Chapter 612

Several kids immediately cheered and jumped up, "Really, sis? Can we play after we finish our homework?"

"Yes." Mu Youyu added, "But no lying to me."

"No lying!" the little girl made a swearing gesture, and the other kids followed suit, promising over and over, as if they had already seen the dawn of freedom!

Song Huaiyu saw this scene, frowned, and pinched his brother hard.

"Don't move me." Song Huaixian winced and sucked in a breath.

He was just following Song Lujing to tease Jiang Liangjin; seeing his sister agree, several brothers and sisters were still watching him, so he had to raise the bar.

"Little sis, this sister didn't mean write today play tomorrow; it's write a whole book then play once."

Mu Youyu went along with his cue and replied, "Yes."

The leading girl quickly calculated, her face showing difficulty, "Um... if we start writing now, we could reach page one hundred today—how long could we play?"

Jiang Liangjin: No, you really plan to play?

Mu Youyu rested her fingertips on her chin, nodded solemnly, "Enough to play for a while."

Thus, the kids who had been listless a moment ago were now fully revived, swarming back to their own courtyards.

Song Lujing was still savoring his own cleverness, he leaned close to Jiang Liangjin: "How about it? I found you a few little lackeys."

Jiang Liangjin smiled obediently, "Tomorrow I'll tell them Brother Lujing's skills are the best."

"You're really nice; I was just worried about having no one to play with." Song Lujing, in a good mood, didn't retort, smiled and stepped back, "I'm going to get my phone."

Song Huaixian clicked his tongue a few times and also stepped back.

Song Huaiyu beside them shook his head, "Boring, why mess with him."

Song Huaixian snatched a piece of grilled meat and stuffed it in his mouth, "I can't explain it to someone like you who only does experiments."

Song Huaiyu didn't respond; he still dotes on his sister.

The elders' courtyard is at the other end of this Mountain Villa; passing through a bluestone path gets you there, and their laughter can be faintly heard.

At this moment the charcoal on the grill was blazing; Second Uncle turned the skewers in his hand, oil dripped onto the coals with a hiss, sending up a wisp of green smoke.

Second Aunt held a cup of cool tea, her beautiful eyes following her husband's movements, occasionally calling out, "Too much chili—Xiao Jing's throat has been sore these days, use less; I'll bring it over later."

Mu Shu laughed; how could he not know the kid's throat was uncomfortable?

Second Uncle just kept eating, "His throat is sore because he yelled at his older brother and sister-in-law all afternoon yesterday—what does that have to do with my chili?"

Second Aunt shoved the cool tea into his hand and said coolly, "Makes sense—drink more, it'll reduce the heat."

Second Uncle, after being forced to drink the bitter tea, still turned the lamb skewers a few more times, "Honey, sit down, stop bustling—Huaixian and them aren't grilling themselves? We're here to have fun."

He didn't earn all that money just to marry a wife to be a maid.

Second Aunt caught the subtext, smiled, and sat beside him, "Fine, fine, fine."

Second Uncle early on crossed from business into film, starting with commercials and eventually becoming an artistic director for international commercial films.

Later he got tired of overseeing shoots, so he wrote web novel adaptations under a pen name, hitting several S+ projects in a row, earning excellent reputation in the circle.

Now he is a top-tier web novel god, a gold-medal screenwriter, occasionally lending his name to direct a few films he's interested in; his life is much more relaxed than that of his third brother Song Huai.

Unfortunately, over the past year he's been living a semi-retired life; only recently did his younger brother—Father of Song Yan—ask him to pull a movie script, prompting him to come out of retirement.

This time coming here, besides keeping the family company, it's also to seek inspiration.

Amid the smoke and flames, Second Uncle flipped another side, "Xiao Huai, why are you standing over there? Come sit down."

Song Huai sat dazed in a nearby chair; hearing that, he lifted his eyelids, voice flat: "Second brother, just look after yourself."

Second Aunt and her husband whispered, "Don't say more; let him sit there in a daze—when Youbao comes over he'll naturally wake up."

Song Huai interrupted, "Second Aunt, I'm not spacing out; I'm thinking."

Second Aunt realized he heard that, her smile undiminished, "All right."

Song Huai said nothing more, his deep eyes returning to the distance.

"……"

Second Uncle, worried his third brother was overthinking, raised his voice to the opposite table: "Big Brother Mu, you too—why are you standing over there? Come eat some skewers."

Mu the Elder had been looking toward his niece; hearing the call, he turned his attention back, "Coming."

He strolled over to the stone table, sat beside Second Uncle, casually took a string of grilled chicken wings, and asked offhand, "You've been working on that script for a week, right?"

Song Huai turned his gaze back.

Second Uncle felt a bit discouraged, "I've revised it several times, but Xiao Yan says it's too brain‑burning; the audience might not get it."

"I wasn't trying to please everyone anyway; someone has to make something less straightforward."

Second Aunt heard her husband start to go on about his script again, and she tilted her body slightly.

"Your script—didn't Chu Chu say the first draft was pretty good? Why change it again?"

Second Uncle's hand paused on the skewers, he grabbed a paper to wipe his hands, "Chu Chu was just giving me face."

On the other hand, Mu Shu, who had been listening nearby, interjected a casual remark, "Just put Chu Chu back as the lead; this summer happens to let Sui Sui intern at the Song family, so we should lend a hand to support Chu Chu."

His two sons are both extremely busy, don't like to deal with people, and only come home a few times a year.

Usually he just often thinks about his brothers' kids.

Song Huai heard his son's name and replied, "Right, I'll talk to Sui Sui about it."

Second Uncle chuckled, tapping the skewer in the air, "That works; besides, one of the main characters was actually designed after him."

Second Aunt shook her head, "You guys chat, I'm going to find Ning Mu."

After the novelty of the first day wore off, everyone quickly adapted to this slow pace.

Mu Youyu and Jiang Liangjin simply gave up on any itinerary during this period, just wandering aimlessly around the Mountain Villa.

The Mountain Villa covers a large area with many side paths; many people live there, most of them escaping the summer heat.

Some of them are old family friends of the four households, occasionally bumping into each other in the courtyards.

They occasionally run into a few other residents of the Mountain Villa—nodding acquaintances who don't disturb each other.

The courtyard where the elders stayed always seemed to have endless topics to talk about, and these younger ones could not get in.

Grandfather, uncles, and elder brothers staying here felt at ease, still gathered together, also made some new companions; not long after, Jiang Su also came along.