During famine years, I had a divination slip in hand, and my whole family ate chicken, duck, fish, a

With her heart pounding with excitement, Ye Qingqing quickly finished the corn porridge in her bowl and then pulled Ye Dazhuang out the door.

"Let's go, while it's still early, let's hurry!"

She lowered her voice, her face flushed with excitement, like a little fox about to steal a chicken.

Ye Dazhuang silently picked up the machete and rope leaning against the corner of the wall and followed behind her. He remained his usual taciturn self, but a rare, gentle smile flickered in his deep eyes. He wanted to see what kind of "money" this girl was talking about really meant.

The two left Kaoshantun and headed straight for the northern foothills.

The north wind of deep winter was like a knife, stinging my face. The barren mountains and forests were desolate, not a single green plant in sight. Ye Qingqing wrapped her cotton-padded coat tighter and trudged through the snow, her mind already racing with calculations.

Fu Shun Lou, Fu Shun Lou, you sell your plate of dandelion for one tael of silver. When I bring up this big basket of lush green wild vegetables, your manager's eyes will pop out of his head.

"We're here!"

Climbing a gentle slope, Ye Qingqing, following the guidance of the divination slip, pointed to a huge blue stone at the foot of the mountain, "Right here! There must be some secret beneath!"

Ye Dazhuang stepped forward, reached into the snow around the bluestone, and suddenly stopped. He frowned slightly, squatted down, and brushed aside the thick snow and withered leaves to reveal a hole just wide enough for one person to pass through.

A warm, moist steam, carrying the scent of earth and grass, instantly rose from the cave entrance and landed on their faces, which were red from the cold.

"Hiss—" Ye Qingqing gasped, her eyes widening. "There really is!"

Without a word, she took out a tinderbox from her bosom, blew on it, and crouched down to slip inside. Ye Dazhuang followed closely behind.

The entrance to the cave was narrow, but it widened as one went deeper. As the firelight illuminated the cave walls, the sight before him made even the well-traveled Ye Dazhuang hold his breath.

This isn't a cave at all; it's practically a greenhouse that God has hidden away!

The temperature inside the cave was at least in the teens, warm and spring-like. Water droplets condensed on the surrounding stone walls, dripping down. Most impressively, a large expanse of lush vegetation grew at the bottom of the cave!

The tender green shepherd's purse stretched out its leaves, the plump wild onions stood tall, and there were clusters of fresh dandelions, lamb's quarters, purslane... and even a few unknown wild mushrooms grew in the corner, like little umbrellas that had been opened.

The lush greenery shimmered with life in the dark cave, creating a stark contrast with the icy world outside.

"I've made...I've struck it rich!"

Ye Qingqing's voice trembled with excitement. She rushed forward and knelt down in the wild vegetable patch with a thud, frantically pulling at the vegetables with her hands like chicken claws.

"My goodness! This shepherd's purse, this wild onion! If we took this to town, if we took this to Fu Shun Lou..."

She chattered away as she picked the vegetables, her face beaming with joy. As a modern person, she knew all too well what "out-of-season vegetables" meant in ancient times! In the city, these things were practically hard currency!

"Qingqing".

Ye Dazhuang's deep voice sounded from behind, tinged with a hint of helplessness. He looked at the girl who was shamelessly sticking out her buttocks and frantically harvesting, and a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

"Big Brother Zhuang! What are you standing there for? Hurry up and help!" Ye Qingqing didn't even turn her head, haphazardly stuffing the wild vegetables she had picked into her basket. "This is money! Pure silver!"

Ye Dazhuang chuckled lightly, said nothing more, drew the short knife from his waist, and squatted down to help her cut the wild vegetables with their extensive root systems. His movements were clean and efficient; with each stroke of the knife, the wild vegetables were neatly cut down, and he carefully shook off the soil from the roots, trying to keep them as intact as possible.

"Brother Dazhuang, you know what? Your knife skills are amazing, even when cutting wild vegetables!" Ye Qingqing praised as she reached for a few plump wild mushrooms in the corner. "Oh, there are oyster mushrooms too? If we made a chicken soup with these... tsk tsk tsk, it would be so delicious it'd make your eyebrows fall off!"

She carefully picked the mushrooms, wrapped them in clean leaves, and tucked them close to her body. These were good things; she had to save them to nourish her family.

The two worked together efficiently, dividing the tasks. Before long, their two large baskets were overflowing. The air was filled with the rich scent of fresh grass, a truly luxurious aroma on this cold winter day.

"That's about enough. Let's stop while we're ahead, lest we uproot everything." Ye Qingqing patted the dirt off her hands, looking contentedly at the two large baskets of spoils. "This is enough for me to make two trips to Fushunlou!"

Ye Dazhuang stood up, looked around, and suddenly his eyes sharpened. He quickly walked to the cave entrance and listened intently for a moment.

"There's someone there."

He lowered his voice and retreated with a cold expression.

Ye Qingqing's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately suppressed her smile and held her breath. She knew that Ye Dazhuang was extremely vigilant; if he said there were people there, then he was absolutely right.

"Are they spies from the bandits?" she asked in a whisper.

Ye Dazhuang nodded and pointed to the east side of the cave, "About half a mile, two of them. They're wandering around in the woods, looking for something."

Ye Qingqing's eyes darted around, and she sneered, "They're definitely looking for us! News of our wolf hunt last night has probably already reached some people's ears."

She patted the wild vegetables in her basket, a sly glint in her eyes: "Perfect, let them see us 'returning with a full load,' so they'll think we're just ordinary hunters and lower their guard."

"Hmm." Ye Dazhuang gave her an approving look. This girl seemed impulsive, but her mind worked very quickly.

After packing their things, Ye Qingqing even grabbed a handful of soil and covered the area around the cave entrance again to make sure there were no signs of disturbance. Then, one after the other, carrying heavy baskets on their backs, they swaggered out of the cave.

As soon as she stepped out of the cave, a cold wind rushed into her collar again, and Ye Qingqing couldn't help but shiver. But the excitement on her face didn't diminish in the slightest, and she deliberately said loudly:

"Big Zhuang! We're really lucky today! We caught two rabbits and gathered so much good firewood! Enough to keep us burning for days!"

Ye Dazhuang nodded in agreement, and the two pretended not to notice anything unusual as they walked down the mountain path.

Sure enough, at a bend halfway up the mountain, they "happened" to encounter two suspicious-looking men. The two men were wearing coarse cotton-padded jackets, carrying machetes, but their eyes were fixed on the "green" glimpse peeking out of Ye Qingqing's basket like hooks.

"Hey, you two brothers are here to chop firewood too?" Ye Qingqing greeted them with feigned innocence, and deliberately tilted her basket towards them to make the lush green shepherd's purse stand out even more.

The two men exchanged a glance, a mixture of surprise and greed flashing in their eyes. Where would they get fresh wild vegetables in the dead of winter? There was definitely something strange about this girl!

"Ah...yes, chopping firewood." One of the men replied dryly, but his eyes never left the basket on his back.

Ye Qingqing sneered inwardly, but smiled broadly: "Then we won't bother you two any longer. We need to hurry back; the family is waiting to cook!"

After saying that, she took Ye Dazhuang's hand and left with light steps.

Only after the two figures disappeared at the end of the mountain road did the two men turn their gaze away. One of them lowered his voice and said, "Go back and report to the second-in-command. This girl is a bit strange. She can still get such fresh wild vegetables in the dead of winter... We have to be careful when we make our move tonight."

The other person nodded, turned around, and disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

……

When we returned to Kaoshantun, it was nearly dusk.

As soon as Ye Qingqing entered, she put her basket down on the ground and let out a long sigh of relief. "I'm exhausted! Brother Dazhuang, come on, help me carry it inside!"

Hearing the commotion, Li Chunyan and the three Zhao brothers came out of the house. When they saw the pile of vibrant green wild vegetables in the basket, they were all stunned.

"My goodness!" Li Chunyan gasped, rushed over and grabbed a handful of shepherd's purse, her voice trembling with excitement, "Second girl, where...where did you get this? How is it still alive in the dead of winter?"

Ye Youliang, with a pipe dangling from his lips, came closer, his cloudy old eyes wide with surprise: "Rare indeed! This is fucking rare! These vegetables look even more vibrant than those grown in spring!"

Ye Qingqing proudly tossed her chin up: "Dad, sister-in-law, we're having an extra feast tonight! Wild scallion stir-fried eggs, shepherd's purse and tofu soup, all you can eat!"

"Alright!" Li Chunyan was overjoyed and quickly called on the Zhao brothers to help sort out the wild vegetables.

Ye Qingqing pulled Ye Dazhuang aside and whispered quickly, "The scouts saw it. Two groups of people are watching us. Looks like there's going to be a good show tonight."

Ye Dazhuang's eyes darkened, and he nodded: "I'll go prepare."

The two exchanged a smile, their eyes filled with chilling killing intent.

As night fell, Kaoshantun fell into a deathly silence.

Ye Qingqing lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), holding two well-fed wolf cubs who were snoring in her arms. She listened to the sound of the wind outside, her fingers stroking their furry backs intermittently.

"Big Brother, Second Brother," she murmured softly, "Tonight, our family will meet those ignorant 'guests'."

The wolf cub seemed to sense something, opened its bewildered eyes, and let out a soft "howl" at her, as if in response.