized the case had left him in serious trouble.

• Yao Dahai petitioned Zhu Huaizhang to investigate his daughter Yao Yuniang’s disappearance, and Xiao Yuan assigned Zhu Huaizhang to hear the case.
• Zhu Huaizhang summoned the Cloud Brocade Workshop’s staff and ordered Bai Yunjin’s coffin opened for examination.
• The coroner found that Bai Yunjin had been strangled with embroidery thread, not poisoned with sour jujube seeds.
• Jiang Wancheng told the court that Zhou Yan had tortured him and forced him to confess, prompting Zhu Huaizhang to challenge Zhou Yan.
• Zhu Huaizhang released Jiang Wancheng, declared him innocent, and ordered compensation for him and Anzhi Hall.
• Xiao Yuan’s cold gaze left Zhou Yan convinced that he was finished.

Zhu Huaizhang questioned Song Laifu about Yao Yuniang and Bai Yunjin’s murder, while evidence from Bai Yunjin’s study implicated the embroiderers and powerful officials. Jin Shanyao revealed the past through a plant-memory mirage, exposing He Liangzhong’s role in the events surrounding Yao Yuniang.

• Zhu Huaizhang questioned Song Laifu, who confessed to killing Bai Yunjin to avenge Yao Yuniang.
• Li Xiao brought Zhu Huaizhang records from Bai Yunjin’s study detailing the embroiderers’ suffering and the officials who visited the workshop.
• Xiao Yuan asked Jin Shanyao to demonstrate her abilities, and she used Spiritual Power to reveal memories from plants at the Cloud Brocade Workshop.
• The mirage showed Yao Yuniang discovering Bai Yunjin and He Liangzhong discussing Five Minerals Powder before Bai seized her.
• He Liangzhong accused Jin Shanyao of sorcery, but Zhu Huaizhang challenged him with evidence that someone had brought Five Minerals Powder into the country under his name.

The court convicted the Bai Household and implicated officials after Xiao Yuan revealed the Cloud Brocade Workshop’s crimes, while declaring the embroiderers innocent. Jin Shanyao promised to summon the dead for Yao Yuniang’s parents, offered the embroiderers a cure and a fresh start, and gave them treated ginkgo nuts to ease their addiction.

• Xiao Yuan showed the court evidence of the abuse and murders at the Cloud Brocade Workshop, including Zhou Yan and Bai Yunduan’s plot to seize the Meng Household’s property.
• Zhu Huaizhang declared the embroiderers innocent, sentenced the Bai Household, and ordered the implicated officials imprisoned and tried.
• Qiuju led the embroiderers in thanking Zhu Huaizhang and Xiao Yuan, while Madam Yao begged Jin Shanyao to let her see Yao Yuniang once more.
• Jin Shanyao promised to summon Yao Yuniang, Xiaju, and Chunju at the workshop that night, and told the embroiderers she could cure their addiction and take them to her estate in Qingzhou Prefecture.
• Qiuju chose for the embroiderers to build lives of their own, and Jin Shanyao gave them treated ginkgo nuts that eased their discomfort.

Jin Shanyao healed Jiang Wancheng and helped him prepare to confront Zhou Yan, then brought Meng Anzhi and the children to the Cloud Brocade Workshop to bid farewell to the three ghosts. She gave Xiaju, Chunju, and Yao Yuniang temporary solid bodies so they could reunite with their loved ones, and Yao Yuniang tearfully embraced her parents.

• Jin Shanyao treated Jiang Wancheng's broken fingers with ginkgo leaf powder and Spiritual Power, then urged him to strike back at Zhou Yan in jail.
• Jin Shanyao gave Meng Anzhi the compensation money and took the children to an inn, where Meng Anci admired her and considered borrowing the Cloud Brocade Workshop's workflow for Anzhi Hall.
• Yao Dahai, Madam Yao, Qiuju, Laifu, and others gathered outside the Cloud Brocade Workshop with spirit money to see Xiaju, Chunju, and Yao Yuniang off.
• Jin Shanyao entered the workshop's back courtyard, summoned the three vengeful ghosts, and told them that Qiuju and the other embroiderers had killed Bai Yunjin.
• Jin Shanyao gave the ghosts temporary solid bodies and opened the barrier so they could say goodbye to their loved ones.
• Yao Yuniang reunited with her parents, and Madam Yao rushed to embrace her while Laifu watched and wept.

Jin Shanyao helped the ghosts of Yao Yuniang, Chunju, and Xiaju arrange ways to accumulate Merit and then took Jiang Wancheng’s grandson to beat Zhou Yan in jail. After the Ministry of Justice took over the case, she returned to Qingzhou Prefecture, where Qing He and the others welcomed her home.

• Jin Shanyao explained that the three ghosts could be reborn by accumulating Merit through their families’ good deeds or their own, and Chunju visited her mother in a dream.
• Jin Shanyao brought Jiang Wancheng’s grandson to jail, where he beat Zhou Yan while she restrained him and paid the guards to keep quiet.
• Three days later, Jin Shanyao left with Zhu Huaizhang after he completed the handover to the Ministry of Justice, and Lu Chi stopped them to say goodbye.
• Jin Shanyao returned to Qingzhou Prefecture with Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, then got Qing He to open Anzhi Hall’s gate by calling out that she was selling tofu.
• Qing Yang and Zhou Xiaosi welcomed Jin Shanyao back, and she told them the case was settled and the people who framed them were in jail.

After returning to Anzhi Hall, Meng Anzhi treated Old Kong for acid regurgitation and reviewed the shop accounts with Lin Mo. Later, Shiyan and Zhao Zhiyuan visited to borrow books, but Shiyan postponed speaking with Meng Anzhi and stayed to copy Meng Anci’s essay.

• Madam Jiang visited Jin Shanyao and thanked her for warning her about the Cloud Brocade Workshop.
• Old Kong came to Anzhi Hall with Kong Xiaobao, and Meng Anzhi diagnosed his acid regurgitation and prescribed medicine.
• Meng Anzhi checked Old Kong’s pulse diagnosis with Zhou Xiaosi and told him to memorize the prescription.
• Lin Mo brought Meng Anzhi an account book, and they reviewed the accounts together.
• Meng Anci returned with Shiyan and Zhao Zhiyuan, who borrowed books from the study.
• Shiyan decided to copy Meng Anci’s essay and put off talking with Meng Anzhi while Zhao Zhiyuan waited nearby.

Meng Anci discovered Zhao Zhiyuan had secretly altered his chessboard, while the academy prepared for more frequent examinations. At Anzhi Hall, Jin Shanyao teased Constable Wang with riddles and told an exhausted Meng Anzhi to rest briefly before returning to her lessons.

• Meng Anzhi noticed the chessboard had changed, and Meng Anci realized Zhao Zhiyuan had secretly moved the black pieces.
• Zhao Zhiyuan ground ink for Meng Anci at the academy, where Master Li announced the provincial examination would take place in the eighth month of the following year and academy examinations would be held every two months.
• Constable Wang told Jin Shanyao that those implicated in the Cloud Brocade Workshop case had been punished, with the Bai Household's men executed and its women exiled to make salt.
• Jin Shanyao challenged Constable Wang and Meng Anzhi with riddles, then asked Meng Anzhi whether her lessons tired her.
• Jin Shanyao told Meng Anzhi to rest a while and get back to work, then ordered Qing He to prepare pig brains and candied walnuts.

Wu Shaoyang married Miao Shuihua, and the couple prepared to leave the Wu household and live near the river. The next month, Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi inspected Anzhi Hall’s herb harvest and its work on Crescent Moon Mountain.

• Wu Shaoyang and Miao Shuihua held their wedding, and Miao Shuihua reminded him to greet Jin Shanyao and see if she needed help.
• Guests gossiped that the couple would move into a riverside residence after separating from the Wu family, though their children would keep the Wu surname.
• Xiao Huzi gave Meng Anci two candies after getting firecracker soot on his face.
• In the tenth month, Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi traveled between mountains to oversee Anzhi Hall’s medicinal herb harvest.
• Meng Anzhi reassured Fan Er about his work on Crescent Moon Mountain and reminded him to limit work hours and make sure the workers boiled river water.

Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao finished selling the household’s medicinal herbs and counted the year’s profits as the New Year approached. The chapter ended with the family decorating their home for the holiday.

• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi met Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan near the fields, and Meng Anzhi invited Zhao Zhiyuan onto their ox cart.
• Meng Anzhi told Zhao Zhiyuan she had solved their unfinished Go game and suggested they play together sometime, but Shiyan and Meng Anci sat between them on the cart.
• Anzhi Hall sold its dried medicinal herbs after the Cloud Brocade Workshop case brought the shop widespread attention, and Meng Anzhi learned the household had made fifteen thousand taels in net profit.
• Jin Shanyao, Qing He, Meng Anzhi, and Meng Anci prepared for the New Year by putting up door gods and paper-cut decorations.

Meng Anzhi treated Old Kong after he was found freezing at his wife’s grave with a dumpling in hand. Jin Shanyao accidentally broke Shopkeeper Wang’s ice lantern, then carved two lotus lanterns to replace it and sell him another.

• Kong Dongsheng brought his frostbitten father, Old Kong, to Anzhi Hall after finding him at his mother’s grave clutching a dumpling.
• Meng Anzhi treated Old Kong, who woke confused and failed to recognize Kong Dongsheng.
• Jin Shanyao accidentally split Shopkeeper Wang’s ice lantern while trying to help him make a new one.
• Jin Shanyao and the Anzhi Hall household froze blocks of water, but she broke several before learning to carve the ice carefully.
• Jin Shanyao carved a lotus lantern and brought it to Shopkeeper Wang, who paid her for another.
• Jin Shanyao had Zhou Xiaosi bring out a second identical lantern and returned to Anzhi Hall.

Wang Xiaohua visited her parents and Anzhi Hall, where she complained to Meng Anzhi about her husband’s family and worried about her unborn son’s future. Jin Shanyao reminded Meng Anzhi that Xiaohua’s life might not feel bitter to her, and Meng Anzhi was left tasting the bitterness of a walnut partition.

• Shopkeeper Wang welcomed Wang Xiaohua, who brought candied fruit and braised meat to her parents for the Lantern Festival.
• Meng Anzhi and Zhou Xiaosi examined a patient, and Meng Anzhi approved Zhou Xiaosi’s prescription with an added ingredient.
• Wang Xiaohua told Meng Anzhi that her father-in-law favored his new wife and that she feared her son might lose out in the family inheritance.
• Meng Anzhi gave Wang Xiaohua walnuts and worried that her friend had become burdened by constant calculations about family life.
• Jin Shanyao told Meng Anzhi that Wang Xiaohua and her husband loved each other and that she should not assume Xiaohua saw her life as bitter.
• Meng Anzhi tasted a walnut partition, realized its bitterness, and carried the walnut shells to the back courtyard.

Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to see the lanterns and fireworks, where they discovered Fan Er trying to reconcile with Du Hongdou. The next morning, Fan Er asked Jin Shanyao to let him buy his freedom so he could marry Du Hongdou.

• Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to see the ice lanterns and buy fireworks for the festival.
• Jin Shanyao and the children overheard Du Hongdou reject Fan Er because he was bound by a twenty-year indenture.
• Fan Er told Du Hongdou he had enough money to buy his freedom, and she agreed to wait while he sought her parents’ approval for their marriage.
• Fan Er came to Anzhi Hall before dawn and asked Jin Shanyao to let him buy his freedom so he could marry Du Hongdou.

Jin Shanyao helped Fan Er change his status from servant to commoner and gave him the money he had saved for his freedom as a wedding gift. Fan Er went to ask Hongdou’s parents for her hand, and Hongdou’s mother began questioning whether he could provide for her.

• Jin Shanyao took Fan Er to the prefectural office, where Zhu Huaizhang registered him as a commoner.
• Jin Shanyao waived Fan Er’s freedom price, gave him the money as a wedding gift, and asked him to keep the gift secret.
• Jin Shanyao told Meng Anzhi she trusted Fan Er and asked her to prepare a wedding gift for him and Hongdou.
• Fan Er showed Hongdou’s parents his commoner registration, and they let him into the Du Household to discuss marriage.
• Hongdou’s mother asked Fan Er about his family, housing, and work, then urged him to demand a commoner’s wage from Anzhi Hall.

Fan Er secured Hongdou’s father’s approval by agreeing to buy a house, then prepared to formally propose with Jin Shanyao’s help. The chapter ended with Jin Shanyao and Fan Er arriving at the Du family home, where Hongdou’s father’s five sons gathered to inspect their future brother-in-law.

• Hongdou’s father agreed to Fan Er marrying Hongdou if Fan Er bought a house and promised to treat her well.
• Fan Er gave Hongdou his household registration, and she learned that her father had approved the match.
• Fan Er bought a house with Hongdou and her family, and the Du family agreed to let him propose.
• Jin Shanyao studied marriage customs, prepared betrothal gifts, and dressed as a high-ranking matchmaker.
• Jin Shanyao and Fan Er brought the gifts, including a live rooster, to the Du family home for the proposal.
• Hongdou’s father introduced his five sons, who had gathered to see their future brother-in-law, leaving Jin Shanyao awkwardly wondering if they were showing force.

Jin Shanyao proposed to Hongdou on Fan Er’s behalf and, mistaking the Du Household’s gathering for a challenge, crushed stones to prove her strength. The families agreed to the marriage, which was set for two months later, and Fan Er prepared to fetch the bride.

• Jin Shanyao brought Fan Er and the betrothal gifts to the Du Household and formally proposed to Hongdou.
• Hongdou’s parents agreed to the marriage without discussing birth dates or Fan Er’s family means.
• Jin Shanyao misread the Du brothers and children gathered outside as a challenge and crushed several stones in front of them.
• The Du Household accepted the betrothal gifts, and Fan Er’s wedding to Hongdou was scheduled for two months later.
• Hongdou’s eldest and second brothers warned Fan Er to treat her well, and he promised to welcome her home whenever she wished.
• Jin Shanyao arranged for everyone from Anzhi Hall and two dogs to attend Fan Er’s wedding and support the groom’s side.

Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi rushed to help Wang Xiaohua after she went into labor early while saving Madam Lu from falling into a well. They delivered a healthy boy and left Wang Xiaohua recovering, while Madam Lu apologized for causing the emergency.

• Jin Shanyao sold talismans at Anzhi Hall until Shopkeeper Wang arrived to report that Wang Xiaohua had gone into labor.
• Shopkeeper Wang explained that Wang Xiaohua had strained herself saving Madam Lu from falling into a well, and that the frightened midwife had refused to deliver the baby.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi hurried to the Lu home, where Jin Shanyao examined Wang Xiaohua and gave her a ginseng pill.
• Jin Shanyao delivered Wang Xiaohua's baby, and she announced that both mother and child were safe and the baby was a healthy boy.
• Wang Xiaohua held her son and told Madam Lu she did not blame her, while Madam Lu left the room to pay the consultation fee.

After helping Xiaohua survive childbirth, Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi brought a confused Old Kong home, where he became convinced the bandit had given him children and grandchildren. At Green Mountain Academy, Zhao Boyong, Shiyan, Meng Anci, and Zhao Zhiyuan continued preparing for the examinations in their own ways.

• Jin Shanyao collected a tael from Madam Lu for delivering Xiaohua, while Shopkeeper Wang thanked her and promised her an ice lantern.
• Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao found Old Kong wandering, and Jin Shanyao carried him home while he wailed about his dead wife Xing'er and his imagined family with a woman bandit.
• At the Kong home, Old Kong mistook Kong Xiaobao for his grandson and lamented that he and the bandit already had children and grandchildren.
• Jin Shanyao returned to Anzhi Hall to draw talismans as the academy and provincial examinations approached.
• At Green Mountain Academy, Zhao Boyong rationed his heart medicine, Shiyan fretted over studying, and Zhao Zhiyuan assembled a Luban ball while reading.

Meng Anci left for the provincial examination with Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi’s encouragement, while Shiyan and Zhao Zhiyuan also entered the exam compound. Back at Anzhi Hall, Jin Shanyao heard news about Xiao Huzi and watched Meng Anzhi examine Zhao Zhiyuan’s Luban ball before an unfamiliar person asked whether the shop was hiring a shopkeeper.

• Jin Shanyao prepared Meng Anci’s luggage and took him to the examination compound, where Meng Anzhi encouraged him and he met Shiyan and Zhao Zhiyuan.
• Shiyan gave Zhao Zhiyuan’s Luban ball to Meng Anzhi to hold, and the three young men entered the examination compound.
• Meng Anci received a quiet seat, began answering the examination questions, and was noticed by an invigilator who saw Su Wenqian on his documents.
• At Anzhi Hall, Jin Shanyao saw Kong Xiaobao coaxing Old Kong away from the rouge shop and learned that Old Kong had been looking for his deceased wife.
• Shopkeeper Wang told Jin Shanyao that Xiao Huzi had passed the child scholar exam and credited Meng Anci’s tutoring; Jin Shanyao found Meng Anzhi studying Zhao Zhiyuan’s Luban ball.
• An unknown person entered Anzhi Hall and asked whether the shop was hiring a shopkeeper.

Jin Shanyao tested Shen Huaiyu’s medicinal knowledge and hired her on a trial basis, then worried with Meng Anzhi about Meng Anci during his examination. At the examination compound, Kong Xiaobao summoned Jin Shanyao to stop Old Kong from hanging himself.

• Shen Huaiyu introduced herself as a former chief shopkeeper and demonstrated her knowledge of herbs and pulse-taking.
• Jin Shanyao offered Shen Huaiyu a one-month trial at Anzhi Hall for ten taels of silver a month.
• Meng Anzhi worried about Meng Anci’s examination and fell asleep beside Jin Shanyao.
• Jin Shanyao checked on Meng Anci with her Spiritual Power and found him answering his examination questions without trouble.
• Kong Xiaobao rushed Jin Shanyao to the Kong Household, where Old Kong stood on a chair with a rope around his neck.

Jin Shanyao stopped Old Kong from hanging himself and reminded him that his wife Xing'er was dead and she was not a bandit. After Meng Anci returned from the provincial examination, he recovered from the ordeal, and the chapter ended with him meeting Shiyan's young cousin Ruan Xingmian.

• Old Kong accused Jin Shanyao of hiding Xing'er and tried to hang himself, but Jin Shanyao pulled away his stool and frightened him into stopping.
• Jin Shanyao told Old Kong that Xing'er had been dead for seven or eight years and that she was not a bandit, then asked Kong Dongsheng to fetch medicine to calm his nerves.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi met Meng Anci, Shiyan, and Zhao Zhiyuan as they left the provincial examination, and Meng Anci went home to rest.
• After recovering, Meng Anci picked up a Luban ball from Meng Anzhi's desk and said he would take it to Zhao Zhiyuan.
• Jin Shanyao took Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi toward Hat Mountain, where they encountered Shiyan with his cousin Ruan Xingmian; Meng Anci smiled at her before Shiyan took her home.

Jin Shanyao, Meng Anzhi, and Meng Anci shared a picnic with Xie Chao and Monkey Treasure on Hat Mountain, where Meng Anci revealed his teacher expected him to place in the provincial examination’s top fifty. When the results were posted, Meng Anci passed in fifth place and became a juren, though he was unsettled to rank below Zhao Zhiyuan.

• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anci brought food to Hat Mountain, where Monkey Treasure presented mushrooms she had picked and Xie Chao joined them.
• Xie Chao asked Meng Anci about the provincial examination, and Meng Anci said his teacher expected him to place in the top fifty.
• Jin Shanyao told Xie Chao that she and the siblings might leave early for the capital if Meng Anci passed, and Xie Chao hid his sadness at their possible departure.
• Xie Chao mistakenly thought Jin Shanyao had remembered his fondness for lamb tripe, then learned Qing He had prepared the hotpot ingredients.
• On the thirteenth day of the ninth month, the results named Wu Zhiyu first, Bao Qingshan second, Tan Ping'an third, Zhao Zhiyuan fourth, and Meng Anci fifth.
• Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao congratulated Meng Anci on becoming a juren, while he resolved to study the top candidates' examination papers to learn why he ranked below Zhao Zhiyuan.

Meng Anci collected his examination paper and met the top candidates, while Shiyan learned he had narrowly failed the provincial examination. At home, he argued with Madam Shi about staying with Zhao Zhiyuan and Meng Anci, and she forbade him from pursuing Meng Anzhi.

• Meng Anci asked Wu Zhiyu to show him his paper, but Wu refused, while Zhao Zhiyuan shared his paper and teased Meng Anci about placing higher than him.
• Shiyan returned home after placing fifty-seventh and told Madam Shi and Ruan Xingmian that he had failed because the prefecture accepted only fifty candidates.
• Madam Shi tried to console Shiyan, but he worried that Zhao Zhiyuan and Meng Anci would leave for the metropolitan examination and proposed staying with them.
• Shiyan defended his friends' support and their connection to the Shi Household Escort Agency, angering Madam Shi, who accused him of following them like a puppy.
• Madam Shi demanded to know whether Shiyan wanted to stay for his classmates or for Meng Anzhi, then forbade him from marrying her.
• Ruan Xingmian accidentally spilled tremella soup while trying to comfort Shiyan, and he reassured her before sitting alone with his thoughts.

Anzhi Hall celebrated Meng Anci passing the provincial examination, while Xiao Huzi visited to share his own county examination success. When Landlord Tian offered Meng Anci silver, Jin Shanyao threw him out, and Meng Anci vowed he would never accept bribes.

• Qing He and Nanny Chen prepared a feast at Anzhi Hall to celebrate Meng Anci becoming a juren, and Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi offered incense to their parents.
• Xiao Huzi visited Jin Shanyao to announce he was the only student at his school to pass the county examination, then ran to see Meng Anci.
• Wang Jinlian brought cotton cloth for Meng Anci's warm clothes and thanked him for tutoring Xiao Huzi.
• Landlord Tian visited Meng Anci and offered him two hundred taels of silver, but Jin Shanyao dragged him outside and threw him into the street.
• Meng Anci politely refused the silver and declared he would never accept or take bribes, while Landlord Tian left in embarrassment.

Meng Anci’s refusal to accept gifts impressed Zhu Huaizhang, while Jin Shanyao tried to recruit him for a dubious night-watch job. After visiting Old Kong, Meng Anzhi was startled when Shiyan confessed his love and proposed marriage, and she told him she did not like him.

• Jin Shanyao confiscated Zhu Huaizhang’s money pouch before letting him meet Meng Anci, and their conduct discouraged people from bringing gifts to Meng Anci.
• Zhu Huaizhang praised Meng Anci’s integrity and urged him to stay true to his principles, then rejected Jin Shanyao’s offer to pay him to guard her estate at night.
• Meng Anzhi visited Old Kong, checked his pulse, and advised Kong Xiaobao’s family to let him eat what he wanted.
• Shiyan nervously proposed to Meng Anzhi and promised to work hard and provide for her.
• Meng Anzhi helped Shiyan calm down and told him plainly that she did not like him.