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

In less than half an hour, the large sack they brought was full, round and about to burst.

"That's enough! Let's go!" Chen Mo estimated that this bag must weigh more than forty pounds.

He had barely finished speaking when he heard soft footsteps coming from the hillside in the distance, along with the cracking sound of tree branches being snapped.

Some villagers got up early to gather firewood.

After exchanging a glance, the two men didn't hesitate any longer. Sun Dazhu picked up the sack, and its heavy weight almost made him fall. Chen Mo immediately stepped forward to help. The two of them carried the sack and plunged into the side path. They moved quickly and disappeared into the morning mist in the blink of an eye.

When we returned to the cave, it was already broad daylight.

Looking at the fish that were poured out of the sack and piled up like a small mountain, Old Man Sun rubbed his eyes and remained silent for a long time.

Processing a fish weighing over 40 kilograms is a huge undertaking.

Chen Mo had a plan in mind and directed the three of them to divide the work.

The five largest fish, each weighing over four pounds, were gutted, their scales scraped off, and deep incisions made on their bodies. Then, precious salt was carefully applied layer by layer, and the fish were hung in a well-ventilated place near the entrance of the cave to air dry.

The remaining medium-sized fish, weighing fifteen catties, were processed on the same day, with some intended for lunch, and the rest were salted and made into dried salted fish.

Chen Mo poured the last pile of palm-sized small fish and shrimp, weighing about five pounds, into a stone pot, sprinkled in a lot of salt, and simmered it slowly over low heat, mashing it as he cooked, until it became a jar of salty and fragrant fish sauce. This stuff can be stored for a long time, and when there are no other dishes, just scoop some out and mix it with rice for a rare delicacy.

Old Man Sun squatted beside the fire, tending it while gazing at the mountain of stored grain, muttering to himself, "Enough... this is enough... enough for a month..."

His eyes were moist; he had never seen so many fish in his entire life.

Chen Mo was quite generous, directly dividing ten catties of fish among the Sun family, half dried and half fresh. He knew very well that the Sun family father and son were his most trustworthy allies at the moment.

In the evening, Chen Mo returned home.

He carried a large grass carp weighing over three pounds in one hand, five semi-dried fish in the other, and a small jar of freshly made fish sauce in his pocket.

In front of the stove, Chen Ling'er was cooking a pot of bland sorghum porridge with a few wild vegetables. When Chen Mo brought back the things, the little girl's eyes widened immediately upon seeing them, and the wooden spoon in her hand fell to the ground with a clatter.

"Brother...you...you caught all the fish in the river?" she stammered, her expression full of disbelief.

Chen Mo smiled and put the fish on the table, then reached out and pinched her head, saying, "Silly girl, there are plenty of fish in the river, more than we can eat. It just depends on whether you can catch any."

That night, the Chen family enjoyed the most lavish whole fish feast since the famine began.

The largest grass carp was steamed with just a little salt; the fish meat was tender, white, and melted in your mouth.

The fish head and bones weren't thrown away either. They were combined with a bean sprout that Chen Mo had secretly planted in a jar, and cooked into a pot of milky white fish head soup.

A few small fish, fried in a small amount of oil extracted from dried walnut kernels until golden brown on both sides, their aroma filling the air.

The staple food was dry rice made from reed roots mixed with sorghum, which they usually couldn't bear to eat.

Chen Dashan leaned against the bed, and Chen Mo served him a large bowl full of fish. He was very careful when eating the fish, holding each bite in his mouth for a long time, even chewing the tiny fish bones to pieces before swallowing them along with the fish.

I can't bear to waste a single bit.

After the meal, Chen Ling'er patted her round little belly, leaned against Chen Mo, and let out a satisfied burp.

"Brother, I'm full," she said softly, and she was indeed full.

Seeing the long-awaited look of satisfaction on his sister's face, Chen Mo finally felt a weight lifted from his heart.

In the days that followed, Chen Mo strictly adhered to his plan.

Every week he would go to the underground river and use his homemade fishing hooks to catch about ten blind fish each time, weighing about four pounds. This way, he could ensure a continuous source of protein without damaging the underground river's ecosystem.

He deliberately released more than twenty small fish fry into a small puddle by the underground river, hoping that they could reproduce on their own and create a fish farm that could exist for a long time.

After catching the fish, Sun Dazhu looked at the lively blind fish and suddenly had an idea. "Chen Mo," he then said, "don't you think we could raise something else in this underground river? Like... shrimp, or bring some crabs over?"

Chen Mo shook his head. "It's hard to say. There's no light in the dark river, and the water is icy cold. The blind fish can survive because their ancestors have adapted to this environment for generations. 89% of outsiders can't survive here. However," he changed the subject, "we can try to collect some algae and take it back. I heard that dried algae is good for feeding chickens and can also give us some green nutrients."

As Chen Mo and the Sun family secretly stockpiled food and their lives slowly began to look promising, the Wang family's surveillance became increasingly intense.

Wang Mang searched the back mountain for several days without finding anything. The annoying rats seemed to have vanished into thin air, which made him feel like he had been tricked and he was extremely angry.

He directly dispatched some more people, including two servants, to take turns on guard duty during the day and night. They stayed on the hillside near the Chen family's house, keeping a close eye on the dilapidated thatched hut.

Even Chen Ling'er, who occasionally went out to dig for wild vegetables to pretend to be someone else, was followed by a tail.

The clever Chen Ling'er kept her brother's instructions firmly in mind. She would only dig up the most common and particularly unpalatable bitter vegetables near the village, and each time she would only dig up a small basket, showing that she was malnourished.

That day, she had just finished picking wild vegetables and was about to go home when Wang Mang suddenly emerged from behind a big tree and blocked her way.

"Little girl," Wang Mang forced a smile as he looked at her, "your family has been eating quite normally lately. Your face looks even plumper than it did a few days ago."

Chen Ling'er's heart tightened suddenly, her face turned pale instantly, she lowered her head, her hands gripped the edge of the basket tightly, and her shoulders trembled slightly.

"Uncle Mang... Uncle Mang..." she said, her voice trembling with tears, "My family... my family hasn't had any proper food for days... we've been drinking wild vegetable soup every day, and my father... my father's cough is worse than ever..."

As she spoke, two teardrops, each the size of a bean, rolled out of her eyes, hanging precariously on her eyelashes.