Su Muqing stopped Leng Ren and the others, asking them to notify everyone about the holiday to avoid the workers making a wasted trip. She also instructed them to distribute the supplies to several resettlement points upon their return.
As they were talking, snowflakes began to fall. Leng Ren and his group received the orders and quickly headed to the construction sites at various city gates to deliver the notification.
After Su Muqing and Lu Yuzhi returned to the City Lord's mansion, they first entered the space to catch up on sleep. They slept for a few hours, then washed up before exiting the space.
The two of them went directly to the relatively spacious large square in the backyard. Su Muqing looked around to ensure no one was present, then took out several vehicles from the space and parked them. There were both off-road vehicles and trucks. Coupled with the vehicles previously left in Huaxia City, the supply transportation for Leng Ren and his group should be sufficient for today.
At half-past eight in the morning, the group departed from the City Lord's mansion in separate directions. Su Muqing and Lu Yuzhi drove, bringing Su Minghui and the Wang family with them, to visit the first batch of civilians who had settled in Huaxia City.
These were all acquaintances of Su Muqing; they were the people from Houxi Village who had fled with her initially, as well as those they had taken in and bought along the way.
When Su Minghui decided to defect to Huaxia City, he had consulted all the villagers. The result was unanimous agreement; they all said Su Muqing was a lucky girl, and following her would definitely be the right choice.
Later, while Su Minghui and Xu Fu were busy recruiting and taking in refugees everywhere, they, as the first group of refugees to enter the city, set off for Huaxia City with the third child who brought back the news.
The area assigned to them by Tong Lesheng was ten kilometers outside the east city gate of Huaxia City. This area was previously under the jurisdiction of the Free and Unfettered Sect. The land was fertile, and the climate was pleasant, making it particularly suitable for households engaged in farming and animal husbandry.
Affected by the heavy snow and the incomplete road repairs, Su Muqing and her companions drove for half an hour before arriving at the village. As soon as they reached the fork in the road by the main street, they saw the words "Zhengyi Village" carved on a large stone outside the car window.
This area, originally a large open space, had now been converted into a grand plaza. Surrounding the large plaza, many small courtyards built with blue bricks had been constructed, many of which were two stories high. Row after row, they looked somewhat like small villas.
Under Su Minghui's guidance, Lu Yuzhi drove the car directly into their courtyard and parked it.
As the cars entered the village, the villagers began to run behind them, eventually reaching Su Minghui's courtyard. To their surprise, they saw Su Muqing arriving with them, and everyone warmly welcomed her.
"The village chief and the others are back... is that QIng girl too?"
"Qing girl is back? No way... didn't she say she was going somewhere?"
"Really! It's really Qing girl... this is great, she's the lucky star of our village!"
"Has it been half a year since we last saw her?"
"Miss Qing is a person of great importance; of course, she's out doing what the old immortals instructed."
"You people can't call her 'Qing girl' anymore. She's already the City Lord, so you have to call her City Lord."
"Yes, yes, you're right. It's City Lord. Look at my mouth, I forget everything when I'm happy."
After Su Muqing got out of the car, she generously greeted the villagers in the courtyard. "It's been a long time, everyone. Are all my uncles and aunts doing well?"
"Very well, very well! Thanks to you, we are all doing very well."
"Yes! If it weren't for you, how could we have such good days today? It's all thanks to you."
Su Muqing was surrounded by their continuous praise, almost beaming. "Aunties, you are too kind. I am relieved that you are all doing well."
"Alright, alright, everyone, go back to your own tasks for now. I need to take the City Lord around the village," Su Minghui said, seeing that the villagers had crowded around Su Muqing. He quickly stepped forward to disperse the crowd.
He knew that Su Muqing and the others still had to visit other villages and resettlement points, so it was best not to delay here for too long.
Lu Yuzhi and Leng San went to unload the supplies. Su Minghui prepared to take Su Muqing around the village. The villagers reluctantly followed them for a long distance, still trying their best to strike up conversations with Su Muqing.
"Young girl Su... City Lord, you are a girl from our Zhengyi Village. You must visit us often in the future!"
"Yes! You are the City Lord now, but you are still a girl from the Su family. Don't forget about us."
"No, as third aunt said, I am also a girl from Zhengyi Village, so I will never forget you. It's snowing so heavily, everyone, please go back quickly!"
After speaking, Su Muqing smiled at them. As she turned, her peripheral vision caught sight of a girl's retreating figure. She was wearing a patched-up dress that looked very thin.
"Uncle, who is that person? How can she be dressed so thinly in such cold weather?" Su Muqing asked Su Minghui beside her, pointing at the person walking away.
"Ah, her... she seems to be Qian Shi's eldest daughter. Speaking of which, Uncle has something else to tell you. A few months ago, Xu Lao and I spread out to find refugees in Songlin County, and along the way, we encountered those who had originally split from Houxi Village..."
As Su Minghui spoke, he turned to look at the person beside him, who was now vastly different from before. Su Muqing listened to him as they walked, without offering much opinion.
Seeing that she hadn't spoken, Su Minghui continued, "At that time, they were mixed in with other refugee groups. When I declared my identity to those people, they recognized me. I didn't intend to intervene, but they kept begging me, asking me to help them one more time in consideration of our shared ancestry. I thought since I was looking for refugees anyway, I didn't stop them much..."
Seeing that Su Minghui was having difficulty continuing, Su Muqing guessed that he was probably worried she might be upset. After all, she was the City Lord now, and it was because of Su Muqing that the people of Zhengyi Village had moved here as a whole.
In fact, Su Muqing had a very clear understanding of such matters. Su Minghui was a kind and honest person. He was willing to help even refugees he didn't know, let alone those who had originally split from Houxi Village.
Many of them were cousins of the same generation as him, and they had all grown up together. Therefore, it was understandable for Su Minghui to want to help them when he saw them in a difficult situation.
Su Muqing didn't say he was wrong, but she was confused as to why these people had followed them to the new Zhengyi Village. "If you encountered them, it's reasonable to help them. But why did they also come here? Are they going to settle in this village from now on?"
"This... when Qianhe Village split, sixty-odd people left. When I encountered them, only half remained. After I brought them back to Huaxia City, I intended to allocate a separate area for those people, to keep them far away. However, the people from Houxi Village heard about it, came to see them, and felt unbearable. Coupled with their constant pleading, I couldn't bear it..." Su Minghui stopped again. However, this time, even without him saying it, Su Muqing could roughly imagine the process of what had happened.
"I know about this. As long as Uncle has a plan, that's fine. After all, you are the village chief. Since you have taken them in, you will have to be responsible for restraining them in the future."
Su Muqing's tone was very gentle, and she didn't seem angry. Su Minghui was finally relieved.
He knew that those people had been very unkind to Qing girl and her brother back then, especially shortly after the Mingyuan brothers had passed away, they had disliked the siblings, considering them a burden, and later even split the village.
If it weren't for the consideration of their shared ancestry, Su Minghui would not have wanted to help them again. Therefore, he cared a lot about Su Muqing's thoughts and didn't want to disappoint Qing girl for the sake of those people. Fortunately, this girl had always been tough on the outside and soft on the inside. Now that he had told her everything, he could finally feel at ease.
"Qing girl... no, it's City Lord. City Lord, please rest assured, I will strictly discipline them from now on and ensure they don't make mistakes again!" Su Minghui patted his chest forcefully to show his determination to Su Muqing.
Su Muqing was afraid Su Minghui would hurt himself and quickly handed him a bottle of water. "Uncle, you don't have to be like this. Actually, I'm not someone who is petty and cannot tolerate others. I am willing to help even people I don't know, so I won't mind you helping them, especially since many of those people are your cousins. If they are willing to live honestly and law-abidingly in the future, that would be a good thing."
"Yes, I know that, child. You've always had a good heart. I still remember when you were little, your voice was like a kitten's cry. Look at the presence you have in your words and actions now; it's hard to imagine you would have such great changes and achievements. If your parents were still here, they would definitely be proud of you."
Upon hearing Su Minghui's words, Su Muqing's expression paused for a moment but quickly returned to normal. She recalled the scene of her transmigration and then murmured softly, "Perhaps it was the environment that forced me. In those circumstances, with my parents gone and my grandmother pressing us so hard, if I didn't change, I'm afraid Mu Xuan and I wouldn't have survived."
Although she said that, Su Muqing actually thought that they were two different people, so how could their words and actions be the same as before?
Su Minghui suddenly remembered something upon hearing her words and then stammered, "Uh... actually, I forgot to tell you one more thing. It's just... well... your grandmother, she..."
Seeing Su Minghui's expression, Su Muqing's first thought was that Su Chen Shi had died. She found this normal. "She died? That's not strange. At her age, after experiencing such an escape, it's normal that she couldn't make it. However, since we had such an unpleasant falling out and severed ties, I won't go burn paper for her, lest she be unsettled in her passing..."
"No, I meant your grandmother, she's not dead, and she's in our village..." Although it was a snowy day, Su Minghui felt a thin layer of sweat on his forehead after saying it.
This girl is really something, even talking about burning paper... If she's allowed to continue imagining, Su Chen Shi might be queuing up to reincarnate.
"What? She's not dead yet? Uh... no, don't misunderstand me. I'm not wishing her dead. I'm just sighing. This world is truly fantastical. So many strong young people couldn't make it, yet old Chen Shi's luck is quite good, managing to survive until today." Su Muqing said a little awkwardly, then couldn't help but curl her lips.
So, the saying that evil persists for a thousand years is indeed true. As expected! The ancients did not deceive me...
Su Minghui took Su Muqing on a general tour of the village. As they were the first to be built, most of the villagers' houses were almost completed, with only a few still under construction.
This was also due to Su Muqing's relationship; they had bought a large batch of cement from Leng San and his group at almost cost price to build their houses.
During that time, Leng San shuttled back and forth between the city and outside, supervising the construction of the City Lord's mansion, as well as his future in-laws' new home, and clarifying doubts for other villagers who didn't understand. He was so busy that his eyes were almost black.
After seeing the villagers' houses, the two of them then went to a large square. Looking at the bare concrete ground before them, Su Muqing cast a confused glance at Su Minghui.
Why is it so bare here? Didn't she remember the blueprints showing the plaza differently?
Su Muqing's initial intention when proposing the construction of the plaza was to install some free fitness equipment on the site, so that people could exercise more in their leisure time.
Perhaps sensing the confusion in her eyes, Su Minghui told her that they had originally planned to build it according to her blueprints.
However, the villagers all said that they had more farm work to do than they could handle. In their leisure time, everyone wanted to sit down and rest properly, so who would want to work themselves to death doing such things?
With such a large area, it would be better to build it as a threshing ground. In the summer, it could be used for cooling off and drying crops, which would be killing two birds with one stone.
Uh... Su Muqing thought carefully. It seemed to make sense. Since the villagers themselves requested the renovation, she had no other opinions.
In fact, she had noticed some problems herself in the past two days: blindly transplanting modern things here wasn't necessarily practical. Many things that Su Muqing considered necessary were considered very dispensable by them.
After looking at the large plaza, the two of them then went to the ancestral hall. Su Minghui had decided to build this temporarily. He said that since all the Su family members from Houxi Village had moved here, they naturally had to bring their ancestors with them. Su Muqing also agreed with this matter.
As they walked past the ancestral hall, they saw several larger rooms nearby. Lu Yuzhi, Leng San, and the others were leading people in unloading supplies there.
Seeing that Su Muqing and her group had brought so much more food, Su Minghui was very moved. He immediately made arrangements for two teams of people to patrol near the ancestral hall day and night, ensuring that the supplies sent to the village were well-guarded.