They were all fresh lotus roots, just dug from the pond, tender and crisp, still covered in damp mud.
Ye Wenxue glanced at him, and after noticing the murderous aura and killing intent emanating from the bald man and his group, she lowered her hand, but did not put down the cleaver.
She stepped forward and said in surprise, "If I hadn't come to the bamboo house, you would have wasted your time and food."
At that time, vegetables were expensive, meat was expensive, and rice was even more expensive. People would hide their food and not tell anyone. Nobody was as generous as Baldy.
"Hey, isn't this a gift for you? Besides, these lotus roots are all dug up from the mountain village, so it didn't cost any money. We'll come to check on you every ten days or so. If you don't come, I'll take some people down the mountain to sell, and we can earn a couple of coins to spend."
"Oh, right," the bald man changed the subject, "thanks to your reminder, Boss Ye, I took some men to town last night to buy quilts and clothes. It's been raining these past few days, and the wind is strong on the cliff edge of the mountain stronghold. Many brothers were freezing at night and went to get bedding. I'm planning to go down the mountain in a few days to buy some charcoal. Why don't you buy some while you're at it?"
The bald man patted his chest and said, "I'll personally bring it to your bamboo house."
He still doesn't know where Ye Wenxue's family has settled, but after thinking it over, he figured it couldn't be too far from the bamboo house.
Ye Wenxue glanced at Shuangshuang and Sanyuan, who dared not utter a sound under the fierce gazes of countless people, patted them reassuringly, and asked, "Among the hundreds of people in your mountain stronghold, not one knows how to make charcoal?"
The bald man scratched his smooth head: "If we had any skills, none of us brothers would have ended up as bandits."
After two rounds of reshuffling, all those who had been abducted to the mountain stronghold were released. Those who were willing to stay had no skills; they had previously either farmed, worked as dockworkers, or were beggars.
He had investigated the entire mountain stronghold and found that he was the only one with a skill, and he only knew how to do carpentry.
—These days, people are either fleeing famine or living off their savings. Who needs a carpenter?
The bald man was helpless.
In the past, it didn't matter if you didn't have any skills, as long as you could handle a weapon and were brave enough to kill someone.
But... the chieftain has changed, and the current leader forbids anyone from engaging in robbery and plunder, and has also expelled all the brothers who have killed people from the stronghold.
Without a readily available and highly profitable source of income, the brothers had no choice but to return to their old trade of farming, otherwise they might not even be able to afford to eat when their savings dwindled.
These past few days, Baldy has been thinking about going down the mountain to find some carpentry work and teach his brothers a thing or two, so he can at least earn some money.
Ye Wenxue really didn't expect that bandits would be troubled by a lack of money. She shook her head: "I don't need to buy charcoal."
Baldy didn't want Boss Ye to freeze to death, so he quickly advised, "Don't think I'm after your money. The weather is noticeably colder after the rain. I think winter is coming soon."
Seeing her nonchalant expression, the bald man rolled his eyes and looked at Shuangshuang and Sanyuan, who were hiding behind Ye Wenxue: "Even if you're not afraid of the cold, you have to think about the children. It won't be good if they get frostbite."
At this point, the bald man couldn't resist scratching the chilblains he had on his hands last winter.
Alas, the drought just ended and winter is already here; God really doesn't give people a way to survive.
Ye Wenxue had no choice but to make things clear: "I'm trying to make charcoal. If it's successful, I won't need to buy charcoal. If it's unsuccessful, I'll go down the mountain to buy some."
The bald man's eyes lit up immediately. He couldn't wait to grab Ye Wenxue's hand and praise her for being both literary and martial. She could kill with martial arts skills and was skilled in literature. What was there that Boss Ye couldn't do?
No wonder my older brother...
The bald man noticed Ye Wenxue's gaze and quickly held his breath to calm himself down. He chuckled and said, "Then you go ahead and do your thing. Just take whatever vegetables you want. I need to take the brothers back to harvest the vegetables. We'll go to town to sell the vegetables and buy charcoal in a few days."
Ye Wenxue didn't want to nag him anymore: "Just put in a few lotus roots, we can't eat that many. You can take them all and sell them for money."
"No, no, no, please accept it..."
Ye Wenxue disliked this back-and-forth, and impatiently raised her eyes: "Then there's no need to keep it."
"That won't do."
The bald man secretly gave a hand signal to his trembling bandit underlings. As soon as he finished speaking, he dropped a basket of lotus roots, and the dozen or so men scrambled to run away.
Ye Wenxue: "......"
Is she really that scary?
Shuangshuang didn't think too much about it. She happily broke off a crisp lotus root, washed it, peeled it, and took a bite. It was very crisp. "Mom, why not take something that's free?"
These are words that Ye Wenxue often says, and she carries them out very thoroughly.
Ye Wenxue and Sanyuan exchanged a glance and couldn't help but laugh at the same time: "Okay, okay, Shuangshuang is right."
The trip out of the valley was very fruitful. Ye Wenxue made two trips back and forth to the bamboo house to carry all the mountain produce, various vegetables and lotus roots home.
It was already dark by then. Dazhuang had cooked the meal and stir-fried the dishes, a whole pot of cabbage and radish stir-fry.
They also buried several sweet potatoes in the scalding hot ashes.
The sweet potato was too hot, so Ye Wenxue repeatedly transferred it from her left hand to her right, and after a few times, she peeled the sweet potato while blowing on it to cool it down.
"Aww!" She ate half a sweet potato in one bite, the sweet taste filling her mouth, and she felt so happy that she wanted to sing out loud.
Turning my head, I saw that the kids were eating without even looking up.
Compared to the hesitation and recklessness they felt when trying stir-fried dishes with chili peppers, the four kids thoroughly enjoyed the sweet potatoes.
Ye Wenxue picked up Yuanyuan, who was sitting in the wooden tub, looking left and right and constantly reaching for her older brother's sweet potato. Listening to her babbling complaints, she couldn't help but smile.
She scooped out a small spoonful of sweet potato, blew on it to cool it down, tested the temperature with her lips, and then put it into her round mouth.
Her round, bright eyes widened suddenly. She sucked on the sweet potato for a couple of times and excitedly exclaimed "Ah!" several times.
Ye Wenxue tapped her little nose: "I know, I know, you can have it all."
After finishing a sweet potato, Dazhuang resisted the urge to eat more. He filled a bowl with rice and muttered as he ate, "The bald guy and his gang have no skills, no charcoal, and no money. Uncle Xu's family knows how to make charcoal but lacks manpower and money..."
Dazhuang held down Siwang, who had eaten three sweet potatoes and still wanted more, and looked up at Ye Wenxue:
"Mother, could we get them to team up and burn charcoal together to sell down the mountain and make a quick buck?"
“Look, Uncle Xu’s family doesn’t have any strong men, so it’s not safe for them to go down the mountain to sell charcoal. If they work together, Grandpa Xu can just burn charcoal on the mountain. The bandits are all big and strong, so no one dares to mess with them, or even bargain. It will save a lot of trouble.”
Ye Wenxue had also thought of this idea, but... "If we facilitate their cooperation, both sides will make money, but we won't benefit from it."
She wouldn't bother doing anything that didn't bring her any benefit.
"That's not how it works." Da Zhuang finished his rice in a few bites and sat down next to Ye Wenxue to explain the pros and cons.
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