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

A deep, sweet night.

I wasn't woken up by the village roosters early in the morning, but I was awakened by the lively noise in the yard.

Li Chunyan has the loudest voice, and coupled with the good food she's been eating these past few days, her voice is full of energy.

"Dad, the water's boiled. Is that enough?"

"Add a little cold liquid, just enough so it's not too hot to touch."

Dad said, "Dali, sharpen the knife a bit..."

"Hey, that's done!"

"Dad, it's cold outside, have some hot tea."

……

What are they trying to do?

Ye Qingqing's wandering consciousness gradually returned, and she suddenly remembered that her father was going to slaughter a badger to make oil!

Great, today we can enjoy badger meat, one of the four delicacies.

She was just about to get up and go see what was going on when she suddenly remembered that she hadn't read today's fortune sticks yet, so she quickly focused her mind to bring them up.

"Clang..."

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

[Zhongji: A sick cow hides treasure. If you intercept the sick cow before 11 PM, you will gain ten times the profit.]

[Xiao Ji: Frozen mushrooms are growing in abundance in the birch forest on the north slope of Qiushan. You can collect them for a small profit.]

[Extremely ominous: Bears are known to roam the North Peak; provoking them could be fatal.]

Ye Qingqing's eyes lit up.

A sick cow hiding treasure? That's just bezoar!

She was very familiar with this famous medicinal herb; it was the ingredient that made the "Angong Niuhuang Wan," which costs thousands of yuan per pill, and it has never been cheap from ancient times to the present.

The Si hour is from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and it is during this time that you can encounter a sick cow carrying a baby!

There's still time, but where can we intercept them?

In this timeline, cattle are precious production tools and cannot be slaughtered arbitrarily without government approval, except for sick cattle.

If someone's cow gets sick, they'll definitely take it to the butcher to be slaughtered and sold for meat before it dies.

Ye Qingqing scratched her nose and reached out to take the fortune stick.

With a crisp sound, the divination slips transformed into starlight and disappeared in her palm.

The small lucky stick is a frozen mushroom.

Ye Qingqing had never seen or eaten frozen mushrooms before, but since the divination sticks could tell what they were, they must be valuable. Why not make some money?

Ye Qingqing also took the small lucky charm.

She won't touch the very unlucky divination slips, and two slips are now empty; new ones will be added tomorrow.

Ye Qingqing sat up abruptly, put on the cotton-padded clothes that had been warmed by the kang (heated brick bed), quickly washed up, and went out.

Everyone in the family wore new cotton-padded coats. Although they were old-fashioned styles with slanted fronts and wide, crotchless trousers, and you could even see the hand-sewn stitches, they looked clean and thick.

Their faces were beaming with joy, and their spirits were completely renewed.

Only her father was still wearing his old, patched-up cotton-padded coat. Ye Qingqing went up and asked,

"Dad, everyone's wearing new clothes, they're so light and warm, why aren't you wearing any?"

"Why waste those new clothes? It's not like I don't have any clothes to wear."

Ye Youliang tapped his pipe and said casually, "Keep it for the New Year."

"Why keep them if they can't breed? We still need to buy clothes for the New Year."

Ye Qingqing said unhappily, "If you buy it but don't wear it, it'll just sit there and get bitten by mice, and then you'll feel bad about it!"

"Dad, are you going to wear it or not? If not, I'll burn it. Buying it is pointless anyway!"

He then made a move to go inside.

"Wear it, who said you wouldn't? I'm about to slaughter a badger, and I'm worried about getting the clothes dirty while skinning and cutting the meat. You can wear it after I'm all done."

Ye Youliang quickly stopped her, knowing the girl's temperament; if angered, she really could do something!

Ye Qingqing raised an eyebrow. "That's more like it."

Li Chunyan gave Ye Cuicui a wink and whispered something.

"See? We talked ourselves hoarse this morning, but it was no use. The only one who can deal with Dad is Er Ya!"

Ye Cuicui covered her mouth and chuckled, "I think Second Sister's high-energy performances are really exciting!"

Ye Qingqing, "..."

Could you two please keep the crickets behind you quieter?

As they were talking, Ye Dazhuang walked out of the woodshed with his head down, and put on a brand new dark blue jacket and trousers.

He was tall and imposing, towering over the roof of the demolished house by half a head, with a strong, resolute face and regular features.

Wearing this new outfit made his sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes stand out even more, revealing a hint of sharpness hidden in them, making him exceptionally handsome.

Ye Cuicui glanced at him, quickly lowered her head, and hid behind Li Chunyan, her face turning red.

A hint of appreciation flashed in Ye Qingqing's eyes as she gave him a generous look and said,

"Not bad, Brother Dazhuang! This outfit you're wearing makes you look like you've earned hundreds of taels of silver for just one. You look so dashing and imposing! It's really worth it!"

Ye Dazhuang smiled faintly, "It's very warm."

Ye Cuicui looked at her second sister, feeling extremely envious.

Second Sister speaks her mind, praising Brother Zhuang in front of so many people, without even feeling ashamed.

She wouldn't dare.

"Dad, when will the badger oil be ready?"

Ye Qingqing watched as her father gutted the badger, his rough fingers pinching the tip of the knife and slowly cutting along the skin and flesh, and couldn't help but ask a question.

Ye Youliang kept talking while he was working, "After peeling the skin, you have to remove the fat, clean out the blood, tendons and fascia, wash it clean and then boil it."

High heat brings out the fishy smell, low heat brings out the oil. This stuff needs to be simmered slowly over low heat until the oil is rendered out and the mixture turns clear and yellow before it can be used.

It will take no more than two hours.

Holy crap, that's not even as good as bezoar!

"Father, I want to go to town as soon as possible to look at more horses, so I don't have to wait for badger oil."

Ye Qingqing frowned and said, "Can you skin and pelt the badger in half an hour? If you can, I'll wait a bit longer; if not, I'll sell it next time."

Ye Youliang nodded quickly, "The skin and meat won't take half an hour. Go and eat something hot, I'll get it ready right away."

Ye Qingqing didn't say a word.

"Alright, let's all go today. We'll buy a carriage and a lot of other things to bring back."

"Sister-in-law, go to Uncle Shuanzi's house and invite her and her husband over to keep Dad company. We'll cook lunch together."

Li Chunyan couldn't wait any longer. "Okay!"

"Auntie..."

Little Huanhuan tugged at Ye Qingqing's sleeve, tilted her little face up high, and said longingly, "Huanhuan wants to ride in a carriage too, okay?"

Ye Qingqing picked up the little one and said with a smile,

"Great, of course! Once we buy a carriage, Xiao Huanhuan can ride in it every day!"

After breakfast, the whole family dressed in brand new and neat clothes and set off. They unconsciously straightened their backs and walked with high spirits.

"Look at them! It's only been a few days, and they've already become so extravagant!"

"With wolf skins and mantis shrimp, how could they not be extravagant with such profits!"

"Dali's wife told me yesterday that they eat rice and flour every day at home, and her waist is getting thicker from it!"

These days, everyone's eating coarse food and wild vegetables, but she's the only one showing off!

"That second daughter of hers is capable, so why don't you show off too?"

……

Even after they got on the official road, the villagers were still sulking behind the family's back.

If they knew that Ye Qingqing was determined to bring back a carriage today, their jaws would probably drop to the ground!