The ancestral home of the Lu family is a large courtyard with five entrances and two east and west courtyards.

Su Ling was surprised to see such a large and complete house when he came here for the first time. It was not easy for the Lu clan to preserve the ancestral house intact after going through that era.

As there were many courtyards, many people lived in them. Old Madam Lu passed away early, and Grandpa Lu lived alone in the quiet courtyard of the main house. The others were divided according to their generations. Lu Feng was a grandson of the same generation, and Lu Lihong was a son born in his old age. The other courtyards had been allocated long ago, leaving only the four-courtyard west wing for him. The layout was a bit small, but a small garden was built in the fifth courtyard at the back, with rockery and rocks, a small pond and a small bridge. The scenery was much more beautiful than that of other courtyards.

The car was parked in the parking lot in front of the ancestral home. People who had been working in the yard for a long time came forward to greet us. When they learned that the head of this generation had returned, they all looked respectful and enthusiastically helped unload the luggage.

When I opened the trunk of the car, I was stunned to see it was filled with rice bags and tea boxes.

Lu Feng was carrying a small suitcase and standing beside the car with Su Ling. Seeing the staff was confused, he said, "These are the rice and tea leaves that Su Ling grew in the countryside. He brought them back specially for Grandpa's birthday so that everyone can taste them."

The staff was even more shocked when they heard this, and looked at Su Ling who was standing next to Lu Feng in disbelief.

How could Mr. Su, who is clean and gentle, go to the countryside to farm?

Isn’t it unbelievable?

Su Ling said modestly: "Actually, the villagers helped to plant them, and I just helped out."

He said it calmly, but the staff still had a look of surprise in their eyes. Given Mr. Su's status and position, it was unexpected that he was willing to go to the fields.

The staff carried rice and tea leaves into the yard, going back and forth several times, attracting the curiosity of others.

Su Ling and Lu Feng walked into the courtyard and walked a long way to the fourth courtyard of the west wing. Although no one had lived here for a long time, it was usually cleaned. Today, knowing that they had returned, Aunt Zhou, who was in charge of the courtyard, tidied the house early.

In modern times, even the oldest courtyards have been equipped with modern facilities such as water, electricity, coal, air conditioning, refrigerators, televisions, etc.

There was a kitchen in the yard. Aunt Zhou cooked some sweet-scented osmanthus dumplings and waited for Su Ling and Lu Feng to arrive, so they could start eating.

Su Ling was still a little uncomfortable after not being home for so long. He sat in the restaurant and ate rice balls quietly.

The glutinous rice balls are delicious, glutinous but not greasy. With a light bite, the rich sesame filling flows out. It tastes fragrant and sweet in the mouth, and paired with the sweet-scented osmanthus soup, it makes you want more.

"Mr. Su looks thinner than before the New Year," said Aunt Zhou.

"Hmm? No?" Su Ling put down the spoon and touched his cheek. "Maybe I had some baby fat before?"

Lu Feng looked up at him and said, "You have indeed lost weight. You were sick a while ago."

Aunt Zhou heard this and asked worriedly, "Why did you get sick? Are you feeling better now?"

Su Ling said quickly, "It's fine. It's fine now! It's just a common cold and fever. It will be fine after taking some medicine."

Under the table, he stretched out his foot and stepped on Lu Feng's leather shoes.

How could he just talk about the fact that he had a fever? If Auntie Zhou asked about it, wouldn't he be so embarrassed that he would dig a palace out of the ground with his toes?

Hearing that he had recovered, Aunt Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You should all take care of your health. Don't take advantage of your youth to do whatever you want. If you overdraw your health now, you will have to pay for it in the future."

"Yes, yes, I understand, Auntie Zhou." Su Ling bit the spoon and nodded obediently. He was handsome and had beautiful eyes. He was especially likable when he was being naughty. Auntie Zhou looked at him with a kind look.

She has worked in the Lu family for thirty years, and all the affairs of the west wing are under her care. Lu Feng almost grew up under her watch, and she has always loved him like her own child. After Su Ling came, she loved him as much as she loved the whole family, and she took care of him equally.

It's a pity that the young people are not used to living in the old house and like to move out. We only see them a few times throughout the year. It's a rare occasion that they come back today, and Aunt Zhou is being nice to them in various ways.

After eating the glutinous rice balls, the two went to the main courtyard to visit the old man.

The old man is old and loves quietness. The yard he lives in is not big, but the layout is elegant. The yard is full of flowers, plants and trees, and there is a pond of koi in the corner of the wall. The old man's daily pleasure is to make a pot of tea, sit by the stone table and watch and feed the fish.

When Su Ling and Lu Feng arrived, he was holding a handful of fish food and throwing it into the pond. Hundreds of koi fish gathered in one place, sparkling red and splashing water. It was very lively and made the old man laugh happily.

Seeing Lu Feng holding Su Ling's hand and entering the yard, the old man threw all the fish food in his hand into the pond, clapped his hands, and looked at them kindly.

"Are you back?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes, grandpa." Lu Feng said respectfully.

"Hello, Grandpa." Su Ling greeted politely.

"Okay, okay, come and sit down." The old man invited them to sit together at the stone table. He was in his nineties, his hair, beard and eyebrows were all white, and he was thin but healthy. He was also a handsome man when he was young, and he had more wrinkles on his body as he got older, but his eyes were still bright.

After the two of them sat down, he shouted into the house with full energy: "Xiao Zhang, Xiao Zhang——"

"Hey, here they come." A middle-aged man ran out of the house, holding a plate of cherries in his hand. It was the nutritionist who usually took care of the old man, Zhang Yuan. His eyes lit up at the two young people in front of the stone table and smiled, "Hey, Xiao Feng and Xiao Ling are here? Let's taste these red cherries together, they are big and sweet."

"Thank you, Uncle Zhang." Su Ling took one politely.

"Xiao Zhang, go and make another pot of tea." The old man said.

"I'll be right there." Zhang Yuan put down the cherries, picked up the teapot and teacup on the table, and went back to the house to make some more tea.

The old man wiped his fingers with a wet towel, picked up a cherry, put it in his mouth, tasted the sweetness, and nodded with satisfaction.

"You two should eat too, don't just sit there and watch." He urged the two young people.

"I'm eating, Grandpa." Su Ling took a cherry and handed it to Ruifeng. Ruifeng ate it directly from his hand, and his lips touched Su Ling's fingertips intentionally or unintentionally.

Su Ling glared at him. Be more reserved in front of an old man!

Without changing his expression, he picked a big cherry and fed it to Su Ling.

Su Ling didn't know whether to eat or not, and her cheeks turned slightly red.

The old man was quite happy to see the two children being so close, and he was not as prejudiced against this grandson-in-law as others. After all, he had lived a long life and had seen all kinds of storms. When his grandson wanted to marry a man, he was opposed by all the uncles and aunts. Only he called Su Ling over to chat with him, and after a few words, he understood the man's character and found that he was a good child and had deep feelings for his grandson, so he decided to agree to their marriage.

Although there was no grand wedding banquet outside, a grand Chinese-style wedding was held at the ancestral home of the Lu family, and the Lu clan members were invited to a banquet.

Su Ling and the old man have a common language.

The old man likes to collect calligraphy and paintings, especially the paintings of Master Zhang Qianyi. When he first learned that Su Ling was Zhang Qianyi's last disciple, he was so happy that he started chatting with him very enthusiastically.

Seeing that the old man really liked the teacher's paintings, Su Ling went to the teacher to grind a painting and gave it to the old man. The old man was so happy that he smiled like a child.

"I heard that your teacher held an art exhibition recently?" asked the old man.

"Yes, it was held at the JSK Convention and Exhibition Center four days ago. I took a video. Would you like to see it, Grandpa?" Su Ling took out his mobile phone and opened the photo album.

"Of course I want to watch it." The old man took the video from Su Ling and watched it with relish.

Su Ling shot three short videos in total, each lasting more than ten minutes. The artist has a strong shooting angle, making each painting clear, beautiful and grand.

The old man looked at it for a while, put down his phone, and rubbed his eyes. "I'm old, I can't see clearly."

Su Ling said: "It's because the phone is small and inconvenient to read."

Zhang Yuan brewed some fresh tea and gently placed it on the stone table. Hearing the conversation between the two, he poured the tea and said, "There is an IPAD in the room. The screen is big and it is clear."

Lu Feng stood up and said, "Where is it? I'll get it."

Zhang Yuan said, "It was lying on the bedside in the old man's room. He was secretly watching TV until 11 o'clock last night and I caught him."

The old man said unhappily: "Is that called peeking?"

Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "Yes, yes, you are watching openly."

The old man picked up the teacup, blew on it, took a sip, and looked very proud.

Zhang Yuan did not argue with him. As people get older, their temper becomes more and more like that of a child. Most of the time, you have to go along with what he says, otherwise it will be hard to persuade him when he gets angry.

Ru Feng went into the house and took out the IPAD. Su Ling transferred the video to him, and the video was clearly visible on the big screen.

"Wow, tsk tsk, worthy of being Master Zhang, the painting is really good." The old man muttered as he admired the painting, "I wanted to go to the site to see it, but they said that I was about to turn 90 and couldn't go out. I was stuck in this small yard and was bored every day. I missed Master Zhang's exhibition in vain."

Seeing that he was watching so seriously, the others did not disturb him and sat aside, drinking tea and eating cherries. When the old man had watched enough, he finally put down his IPAD with a satisfied look on his face.

"When will your teacher hold his next art exhibition?" he asked Su Ling.

"It's hard to say." Su Ling said, "But next time the teacher holds an art exhibition, I will tell you in advance."

The old man nodded repeatedly. "Tell me half a month in advance."

Su Ling replied, "Yes."

After drinking tea, the old man said he was tired and wanted to go inside to lie down. Su Ling and Lu Feng helped him in, and then they left. Zhang Yuan sent them to the gate of the courtyard.

After visiting the grandfather, the next step is naturally to visit the parents-in-law.

Lu Lihong was the eldest son and lived in the middle of the main courtyard. On the old man’s birthday, the task of entertaining guests fell on him and Rong Siqiu.

When Su Ling and Lu Feng arrived, there were several people sitting in the living room. Rong Siqiu was wearing an exquisite cheongsam, with jade around her neck and jade bracelets on her wrists. She looked dignified, graceful and elegant.

Seeing his son and daughter-in-law coming, Rong Siqiu waved to them.

"Finally I'm back." She looked at Su Ling and frowned slightly. "I've lost weight since my trip to the countryside."

Su Ling smiled and said, "I haven't lost much weight actually. Working in the countryside every day has made me stronger."

Rong Siqiu asked him to sit next to her. Lu Feng wanted to sit down with her, but she chased him away. "Your father wants to see you. He's in the study. Go find him yourself."

Lu Feng stood still, staring at Su Ling.

Rong Siqiu could see how protective his son was of his wife. Every time they came to the ancestral home, he refused to leave Su Ling, as if he was afraid of being bullied.

Su Ling gently pushed his shoulder and winked at him. "Go ahead, I'll sit with mom for a while."

Only then did Lu Feng leave reluctantly.

As soon as he left, the middle-aged woman sitting opposite smiled. "Hey, sister-in-law, Xiao Feng is worthy of being the son of the eldest brother. He likes to stick to his wife."

"You are so frivolous." Rong Siqiu glared at her and said to Su Ling, "Don't listen to your aunt's nonsense."

Su Ling could only smile politely.

This middle-aged woman is Lu Feng's aunt, named Lu Yawen. She is 59 years old this year. She has a cheerful personality and a masculine demeanor. She wears a neutral suit and pants, has neat short hair, and a well-maintained and pretty face. She looks ten years younger than her actual age.

"I'm not talking nonsense, am I, Third Sister-in-law?" Lu Yawen asked the old lady in purple skirt beside her.

Jiang Lihua picked up the teacup, blew on it, and said slowly, "I'm getting older and my memory is getting worse. I almost forget things that happened decades ago."

Unable to get support, Lu Yawen turned to ask another question. "Third sister-in-law forgot, but fourth sister-in-law must have remembered, right?"

Fourth sister-in-law Shen Man also gave an ambiguous answer and refused to fall into the trap.

Lu Yawen was helpless, and Rong Siqiu scolded her, saying, "You are so unmanageable in front of the child. You are old enough."

"I'm only 59 years old, still young!" Lu Yawen raised an eyebrow at Su Ling, "Right, Xiao Su?"

"Yes, when I first met her, I thought my aunt was only 30 years old." Su Ling said. This is the truth. When he first came to the ancestral home, he saw the brisk and capable Lu Yawen and thought she was some "cousin". But when Lu Feng introduced her as his aunt, Su Ling was shocked.

"This child is so sweet." With a kind look in her eyes, Lu Yawen took out a small box from her branded bag and handed it to Su Ling, "Here, this is a gift from my aunt."

"Ah... this..." Su Ling hesitated and didn't dare to answer, looking at her mother-in-law for help.

"Take it." Rong Siqiu said, "It's just a small square seal, not worth much money. Give one to every person you catch."

Su Ling then took it and opened the box. Inside was a small jade seal, which was milky yellow in color, delicate in texture, and as smooth as fat. It turned out to be a piece of high-quality Hetian jade.

How is this not worth the money?

It’s clearly worth the money!

Any gift would be worth tens or hundreds of thousands. My aunt is really generous.

"Thank you, aunt." Su Lingbi was born into a wealthy family after all, so he was not surprised by this little situation and generously put away the jade seal.

"Yawen has given a gift, so we as the elders have to give gifts too." Jiang Lihua and Shen Man were not to be outdone, and they took out a small jewel box from their bags and gave it to Su Ling.

Su Ling smiled shyly, but he was complaining in his heart. After receiving the gift, he had to sit here and chat. He wanted to sit for a while and then leave, but now he couldn't.

The third aunt gave him a string of red sandalwood bead bracelets, and the fourth aunt gave him a bottle of ambergris, both of which were very valuable.

The guests have all sent gifts, so how can Rong Siqiu, as the mother-in-law, not send any?

She took a jade plate directly from her finger and handed it to Su Ling. "Last month I went to Myanmar to gamble for a small stone, cut out a glass-type imperial green jade with one knife, and made a pair of earrings and a fingerboard. I wear the earrings, and the fingerboard is for you."

Su Ling looked at the jade fingerboard in his palm and felt pressured.

Glass imperial green!

It can be encountered by chance but not sought after!

A small fingerboard, but tens of millions of dollars!

"Mom... this is too expensive..."

"I only spent 50,000 yuan on the raw materials. It's not expensive at all."

Rong Siqiu said indifferently. Gambling on stones is gambling on luck. She bought it casually at the time and didn't expect to get anything good. But when she cut it, she saw green. The 50,000 rose to hundreds of millions in an instant, making others jealous.

But for her, the cost price was only 50,000 yuan, and giving Su Ling a fingerboard would only cost about 10,000 or 20,000 yuan.

What can Su Ling do now that her mother-in-law has said so?

I can only wear it on my hand obediently.

Well, the gifts have been received, so just chat with me in peace!

So he chatted and laughed with the three old ladies in a calm and relaxed manner. When Lu Yawen asked him what he was doing in the countryside, he told them the interesting stories of Shixi Village.

"Oh, you're farming yourself?" Lu Yawen looked at Su Ling in surprise. It was hard to imagine that such a noble young man would condescend to work in the fields.

"Most of the people in the village are self-sufficient. I can't go to the market in town to buy vegetables every day. I have space in my backyard, so I learned how to grow vegetables there," Su Ling said. "The vegetables I grow at home are fresh and tender and taste great when I pick them right away."

"Hearing you say that, I feel like eating too." Lu Yawen said, "When I have time, I will go to Phoenix Mountain to play."

"Speaking of Phoenix Mountain, did Xiaofeng buy a piece of land there?" Jiang Lihua asked.

Rong Siqiu held the teacup, took a sip and said, "It was not bought by Xiaofeng, but by Zhiyuan from the second brother's family."

"Zhiyuan? He is not..." Shen Man frowned. What Zhiyuan did had already spread among the relatives. Such a person who took advantage of his position to embezzle huge amounts of money from the company, transferred it overseas, and used it for his own benefit was simply a ruthless person.

As they were talking, new guests came into the yard. Two children of four or five years old ran into the living room, came over and called out to them sweetly without any shyness.

"Hello, great grandmother, hello, great aunt!"

The child was young and shouted at the old ladies. Then it was Su Ling's turn and he got stuck.

"Call him uncle." The old lady who came in from behind reminded them.

The child then obediently called Su Ling "Uncle".

All of a sudden, the status was raised, and Su Ling picked up the snacks on the table and gave them to them. The two children took them, climbed onto the chairs and sat down to eat.

Rong Siqiu said to Su Ling, "Your second aunt is here, go and make another pot of flower tea."

"Okay." Su Ling stood up, picked up the empty teapot and cups on the table and went to the kitchen.

My second aunt is Cen Guixiang, the wife of my second uncle Lu Lihao and the mother of Lu Zhiyuan. These two children are her great-grandchildren.

When Lu Zhiyuan did something immoral, her mother did not avoid suspicion but brought her great-grandson to visit. I wonder what she is up to.

"Oh, I'll just come and sit down. No need to make tea specially." Cen Guixiang smiled politely. She had already sat down next to her granddaughter, took out her handkerchief and wiped her hands which were covered with pastry crumbs.

Of course Su Ling listened to her mother-in-law and went into the kitchen on her own to steal a brief moment of leisure.

So, he didn't like coming to the ancestral home of the Lu family. Everyone lived together, so it was very convenient to visit each other and chat endlessly.

Second Aunt chose this time specifically and brought her two children with her, obviously she came prepared.

Presumably having received the news, Lu Feng returned to his ancestral home today, and was anxious to use his status as an elder to bring an army to bear on the culprit.

However, Su Ling was not worried at all, as his mother-in-law was no pushover either.

He patiently brewed the scented tea while several old ladies in the living room chatted about this and that without getting to the point. Whether intentionally or not, Cen Guixiang turned the conversation to the children.

"Sister-in-law, look at my great-grandson, he's already this big. When will your son Lu Feng give you a grandson?"

Su Ling held the brewed scented tea in her hand and stood at the kitchen door with her lips pursed.

Even Rong Siqiu, the mother-in-law, didn't urge her, but outsiders became anxious.

"Lu Feng and Su Ling are still young." She said lightly.

Cen Guixiang smiled ambiguously. "They are both men, how can they have children? I heard from my son Zhiyuan that he has invested in a biological research company abroad and is researching artificial uteruses. If Lu Feng is interested, I will ask Zhiyuan to help ask."

"Don't worry, Auntie."

Lu Feng's cold voice suddenly rang out as he came out of the study. Perhaps he had an unpleasant conversation with his father, and there was a chill on his body. Cen Guixiang's topic hit the nail on the head, which made his eyes sharp and his expression cold.

The author has something to say: The typos have not been corrected yet, I will fix and replace them tomorrow~ It’s too late today, I’m going to sleep first, please ignore the typos!