"There's so much food inside!" Candy stepped into the cave first, then stopped after a few steps to urge Xingxing to go in with her.

After thinking for a moment, Xingxing took out a luminous pearl from the small cloth bag she carried with her before stepping into the cave. Zhu Lin quickly caught up and stood beside her.

"This cave is also a stone cave, and it's narrow at the outside and wide at the inside, getting more spacious as you go in." Xingxing's big eyes showed surprise, because when she got to the innermost part, she found that the stone cave was as spacious as a large granary, about thirty square meters in size.

A layer of stone slabs was laid on the ground, and then wooden planks were placed on the stone slabs. Sacks of grain were piled on the planks. At present, only one-third of the entire cave was filled, and the other two-thirds were empty. It seems that the plan is to slowly stockpile grain in the future.

Besides the sacks of millet, there were also many large vats next to them, all sealed tightly with mud. Xingxing pointed at the vats curiously and asked, "What's in these?"

"Dried meat and dried fruit, these are what the master and mistress have stored. There's also candy stored." As Candy spoke, she brought out a large jar from the corner. It was sealed, but she was strong and smashed the mud seal off the jar with a couple of pounding blows.

However, she used a clever trick, so the jar was still intact. Tangguo cleaned the mud off the rim of the jar, reached into the jar and took out an oil paper package. It turned out that everything in the jar was wrapped in oil paper and stored properly.

"Star, eat this jerky. It's from Candy." Candy handed the oil paper package to Star.

Xingxing blinked, walked over and took a piece of jerky to taste, but before she could even put it in her mouth, the boy stopped her and took out a silver needle to test for poison.

Candy didn't know what he was doing and didn't react.

Xingxing: "?" Brother Lin is too cautious, even more so than the chief eunuch by Father's side.

"Don't think I'm being nosy. Things that have been in the cave for so long, even if no one poisoned them, might spoil and make you feel unwell if you eat them," the boy explained calmly when he saw Xingxing looking at him speechlessly.

Xingxing remained noncommittal; over the years, she had grown accustomed to the cautious and meticulous manner of the young man, and had become numb to it.

After the boy tested the poison and found no adverse effects, he ate the piece of jerky. It tasted good and was quite chewy.

"It's delicious. Did you make this candy yourself?" Xingxing asked in a low voice. The echo effect in the cave was so good that even a low voice could be heard.

Candy patted her chest and said loudly, "Candy is capable. She does a lot of work every day. Madam and Master reward her with lots of dried meat and dried fruit. Candy can't finish them all, so Madam taught Candy to save them. Candy saved two big jars. This jar is for Xingxing to eat."

There were only two tanks in total, and she actually wanted to give one to her. Xingxing didn't know what to say. Before, she thought that Candy only cared about eating and didn't care about her at all. It turned out that she had misunderstood.

Candy is just a child at heart; she often speaks unclearly and sometimes incoherently, but she is the most innocent of all. She knows exactly who is kind to her and remembers the kindness others have shown her.

"Candy, are you really willing to give me this jar of jerky?" Star asked tentatively.

"There's still candy left. This is for the stars. The stars give me candy, and I give them jerky and dried fruit," the candy said confidently.

Xingxing sniffed and said gratefully, "Thank you for the candy, but this whole jar is too much. I can't eat it all."

At first, Candy refused and insisted that Xingxing accept the dried meat and dried fruit in the jar. Xingxing had to coax her a lot to appease her.

However, since the jar has already been opened, resealing it would not be good for storage. So we might as well take it out for everyone to eat. If we want to store the candy, we can exchange it for fresher candy later.

Zhang Xiantao and Zhao Mingyue took several packets and put them in their pockets. After tasting them, they nodded and gave a thumbs up, "Delicious, fragrant and crispy. This jerky must have been deep-fried."

"Some are fried, and some are boiled and then dried. If you like them, take more, or go back and ask my mother to teach you how to make them so you can make them yourself in the future," Xingxing said with a smile.

Zhang Xiantao waved her hand, "I don't like going into the kitchen. If I have to do it, I'll let Xiaohuan and Xiaoyuan do it. It's a pity I didn't bring them with me this time."

"I can make it, and Dazhuang and Daze can make it too." Zhao Mingyue is so good to her now; she lets her have whatever she wants to eat or do.

Hearing him say that, Zhang Xiantao felt a sweet warmth in her heart. "Mingyue doesn't need to do these things. Let Dazhuang and Daze learn them."

"Hey, that's enough, you two. Watch yourselves. You're not even married yet, is this how you behave?" Xingxing couldn't stand the two of them constantly showing off their affection.

Zhang Xiantao glanced at her casually, her words carrying a hidden meaning, "You still have the nerve to say we're being lovey-dovey? I wonder who it is that's been lovey-dovey with someone since they were little, and it's been going on for years."

Zhu Lin's face was indifferent, and her peach blossom eyes slightly lifted upwards, conveying a strong warning.

Zhang Xiantao looked away, pretending not to see someone's warning.

Xingxing: "?" Was she being subtly insulted?

At this time, Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu also came up the mountain, followed by four puppies. The puppies wagged their tails vigorously, obviously very excited to see the Fu brothers.

“You were indeed in the cave. My fourth brother and I even went around to the back of the mountain just now, and we searched for you for quite a while.” Zhou Erfu wiped the sweat from his forehead as he walked in.

Seeing Zhang Xiantao and Zhao Mingyue there, Zhou Erfu subconsciously glared at Tang Guo, "You silly girl, you bring everyone into the cave."

The subtext is that if malicious people knew that there was food and dried meat hidden in the cave, it would be completely looted, just like this time. Before, when they were imprisoned in the government jail, many fruits on the mountain were picked by thieves. If there hadn't been some unripe fruits at that time, they probably would have been completely stripped of them.

It's only because the cave is so well hidden that those people didn't find it that the food inside wasn't taken away. But I really need to remind that silly girl, Candy, a few more times later, otherwise she won't remember.

"Second Brother, don't blame Tangguo. Tangguo only brought us to the cave because I was here. There's no one else here. Xiantao and Zhao Mingyue are not outsiders. They won't tell anyone about the cave's secret," Xingxing said, speaking up for Tangguo.

Zhang Xiantao was gratified by the princess's words, "Neither she nor Mingyue are outsiders." The princess had finally treated her as one of her own.

Her expression turned serious, and she explained in a good-natured manner, "Yes, Brother Fu, please don't be angry. Mingyue and I would never do anything to frame the Zhou family. We are the princess's people, and the princess is watching us. If we dare to have any disloyal thoughts, the princess will deal with us first."

"My name is Erfu, not Fu Er. Don't call me that." Zhou Erfu wiped his face, looking a little uncomfortable. He had blurted out the question about Tang Guo in his haste. In fact, he knew that Zhang Xiantao and Zhao Mingyue were trustworthy.

"I was a little impulsive and spoke a bit harshly just now, please don't take it to heart. I didn't mean to blame you, I just wanted to teach Candy a lesson."

The boy's voice was rough and hoarse. Zhou Erfu had already grown quite tall, at least 1.8 meters, and would likely reach 1.9 meters in the future. He was currently going through puberty, and his voice was indeed quite unpleasant.