The lively and bustling Su Residence literary gathering did not come to an end until the sun had set in the west. Since there were more elders than young people, many guests, feeling tired, took their leave one after another. Only Thomas Miller was still full of energy, persistently sticking to Edward Clark and refusing to let go, and he never stopped talking about his own field, clearly still brooding over the Baimi Banquet.

It took quite some effort to deal with these overly enthusiastic literati from all sides. Edward Clark immediately greeted Samuel Adams, then hurriedly slipped away. This time, he had gained a lot from the gathering. Besides the warm invitation from Robert King, the calligraphy enthusiast David Morris also extended an invitation. The others, impressed by his poem "Dian Jiang Chun," all looked at him with new eyes. It could be said that a single poem had brought him great success.

However, when he returned home, he was startled to find an unexpected guest in his courtyard. There sat the chubby, big-eared Benjamin Harris on a stone bench in the grass hall. As soon as he entered, Benjamin Harris took the initiative to greet him, still wearing a fake smile.

“Erlang, you’re finally back. I’ve been waiting for you for half an hour. Your wife is really something—she didn’t even offer me a cup of tea and just left me here all alone.”

Edward Clark felt a bit more at ease. For some reason, he didn’t want this petty man to know about his connections with Samuel Adams and the others, so he was quite pleased with his wife’s actions. He quietly glanced at the tightly closed door and said lightly, “Mr. Harris, my wife has always disliked me getting into trouble outside, so she doesn’t care much for cuju games either. It’s normal for her to give you the cold shoulder. But it’s rather strange for you, Mr. Harris, to honor my humble home with your presence. As I see it, a mere ten strings of cash shouldn’t require your personal attention, should it?”

There was not the slightest change in Benjamin Harris’s expression. Instead, he smiled even more warmly, took out a hefty silver ingot from his robe, and placed it lightly on the stone table, then put on a mysterious air. Edward Clark glanced at it casually, knowing full well that it weighed far more than ten taels, which made him even more suspicious.

“Mr. Harris, what is the meaning of this?”

“Erlang, why pretend you don’t know? Naturally, I still have need of your help. This is just a deposit. If you can help me win this time, I’ll reward you with a hundred taels of silver. How about it?”

A hundred taels! Edward Clark’s eyelid twitched, and the lingering suspicion in his heart deepened. Wasn’t Benjamin Harris the owner of Qingfeng Restaurant? Even if he was good at skimming off the top, a hundred taels of silver was no small sum—how could he so easily promise such a reward?

“Mr. Harris, if you don’t make your intentions clear, I can only return this money to you.”

Benjamin Harris cursed inwardly. He never expected that Edward Clark, who was always so money-minded, would actually change his ways and ignore the profit right in front of him. This ruined his original plan. Thinking of the threats delivered by Henry Parker’s men a few days ago, he felt a chill in his heart and had no choice but to plead, “Erlang, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you the truth. It’s that Henry Parker is up to his tricks again. He insists on another match, so I had to go to Daniel Green, and Charles Baker and the others said it wouldn’t work without you, so…”

“How about this—I’ll think it over and give you an answer in a few days.”

Hearing this cold response, Benjamin Harris panicked even more, bowing and making promises, but it was all to no avail. In the end, Edward Clark grew impatient and pushed the silver back: “Sorry, Mr. Harris, the four strings of reward money from last time have already been settled. I didn’t do more than the others, so I’d feel guilty taking your silver. You’d better take it back. As for the next match, I can’t say for sure if I’ll be free, so I can’t give you a definite answer.”

“You…” A flash of menace appeared in Benjamin Harris’s eyes, and his true colors finally showed. “Andrew Clark, don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! If you want to play dumb with me, you’d better practice for another two years! Let me make myself clear: if you don’t show up when the time comes, don’t blame me for turning hostile!” With a heavy snort, he grabbed the silver and stormed off.

“Such a cowardly bully!” Edward Clark turned away in disdain, only to see Emily standing pale-faced at the doorway, her clothes a bit thin. Seeing this, he hurried over, pushed his wife into the room, closed the door behind them, and complained, “Why aren’t you wearing a coat in this weather? What if you catch cold?”

“Frank, did I cause you trouble by leaving that man outside just now?” Emily had only heard Benjamin Harris’s last two sentences and was naturally frightened. “I thought…”

“You did very well. Keep doing that in the future—unwelcome people should be kept outside. If anyone dares to lay a hand on you, just use the moves I taught you last time. Like I said, if anything happens, I’ll take care of it!” Edward Clark sat down at the table with his wife in his arms, then took a cloth bundle from his robe and placed it on the table as if it weighed nothing.

“This is…”