Hearing the mechanical voice, Lu Qingyuan secretly let out a sigh of relief.

Whenever the live stream was on, she always felt extra cautious, afraid that she might do something wrong and make the viewers suspicious.

Her body might not feel tired, but mentally, she was exhausted.

She adjusted her straw hat and followed closely behind her brothers as they made their way down the mountain.

At one point, Lu Qingjun, who was walking behind her, suddenly slipped. Lu Qingyuan’s body reacted faster than her mind, and she instinctively reached out to grab him.

Lu Qingjun responded quickly as well. He grasped her hand just in time and adjusted his stance, avoiding a full-on fall. However, the strap of his straw sandals broke, making them unwearable.

“You’re wearing straw sandals?”

Lu Qingguang was also startled, and when he looked down, his lips twitched.

“I find rain boots uncomfortable,” Lu Qingjun said, tossing the broken sandals into the grass before continuing barefoot.

Straw sandals were simply handmade from rice straw. Losing them wasn’t a big deal since they couldn’t be repaired anyway.

“Be careful,” Lu Qingyuan reminded him, worried that he might step on something sharp.

“Got it,” Lu Qingjun responded casually.

He didn’t mind at all. Before he turned ten, he rarely wore shoes unless it was winter. It was only in the past few years, as he grew older and became more self-conscious, that he started wearing straw sandals regularly.

The rain poured heavier, and the wind howled even stronger.

The group had to hold their straw hats in place with one hand just to keep moving forward.

The muddy ground had already been washed into a mess by the rain, leaving nothing but puddles and slush wherever they stepped.

Since Lu Qingyuan and the other two were wearing rain boots, they were in slightly better shape. However, Lu Qingjun, even after rolling up his pant legs, was still drenched by the rain and splattered with mud.

By the time they finally made it back to the Lu family compound, the four of them looked rather disheveled.

The elders had been worried about why they weren’t back yet. Seeing them return, Eldest Sister-in-law Lu immediately called out, “Hurry! There’s hot water in the pot. You all go and fetch some to wash up!”

Second Uncle Lu and Third Uncle Lu were still at Lu Qingyuan’s house and hadn’t gone back yet.

Although the three families had divided their households, their bond remained close, and they never truly drew a line between each other.

That’s why, when Eldest Sister-in-law Lu heated the water, she had also considered her younger cousins. She had boiled two large pots of hot water—enough for all four of them to take a proper bath after mixing in some cold water.

Eldest Brother Lu carried two large buckets of hot water to the side room of their house, while Lu Qingyuan took her clean clothes and went inside to wash her hair and bathe.

Meanwhile, Lu Qingguo and the other two carried their own buckets back to their respective side rooms to wash up.

As the elders joyfully examined the goods the four had brought back, their exclamations of delight reached Lu Qingyuan’s ears even from the side room. Hearing that, she couldn’t help but smile.

The warm water washed over her, filling her with a comforting warmth.

By the time she finished bathing and stepped out, towel wrapped around her damp hair, Lu Qingguo and the others were already in the main hall, proudly recounting how they had found and gathered everything in the bamboo baskets.

Boys always bathed faster than girls.

Lu Qingyuan sat beside Second Sister-in-law Lu, unwrapping her towel to dry her hair.

Second Sister-in-law Lu turned her head and immediately noticed her little sister-in-law’s long, jet-black hair cascading down her fair hands like a waterfall.

She couldn’t help but compliment, “Qingyuan, your hair is truly beautiful.”

“Exactly,” Eldest Sister-in-law Lu leaned over with a tinge of envy. “Even when I was her age, my hair wasn’t this thick. And now, it’s even thinner than before.”

Ever since having kids, she had experienced severe hair loss. Her current hair volume wasn’t even half of Lu Qingyuan’s.

Second Sister-in-law Lu reached up to touch her own hair. “Although I don’t lose as much hair as my eldest sister, I don’t have much hair either. Little sister, please give us some.”

“Go ahead,” Lu Qingyuan responded generously. “If I have it and can give it, you can take as much as you want.”

“We wouldn’t dare cut it from your head,” Eldest Sister-in-law Lu chuckled, covering her mouth.

“That’s right. It’s much better where it is—long and silky,” Second Sister-in-law Lu added.

While they chatted, Father Lu and the others were already sorting through the goods they had brought back.

The fiddlehead ferns were the easiest to handle; they were neatly placed aside, as only the tender tips had been picked—just a quick wash, and they’d be ready to blanch and serve.

The two live rabbits were locked in a bamboo cage by Second Uncle Lu, while Father Lu immediately got to work plucking the feathers off the dead bamboo partridges, using the leftover hot water in the pot.

Mother Lu and her sisters-in-law, being meticulous, filled two large wooden basins with spring mushrooms, carefully trimming off the tough roots and washing away the tiny grass bits and soil from the mushroom caps.

Meanwhile, Third Uncle Lu led Eldest Brother Lu and the others in cleaning the wood ear mushrooms.

Under the eaves, the courtyard bustled with cheerful laughter as everyone busily worked together.

When Third Aunt Lu noticed that Lu Qingjun’s straw sandals were ruined, she commented, “This boy goes through shoes so fast. Good thing he loves wearing straw sandals. If he did this to cloth shoes, my heart would ache.”

Hearing that, Lu Qingjun, who was lazily watching Lu Qingguo and Lu Qingguang play chess, immediately objected.

“Are shoes more important, or is your son more important?”

Third Aunt Lu hesitated for a moment.

Lu Qingjun was instantly indignant, hopping up in frustration. The sight made Father Lu and the others burst into hearty laughter.

Lu Qingyuan, having towel-dried most of her hair, also chuckled at the scene.

After all, the four of them were today’s “big heroes.” Right now, they didn’t need to lift a finger and could simply rest.

Since it was getting late, Eldest Sister-in-law Lu and Second Sister-in-law Lu headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

With so many people around, everyone would just eat here instead of going back to their own homes.

Inside the house, Jiasheng and Lusheng, who had been keeping their great-grandma company, kept glancing toward the door, eager to join the lively atmosphere outside.

Seeing this, Grandma Lu, feeling drowsy, told them, “Go on, join the fun.”

As soon as she dozed off, the two little boys dashed outside.

“Great-Grandma fell asleep before we came out,” Jiasheng dutifully reported to Father Lu.

“Good boys,” Father Lu praised them, pleased.

The brothers were eager to help, but with the chilly spring rain, they couldn’t be allowed to touch the cold water. Seeing this, Lu Qingyuan called them over.

“Come help me dry my hair.”

She had just grabbed another dry towel.

“We’ll wash our hands first!”

Excited, the two boys ran off to clean their hands before carefully taking turns drying Lu Qingyuan’s hair.

Afraid of pulling too hard, they handled her hair with great care. Feeling their gentleness, Lu Qingyuan couldn’t help but proudly glance at Lu Qingguo and the others.

“Look at my two little nephews—so considerate.”

“That’s right,” Second Aunt Lu chimed in. “Qingguo, Qingguang, you’re not kids anymore. Stop making excuses and start considering marriage.”

“Exactly,” Lu Qingjun gloated, pointing at the two playing chess. “Qingguo is already nineteen, and Qingguang is seventeen. It’s about time!”

“Heh,” Lu Qingguo glanced at him sideways. “Give it another two or three years, and it’ll be your turn.”

Lu Qingjun only became even more smug, placing his hands on his hips with an infuriatingly cocky expression. “That’s still years away!”

“What’s so bad about marriage? Why are you all avoiding it like the plague?”

Third Uncle Lu looked at the three of them in confusion.

“I’ll only get married if it’s to someone I truly like,” Lu Qingguo muttered stubbornly.

Hearing that, Lu Qingyuan instantly recalled the person he had been asking about earlier on the mountain. But that person was already married—with a child, no less.

“Then who do you like? I’ll go propose marriage for you right now!”

Second Aunt Lu immediately looked over.

For a moment, everyone present turned their eyes toward Lu Qingguo.

Lu Qingguo’s dark face instantly turned red with embarrassment, making for a rather amusing sight.

“T-this… I just haven’t met the right person yet…”

But as soon as he thought about how his beloved had already married someone else, the flush on Lu Qingguo’s face quickly faded.

“Something’s off,” Second Uncle Lu narrowed his eyes and scrutinized his eldest son before turning to Second Aunt Lu. “Ask him properly later.”

“Mm,” Second Aunt Lu nodded. She understood her own son well. The past two years, he had insisted he wasn’t ready for marriage, claiming he hadn’t fully grown up yet. But now, with his twentieth birthday approaching in the fall, they were no longer buying that excuse.

Springtime meant an abundance of mushrooms and fiddlehead ferns.

For lunch, there was a large porcelain bowl filled with wild mushroom soup and another big bowl of cold-dressed fiddlehead ferns.

The mixed-grain rice was left in the pot—whoever finished their portion could go serve themselves more.

Since the table in the main hall couldn’t seat everyone, the younger folks stood or crouched around with their bowls and chopsticks in hand.

With so many people gathered, the two bowls of food were completely emptied.

Meanwhile, the two bamboo partridges had been stewed into a soup by Eldest Sister-in-law Lu and specially delivered to Grandma Lu’s room for her to eat.

But she was unwilling to enjoy it alone and insisted on sharing a bowl with Jiasheng and Lusheng.

Seeing this, Eldest Sister-in-law Lu spoke up directly. “Grandma, you only dote on these two. What about us? And your other grandsons and granddaughters?”

She couldn’t just favor her great-grandsons alone.

Hearing this, Grandma Lu couldn’t help but laugh, but she no longer insisted on sharing. She obediently finished the soup herself. There wasn’t much meat on the partridges, but it was just enough for her.

However, after drinking the soup, she was too full to eat any of the mixed-grain rice.

After lunch, Lu Qingyuan checked in on her and saw that she was sleeping soundly. She gently tucked the blanket around her and quietly left the room, closing the door behind her.