That afternoon, everyone worked together to place David Grant's body into the makeshift coffin, which was nothing more than a few planks of wood pieced together. They offered a few words of comfort to Ethan Grant, telling him the burial would be held the next day, and then gradually took their leave.

After seeing off the kindhearted villagers, Ethan Grant returned inside, standing in front of David Grant's corpse, lost in thought. After a long while, he suddenly became unusually agitated. “Brother Shan, why, why weren’t you a rich man? If only you were a wealthy and powerful father who could get his son a dozen concubines—how great that would be. At least I could have experienced what it’s like to be a rich second generation. Sigh, looks like I’m just not destined for that. Lived two lifetimes, and in the end, I’m still a pure loser second generation—purer than 99,999 taels of gold.”

“Xiao Yi, what does ‘loser’ mean?”

Accompanied by a pleasant voice, the woman walked out from the inner room.

Ethan Grant glanced at the woman. Now he remembered everything clearly. Her surname was Xiao, given name Yun—Sean Cooper. Three months ago, David Grant had found her on the roadside and brought her home. At the time, David Grant was gathering firewood in the mountains when he saw Sean Cooper fainted by the road, so he rescued her.

According to Sean Cooper herself, she was from Bazhou, her family was in business, and she had originally come to Yangzhou to do trade. But on the way, she was attacked by bandits; all her relatives were killed, and she was the only one who escaped.

David Grant truly had a kind heart. Even though he could barely support himself, he still took Sean Cooper in.

So Sean Cooper stayed with the Han family, and later taught Ethan Grant to read. Ethan Grant listened to Sean Cooper very well, following her around all day, probably even forgetting his own father’s surname. He studied more diligently with her than he ever did with Old Xu. The two seemed to get along quite well, and Sean Cooper also behaved with the grace and manners of a well-bred lady. David Grant began to consider marrying Sean Cooper to Ethan Grant.

Actually, at first, David Grant only thought about it occasionally, treating it as a daydream. After all, their family was too poor, and Sean Cooper was practically the embodiment of beauty and wisdom. She could easily attract a rich or powerful young man—there was just too much of a gap. Of course, at that time, Sean Cooper hadn’t yet wielded a knife. David Grant assumed Sean Cooper would never agree, so he kept the idea to himself. But one day, he happened to test the waters, and to his surprise, Sean Cooper agreed without hesitation.

At the time, Ethan Grant was so happy he fainted—clearly, he’d had his eye on her for a while.

David Grant was also overjoyed and immediately set the wedding. That’s what led to the high-interest loan.

However, since Sean Cooper was older than Ethan Grant, she always called him Little Ethan. Even after they were married, she couldn’t change the habit right away.

Ethan Grant thought to himself, as Aunt Zhang once said, the more beautiful a woman is, the more dangerous she is. With looks like hers, she’s probably in the nuclear weapon category. Besides, I’m a staunch anti-marriage type—friends with benefits is fine, but being a married couple is terrifying. He said in a very flat tone, “People like me, with no money, no land, and no parents, are all called losers.”

Sean Cooper had no idea what Ethan Grant was talking about and asked with concern, “Little Ethan, what’s wrong with you today? Why are you so different from usual?”

Ethan Grant sneered, “Right back at you.”

Sean Cooper exclaimed in surprise, “So you were pretending before too?”

Pretending my ass, I’m not the old Ethan Grant—wait, that’s not right. Ethan Grant opened his eyes wide and took a sharp breath. “What do you mean, ‘pretending too’? So all your gentleness and virtue before was just an act?”

“I—I wasn’t pretending. I really am a well-bred lady.” Sean Cooper immediately blushed, then said softly, “I just wanted to protect you earlier, that’s all.”

“Protect me?”

Ethan Grant let out a laugh. “I think you were trying to get me killed. Good thing that knife missed—if it hadn’t, we’d both be done for. Do you even have a brain?”

Faced with Ethan Grant’s barbed sarcasm, Sean Cooper couldn’t help but get angry too. “I remember it was you who took the knife out first.”

“I took the knife out to scare them, but you were actually serious!”

Ethan Grant said irritably. Of course he was just trying to scare people. As a con artist, he knew that when debt collectors come knocking, you either run or act tough. The weaker you are, the worse things get. That’s acting honed with your life on the line—there’s no room for a retake. If you mess up, it’s all over. As he spoke, he suddenly felt his shoulder ache, and while rubbing it, he wondered aloud, “Let me ask you, do all well-bred ladies have this much strength?”

As soon as he said this, Sean Cooper’s pretty face turned bright red. She stammered, “Th-that’s because you’re too weak. How strong could a delicate woman like me be?”

“Heh, delicate woman? The way you threw that hatchet—if it had really hit that fat guy, you’d have split him in two. I just find it strange—other well-bred ladies, when they hold a knife, are so scared they drop it on their own feet. But you, you aim straight for someone’s head.”

That flying knife—never mind Wang Bao, even now Ethan Grant still shudders at the memory.