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

"puff……"

Li Chunyan spat out a mouthful of hot tea, staring at Ye Qingqing with eyes wider than a bull's, and pinched her arm.

"You silly girl, why didn't you say so earlier! You almost scared me to death! I really don't know where all these tricks of yours come from!"

I used to think you were just impulsive, but I never knew you were so cunning!

She was worried about the money, but when the officials were about to arrest Er Yatou, she didn't care about the two hundred taels at all!

As long as Er Yatou is alright, she wouldn't hesitate to take out all the money in the house!

Hearing Ye Qingqing offer each of the officials one hundred taels of silver made her so angry that her head went blank and she almost passed out.

Isn't this just wasteful?!

One hundred taels of silver is a lifesaver, and you insist on giving it to them? Do you think you own a mine or something?

"At that time, I didn't have time to talk to you."

Ye Qingqing chuckled and nudged Li Chunyan, "Alright, alright, sister-in-law, don't be angry. I'm not the one squandering our family's wealth; I'm the one causing the village head to squander it!"

When the officials tried to arrest her, her sister-in-law was the first to jump out and protect her. She was usually so stingy, but she wouldn't have hesitated to spend a hundred taels of silver.

Ye Qingqing was quite touched.

And then there's the older brother, whose simple-minded words, "If you want to arrest me, arrest me, but don't touch my sister," moved Ye Qingqing to tears.

Li Chunyan took a deep breath and cursed through gritted teeth, "Serves them right! Who told their whole family to be so heartless!"

Ye Dali, in his simple and honest manner, comforted his wife.

"Yan'er, don't worry, Er Ya is alright, that's good, that's good."

"By the way, Second Sister, how did you know the village head was plotting against you behind your back?"

Li Chunyan suddenly remembered something and couldn't help but ask, "How do you know that, like you can read his mind?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Youliang, who had been silently smoking his pipe, also looked up at Ye Qingqing.

When the children returned, they explained the situation clearly, but the question remained a big puzzle in his mind, one that even he, a shrewd old man, couldn't understand.

My daughter-in-law is right. How would anyone know about something that's been secretly planned behind closed doors unless they have a mind reader?

"Sister-in-law, could you please stop using such disgusting analogies?"

Ye Qingqing's face darkened, and she raised an eyebrow, saying, "Actually, I don't really know, I just guessed..."

"A guess?"

Except for Ye Dazhuang, who sat quietly with his eyes down, everyone in the family looked at Ye Qingqing with surprise.

Li Chunyan's lips twitched. "Is it so easy to guess what's going on in someone's heart?"

She couldn't guess a single thing, and felt like a complete idiot.

"Hmm, guess, guess based on clues."

Ye Qingqing nodded without blushing, and held up her finger, saying in a serious tone,

"First, Aunt Shuanzi, when Aunt Zhou and the others went to the village head's house to borrow a mule cart, I brought ten catties of fatty pork with me. Normally, he would have agreed without saying a word."

But the village head and his wife were like that; they made excuses and their words were incoherent, and they just wouldn't lend it to him.

Secondly, neither of the village head's sons were home. Normally, this wouldn't be unusual, but they usually hang around the village and occasionally come to check on our house. It's strange that neither of them were home today.

Thirdly… Last night, because of the wolf-dividing incident, I really offended the village head. That man is petty and narrow-minded. Even if he doesn't harm me today, he might be plotting against our family someday.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Ye Youliang frowned, puffing on his pipe as if deep in thought.

Li Chunyan and Ye Dali looked at each other, unsure whether they had understood.

Ye Cuicui acted like a child, treating what she was hearing as if it were gibberish, but her gaze toward her second sister grew increasingly adoring.

She felt that her second sister was just like Di Renjie on the stage!

Seeing that everyone was silent, Ye Qingqing made a statement.

"In conclusion, I took extra precautions and quietly told Brother Dazhuang to be careful when driving the mules."

Big Zhuang has studied martial arts, so his hearing and eyesight are sharper than most people's. He actually saw a newly turned patch of soil by the roadside, which matched my guess.

"Is it you, Brother Dazhuang?"

Ye Dazhuang slowly raised his eyes, glanced at Ye Qingqing's mischievous eyes, and nodded gently, "Mm."

"Snapped!"

Li Chunyan clapped her hands and jumped up from the kang like a spring. "It's all thanks to Brother Dazhuang. If it weren't for him, even if you guessed it, you would have fallen into the ditch!"

"Brother Dazhuang, you're truly a great contributor to our family! From now on, just tell your sister-in-law what you want to eat, and she'll cook it for you!"

"Thank you, sister-in-law."

A smile flashed in Ye Dazhuang's deep eyes. "I dare not claim credit; it's all thanks to Qingqing's cleverness."

"Da da da da..."

Ye Youliang tapped his cigarette butt on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and asked, seemingly casually,

"Second daughter, how did you know the officials were coming to collect the mountain and marsh tax from our house? Did you just guess?"

He felt that Er Yatou had become a little too smart lately!

Before she jumped into the river, this girl was just a brat and a cunning trickster with her family. You wouldn't have guessed she could be this smart.

Ye Qingqing's expression remained calm and composed as she casually remarked,

"Father, don't be afraid when I tell you. If I were the village head and wanted to harm our family, I would only need one condition: that is, the government officials."

Who are those government officials? They eat people without spitting out the bones. As the village head, he was the only person in the village who could talk to the government officials. His son had a business in town, so how could he not get close to those government officials?

"If we combine everything... we might even be able to split the silver."

"Cough cough cough..."

Ye Youliang inhaled a puff of smoke into his lungs and coughed incessantly.

Second Sister's cunning... who did she take after?

Her biological father, the brother who risked his life to save her when the city wall was being built, was as simple-minded as an ox. Where did he come from to have such a daughter?

Perhaps it was inherited from her mother, who knows?

……

"Father, let's just leave it at that. But that village head is a complete scoundrel. As the saying goes, a gentleman takes revenge even after ten years, but a scoundrel takes revenge from morning till night. We still need to be on guard in the future."

Ye Qingqing smiled faintly, "It's a pity I couldn't go to town today. I was thinking of buying wild boar and wolf skins, and stocking up on a few hundred kilograms of grain for the family before it snows, and also buying some candy rings and snacks for Xiao Huanhuan."

We'll have to go tomorrow.

"Candy rings!"

Hearing about delicious food, little Huanhuan jumped out of Li Chunyan's arms like a cannonball, clapping her little hands and shouting in her childish voice.

"Auntie, Huanhuan wants candy rings! Auntie, please buy Huanhuan lots and lots tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, I'll buy a whole house for my little glutton!"

Ye Qingqing affectionately pinched her little cheek.

Seeing that her father still had a furrowed brow and looked preoccupied, she sighed inwardly.

Dad, if you can't figure it out, then don't think about it. It's a matter of divination slips; how could you possibly understand it? Let's not ask too many questions.