Stone was getting anxious. He saw the fish and shrimp gathering, but as soon as Jianling put the basket down, they all ran away in fright. The little guy was jumping up and down in a panic.

"Auntie, what are we going to do? We can't catch any! What will my sister eat?"

Jiang Qiao slowly walked over. "Shitou, don't worry, I'll take care of it. Aunt Jian, do you see that narrow ditch down there? Go get some stones to block it up, leaving a gap. Put the basket in the middle, and I'll drive the fish down from here."

Jian Ling had no way to deal with these little things; she listened to whatever Jiang Qiao said.

"I think it's okay, just don't use too much force."

To be honest, there are quite a few fish in the river, but they're not very big. The big ones are about the length of an adult man's palm, while the small ones are about the size of a rice noodle strip. They're also hard to catch because they have a lot of bones, and you need a lot of oil to cook them properly.

Many families are unwilling to cook this, and even if a child catches it, it's basically fed to the family's chickens and ducks.

Jiang Qiao wasn't really interested in this thing, since she had everything in her space. However, taking it out was a bit of a hassle, so for the sake of her health, she had to make do with it.

Jiang Qiao asked her younger brother to find her a stick. She slowly went into the water and started splashing around with the stick. Jian Ling, who was below, saw the fish above scrambling to get into the basket as if their lives depended on it. There were fish of all sizes. She was so amused that she forgot about the basket and ran over to help.

"Sister, do you have any fish? Do you have any fish?"

Jian Ling nodded with a smile, "So many fish! When we get back, Aunt Jian will make you fried fish. Just wait!"

Even after the two of them had been working on it for a while, Jiang Qiao still wasn't satisfied. She instructed Jian Ling to go check the nearby stream to see if there was anything else, while she waited downstream for the fish to be caught in the basket.

"Oh my god, Jiang Qiao, there are crabs here! Wait here, I'll catch some crabs for you to eat."

Stone was anxious and followed after them with his short legs.

Jiang Qiao took the opportunity to put her hand into the river water, and now, big fish, small fish, and shrimp all desperately tried to get into the basket.

Seeing that the basket was almost full, Jiang Qiao stopped and ran to the shore to sit down and regulate her breathing.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, she treated herself to another meal. Although she felt a little ashamed, she couldn't bring herself to take it out right now.

However, Jianling's results were still gratifying. There was no room left to put the crabs, so Shitou ran home and brought back another basket, which allowed them to take everything back with them.

Ma Liu was so happy that he didn't even help with making the medicine. He took over the cooking himself, saying, "I'll make this. You guys rest first."

Jiang Qiao asked with amusement, "Grandpa Liu, do you feel like a hero has finally found a place to use his skills?"

Ma Liu raised his chin and said, "That's right. Making medicine is not suitable for me. I was forced into it. Girl, go and help make the medicine so that your Grandpa Qiao can rest."

Jiang Qiao went to the medicine room that had been prepared separately at home and saw Qiao Jie busy at work.

"Grandpa Qiao, you go out and take a rest. I'll do the rest."

With Jiang Qiao around, Qiao Jie was happy for her to take over. "Girl, don't overwork yourself. This batch isn't too tight on time, let's take it easy."

Jiang Qiao sat down and had just started to eat when Jiang Weihan arrived outside.

"Hey, what are you making at home? It smells so good!"

Qiao Jie greeted her with a smile, "Girl, you went to the river to exercise with Xiao Jian and caught some fish, shrimp and crabs. Don't go back for lunch, let's have a drink together."

Jiang Weihan waved his hand, "Take some back with me, I won't eat here. Girl, go answer a phone call. They specifically asked you to pick them up, I don't know what that means."

Jiang Qiao looked at Jiang Weihan in surprise, "Looking for me? Who is this? How can they be so well-informed? I just woke up and they're already calling looking for me?"

Jiang Qiao really couldn't remember who was looking for her, but she couldn't delay any longer.

However, Jiang Weihan hadn't finished speaking yet. "Girl, don't worry, that person said he'd call back later. Um, your uncle said there was another call earlier, something about the street office, asking about the available spots, and he was in a hurry and didn't explain clearly. Today someone came to check the accounts."

"They're here to audit the accounts?"

Not to mention Jiang Qiao, even Qiao Jie and the others were stunned. "What do you mean? Is there a problem with Xiu Qi?"

Jiang Weihan shook his head. "Don't you know my son? That kid isn't the kind of person who's greedy for personal gain. I don't know the details of this situation either. He didn't say anything, he just said, 'What, is there a problem?'"

Jiang Qiao countered with a question, "Grandpa Jiang, back when we helped the village solve the food problem, you didn't keep track of it, did you?"

Jiang Weihan's eyes widened. "Settle it on the books? Are you stupid? Can that be settled on the books? It's hard to explain, and it'll just give people something to say."

I didn't let them do that in the first place. Don't worry, they won't find anything. Everyone's just grateful; they'll keep it in their hearts. They're not fools.

Jiang Qiao nodded knowingly. "It's good that no bill has been placed. I have a feeling something's wrong here. Grandpa Jiang, tell my uncle to be careful later."

"Please sit for a while, I'll be right there. Stone, help your sister out."

Seeing Jiang Qiao's steps, Jiang Weihan became worried and said, "Girl, why don't you have your Aunt Jian take you there? Stone can't lift you up."

Jiang Qiao shook her head. "Don't forget, there are auditors in the team. If these people find an excuse to say that our family hired people, I'll have to go through a lot of trouble. It's okay, Shitou, come on, I'll take you to meet these people."

Jiang Qiao had made up her mind. Once she returned, she would straighten her younger brother's meridians and get it done as soon as possible so that the child could start practicing. These were turbulent times, and she was worried that if anything happened, she wouldn't be able to take care of him and would have to train her younger brother herself.

The little guy stopped practicing with the stick and wobbled over on his short legs. "Sister, let me help you. I'm very strong. Grandpas, we're leaving now. Grandpa Liu, wait for me to come back for dinner. If you're hungry, you can eat first."

Seeing that the little guy was still eating in the kitchen with peace of mind, Qiao Jie and Jiang Weihan couldn't help but laugh.

"Sigh, with kids making a ruckus at home, at least you old folks won't be lonely."

"Old Joe, I've heard that those traditional Chinese medicine doctors—"

Qiao Jie sighed and nodded. "I know. You've seen how little I go out these days. When people come to us for help, we can't refuse to treat them. As for the rest, I'd better not cause any more trouble for the child."

"Come on, let's sit inside. The girl was just saying she didn't want her grandpa to work in the fields anymore. He's too old for that. She said she'd just let the team raise some livestock."

Jiang Weihan shook his head in disagreement, "Old Gu should go to the fields to do some work. It's not good for him to stay in the cowshed every day. I know his son is filial, but in the current situation, it's better for Old Gu to go to the fields to work than to stay at home."