When they arrived at the place where they usually rode in the oxcart, the oxcart hadn't arrived yet, so Xiaoyue told Lu Xiaomei to go home first. Along the way, people started walking in Xiaoyue's direction.

When Xiaoyue saw Ge Erlin arrive, she turned her head away, not wanting to see him. A little while later, Li Shuanshu also arrived. Xiaoyue waited for a while, and then Liang Qi drove out in a carriage with a basket on it.

Seeing the oxcart come out and stop in front of her, Xiaoyue first put her basket on it. As for the large basket, Xiaoyue couldn't lift it by herself, so she glanced around at the people and said to Liang Qi:

"Liang Qi, do me a favor," Liang Qi put down the reins, jumped off the oxcart, went around to Xiao Yue, and together with Xiao Yue lifted the large basket and placed it in front of the oxcart.

Xiaoyue sat in the front of the car, level with Liang Qi in the driver's seat, while Ge Erping squeezed between Liang Qi and Xiaoyue. Xiaoyue looked around, moved to the side, and didn't say anything.

After waiting a while, Uncle Liang came out, and Liang Qi sat in the back. When Ge Erping saw Liang Qi sitting in the back, she followed him and sat in the back as well. There were still many seats left in the cart.

When the bus reached Guaibo Village, three people got on. When it reached Sanjiazi Village, there were only two seats left on the bus, and two more people got on.

Xiaoyue remembered that Baijiazhuang was also in Sanjiazi Village, and she listened intently to the conversation between the two people.

The rugged-looking man said, "People from the county government came to Baijiazhuangzi yesterday."

People from Guaibo Village chimed in, "What happened? Tell us."

"The stench in Baijiazhuang was unbearable. Everyone pushed Huang Wu, who lived next to Baijiazhuang, to find the village chief. The villagers were all tenants of Baijiazhuang, so they were all curious about what was going on and followed him."

The village chief knocked on the door for a long time, but no one answered. The smell was really unpleasant. A young man following behind the village chief pushed open the door and found several corpses lying in the yard.

The village chief immediately reported to the county government, and county officials came and took away five people. The last body to be carried out was that of Uncle Bai, along with a maid. The other three were dressed in black and had their faces covered.

He's obviously no good.

A villager from Guaibo Village chimed in, "Isn't it good that the Bai family members are dead? You'll all have to pay rent at the end of the year."

The man glanced at the villager: "Do you know how big the Bai family is? They have businesses in Longcheng, the capital, and in every county. If something happens, they can send another manager over immediately."

"Everyone in the village has been dealing with Uncle Bai for over ten years. What do they know about this new guy?" the man said worriedly.

The oxcart was going uphill, passing through this deserted area. Another villager from Guaibo Village pointed to the woods and said, "This place is full of poplar mushrooms, and there are more as you go in. No woman dares to come and pick them."

"The men aren't picking them either, what a waste of those mushrooms," the man sighed.

Upon seeing Xiaoyue and the others' mushroom baskets, the man said, "These are the women of the Gu family. If you were to pick mushrooms here, I guarantee your basket wouldn't be full." Xiaoyue smiled at the man but didn't say anything.

The oxcart soon arrived outside the town and stopped at the usual spot, where Uncle Liang looked at it.

Xiaoyue carried a basket on her back by herself, while Liang Qi and Xiaoyue carried the basket together and headed straight for the market.

Ge Erping kept following Xiaoyue, but Xiaoyue ignored him and said to Liang Qi, "I want to pick mushrooms on my way back."

Liang Qi glanced at Xiaoyue and said, "Okay, I'll take her home. You can continue collecting the herbs. I'll come pick you up later."

Xiaoyue shook her head and said, "No need."

Liang Qi smiled and said, "You have to give me half of Mushroom."

Xiaoyue smiled and nodded again.

They were quickly carried to the entrance of the market. Xiaoyue looked at Liang Qi and said, "You pay for me first, and I'll pay you back later when I have the money."

Liang Qi took out four coins, paid the stall fee, and the three of them came in, placing their baskets next to the potatoes.

The first person to ask about mushrooms, Xiaoyue, pointed to the mushrooms in her basket and said, "These are dried, forty coins a pound, and the ones in the basket are wet, twenty coins a pound."

The visitor selected Liang Qi's basket and weighed it three jin.

After the first one, the market opened up one after another. Xiaoyue sold 10 catties of dried mushrooms for 400 coins, and 40 catties of dried mushrooms from the large basket for 800 coins. Xiaoyue took out 400 coins and gave them to Liang Qi, but Liang Qi only accepted 2 coins as stall fee.

With only a few scraps left at the bottom of the basket, Xiaoyue discussed it with the potato seller next to her and exchanged them for two pounds of potatoes.

After selling their goods, Ge Erping disappeared. Xiaoyue ignored him, as she needed to buy things herself, so she went shopping with Liang Qi.

Xiaoyue first went to the shop selling farm tools. She asked about awls for making shoe soles, hemp rope, and wallpaper. The shop had all of these. The awls cost five coins, a large bundle of hemp rope cost three coins, and the wallpaper wasn't pure white; she chose a slightly yellowish white, which would be cheaper. The three rooms cost a total of twenty coins.

We went to the grain store again. Flour was five coins a pound, so I bought ten pounds. Millet was still three coins a pound, so we bought fifty pounds because there were many of us. We also bought twenty pounds of cornmeal.

When they arrived at the seed market, Xiaoyue bought three acres of cabbage seeds. She planned to plant cabbages on the land and sell any that she couldn't eat.

It cost a total of 294 coins, and there are 906 coins left.

Xiaoyue packed the rice and paper into a large basket, and she and Liang Qi carried it out of town. They waited for a while at the oxcart before Ge Erping finally arrived.

Those who went back included Xiaoyue and Ge Erping, as well as Fatty Ren, Ge Erlin, and Li Shuanshu.

And that person who said the mushrooms in the poplar grove were good.

There were a few unfamiliar faces, but Xiaoyue didn't pay much attention to them. She was only focused on packing potatoes into the basket, saying to Liang Qi as she did so, "You can just leave the basket at home. I'll pick it up when I get back."

Liang Qi glanced at Xiaoyue and smiled, "Don't worry."

As the car approached the open space, the person who had praised the mushrooms got out, Xiaoyue got out at the uphill section, and Ge Erlin, Li Shuanshu, and Fatty Ren got out at Wangjia Village.

Xiaoyue entered the woods, crouching down to carefully examine the grass and the roots of the poplar trees.

The man wasn't lying; there were indeed real poplar mushrooms, though not as many as he claimed. Before dawn, they had already gone inside and filled a basket to the brim.

Xiaoyue was picking mushrooms when she heard footsteps behind her. She didn't pay any attention to it, assuming that others were also picking mushrooms.

Xiaoyue continued searching for mushrooms when a strong sense of unease suddenly overwhelmed her. Logically, if someone saw that she was here, they shouldn't have come to her anymore, but that person was clearly coming for her.

Xiaoyue squatted down, pretending to pick mushrooms, glancing at the person out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly, the person pounced on Xiaoyue, but she quickly dodged to the side, and the person missed.

Xiaoyue kicked the man in the buttocks, and he immediately collapsed to the ground. Xiaoyue swiftly moved forward and stomped on his neck. Every time he moved, Xiaoyue pressed down harder with her foot.

With a sudden, forceful movement, the man froze. Xiaoyue, bending her knees, asked him, "Do you have any accomplices?"