"My Lord, you're right. We'll keep in mind what Marquis Shuo and Her Highness did for us," one in the crowd shouted.

Hearing that, Xu Qing couldn't help smiling and he continued, "Sure, we should also express our gratitude to Master Liang Cheng. He has lived here to supervise the dam construction from the very beginning until it's all completed. So he's the one we should extend our most thanks to."

"But where is he? I haven't seen him," someone asked.

This question brought wrinkles to Xu Qing's brows. True, he didn't see Liang Cheng either so he looked around.

Then he found Liang Cheng standing on the opposite slope and looking at the crowd.

Seeing that, Xu Qing called Li Ming.

"My Lord, what can I do for you?" Li Ming cupped his hands and asked Xu Qing.

The latter ordered, "You, bring Mr. Liang here."

When he was speaking, Xu Qing looked in the direction where Liang Cheng stood.

"Yes, My Lord," Li Ming answered while cupping his hands again. Afterwards, he ran to Liang Cheng.

After Li Ming ran away, Xu Qing explained to the crowd with a smile, "Everyone, calm down. Please wait a minute. I already asked Li Ming to invite Mr. Liang here."

At this time, Liang Cheng who stood on the slope couldn't help putting on a smile when seeing the happy faces of villagers.

After more than a month, the dam was finally completed. His long-wished dream came true. He wouldn't feel sorry even if he died now.

Bearing that thought, Liang Cheng turned around and was about to walk back to where he lived.

Noticing him walking away, Li Ming shouted, "Mr. Liang, Mr. Liang, wait. Wait, please."

Merely taking a few steps, Liang Cheng heard someone behind was calling him. With his brows knitted, he stopped and turned around. Seeing Li Ming, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Mr. Liang," said Li Ming who ran and cupped his hands towards Liang Cheng.

"What's the matter? Is something going wrong with the dam?" Liang Cheng asked Li Ming with doubt.

But Li Ming just shook his head with a smile and replied, "Mr. Liang, don't worry. Master Xu just wants to invite you there to have a chat."

"Is it because of anything urgent?" Liang Cheng asked again.

Li Ming smiled and explained, "No, Mr. Liang. Master Xu invites you there because villagers who are glad to see the dam completed want to thank you face to face."

"No need. This is just my duty," Liang Cheng said and waved his hand when Li Ming finished. After that, he turned around and was going to leave.

Seeing that, Li Ming hurried to run after him. Pulling Liang Cheng's arm, Li Ming persuaded, "Mr. Liang, please go with me, or I will let Master Xu and villagers down."

Then, he dragged Liang Cheng to the crowd.

As a thin old man, Liang Cheng was surely less strong than Li Ming, a young man. But he was still reluctant and said, "Li Ming, let go of me. I don't want to go there. I just don't."

"Mr. Liang, please show some sympathy for me. They are all waiting for you there," Li Ming said as dragging Liang Cheng away.

What Liang Cheng feared most was to get along with people, let alone a bunch of.

But he had no choice now. Li Ming dragged him to the crowd and shouted, "Everyone, make way. Make way for Mr. Liang."

Hearing Li Ming's voice, villagers all looked back and stepped back for Liang Cheng to walk through when catching sight of him.

All of them fixed their eyes on Liang Cheng and greeted him loudly.

"Mr. Liang."

"Mr. Liang."

At this time, Liang Cheng sorted out his clothes and nodded at villagers with an extremely unnatural smile.

Then, Li Ming smilingly reached out to motion Liang Cheng to walk forward. "Mr. Liang, this way."

Liang Cheng didn't move until he rolled his eyes at Li Ming.

Xu Qing walked to him and greeted Liang Cheng with hands cupped, "Mr. Liang, I'm glad you came."

"All right," Liang Cheng nodded at Xu Qing.

Then, Xu Qing said to the crowd, "Everyone, be quiet."

At once, all stopped talking and looked at him.

Wearing a smile, Xu Qing said, "It's all because Mr. Liang supervised the dam construction day and night. So we can build a dam in such a short time. Having the dam Mr. Liang designed, you won't bother to worry about dealing with droughts and floods anymore. Let us express our thanks to him together."

Right after he finished, an old man standing in front of the crowd walked forward. He looked at Liang Cheng and said, "Mr. Liang, we'll be better off in the future with this dam. To be honest, former magistrates had also built dams here. Despite that, we still had to worry about drought and flood disasters every year. But we didn't speak of it. After all, when a disaster attacks, it's us, local villagers, who take the suffering."

His eyes were filled with tears when he kept talking. Wiping off tears around the corner of his eyes with his sleeve, the old man continued, "But now, the dam you designed is completed. We'll be free of worries from now on. Mr. Liang, thank you so much."

As he expressed his thanks, the old man knelt to Liang Cheng.

Villagers behind him followed. They said, "Mr. Liang, thank you."

Seeing that, Liang Cheng got flustered and lost no time to bend to help the kneeling old man up. He said, "What are you doing? Get up, please. Get up."

After helping the old man stand up, he walked forward and said to those who also knelt down, "Please get up. Please."

Then, they stood up.

Xu Qing went to Liang Cheng with a smile and talked to him, "Mr. Liang, please make a speech for us."

"My Lord, I think not..." Liang Cheng intended to refuse.

But Xu Qing already called the crowd, "Everyone, be quiet. Let's welcome Mr. Liang to give us a speech."

"My Lord, I, I..." Liang Cheng stammered while staring at Xu Qing.

The latter smiled and interrupted, "Mr. Liang, save your modesty. Give us a speech."

After that, he moved back.

All villagers were gazing at Liang Cheng who stood there and did not know what to say.

Li Ming who stood behind Liang Cheng reminded him in a low voice, "Mr. Liang, you can talk about the dam usage."

On hearing that, Liang Cheng slightly nodded. He didn't know much about other topics, but in terms of the dam usage, he did.

Liang Cheng cleared his throat and started. "Well, let me share with you something about the dam usage."

"Wonderful," one in the crowd laughed and applauded just when Liang Cheng finished.

Later, Liang Cheng continued, "I can't build a dam alone. Thanks to your labor, it is completed today. Uh... well, this dam is a bit different from previous ones. Next, I'll introduce its functions to you."

"Mr. Liang, go ahead. We're ready," that old man said, looking at Liang Cheng.

Nodding, Liang Cheng continued as he pointed at the drain holes in the middle of the dam, "Although there are more drain holes in this dam than previous ones, you don't need to feel anxious that it may not be able to bear enough load. The materials used in it are of the best quality. Also, I designed more ditches near the dam. In this way, you can feel free to switch on the drainage system to irrigate fields in dry seasons."

"Mr. Liang, how considerate you are."

"If so, we won't have to collect water from far away anymore."

Liang Cheng added, "The whole dam is designed in a triangular shape, which can ease the burden of the dam and prolong its service life as well. I can't guarantee how other parts of the dam will work but I can say for sure about one thing: it can serve you at least for 20 years."

"20 years?"

Everyone looked surprised when hearing the figure. In this area, villagers had to build dams almost every year in the past. So if the completed dam could work for two years, they would feel grateful. This was the reason why they were so shocked when Liang Cheng claimed that the dam could be in service for 20 years.

But Liang Cheng nodded and confirmed, "That's true. Even after 20 years, the dam may remain in good condition as long as you maintain it every year."

Hearing that, villagers couldn't help weeping. If this was true, they could suffer less in the next 20 years. And, they wouldn't lose their family and home whenever a flood hit.

Thinking of this, the leading old man knelt down again and cried, "Mr. Liang, you're the hero who saves all the villagers in Jiandu. Those black-hearted officials embezzled money used to build dams every year, so dams here always burst after being put into service. But now with the new dam, we finally can live a peaceful life in the next few years."

The old man kowtowed to Liang Cheng while speaking.

Others followed. Everyone here knew how cruel floods could be.

Liang Cheng couldn't help frowning again when seeing them kneeling, but he could understand. Such ordinary people were always weak and helpless in the face of disasters.

Then, Liang Cheng turned around and looked at Xu Qing. "My Lord..."

Xu Qing came up and comforted the crowd, "Everyone, please get up. I know you've suffered a lot. But now, the dam is finished to keep disasters away and you can all live a good life later."

Xu Qing's words made villagers stand up one after the other.

Wiping off tears around the corner of his eyes, the leading old man came to Xu Qing and held his hands, "Yes, My Lord. Having you as our official, we will be better off for sure."

"Don't worry. I won't let you down," Xu Qing nodded to promise.

When all stood up, Xu Qing asked, "Winter is approaching. How are the potatoes in fields growing?"

"My Lord, almost all are ripe. My wife even has picked some to cook."

The old man answered Xu Qing smilingly.

"Oh, it's edible now?" Xu Qing quickly asked.

Young Master Run indeed mentioned that potatoes could ripen fast but this was faster than he had thought. Those potatoes became ripe and edible in just a month.