A young man from another world returned to his hometown.

Lin Yan's lips curved slightly upward.

Then, without any warning, the wheel precisely hit the ruts on the road and jolted violently.

Syl lunged forward, instinctively tightening his arms around himself.

"The road is difficult to travel."

Lin Yan said nonchalantly.

"……Um."

Syl's voice came from behind him.

The construction site is already bustling with activity.

The two stopped on a high spot nearby, where they could see the entire construction site.

The once bumpy country road is now being widened on both sides.

"Hello!!"

A loud voice burst out.

Lin Yecheng was standing next to the excavator, shouting instructions. He looked rather disheveled, but his spirits were high.

He turned his head and saw the two of them.

"Ayan's here?!"

Today, Syl was wearing a light-colored thin jacket, her hair was gently swaying in the wind, and she looked like she had stepped out of a painting.

Lin Yecheng looked at Xier's hand that was gently tugging at Lin Yan's sleeve, his expression one of praise from his cousin.

"How's the progress?"

Lin Yan asked.

"It's faster than planned. The construction company that Jiayao found is very professional. The uncles who used to go out to work are all very happy to see that there is work right at their doorstep."

As they were chatting, a series of pebbles rolled down the slope.

Syl noticed.

In that instant, something popped into her mind.

A passage from a novel.

"At this moment, you should pull him into your arms, turn around to avoid the incoming danger, slow down time, and then he will look at you with even deeper affection..."

Without thinking twice, she pounced on him.

He wrapped his arms around Lin Yan's waist.

However, at the very moment she lunged forward, Lin Yan realized what was happening.

He turned to the side, grabbed her with one hand, wrapped his whole body around her, and gently turned her around, turning his back to the series of rubble, protecting her against his chest.

The gravel fell to the ground, and the dust settled.

The roaring sounds of machinery all around seemed to fade into the distance at that moment.

Sylph pressed her face against his chest, heard his steady heartbeat, and slowly raised her head.

Lin Yan lowered his head and looked at her. The two were so close that their breaths could almost blend together. He spoke softly, his voice steady, with a gentleness that seemed to come from nowhere.

"Are you alright?"

What Hill had envisioned as a damsel in distress rescuing a hero turned into a hero rescuing a damsel in distress.

Syl stared at him blankly, her lips moving slightly.

then.

Bang.

Those two pointed ears, which she had been trying so hard to disguise, suddenly popped out without her noticing.

Her hands were at a loss; covering her face only made her feel more ashamed, but not covering her face left her unsure of where to look. So she just nestled awkwardly in Lin Yan's arms, barely daring to breathe.

Lin Yan stared at the two ears without saying a word. He simply lowered his head, his nose touching the top of her head, and silently hugged her a little tighter, covering her ears with his hands.

At the same time, the workers at the construction site all turned their attention elsewhere with a tacit understanding.

Lin Yecheng gave me a knowing smile.

"……call."

He took out his phone and sent a message to Lin Jiayao.

[I feel like we're going to have a nephew soon.]

As evening fell, the sun began to set.

Lin Yan took Xier's hand and sat down by the roadside.

She took the packaged food out of her spatial bag.

Sier sat next to him, head down, glancing quietly at the rice balls she had made, and then at Lin Yan.

"Honey……"

She seemed to be mustering a great deal of courage.

"You...you open your mouth."

"ah."

Lin Yan did not refuse, lowered her head, and ate it.

"tasty."

He said calmly.

"……Really?"

"Um."

Syl quietly breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes crinkling into a smile.

Lin Yan took a bite of rice, turned his head, looked at the road that was taking shape in front of him, and slowly began to speak.

"Look at this road,"

"Once it's repaired, large vehicles will be able to pass through."

Syl followed his gaze.

"Cold storage, a technical school, and our waterfront resort fishing ground."

He continued, pointing further away.

"Right there."

Syl listened quietly without interrupting.

Lin Yan paused, turned his head, and looked at her.

"Once this road is repaired, shall we walk on it together more often?"

Syl looked up and quietly tightened her grip on his hand.

"Wherever my darling says she wants to go, I'll go."

She paused, then slowly rested her head on his shoulder, looking up at the sky, which was bathed in the warm orange glow of the setting sun.

……

The construction of cold storage facilities involves specialized knowledge that migrant workers cannot undertake, so a professional cold storage construction team was stationed in Tiancun.

This brought together more than twenty people.

Immediately afterward, construction also began on Mixue Ice Cream.

The large area of ​​land opposite the school had actually been quietly starting to stir for some time.

Since their return, the prestige of the Tamura Hayashi family has been firmly established.

Even a 90-year-old grandmother knows that the local tyrant in Guanzhen is the Lin family of Tiancun.

He gained a reputation in the countryside, and with the support of the town leaders.

At the entrance of Tiancun Village, a row of self-built houses along the national highway have all been included in the overall planning.

It was taken over by Lin Jiayao as part of the collective's commercial center street construction project.

Behind the street, a large plot of land has been transformed into neat rows of residential buildings, following the urban community planning.

It serves as both land acquisition compensation and future employee housing.

With such power, the issues concerning the land's ownership never reached Lin Yan's ears.

When a large number of workers came to Guanzhen, the first to feel the changes were in the upstream and downstream of the catering industry.

The old lady selling roasted sweet potatoes at the village entrance had her entire brunch sold out.

The previously stagnant economy seemed to have been suddenly injected with a surge of vitality.

Lin Yan knew that the time had come.

The milk tea shop closed one night.

My cousin, Lin Jiaqing, pulled down the roller shutter. The employee had just finished washing the last batch of cups and was taking off his apron.

"Sister Qing, is today over?"

"Uncle Fang's wife asked."

"No rush, everyone stay here tonight."

Lin Jiaqing poured a glass of water for everyone.

"Wait a moment, Ayan has something to say."

A moment later, Lin Yan pushed open the side door and came in, with Lin Jiayao following behind him, carrying an account book in his hand.

"Thank you all for your hard work. I asked you to stay for a moment today because I have something to announce."

The shop fell silent for a moment.

"I plan to change the salary structure of the bubble tea shop."

"Change...the salary structure?"

Uncle Fang's daughter-in-law spoke first, her tone cautious and tinged with barely suppressed trepidation.

The two employees next to them also straightened up without realizing it.

People from rural areas, upon hearing the word "salary," immediately feel a fear that something unexpected might happen to them.

Lin Yan realized that there was no beating around the bush.

"It's not about deducting wages, let me finish."

He paused for a moment, then spoke.

"In the future, our company will follow the Pang Donglai model, with a portion of the profits distributed as bonuses to employees."