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

Li Laogen was furious, his whole body trembling uncontrollably. He pointed at Wang Mang, unable to utter a single word.

The Wang family no longer follows any rules.

On the other side, Chen Mo and Sun Dazhu, carrying baskets on their backs, were walking deeper into the mountains.

They eventually found a sinkhole in a hidden group of caves.

There is a large crack at the top of the sinkhole, through which sunlight can shine in, and a thick layer of humus has accumulated at the bottom.

This place is more secluded and safer than the previous hillside.

The two carefully transplanted the bean sprouts, wrapped in damp cloth, one by one, to the bottom of the sinkhole, and also replanted the remaining potato seed tubers.

After completing all of this, Chen Mo made a special trip to the underground river to collect some algae growing on the rocks, and then transplanted them into his family's underground spring.

He wanted to give those blind shrimp a home too.

A few days later, the blind shrimp in the cellar seemed to have adapted to the new environment, and their numbers did not decrease. The bean sprouts in the sinkhole also regained their vitality and grew new leaves.

Chen Mo's life entered a period of stable development.

The system refreshed again that morning.

[Daily information has been updated, please select:]

[First, there is some miscellaneous grain, about five pounds, that fell during transport, in the drainage ditch behind the town's granary. However, it contains a lot of mud, sand, and pebbles. (When you go to collect it at night, be careful to avoid the watchman.)]

Second, there's an old pine tree on the back hill. In its abandoned hollow, there are about eight pounds of acorns stored by squirrels. They taste a bit bitter and need to be boiled in water to remove the bitterness before they can be eaten. (Climbing up there is dangerous and could result in falling.)

Thirdly, hidden in a secret compartment of the grain cellar in the old bandit stronghold at Black Wind Ridge, there are twenty jin of undiscovered, aged sorghum, in remarkably good condition. (The stronghold is located in a remote area, where wild animals are active at night.)

Twenty catties of sorghum.

Chen Mo's eyes instantly locked onto the third option.

This is incomparable to acorns or coarse grains. Twenty pounds of pure grain is enough to feed a family of three for almost half a month.

Risk? Beast?

As long as they don't encounter a black bear or a blind man, he and Sun Dazhu, with their weapons and tinderboxes, should be able to handle the situation.

Choose three!

In my mind, I pictured a bandit stronghold with an extremely dilapidated stone granary. Under an inconspicuous stone slab on its inner wall, there was a hidden compartment containing several small burlap sacks neatly stacked.

That night, Chen Mo and Sun Dazhu, fully armed, quietly made their way to Black Wind Ridge.

The mountain stronghold had long been abandoned, and the ruins looked like ghosts under the moonlight.

The wind howled through the dilapidated window, making a rather frightening sound.

Following the images provided by the system, the two accurately located the grain cellar.

Lifting the stone slab in the interlayer, a musty smell of grain wafts out.

Sure enough, there were five small burlap sacks inside.

Chen Mo weighed it in his hand; it was heavier than he had expected.

Overjoyed, the two men picked up their sacks and prepared to leave.

On their way back, they eventually encountered trouble.

A lone wolf, looking quite hungry with green eyes, silently emerged from the woods and blocked the road.

"brute!"

Sun Dazhu let out a low roar and held the torch in front of him.

Chen Mo gripped the machete at his waist tightly.

The hungry wolf paced back and forth, letting out low growls, searching for an opportunity to attack.

After a brief standoff, Chen Mo suddenly lit another spare torch and threw it at the hungry wolf.

Sparks flew everywhere, startling the hungry wolf. It howled and retreated several steps, finally tucking its tail between its legs and reluctantly disappearing into the darkness.

It was a close call, but no real danger.

When I got home, I poured out the sorghum and weighed it; it turned out to be 22 jin (16 kg).

The next day, the weather was still cold.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Chen Mo conducted a thorough inventory of all the food reserves in his home.

As for staple foods, there are 45 jin of sorghum, 4.5 jin of millet, 10 jin of previously ground reed root powder, 3 jin of newly harvested small potatoes, and 5 jin of mixed beans.

Protein sources include 25 catties of dried fish, fresh fish that can be obtained from underground rivers over a long period of time, about 10 catties of blind fish, blind shrimp that are continuously supplied from the cellar, and three eggs that an old hen lays every week.

The vegetables included eight catties of dried wild vegetables, bean sprouts that Sun Dazhu helped grow, and water celery picked from the underground river.

Seasonings: 3 catties of salt, half a catty of Sichuan peppercorns, a small jar of badger oil, and two jars of fish sauce.

Chen Mo looked at the items on the list and felt somewhat dazed.

In an era when people were starving everywhere, his family had enough food stored up to feed the three of them quite well for three months.

He read the list to his father.

As Chen Dashan listened, tears streamed uncontrollably down his cloudy old eyes.

He held his son's hand, his lips trembling.

"Mo'er...we...we really won't starve to death."

As life at home improved, Chen Ling'er could clearly see that she had become more cheerful.

She is no longer that little girl who cowers in the corner.

She would volunteer to feed the chickens, clean the yard, and even learned to sew and mend with scraps of cloth.

That night, when Chen Mo returned from his work, Chen Ling'er handed him an object as if it were a treasure.

It was a wristband sewn together from several layers of old cloth, the stitches were crooked, but it was quite sturdy.

"Brother, you work every day, your wrists are all worn out."

Chen Mo put the rough wristband on his hand; it fit perfectly, and a warm feeling washed over him.

"Our Ling'er's cooking skills are getting better and better."

Chen Ling'er looked up at her with a serious expression and said, "Brother, I will grow up quickly and help you with chores so that you won't be so tired."

Chen Dashan leaned against the door, looking at his two children, a smile that hadn't appeared on his face in a long time. His illness had improved significantly due to his improved mood and nutrition, and he was now able to get out of bed and walk slowly.

However, the Chen family's peace was destined to be short-lived.

Wang family.

After Wang Mang occupied the vegetable garden, he had his men turn over the land for two days, only to find stones and weeds. This infuriated him, and he almost beat up the men who had accompanied him.

"That brat Chen Mo must have other sources of grain," Wang Mang said angrily.

Inside the study, Wang Laoqi, who was fanning himself, slowly opened his eyes.

"What's the rush?" He took a sip of tea. "People have to eat, drink, and relieve themselves to live in this world. If he can hide food, can he hide water too?"

Wang Mang was taken aback.

"Seventh Uncle, you mean...?"

Wang Laoqi smiled and said, "Send someone to keep an eye on the village well." He then added, "See if they go to fetch water every day, and how much water they fetch. From the amount of water they use, we can roughly calculate how many people are in their family and how much they eat each day."

Wang Mang suddenly realized: "Brilliant! Uncle Qi, you're truly brilliant!"

A large surveillance net was quietly cast over the Chen family.

But they were destined to be disappointed.

The Chen family doesn't need to fetch water from the well at all.