Seeing that Grace had calmed down, Charles Bennett seized the opportunity to continue persuading her for quite a while. Finally, he spoke with a solemn expression: “Grace, people like the Song father and son aren’t worth your sadness. It’s freezing cold—go back to your room and wash your face, don’t catch a cold and get sick. Also, look at how exhausted Auntie has been lately. Now that our debts are almost paid off, spend more time with her, don’t let her wear herself out!”

Hearing Charles Bennett mention her mother, Grace nodded sensibly, then stood up to return to her room. But after taking just two steps, she suddenly stopped, frowned, and said, “Brother, as the saying goes, a gentleman loves wealth but acquires it properly. The Song father and son may be despicable, but you threatened them with the marriage contract to get their IOU. That doesn’t seem like the act of a gentleman. If they spread word of this, it might damage your reputation.”

As Grace said this, a worried look appeared on her face. After all, there is a hierarchy between siblings, and for a younger sister to criticize her elder brother—even with good intentions—could easily earn her a scolding.

But Charles Bennett just smiled and said, “Thank you for the reminder, Grace. I’ll be more careful in the future. But the Song family was already in the wrong for breaking off the engagement, so I doubt they’ll dare to spread it around!”

Hearing how thoroughly Charles Bennett had considered things, Grace felt reassured and turned to her room to freshen up. Watching Grace’s departing figure, Charles Bennett muttered to himself, “Silly girl, reputation can’t be eaten or drunk. Trading it for something real is already a gain. Besides, as long as you have money and power, no matter what your reputation was before, there will always be people eager to whitewash it for you!”

Watching Grace leave, Charles Bennett sighed softly and turned to go back. But to his surprise, as soon as he turned around, he suddenly found a big, chubby face right in front of him. It startled Charles Bennett so much he thought he’d seen a ghost—he reflexively let out a shout and swung his fist.

All that could be heard was a miserable “Ouch!” and then a round, ball-like body rolled away. Only then did Charles Bennett realize that the person behind him was actually the plump and fair Steward Evans, who was now clutching his eye and wailing after being punched.

Seeing this, Charles Bennett hurried forward to help him up, then, a bit exasperated, turned the blame around: “Honestly, Steward Evans, why do you walk so quietly? And why did you get so close to me? Luckily it was me—if it had been someone timid, you’d have scared them to death!”

“Karma, karma! Just now this old servant ran his mouth and told the young lady about the broken engagement, and now I’ve taken a punch from the young master. Truly, there are gods three feet above our heads!” Steward Evans muttered about retribution as he stood up with Charles Bennett’s help.

It took some effort for the talkative Steward Evans to stop his grumbling. Only then did Charles Bennett realize that his punch had been purely instinctive, with no restraint at all. Now Steward Evans’s eye was black and blue, and with his chubby, pale face, he looked comically ridiculous. After asking, Charles Bennett learned that Steward Evans had come looking for him, but he’d been lost in thought and hadn’t responded when called, so Steward Evans had come closer, leading to the misunderstanding.

After hearing Steward Evans’s explanation, Charles Bennett felt a bit embarrassed, but it was just a misunderstanding. Besides, after a closer look, he saw that Steward Evans’s face was thick and fleshy, so the punch hadn’t done any real harm—he’d be fine once the bruise faded in a few days.

Steward Evans blinked a few times, found that his vision wasn’t affected, and then suddenly remembered why he’d come to see Charles Bennett. He anxiously said, “Young master, the last valuable rockery in our house has been sold off to pay debts. Now there’s really nothing of value left at home, and we’re running low on rice and grain. What should we do next?”

Chapter Six: The Problem of Food

Hearing Steward Evans’s words, Charles Bennett couldn’t help but get a headache. People have to eat and drink to live, after all. Now the Zhou family had no income at all, and nothing valuable left in the house. Yet there were still three adults and two children to feed. Aunt Wang was a woman, the housekeeper was old, and as for Grace and Duo’er, there was no need to mention them—so the burden of supporting the family now fell entirely on Charles Bennett’s shoulders.

“How much grain do we have left? Can it last us through the year?” Charles Bennett suddenly asked. As someone from the modern era, Charles Bennett felt confident he could come up with some way to make money, but now that it was already winter, with the cold and snow, it was hard to find any opportunities. He decided to wait until spring to try anything.

“Young master, you may not know, but we did have some grain stored. However, when we dismissed the servants, some of them weren’t honest and stole almost all the grain from the estate. Luckily, this old servant had some savings, which is how we’ve managed until now. But now, even the rice and grain I bought are almost gone. Even if we just drink porridge every meal, I’m afraid we won’t last through the month!” Steward Evans said bitterly. If things weren’t so urgent, he wouldn’t have rushed to Charles Bennett for a solution.