In the following days, the villagers of Pinghe Village seemed to be doing it on purpose. They gathered in batches as if by prior arrangement, completely isolating the two villages as they came to Yunqi.

This time, Si Zhengwei and his son found a restaurant. Apart from getting some salt, they had long since run out of other grains, but they did get plenty of pots, pans, and utensils.

Although some parts were deformed from being squeezed, as long as the iron basin is properly hammered, it can still be used.

What pleased him most was the row of knives and several whetstones. Many people surrounded him, wanting to exchange some with him, but he refused.

Si Zhengwei specially took out two high-quality kitchen knives and placed them aside, asking Si Ming to deliver them to Yun Qi later, as a small token of their affection.

They had already received too much from Si Cheng, and now with this unexpected gain, Si Zhengwei wanted to distribute more to Si Cheng and the others. However, his family needed these knives to exchange for some living supplies.

Lian Jianpeng was quite lucky this time. He found what appeared to be a grocery store and discovered a lot of seasonings, including over 100 kilograms of the most precious salt.

These kinds of table salt are everyday consumables. Even if people still have some, they like to stock up. So at his stall, many people bring items to exchange with him.

Lian Jianpeng left most of it behind, and neatly arranged the remaining salt and various other usable seasonings in front of him.

Thinking about how his family's supplies had only been going out and not coming in during this period, he was very anxious, even though he didn't say anything. He didn't dare to show it.

Being able to go up the mountain this time and receive so many unexpected supplies kept him smiling all night. He relaxed and looked much more energetic.

His situation also appeared among the new villagers in Xin San Village and at the village entrance, which made them even more determined to follow Pinghe Village in the future. Even if they only followed behind and got a little scraps, they would still benefit immensely.

Liu Fengya and his group, who went up the mountain to collect herbs, circled around the area but returned empty-handed. They hadn't found any medicinal herbs at all. It wasn't because they were obsessed with treasure hunting, but because the area was full of vines and withered grass, and there were no herbs they needed.

Eventually, they had no choice but to give up and join the treasure hunt, which allowed them to gain some rewards.

Once everyone had exchanged for what they wanted, the entire camp quieted down.

But then they were troubled again: how were they going to bring all this stuff back?

Wu Yong: "What's there to worry about? We can just go back tomorrow and make another trip."

Liu Huatian was a little worried. "Would it be alright if we just put the things here?"

Wu Yong looked at him and said, "No one can guarantee anything about this. After all, who knows if other people will come up the mountain? But there are so many, you can't carry them all back by yourself. You'll have to make another trip. There's really no choice."

The people of Pinghe Village didn't have this problem because they believed that as long as they put the things there, Brother Cheng would make proper arrangements for them. However, no one went to explain to the people of Xin San Village, leaving them to struggle with whether to take the tea seeds back first or the supplies back first.

At this moment, Si Ming approached Yun Qi with two knives. The straightforward man placed the kitchen knife directly in front of her, startling Yun Qi.

Not far away, Yun Heng and Yun Qiao rushed over, watching him warily.

Si Ming realized that his actions were inappropriate and quickly took a step back. "Sister-in-law, Dad asked me to bring this to you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yunqi and the others looked at him speechlessly. If you're going to give someone a knife, at least say so first. How could you be so reckless as to just put the knife in front of them? Anyone would have some misunderstandings.

Yunqi said, "We have these knives, you can take them back! You guys forgot, I dug up a hardware store, they have plenty of these things."

Si Ming took two steps back. "Anyway, this is Dad's decision. I've delivered the things; you can handle them yourselves!"

After saying that, he turned around and left, leaving Yunqi staring at the two knives, not knowing what to say.

Yun Heng said, "How can this kid be so unreliable? He just showed up with two kitchen knives without a word. I wondered what he was up to."

Yun Qiao said, "If he had spoken any later, I would have almost punched him."

Si Cheng walked over at this moment, "What just happened?"

Before Yunqi could answer, Yunheng recounted the entire incident.

Yun Qi picked up the two kitchen knives in front of him and asked, "What should we do with these? Should we take them?"

Si Cheng glanced at Si Zhengwei in the distance, and seeing that he was waving at him, said, "Take it! Later, compile a list of what we found and send it to them."

Yun Qi nodded and began to sort out his existing supplies, thinking he would send them over later.

Si Cheng patted Yun Heng and Yun Qiao on the shoulder approvingly, "You did a good job this time. You have a good eye for things. Keep it up."

Yongheng and Yunqiao nodded excitedly; this was the first time Cheng-ge had praised them so directly.

After a night of deliberation, everyone made up their minds and unanimously decided to take the tea seeds back first.

The items unearthed this time are all suitable for long-term preservation, but the camellia seeds need to be taken back to their original location as soon as possible. It would be a great pity if they spoiled if they were not spread out and processed quickly.

To put everyone's minds at ease, Si Cheng waited until everyone had put their things into the cave before forcefully pushing the large rock to the cave entrance to block it. He then moved some smaller stones to seal all the gaps tightly, which reassured everyone even more.

This trip went exceptionally smoothly, and everyone finally arrived at Xin San Village before dark. Since everyone wanted to bring their things back as soon as possible, they agreed to set off again early the next morning.

Time was running out, and everyone wanted to get some rest. Si Cheng and the others didn't linger there and headed straight for their village.

However, the second day's ascent was not so smooth. Before they even reached the cave entrance, they spotted some animals lingering there from afar.

But it was getting dark, and they couldn't just wait for them to leave on their own. Sicheng could only instruct the people from Pinghe Village with crossbows to prepare and get as close as possible.

As for the others, they could only form a circle here and be on guard.

This time we were in a rush to go up the mountain and forgot to bring binoculars, so we had to get quite close to see what kind of animal it was.

Wu Tianxiang: "Are there many wolves and leopards in this area?"

Si Cheng looked at the few hyenas in front of him, wondering if this was just a small group or if they had all come here.

“These things have the most sensitive sense of smell, otherwise they wouldn’t have kept circling here. We need to finish this quickly, or they might find us soon.” Wu Yong lowered his voice, afraid of attracting the attention of the wolves.