While eating, the old branch secretary talked about some bad things that had happened in the village recently.

The team leader was also helpless about many things, so Li Tingyun, Xu Erhua and others just listened.

Every village has old debts. Last year, they owed the county grain, which has been paid off this year. However, the amount of grain distributed to the villagers was 30% less, and this grain will have to last until the middle of next year.

If one person is missing 30%, the family will be much smaller. It seems that no one will have an easy time this year.

Li Tingyun thought that several families in the village were already not doing well, and he was afraid that this year's New Year would be even worse.

Xu Erhua thought that they still had a lot of food, and when combined with the food they were given, it would be enough to last until the middle of next year.

"We don't know what the situation will be like next year. We will have to endure this for at least a few more years!" The team leader told the two of them about the current situation, hoping that they would arrange the food reasonably.

Li Tingyun felt that it was impossible to do business in this era, so it was even more difficult to lead the entire village to prosperity.

The first bird to stick its head out gets shot, so she didn't dare to continue to stand out, otherwise it would be difficult for her to leave this place when the time comes.

Everyone listened to the old branch secretary and the team leader talking the whole time, even Erniu and He Fei didn't say a word.

After dinner, the two went back first.

After the old branch secretary and the team leader left, He Fei said to them seriously, "You all heard what the old branch secretary said. Many people may not have enough food to eat next year. When they are hungry, some people will lose their minds. So, even if you have food these days, you can't take it out and let outsiders see it."

"Brother He Fei is right. Wealth should not be exposed. If nothing works, I'll dig a cellar for you and hide some food in it. You can eat as much as you can when the door is closed." Erniu also spoke.

The locals knew that a cunning rabbit has three burrows, so they would hide their food. Moreover, they lived in a large compound, so people usually didn't dare to steal from people's homes.

However, Li Tingyun and Xu Erhua are just two grown girls, and even though there is Heifeng, they are still worried.

"Don't worry, after the New Year, Egg Yolk will have grown a lot bigger. With it and Heifeng guarding the house, no one will dare to steal it." Li Tingyun knew that they all treated her and Erhua as their sisters.

"In short, it's always better to be on guard," said He Fei.

"Yes, yes, we will listen to you two brothers. It's getting late, you go back and rest. We will go there early tomorrow morning to hand over the herbs before going up the mountain." Li Tingyun nodded and arranged tomorrow's plans.

"We won't be going up the mountain for a few days, so we need to make arrangements in advance. I looked at the road and it will be completed in ten days at most. I guess we won't have to go up the mountain all the time, so we should hurry up and stock up on things in the next few days." He Fei has been watching the progress of the road these days and calculated the approximate time.

Li Tingyun counted the time on his fingers and finally made a decision: "If that's the case, then we'll come back later tomorrow while everyone is still working. Let's do one last job before the New Year, and then I'll go exchange some money."

"Okay, let's do it this way. If that's the case, after we hand over the herbs tomorrow, we'll tell the old branch secretary and the others that we'll go directly up the mountain the day after tomorrow and hand them over every two days so that we don't have trouble arranging our time." He Fei expressed his thoughts.

He had a similar idea to Tingyun. They wanted to catch some prey while many people were still working. Once everyone had a holiday and more people went up the mountain, it would be difficult for them to take action.

"Then let's go to the forest where we went last time. There are big things in that forest." Li Tingyun was referring to the forest where they killed the wild boar last time.

After a few people discussed it, they prepared the things they would need to take up the mountain tomorrow and put them in the yard, waiting to come back to get them after reporting to the construction site tomorrow.

When leaving, He Fei asked, "When will Liuli come back?"

"I don't know either. I guess even the old branch secretary doesn't know. Let's wait for him to come back!" Li Tingyun shook his head.

She felt that Li Tie called Gu Xingwu away at this time, probably to carry out some confidential mission. Uncle Luo didn't say anything when they went to the city last time, so she was even more embarrassed to ask.

After hearing what Li Tingyun said, He Fei didn't ask any more questions and went back with Erniu.

Li Tingyun prepared some pheasant for dinner tonight, and also poured some chicken soup, and waited until it got dark to deliver it to Xinxin and the others.

Since Li Tingyun's care, Xinxin's little face has gradually become more rosy, and most importantly, his personality has become much more cheerful.

Although Old Chen was not wandering around the cowshed now, Li Tingyun still didn't dare to stay there for too long. She delivered the things and came back after seeing that they were all fine.

I originally planned to take Xinxin to stay with me for a few days during the New Year taking advantage of Gu Xingwu’s stupidity. Now I don’t know whether Gu Xingwu will come back, so I haven’t mentioned this to the little guy for the time being.

It was midnight when she came back. When she was almost at the door of her house, she saw a figure walking towards the river. She was a little sleepy, but suddenly she woke up.

She went back to call Xu Erhua, threw the backpack into the yard and hurried after him.

When Xu Erhua heard that someone was walking towards the river, he rushed out with Heifeng.

When the two ran all the way to the river, they saw the black shadow leap down.

Li Tingyun took off his coat, threw away his shoes and jumped down.

Xu Erhua was not good at swimming, so she patted Heifeng's head and said, "Go, call Brother He Fei over, quickly!"

Woof!

Heifeng understood what Xu Erhua said, glanced at the water, turned around and ran towards He Fei's house.

"Tingyun, Tingyun!" Xu Erhua couldn't see the person in the water clearly, so she shouted a few times in panic, then ran back to get the flashlight and hemp rope.

When Li Tingyun jumped in, she didn't pull anyone out. The freezing water made her teeth chatter, and she could only fish in the water by feeling.

When Xu Erhua came back, she shone the flashlight on the water surface, and Li Tingyun saw the person sinking. She quickly dived into the water and pushed the person to the surface.

The water was too cold and she felt weak after shivering. She used all her strength to push the person towards the shore.

Xu Erhua tied the hemp rope to a big tree on the shore and threw the other end of the rope to Li Tingyun.

Li Tingyun tied the rope around the man, Xu Erhua pulled hard over there, and she pushed hard in the water, finally pushing the man to the shore.

At this time, He Fei and his son were brought here by Heifeng. Seeing someone jumping into the river, Uncle He turned around and went to find the old village chief and others.

He Fei came over to help pull the man ashore. Li Tingyun climbed out of the freezing water and went forward to check on the man's condition.

Under the flashlight, they finally saw the man's face clearly.

"Why is it Aunt Xiaoyun?" Xu Erhua was stunned.

Li Tingyun came to her senses and rushed to help with emergency rescue. However, Aunt Xiaoyun drank a lot of water this time, so her rescue was not effective.

"Erhua, tuck her clothes into your pants and carry her upside down while running." She ordered Xu Erhua to do it, and she helped to hang the person upside down on Erhua's back.