Old Lu pondered for a moment and said, "We should definitely move, but I don't know if the eldest daughter-in-law should wait until A-Zheng comes back before moving."

“We don’t even know when A-Zheng will be back. My eldest daughter-in-law definitely won’t be used to our current house. I reckon she’ll move there first,” Chen said confidently, thinking about Jiang Qinyu’s usual way of doing things.

Old Lu clapped his hands and stood up. "It doesn't matter whether we move or not, everything in the house is already packed up anyway."

They now live in a house that was simply rebuilt on the original site with the help of the villagers. The thatched house is drafty and not suitable for the eldest daughter-in-law and two children.

Speaking of this, Madam Chen thought of Chen Xiuer. After her initial anger and disappointment, all she could feel for Chen Xiuer now was a sigh, "If I hadn't overlooked Chen Xiuer's thoughts, our house wouldn't have been burned down..."

"Don't mention that ungrateful wretch," Old Man Lu said unhappily. "When the eldest daughter-in-law comes back, we still have to give her the money we prepared. We can't let the child feel cold."

Last time Chen Xiuer set fire, his family and Jiang Qinyu's family suffered the most severe losses. Half of Chen Shao's house next door was also burned down, and the old couple had to pay ten taels of silver in compensation.

The other villagers didn't suffer much loss and resolutely refused the compensation offered by Old Man Lu. Now, only Jiang Qinyu's family is left.

"Am I really that kind of confused person?" Chen glared at him. "Do you even need to tell me?"

When A-Zheng earned money to build the house for his family, it only cost him a little over twenty taels of silver. But his eldest daughter-in-law made their little home so comfortable and beautiful that she didn't know if the fifty taels of silver she had prepared would be enough.

"Your life is ruined because of Chen Xiuer," Old Man Lu sighed.

Chen had been married to him for so many years, and this was the only time she had suffered a major setback; otherwise, things had really been fine.

"Wasn't I only doing that for my younger sister's sake?" Madam Chen sighed.

When Old Man Lu saw that she was thinking about the Chen family again, he patted her on the shoulder and said, "Don't think about it too much."

Just then, Village Chief Li's voice rang out from outside, "Old Lu, sister-in-law, is there anything else you need help preparing?"

Old Lu responded to the sound and then turned and left.

Ms. Chen dismissed the jumbled thoughts in her mind and stopped thinking about it.

...

"Wow! Auntie, I can see our village's lookout tower!" Pan'er clapped her hands and smiled.

Shu Fan added with a smile, "It's Uncle Big Hammer on top."

Jiang Qinyu smiled and looked at the familiar scenery around her, a sense of joy rising in her heart.

The closer you get to the village, the more new buildings you see.

In the carriage behind, Old Master Lu and Qin Ziyi each lifted one side of the carriage curtain to look out, frequently uttering exclamations of wonder.

"Is that tall observation tower in the distance the little girl was talking about?"

"And what are these new houses for? They don't look like normal people's yards."

"And what's that circle over there?"

"Wow, there are so many people working together here. What are they doing?"

"..."

The two old men had no prior knowledge of Dingshui Village; their only impression was that Lu Yanzheng and Jiang Qinyu had come from there.

But now that I'm closer, I've discovered that this village is full of novelty.

In their minds, villages were remote, overgrown with weeds, and had dilapidated houses... Villagers considered it a good life if they could wear clothes with one less patch.

Looking at Dingshui Village, not to mention the houses, as far as the eye can see, there are new houses everywhere, all of them made of blue bricks and tiled roofs, arranged in a staggered manner on both sides of the road.

The field was planted with some kind of grain, a lush green expanse;

Not far away, a group of people were chanting slogans as they constructed a new building; it was unclear what it was.

After the carriage had traveled for about fifteen minutes, people on the road recognized A-Ping and Qin Shen.

"Ah Ping? Vice General Qin? You're back?"

"Quickly, hurry back to the village and tell everyone that A-Zheng's wife is back!"

"This is wonderful! We're going to have something delicious tonight..."

Many people came forward to greet them, and the carriage slowed down.

Hearing the familiar voices, Jiang Qinyu simply rolled up the carriage curtain and chatted with the villagers as they drove.

"Grandpa Jiang, take your time. Let's talk again when we get back to the village."

"Auntie Erzhuang, you're still as energetic as ever... Alright, alright, I'll take a look when we get back..."

"Sister-in-law Meng, are you and Brother Meng alright?"

"..."

In the carriage behind, Old Master Lu chuckled and said, "This girl is quite popular."

"Just look at what she did in Qinzhou, you should know that this girl is no ordinary person!" Qin Ziyi stroked his beard and smiled.

Someone who can help Lu Yanzheng establish a foothold in Qinzhou, receive resources from the Lu family, and plan to open a girls' academy—can they be a simple person?

Back then, Old Master Lu was only focused on investigating Lu Yanzheng, and didn't know much about what Jiang Qinyu had done in Yongshan County and Dingshui Village.

"Huh?" Qin Ziyi suddenly noticed the crisscrossing irrigation ditches in the fields on both sides of the road and asked, "Did they build irrigation ditches in the fields?"

As far as he knew, for many years, farmers in Dai Viet had dug a pond near a plot of land to collect rainwater, and then carried it to the fields for irrigation when needed.

But he only realized then that it seemed like every single plot of land in Dingshui Village had a water channel running through it.

Old Master Lu took a closer look, and his eyes lit up immediately. "Old Qin, you're not mistaken, it's an irrigation canal!"

He said, "That's why the crops here grow so well; it's because the soil has plenty of water."

"I wonder which genius designed this, look at the way their irrigation canals are... they almost cover the entire area, and they even avoid the wasteland where no crops are grown, it's not a waste at all!" Qin Ziyi said as he looked around.

Grandpa Lu pointed in one direction and said, "That's not all! Look over here, the irrigation canal was dug underground!"

"What's that compared to this? This is amazing! It looks like they've dug a tunnel into that hill!" Qin Ziyi found the place increasingly interesting.

How did they manage to do that? How much manpower must it have taken?

In fact, many of the places that needed to be excavated were solved with explosives, but the two old men didn't know that.

When Jiang Qinyu was at home, she specially made a batch of explosives suitable for road construction and maintenance for the village's development and safety. She also handed over the relevant knowledge to the village committee, leaving Village Chief Li to worry about who should learn it.

Seeing these achievements now, Jiang Qinyu felt a sense of pride welling up in her heart. The people of Dingshui Village are indeed smart and united!

She had just seen the newly built market, and the new village area in front of it was also built according to the blueprints she had provided earlier.

Moreover, she discovered that there were many more houses that weren't there before she left; this new batch of houses was all built according to the exterior design of her new house.

"My niece and the others are back!" Village Chief Li's shout brought Jiang Qinyu back to her senses.