It was already 3 p.m. when we reached the foot of the mountain.

Su Yan and Su Yu went directly to the brigade leader's house and placed three baskets of medicinal herb seedlings in the yard.

Hearing the commotion, Lin Xiuli immediately came out of the house. Seeing the brother and sister covered in dirt, she breathed a sigh of relief. "You're finally back. I'm glad you're alright."

Su Yan asked in confusion, "Why would Auntie say that?"

“Some people in the village saw you and your brother go up the mountain, so they came to me asking me to persuade you. I went to your house twice today. Why did you come back so late?”

"I saw some good medicinal herbs, so I picked them a little late," Su Yan explained. Then she added, "It's not uncommon for me to go up the mountain. Why did they ask you to persuade me? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

Lin Xiuli sneered and said sarcastically, "They're probably afraid you'll find something good up there and they'll get jealous."

Su Yan: "..." Something's not right, nothing's right at all.

She turned her head and exchanged a glance with her brother.

She said, "Auntie, just leave these medicinal seedlings here. Please have the brigade leader plant them on the mountain as soon as possible. I need to go up the mountain again tomorrow. We can't plant a whole hill today."

"Oh? Are we going again tomorrow?" Lin Xiuli was extremely worried. "The person who went into the mountains last time said he saw a tiger and was so scared that he hasn't dared to go since. You didn't encounter one, did you?"

"No, Auntie."

Su Yu said directly, "Auntie, don't worry, I will protect Ayan's safety, and our trip into the mountains went very smoothly."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiuli didn't know what else to say.

She was worried about Su Yan because she was a girl, but she trusted Su Yu. The boy looked a bit thin, but he was a leader after all, so he couldn't be bad.

"Alright, then I won't fuss anymore. Your uncle went to find people, the ones they're hiring for the orchard. I'll tell him when he gets back so he can arrange for people to plant them. The planting methods for medicinal seedlings and fruit seedlings should be the same, right? Are there any things I need to pay attention to when planting them?"

"No, just plant it normally." After saying that, Su Yan remembered something and smiled, "Auntie, didn't you say you had something to tell me last night? We talked too late last night, and I completely forgot."

She guessed that Lin Xiuli would be too embarrassed to bring it up again, so she took the initiative to ask.

Lin Xiuli laughed when she heard this, "Your child, it's kind of you to remember. I was thinking of asking you about it sometime."

"It's okay, just tell me."

"Well then, I won't stand on ceremony with you. Here's the thing, I have a niece who's hardworking and honest, but she's not good with words and doesn't like to talk much. She's been on dates with a few young men, but none of them liked her. Her parents thought she was a disgrace, so they kicked her out. So I wanted to ask you, if your braised food shop is short-staffed, could you consider her? Of course, if you're not short-staffed, then you don't need to consider her. I'm just asking, so please don't be shy and agree to my request."

Lin Xiuli believed that her family had taken advantage of Su Yan quite a bit, and she certainly wouldn't take advantage of that relationship to pressure Su Yan.

She didn't want to become estranged from Su Yan.

After hearing this, Su Yan suddenly realized what was going on and said helplessly, "I thought it was something big. The braised food shop is quite busy right now. My mother is planning to hire two more quick-witted people to help out. You can bring your niece to the shop for a trial period. If she's a good one, my mother will definitely be satisfied. But the starting salary won't be high."

"Oh, none of that matters. As long as she has food to eat and a place to stay, that's enough," Lin Xiuli said. "Then I'll take her to town to find Juanzi another day."

She knew that Li Juan was in charge of the braised food shop and Su Yan didn't interfere much, but it was already good enough to get her verbal agreement; at least she had a chance to try out the job.

Su Yan nodded, "Then I'll trouble you to help me process these medicinal herbs. My brother and I need to go back to town to get our tools. We'll come back tomorrow after we've finished collecting the seedlings."

"Okay, then be careful."

"knew."

After the brigade leader left, Su Yan rented an oxcart from the village and headed to the town.

The brother and sister didn't chat on the way.

We arrived in town at six o'clock.

Back home, the two of them took a hot shower first.

After cleaning up, Su Yu immediately pulled Su Yan into his room, locked the door, and turned back with a serious expression, saying, "Ayan, does anyone in the village also know that there's something on the mountain?"

Su Yan hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded. "I had the same suspicion. Otherwise, why would someone suddenly ask Lin Xiuli to stop me from going into the mountains this time when no one has said anything about it?"

There's no rule about whose hill it is; anyone can go there if they want, and who can stop them?

That person had also considered this point, otherwise he wouldn't have rashly gone to find Lin Xiuli. Little did he know that by doing so, he had directly revealed his true colors and aroused their suspicion.

She hadn't stayed in Lijiapin for long, so there were many people in the village she didn't recognize. Even if she had asked Lin Xiuli just now, she probably wouldn't have known who that person was.

"How did he know? Is he a descendant of the cellar owner?" Su Yu wondered.

Su Yan rolled her eyes and said irritably, "If he were a descendant of the cellar owner, how could he not know where the cellar is? He probably got the information from somewhere."

The fact that no descendants of the cellar owner have come looking for the cellar over the years proves that the family is still thriving and has never even thought about it.

Su Yu frowned. "So what do you think?"

His sister has her reasons for going back to town so late, and then rushing back to the village.

Su Yan shared her idea: "I plan to rent a large truck and take all those things out at once."

"But with such a commotion, it's impossible for the villagers not to notice."

“I know, I’ve thought it all out. If they ask, we’ll say we went into the mountains to collect medicinal herbs, and we didn’t collect enough with baskets, so we rented a car.” Su Yan finished speaking, blinked, and said meaningfully, “Besides, I want to see if anyone is following us.”

Upon hearing this, Su Yu seemed to be deep in thought.

Tracking is useless. Without powerful protection, unless you know the situation in the mountains inside and have certain precautions, anyone who ventures into the deep mountains will only face death. Hopefully, that person won't seek their own demise because of greed.

Where can I rent a large truck?

These days, French trucks are very valuable, and most people are unwilling to rent them out, fearing that if the truck breaks down, they will lose a lot of money.

Su Yan knew this too, and said nonchalantly, "It's a small problem. As long as you're willing to spend the money, there's nothing that can't be done."

Su Yu: ...Oh, he forgot, he has a very wealthy younger sister.

Just then, they heard Li Juan calling them to dinner from downstairs.

The brother and sister tacitly ended the conversation and went downstairs.

During the meal, Su Yan casually mentioned that someone had asked Lin Xiuli to stop her from going into the mountains.