When they arrived at the grass-cutting area, a dozen or so children of varying ages gathered around.
"Go wash your hands by the stream first. I need to check them before you can eat," Xie Yuyao instructed them like a kindergarten teacher. Their little dirty hands were truly unbearable to look at.
The children obediently ran off to wash themselves clean, and each of them received a large piece of dried fruit when they returned.
"There are pits inside, so eat slowly and don't chip your teeth."
The children ate with great relish, exclaiming, "It was so delicious!"
"Alright! Once everyone finishes their work, we'll go dig a trap together." After Xie Yuyao finished speaking, the children cheered and began to work hard cutting grass.
Zhao Chunling was also happily eating dried fruit. "I heard that the educated youth in your settlement sent dried fruit to my house, but my nephew took it to the brigade leader, so I didn't get to eat any."
Seeing her greedy look, Xie Yuyao and Yang Shumei both laughed.
"What are you laughing at! Tell me, is that educated youth, Ren, dating my nephew?"
Xie Yuyao and Yang Shumei both expressed uncertainty. They knew Ren Fei was interested, but no one knew what Zhao Honghui was thinking.
Now, Xie Yuyao has ended this budding relationship; she has no intention of walking into a trap.
"Who could it be?" Zhao Chunling muttered to herself as she began to cut grass.
Once everyone's baskets were full, the grass-cutting team marched up the mountain in a grand procession.
"Let's go to the place I mentioned first. The grass there is growing very well, so there are bound to be wild rabbits there."
Zhao Chunling took the lead and walked for nearly half an hour before finally arriving at their destination.
This is the location of a valley, with sparse trees and a large shrubbery, and a trickle of water flowing slowly down from above.
The fresh and messy paw prints and animal droppings on the ground indicate that there are many animals active in this area.
The three adults chose a spot by the water and started digging, one shovel at a time, until they had created a trap that was one meter deep and two meters wide.
This area is near the mountains, where there are no large wild animals, so traps of this size are enough to trap small animals.
"Why don't we go to the place where you encountered the wild boar last time, dig a big trap, and see if we can catch another one?" Zhao Chunling suggested.
"That's deep in the mountains, we can't go there!"
The children immediately objected, as they were constantly warned by their parents and elders at home that they should never go into the deep mountains.
Zhao Chunling: "What are you afraid of? Yuyao dares to go alone. Why don't you little brats not come with us, and just the three of us go?"
Seeing that Xie Yuyao also disagreed, the foodie Zhao Chunling continued to urge, "If we really catch a wild boar, we can secretly send it to the supply and marketing cooperative. Although it will cost less than selling it on the black market, it won't be dangerous if we go through the open. That way, we'll have money to buy more delicious food."
"You really got ripped off with that wild boar last time. If you had taken it to the supply and marketing cooperative, you could have gotten more than ten yuan."
Xie Yuyao teased, "If that were the case, you wouldn't be able to eat it."
If what Zhao Chunling said is true, even if she could use her spatial ability to smuggle herself across, slaughtering and carrying loads would not be an easy task; it would be troublesome and wouldn't earn her much money.
She has plenty of resources and doesn't lack this at all, so why bother making trouble for herself?
However, if the educated youth team were to secretly slaughter and sell the animals, the large number of people involved would inevitably attract the attention of the community members and cause trouble.
She is not afraid of trouble, but she prefers to remain peaceful unless absolutely necessary.
Some might call her a saint or weak, but her Xie family motto is: when poor, cultivate your own virtue; when successful, help others.
In her past life, many people around her did charity work, and regardless of their initial intentions, they genuinely helped many people in need.
"I think we should dig a bigger trap around here; maybe large animals will come to drink water."
Xie Yuyao's thoughts were interrupted by Yang Shumei, who nodded in agreement.
Zhao Chunling sighed, resigned to her fate.
So, on the other side of the stream, they dug a deeper trap. If there were wild boars, their heavy bodies would surely break their legs if they fell in.
With some time remaining, they dug a few small traps around the area, camouflaged and marked them with branches, and then prepared to leave.
"Wait, what's that?" Xie Yuyao pointed to the high part of the hillside on the right. What came into view was a pinnate compound-leaved plant with a lot of pods hanging from its branches.
She climbed over to take a look, and it was none other than Astragalus membranaceus. She had already planted and harvested a batch of it in her space, so it was definitely true.
As an important qi-tonifying herb, Astragalus membranaceus (Huang Qi) can be used both medicinally and as food, and has high value.
Looking at the vast expanse of astragalus plants before her, Xie Yuyao was extremely excited. From now on, any herbs she planted in her spatial dimension that were found in the Daqingshan Mountains could be disguised as having been harvested from the mountains.
"The leaves of this grass are quite unique, and its flowers are very beautiful," said Zhao Chunling, who followed along.
"It's called Astragalus membranaceus, and it's a good medicine for replenishing qi. Maybe it can be sold for money."
"Really?" Zhao Chunling couldn't believe it. Wasn't this just ordinary wild grass? How could it be sold for money?
The efficient Yang Shumei and the children had already brought over the three-person shovel. "What do we do?"
"The roots of Astragalus grow vertically. First, dig a hole next to it with a shovel, then use a stick to dig. Everyone dig along the roots deeper."
Adults and children dug together, and finished digging up all the astragalus in the vicinity before noon.
Looking at the thick, long astragalus root on the ground, Xie Yuyao couldn't stop smiling.
This was her first major achievement, and she didn't know what words to use to describe the happiness she felt.
"Quickly, take it to the water and wash it clean!"
Zhao Chunling picked up a blade of grass and asked, "You seem so happy. Will you make a lot of money selling them?"
"It has nothing to do with money."
"..." Why could she never understand Xie Yuyao's source of enjoyment?
After cleaning all the astragalus root, which weighed about ten kilograms, the three of them discussed it and decided to put it at Zhao Chunling's house first.
Tomorrow, Xie Yuyao will go to the county town to check out the market situation before deciding whether to use raw or cooked food.
She knew how to process astragalus: raw astragalus is sun-dried, and cooked astragalus is stir-fried with honey. She would decide everything when she returned tomorrow.
On the way down the mountain, Zhao Chunling repeatedly reminded everyone not to tell anyone about digging traps and taking astragalus.
They even threatened the children: "If others find out, they will catch the rabbits before us, and you won't have any meat to eat."
"Yes, we can't tell anyone that this is our secret base."
"Once we have rabbits, we'll make a fire and roast them to eat."
"I tried spicy rabbit meat last Chinese New Year, and the taste was... wow..."
Seeing Xiaohu's enjoyable expression, the other children decided to make spicy rabbit meat!
As for why they were so sure there were rabbits, well, there's Sister Yuyao, the kind of person who even brings wild boars to her doorstep!
"My three older sisters, do you know how to make this dish?"
Three adults: ...
Xie Yuyao asked timidly, "Who among you knows how to kill a rabbit?"
Others: ...
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