It wasn't that Ma Liu was suspicious, but they hadn't brought any tools. The girl was carrying a basket, but she had given away everything inside. Besides a water bottle and a backpack, she didn't have anything else. How were they going to hunt?
Jiang Qiao and Qiao Jie exchanged a smile. "Grandpa Qiao, why don't you and Grandpa Liu take a stroll along the edge of the woods? I'll walk further in and catch a lot more today so you two old folks can go out and exchange it for something later, okay?"
Ma Liu nodded excitedly, "That's great! I love exchanging things. Seeing those old items makes me feel like I'm back in my youth. Girl, girl, if you can fight, get more of them."
Qiao Jie sighed, "I'm afraid there aren't many left now. Girl, go in and give it a try."
Jiang Qiao headed straight for Lao Lin, while Qiao Jie and Ma Liu strolled around the edge of Shun Lin, but found no wild vegetables. They searched everywhere and couldn't find a trace of wild vegetables.
"Sigh, forget about wild vegetables. Let's walk further in and see if there are any medicinal herbs—"
Herbs can be found, but they're not readily available; most people probably bring them home to eat as wild vegetables.
Just as Qiao Jie had predicted, Jiang Qiao had hardly seen any prey along the way. Fortunately, she was skilled and daring enough to venture directly inside.
She wasn't afraid; she had plenty of weapons at home, any one of which would be enough to eliminate any prey that attacked her.
Unable to find any prey, Jiang Qiao grew anxious and began running through the woods. Only by venturing deeper could she occasionally spot pheasants and rabbits, which she naturally caught.
However, she also knew that there were quite a few people in this area who knew how to hunt, otherwise, the animals would have been found.
Jiang Qiao was still not giving up. She ran wildly into the depths of the forest. Once she reached the heart of the forest, she finally managed to hunt something, but it was all small prey.
Seeing that the basket was almost full, Jiang Qiao wanted to turn around and leave. If they delayed any longer, they would definitely be late to get back, especially since this place felt particularly gloomy to her. She didn't know why, it was just a kind of intuition. After all, she had died once, so she was particularly sensitive to this feeling.
Her attention was drawn to a collapsed area on the right. She didn't want to go there, but what if it was a trap or something else? Going there would only cause trouble.
But the thought of that eerie energy gave her a sliver of hope; maybe she'd stumbled upon something good.
She approached step by step, and when she saw it with her own eyes, she was shocked. The collapsed area in front of her was actually a tomb. She didn't see anything else, but she saw piles of white bones exposed. It didn't look like a normal burial at all. It looked like people were buried on top of each other, and there wasn't even a coffin.
It's obvious that there couldn't possibly be any burial goods here. On the contrary, judging from the appearance of the bones, they must have been shot.
Her mood immediately soured. Her father and Xiaobao had not been buried. These bones were probably the work of the Japanese.
Jiang Qiao turned and left with mixed feelings. After finding the old man and the others, she told Qiao Jie and Ma Liu what she had seen inside.
Speaking of this, Qiao Jie knew a little about it. The old man sighed and said, "It's all the fault of the Japanese devils back then. The workers who helped them build the pillboxes and bunkers have disappeared. They're probably buried here. Liu Zi, go to the police station tomorrow and see how they're going to handle it. If we didn't know before, that's one thing, but the children have seen it. We can't let their bones be exposed like this."
Ma Liu didn't have that many thoughts on his mind; his attention was focused on Jiang Qiao's hands and the basket on her back. When he saw that the basket was full of things, the old man flashed a smile.
"Girl, I'm impressed! Your grandfather told me you can even hunt prey with your throwing knife skills?"
Jiang Qiao raised an eyebrow. "You see what's going on? Let's go. Maybe we can catch the black market. If not, we can always catch it tomorrow morning."
By the time Jiang Qiao and the others returned, the black market had already closed. The three of them were starving after their journey back, and they felt too embarrassed to eat at those people's homes at noon. They were already short of food, and it would have been better not to go and cause them any trouble.
Jiang Qiao cooked quickly and efficiently, making rice and stewing a pheasant with medicinal herbs.
While eating, Ma Liu muttered about his plans, "I want to sell the house and never come back. Girl, I'll take a few rabbits and pheasants to see my old collector friends and see what they have to trade. You can deal with the remaining grain at home and leave enough for us to eat."
Jiang Qiao had no objections to anything else, but she didn't quite agree with the old man selling the house. In the past, wealthy people would buy houses and land, but now, although house prices are low, not many people can afford them. Rather than waiting here for people to come and buy, it would be better to rent it out.
After I shared my idea, Qiao Jie immediately agreed, "Liu Zi, let's rent out the house and have the rent be paid every few months. You want to give the house to Jiang Qiao, so why not transfer it to Jiang Qiao? Let the neighbors witness it, let everyone witness it, and give the deed to Jiang Qiao so that it will be easier for the child to handle things here in the future."
Jiang Qiao nodded with a smile, "Consider it a backup plan, Grandpa Liu, listen to me."
There was no such thing as property transfer in this era, so we could only do as Qiao Jie said. The next morning, Ma Liu went out to find people to come over for dinner that night and witness the event. Free food and drinks, who wouldn't agree? He was overjoyed. He also let everyone spread the word that he wanted to rent a house, as he was going to stay somewhere else for the time being. Then the old man took his things and went out.
When it came time to exchange items, Jiang Qiao didn't send Qiao Jie over because the location wasn't accurate, and she was worried that if anything went wrong, the old man wouldn't be able to get there in time.
Qiao Jie gave her an explanation: "Oh, your sixth grandfather said that place has been around for a long time. They have organized people and people who specialize in collecting things. They need to keep watch, and they can sell the collected items at a high price. You can rest assured about that, girl. You really don't need me to go?"
Jiang Qiao shook her head. "Grandpa Qiao, you stay home and cook. Wait for me to come back."
The old man didn't insist; he wasn't worried about the child's abilities.
Jiang Qiao's exchange went smoothly today. Many people had items but couldn't exchange them for money, and with grain prices soaring, everyone wanted to exchange more. So, Jiang Qiao exchanged significantly more items this time than before.
Just as the party was about to end, she suddenly saw a little girl, not much older than her, covered in patches, with a sorrowful face, lingering there for a long time, but Jiang Qiao didn't see her get anything in return.
Finally, unable to resist his curiosity, he called out to the little girl.
"Sister, why don't you change your things?"
Huang Ying sighed, looking pale and sickly. "I have nothing else but this earring, but it can't even be exchanged for a pound of grain. Nobody wants it, saying it's not a good match."
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