Lu Chao rolled up his sleeves, digging for loaches and setting up bamboo traps.
In the end, he only managed to catch a few small fish and shrimp. He deliberately picked up the tiniest fish and said,
"Go home and call your grown-ups! Otherwise, your brothers are going straight into the frying pan!"
Then he tossed it in a perfect arc back into the river.
Lu Yuanyi burst into laughter.
"And you had the nerve to say you were experienced! What a joke!"
Lu Chao ignored him, chewing on a wild berry as he continued digging for earthworms. Hmph, in his past life, he’d gone deep-sea fishing—caught a meter-long Spanish mackerel, something Lu Yuanyi wouldn’t even have seen before.
Lu Yuanyi was terrified of soft, wriggly creatures and kept his distance from the earthworms.
"Trust me, this spot is definitely their nest. We’re gonna hit the jackpot this time!"
The young servants, all teenagers, had already joined in digging for earthworms, not forgetting to butter Lu Chao up.
"Third Young Master has an eye for this! This place is teeming with fish!"
Lu Chao grinned.
"If we catch enough, I’ll have the cook fry up a plate for you all! Extra meal today!"
Lady Lu planted her hands on her hips. "Oh, listen to you, acting all generous! This wouldn’t even fill the gaps in my teeth!"
She then pointed at the tenant farmers and said, "Fetch me another bamboo trap and a small piece of meat, or else you might not get any fish for dinner tonight!"
Honestly, feeding meat to fish? Might as well feed me instead! Though the tenant farmer was screaming internally, he obediently went off to find the trap.
It would take a while for the trap to yield results, so Lu Chao glanced around the creek. The wildflowers were so vibrant they looked like they’d stepped out of an oil painting, brightening the whole scene.
"Lu Chao, why are you picking flowers all of a sudden?"
Lu Yuanyi held back the rest of his thought—it seemed a bit too girly, especially in front of so many people.
(He’d even picked up the word "girly" from Lu Chao.)
"Flowers for the fairest, of course—they’re for Mother!"
Lu Yuanyi’s eyes widened. "Wow! That’s just shameless! Flaunting your favoritism right in front of me!"
Lu Chao smirked. "Well then, let’s see who can arrange a prettier bouquet?"
"Bring it on!"
Lu Yuanyi could never resist a challenge and immediately started picking his own wildflowers.
This one’s the biggest! Gorgeous! This one’s the reddest! Also gorgeous!!
When Lady Lu had just finished spreading her favorite cloth over the table and arranging the freshly picked fruits, Lu Yuanyi’s booming voice echoed from afar.
"Mother!! Mother!!"
Lady Lu shook her head with a smile. That child was like a wild horse off its reins.
"Slow down, the rocks here are slippery. Don’t trip," she said softly. As they got closer, she noticed both brothers walking toward her with their hands behind their backs, looking a little too eager.
"What’s wrong with your hands? Did you hurt yourselves?"
Lu Chao’s hands had only just healed—she couldn’t bear the thought of him getting hurt again. She immediately reached out to inspect them.
"Ta-da!"
Two bouquets suddenly appeared before her eyes, leaving Lady Lu stunned for a moment.
"What… what’s this?"
"Flowers for the fairest—these are for you, of course!" Lu Chao struck a dramatic pose, mimicking a gentleman’s bow.
Lu Yuanyi copied him clumsily, presenting his own extravagant bouquet.
"Mother!! Only a bouquet this grand could match your beauty!! Look at mine!! Isn’t it way prettier than Lu Chao’s?!"
Lady Lu stared at the bold, oversized red flowers, laughing so hard the corners of her eyes crinkled.
They’d absolutely nailed the theatrics.
Lord Lu twitched the corner of his mouth. He looked at his smiling wife and then at the concubine beside her with a resentful look in her eyes.
Lu Yuanzhao touched his nose. His younger brothers were so good at these things. What could he do? He felt a bit dull in comparison.
"Here!" Lu Chao took out two more small bunches of flowers from his sleeve and handed them to Baohua and Baozhu.
"Wow! How beautiful! Where did you pick these flowers? I want to go and pick more!" Baohua didn't expect to get one too. She happily jumped up without caring about etiquette.
"By the stream. If you like them, ask the maids to accompany you there, but don't get too close to the stream!"
Baohua and Baozhu nodded. They looked at their step - mother, and after getting a nod from Lady Lu, they looked at Aunt Zhou.
Aunt Zhou felt jealous to the core. She waved her hand to let them go.
"Auntie, I'll pick flowers for you later!" Baohua said in a crisp voice.
This made Aunt Zhou blush.
This little girl. It was as if she was jealous that Lady Lu got the flowers.
"Where are your fish? Didn't you say you'd catch some for mother to cook?" Lady Lu took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off Lu Chao and Lu Yuanyi's faces.
"I think you couldn't catch any fish and are using these flowers to cope with her," Lord Lu said quietly.
"No way! We've set up the bamboo baskets. We'll soon see the result!"
Lord Lu lost interest in playing chess.
"Let's go and see how many fish you've caught in those bamboo baskets!"
Lord Lu led the three brothers away in a hurry.
Lady Lu was very fond of these wild flowers. When she was still in her boudoir, she loved to pick fresh flowers and make them into flower garlands when playing with her sisters. After all these years, she didn't expect to receive flowers from her sons.
"Shishu, go and get two vases to put these in. I'll take them back to the mansion. Oh, this bunch from Yuanyi is too big for a vase. We need a big basin."
The servants around her all laughed when they heard this.
The experienced cook in the manor flatteringly said, "Madam, you're really blessed to have three such filial sons. I've never seen such smart young men in my life."
"Yes, indeed. Heaven has been kind to me!"
Lady Lu replied with a beaming smile. This made the servants think even more highly of the three young masters.
By the stream.
The guard carefully lifted the bamboo basket, afraid of scaring the fish inside. Lu Chao and Lu Yuanyi on the shore stared intently at the water surface, as if they were about to witness a miracle.
As the bamboo basket gradually emerged from the water, the guard suddenly pulled it up and quickly transferred it to the shore.
"Wow! So many fish and shrimps!"
"Hahaha! There are so many!"
The fish out of the water jumped vigorously, making a loud noise on the grass.
The biggest fish was only three fingers wide, not very big, but there were a lot of them.
"It seems that little fish really called its family here! Hahaha!"
Their laughter echoed in the quiet mountain and scared the birds in the forest away.
The skillful cook had already started a fire to cook. The little maids were washing and cutting vegetables. Soon, the fragrance of the food wafted through the valley.
Lu Yuanyi's birthday didn't have the long - life noodles that Lu Chao had expected, nor was there a scene of everyone raising their glasses to congratulate him.
According to the Lu family's custom, children with a weak horoscope should celebrate their birthdays quietly. They were afraid that if they made a big deal out of it, the child would be taken away by heaven. So, it was all done secretly.
Looking at this scene, Lord Lu even wanted to compose a poem. Afraid of losing his inspiration, he went to the carriage to look for paper and ink after only taking a couple of bites of his meal.
Lu Chao was eating with his head down. The food really tasted better when eaten outside!
As the sun was about to set in the west, after a hearty meal, everyone hurriedly packed up their things and headed back home.
Lu Chao had no choice but to wait until night to secretly place the gift beside Lu Yuanyi's bedside, planning to give him a surprise.
Unexpectedly, when he went to school the next day, Su Yunzheng also gave him a surprise.
