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

"Do you think you'll live to receive the royal family's stipend?"

Chen Mo's eyes turned cold.

"Who is Wang Laoqi? If he knew that you had discovered my family's hidden things a long time ago, but only spoke up now, he would only think that you had ulterior motives, and might even suspect that you had embezzled something. In that case, you might end up losing more than you gain."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Hu's smug expression instantly froze.

He hadn't considered that.

Wang Laoqi is suspicious and ruthless. If I were to be suspected by Wang Laoqi, I would certainly not have a good ending.

Seeing Zhou Hu's hesitant expression, Chen Mo knew that his words had worked, and added, "I understand that you want benefits, but sharing grain and chickens is absolutely out of the question."

The grain we have now is for winter; we absolutely cannot give it away easily.

"So what do you want?" Zhou Hu frowned, his tone softening slightly. "I can't just have come all this way for nothing, can I?"

Chen Mo had already seen through his thoughts and said calmly, "You just want to know how we found these things."

Zhou Hu's eyes lit up, and he nodded quickly: "That's right! Tell me the way, and I won't ask you for grain or chickens anymore. I want to join you. From now on, if we find anything good, we'll look for it together and share it. How about it?"

Once I know Chen Mo's connections, I can act independently in the future and might be able to find even more good things. Then I won't have to be at Chen Mo's beck and call anymore.

"Don't be too greedy!"

Sun Dazhu, however, completely disagreed.

"Why should I tell you? There's nothing to say to a lazy, good-for-nothing like you."

Upon hearing these words, Zhou Hu's expression instantly turned ugly, reverting to his previous despicable demeanor.

"So you're saying you're unwilling? Fine, since it's come to this, I have no choice but to tell the Wang family where you've hidden your grain. At that point, will you be scared or will I be anxious...?"

As Zhou Hu spoke, he turned to leave.

He deliberately slowed his pace, quite certain that someone as weak as Chen Mo would definitely try to stop him.

But Chen Mo, standing behind him, simply watched Zhou Hu leave in silence.

For Chen Mo, having someone like Zhou Hu join the team was a complete hidden danger.

This kind of person doesn't have any good intentions; they'll do anything for profit.

But if we let this go unchecked today, this person will surely inform the Wang family.

No matter which option you choose, it's a difficult problem.

Since that's the case, we can only try to keep this person calm for now.

The courtyard was quiet at this moment.

Chen Mo turned his head and looked at his father and sister.

At this moment, Chen Dashan seemed to have seen through Chen Mo's inner thoughts.

He slowly shook his head, signaling Chen Mo to calm down.

Chen Mo nodded slightly, but when he recalled the scene of Zhou Hu bullying Chen Ling'er just now, he felt a surge of anger inexplicably.

In such chaotic times, the more cowardly you are, the easier it is for others to bully you.

Chen Mo was reborn into this life simply to give his family a better life.

At this moment, Zhou Hu had just stepped out of the courtyard. When he turned back and saw that Chen Mo did not say anything to stop him, he couldn't help but feel a little hesitant.

"Chen Mo, you'd better think this through carefully. I'll give you half a day. Either give me some of the spoils, or let me join you. Otherwise..."

"Wait a minute."

At this moment, Chen Mo indeed spoke up.

Zhou Hu was secretly delighted and turned to say smugly, "You've figured it out? It would have saved you so much trouble if you'd done this earlier..."

"I can bring you into the group."

Chen Mo spoke in a flat tone.

"What?"

Sun Dazhu's eyes widened suddenly, his face full of confusion.

Chen Ling'er tugged at Chen Mo's sleeve and whispered, "Brother, he's a bad guy, we can't let him come along..."

Sun Dazhu lowered his voice and said urgently, "Brother Mo! How can you agree to this? Zhou Hu is a lazy, good-for-nothing scoundrel who's a habitual thief. Having him around is a recipe for disaster; he might betray us any day now!"

Chen Mo raised his hand to interrupt him, his gaze still fixed on Zhou Hu.

"If you want to join us, follow my rules. Come with us now, and don't ask questions you shouldn't ask, and don't utter a single word you shouldn't say. If you dare to betray us, even if the Wang family protects you, I can make sure you don't survive."

"Don't worry! I'm a man of my word. If I get any benefits, I'll keep it a secret! You're smart to know what's good for you!"

Zhou Hu patted his chest and assured him.

Chen Mo ignored his arrogance and turned to Chen Ling'er, saying, "Hide everything well, don't let anyone find out, and take good care of Dad. I'm going out with Brother Dazhu for a bit, we'll be back soon."

"Brother, be careful."

Chen Ling'er nodded and walked towards the woodshed, carrying the bamboo basket.

Chen Dashan instructed, "Be careful on the road."

"Yes, Father."

Chen Mo picked up the short knife from the corner of the wall and tucked it into his waistband, then said to the two men, "Let's go."

Sun Dazhu was filled with resentment and glared fiercely at Zhou Hu.

Zhou Hu, however, didn't care and followed behind Chen Mo.

"If I'd known you had connections, I wouldn't be starving. The other day, the Wang family took their anger out on me; they almost beat me to death. What bad luck!"

"You're going to get away with this!" Sun Dazhu retorted angrily. "You idle around all day, always eyeing other people's things. You're lucky you haven't had your legs broken!"

"Watch your mouth! We're on the same side now!"

Zhou Hu retorted smugly.

"Shut up."

Chen Mo spoke coldly, his gaze sweeping over the two of them.

"If you keep making such a racket and attract the Wang family here, none of us will survive."

This sentence immediately silenced the room.

Zhou Hu was still afraid of the Wang family, so he quickly shut his mouth.

Sun Dazhu gritted his teeth and followed behind in silence, unable to understand why Chen Mo would keep Zhou Hu, this potential threat, alive.

Chen Mo walked at the front, his eyes warily scanning his surroundings.

He knew in his heart that if he drove Zhou Hu away, Zhou Hu would definitely go to the Wang family to inform on him.

At this moment, he already had a plan in mind.

The three of them walked along the mountain path into the mountains.

"Chen Mo, how much longer until we get there? This road is so difficult, my legs are aching."

Zhou Hu was panting heavily after walking for only a short while.

"You can't even handle this short distance?" Sun Dazhu scoffed. "You're always slacking off, and now you know what tiredness is?"

"Enough with the nonsense."

Zhou Hu, panting heavily, gritted his teeth and continued forward.

He stared at Chen Mo in front of him and tentatively said, "Chen Mo, don't try anything funny, I'm telling you..."

"What do you want?"

Chen Mo suddenly stopped and turned to look at him, her eyes icy cold.

Zhou Hu was startled and swallowed back what he was about to say.

"It's nothing, I'll just go with you."

Zhou Hu clearly noticed that there was something unusual in Chen Mo's eyes just now.

A short while later, Chen Mo suddenly stopped, bent down, picked a few mushrooms, and handed them to Zhou Hu.

"Is this all the junk you have?"

Zhou Hu was quite disappointed.

"Take me to your grain storage area quickly, don't waste time."

He had lost his patience.

Chen Mo ignored him and turned to continue walking forward.

Sun Dazhu followed behind, looking at the road ahead, his mind filled with increasing doubt.

Where exactly is Brother Mo taking them?

He continued walking forward, and the more he looked, the more he felt something was wrong.

This direction isn't towards Black Wind Ridge...