In the deep mountains, Ye Wenxue had another hobby besides farming.

He followed Xu Lin's mother to research how to make tofu derivatives such as dried bean curd sticks and fermented bean curd.

It wasn't that she didn't want to learn embroidery from Baldy's mother, but embroidery required a lot of eyesight and patience.

Although Ye Wenxue had both of these things, she resolutely and tactfully declined the bald man's mother's sincere invitation.

Ye Wenxue had never learned embroidery; she had only learned how to kill with a needle.

Sanyuan, having nothing else to do, learned the craft and was planning to embroider a bib for Yuanyuan.

"Mother, I've almost mastered the boxing techniques you taught me. Come and see if they look good."

Taking advantage of Ye Wenxue's free time, Shuangshuang dragged her by the hand to the eaves.

Ye Wenxue smiled and agreed, sitting on the bench watching the two of them throw punches and kicks with practiced ease, each move remarkably skillful.

A crowd gradually gathered to watch.

Dazhuang pushed Yuanyuan to stand under the eaves, while Sanyuan and Siwang each stood next to Ye Wenxue on one side, getting close to their mother for a kiss.

As Lan Qing helped Xu Lin out the door, she looked at Shuangshuang with envy and admiration in her eyes. Learning martial arts is not easy. There are too many people who have endured hardship in the coldest and hottest winters but have achieved nothing.

She sincerely hoped that both of them could achieve something in their training.

The bald man was itching to join in, and after the two of them finished their set of punches and were asking Ye Wenxue for praise, he leaped out and started fighting with her.

Ye Wenxue never expected the bald man to be so shameless, using a fist the size of a sandbag to hit a child: "..."

Seeing that neither of them could beat the bald man's strong build, Ye Wenxue stood up, caught the bald man's fist, and dragged him aside to give him a good beating.

After beating them up, Ye Wenxue returned to the eaves feeling refreshed and gently coaxed Shuangshuang:

"My son is amazing!"

Both of them frowned; she had heard similar praise far too often, and she needed more advice.

"Mother, just tell me the truth, I can handle it."

Ye Wenxue's smile slowly faded. She stared at Shuangshuang for a while and pointed out the shortcomings in her work without any mercy.

Those watching nearby all felt that she was being too harsh.

Su Jiu was also teaching Shuangshuang to read. Hearing this, she said tactfully, "I think Shuangshuang is doing very well. She's just a little short of your requirements."

Ye Wenxue glanced at him, her tone indifferent: "A near miss is no big deal against you or me. But against bad people, enemies, do you think they'd go easy on you just because you almost did?"

Would I let you off the hook and let you come back next time just because I beat you by that one small mistake? No.

The most important lesson she learned before taking on a mission was to avoid making the slightest mistake.

If it had been just a hair's breadth off, it wouldn't have been someone else who died, but Ye Wenxue herself.

Su Jiu was speechless, but had to admit that Ye Wenxue was right.

In practicing medicine, one cannot afford to make even the slightest mistake in prescribing medication; otherwise, one will harm the patient and feel uneasy about one's own conscience.

Not to mention that the area at the foot of the mountain is not as safe as the deep mountains.

Both bit their lower lips tightly, their faces looking somewhat pale. After a moment, they nodded emphatically: "Mother, you're right. I will continue to work hard!"

Ye Wenxue smiled with satisfaction.

She didn't want to be so harsh on Shuangshuang, or any of the children in the family.

However, in times of turmoil, women were always in a vulnerable position.

If one has the instinct to protect oneself, but fails because of this one shortcoming, wouldn't one be furious?

With red eyes, they went back to practicing their boxing.

Ye Wenxue slowly turned her head to look at Sanyuan and Siwang, who were sitting obediently on either side: "Have you finished writing the big characters?"

Sanyuan quickly jumped off the stool and went back to the room with Siwang to practice calligraphy.

Xu Lin, who had overheard everything, chuckled. After his vision became blurry enough to see things clearly again, his personality changed quite a bit; he even dared to make sarcastic remarks.

"You're too strict. Aren't you afraid of making the children cry?"

Just as Ye Wenxue was about to indiscriminately stab him with words, Zhiwang hurriedly pushed open the wooden door and ran in:

"Elder Nian, Elder Ye, something bad has happened! In the mountain stronghold... um? Where is Elder Nian?"

Under the eaves, everyone pointed at the person who had been knocked to the ground and was unable to get up.

Even Baldy's mother was no exception.

Zhiwang immediately realized who had hit the eldest son, and with a sigh, he helped him up.

“Elder brother, news has come from the town at the foot of the mountain that the prefectural city is mobilizing people to return to their hometowns to farm, and they guarantee that generals will lead troops to clear away bandits and robbers along the way and escort the people back to their hometowns.”

The bald man, still dizzy from the beating, asked in confusion, "Isn't this a good thing?"

After a long silence, Zhiwang finally spoke in a low voice: "Yes, it's a tremendously good thing."

but!

Elder brother, you're not an ordinary citizen, but a bandit leader with an entire stronghold and hundreds of men!

Aren't we the very bandits and robbers who were wiped out and eliminated?

Baldy was helped to sit down under the eaves, still feeling dizzy. After drinking some hot water his mother brought him, he quickly came to his senses: "Wait, do the people in the mountain village know about this?"

Zhiwang nodded emphatically: "Brother Wen sent someone to the mountain stronghold to report the news, and along the way to several junior leaders, so I'm afraid all the brothers know."

The bald man's breath hitched, and after a long pause, he suddenly slapped his thigh:

"No, I'll go back and take charge. You go down the mountain quickly to find out what's going on and tell Zhiwen and the others not to come back."

Zhiwang immediately responded and took off running.

Ye Wenxue quickly stopped her: "It's not safe for you to go down the mountain alone right now. Take those children with you too."

Today was the day Zhiwang was to go back to the bamboo house to pick bean sprouts to sell. The five children also returned, but they didn't come to the bamboo house; they went back to the mountain village to pack their luggage first.

After thinking for a moment, Zhiwang apologized to Ye Wenxue and quickly followed the bald man who had run back to the mountain stronghold.

Knowing that the mountain stronghold was likely to be in turmoil for several days, Ye Wenxue closed the wooden door and called out, "Everyone, don't leave the bamboo huts for the next few days. With Su Jiu and me guarding the area, no one will be able to break in."

Bald man's mother felt a little calmer. After taking a few hurried steps, she went back into the house to continue embroidering.

If she went to the mountain stronghold because she was worried about Sui Nian, Sui Nian would be distracted by worrying about her safety, making it even more difficult for him to protect both of them.

It would be better to stay in the bamboo house and embroider more patterns; then you can sell them when you go down the mountain and make some money.

Doctor Chen gritted his teeth, forcibly suppressing his opinion of Su Jiu, and pulled him aside to ask why Su Jiu, who was clearly a weak doctor, could win the favor of Boss Ye.

Su Jiu smiled smugly: "I can protect myself if I encounter danger!"

Dr. Chen: "...Please explain in detail."

"I am skilled with poison!"

Doctor Chen closed his eyes, turned around and went back into the house, determined to find some anesthetic powder, sleeping potion and the like, so that he could protect himself if he really encountered danger.

Da Zhuang remained unfazed despite witnessing the scene of widespread panic.

He stretched out his slightly fleshy hand, pressed down his fingers one by one to start counting the days, and glanced at the thin layer of snow on the ground out of the corner of his eye, realizing that winter was almost over.

Springtime brings life to all things, making it the perfect time for planting.

Longxing Prefecture City

The He family members were taken to the government office for questioning about the movements of the bandits they had encountered.

The group stammered and couldn't give a coherent explanation for a long time.

Just as his men were about to use torture to extract a confession, the young general shook his head: "Bring them with you when we're suppressing bandits. There are plenty of bandits along the way; we can't let a single one escape."

Old He's eyes lit up, and he suddenly crawled forward on his knees:

"Sir, sir! There's a vicious woman in our village who became a bandit. She's killed many people. You absolutely mustn't let her go!"