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

The next morning, before dawn, Chen Mo heard the system notification again.

[The system's daily tasks have been updated. Please select one:]

[Intelligence 1: On a cliff two miles north of Black Wind Ridge, there is a large beehive containing approximately five pounds of honey and a large number of bee pupae. Wild bees are highly venomous, and climbing the cliff is extremely difficult; the risk level is high.]

[Intelligence 2: There are many loaches hiding in the silt in the ditch east of the village. The risk is very low, but it will take a lot of time.]

[Intelligence 3: There are abandoned scraps of linen in the back street of the town's cloth shop, with no obvious risk]

Please make a choice, host...

Upon seeing this, Chen Mo's eyes suddenly lit up.

Wild honey?

Even in modern times, this thing would be extremely valuable.

These five catties of wild honey can not only be saved for the winter, but also be used to supplement the nutrition of my father and Ling'er on ordinary days, and can even be sold in town for money.

Although the risk is high, he has a lot of useful tools at his disposal. If he can get Sun Dazhu to help him, he might be able to take down this thing.

"Choose the first one."

Fortune favors the bold, and Chen Mo did not hesitate for a moment.

Before long, the location of the wild honey appeared in Chen Mo's mind.

He quickly got out of bed, grabbed his tools, and found Sun Dazhu.

To survive, the two were almost inseparable. Chen Mo also suggested that Sun Dazhu be placed near his home so that the two could contact each other at any time.

"Dazhu, wake up."

Chen Mo knocked on the door.

Sun Dazhu pushed open the door, looking sleepy, and said, "Brother Mo, so early? What's up?"

"Go collect honey, and take all your tools with you."

Chen Mo urged.

"Collecting honey?"

Although Sun Dazhu had doubts, he acted quickly, washed up briefly, and followed Chen Mo.

As dawn broke, the two followed the system's guidance and arrived at the foot of the cliff.

"I'll climb up first, you can come down and meet me."

Chen Mo lit a torch, took the mugwort, and started climbing up the mountain.

"Brother Mo, be careful."

Sun Dazhu nervously reminded him.

The cliff face was uneven and barely manageable to climb.

Chen Mo carefully climbed up, and only when he reached the bottom of the beehive did he catch his breath and light the mugwort.

Thick smoke rose slowly, drifting towards the hive.

The wild bees, choked by the smoke, became agitated and flew away from their nest in swarms.

Chen Mo had already wrapped his body in burlap, and even smeared mud in the gaps, showing no fear of being stung by bees.

"stick."

Chen Mo gave a low shout, took the long stick handed to him by Sun Dazhu, and carefully pried off the beehive.

"Catch!"

Chen Mo reminded him.

Sun Dazhu quickly opened his clothes to catch it and wrapped it tightly around himself.

Chen Mo slowly jumped down, then took out the prepared earthenware jar and shared the wild honey and bee pupae with Sun Dazhu.

After doing all this, the two did not delay and turned to walk towards the cave to store the supplies they could not take with them.

Chen Mo hadn't gone far when he suddenly stopped, his brows furrowing slightly.

There seemed to be a slight sound behind me...

"What's wrong?" Sun Dazhu noticed his unusual behavior and quickly stopped to ask.

Chen Mo was slightly taken aback, but quickly regained his composure and shook his head: "It's nothing."

The two quickened their pace toward the village, but the dark figure behind the bushes, seeing them walk away, immediately turned and ran toward the Wang family compound.

At this moment, in the Wang family compound, Wang Mang was drinking a little wine, still feeling resentful about what happened yesterday.

"Chen Mo, that kid, seems like a completely different person..."

Just then, Zhao Si, the lackey, ran in, panting.

"Brother Mang! We have news. Chen Mo and Sun Dazhu just ran down from Black Wind Ridge. They must have hidden the thing there."

Upon hearing this, Wang Mang was overjoyed and abruptly stood up.

"I knew this kid was hiding something. Today we're going to find his hidden grain. Come with me!"

After saying this, Wang Mang summoned more than a dozen servants and headed aggressively towards the Chen family.

At this moment, Chen Mo had just given the wild honey to Ling'er, asking her to take it and make a bowl of honey water for her father.

Sun Dazhu was sitting in the yard sharpening his knife, preparing to go to the mountains with Chen Mo later.

"Brother, this honey smells so good!"

Chen Ling'er held the bowl, her face full of joy.

Chen Dashan sat to the side, looking much better than before. Seeing his daughter's happy expression, a smile appeared on his lips.

"Thanks to your brother, our family is able to eat such good food."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a commotion of footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate.

"Chen Mo! Get out here right now!"

Wang Mang roared and kicked open the courtyard gate.

Chen Mo's eyes darkened, and he quickly told Ling'er to put the things away. Then he hid the short knife in his sleeve and went to the courtyard.

Wang Mang swaggered in with a group of servants, a smile on his face, his eyes fixed on Chen Mo.

"Chen Mo, the government is now calling on wealthy households to donate grain. What is your response?"

Wang Mang stood with his hands on his hips, still looking arrogant.

"Although your family is poor, that's no excuse. The moldy grain you handed over last time wasn't even enough to fill a tooth gap. This time you must hand over another twenty catties of grain, or you will be disobeying the government's orders!"

"Wang Mang, you already searched my house last time, so what are you doing here?"

Chen Mo stood still, his expression calm.

"You've hidden all the grain, haven't you?"

Wang Mang stepped forward, his eyes sweeping over Chen Ling'er beside him.

Seeing that her complexion was rosy and she was not as pale and thin as before, he became even more certain of his thoughts.

"Don't think I don't know. You must have other connections, otherwise you would have starved to death long ago."

As he spoke, he was about to go back into the house to search.

Chen Mo blocked his way, his eyes icy cold. "You've already searched me once. Do you dare to lay a hand on me again?"

Looking into Chen Mo's cold eyes, Wang Mang suddenly felt a bit more wary.

"Chen Mo, don't be arrogant. If I find out you've been hiding grain and deceiving the authorities, that's a capital offense!"

"capital offense?"

Chen Mo was quite disdainful.

"Wang Mang, if you have any evidence, go ahead and report it to the authorities."

Sun Dazhu couldn't help but step forward, angrily shouting, "If you can't find it, then get out of here! Don't push your luck!"

"Can't find it?"

Wang Mang sneered.

"I don't think you've hidden any grain at home at all, have you?"

Chen Mo remained unmoved, staring intently at Wang Mang.

Sun Dazhu was startled, and his expression changed instantly.

Seeing their reactions, Wang Mang became even more certain of his guess.

"I bet you hid your grain in the mountains, right? In the caves of Black Wind Ridge, isn't that right?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Dazhu immediately panicked and broke out in a cold sweat.

That cave holds the grain they painstakingly collected, as well as the wild honey they just retrieved. If Wang Mang finds it, all their efforts will be in vain, and their whole family will be doomed.

Sun Dazhu retorted repeatedly, "Wang Mang, that's enough! Stop spouting nonsense!"

"Am I talking nonsense?"

Wang Mang glanced at him but ignored him completely, turning to stare at Chen Mo with his arrogant expression still intact.

"Stop pretending! Once I find the food in the cave, I'll confiscate it all. You two won't escape the charge of stealing government relief grain, and you'll be in for it!"

After saying that, he waved his hand dismissively.

"Brothers, come with me to Black Wind Ridge and raid their grain storage!"