Camping Picnic

The tent was set up on a flat area near the water.

Gu Yingying kept saying it was too much trouble, but her actions betrayed her words as she obediently assisted Leng Ling'er.

"Hmm, Gu Yingying, you're actually pretty good at this," Leng Ling'er remarked, satisfied with the tent they had built together.

"Good...?" Gu Yingying froze for a moment. She hadn’t really done much—just helped Leng Ling'er with small tasks.

"Yeah, without you, I definitely couldn’t have done it alone."

As Leng Ling'er said this, she reached out and ruffled Gu Yingying’s hair with a smile. "Thanks~!"

!!

The moment those words left her mouth—

Thump! Thump!

Gu Yingying’s heart inexplicably began racing.

She actually said she couldn’t have done it without me...? Something like this...

No one has ever praised me like this before.

Everyone always expects me to be perfect at everything.

If I’m not good enough, then I don’t deserve to be part of the Gu family.

But...

Why... why would she praise me like this when I barely did anything...?

Gu Yingying lightly pressed her lips together, feeling the warmth rise in her cheeks.

Huh? Ah... Why is my heart beating so fast?

Could it be...? No... That can’t be...

"Hehe, I’m gonna go check on how Brother-in-law’s fishing is going."

Leng Ling'er didn’t notice Gu Yingying’s flustered state and casually walked off toward Gu Yan.

Meanwhile, Gu Yingying stood rooted in place, staring at Leng Ling'er’s retreating figure, unable to look away.

Sister Ling'er...

By the lakeside, Gu Yan and Old Gao sat on fishing chairs, two buckets placed beside them—both filled to the brim with fish.

Swish!

Gu Yan cast his line while chatting leisurely with Old Gao. "How’s Shitou and the others been lately?"

Old Gao thought for a moment before replying with a smile, "Ever since you set those new rules, Young Master, everyone’s been working harder than before."

"The class division system has strengthened the bonds between the groups, and the Light of Hope has become much more organized."

"As for the general education teachers, Long Zaitian has already found some. Their daily task is to teach Shitou and the others how to read, write, and improve their cultural knowledge."

"The only flaw... is that the Light of Hope still lacks a managerial talent."

"Organizing competitions, allocating resources—none of that can be done smoothly without someone like that."

Gu Yan nodded. This was pretty much what he had expected. He channeled his inner energy to force a fish to bite—

Swish!

He reeled in another catch.

Old Gao shook his head at the sight. "Young Master, cheating at fishing isn’t fun."

"Cheating is a privilege of the Young Master."

Gu Yan chuckled lightly. "I’ll make sure to assign the right people to the Light of Hope soon. By the end of the year—"

Just then—

"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law! I wanna try too!"

Leng Ling'er came bounding over, chattering excitedly.

"Alright, alright. Do you even know how?"

"Brother-in-law, who do you think you’re looking down on? There’s nothing I can’t do!"

Leng Ling'er happily picked up a fishing rod—she had been wanting to try this for a while.

Gu Yan shook his head with an amused smile. When his little sister-in-law was acting normal, she really was quite normal.

As he thought this, his gaze drifted to Gu Yingying.

She was standing not too far away, watching them with an expression caught between eagerness and hesitation.

Gu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly—her gaze... seemed to be fixed entirely on Leng Ling'er.

?

A question mark slowly formed in his mind, but he shook off the random thoughts and waved at her.

"Yingying, come join us. It’s no fun standing there alone."

Gu Yingying really wanted to go over, but she was too embarrassed to take the initiative.

Now that Gu Yan had called out to her, she inwardly sighed in relief—though outwardly, she lifted her chin with a haughty huff.

"You think I’ll just come over because you told me to...?"

"Fine, don’t come then."

"Ah! Wait, I wanna try too!"

Gu Yingying hurriedly ran over.

Old Gao chuckled as he stood up. "Young Master, you’re too cruel."

"Can’t be helped. Kids need to be taught like this."

Gu Yan grinned, then turned to Gu Yingying. "Alright, you two can take over here. Old Gao and I will go get the barbecue ready."

"Mm, go ahead."

Gu Yingying glanced at Leng Ling'er, who was now fully absorbed in fishing, and replied dismissively.

"Tsk, you were much cuter when you were little."

Gu Yan sighed dramatically before picking up the buckets and heading toward the grill with Old Gao.

"I’m still cute now!"

Gu Yingying shouted after him indignantly.

Once he was gone, she looked down at the fishing rod on the ground, hesitated for a second, then sat beside Leng Ling'er.

With a slightly bashful expression, she asked, "S-Sister Ling'er... could you teach me how to fish?"

"Sure! Why are you calling me ‘Sister Ling'er’ all of a sudden?"

"It feels... closer this way."

"Oh, sure. Bai Qionglan and the others call me that too."

Bai Qionglan... and others?

Gu Yingying mentally noted this down. Aside from that Bai Qionglan, were there other people around Sister Ling'er?

Hmph! Whatever. She was a third-rate martial artist—no matter who came, none of them could possibly be her match!

Time passed slowly.

Gu Yan and Old Gao had already set up the grill, and the food was starting to sizzle.

Leng Qingqiu and Gu Yunrou returned as well, carrying a basket filled with wild mushrooms and fruits they had gathered.

"Back already?"

Gu Yan’s eyes lit up. Ah, this camping trip was finally getting interesting now that Qingqiu was here!

What was the point of just playing around with a bunch of kids otherwise?

"Mn."

Leng Qingqiu nodded softly and handed the basket to Gu Yan. "See how much we found?"

Gu Yan looked inside at the meager handful of fruits and grinned. "Not bad, not bad. I’ve got a small appetite lately—this should be enough."

Leng Qingqiu’s face flushed slightly at his teasing.

Gu Yunrou shot Gu Yan a glare. "Gu Yan, Qingqiu and I tried our best, but you should at least consider our physical limits."

Gu Yan blinked in surprise, glancing between Gu Yunrou and Leng Qingqiu.

Huh???

Weren’t you still calling her "Miss Leng" before?

Now it’s just "Qingqiu"? When did you two get so close?

Is this how girls are???

He cleared his throat. "It’s fine. These’ll make good side dishes. Old Gao and I caught plenty of fish, and I brought a lot of beef and lamb too."

"Anyway, it’ll take a while for the food to cook. Sis, why don’t you go keep an eye on Gu Yingying and the others by the lake? Wouldn’t want them falling in."

?

"Do you ever say anything nice?"

Gu Yunrou rolled her eyes. Still...

It was true that leaving two kids unsupervised by the water wasn’t the safest idea. After a moment’s thought, she decided to go watch over them.

Now that the "obstacle" was gone—

Gu Yan’s expression instantly shifted into a smug grin.

He teleported next to Leng Qingqiu, grabbing her hand. "Hehe, finally got rid of the nuisance."

"Qingqiu, let’s take a walk by the lake. Old Gao can handle the grilling."

Old Gao: "......"

Leng Qingqiu sighed in exasperation. So this was his true face.

"Calling your own sister a nuisance...?"

But...

Leng Qingqiu genuinely wanted to spend time with Gu Yan, so...

"Sure, let's go."