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

Three days later, Chen Ling'er was the first to discover the miracle.

"Brother, brother, they've sprouted!" She lifted the damp cloth and saw that the jar was full of clean white bean sprouts, each topped with two golden yellow bean leaves, squeezed together and looking crisp and fresh.

Chen Ling'er would go to check on them several times a day, and whisper to them, "Grow up quickly, grow up quickly, and then you can eat them."

On the night of the seventh day, Chen Mo took badger oil and a little salt, and with a hiss, stir-fried a large plate of bean sprouts.

The aroma of soybeans and lard instantly filled the entire room.

Chen Ling'er picked up a piece with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth, her eyes immediately lighting up: "Brother! This is crispy and delicious!"

Chen Dashan chewed slowly, remaining silent for a long time. Finally, he sighed deeply and said, "I haven't eaten bean sprouts in many years. Mo'er, your method is truly brilliant. No soil, no grain, and you can see green sprouts in just a few days."

This plate of bean sprouts is even more delicious than the meat we eat during Chinese New Year.

After finishing their meal, Chen Mo and Sun Dazhu had a new task.

The underground river inside the cave.

After several days of digging, the entrance was large enough for one person to crawl in. Two people made a simple waterproof lantern out of oiled paper, covered the candle with it, and then, wearing hemp netting, crawled inside.

The cave was cold and damp, and the sound of flowing water was amplified in the narrow passages, making it quite frightening.

The lantern's light flashed on the water's surface, and Chen Mo immediately held his breath.

Something is moving in the water.

Those were fish that were entirely grayish-white, with no eyes, only two black dots, swimming slowly in the water. Each one was about the length of a palm.

Blind fish.

Because they live in darkness year-round, they are slow to react.

The two men scooped the net into the water and then lifted it up; there were three or four fish jumping around in the net.

In less than half an hour, they caught twelve fish, weighing about five pounds.

Sun Dazhu was extremely excited, his face flushed. He lowered his voice and said, "Chen Mo, this place is simply a treasure trove. We won't have to worry about not having meat to eat anymore."

"We can't catch too many." Chen Mo was quite calm. "If we catch them all, they won't exist anymore. We need to leave some to reproduce."

He threw the smallest fish in the net back into the river.

"From now on, we'll come once a week, with a maximum of ten fish each time. We'll release all the smaller ones."

The two also found a puddle in the cave, built a small pool with stones, and kept several lively little fish in it as spare live fish fry.

That evening, the system refreshed again:

[Daily information has been updated, please select:]

[1. In the backyard of the abandoned inn in town, there are discarded broken horse wheels; the iron hoops can be made into hoes. (Low risk, must sneak in at night)]

Second, there are about two pounds of wild ginger buried in the flash flood gullies behind the mountain. It can be used for both seasoning and medicine. (Medium risk; digging it out is very laborious.)

[Three, in the garbage dump of the old bandit stronghold at Black Wind Ridge, there are several rusty but still repairable sickles. (High risk, possibly remnants of bandits)]

tool!

We're desperately short of tools for clearing land! Wooden rakes are completely useless.

Chen Mo chose [Information 1].

The scene depicts an abandoned inn on the edge of town. In the backyard, amidst the weeds, a dilapidated horse-drawn carriage wheel is half-buried in the soil. Although the iron hoops on it are rusty, they are still thick and intact.

Chen Mo and Sun Dazhu launched another nighttime operation.

The two men made their way to the backyard of the inn and, with great effort, pried the heavy iron hoop off the wheel. They then took turns carrying it back to the village.

At the crucial moment, it was Chen Dashan who played a key role.

"Take the stove and heat it up really hard, until it's red-hot, then take it out and smash it."

He had been an apprentice to a blacksmith when he was young, and he hadn't forgotten those skills.

The two men took turns appearing, their clothes soaked with sweat and their hands blistered. All night long, the clanging and banging sounds in the courtyard never stopped.

As dawn approached, the iron hoop was finally hammered into two crude but sturdy hoe-shaped pieces. Although ugly, their blades were quite sharp, much better than anything made of wood.

Chen Mo handed one of them to Sun Dazhu: "Brother Zhu, use it for clearing land."

Sun Dazhu took the hoe, and his eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"Chen Mo, my life, Sun Dazhu's life, is now yours."

With the tools, the progress of land reclamation was greatly accelerated.

Late at night, on the back mountain.

Chen Mo, Sun Dazhu, and even Chen Ling'er came along. The little girl carried a small basket and said she wanted to help pick up stones.

The newly dug iron hoe plunged into the ground, turning up a large patch of dark soil, where earthworms could even be seen wriggling around.

This soil is so fertile.

The three of them were full of energy and cleared almost three-tenths of an acre in one night.

Chen Mo divided the land into three parts: one part was planted with potatoes, and he cut the sprouted seed potatoes into small pieces and carefully buried them in the soil; another part was planted with beans, with soybeans, black beans and mung beans planted in rows; the remaining part was left empty for the time being, with the plan to transplant some delicious wild vegetables there in the future.

Chen Ling'er squatted by the field, her face flushed from exhaustion, but she asked excitedly, "Brother, when the potatoes grow big, will there be lots of them? Can we eat them all?"

Chen Mo smiled and nodded: "We can't finish them all. We'll dry them into potato chips, so we can eat them in winter too."

They used cut branches and vines to build a simple fence around the vegetable garden to keep wild boars and rabbits away.

Looking at this secret field cultivated in the darkness, Chen Mo felt a sense of peace he had never known before.

This is their hope, a hope that no one can take away from them.

The time has come to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

It should have been a day when every household was eating glutinous rice balls and admiring lanterns, but the village was as quiet as a tomb.

The snow had all melted, the wild vegetables in the fields hadn't sprouted yet, and every household's stored grain was almost gone. The spring famine had finally revealed its terrifying nature.

Almost every day, people are carried out of the village.

Li Laogen, who was leading a few villagers who still had the strength to dig for wild vegetables, had just seen the wild vegetables sprouting a little green shoot when the hungry people immediately uprooted them.

Some people started eating Guanyin clay, and their bellies swelled up like drums. They rolled on the ground and died in agony.

The price of grain in the Wang family has risen again; a bushel of old grain now costs five qian of silver. Before the New Year, that could buy half an acre of land.

Chen Mo dried most of the fish he caught in the underground river. He secretly packed half a pound of fish and gave it to Li Laogen.

"Uncle Li, take this back and make some soup to keep your family alive."

Li Laogen's hands trembled noticeably, almost unable to hold the bag of dried fish: "Mo'er, you child, I don't know what to say."