Chapter 61: A Regretful Exit

"Yes." Fang Ning nodded honestly.

Siyu Heng raised his eyebrows. "Didn't you already know?"

Fang Ning: "..."

Who was talking about that with you?

Never mind. Since Siyu Heng was unwilling to talk about it, she couldn't be bothered to press further.

You could offend anyone, but definitely not Siyu Heng!

Seeing that Fang Ning obediently went back to reading, Siyu Heng said nothing more.

When Grandma Fang and the others returned, Old Dad Dashi came along with them, holding a round wooden chessboard in his hands.

"Ningning, the Chinese checkers board you asked for is done. Come take a look." Old Dad Dashi called out as soon as he stepped into the courtyard.

Under Siyu Heng's death glare, Fang Ning dropped her book and ran outside.

Siyu Heng: "..."

Old Dad Dashi wiped away a sweat. "I boasted a bit earlier and it took me a few extra days to finish it. See if this is right."

Fang Ning took it and glanced over it. Old Dad Dashi's craftsmanship was quite impressive. Originally, it was just supposed to be a simple chessboard, but he had cleverly carved some patterns onto it. Even just sitting there, it would make a fine decorative piece.

"Grandpa Li Er, your woodworking is really good."

"Really?"

Praised by Fang Ning, Old Dad Dashi felt a little embarrassed.

Fang Ning quickly nodded. "Yes, exceptionally good."

"The pieces are all underneath. Pull here and it opens." Old Dad Dashi pulled the underside of the chessboard, revealing six small, delicate drawers holding the finished pieces, though they hadn't been painted yet. "Shouldn't the pieces be painted?"

"No need. I've already had my grandmother and the others sew the pieces out of different colored cloth. Painting the wood makes the paint flake off easily, and since children will be playing with them, I was worried they might accidentally swallow them."

At this moment, Fang Fei had already brought the sewn cloth pieces out from the room. "Fourth Brother, here are the pieces. How do you play this?"

"Young Master, come out here." Fang Ning intended to demonstrate a live game for them.

After all, seeing is better than hearing.

Siyu Heng put down his book and came out of the room.

Fang Ning had already moved a small table and stools out, motioning for Siyu Heng to sit opposite her. "Come on, Young Master, let's play a game of Chinese checkers."

Looking at the Chinese checkers board, a trace of novelty flashed in Siyu Heng's eyes.

As Fang Ning laid out the pieces, she explained the rules to Siyu Heng.

Siyu Heng grasped them the moment he heard them.

The two of them immediately began their match.

While making her moves, Fang Ning also explained the game to Fang Ling and the others.

Chinese checkers was a puzzle game with very simple rules.

After watching for a little while, Fang Ling and the others understood it.

The match between Fang Ning and Siyu Heng was also extremely exciting.

Giving and taking, setting traps for one another, Fang Ning, who had made the first move, ultimately managed to move all her pieces to the opposite side just a step ahead of Siyu Heng.

Old Dad Dashi watched and found it quite interesting. "This Chinese checkers game looks like a lot of fun. Can I play a round too?"

"Sure. Big Sister, Second Brother, Third Brother, Fifth Sister, you guys come on." Fang Ning called them over, choosing not to join the game to bully them.

Siyu Heng naturally withdrew as well.

Thus, four children and one old man squatted down and began playing Chinese checkers.

Among the Fang family children, the smartest was Fang Ling, followed by Fang宇, while Fang Hong and Fang Fei were slightly inferior.

However, the one who ended up losing was Old Dad Dashi.

Old Dad Dashi laughed heartily. "I'm getting old; I can't outplay the kids. Ningning, can I make this Chinese checkers set for the children in my own family?"

"Of course you can." Fang Ning nodded generously, then went back into the room and handed the previously drawn furniture designs to Old Dad Dashi. "Grandpa Li Er, since you didn't charge me for your labor, I drew these designs casually. See if you can make some of them to sell later."

Old Dad Dashi was a craftsman; naturally, he knew the importance of furniture blueprints!

He looked at Fang Ning in shock. "Ningning, are you giving these to me?"

"Mm, take them. In the past, I was ignorant and always did outrageous things. Please accept these as well, Grandpa Li Er."

"How can I do that?"

"Just take them, take them. I still want to play games with Big Sister and the others, so Grandpa Li Er, you should head home."

Fang Ning pushed and coaxed Old Dad Dashi out of the courtyard gate, then banged the door shut.

She simply didn't like the back-and-forth modesty; it was too troublesome.

Looking at the blueprints, Old Dad Dashi felt his eyes grow slightly warm.

Over the past half year, because the furniture styles he built were too old-fashioned, almost no one had been coming to him to make things anymore.

He never expected that Fang Ning would actually gift him so many designs.

With these blueprints, he wouldn't have to worry about lacking work anymore.

Gazing at the tightly closed courtyard gate, from which sounds of happy laughter drifted out, Old Dad Dashi couldn't help but wipe the corner of his eye.

This child... Old Dad Dashi smiled again, carefully tucked the blueprints into his bosom, and walked home with a heart full of joy.

"Young Master, come join us too. There are just six people now." Fang Hong called out to Siyu Heng.

Siyu Heng shook his head. "If I play, you guys won't have a very good experience."

"What about you, Ningning?"

"If I play, it'll be the same. The four of you combined are no match for me."

"Fourth Brother is bragging."

"Little Feifei, don't cry if you lose, okay?"

"I definitely won't! Fourth Brother, hurry up and come over."

Seeing them extend such an invitation, Fang Ning looked at Siyu Heng: Shall we bully the kids together?

Siyu Heng miraculously understood her meaning.

He wanted to refuse, but his mouth answered instead: "Alright."

Siyu Heng: "..."

Two adult souls squatted among four children, mercilessly slaughtering them without leaving a shred of dignity.

Fang Ling and the other four: "..."

Honestly, there was zero gaming experience to be spoken of!

Fang Ning was on a rampage and wanted to start a second game.

"We aren't playing with Fourth Brother." Fang Fei rejected Fang Ning.

Fang Hong curled his lip. "Ningning, can't you and the Young Master cut us some slack? You'd already moved all your pieces home before we even got ours out!"

"How about another round to try?"

"No!"

Fang Yu firmly disagreed.

Fang Ning and Siyu Heng regretfully exited the field.

Grandma Fang watched the children squatting there, her eyes brimming with smiles.

Fang Hong called over two little friends from next door.

The old Fang family residence instantly became extremely lively.

Fang Ning was just about to go over and join the fun when she sensed someone staring at her.

Siyu Heng was staring at her expressionlessly.

Fang Ning couldn't help feeling a guilty conscience. She lowered her head, pretended not to notice Siyu Heng's gaze, and obediently returned to her room to read.

Fortunately, it was just reading; Siyu Heng still somewhat approved of her brush calligraphy and didn't demand that she practice handwriting.

However, Fang Ning's happiness didn't last long before Siyu Heng followed her inside and assigned homework, telling her to write a prescriptive essay.

Fang Ning: "..."

Yet, unable to beat Siyu Heng, Fang Ning chose to surrender to resistance, bitterly grinding the ink to write her essay.

As for Siyu Heng, he went back out to watch the children's Chinese checkers battle.

Fang Ning raised an eyebrow: It must be that Siyu Heng wanted to play himself but cared too much about his pride, not wanting to be laughed at by her, so he intentionally chased her back to her room!

While grumbling inwardly, Fang Ning silently wrote her homework.

Who could have imagined? As a top-tier special agent, she would one day have to go back to studying schoolwork?

Aside from studying, there was also the plan to recover her physical fitness.

Starting tomorrow, she needed to get moving; otherwise, if she ever encountered another expert like Siyu Heng, no one would give her time to grow again.

As Fang Ning wrote, her essay gradually turned into an exercise plan.

By the time she came to her senses, it was already too late—the paper was densely filled with professional terminology that only belonged to future generations!