Watch out! Something's wrong with this guard.

Chapter 126 Brothers' Gathering, Oldest Brother Xiao He

The two walked together into Lao Liu's bamboo grove and soon came to Lao Liu's courtyard. Lao Qi was also there. The two set up an earthen stove, lit a fire, and there were a lot of pots and pans and cleaned ingredients next to them. When they saw Lu Yunshi and Li Hongying arrive, the two stood up and called out.

"Boss!"

As soon as he finished shouting, the seventh brother looked at Li Hongying with a puzzled expression. "I said, Fifth Sister, why didn't you come in after wandering around outside for so long? I thought you were trying to be lazy and not wash the vegetables. Turns out you were waiting for the eldest brother."

"Hmm?" Li Hongying's face darkened, and she squinted at Lao Qi.

"Uh..." Old Seven broke out in a cold sweat the moment he was looked at. "Maybe... I was seeing things. My eyesight hasn't been very good lately, haha."

"If your eyesight isn't good, I'll gouge them out," Li Hongying said viciously, then looked at Lu Yunshi with eyes that sparkled like stars.

"Boss, I haven't had 'that' in ages, could you give me one later?"

"Don't say things that could be easily misunderstood, okay? There are other people around." Lu Yunshi complained a couple of times, then, seeing Li Hongying's aggrieved expression, he took a deep breath and covered her eyes with his hand. "Okay, okay, I'll cook this meal for you."

"Boss!" x3

As soon as he finished speaking, not only Li Hongying, but even the sixth and seventh brothers' eyes sparkled. They loved their eldest brother's cooking skills.

"You two?" Lu Yunshi narrowed his eyes, looking at the sixth and seventh brothers. "You two should just forget about it, I'm not your biological father."

If she can't resist Li Hongying's coquettishness, how could she not resist two grown men?

What? You're saying Lu Yunshi is biased?

Haha, that's nonsense. Lu Yunshi can pat his chest and tell everyone that he's not only biased, he's also hypocritical.

The sixth and seventh brothers were immediately disappointed when they heard Lu Yunshi's refusal. However, they quickly exchanged a glance and saw the determination in each other's eyes. Then they immediately bowed and clasped their hands, looked at Lu Yunshi, and shouted loudly.

"Father!" x2

"???"

The two calls of "Father" completely shut down Lu Yunshi's brain. He felt that the world was so unfamiliar. Li Hongying, on the other hand, reacted quickly and stepped forward to help her two new sons up.

"Oh dear, my two good sons, get up quickly, don't tire yourselves out, or your mother will worry."

Heaven have mercy! This was the first time Li Hongying had spoken to the two brothers in such a gentle tone, which immediately made the two brothers feel that calling him "father" wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Li Hongying returned to Lu Yunshi's side with an undisguised smile. "Boss, you said they're already like this, so let them have a couple of bites. Don't let word get out and people think we're abusing the two brothers."

"No...it's you..."

Lu Yunshi looked at Li Hongying, intending to say something, but saw that Li Hongying seemed to have thought of something special, and her face immediately turned red, and she acted shy.

"Could it be... that you have that kind of fetish, but people would be embarrassed to talk like that in public? Even I can only do it in private."

“…Sigh~” Whether it was because he was tired or something else, Lu Yunshi didn’t say a word. He just waved to the three of them, just like an old father, telling them to find a seat themselves.

It was his fault. He should have known back then that none of the people he hung out with were normal.

A little while later, Chef Lu Yunshi, while tossing a wok in his hands, asked Lao Liu about the day's business. "Lao Liu, didn't you say you had something to say today? Why haven't you started yet?"

"Don't rush, boss, everyone's not here yet," the sixth brother replied, looking up from a small booklet in his hand.

"Oh, what have you been looking at so intently?" Lu Yunshi nodded, then asked.

"The ledger, I was just about to tell you about it, boss. I recently started a small project and made some money."

Hearing this, the seventh brother came over and asked with a fawning smile, "How much did you earn? I've been spending a lot lately, could you spare some for me?"

"It's none of your business," Old Six sneered, refusing to part with a single penny.

"Look, boss, I'm doing this for you." The seventh brother immediately tattled on him to his face.

"Don't look at me, I also need to ask Lao Liu for money recently. If I help you, why should I ask for it back?" Lu Yunshi refused decisively. One mission in Lijia Village had used up two-thirds of his stock, and he would have to ask for money back later.

"Fifth Sister~" Seeing that the eldest brother couldn't be relied on, the seventh brother immediately turned to the fifth sister. He firmly believed that as long as the fifth sister asked, the sixth brother wouldn't dare not give in.

"Don't look at me. Our ancestors have always stipulated that the empress dowager must not interfere in politics. There's nothing I can do about it, sister," Li Hongying sighed, looking helpless.

After his requests for funding were repeatedly rejected, Lao Qi was about to say something when he saw another figure walking in from outside.

"Looks like it's getting lively, and the eldest brother is even cooking. Is it almost Chinese New Year?"

The newcomer had striking features, handsome appearance, dark blue hair, and was dressed in black. He was Xiao He, Lin Qingxuan's good friend and also Lu Yunshi's second brother.

Lu Yunshi looked up and smiled at him, and Xiao He smiled and nodded slightly in return.

"Second Brother!" The sixth brother waved and greeted him.

"Hmph!" Li Hongying snorted coldly. She was unhappy with everyone ranked above her except for Lu Yunshi.

Seeing that only Lao Qi was present and hadn't greeted him, Xiao He couldn't help but feel a little puzzled, so he walked up to him and asked.

"Seventh brother, are you... heartbroken?"

"Heartbroken?" Old Seven's eyes widened. "Look at my face..."

"Isn't your face the kind that's prone to heartbreak? In terms of looks, you can't compare to the ordinary second brother or the unassuming eldest brother at all," the sixth brother interrupted the spellcasting and complained.

The seventh brother was speechless, and could only sigh with a wronged expression.

"Oh dear~ I can't stay in this house anymore. I wanted the eldest brother to give me some money to do my job properly, but I didn't expect that there was no money at all. They don't value me at all. Second brother, what do you think I should do? Sooner or later I will be forced to leave home."

"Run away from home?" Lu Yunshi was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Lao Qi. Lao Qi thought that the eldest brother was afraid that he would leave, and he was secretly pleased, but he still nodded with a wronged expression.

"That's right, running away from home and never coming back."

“Then…then you…” Lu Yunshi pursed his lips. “Then when you’re done running away from home, remember to bring some good things back for your brothers.”

"Okay, then what do you want, boss?" Before he could react, the seventh brother nodded and agreed to what the boss asked him to do. Then he realized that he had been tricked and was so angry that he couldn't speak.

Lu Yunshi burst into laughter upon seeing this. "Come on, you wouldn't leave even if the second brother betrayed you."

Hearing this, Xiao He looked helpless. "Big brother, point this out to my face!"