As soon as she said that, the whole place burst into laughter!

Wu Lan very timely brought over a big basin of watermelon: "Come on, come on, it’s hot, eat more watermelon!"

...

In the guesthouse, Lun Jing checked today’s booking record, then sent a message to Lun Chuan:

"Tantan asked me to go over and eat watermelon. It’s Saturday and there are a lot of people today. Someone might come over here to take photos. I’ll stay and keep an eye on this place, you go."

Then added: "I heard his older cousin’s girlfriend and her family are here too, you should go keep the guests company."

Lun Chuan was on a video call with Qiaoqiao:

"In the car?"

"Going to a suburban county farm?"

"Nice, then Qiaoqiao look around more, take more videos, let us see how other people plan out their farms..."

"Big sis didn’t pick up? Older cousin’s girlfriend brought her dad and mom along, she’s probably helping cut watermelon, left her phone to the side..."

"Pick some daylily and mail it back? Sure! Your Aunt Lun Jing loves that. If it’s good, we’ll see about planting some next year."

"No land left? Yeah, every inch of land at home is already properly planned... but some crops can’t be rotated. You can see how they arrange things over there, come back and we’ll talk it over more with Sister Yan Ran and the others."

"Cotton? You still have to experience picking cotton yourself? Be careful not to prick your hands picking cotton... Making a quilt, huh! Sure, make one for Grandpa and Grandma, they’re older and used to cotton quilts..."

He rambled on for quite a while. If He Kuang and Qin Yun saw how gentle and mild he looked right now, they’d definitely throw themselves at him shrieking again.

Once the call ended, the tablet in front of him had already gone dark. His smiling face was reflected in the black, glossy screen, and even Lun Chuan himself was a little taken aback.

Back in the Imperial City, the housekeeper Aunt once secretly told his family he looked like he was smiling, but in reality seemed terribly strict...

If not for that, he wouldn’t have ended up with only two or three close friends now.

After living in the countryside for a long time, cut off from the big-city social circle, he actually seemed a bit more alive.

He tapped open Lun Jing’s voice message, changed his clothes and headed downstairs. He saw his mom frowning at the screen in front of her, looking extremely serious—

Right.

Watching dramas again.

Mary Sue romance dramas, idol dramas, the short dramas that are popular now—no matter what the plot is, his mom always has this look when she’s watching: like it’s so serious, like she’s very unhappy, when in fact who knows how many times she’s squealed inside.

He knocked on the counter: "Ms. Lu."

"Mm?" Lun Jing answered, eyes still glued to the screen: "What is it?"

Lun Chuan glanced over twice—the domineering CEO on screen was scratching like he had an allergy in a gold-and-jade-laden room, panting heavily from head to toe.

No need to ask, got X-drugged.

He turned his head away, didn’t rush her, and just asked again: "It’s hot now, and fewer people are coming out to the village. Do you want to go traveling somewhere?"

Huh?

Lun Jing came back to herself: "Travel?"

Travel sounds good, but...

Ai!

She said in anguish: "I did want to ask two girlfriends to travel, but look at me now, I’ve gained ten, twenty pounds. I want to lose the weight first so I’ll look good in the photos when I go."

Lun Chuan couldn’t help laughing: "Mom, if you keep staying around Song Tan, you won’t lose weight even in another ten years. Go out and suffer a little."

Actually, though Lun Jing was bigger than before, in Song Tan’s eyes she could only be described as voluptuous.

At her age, her mature charm was in full force, and with a bit more flesh on her, she instead seemed kinder and more prosperous-looking, her approachability was off the charts.

Plus, nourished by the good mountains and waters, her lips were rosy, teeth white, and hair thick; she really looked like one of those Hong Kong-style beauties from the last century.

That ex, that old boyfriend from before—if he stood next to her now, he’d definitely look like the chauffeur. She looked so much more classy than him.

But because of that annoying mess last time, she no longer brought up dating boyfriends. Looking through her chat history with Song Tan, it was mostly all kinds of links from that certain app— 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

[Found an absolute model-tier hunk at a bar...]

Anyway, the woman who used to go dancing in the thick of the crowd hadn’t gone traveling for over half a year now. Lun Chuan had discussed it with Song Tan, worried she’d be feeling stifled, so he made this suggestion.

And Lun Jing didn’t object either; she just mulled it over again:

"Let’s wait until this busy stretch is over. When it is, I’ll ask Tan’s mom if she wants to go out. The two of us can pair up."

"Oh right, bring me back a small watermelon later. I want to eat it with a spoon while I watch my show."

Lun Chuan nodded and was just about to head out when he suddenly heard Lun Jing say:

"How’s work been lately? Making decent money?"

Lun Chuan paused: "Do you need money?"

Lun Jing only shook her head: "I just think you look pretty broke... Look, even the male leads in short dramas now need to have tens of billions to be worthy."