Since the people from Xiahe Village came to borrow grain that night, Dinghe Village has begun to strengthen its defenses and conduct drills.

Some people initially complained about having to get up half an hour earlier every day, but after Village Chief Li explained the situation to everyone in detail, the villagers started getting up early to exercise without any prompting.

Wang Bo, Meng Tianze, and Jiang Qinyu were the ones leading the training.

The men were trained by Wang Bo using military training methods, combined with the three-three tactics previously provided by Jiang Qinyu. The whole village trained quite well.

Jiang Qinyu was quite surprised by the number of women who were willing to learn martial arts.

That's right, Jiang Qinyu taught her combat skills directly.

The women and older women in the village are all strong, and they seem to have quite a bit of skill when they learn to fight.

The village girls weren't as delicate as Jiang Qinyu had imagined. Even Liu Ruyi, who actively participated, was willing to work on improving her skills despite lacking strength.

"Sister-in-law, I was so angry just now." Chen Shao's sister, Chen Hong, came in from outside, and seeing Jiang Qinyu was like seeing hope.

Chen Hong is eighteen years old this year and is not engaged yet. Aunt Qin is not willing for her to marry off casually, especially now that it is a year of famine. Who knows if she will be able to have enough to eat after marriage? It is better for her to stay at home.

Jiang Qinyu had a good impression of this girl. After all, her personality was similar to Chen Shao's. She spoke directly, but most of the time she also had high emotional intelligence, making her easy to get along with.

"What's wrong so early in the morning? Did someone bully you?" Jiang Qinyu looked at her amusedly.

Because some of the men would train shirtless, Village Chief Li decided to let the women practice at the ancestral hall.

Of course, this decision was opposed by some people in the village, who said that women should not enter the ancestral hall, but the village chief Li slapped him on the shoulder.

"Without women, would you exist? You always say women can't do this or that. If it weren't for my niece, would you be living such a good life now?"

The benefits that Jiang Qinyu brought to Dingshui Village were undeniable, and no one could refute them; so the matter was settled.

Chen Hong was eloquent and quickly explained the situation, "Who else could it be? It's that bastard Liu Yazi! He actually said that all we practice is fancy footwork and we definitely can't beat them!"

"You're this angry just because of this?" Jiang Qinyu raised an eyebrow, seeing through her words but saying nothing.

Liu Yazi is two years younger than Chen Hong. Their families are close, and the two teenagers often interact. However, they are like a pair of bickering lovers, always arguing whenever they meet, and they even fought many times when they were young.

Jiang Qinyu could tell that Liu Yazi definitely had feelings for Chen Hong, but the boy was too shy to speak up and would only clumsily make Chen Hong angry every time.

"Isn't this infuriating enough?" Chen Hong's eyes widened, and she rolled up her sleeves, striking a pose. "Sister-in-law, come on, let's have a go. When that kid comes back from the fields tonight, I'll teach him a lesson!"

Jiang Qinyu was both amused and exasperated, but it was time for class, so she called out to everyone and then got to work.

In addition to leading women in combat training in the morning, she now spends an hour in the late afternoon teaching children to read and recognize characters.

As for the work in her fields, Village Chief Li took care of it all, without letting her spend any money to hire anyone.

Jiang Qinyu naturally couldn't let the Li family suffer a loss. Since they wouldn't accept money, she taught them how to plant sweet potatoes and potatoes, and gave them a lot of sweet potatoes and potatoes that could be used as seeds.

There's a small warehouse in the fruit and vegetable section, which stores a lot of vegetables, including a significant portion of sweet potatoes and potatoes.

Both of these are high-yield crops, but the system didn't provide them, so Jiang Qinyu tried planting a small plot of land using methods she knew.

Time quickly passed and it was already December. During this period, Dingshui Village accomplished many things.

The villagers' drills, the practice and application of the three-on-three tactics, and Jiang Qinyu's women's combat class were all operating normally.

The villagers from Xiahe Village came to borrow grain several more times, but Village Chief Li refused each time. Other families in the village were also instructed not to let anyone know their true situation.

Apart from a few families who brought their married daughters back, the people of Xiahe Village were still unaware that they had hidden grain.

After the underground river was connected, irrigation canals were quickly built to each household's land, and all the land in the village was planted with grain in time for the autumn planting season.

The Wild Boar Plain and Tiger Valley in the mountains were not abandoned. Although they were a bit far from Dingshui Village, some restless families went to Wild Boar Plain in groups to cultivate more than ten acres of land and planted the high-yield grain seeds given by Jiang Qinyu.

According to them, since they got the land for free anyway, they might as well give it a try; at worst, they'd just lose some money on seeds.

The seeds weren't expensive, and Jiang Qinyu didn't charge them a high price; she gave them the normal seed price.

On New Year's Eve, Grandpa Jiang organized several skilled farmers from the village, along with Village Chief Li and Jiang Qinyu, to visit each family's fields.

"You can't just plant crops and leave them alone. You have to water and fertilize them, and you also have to go to the fields from time to time to keep an eye on them, so that nothing can ruin them."

As he walked, Grandpa Jiang addressed the crowd.

Jiang Dacheng awkwardly whispered behind Village Chief Li, "Everyone, please don't mind him. My dad is just a nagging person. He's said these things many times already."

“Dacheng, you can’t think your dad is nagging. What he’s saying is meant to be passed down. If it weren’t for these elders passing on their experience, how would the younger generation know how to farm?” Village Chief Li turned to him and said.

Grandpa Jiang's hearing is getting worse and worse; he can't hear them at this volume.

Jiang Qinyu smiled and said, "Uncle Dacheng, what the village chief said makes sense. If we listen to Grandpa Jiang talk about how to farm a few more times, even someone like me who doesn't know how can learn."

Jiang Dacheng scratched his head and looked at them with a sheepish smile. "Really? I was just afraid you guys would find it annoying. I'm just glad you listened."

Actually, he was quite proud of his father, since everyone in the village would come to him with questions about farming, which was unique in the village.

Grandpa Jiang spoke up to the other old men again, "Look, our crops are growing so well this year! We're sure to have a bumper harvest next year!"

"Yes, yes, they look even better than in previous years, so it's bound to be a bumper harvest."

“I visited Xiahe Village a few days ago. It’s still very dry there. There’s no green in the fields. It’s like we’re from a completely different place.”

"That's water from the underground river we drew! If it weren't for Ah Zheng's wife giving us that idea, we might be in Xiahe Village by now..."

Hearing this from behind, Village Chief Li chuckled and said to Jiang Qinyu, "My dear niece, you see? Everyone is very grateful to you."

"Uncle Village Chief, please stop bringing this up all the time. I really didn't do anything," Jiang Qinyu said helplessly.

"You deserve it!" Village Chief Li said, leaving no room for refusal.

Jiang Qinyu had no choice; she couldn't just cover people's mouths, could she?

Just as the people of Dingshui Village were rejoicing about the expected bumper harvest next year, two figures were rapidly approaching Dingshui Village from the depths of the mountains.