"Really?" Lin Zihan suddenly felt even colder as the wind blew against his body.

He stiffened his neck, turned his head to look at his soft and cute little sister, and asked in a stammering voice, "Little sister, you're not lying, are you?"

“No duck.” Lin Wanyue looked at him, shook her head and said seriously, “It’s really Uncle Black and White Impermanence.”

The twins immediately stood at attention and bowed to the air.

"Uncle Wuchang... Good afternoon!"

The two little ones looked so serious that Lin Wanyue couldn't help but laugh.

"Brother, Uncle Wuchang has already left, he can't hear you anymore."

"Oh, it's good that you're gone."

Lin Zihan felt relieved and patted his chest.

The twins then looked at the small basket at Lin Wanyue's feet, which was already full, and together they helped Lin Wanyue put the eggs on the ground into their own basket.

They had just picked some chestnut pods under the chestnut tree. The pods were covered in dense thorns, and it was impossible to get the delicious chestnuts without using a knife or stone to crack them open.

So Lin Zihan, being the eldest of the three, took the responsibility of putting all the chestnuts in his own basket, while the rest were put in his younger siblings' baskets.

The three people walked down the mountain hand in hand and left.

…

Back home, the three of them handed the contents of their baskets to their mother, Xuefu.

"Thank you, Wanwan." Xuefu didn't ask anything and locked the eggs in the cupboard. This wasn't to keep the family away, but because she was worried about the mice in the house.

The biggest inconvenience of living in the countryside is probably the rats that you can't kill them all. Their reproductive ability is too strong. Even the Lin family's new house was quickly burrowed by them, and they would come out to steal food when it was quiet at night.

Xuefu took a machete and led the three children to open chestnut balls. In the evening, they enjoyed a delicious roasted chestnut feast.

Lin Wanyue returned to her room with her round little belly sticking out.

She now has her own room, and when she goes to sleep, she can sneak back to her villa with its soft cashmere bed when no one is watching.

But when I came back today, the soft bed had been taken over by the little pink butterfly.

"Wow, you have so many good things here! And this bed... it's so soft! Even the silk and satin blankets I used to sleep on weren't this soft." Little Pink Butterfly hugged the down comforter and rolled around on the bed, refusing to let go.

Lin Wanyue, with her short legs, climbed onto the bed with some difficulty and took out the soul-summoning bell that Bai Wuchang had given her.

It was a round bell, only the size of a lychee, with a silvery sheen, and many intricate patterns carved on it.

Lin Wanyue didn't want to summon the Black and White Impermanence in her own villa space, as she wasn't sure if they would have the ability to freely enter.

Then you won't be able to keep your snacks!

For the safety of the snacks, Lin Wanyue found the prettiest jewelry box and put the little bell inside.

"Actually, you don't need to be so scared. Uncle Black and White Impermanence are actually very easy to talk to." Lin Wanyue lay on the bed, side by side with Little Pink Butterfly.

Actually, she felt that if a tiger from the West Mountain happened to pass by the East Mountain, the Black and White Impermanence would be able to detect it.

So how could they have been completely unaware of the presence of the little pink butterfly beside her just now?

However, the Black and White Impermanence did not cause her any trouble.

It seems they've already accepted the fact that they're keeping these ghosts?

So maybe we can raise a few more in the future?

Lin Wanyue remembered the soul-summoning bell that Bai Wuchang had given her. Bai Wuchang had told her that if there were any vengeful ghosts that she couldn't deal with, she should shake the bell and they would appear.

Does that mean that if you can handle a little devil, you can keep it?

Lin Wanyue laughed happily.

"???" The little pink butterfly looked at the smile of the little girl next to her, hugged her arm, and felt a little creeped out.

Looks like I should head out earlier tomorrow; this place doesn't seem so safe after all.

Besides, the "goodness" of the Black and White Impermanence is limited edition; they're only good to Lin Wanyue. They're not so kind to little devils like themselves!

...

As the first light snow fell, the villagers became increasingly busy collecting firewood and grain.

It's only snowing lightly now, and the ground isn't even covered yet. There's only some white snow on the distant mountain peaks. By the time it's deep winter, we definitely won't be able to go up the mountain.

When Lin Wanyue stood in her own courtyard and looked out, the varying shades of color evoked a sense of atmosphere reminiscent of a traditional Chinese landscape painting.

But the villagers didn't have time to appreciate it; they were busy preparing food for the winter, as well as firewood and cotton-padded clothes for heating.

Even the Lin family had to start preparing cured meat.

To make cured pork, there are three most important things.

Firewood, salt, and meat.

They had plenty of salt and firewood, but meat was a bit hard to come by.

“We have some money now, how about we buy a pig for the New Year? We can make half into cured pork and eat the other half for the New Year?” Lin Weiming suggested.

The meat we usually eat at home is cured pork, because it's easy to preserve and can be eaten from the beginning to the end of the year.

In the days before refrigerators, fresh meat could only be eaten for a day or two before it would spoil.

But Liu Junlan and Xuefu firmly disagreed.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law reached an agreement and began to criticize Lin Weiming.

"You've got a couple of stinking coins now, you don't know how hard it is to earn money. Buying a pig costs at least two taels of silver. You can earn two taels of silver all year round, and you're still thinking of eating half of it at the New Year? Don't even dream about it!" Liu Junlan said first.

"That's right, you just feel uncomfortable if I have too much money and you don't give it out, right? Besides, is this money yours? Is it ours? It's all Wanwan's money. You, as her father, are spending your daughter's money so self-righteously. You really have no shame!" Xuefu added.

Lin Weiming: "..."

Amidst the accusations, she gradually felt wronged.

Lin Wanyue never expected that she would be called out for simply watching the drama unfold.

If her grandmother and mother hadn't been standing together, she would have wanted to quietly tell her family that she didn't actually mind the money being spent.

We're all family; she can use her money for her parents and brother.

Besides, she can eat the meat we bought!

Lin Wanyue still had a craving for pork.

Lin Weiming was scolded by his wife and mother in turn, so he could only look at them with a wronged expression and ask in a low voice, "What should we do? We can't just not make cured meat this year, can we?"

The meat from the tiger we killed a few months ago was roasted into cured meat, but after eating it for so long, there are only a few pounds left. It's definitely not enough to eat during the New Year or even next year, so we need to make some preparations.

But the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had already discussed it while cooking, and now they smiled slightly and offered a solution.

"How about this? Now that all the bandits have been caught and no one has dared to go hunting in the mountains for so long, wouldn't it be perfect if you went now and caught a few more prey?"