Two Dams Mountain.

Qin Zheng felt extremely lucky that she had inspected the leaking spots in her house in the morning.

In the afternoon, when the heavy rain poured down, her house didn’t leak again.

Aunt Lu moved a small stool and sat under the eaves, sewing torn clothes while sighing, “I used to think you were a pampered lady. I never imagined you had these skills.”

Qin Zheng sat on a bamboo stool under the eaves, supporting her chin with one hand, watching Aunt Lu sewing clothes.

“Fixing a roof is not difficult. I’ve seen others do it when repairing houses back home.”

That was true.

When Qin Zheng’s old house was rebuilt in her past life, she not only saw others build brick walls and roofs but also personally got involved.

Aunt Lu already liked her, seeing that although she seemed like a wealthy girl, she wasn’t delicate when it came to work.

They treated each other kindly from the heart, and at this moment, Aunt Lu felt she was approachable, reducing the distance between them:

“In this world, it’s better for women to have some skills of their own rather than relying solely on men.

Take Mrs. Wang from our village, for example, the one who runs the kitchen.

Her husband passed away early, but as a woman, she’s even tougher than the men in the village.

She’s skilled in all kinds of work, inside and outside the house. Even though she became a widow at a young age, no one dares to mess with her.”

Qin Zheng smiled, “Mrs. Wang is indeed remarkable among women.”

Aunt Lu and Mrs. Wang were of the same generation, so calling Mrs. Wang “sister-in-law” was correct.

Aunt Lu brushed her forehead with an embroidered needle and said, “The child from behind the mountain, Guihua, is also like that.

Her husband used to beat her often, but a few years ago, when the village got a spinning machine, and she was the only one who knew how to weave, she earned money by weaving cloth herself.

Her backbone became strong. Now, her husband doesn’t dare to say a word in front of her, fearing she might run off with another man from the village.”

Qin Zheng had heard about Guihua’s situation from Lin Zhao before, but Lin Zhao only mentioned that Guihua became strong-willed.

She didn’t mention that she also earned money by weaving cloth.

But Lin Zhao was just a child of fourteen or fifteen; some things might not be clear to her.

Listening to Aunt Lu, Qin Zheng began to ponder.

Regardless of the era, if a woman only focuses on her small household, treating her husband and family as her everything, even though she has contributed a lot, she is easily overlooked.

In ancient times, the reason why noblewomen gained their husbands’ respect was partly because they managed such large families well, even the businesses under the family name.

They would oversee the income and expenses of the shops and estates throughout the year.

This situation was no longer just about contributing to the family; in modern terms, it could be called managing a family business.

What these noblewomen did was already comparable to modern-day executives.

How could husbands not respect them?

Qin Zheng pondered for a while.

As someone who studied engineering, the best opportunity in ancient times was probably to enter the Ministry of Works and become a director.

The prerequisite was for women to be able to enter the court as officials.

Otherwise, even if she had a lot of theoretical knowledge, she couldn’t do much, such as building and repairing cities, rivers, and bridges.

Apart from a chief engineer, there had to be skilled foremen in each field to execute such projects.

Otherwise, from surveying the site and collecting data to integrating data into drawings, and then teaching newcomers during construction, she would be exhausted.

Not to mention, when would the project be completed?

Qin Zheng sighed softly.

Thinking about these things now was a bit distant.

She turned her head and looked at the heavy rain in the courtyard.

Many households in the mountain village leaked during heavy rain.

She should first help the people in the village by firing green tiles to cover their houses.

With this weather, she couldn’t make adobe bricks, but she could prepare the molds for making tiles.

A tile mold was a small wooden barrel with a larger top and a narrower bottom, with no bottom at both ends.

Its height was exactly the same as the height of a tile.

The outer wall could fit four tiles, and four protruding wooden bars were evenly distributed on the outer wall.

Qin Zheng searched for a saw, a plane, and a file from the main hall, and then brought over a few pieces of wood from where firewood was stacked under the eaves.

Aunt Lu finished sewing the clothes and asked her, “Why does Madam need these crude tools?”

Qin Zheng estimated the length of a tile on the wood with a charcoal pencil and drew a line.

Considering that she would need to sand and polish the wood later, she deliberately left an extra two centimeters and began sawing with a saw, saying, “I’m making a barrel.”

Aunt Lu was puzzled, “Madam, was your family previously involved in carpentry?”

Qin Zheng rolled up her sleeves, tied them up high, and placed one end of the wood on the stool, holding the back end with one foot to prevent it from rolling, and holding the saw with both hands, sawing back and forth.

“I have an uncle who does.”

That was also true.

In her previous life, her father learned how to make bricks and tiles with her grandfather and later went into construction.

Her uncle worked as a carpenter in his early years.

Qin Zheng became interested in the construction industry when she grew up, largely influenced by them.

Aunt Lu found Qin Zheng increasingly fascinating.

She was a delicate young lady, yet she was doing all the work usually done by men.

She was afraid Qin Zheng might not steady the wood, thinking of going forward to help her stabilize it for sawing, when unexpectedly, Chu Chengji returned at this moment.

As he pushed open the courtyard door, he saw Qin Zheng standing on a round log, rolling up her sleeves and sawing vigorously.

Truly… she had no resemblance to a noble lady.

He paused slightly, then asked, “What are you doing?”

Aunt Lu helped Qin Zheng answer, “Madam said she wants to make a barrel.”

“A barrel?” Chu Chenji’s tone rose slightly, seeming somewhat puzzled.

While speaking, he already walked under the eaves with an umbrella, shook it lightly, and many water droplets fell from the umbrella.

Seeing that their relationship seemed to have eased a lot, Aunt Lu thought it was time for the young couple to be alone for a while, so she made an excuse of going to the neighbor’s house to visit, took the umbrella, and went out.

With such a big person standing in front of her, Qin Zheng couldn’t pretend not to see him.

She stopped sawing and asked, “Husband, you’re back?”

Chu Chengji nodded lightly, looking at the piece of wood that was about to be sawn off, and asked, “Does Ar Zheng also know how to make barrels?”

Qin Zheng intercepted his words with a counter question, “Doesn’t Husband also know how to make purple ink brushes?”

She meant to say that if he could make things himself, it wasn’t surprising that she could make something too.

Unexpectedly, the prince’s expression became strange and profound for a moment as he listened to her words.

Her attitude towards him during this escape could be explained as just trying to survive, and he was still waiting for her to explain about the bridge construction drawing.

But now she suddenly picked up a saw and started making a barrel?

The mysteries surrounding her seemed to be increasing.

Thinking of the promise he had made to her, Chu Chengji didn’t pursue further.

He reached out and took the saw from Qin Zheng’s hand, saying, “Let me do it.”

He held the wood in one hand and the saw in the other.

After just a few saws, the wood broke into two pieces.

When Qin Zheng handed him another piece of wood with a charcoal line drawn on it, he casually asked, “Why suddenly want to make a barrel?”

At this point, there was no need to hide anything from him.

He would know when she made the tiles later anyway.

Qin Zheng said, “It’s not just any barrel, it’s a tile barrel for making tile embryos. I want to fire a batch of green tiles for the village when the weather clears up.”

Hearing her mention firing green tiles, Chu Chengji naturally thought of last night’s leaking.

This afternoon’s heavy rain was no less than last night’s.

Yet, he glanced around the house and didn’t see any containers for collecting water, and there was no leakage in the house either.

Chu Chengji seemed to have a sense, “Have you repaired the roof?”

Qin Zheng nodded, “It’s easy to slip inside when it leaks.”

She deliberately didn’t hide these things anymore, actually wanting to see Chu Chengji’s reaction.

But apart from a slight surprise at the beginning, Chu Chengji quickly regained his calm.

He helped her saw the wood while saying, “This house has been standing for quite some years, and moss must have grown on the tiles. In the future, when such things happen, I’ll take care of it when I come back.”

“By the time you come back, there will be a basin full of water leaking inside.”

As soon as this teasing remark came out, Qin Zheng realized she had spoken too quickly.

She pursed her lips and didn’t say anything more.

Chu Chengji’s voice was calm, “It’s my fault. Today’s affairs are quite busy, and I haven’t had time to deal with it.”

Every time he spoke to her in such a gentle and steady tone, Qin Zheng felt as if he was indulging her mistake.

She lowered her head to fiddle with the wood he had sawn off, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“I was just joking with you.”

“I know, but these things should indeed be done by me.” After Chu Chengji finished sawing the last piece of wood, he looked up and asked her, “Should I plane the wood into uniform-sized boards?”

Qin Zheng nodded and looked away to the heavy rain in the courtyard.

This man was toxic!

She admitted she was once again intrigued by his words, “but these things should indeed be done by me.”

The sound of rain outside was incessant.

Because a few banana leaves were placed on the roof, the rain hitting them made a “pattering” sound, adding a touch of meaning to “rain hitting banana leaves.”

Qin Zheng sat on the low stool, watching Chu Chengji skillfully plane the wood into evenly sized boards and then polish them with a file.

His technique was as skilled as a carpenter’s.

He only asked Qin Zheng a few questions about some details.

Most of the time, they were silent, but it seemed quite harmonious.

“Where should the wooden strips be placed?” The boards were already polished, and Chu Chengji asked.

Qin Zheng marked the edges of several boards with a charcoal pencil and handed them to him. “They should be placed here.”

Chu Chengji glanced at them and nodded, then began to fit the boards into a barrel shape.

This time, he asked a question unrelated to making the tile barrel, “Did you have lunch in the kitchen?”

Qin Zheng didn’t understand. “Yes, I did. As soon as the meal was served, A Zhao took me there.”

Due to space limitations, there were only two rounds of seating.

Qin Zheng was brought over by Lin Zhao in the first round.

At that time, Chu Chengji and the others probably hadn’t finished their discussions, so she didn’t see him at the table.

Because of her outstanding appearance, she became the focus of the table for a while.

After quickly finishing her meal, Qin Zheng came back.

Therefore, when Chu Chengji and the others came over in the second round, she didn’t see them.

Chu Chengji lightly “ummed” upon hearing her answer, then said, “Tomorrow I’ll go down the mountain for a trip. Is there anything you want to buy?”

Qin Zheng shook her head. “No.”

After hesitating for a moment, she still asked, “What are you going down the mountain for?”

“The court is going to attack Ying Prefecture. A batch of weapons destined for the Minzhou camp was intercepted by river bandits on the river.

The scouts in the village found out where the bandits hid the weapons.

Since the village lacks weapons, I’ll take people to rob them back.”

He spoke about these things to her in a calm tone, as if they were just trivial matters and had nothing to do with the secrets of the mountain stronghold.

Qin Zheng furrowed her brows, “Isn’t it very dangerous?”

Chu Chengji glanced at her, and Qin Zheng felt a bit uneasy under his gaze.

She lowered her eyes to tidy up the wood blocks and managed to say, “Be careful in everything.”

“I know my limits.”

His tone was still light, but it seemed different from usual, as if he was in a good mood.

Qin Zheng didn’t say anything more.

After stacking the wooden boards into a pile, she rested her chin on her hand and watched him make the tile barrel.

She had always known that his hands were beautiful.

When he held a pen or a scroll, he looked graceful and cultured.

Now, handling a hammer and chisel to work on the wood, there seemed to be no sense of disharmony.

The rabbits in the cage nearby hopped around a bit, so Qin Zheng turned to the basket and threw some vegetable leaves to them.

The wind picked up, and a few inches of rain drifted in under the eaves, cooling the air with moisture.

Chu Chengji’s already pale complexion seemed even paler on a rainy day.

His bangs were slightly disheveled by the wind, and he was focused on making the tile barrel.

He casually put down the file he had just used and picked it up again after a while, finding it troublesome.

He even held the wooden handle with his teeth, showing a lack of refinement.

Qin Zheng was momentarily stunned when she saw this scene.

She didn’t know what their relationship was now.

Their relationship certainly couldn’t be described as completely trusting without any reservations, but compared to before, their relationship now seemed much more reassuring.

At least she didn’t have to worry anymore that if she revealed something, he would turn his back on her.

As she stared at herself for a while, Chu Chengji naturally noticed.

After fitting the last piece of wood to the barrel, he looked up and asked her, “Why have you been staring at me?”

Qin Zheng suddenly came to her senses and felt her face flush, but she wasn’t willing to admit defeat at this moment.

Remembering what he had done to her earlier, she reached out calmly, removed the sawdust that had accidentally landed on his hair, and said, “You have something on your head.”

She opened her hand to show him the sawdust lying on her fingertips.

This should have been a scene of teasing back, but Qin Zheng forgot that her hand had just touched charcoal, and now several fingers were as black as coal.

Contrasted against her fair palm, the visual effect was horrifying.

The sawdust was now lying in her palm, but when she had picked it up just now, she had also accidentally transferred some charcoal from her hand to his hair!

If she could, Qin Zheng wished she had never been so clever.

Now, she felt so embarrassed that she couldn’t even hide in a hole.

Chu Chengji was quite gracious and said, “Thank you.”

He handed her the finished tile barrel and asked, “Do you see anything wrong with it?”

Qin Zheng, who just wanted to quickly move past the embarrassing moment, hurriedly reached out to take it, but Chu Chengji hesitated for a moment and said, “Shouldn’t you wash your hands first?”

Qin Zheng: “…”