Lu Qingyuan didn’t head home immediately. Instead, she went to the supply and marketing cooperative and saw that Lu Qingtian was resting his chin on his hand, dozing off at the counter.

She walked over and knocked on the table.

Lu Qingtian instantly woke up. Without even looking, he turned sideways and pointed to the shelves behind him. “Comrade, what would you like to buy? Hongtashan cigarettes have been selling well lately. Want to take a box home?”

“I’m a woman. I don’t smoke.”

“Then buy it for your man, or for entertaining guests. It’s a good choice either way.”

Lu Qingtian yawned.

“You call this working, Second Brother?” Lu Qingyuan asked in surprise.

Lu Qingtian finally looked up, his face lighting up with joy. “Little Sister! You came back today?”

“I was worried things at home would be too busy,” Lu Qingyuan glanced around. “You’re the only one here today? Why are you at the front?”

“Sister Yu’s child was fussing a lot, so she snuck home to nurse. It’s not a market day, so there aren’t many people. I came to help out at the counter.”

Lu Qingtian yawned again. “Everything at home is ready. Tomorrow, we’ll make sure to give Qingguo and the others a lively celebration. What about you? How have you been lately?”

“I’m doing well,” Lu Qingyuan chatted with him for a bit before heading toward the elementary school.

Lu Qingtian had mentioned that Lu Qingming would be off work early today.

Sure enough, students were already leaving with their schoolbags.

After waiting for a while, she left the school together with Lu Qingming.

She dropped off some items at the clinic and asked Shu Beidong to bring them home after work.

Shu Beidong was busy at the moment, so they didn’t talk much before Lu Qingyuan left.

When she got home, she saw her family bustling around happily, and she felt a wave of joy as well.

“Can I help with anything?”

“Everything is ready. Just lend a hand with cooking tomorrow,” Second Aunt Lu said with a warm smile.

“Alright,” Lu Qingyuan agreed, then went out to find Chunhong and Zheng Xiaoxin.

There wasn’t much farm work to do these days, so they were both at home.

The three of them sat together and talked at Chunhong’s house.

“You look like you’ve gained weight,” Chunhong said, eyeing Lu Qingyuan.

“It wasn’t noticeable last time you came back,” Zheng Xiaoxin also looked at her closely. “Could it be that you’re pregnant?”

“I don’t think so,” Lu Qingyuan was taken aback. After seeing the barrage of comments about the college entrance exams being reinstated, she and Shu Beiqiu had already discussed postponing having children for now.

“Then it just means you’re too happy and gaining weight without realizing it.” Chunhong giggled.

Lu Qingyuan’s face flushed. “You just love teasing me.”

“It means your marriage is happy and fulfilling. Oh, by the way, you probably don’t know yet—your cousin Yanyan brought her partner home, right? Well, his family just came over to propose marriage!”

“They proposed? That’s great! Have they set a date?” Lu Qingyuan asked.

“They have. It’s on the same day as mine,” Chunhong nodded.

“Huh?” Lu Qingyuan was stunned. How was she supposed to attend both weddings?

“I was thinking, since she’s your cousin and Fifth Aunt was your matchmaker, you should go help out at their side. You can come to mine later,” Chunhong said.

Zheng Xiaoxin added, “Your husband will probably be helping Chunhong’s fiancé with the wedding procession, so if you stay on that side, there will be someone from your family at both weddings. Plus, you and Chunhong will be neighbors in the future.”

Lu Qingyuan frowned, deep in thought.

“Let me think about it.”

She actually preferred to help at Chunhong’s wedding.

But Chunhong was right—she couldn’t forget the favor she owed Fifth Aunt.

When she got home, she brought up the matter with Mother Lu.

To her surprise, Mother Lu sighed. “You don’t need to go to Yanyan’s wedding. They’re not even planning a proper ceremony.”

“What do you mean? Didn’t they already set a date?” Lu Qingyuan sat down next to her in surprise and asked.

“The date is set, but the groom’s family said a relative recently passed away, so they won’t hold a banquet. They’ll just pick a day for her to move in. Later, when they have a child, they’ll have a big celebration for the full-month banquet instead.”

“Would Grandma Yao agree to this?”

Grandma Yao had always cared about appearances.

“She thinks Yanyan being able to marry into the Tan family is a huge honor, so she has no objections.”

Mother Lu and Grandma Lu had already complained about this countless times.

“I see,” Lu Qingyuan frowned. “Fifth Aunt must be furious.”

“She’s sick over it,” Mother Lu sighed again. “No matter how much she tried to talk Yanyan out of it, the girl wouldn’t listen. She even accused her mother of standing in the way of her happiness.”

“I’ll go check on Fifth Aunt later.”

“You’d better not,” Mother Lu said again. “Your Fifth Aunt feels guilty about what happened. No matter what, Yanyan went behind everyone’s back to get together with Tan Chang’an. Whether you and him ever had anything or not, she still feels uncomfortable about it. I doubt she’d want to face you right now.”

“What are you talking about? I barely had any interaction with Tan Chang’an. We met once, and it just wasn’t a good match. He and Yanyan getting together is perfectly normal. There’s no such thing as stealing someone away or anything to feel guilty about.”

Lu Qingyuan waved her hands repeatedly.

“But your Fifth Aunt has gotten stuck in a dead end,” Mother Lu said.

Lu Qingyuan remained silent for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh.

“Alright then, if she comes over tomorrow, I’ll talk to her.”

“I don’t even know if she’ll come. She’s so sick she can’t even get out of bed,” Mother Lu said, making the situation sound serious. This made Lu Qingyuan very worried.

She didn’t sleep well that night.

The next morning, before dawn, everyone in the Lu family compound was already up.

After combing her hair neatly, Lu Qingyuan took the wedding gifts to Lu Qingguo’s house and handed them to Second Aunt Lu.

Second Aunt Lu beamed with joy and patted her shoulder. “We’ll be counting on you today.”

“It’s no trouble,” Lu Qingyuan said, glancing at Lu Qingguo, whose face was flushed red. “Brother Qingguo, your face is so red.”

“I’m nervous,” Lu Qingguo stammered.

Father Lu and the others had already set up the borrowed tables, chairs, and stools in the courtyard.

Meanwhile, Lu Qingyuan joined her sisters-in-law and aunts in the kitchen to start preparing the food.

Since the kitchens of three families were working together, the banquet was prepared in no time.

As expected, Fifth Aunt did not come. Instead, it was Fifth Uncle and his son who showed up, while Lu Yanyan stayed home to take care of Fifth Aunt.

Hearing this, Lu Qingyuan sighed.

Not long after dawn, Mother Shu and her family arrived as well. They rolled up their sleeves and started helping right away, chatting and laughing with the Lu family as they worked.

By midday, Lu Qingguo had returned with his bride. Cheng Baozhen was dressed beautifully, and standing beside Lu Qingguo, she looked even smaller in stature.

She spoke softly, her voice delicate. She seemed timid, sticking close to Lu Qingguo the entire time.

Lu Qingguo frequently turned back to look at her, smiling warmly.

The two of them were so affectionate that Chunhong and Zheng Xiaoxin couldn’t stop giggling as they ate.

In the afternoon, after sending off the guests, the men went to return the borrowed tableware, tables, and chairs, while the women stayed home to clean up and heat water for everyone to take a bath.

It had been an incredibly hot day.

After washing up and sipping on some iced tea, Lu Qingyuan finally felt alive again.

Just then, Lu Qingguo came over with Cheng Baozhen, both now clean and dressed in fresh clothes. They were here to greet the elders and chat with Grandma Lu.

Cheng Baozhen was like a little rabbit—adorable and soft-spoken. Lu Qingyuan found her very likable.

Grandma Lu gently patted her hand. “Live well together. If Qingguo does anything wrong, you must speak up. A husband and wife should learn to communicate. If you bottle everything up, your relationship will suffer.”

“Yes, I understand.” Cheng Baozhen nodded in agreement.