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

The atmosphere was oppressive and somber. My five-year-old niece, Huanhuan, curled up in her grandfather's arms, picking at her fingers.

Ye Cuicui leaned against the pillar with her head down, idly rubbing the dirt on the ground with the toe of her cotton shoe, not daring to utter a sound.

"Alright."

Ye Youliang, looking sickly, leaned against the headboard and tapped his pipe on the edge of the bed. He said weakly, "Let Dali go and borrow some grain first. When my leg is better next spring, I can go hunting in the mountains and bring back the grain as compensation."

"The grain we harvest every year isn't enough to feed us, we have to borrow... Father, we can't live like this anymore!"

Li Chunyan turned her head away, covered her face, and began to sob.

"Original owner, are you even human? You ruined your whole family, they can't even afford to live anymore! You deserve to die, otherwise it would have been your entire family who died!"

Ye Qingqing gritted her teeth as she listened, cursing the original owner of the body in her heart.

A surge of energy welled up within her.

Now that she's here, if she doesn't turn this family, which is on the verge of having to sell their house and land to beg for food, into a prosperous and well-off place, then she, Ye Qingqing, a high-level diviner, is a useless piece of trash!

"Father...eldest brother and sister-in-law."

She walked in with her chest puffed out and shouted, "I'll take full responsibility for the sins I committed before (the original owner's simp behavior)!"

"My past misdeeds don't mean I'll commit them again. We'll see how I behave from now on. If I cause any more trouble for this family, I, Ye Qingqing, am a dog!"

The air suddenly went still, and the family looked at each other, completely bewildered.

Ye Dali kept his head down, remaining silent and sullen.

Ye Cuicui looked at him with confusion, thinking she had misheard.

Has my second sister changed her personality? Or did the ice-cold water of the Erlang River ruin her?

"Hmph, can a dog stop eating shit?"

The older sister-in-law rolled her eyes at her, slammed the door, and left.

Ye Youliang, probably worried that she would be upset, quickly waved to Ye Qingqing and said...

"It's alright, it's alright, Er Yatou, don't forget about it. Are you cold?"

"If you're ever unhappy in the future, tell Dad. But please don't do anything foolish, understand?"

Ye Qingqing sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). "I know, I'm not stupid."

A look of shock flashed across Ye Youliang's face. "Second Girl, what... what's wrong with you?"

Ye Qingqing raised an eyebrow. "Really, nothing happened!"

"Daughter, if you're feeling down, you must tell your father!"

Ye Youliang stared at her as if he had seen a ghost.

No, she didn't cry and wail or throw a tantrum, something must have happened!

Could it be that it's been possessed by an evil spirit?

Ye Qingqing frowned and made up an excuse.

"Dad, I'm really fine! I've just figured it out. That Fang family brat is a piece of trash, he looks so poor and pathetic, he's not good enough for me at all!"

After saying that, judging from Ye Youliang's eyes, he probably didn't believe a single word of it.

Ye Youliang carefully coaxed her,

"You...it's good that you've thought it through. Dad will do whatever you want, okay? Second daughter, you can't get into any more trouble!"

Ye Qingqing was speechless for a moment.

I never imagined that after the original owner committed such a terrible crime, his family wouldn't even dare to vent their resentment.

"Are you hungry? Come and have something to eat."

On the dark kang table, there was a steamer cloth. Ye Youliang lifted the steamer cloth, picked up the last mixed flour bun, and handed it to her.

Huanhuan, nestled in my arms, stared intently at the steamed bun with her round eyes, secretly swallowing her saliva while biting her little finger.

She had only drunk a bowl of thin bean porridge, and her little tummy was churning with hunger.

Huanhuan knew from a young age that all the good food in the family belonged to her aunt, and she could only eat it when her aunt stopped eating it.

"I'm not hungry."

Ye Qingqing took the cornbread and handed it to Huanhuan, saying, "Dad, you rest. I'm going out for a bit."

Ye Youliang immediately sat up, looking at her with a nervous expression.

"Where are you going? Second daughter, if you're unhappy, tell your father, okay?"

Ye Qingqing hissed.

"I'm not upset at all! I just went out for a walk, to the foothills."

"Where are you going and what are you doing?"

It would have been better if she hadn't mentioned it, because Ye Youliang became even more nervous. He quickly grabbed her sleeve, "Please, I'm begging you, we have to try to think more positively about everything, Second Girl!"

It seems I won't be able to leave this room unless I reassure him.

There was no other way; her family had been harmed by the original owner for too long, and she had to find a way to turn the situation around.

Ye Qingqing had no choice but to raise three fingers and say righteously,

"Dad, I, Ye Qingqing, swear to God that I will never do anything foolish again, okay?"

I've already died once, do you think I don't know what's good for me?

I really just wanted to go to the foot of the mountain to see if I could gather some firewood...

My house is freezing cold; wouldn't it be warmer to gather some firewood and burn it?

The foot of Qiushan Mountain is right next to Kaoshan Village, and below it is a ravine with a lot of withered grass, shrubs and dead branches.

Ye Youliang saw that she was swearing and making oaths, and it didn't seem like she was joking, but he was really afraid that she would try to kill herself, so he had no choice but to agree.

"Then tell Cuicui to follow you. She should gather firewood whenever she can, and if not, ask your older brother to go up the mountain and gather more."

She quickly winked at Ye Cuicui, "Cuicui, stay with your second sister!"

"Yes, Dad."

Ye Cuicui's heart skipped a beat. She looked reluctant, but she still followed.

Ye Qingqing walked ahead, and Ye Cuicui followed closely behind, not daring to get too close, yet not daring to stray too far.

When I turned to talk to her, she instinctively clutched the hem of her clothes, her eyes filled with caution.

It's obvious that she's not close to her at all; Cuicui is even a little afraid of her.

Ye Qingqing cursed the original owner in her heart again. No wonder the original owner didn't die a good death. He deserved it!

As she walked along the village road, the villagers pointed and whispered behind her back, saying things like, "Shameless, lazy, spendthrift," and nothing nice about her.

Ye Qingqing pretended not to see it.

What does their cursing of the original owner have to do with me?

As I walked towards the foot of Qiushan Mountain, the divination sticks conjured up a giant arrow in my mind, indicating the direction.

The foothills are shady, and the mountain winds blowing through the valleys are particularly cold.

The thin cotton clothes were not enough to keep out the cold, and the two of them huddled up like quails, trudging through the dry grass towards the ditch.

Ye Qingqing followed the arrow deeper and deeper into the area, and Ye Cuicui behind her cried out in fear.

"Second sister, are you still going... don't forget you won't be able to get back later."

"It's okay, just come with me."

Ye Qingqing turned around and gave her a smile, "I'll take another look ahead. If you're tired, just wait for me here."

"No, no! I'll stay with my second sister..."

Ye Cuicui quickly waved her hand, her heart tightening even more.

Once my second sister entered the ditch, she kept walking, looking around, and didn't look like she was gathering firewood at all.

Ye Cuicui was afraid that she would try to kill herself again and that she wouldn't be able to stop her.

My second sister is my father's life; if she dies, he probably won't want to live anymore.

Ye Qingqing had no idea that her younger sister harbored such deep resentment; she was only focused on following the arrow above her head.

"Ding ding ding ding..."

The arrow flashed a few times and disappeared. Ye Qingqing's eyes lit up when she saw a hole the size of a basketball under some withered grass.

Just like the scene in my mind, the collapsed cave entrance was piled with a lot of soil and rocks, and a grayish-brown spotted pheasant was pressed down underneath, with only half of its drooping wing showing.

Her heart pounded, and she rushed forward, pointing at the pile of earth and rocks and shouting.

"Cui Cui, look, isn't that a pheasant?"

"Huh? Pheasant?"

Ye Cuicui was startled and rushed over in three steps. Ye Qingqing had already dug through the soil and stones and picked up the pheasant by its tail.

It felt quite heavy when I picked it up, weighing at least five or six pounds!

Ye Qingqing held the pheasant up to her, feigning excitement, "It really is a pheasant! I thought I was seeing things!"

Ye Cuicui rubbed her eyes in disbelief, her thin face instantly filled with surprise.

"Hey! Second Sister! You...you actually caught a pheasant!"

"Cui Cui, we're having meat tonight!"

Feeling confident in contributing to the family, Ye Qingqing straightened her back, glanced at the hole, and said, "Looks like a hen. Try digging inside; maybe you can find some eggs!"

Ye Cuicui nodded repeatedly, took her numb hands out of her sleeves, and without hesitation reached into the hole.

"Second sister, there's something! It's an egg, still warm!"

She quickly pulled out three spotted wild eggs and stuffed them into Ye Qingqing's arms. "There seem to be more in the cave!"

Reaching out again, I found three more eggs, making a total of nine.

Seeing how beautiful she was, Ye Qingqing secretly smiled to herself.

How could the spiritual divination slips she uses for cultivation be wrong?

After winter sets in, there are very few prey animals on the mountain, and nine out of ten are gone. Even the hunters in the village are not willing to go up the mountain anymore.

If you can catch a pheasant and get nine eggs, how precious must it be?

Ye Cuicui's face flushed with excitement as she held the eggs, laughing and crying at the same time.

"My goodness! Second sister, we're rich!"

"Little brat, you even know how to make money, huh?"

Ye Qingqing smiled and poked her head, startling Cui Cui.

In my memory, my parents spoiled my second sister from a young age. She was always arrogant and domineering at home, always wanting to have the best of everything, and rarely gave her a kind look.

What's wrong with the sun today? It's being so affectionate towards her.

Is my second sister possessed by an evil spirit...?

Or did he drown himself and damage his brain?

"It's terribly cold, let's go home!"

Ye Qingqing stuffed the eggs into Cuicui's hand, picked up the pheasant, and said casually, "Let's go back and tell my sister-in-law to stew the chicken. We'll have meat for dinner!"

Ye Cuicui nodded blankly, "Oh."

No matter how I thought about it, I felt that my second sister was acting strangely today, but she was still very happy to have pheasant to eat.

As soon as she entered the village, several aunties and older women returned from digging for wild vegetable roots. Upon seeing Ye Qingqing, they began to speak sarcastically.

"Hey, isn't this the second daughter of the Liang family? Where have you been?"

"Where else could she be? She's probably rushing off to deliver food to Fang Jincheng..."

"He's a scholar, after all. If he passes the imperial examination and becomes a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial examinations), he wouldn't even look at her, let alone steal grain from her family, or even steal gold to send to her!"

"What should we do then? Are we going to jump into the river...?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Ye Qingqing, who had initially been wearing a smile, trying to change the original owner's image, stopped pretending upon hearing this and raised an eyebrow, saying...

"Cui Cui and I just went to Qiushan to collect some firewood to heat the kang (a traditional heated bed), but who would have thought..."

As she spoke, she pulled the pheasant out from behind her waist, saying, "I just picked up a pheasant on the spot."

"Not only pheasants, but we also found nine eggs! Look!"

Ye Cuicui proudly displayed a handful of spotted eggs.