Wang Bo smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, "It's me, Uncle Village Chief. I didn't expect you to recognize me."

He was only fifteen years old at the time, and after six years of training in the army, he no longer looked like he did back then.

"Is it really you?" Village Chief Li looked at him in surprise. "Why are you back? Is there no more fighting at the border?"

When Wang Bo and others were conscripted, the government did not tell the people of Dingshui Village where they were assigned. It was only later, when Wang Bo sent a message back, that Village Chief Li and the others found out.

However, since the village had no way to send messages to the army, news about the other villagers remained unknown.

When Wang Bo heard the question, the smile on his face stiffened for a moment, but the stiffness was fleeting. He quickly said with great distress, "The Dayuan Kingdom still harbors treacherous intentions towards our Great Yue, and the war is still going on. However, I was injured and was sent back to my hometown."

The Great Yue is now beset by internal and external troubles, and has been fighting with the Great Yuan Kingdom for more than a decade without a clear victor.

Village Chief Li nodded in understanding. "I see. So why did you come back to the village with your parents?"

“I met my parents on their way to Qiongzhou Prefecture. I agree with Uncle Village Chief that it’s not the right time for us to flee famine,” Wang Bo said earnestly.

He knew more than the people in Dingshui Village, and when he encountered Granny Wang and her group, he persuaded them to return.

When they returned, they found that Dingshui Village had changed. They had implemented a work point system, and now the whole village had to work together to do everything. They had to use work points to exchange for silver and grain in the village.

When Granny Wang first heard about this, she thought the villagers were crazy and didn't want to live like everyone else. But Wang Bo told her to go find the village chief and ask them to join in.

Wang Pozi had great faith in her eldest son, Wang Bo. He was the only successful person in her family, and back then, he was the most promising person in the village besides Lu Yanzheng.

And so, this scene unfolded.

"Hehe, that's true. If we stay, we can also earn a living." Thinking of their discovery in the mountains, Village Chief Li couldn't help but laugh.

What's even more surprising is that the soil in the fields has inexplicably become moist in the past few days, and several experienced farmers in the village are confident that there will be no problem with this year's autumn planting.

“Uncle Village Chief, we all live in the same village, so why don’t you let our families join you?” Wang Bo said solemnly.

If it were Granny Wang, Village Chief Li wouldn't want to pay attention, but Wang Bo is different; this boy is capable of great things.

Village Chief Li hesitated. "I can't make this decision on my own. Why don't you wait until A-Zheng's wife and the others come back before we talk about it?"

"Ah Zheng's wife?" Wang Bo was slightly taken aback. "Who is that?"

"That's Lu Yanzheng's wife, just a widow. She's always causing trouble in the village. She doesn't act like a proper woman at all," Granny Wang blurted out.

“Lu Yanzheng?” Wang Bo paused, vaguely recalling that the day they were conscripted into the army was the day Lu Yanzheng got married.

Granny Wang curled her lip, "Who else could it be but him?"

"That's him. Come to think of it, weren't you taken away together? Xiao Bo, did you see A Zheng in the army?" Village Chief Li asked casually.

After asking, he realized, "That's right, the Lu family hasn't heard from Lu Yanzheng for so many years. Now that someone has returned from the military, why not just ask?"

Just then, the man on watch at the lookout tower came running over, panting and excited. "Village chief, Old Meng and the others are back!"

Upon hearing this, Village Chief Li immediately forgot about asking about Lu Yanzheng and ran off, shouting, "Where is he? Quick, come with me and see!"

No one in Dingshui Village cared about Wang Pozi's family anymore; they all rushed to the village entrance.

Jiang Qinyu and her group had been gone for almost ten days, and the villagers had been looking forward to it every day until this moment, when they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, it was hundreds of miles away, and they had never been to the prefectural city before. Who knew what might happen? They were so grateful to be back safely!

"Old Meng, niece...you're finally back!" Village Chief Li had almost lost his shoes from running so fast that he nearly burst into tears when he saw Meng Tianze, Jiang Qinyu, and the others.

Jiang Qinyu jumped off the mule cart, greeted Village Chief Li and the others with a smile, and then said to Village Chief Li, "Uncle Village Chief, we have lived up to everyone's expectations this time and done everything we were supposed to do!"

"Alright, alright, I know you can definitely handle it. Is everyone alright? Did you encounter any danger on the way?" Village Chief Li looked at the seventeen people who left one by one, tears welling up in his eyes.

Meng Tianze laughed heartily, "It was a bit troublesome, but we've solved it all. Village chief, look! We traded five horse-drawn carts for twelve mule carts in return. We didn't lose money, did we?"

Village Chief Li then remembered that they had gone out in a horse-drawn carriage, but there was a line of mule carts in front of them. He quickly asked, "What's going on?"

Although the mule was fine, he felt uneasy, as if something had happened to them.

Meng Tianze put his arm around his shoulder and said, "It's nothing serious, thanks to your wife. Here's what happened..."

He picked out the important parts and told Village Chief Li about his experiences on the road, his smile never fading.

"What? You ran into the leader of Qinggang Mountain who escaped back then?" Village Chief Li's heart jumped when he heard this.

Meng Tianze nodded, "My sister-in-law said it must have been those horses that attracted them, so we took a detour to Litian County..."

"Hey, Uncle Meng, what you're saying is so boring, let me tell you!" Chen Shao suddenly jumped out from behind and recounted the exciting story of what they had done in Litian County.

The people of Dingshui Village were stunned when they heard Chen Shao's words, but after he finished speaking, they started discussing it.

"My goodness, you guys really did something amazing on this trip, tsk tsk..."

"Luckily, Ah Zheng's wife is quick-witted, otherwise why would the gatekeeper have reminded you?"

"Exactly, if Erleng were in charge, he wouldn't be willing to give even a single silver coin to the gatekeeper for tea..."

After everyone had been talking for a while, Jiang Qinyu remembered the tire tracks she had seen on the road and quickly asked, "Uncle Village Chief, have people from our village come?"

"Oh right, village chief, we saw tire tracks on the road and wondered if someone had come to our village, so we rushed back. Who could it be?" Meng Tianze asked, slapping his forehead.

When they asked, Village Chief Li remembered Wang Bo and hurriedly said to Jiang Qinyu, "Niece, Wang Bo from Granny Wang's house is back. Go and ask him about A-Zheng's situation!"

Jiang Qinyu was stunned. It took her a long time to search her memory to find out who Wang Bo was, and then she immediately thought of Lu Yanzheng.

Wang Bo is back. Is Lu Yanzheng in the same military camp as him? Or...?

“Village Chief, Sister-in-law Lu,” Wang Bo appeared before them while Jiang Qinyu remained silent. He looked at Jiang Qinyu with sympathy and said, “I was in the same military camp as Brother Zheng. He died on the battlefield not long after he arrived at the camp…”