The village committee's gatehouse had already been built and the surrounding wall had been reinforced. Although it wasn't impregnable, climbing over it from the outside was no easy feat.

Despite this, Wang Xiaoqiang still guarded the corn here while Liu Juyi continued to tirelessly bring him meals, which had almost become her only pleasure in life.

As the end of summer approached and the weather grew colder, it was the right time for Liu Juyi to wear the evening dress that Wang Xiaoqiang had bought for her. However, the dress was so glamorous and magnificent that Liu Juyi had always been afraid to wear it.

This was a regret for Wang Xiaoqiang, but since she was his sister-in-law, he felt embarrassed to persuade her. That evening, Liu Juyi arrived later than usual, and it was already dark when she brought the food, which concerned Wang Xiaoqiang a lot.

However, Wang Xiaoqiang soon noticed that Liu Juyi had put on the evening dress that night, and she was also wearing a pair of crystal sandals. The evening dress, of course, looked beautiful at night.

Under the light, Wang Xiaoqiang found that this time Liu Juyi looked even more dignified and beautiful in it, accentuating her slender waist, her fair arms, and a pair of neat, tender legs, making her look charming yet not vulgar, stunning but not flamboyant.

Liu Juyi was beautiful, and the food she cooked tasted great. That night, Liu Juyi made mixed filling dumplings, which Wang Xiaoqiang greatly admired as he ate. Just like usual, Liu Juyi watched her nephew gobbling down his food and listening to his compliments with a happy and content smile on her face.

The small house was filled with a peaceful and warm atmosphere.

Since their last trip to the city together, Wang Xiaoqiang had become much more open in front of Liu Juyi, not only daring to look her in the eyes but sometimes even sneaking peeks at her.

After noticing this, Liu Juyi just smiled and said nothing.

Women are meant to be appreciated, and no woman likes to admire herself alone.

After Wang Xiaoqiang finished the dumplings, he looked up at his sister-in-law, who was tidying up the dishes, and encouraged her, "Tsk, this dress suits you so well, you should wear it every day..."

"Enough, stop joking!" Liu Juyi glanced at Wang Xiaoqiang and said, "It's a three thousand yuan dress. If I don't wear it, it would really be a waste..."

"When I make big money, I'll go to the Provincial Capital and buy you clothes... hehe..." Wang Xiaoqiang wiped his mouth.

Upon hearing this, Liu Juyi smiled a Mona Lisa-style smile and said pensively, "Little Qiang, I heard your brother has taken a contracting job in Guangzhou..."

When Wang Xiaoqiang heard this, he felt ashamed, ashamed on behalf of his brother. Liu Juyi's words clearly indicated that his brother still hadn't called her. Just as Wang Xiaoqiang was wondering what to say, his cell phone rang—it was his brother calling.

Wang Xiaoqiang glanced at Liu Juyi subconsciously before answering the phone. He never treated his sister-in-law as an outsider, so he didn't hide anything from her.

"Hello, brother... what's up?" Wang Xiaoqiang sounded indignant, thinking to himself that the least you could do was call your sister-in-law.

"Qiangzi, what are you up to now?" Wang Dali's voice had a rather arrogant tone.

"Uh, I just had dinner."

"I'm asking what you're doing at home now?" Wang Dali's words carried a hint of being commanding.

"Guarding the land," replied Wang Xiaoqiang coldly.

"Cut it, you bookworm, you know nothing about farming, how can you manage the land?" Wang Dali's voice was dismissive and scornful.

"Brother, you should worry less about me and more about your wife. When was the last time you called her?" Wang Xiaoqiang said indignantly.

As he spoke, Wang Xiaoqiang subconsciously glanced at Liu Juyi, whose face had turned a bit pale, a look of resentment on her face.

"Cut it, mind your own business," Wang Dali replied impatiently. "How are mom and dad doing?"

"They're doing well!" Wang Xiaoqiang's tone softened, thinking to himself that at least you still have some filial piety.

"Well, that's good..." said Wang Dali triumphantly. "By the way, I'm contracting projects in Guangzhou now. If you want to try something new, come and help me supervise the work and manage the accounts, it won't be too tiring for you."

"I'm not going," Wang Xiaoqiang decisively answered, yet solemnly added, "Brother, you should call your wife more often..."

Before Wang Xiaoqiang could finish, Wang Dali had already hung up the phone. Wang Xiaoqiang threw the phone onto the bed, annoyed, and looked up at Liu Juyi, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Sister-in-law, are you alright?" Wang Xiaoqiang saw Liu Juyi with her head lowered, looking dazed with a pale face, and couldn't help but ask.

"I'm fine." Liu Juyi lifted her head and forced a smile at Wang Xiaoqiang, saying, "Alright, Little Qiang, you rest, I'll head back."

"I'll walk you home," Wang Xiaoqiang said decisively.

"No need, Little Qiang, it's not that dark yet, and there's moonlight!"

"Still, what if you run into bad people? I must walk you home," Wang Xiaoqiang said unquestionably.

Liu Juyi's nose tinged with a hint of sorrow, no longer refusing. She walked ahead somberly, with Wang Xiaoqiang following behind. He wanted to console her but didn't know how to start. Under the hazy moonlight, Liu Juyi, dressed in an evening gown, exuded a vague beauty. Halfway there, Wang Xiaoqiang stopped and suddenly said, "Sister-in-law, do you find home suffocating?"

Liu Juyi also stopped, unclear what Wang Xiaoqiang was implying, and looked at him, slightly startled, then shook her head.

"If you feel too suffocated, you could go to my brother's place..." Wang Xiaoqiang stopped midway, feeling his words were too abrupt. It wasn't his place to intervene, but he indeed felt his sister-in-law was too lonely. While other couples lived together, she and his brother lived apart and rarely contacted each other.

Liu Juyi shook her head sadly, "Little Qiang, can't you see? The bond between your brother and me has already ended."

Liu Juyi's words felt like a bucket of cold water poured over Wang Xiaoqiang, chilling him to the bone. If it was as she said, not only she but even he couldn't accept it. The damage to her was too great.

"Sister-in-law, it can't be that bad, couples bicker all the time..."

"Little Qiang, let's not bring this up again," Liu Juyi said, "You're in the prime of your career, and I don't want you to be distracted by our issues...".

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaoqiang felt a tug at his heart, then watched steadily as Liu Juyi ran towards home with her head lowered.

After a severe drought, a great flood must follow, this is a common saying among farmers. This casually uttered phrase indeed came true that year. After the emergence of the Jade Bamboo Yam seedlings, they were greeted by an unprecedented heavy rain. The rain was intense and lengthy, pouring down incessantly without any sign of stopping.

If a field is dry, irrigation is possible, but if it is flooded, there's truly nothing that can be done. Jade Bamboo Yam ordinarily does not require much water. However, if it's too flooded, it at best affects the young plants' growth, and at worst, drowns them.

The rain continued for three days before the sky slightly cleared. The rainwater from those three days filled the fields. Everyone went out to the fields to drain the water. Those fields near the Shibalih River section could drain more easily, but Wang Xiaoqiang's forty mu of fields, being far from the river, were considerably more challenging to drain.

In the eyes of everyone, Wang Xiaoqiang's forty mu of Jade Bamboo Yam was completely ruined. That day, when Wang Xiaoqiang went to check on the yam, he received a cold remark for each person he met:

"Little Qiang, going to the fields to drain water, what's the rush? The yam hasn't had enough to drink yet..."

"Cut it, I'm not in a hurry at all," Wang Xiaoqiang retorted, intentionally slowing his pace.

"Little Qiang, I heard it's going to rain again in a couple of days, and it will be a significant one... Luckily, this season I only contracted ten mu of land... Hehe..." Huang Chunsheng, who was draining water in the fields, saw Wang Xiaoqiang and smugly began to laugh.

"Let it pour, it won't stop me from prospering!" Wang Xiaoqiang still maintained a carefree demeanor.

Having said this, Wang Xiaoqiang walked to the edge of his Yam field. As far as the eye could see, the field was awash, with yam seedlings all soaked. Looking at the situation, Wang Xiaoqiang was quite anxious, his mind racing to find a solution.

"Metal overcomes wood, wood overcomes earth, earth overcomes water... earth overcomes water, that's it!" Wang Xiaoqiang muttered to himself, squatting on the edge of the field. Then, he extended his right hand into the water-filled field.

Five streams of earth-yellow Spiritual Qi flowed from his fingertips, merging with the water and spreading at the speed of light, almost instantaneously covering the forty mu of fields and finally forming an earth-yellow membrane in the water, like a sponge continuously absorbing the rainwater.

It took about five minutes for the water, knee-deep in the field, to be visibly absorbed by the earth-yellow membrane, which then evenly spread across the ground like a thin layer of fertilizer.

This was the state of Earth Element Spiritual Qi after absorbing water. Now presented as fertilizer, it was a hundred times more effective than regular fertilizer. It not only contained nutrients needed by the plants but also concentrated water elements that would automatically irrigate the yam during dry periods.

Of course, this earth-yellow membrane was transformed from Earth Element Spiritual Qi and could only be seen by Wang Xiaoqiang himself.

With the water hazard removed and now with "fertilizer" and water, it was a win-win situation!

Looking at the scene before him, Wang Xiaoqiang smiled joyfully. However, at that moment, he suddenly felt a wave of tiredness, accompanied by an unprecedented hunger gnawing at him.

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