Village Chief Li ran forward, carrying a gong in his hand, striking it and laughing loudly.

The carriage stopped at the village entrance, and Jiang Qinyu and the others got off one after another.

Chen and Old Man Lu were pushed to the front by the crowd.

"Eldest daughter-in-law..." Chen opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but upon seeing Jiang Qinyu, she couldn't help but cry, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back..."

Jiang Qinyu held her hand and smiled reassuringly, "Mother, are you and Father alright?"

She reached out a handkerchief and wiped away Chen's tears.

Mrs. Chen sniffed. "We're all fine, all fine. You must have suffered a lot out there. Look how thin you've become. I'll have to make sure you get some nourishment when you come back."

“Yes, eldest daughter-in-law, you and Shufan and Pan’er should both take some tonics. There are still eight old hens at home. I’ll kill them all for you to eat tomorrow…” Old Man Lu said from the side.

Jiang Qinyu quickly thanked them, but she was soon pulled aside by other villagers who continued to shower her with concern and ask her all sorts of questions.

After a lively scene at the village entrance, Village Chief Li sighed and said apologetically to Jiang Qinyu, "My dear niece, it's your useless uncle who's the village chief. You and Azheng weren't home, and we didn't protect your house properly, so someone took advantage of the situation and burned it down..."

“Uncle Village Chief, you’re exaggerating. It was Chen Xiuer who did it; it has nothing to do with us,” Jiang Qinyu said.

She only remembered in the last two days that her house had been burned down.

Hearing Village Chief Li mention it, Jiang Qinyu looked in the direction of her home and saw the newly built thatched house that the villagers had built for her.

“My dear niece, please don’t be offended. Due to time constraints, we only built thatched huts for your two families. We thought that once your new houses are built, we could keep the original land as a memento!” Village Chief Li explained.

Since they helped her for free, how could Jiang Qinyu possibly complain? After thanking them repeatedly, she finally saw the villagers off.

As soon as she had a moment to spare, Yunzhu came to ask, "Madam, should we put our things directly at the new house?"

Their old house burned down, and they brought so many things back with them. If they don't put them in their new house, they'll have to leave them with other people in the village.

Jiang Qinyu nodded, "Let's put it in the new house first."

“Yes, I’ll take you there,” Old Man Lu said, leading the way. “We’ve already heated up the kang (heated brick bed) at the new house, so you can move in right away.”

He said that because he saw Jiang Qinyu bring two old men back.

The two old men, along with their coachman and attendants, made up eight people in total, which was definitely not enough to house them all.

But since they already had a new house, there was no need to stay in the village, which is why Old Man Lu mentioned that the kang (heated brick bed) had already been heated.

"What is a kang?" Qin Ziyi asked Jiang Qinyu.

Before Jiang Qinyu could answer, Village Chief Li said with a smile, "Old man, this kang (heated brick bed) was invented by my eldest niece. It's so warm to sleep on in winter!"

As he spoke, he described the condition of the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).

"There really are beds like this?" Old Master Lu leaned closer. "I've heard people say before that there are such things in Yukang Prefecture. I didn't expect it to have originated from your village?"

At that time, Xiao Rui was promoting the heated kang in Yukang Prefecture, but he hadn't had time to pass the technology on to Qinzhou, and he hadn't even told the Lu family. Therefore, Old Master Lu had only heard of it, but didn't know the specific origins of the heated kang.

Jiang Qinyu overheard their conversation and couldn't help but think of this incident, but considering the old man's grief over losing his son, she remained silent.

Yunzhu, Amber, and the others went to arrange their accommodations for the night, while Jiang Qinyu led the two old men home.

Old Lu accompanied them the whole time, and Chen went to the kitchen to bring out a cup of hot tea.

Village Chief Li said, "My dear niece, gentlemen, our village is having dinner together tonight, please don't mind!"

Jiang Qinyu immediately understood that this was a special preparation to welcome them back, so she smiled and agreed.

Village Chief Li left in a hurry, and then Grandpa Lu and Qin Ziyi pulled Jiang Qinyu aside to ask about the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).

Jiang Qinyu could only give Chen an apologetic look and then explain the situation to the two old men in detail.

She could tell that Ms. Chen seemed to have a lot to say to her.

After finally satisfying the two old men's curiosity, Jiang Qinyu took Chen's arm and went into the inner room.

As soon as Chen opened her mouth, tears streamed down her face. "Eldest daughter-in-law, I'm so sorry..."

"Mother, don't cry. It's just that the old house burned down. It's not a big deal. But Chen Xiuer is dead... Don't keep worrying about it. Our family has done nothing wrong to her." Jiang Qinyu knew that Chen Shi was still upset about this.

Seeing that she truly had no resentment and no complaints, Madam Chen wiped away her tears, took out a silver note, and handed it to her, saying, "This is a fifty-tael silver note. Your father and I went to exchange it specially. Please keep it."

Just as Jiang Qinyu was about to decline, Madam Chen continued, "Don't refuse. This is from your father and me. You and Azheng didn't ask us for a single penny when you built your new house. It was because of me that your original house was burned down. If you don't accept it, I won't feel at ease."

Having said all that, what else could Jiang Qinyu do?

She could only accept it, saying helplessly, "Mother, please don't take it to heart. Neither Zheng-ge nor I care."

“Your indifference is your magnanimity, but I am a mother, and I must act with a clear conscience,” Chen insisted, her eyes red.

Although giving money couldn't fully compensate for Jiang Qinyu's losses, she had done her best.

Now she and the old man only have two taels of silver left, otherwise she would have given them more.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qinyu stopped talking and changed the subject.

...

That afternoon, the entire Dingshui Village was bustling with activity.

Shufan and Pan'er were overjoyed to see their long-lost friends and were pulled around the village by Lu Tianbao and the other children.

Aunt Qin and the others who were close to Jiang Qinyu chatted with her about everyday things, asking her all sorts of questions out of curiosity. Some of the older women who had never left the village asked her a lot of funny questions.

"Ah Zheng's family, I heard that the people outside are very scary. Do the people of Qinzhou have red eyebrows and green eyes, like monsters in paintings?"

"Hahaha... Er Leng's mother, what kind of question is that? Didn't A Zheng's wife bring two old men back with her? What do you think of their appearance?"

"Uh... I just heard it from someone else, but those two old men, although they're old, look better than all the old men in our village. What do they eat? Do you think if I ate it, I could become younger?"

"What are you dreaming about? Do you think you can afford to eat what they're eating? You..."

Jiang Qinyu found their conversation both funny and exasperating, and she felt genuinely relaxed.

All the hard work of the past few days seemed to vanish in this moment.

At a long table some distance from Jiang Qinyu, Wang Pozi's daughter, Wang Jinhua, looked at Jiang Qinyu and asked, "Mother, do you think what that person said is true?"

"What did you say?" Granny Wang asked, looking up as she shelled beans.

Wang Jinhua lowered her voice, "She said that my older brother was killed by Lu Yanzheng and his wife..."