A daily intelligence report; in chaotic times and famine years, grain is plentiful.

"Gurgle... gurgle..."

Two grayish-white objects rolled out of his clothes and landed on the dirty snow, standing out conspicuously.

The entire venue fell into a deathly silence.

The air freezes.

Everyone stared intently at the two thumb-sized objects, their eyes bloodshot, swallowing sounds escaping their throats.

That's an egg.

It's an egg.

In those famine years when people were forced to eat each other, an egg could sometimes indeed save a life.

Wang Mang was the first to react, his face filled with joy, and his voice even changed tone.

"Look! Everyone, look! This is the evidence! The bird eggs he stole!"

Chen Mo lowered his head and slowly picked up the two pigeon eggs, holding them tightly in his palm.

"This isn't from the well."

"Where did it come from?!" Wang Mang pressed.

Chen Mo paused for two seconds, then slowly said, "The eggs were laid by wild pigeons in a cave on the back mountain. I found them yesterday when I went to pick wild vegetables."

"boom!"

The crowd erupted in chaos.

"A cave in the back mountain? Are there pigeons?"

"He... he can actually find pigeon eggs?!"

"His family...they actually have eggs to eat?!"

A voice, trembling, came from the crowd; it was Old Man Sun.

"Chen Mo... baby... are there still eggs in that cave?"

Chen Mo shook his head.

"That's all. The pigeon is probably frozen to death too."

Nobody believes it.

Nobody believed a single word of it.

Everyone felt that Chen Mo must have hidden even more! There must be more at his house!

Chen Mo could clearly sense that the villagers around him were looking at him differently.

Just moments ago, there was sympathy and amusement; now, it has turned into jealousy, greed, and deep-seated suspicion.

With a "plop".

Suddenly, a gaunt villager knelt down, moved to Chen Mo's side, hugged his legs, and burst into tears.

"Chen Mo... Brother Chen Mo, my child hasn't eaten anything for three days... Please have mercy on me, give me just one egg... Just one, I'll kowtow to you! Bang, bang, bang!"

He actually kowtowed his head into the snow.

A woman also rushed over, crying.

"My mother is dying... Chen Mo, please..."

In the blink of an eye, five or six villagers gathered around, their eyes fixed on the two eggs in Chen Mo's hand.

Wang Mang remained silent, crossed his arms, stepped aside, and wore a sneer of schadenfreude.

This is exactly the effect he wanted.

Make Chen Mo everyone's enemy.

"Get up, all of you! What kind of behavior is this!" Li Laogen stamped his feet anxiously, but his voice sounded weak amidst the hungry shouts of the crowd.

Hunger has long since gnawed away at human dignity.

Chen Mo gripped the egg tightly in his hand and took a step back.

"My father is also sick, and my sister is so hungry she can't even walk. These two eggs could save her life."

Among the crowd, Sun Dazhu, the man who had traded his son for a bushel of grain yesterday, suddenly spoke. His voice was hoarse and filled with resentment.

"Chen Mo, your family is even eating eggs now... So... could you give me back the half bowl of grain you gave me yesterday? My dad is barely holding on..."

Chen Mo's gaze fell on Sun Dazhu.

The young man who had knelt on the ground yesterday, kowtowing and thanking him, now had eyes full of resentment.

Why?

Why is it that your family has eggs to eat, while my family has to sell my son to buy grain?

Why are you so lucky, but I'm not?

Chen Mo understood.

This is famine. Unequal distribution of resources can corrupt gratitude and turn it into hatred.

He knew that if he didn't pay a price today, he would have no way to get out of this encirclement.

He gritted his teeth and pulled out a small cloth bag from his pocket.

Inside was three jin of coarse grains. This was the payment he intended to give to Aunt Li for helping her alter her cotton-padded coat.

He didn't say anything, and simply threw the cloth bag to Old Man Sun in the crowd.

"Here's your grain back."

He paused, his voice cold and hard.

"Egg, no way."

Old Man Sun involuntarily took the grain bag, his old face turning red, his lips trembling, but his hands tightly holding the grain bag.

Chen Mo's gaze swept over the other villagers.

"I only have these two eggs. If anyone wants to take them, they can try."

He suddenly lifted the tattered hem of his clothes.

The machete tucked at his waist and the newly acquired pickaxe were displayed before everyone.

The pickaxe gleamed coldly in the snow.

This thing can smash a person's skull in one hit.

The villagers who had gathered were intimidated by the chilling aura and involuntarily took several steps back.

Chen Mo's gaze finally landed on Wang Mang's face.

"Wang Mang, if you want bird eggs, go find them yourself in the cave behind the mountain. If you stop me again, don't blame me for being impolite."

After he finished speaking, he tightly gripped the two pigeon eggs in one hand, picked up the pickaxe with the other, and walked steadily out step by step.

The crowd automatically parted to make way.

This time, no one dared to stop him.

As soon as Chen Mo stepped out of the crowd, Li Laogen caught up with him, lowering his voice.

"Kid, you shouldn't flaunt your wealth... even if it's just two eggs."

Chen Mo forced an ugly smile.

"Uncle Li, do I have a choice?"

Li Laogen remained silent for a moment, then sighed.

"Those bastards from the Wang family won't give up easily. Now that you've shown your pickaxe, they'll think you have even more good stuff on you and are hiding even bigger secrets."

"I know."

"And..." Li Laogen's voice grew even lower, "You shouldn't have returned the grain from the Sun family in the first place. Since you've already given it away, just leave it at that. If you send it back, they won't be grateful to you. They won't be able to repay this favor. Instead, they'll complain that you didn't give them enough."

Chen Mo froze and subconsciously turned around to look.

Among the crowd, Old Man Sun was holding the small grain bag, while his son, Sun Dazhu, was still staring intently at his location, his eyes still filled with resentment.

Li Laogen patted him on the shoulder.

"Go back quickly. Don't go out for the next few days."

……

The main hall of the Wang Family Compound.

Wang Mang kicked over a stool, his face full of gloom.

"Dad! That kid is really strange! He actually found bird eggs! And a pickaxe too! He must have stolen them from somewhere!"

Wang Laoqi sat in the armchair, slowly sipping his hot tea without even lifting his eyelids.

"A pickaxe?"

"Yes! An old pickaxe! But it still looks pretty sharp!"

Old Wang put down his teacup, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"This Chen Mo is really something else. He got copper coins from Li San by the well, bird eggs from the back mountain, and now he's got an iron pickaxe... This kid must have some ways of making a living that we don't know about."

Wang Mang grew anxious: "What should we do, Father! Today we failed to force them to hand over their grain; instead, they intimidated those poor wretches!"

"Deterrence?" Old Wang sneered. "If only it could deter them. The villagers wouldn't dare provoke him, but they'd definitely resent him even more. Why should everyone else be starving while Chen Mo's family gets to eat eggs? Why?"

He beckoned to Wang Mang and gave the order in a low voice.

"Go, find a few gossipy people and spread the word that Chen Mo didn't find a bird's nest, but rather discovered a hidden grain cave in the back mountain that no one knew about, filled with rice."

Wang Mang's eyes lit up instantly.

"Father, you mean...?"

Wang Laoqi grinned with a sinister smile.

"A starving person will believe any rumor. When those penniless bastards are driven to desperation, they'll rob the Chen family themselves. At that time, our people will mingle among them and find that grain storage cave in the chaos."