On the day of Du Yu’s wedding, Xu Mumu was relatively relaxed. In contrast, Yin Yang and Huo Qingze were practically overwhelmed with busyness.

The expedition team was indeed preparing to build a road. Many people from several nearby brigades had signed up to help in order to connect the road from the mountain to its base.

Yin Yang and Qingze were focused on the section of the road from the brigade to the county town. They had contracted the entire area behind the Xu Family’s mountain.

Both of them had been busy with this project recently, and Xu Mumu’s long-awaited trip to the seaside had to be postponed.

Although a little disappointed, Xu Mumu didn’t say much about it. With Yin Yang so busy, she couldn’t really help, so she decided not to add to his burdens.

There’s no need to worry about the funds, as the construction team was sent to work on the mountain section, so they had to find people within the brigade.

The materials had been purchased, and with financial support, the brigade leader was actively organizing people from the brigade to build this road, which was a great thing.

The wages they offered were decent, and they provided meals, which motivated a lot of people to respond enthusiastically.

The farm work could wait for more than half a month, so everyone started enthusiastically contributing to the road construction.

The excitement in the brigade was visible to Xu Mumu, and everyone seemed happy. Each time Yin Yang and his team left, they were greeted with a warm welcome.

Seeing how busy Yin Yang was every day and noticing he’d lost weight made Xu Mumu feel heartbroken.

Even Madam Chen felt sorry for him, noticing how he left early and returned late. She wondered what he was doing with Huo Qingze.

Lately, the brigade was busy with road construction, also harvesting corn and sweet potatoes, so busy that even the brigade leader was hard to find, leaving other brigade officials to organize tasks.

Xu Mumu helped Madam Chen and others harvest corn for two days. It was unbearably hot, and the corn leaves left many scratches on her arms. She decided against continuing due to the heat and once again marveled at the diligence of the brigade members who were accustomed to working even in such hot weather.

During her days of rest at home, Xu Mumu was surprised by Xu Xue’s return.

Xu Xue came back suddenly, which surprised Xu Mumu. Could it be because she knew Huo Qingze had returned? Was that why she came back?

But that wasn’t it. Xu Xue simply wanted to visit her younger brother. She didn’t care much about Xu Mumu’s return. Everything seemed good now, the eldest uncle’s family stopped their antics, and her grandparents didn’t trouble their home any longer, so Xu Xue was quite satisfied with things.

No one besides Xu Mumu in the Old Xu Family knew about Xu Xue and Huo Qingze.

With Xu Xue’s return, Qian Ying had no time to visit her daughter because she was busy with work. They were still living within the brigade, and the work points were needed for food allocation at the end of the year; without food distribution, what would they eat next year? Buying everything wasn’t an option.

At home, there were only a few children and the old couple. Sun Huiping was in the yard doing laundry. She was pregnant now, with her belly slightly showing, so high-intensity farm work wasn’t suitable for her. Doing household chores was enough for her.

After greeting everyone, Xu Xue went to play with Kangkang. Kangkang was still close to his sister; even though Xu Xue didn’t visit often, the little guy recognized her right away.

As dusk approached, Zhou Yunhong drove Yin Yang and Huo Qingze back.

Xu Xue was caught off guard by the sudden sight of Huo Qingze and almost doubted her eyes. It was indeed Huo Qingze, and he was staying at her home.

"Mom? Why is Huo here?" Xu Xue asked quietly as she helped Qian Ying wash vegetables in the kitchen, curious about what was happening.

"It was your eldest brother-in-law who invited him over for something. He’s been here for more than half a month." Qian Ying replied calmly, as she had grown accustomed to Huo Qingze staying with them.

"For that long?" Xu Xue’s voice involuntarily rose higher. If only someone had told her earlier, she would have rushed back home instantly.

"Yes, they’ve been busy lately. What’s wrong with you?" Qian Ying asked her eldest daughter, puzzled.

"I’m fine." Xu Xue took a deep breath. With Huo Qingze living in her house, this was a great opportunity, one she’d let slip by for too long. No way, she decided she wouldn’t return to the provincial city for the remaining days. She planned to stay home and work on improving her rapport with Huo Qingze.

Xu Mumu noticed both Xu Xue’s and Huo Qingze’s surprise upon seeing each other. She realized Huo Qingze hadn’t expected Xu Xue to return.

However, Huo Qingze only seemed surprised for a moment and quickly brushed it off, as he still had work to do. Whatever needed to be explained to Xu Xue, he had already done so, and he didn’t think they had much to talk about.

After dinner, Xu Xue wanted to talk to Huo Qingze, only to find him busy writing and sketching, struggling with the dim oil lamp and already urging the power company to bring electricity.

"What are you doing here?" Huo Qingze raised his head, frowning lightly at Xu Xue.

"I... Are you busy?" Xu Xue glanced at the items in front of Huo Qingze, hesitating to speak further, not wanting to disturb him and worsen his impression of her.

"Yeah, do you need something?" Huo Qingze looked at Xu Xue.

"No, you carry on." Xu Xue shook her head, "I made some snacks for you to try." She took out a small plate of snacks she had carefully prepared, beautifully arranged and smelling delicious.

"No need, I’ve had dinner and still have work to do." Huo Qingze declined, glancing twice at the plate of snacks before looking back at Xu Xue.

Under Huo Qingze’s cool gaze, Xu Xue felt as if her emotions were laid bare, making her blush. She hadn’t expected to be so close to him. He was tall and undeniably handsome.

"Well, then you carry on. I’ll leave these here for you to eat when you’re hungry. Don’t work too late; the oil lamp isn’t bright enough, making it hard to read or write, and it strains the eyes." Xu Xue said before hurrying away, fearing he might return the snacks to her.

Back in her room, Xu Xue still couldn’t calm her racing heart and bit her lip.

"Sis, why’d you go see Huo?" Xu Wan, sharing the room, smelled the snacks earlier and suspected her sister was cooking something. Since it wasn’t left behind, she guessed Xu Xue had taken it to Huo.

"Huo is a guest, so I made some snacks to take to him," Xu Xue replied flatly, not wanting to reveal her thoughts to her family just yet.