[Edited]

While hanging up clothes to dry, Lu Qingyuan heard a sharp, unpleasant voice from the front yard. She pulled aside the laundry and saw a thin old woman standing at their gate with her hands behind her back.

“Grandma Yao,” Lu Qingyuan greeted her calmly. “You’re in good spirits today, coming out for a walk.”

This old woman was Grandma Yao, the mother-in-law of Fifth Aunt.

“My health has always been better than your grandma’s.”

Grandma Yao walked into the yard with a smug look. “I came to check on her.”

Lu Qingyuan turned her head and called out loudly, “Grandma, Mom, Grandma Yao is here to see you!”

At that moment, Grandma Lu was talking to Mother Lu. Hearing Lu Qingyuan’s voice, she let out a cold snort. “That woman is so annoying.”

Mother Lu immediately got up, making sure to shut the bedroom door behind her.

With a smile, she greeted Grandma Yao in the living room. “Oh my, Grandma Yao, you came at the wrong time. My mother just fell asleep. You wouldn’t want to wake her, right? After all, you two have such a harmonious relationship.”

Grandma Yao often bragged to others about how well she got along with her sisters-in-law.

Hearing this, Grandma Yao hesitated. “She’s sleeping? That’s unfortunate. I’ll come by again this afternoon.”

But she didn’t leave. Instead, she sat down in the bamboo chair by the door and turned her attention to Lu Qingyuan, who was still busy.

“Qingyuan, when are you getting married? How much betrothal money is your fiancé’s family giving? And what’s your dowry?”

The smile on Mother Lu’s face disappeared. Lu Qingyuan glanced at her and subtly shook her head before walking forward.

“Grandma Yao, there’s no rush for my marriage. But I heard your younger brothers got arrested for gambling again and were paraded through town?”

Grandma Yao’s face instantly darkened.

“Oh, and not just your brothers. Even your nephew was caught gambling!” Lu Qingyuan suddenly raised her voice as if she had just remembered something.

“Doesn’t that mean your whole family was paraded through town? Grandma Yao, don’t you feel embarrassed? Honestly, with relatives like that, I think it’s better to cut ties. Otherwise, it might affect Qinghong’s future.”

Qinghong was Fifth Aunt’s youngest son.

Grandma Yao pursed her lips, which were already darkened with age, and looked at Lu Qingyuan with a sour expression. “Where did you hear such nonsense? There’s nothing wrong with my family. Why are you, a young girl, so nosy?”

Why was she so fixated on her family’s affairs?!

“Aunt, that’s not right,” Mother Lu chuckled as she sat down. “This isn’t gossip. It’s the truth.”

Lu Qingyuan nodded in agreement.

[Today’s live stream has started. The current number of fans: 230.]

The next moment, Lu Qingyuan saw a familiar string of red text floating above Grandma Yao’s sparse hair.

【Oh? Who’s this old lady?】

【Haven’t you seen the updated live stream? This is Grandma Lu’s sister-in-law. She’s a real troublemaker—always nitpicking her daughter-in-law and granddaughter while doting on her sons and grandsons.】

【Oh, I remember now! In the original story, her younger brothers and nephews lost their house because of gambling. Then, the whole family moved into her home, making her daughter-in-law so furious that she even asked for a divorce!】

【The gambling incident has already happened, and her family is on their way here!】

Golden text floated across her vision.

Lu Qingyuan blinked when she saw the message. Tsk, this was truly a case of “one wicked person meeting another who can deal with them.”

At this moment, Grandma Yao was still trying to defend her family.

“They don’t gamble at all! They don’t even know what gambling is! Those are just baseless rumors spread by idle old women. You mustn’t believe them!”

“My younger brothers are all honest men, one more upright than the other. They would never gamble! I don’t care what outsiders say, but you must believe me!”

Grandma Yao kept chattering nonstop.

Meanwhile, Lu Qingyuan glanced at the golden text floating above her, which was updating the distance.

【Ten minutes away.】

【Five minutes.】

【Three minutes.】

【Oh, they’ve reached the fork in the road.】

Jiasheng and Lusheng were playing at the courtyard gate when they noticed a large group of people carrying big bags approaching from the fork in the road. None of them looked familiar, so the two children immediately ran into the main house.

“A lot of people are coming!”

“They’re carrying so many things!”

“I don’t recognize any of them.”

“Could they be bad people?”

Lu Qingyuan stood up and said, “I’ll go take a look.”

Grandma Yao was curious too, but she was still trying to force Mother Lu to agree with her. So, she stubbornly remained seated.

“Hey, aren’t those your relatives, Grandma Yao? Why did they bring so many people? Looks like they’ve come to seek refuge with you.”

Lu Qingyuan peeked out from the courtyard gate. After getting a clear look at the group, she turned back and called out loudly to Grandma Yao.

Inside the house, Grandma Lu, who had been eavesdropping, immediately said, “Eldest daughter-in-law, is your youngest aunt here? Oh my, why didn’t you call me sooner? Help me outside!”

She couldn’t miss the excitement of seeing her sister-in-law’s family in such a predicament!

Mother Lu quickly shook off Grandma Yao’s grip, rushed inside, helped Grandma Lu get dressed, and whispered the situation to her before supporting her outside.

“Where’s your Grandma Yao?”

Grandma Lu didn’t see her and turned to ask Lu Qingyuan, who was standing at the courtyard gate.

Lu Qingyuan pointed outside. “The moment she heard her family had arrived, she ran straight over.”

【Hahaha, Grandma Yao is only tough when she talks!】

【Now that her family has come to seek refuge, will she still claim her brothers and nephews don’t gamble?】

【How do people who hate gambling still manage to marry off their sons and raise a new generation of gamblers?】

Some readers were baffled.

Lu Qingyuan was just as puzzled. She stepped forward to support Grandma Lu and asked, “Grandma, if Grandma Yao’s brothers have such a bad reputation, why would anyone still marry their daughters to them?”

Grandma Yao had three younger brothers, all of whom were addicted to gambling. Yet, they had all found wives and had several sons.

“Some families are blinded by money. Since their daughters will have to marry anyway, they choose those who offer the highest bride price. It’s quite pitiful, really.”

Grandma Lu reached the courtyard gate just in time to see Grandma Yao collapsing in shock. Her relatives panicked and hurriedly carried her on their backs, continuing up the road toward her house.

【Hahaha, Grandma Yao fainted as soon as she heard her brother admit he lost the house to gambling!】

【When she wakes up, she’ll probably insist, ‘My family just came to visit! What house? Nothing was lost! Don’t spread nonsense!’】

Lu Qingyuan stifled her laughter and turned away, avoiding looking at the golden text above Grandma Lu’s head.

“I’ll go check on them,” Mother Lu said with a smile, knowing what Grandma Lu was thinking. She then headed toward Grandma Yao’s house.

“Fifth Aunt is the one I feel sorry for,” Lu Qingyuan said. Although she didn’t like Grandma Yao, she was quite fond of Fifth Aunt.

“Indeed. So many people arriving all at once, carrying so much luggage—it looks like they’re fleeing from disaster. This must be serious.”

Grandma Lu sighed, worrying about Fifth Aunt’s situation.

Although Lu Qingyuan didn’t follow them to Grandma Yao’s house, she could still see what was happening through the barrage of comments.

【Grandma Yao woke up and was about to throw a fit, but as soon as she saw Qingyuan’s mom, she held back her anger and explained that her family was just here to visit, hahaha!】

【Too bad her brothers are too foolish. When Qingyuan’s mom casually asked why they brought so much luggage, they blurted out that they had nowhere else to live and came to seek refuge with their sister, hahaha!】

【Grandma Yao fainted again! This time, she was probably angered by her own dim-witted brothers!】

【Oh? Who’s that handsome young man?】

【That’s Grandma Yao’s precious grandson, Lu Qinghong. Honestly, there isn’t a single unattractive person in the Lu family!】

【The best-looking one is still our Xiao Qingyuan.】

Lu Qingyuan helped Grandma Lu sit down and poured her some warm water. As she glanced at the floating comments, she reached up to touch her face.

She was indeed beautiful.

Having been praised for her looks since childhood, Lu Qingyuan remained unfazed.

However, she knew that good looks alone wouldn’t put food on the table. A person needed real skills to survive.

That was why, after discovering her talent for studying, she had pursued education relentlessly. Her family fully supported her as well.

Unfortunately, university recommendations weren’t just about grades. They also required connections. Because of this, Lu Qingyuan had been eliminated from the selection.

“Qingyuan,” Grandma Lu suddenly called, interrupting her thoughts.

“Grandma?”

Lu Qingyuan knelt beside her, her fair face carrying a trace of confusion.

“Qingyuan,” Grandma Lu reached out and gently smoothed her bangs, “When you have time, go to the county to visit Xiao Shu a few more times. If things go well, we’ll discuss marriage.”

【…They’ve only just met. Isn’t this a bit too fast for marriage?】

【Upstairs, it was a different era. Back then, getting married after just one meeting was quite common.】

Lu Qingyuan understood why Grandma Lu was so anxious. She gently held her grandmother’s hand and said, “No, I’m not in a hurry.”

If she got married too soon, her grandmother would feel reassured. But then…

“You child,” Grandma Lu pointed at her, “don’t think I don’t know what’s on your mind. I do worry, but what I fear even more is not living long enough to see you start a family.”

“Grandma, I don’t like hearing that. Please don’t say such things.”

Lu Qingyuan called over Jiasheng and Lusheng, having them sit beside Grandma Lu to keep her company in the sun. Meanwhile, she went to the vegetable garden to pick some greens.

“Just look at your aunt,” Grandma Lu chuckled.

“Aunt is amazing!”

“I like Aunt the most!”

The two little ones eagerly praised their young aunt.

After Mother Lu returned home following the arrival of Fifth Aunt and her husband, she didn’t stay long.

At this moment, Lu Qingyuan was in the courtyard washing vegetables, with the two little chubby kids helping out beside her.

“They lost their house from gambling?”

Grandma Lu gasped in shock after hearing the news.

“Yes,” Mother Lu’s face was full of disdain. “Three brothers, and they gambled away their house! Now that they have nowhere to live, of course, they’re trying to come here.”

Grandma Yao had given plenty to her maiden family, so when her brothers had no place to stay, the first person they thought of was their sister.

“There are so many of them. How could they possibly fit here?”

“When I left, they were already discussing building extra thatched huts. Can you believe this mess? Fifth Sister-in-law was furious. When I left, she was still arguing with Grandma Yao.”

Mother Lu shook her head.

“This is simply outrageous!”

Hearing her daughter-in-law’s words, Grandma Lu immediately understood that her foolish sister-in-law was willing to take in her brothers.