"One, two, three, blind man's bluff! Once I finish, I'll start catching!"

"Young master, you're cheating..."

The maids, seeing that he was indeed unharmed, quickly put down their tasks and giggled as they scattered and hid.

In a daze, Henry Carter felt as if he had returned to his childhood, blindfolded, lunging here and grabbing there, but always missing by a hair, unable to catch his nimble opponents.

"Over here, over here."

"That way, that way!"

The maids deliberately made mischief, and the room was filled with laughter and chaos.

Finally, Henry Carter managed to catch one.

The laughter abruptly stopped, leaving only Henry Carter's excited shout: "Hahaha, I caught you!"

But then a maid nearby asked in a low, uneasy voice, "Second Master..."

In the Zhao household, the old master Albert Carter was called the Old Master by the servants. Albert Carter had two sons, known as the First Master and the Second Master. Henry Carter was the only son of the Second Master!

If his cheap old man saw this scene of fooling around, wouldn't he be punished by the family rules?

Henry Carter secretly thought this was bad and hurriedly pulled off his blindfold.

He saw that the person he had grabbed by the sleeve was, as expected, a middle-aged man with a scholarly air, whose face resembled his own.

Naturally, this was his father in this life, the Second Master of the Zhao household, the Guozijian student who had failed the exam five times, Edward Carter!

Should he kneel and admit his mistake, or just walk away nonchalantly?

Henry Carter hesitated for a moment.

Just as he was struggling, Edward Carter took the opportunity to hug him tightly, first sighing deeply, then actually beginning to sob in sorrow.

Men do not easily shed tears, unless truly heartbroken.

Seeing Edward Carter actually cry, Henry Carter no longer cared about saving face and hurriedly played the role of the dutiful son.

"Father, don't be angry. I won't fool around anymore."

"To raise but not teach is the father's fault. Even if I were to be angry, I would only be angry at myself, how could I be angry at you?" Edward Carter shook his head, then hugged him even tighter. "Besides, I'm not angry, I'm just sad..."

Henry Carter was being squeezed so tightly he could barely breathe, but didn't dare move, so he could only ask with difficulty, "Sad about what?"

"'After the feast, the beauties disperse; at the head of the Yangtze, the moon hangs half-slant.'” Edward Carter recited a line of poetry in a desolate tone, then said mournfully, "Son, scenes as joyful as this will never happen again."

Henry Carter was stunned, and so were the maids. No one knew what had happened.

At last, Edward Carter let go of Henry Carter, turned to the four bewildered maids, and said, "You all go out to the courtyard. My elder brother has something to say to you."

"Yes..." The maids obediently replied and filed out, closing the door behind them.

Only Henry Carter and Edward Carter were left in the room.

Henry Carter looked at Edward Carter's lost and dejected face, instinctively sensing that something major concerning his own fate had happened.

"What happened?" Henry Carter asked nervously.

"Sigh..."

"Son, as the saying goes, 'How much more so the bond between father and son.' If there were even a sliver of hope, I wouldn't want to affect your mood." Edward Carter sighed deeply, then looked at him apologetically and said:

"But this matter really can't be hidden any longer. I can only tell you the truth. You must brace yourself..."

Chapter Two: So-called Sudden Change of Style

"You must brace yourself..."

Edward Carter placed both hands on Henry Carter's shoulders, looking at him with deep reluctance.

Henry Carter's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but think, 'Could it be that I'm not his biological son?'

His mind was in chaos when suddenly he heard the sound of sobbing from the courtyard outside, both male and female voices, as if they had just received some terrible news.

Fortunately, Edward Carter didn't start quoting classics again, but used the simplest language to let Henry Carter understand the current situation.

"Your grandfather suffered a great misfortune during the capital inspection this time. Now he's being held at the Nanjing Censorate, and it's been three whole days. Your uncle has been pleading everywhere and finally managed to see Lord Guo. Lord Guo told him that if we can repay the one hundred thousand taels of deficit within three days, there might still be a way to cover it up."

Edward Carter was actually a pampered young master himself, never having experienced such upheaval in his life. He was already at a complete loss.

"If we can't repay it, then all is lost..."

"So?" Henry Carter asked blankly, still holding onto a last shred of hope that it wouldn't affect his life too much.

"So, your uncle took charge and sold off the family property—our fields and this house have all been sold. He also included all the valuables at their appraised value, but even so, there's still a deficit of fifty thousand taels that can't be filled..."

"So you're saying..." Henry Carter's mouth went dry as he pointed at the valuable furnishings in the room. "All of these, none of them are ours anymore?"

"That's right, none of them. In five days, we'll have to leave with nothing, and all the servants will be dismissed as well." Edward Carter finished, unable to help but sigh in pain, "The flowing water and falling flowers mark the end of spring, in heaven and on earth..." He turned away in sorrow, not wanting his son to see him looking so bereft.

Henry Carter stood there in a daze. What kind of plot twist was this?

He wished he could bang his head on a pillar and travel back.

...

By afternoon, the warm sunlight was shining in the Zhao family's back garden.