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

"See? The eyes of the masses are discerning!"

Ye Qingqing raised her eyebrows triumphantly at her older brother.

With the shop, the Ye family had a business, and a means of survival in this chaotic world!

……

Ye Qingqing opened her eyes early the next morning.

In the dead of winter, the rich people in town are so bored they crave something fresh.

She needs to take advantage of the few days that Aunt Zhen is looking for a shop to stock up on good goods.

Although she was very familiar with the cave, she still decided to bring up today's divination slips after thinking about it.

"Clang..."

The shimmering divination sticks appeared before my eyes, and after a few shakes, golden characters appeared:

[Xiao Ji: There is an underground river downstream from the hot spring. Go there to catch river shrimp and crabs for a small profit.]

[China-Kyrgyzstan: There are shops for sale in town; you should buy them quickly.]

[Great Fortune: Bears are hibernating at North Peak; you can go and capture them for a substantial profit.]

Ye Qingqing's eyes lit up.

What an auspicious day today! It's full of good news!

It seems Aunt Zhen is putting in the effort; the shop should be in sight today... but there might be some twists and turns before we can get this done quickly.

What excited Ye Qingqing the most was the auspicious fortune slip; the bear had finally gone into hibernation!

The bear was fast asleep in its cave, wasn't that the perfect opportunity to strike?

Ye Qingqing rubbed her hands together excitedly: Brother Xiong, today I'll show you what life is like here!

She reached out and took off the first two fortune sticks, planning to get the more auspicious one when she had time.

After washing up, Ye Qingqing wrapped her coat tightly around herself and came out of the house. She saw the three Zhao brothers chopping wood and carrying water, tidying up the yard neatly.

Although the three of them were hired guards and were currently eating food for free without doing any work at home, they would be of great use in the future.

Ye Qingqing didn't care about the small amount of food.

After breakfast, Ye Qingqing raised an eyebrow at Li Chunyan.

"Brother, sister-in-law, you two are coming up the mountain with me today. Pack your things and let's go."

Ye Dali was stunned for a moment, "Where...where are you going?"

"Up the mountain! Where else can we go?"

Ye Qingqing said with a smile, "Now more and more people want wild vegetables and fish, and the shop is starting to take shape. We need to stock up on more goods. Da Zhuang and I only have four hands, and we can't possibly finish all that even if we work ourselves to death!"

"You two will be coming with us from now on."

"Second Girl, can we go too?"

Before Ye Dali could speak, Li Chunyan said with a look of surprise, "Didn't you say that place was off-limits to everyone? Then the two of us..."

Previously, Er Yatou only said that she had found a cave full of good things, but she didn't invite anyone except Brother Da Zhuang to go, for fear that the news would leak out and someone else would take it.

Why aren't we "guarding" against them today?

Ye Qingqing's face darkened. "You two are my own brother and sister-in-law. If you were to tell outsiders where you make money, you'd have to be crazy to do it!"

Enough talk, let's go!

Li Chunyan was so happy that she jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and was so flustered that she didn't know what to do.

"Hey! I'll go pack right away! What should we take, Er Yatou...?"

……

The group left the village and, stepping through ankle-deep snow, climbed up the mountain, their steps uneven.

After many twists and turns, we walked through another stretch of uninhabited woods...

This left Li Chunyan fuming inwardly:

Where the hell is this? It's all so winding and confusing, is this even a place a human could find?

No, it's not that Er Ya Tou thinks they're a burden and is planning to trick them into going to the mountains to kill them!

No way, she and Dali are like brother and sister-in-law...

Just as they were lost in thought, Ye Qingqing led them to a pile of rocks. "Big brother and sister-in-law, we've arrived."

Li Chunyan felt dizzy and couldn't help but think to herself:

This place is so far away from Grandma's house that even if Er Yatou didn't hide it, outsiders wouldn't be able to find her!

Ye Dazhuang stepped forward first, parting the withered vines to reveal the hidden entrance to the hole.

"My goodness, this...this is a cave?"

Li Chunyan stared wide-eyed and peered inside, but it was pitch black and she couldn't see anything. She said nervously,

"Second Girl, is this the paradise you were talking about? I can't see anything here!"

Ye Qingqing chuckled, took out a tinderbox from her pocket, and lit the torch she had prepared beforehand.

"This part is a bit dark, but it's very spacious inside. Follow me!"

After saying that, she was the first to crawl inside.

As soon as you enter the cave, a warm, moist feeling hits you, and the temperature gets higher and higher the further you go in.

Li Chunyan followed cautiously behind, feeling nervous, excited, and a little scared at the same time.

In this pitch-black place, if Brother Dazhuang were to strike with his knife... hehe, she and Dali wouldn't even know how they died!

But as soon as she rounded the big rock, a sudden, clear view opened up before her.

"Oh my god!"

Li Chunyan stepped into the hole and was completely dumbfounded.

Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she stared speechlessly as if she had seen a ghost!

Inside the cave, it was exactly as Er Yatou had described—a warm and cozy paradise!

Steaming hot spring water wafted out white smoke, and the riverbank was covered with lush green wild vegetables, a verdant sight to behold.

"Second Girl, this...this...where the hell did you find such a heavenly place?"

Li Chunyan stammered, "No wonder you're so rich! Is anyone even capable of finding a place like this?"

Outside, the snow was a vast expanse of white, so cold it felt like your ears could freeze off.

Looking inside again, it was surprisingly warm, just like early spring!

Even Ye Dali was dumbfounded. "Second Girl, am I dreaming? There's such a wonderful place hidden inside Qiu Shan's belly?"

"I dreamed about it."

Ye Qingqing casually raised an eyebrow, then suddenly sensed something was off. She immediately looked at Li Chunyan and asked, "Sister-in-law, are you praising me?"

Li Chunyan grabbed Ye Qingqing's arm, her excited voice rising eight octaves in pitch.

"Second Girl! Does this place not belong to immortals? I don't think this is a place fit for humans."

Look, the wild vegetables are still green all over the ground! My goodness! In the dead of winter, I've never seen anything like it in my twenty-odd years of life!

Ye Qingqing was amused by her reaction, patted her hand and said,

"Sister-in-law, aren't you exaggerating? There are hot springs inside the mountain, the temperature is warm, the water supply is plentiful, isn't it normal for it to be covered with wildflowers and weeds?"

Although she was also very shocked at the time, she was not as exaggerated as her sister-in-law.

Li Chunyan gritted her teeth, her voice trembling.

"We're rich! We're rich! Who cares if it's normal or not? All these wild vegetables are money... piles of silver!"

What are you waiting for? Dig for wild vegetables and pick wild pears!

"Yes, let's get to work."

Ye Qingqing nodded, but something flashed through her mind, and she said frankly,

"Sister-in-law, I'm reminding you one last time: only the four of us know about this place. Even if you're struck by lightning, you mustn't tell anyone else."

You can't tell your family either. I'm warning you upfront that this is a smear campaign; if anyone leaks this information to me, don't blame me for turning my back on them.

She wasn't saying her sister-in-law was a bad person, but rather that she was afraid her sister-in-law might let something slip if she got too excited.

Therefore, one should act like a petty person first, and then become a gentleman.

"Snapped!"

Li Chunyan slapped her thigh hard, raised her hand, gritted her teeth, and swore, "If I tell anyone this, I'll make sure I never eat four dishes in my entire life!"

Ye Qingqing raised an eyebrow slightly, "Words become law."