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The firecrackers were arrayed in two rows, ten in each row.

Lighting the firecrackers also required courage and technique.

Originally, Chief Sun had found ten brave men, each to light two firecrackers.

But they weren’t needed in the end, because Young Master Xia from the Capital city loved setting off firecrackers the most. It could be said that even before he could walk, his father was holding him in his arms for firecracker lighting.

So, he took responsibility for four firecrackers himself, and the rest could be lit by the others.

Lin Yuan had initially thought that one person should light one firecracker, given the poor safety of ancient firecrackers; she didn’t want anything going wrong today.

However, seeing Xia Zheng’s eager expression, she couldn’t bear to dampen his enthusiasm, but still repeatedly urged him to be careful.

Young Master Xia smirked, leaned close to Lin Yuan’s ear, and deliberately blew hot breath as he whispered, "I knew you’d worry about me, haha."

Lin Yuan’s ears turned red, and she stamped her foot in annoyance, leaving him with the words "Hope the firecrackers blast your stinky mouth" before she ran back inside the house.

Once Lin Yuan gave the nod, Chief Sun stepped in front of everyone and cleared his throat before announcing loudly, "Today is a good day for the main house to commence the construction of their building, may the Bodhisattva bless us, everything will go smoothly, all the best! Light the firecrackers!"

No sooner had Chief Sun finished speaking than the men tasked with lighting the firecrackers rushed up and deftly lit the fuses.

Lin Yuan watched Xia Zheng anxiously, fearing he would light them too slowly and get hurt. But it turned out he wasn’t just boasting—the incense sticks smoothly lit the fuses in his hands, and in the time it took others to light two, he had all four of his ready.

Seeing that he had returned safely to her side, Lin Yuan let out a quiet sigh of relief and excitedly joined her sisters in covering their ears, waiting for the sound of the firecrackers shooting into the sky.

As she told her son to cover his ears with his little hands, Li Feng’e cursed Lin Yuan spitefully, "Hoping for things to go smoothly and turn out well? Hmph, if the Bodhisattva is watching, let the Lin family’s house never be built, let it collapse every day, it’d be best if it crushed them all to death! "

However, her following words were drowned out by the loud bangs of the firecrackers.

Amid the envious and amazed chatter of the village folks, the construction of Lin Yuan’s house began.

Building a house starts with laying the foundation, and mixing mud requires water.

Lin Yuan’s house wasn’t close to the river in the village, so it would waste both time and effort to fetch water from the river for every use.

Therefore, she and Chief Sun discussed first finishing the well they had not yet completed at home, which would not only facilitate construction but also make future water use much more convenient for their family.

Some people dug the foundation while others worked on the well.

With such bustle in the courtyard, Lin Jiaxin didn’t want to stay lying down in bed inside the room.

Sitting in his wheelchair, he watched everyone busily going about their tasks with a contented smile.

Lady Liu, due to her heavy pregnant belly, went back to the room to rest, but before climbing onto the kang bed, she insisted on taking off the new clothes she had only worn for a short while.

Lin Yuan stopped her with a smile, saying their good days were just beginning, and they would have many new clothes to wear in the future.

If they were to act like before, why bother buying new clothes at all?

Lady Liu knew her daughter was looking out for her and didn’t take off the clothes in the end.

It wasn’t until she lay on the kang that she suddenly realized that at some point, both she and her husband had unconsciously started listening to their daughter.

Da Ya had grown up and begun to have her own ideas; she had truly become the pillar of their household.

While she felt proud, Lady Liu was also a bit worried. Nowadays, people said that a woman without talent was virtuous, but now her Da Ya was as capable as a man. Would it be easy to find a good match for her? And what if she went to her husband’s house and displeased her in-laws? What then?

Somehow, whenever Lady Liu thought about her daughter’s marriage prospects, the image of Xia Zheng inexplicably popped into her mind. Could it be that these two were meant for each other?