Zhu Fanfan continued, "If you want your father to think highly of you, you'll have to solve the entire commune's food problem. Your father can support you, but if you want to improve the commune with your salary, you're dreaming. If you want to make big money, nowadays you need to apply for local specialty status as a village. Your local specialty status is slim, unless..."

Dai Xinghuo hurriedly asked, "Unless what? You should continue. Isn't it just teasing us by leaving things unsaid?"

Zhu Fanfan said, "Unless it's not through legitimate means that the food supply can be obtained."

Dai Xinghuo has a clear and honest look in her eyes, a simple mind, and good skills. She is a good partner. She had talked to her before, and although she was being somewhat vague, her father did not object to her entering the black market. In fact, he was somewhat supportive. They needed food, and that was the last thing she lacked. That was enough for her.

Dai Xinghuo naturally knew what he meant: "The grain obtained through irregular channels has all been seized. I have no connections, so it's simply impossible for me."

He considered the black market, but when he went to the city, he found that he couldn't even get close to it, let alone buy and sell grain. He didn't even have a way to buy grain, let alone sell it for a profit. Moreover, every black market had its own backer. The biggest black market was Master Xin, who had the police chief as his backer. Other small groups could only get scraps. He heard that they wanted to join Master Xin, but he wouldn't accept them.

Zhu Fanfan said, "If I can solve your grain supply problem, can you transport the grain to other places to sell? Don't even think about Xin Ye's business; no one can take it away from him."

The main reason is that Xin Ye has already controlled the entire black market in Shanghai, and she has 30% of the profits. She can't possibly steal her own business, but she can sell the grain outside, if Dai Xinghuo has that ability.

Dai Xinghuo was incredulous. He had always wanted to enter the black market, but unfortunately, he couldn't open up the market without a source of goods. Even small-scale operations were difficult. When his father found out, he thought he should give up and advised him to stay at home and wait to die, instead of messing around and getting himself into trouble.

Zhu Fanfan said, "I know Mo Wenqi; he has a source of goods."

Dai Xinghuo fell silent. He couldn't even see Master Xin, while Zhu Fanfan already knew Boss Mo. Sure enough, the level of people you meet varies depending on how high you climb: "The people in our commune are all good fighters. We have a road that leads to other places, and Grandpa can disguise himself, so we don't have to worry about others seeing our true faces."

After a pause, Dai Xinghuo asked, "Can you really get your hands on some grain? The whole country is short of grain right now. You know, an acre of land only produces a little over 300 catties of grain. How much grain can you supply us, and how long can it last?"

They also need food, and there's not enough for them to eat. These days, after a whole year of hard work, an acre of land only yields a few hundred kilograms of grain, not even enough for themselves. Unless absolutely necessary, who would sell their grain? I heard that Master Xin's grain is all imported from overseas, so there's no shortage of supply.

Zhu Fanfan said, "You can rest assured about that. I can take you to Master Xin. He will act as your guarantor. From now on, you can get your goods from him at the black market price. You can negotiate the specifics yourself. I'm just acting as a go-between."

Dai Xinghuo was immediately moved to tears: "Fanfan, you are our brigade's benefactor. You don't know or what's going on, but in recent years the wild vegetables in our brigade have become increasingly unpalatable and less filling. We were discussing whether to move out. If the food problem is solved, we won't have to move."

Zhu Fanfan was genuinely curious: "Is this place some kind of auspicious feng shui location that you're reluctant to move?"

Dai Xinghuo curled his lips: "Who says otherwise! The commune has no water, so it can't produce fish and shrimp. It has no land, so it can't grow crops. Everyone lives on the mountain, but they can't even raise chickens and ducks. Wild pheasants and rabbits run away as fast as they can, and they can't be caught. They are also very stubborn, saying that it was passed down from their ancestors and that if they go out, they will suffer a catastrophic disaster and the entire clan will be wiped out. This is a new society, and they still believe in feudal superstitions."

They don't go out themselves, and they don't even let young people go out. Anyone who wants to settle outside is considered to be betraying their ancestors, and they will be expelled from the clan and never allowed to enter the village again. They will be treated as if they never existed. What era are we living in? They still insist on these old rules.

Zhu Fanfan didn't care about any of that, as long as it didn't ruin her plans. At the same time, she took a book out of her bag. Dai Xinghuo glanced at it and saw that it was about encountering rare and exotic plants. She asked curiously, "Are you going to compare these wild plants with these little by little?"

Zhu Fanfan smiled and said, "It's you. I've forgotten everything related to medicine. I just need to confirm a few things. I'll bring a professional to confirm the others."

Dai Xinghuo: ...It's already quite good that he can recognize wild vegetables.

Resigned to his fate, he picked up the book and opened it. It described the herbs from sprouting to fruiting in great detail, and there were also pictures next to them. Each stage was shown in a picture, and anyone who wasn't blind could recognize them. He had no choice but to search for them one by one. It took him a long time to find one. He almost knelt down to thank the heavens: "Finally found one."

Zhu Fanfan said, "Let me see which one it is? I'll talk to Qian and trick him into coming over so I can identify the herbs."

Dai Xinghuo pointed to one of the pages: "This is it, exactly the same as this one."

Zhu Fanfan carefully compared them, but she couldn't tell the difference at all. She thought they were all the same: "Let me tell Qian that we've come all this way, let's go find some pheasants and rabbits!"

Dai Xinghuo said that the pheasants here were even more tender than those raised at home, and the wild rabbits had no fishy smell at all. She was intrigued and wanted to see the legendary Qian sheep.

Dai Xinghuo was somewhat embarrassed: "Even if it's a pheasant, it takes several of us to gang up on it and catch it together. Each of us can only get a little bit. If you can use dried meat as payment, snacks are also acceptable. If you want to use money, it's difficult. We basically don't go out much, so we don't have many places to spend money."

Zhu Fanfan asked blankly, "How do you manage the daily necessities like firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea?"

Dai Xinghuo paused: "Isn't wild vegetables just something you cook?"

Zhu Fanfan asked incredulously, "What about winter?"

Dai Xinghuo said, "When wild vegetables are plentiful, we dry them and save them for winter."

Zhu Fanfan: ...You guys are awesome.

Dai Xinghuo said with a bitter face, "Now you know why I said that anyone who can solve our food problem is our benefactor, right?"

The government's relocation policy was firmly opposed, so they could only rely on wild vegetables to fill their stomachs. Although they weren't starving, they got nauseous from eating the same thing all the time.

Zhu Fanfan asked, "Why are all the houses on this mountain built without being next to each other? Aren't you afraid of wild boars coming?"

Dai Xinghuo explained, "We don't have any large wild animals here. The houses are so scattered because each family builds their houses wherever they like, as long as they have enough materials."

Zhu Fanfan then asked, "You have difficulty even building a house when you don't have any output. Will those people who were sent down to the countryside live a life of hardship and exposure?"