The timeline system has gone awry; they insist that steamed buns are a magic pill.

Shi Lanhua had already arrived at the granary in the rat hole that Li Qingqiu had dug out. At first glance were several large granaries neatly arranged. "Corn, sorghum, rice, oh my, and peanuts too! Old man, come and see, there's quite a lot of grain here!"

Li Fuhai and Li Qinghui walked over quickly and, upon inspection, found that the grain was indeed of better quality.

"Grandma, Grandpa, Dad, I told you so."

Li Xianle was quite proud. "We dug this out with my third uncle. Besides the grain, there were also a lot of rats."

"You've got guts."

Li Qinghua was a little proud, after all, his son had also made a significant contribution.

"Mom and Dad, Second Brother, it's snowing today. Don't delay, hurry up and pack the grain into the baskets so it doesn't get wet."

Li Qingqiu thought to himself that he hadn't even had time to feel smug yet, but Xianle and his second brother were already feeling smug, which wouldn't do. "The grain looks pretty dry to me, there's no mold."

"It's good food."

Li Fuhai had already squatted down, picked up a few grains, rubbed them in his hands, and then put one in his mouth and bit into it. It was crunchy; it had been dried quite thoroughly, no wonder it hadn't gone moldy. "It's very dry. Let's pack it up first and take it home to clean it up."

Li Qingqiu wanted to say to his cheap father, "You think you can just eat whatever you want from a rat's nest? You're really something." But then he thought, "These days, we can't even guarantee a meal of cornbread every day. So even food from a rat's nest is still food."

Not to mention there's rice and wheat here, Li Fuhai's behavior is quite normal. "We need to hurry, it's getting dark. Let's get this done quickly and then tidy it up properly when we get home."

"The third brother is right."

The whole family got busy, using wooden shovels or their hands to fill the baskets. In no time, several baskets were full. Li Qingqiu noticed that his parents even picked up a few grains of food from the mud in the end.

"Let's dig again and see if there's anything left." Shi Lanhua saw that the rat granary was empty, so she looked around and then around.

Good heavens, Li Qingqiu thought to himself that his mother was quite greedy. He decided to dig a little and actually dug up something: two hibernating snakes.

"Good stuff." Second Brother Li Qinghua grabbed the snake's head with one hand and ripped it in half from its mouth, picking out a snake gall and throwing it into his mouth.

Li Qingqiu was speechless. What kind of people eat such random things? Aren't they afraid of getting sick from it?

"This rat snake is quite big."

Li Qingqiu weighed the dead rat snake in his hand; it weighed over a pound. He was quite lucky; it was rather plump. He would ask Yin Yi if she knew how to make snake soup later; it would be a delicious dish to try.

The grain was packed up, and the mice were strung together with bamboo strips.

"Who skinned this?"

Li Fuhai was quite surprised. This skill was impressive. You know, the quality of skinning a rat directly affects its price. Usually, if the abdomen is cut open, the skin is considered ruined. Even if it's dried and cleaned, it's just a scrap of skin, worth about five cents.

The skins in front of them were all peeled using the tubular peeling method, a very skillful technique. The entire rat skin was intact. This kind of peeling technique, similar to rolling up one's sleeves, was only known to Li Fuhai in the entire Li family; the others were not quite there yet.

"Uncle, I peeled it."

"You peeled it?"

Li Fuhai only noticed the young girl now. He hadn't paid much attention to her before, but he didn't expect that her skinning skills were no worse than his.

"My dad is a chef, so I learned some cooking skills when I was little."

No wonder.

Li Fuhai thought to himself, "This girl's father must be a good cook. His peeling skills alone are top-notch."

"Dad, let's pack up first and talk about it when we get back. This lake is so vast and wild, and the wind and snow are getting heavier and heavier. It's really cold." Li Qingqiu noticed that Yin Yi's face was red, and he figured she was a little shy because everyone was looking at her.

"Yes, yes, let's go back first."

The rats were strung together with bamboo strips, a dozen or so on a string. Li Qinghua carried a basket, while Li Qingmei and Li Qingqiu carried another basket. The whole family made their way out of the hillside.

"I'm back."

Seeing this scene, Aunt Liu and Sister-in-law Big Feet exchanged glances and had a bad feeling. This didn't seem like they were carrying someone. They were all laughing so hard they were practically beaming.

"Is the thing Shi Lan Hua is holding a rat?"

"Wow, my goodness, so many?"

"Good heavens!" Big Foot Sister-in-law rubbed her eyes. "There must be a dozen or twenty of them, right?"

"Not only that, Xianle and several of the other children also have some."

"Did we dig up a den of rats?"

The group had originally planned to make fun of Li Qingqiu, saying that he wasn't doing anything serious and was instead digging up rat nests in the mountains in the snow—wasn't that just fooling around?

If you get bitten by a snake, that would be even more ridiculous. You never expected that calling people to come and watch the spectacle would only make you feel uncomfortable.

"This rat skin must cost at least five cents, right?"

Wang Yulan muttered to herself. When Sixth Aunt and Big Foot Sister heard this, they counted on their fingers and figured there must be dozens of them. At five cents each, that's several yuan. It's not easy to earn work points in the winter when farming is slack.

Getting a hundred or two hundred work points a month is considered good; in the end, it's probably not as much as Li Qingqiu earns from digging up a nest of rats.

"What's that?"

"What?"

"Look inside the basket!"

"Baskets, grain, my god, so much! Look at how much Qinghua is carrying on that shoulder pole, those two big baskets must weigh at least 150 or 160 pounds!" Good heavens, we've really dug up a rat spirit, someone shouted.

"Come and see! Li Laosan has dug up a rat spirit! The grain is almost piled up like a heap."

With that shout, good heavens, even more people showed up. Li Qingqiu muttered to himself, "That's it, I can't keep a low profile anymore."

"What are these?"

My uncle Li Fushan, my aunt Wang Guizhi, my uncle's eldest cousin Li Qingqun, and my second cousin Li Qingfu all came out of the house.

Even Jiang Mei, a widow who rarely came out to watch the excitement, glanced at it a few times and marveled at it.

"His uncle, these were all dug by the third brother and Xianle and a few others. They were lucky to find such a big rat nest."

Shi Lanhua smiled broadly, feeling smug. Recently, her third son had been making her proud quite a bit, so she was definitely going to show off and let everyone see that no one said her third son was unreliable and didn't do anything productive. Look at this basket, it's full of grain.

And then there were these strings of rats, which made Shi Lanhua even more proud. "Forget about the grain, these hundred or so rats, once their pelts are properly pelted, can sell for more than ten yuan."

"A little over ten yuan?"

"Wow, really? Ten yuan is almost half a year's worth of our family's money."

Everyone gasped, their hearts pounding. Aunt Liu was about to jump out and say something, "What are you bragging about?" But then she thought of Li Fuhai's skinning skills. Not to mention the good tubular skinning method, he could skin the entire rat without breaking a single skin.

These top-quality rat skins cost 15 cents each; a hundred of them would be worth more than ten yuan. Thinking this, Liu Shenzi felt a pang of bitterness. "How did that Li Laosan manage to run into them? His luck is truly terrible; even God is blind!"

That unreliable, lazy bum, how come she's had all sorts of good things happen to her these past few days? The wild rabbit incident a few days ago, winning the quote contest the day before yesterday, and now, not even a day later, she's still nagging about Li Qingqiu's so-called paid leave to slack off.

But who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, the boy dug up a hundred or so rats and several baskets of grain. Seeing that the corn, sorghum, and rice were all dry and not moldy, Aunt Liu felt even more upset.

"Han Caihua, why don't you come closer and take a look? Oh, why did you leave? Don't you want to take another look? Look, there are still peanuts here."

Shi Lanhua saw that her sixth aunt was about to leave, and she was not about to let her go so easily.

"I have something to do at home, so I'll head back now and won't be watching."

Sixth Auntie will never fight a losing battle. Shi Lan Hua will let you be smug for a few days. Your third son is sure to do something unreliable again. I'll come back when that happens.

He glared at Li Qingqiu and said, "Why don't you do something more irresponsible? Why are you digging for rats? And even if you are, why are you digging for so many? You even dug up grain."

Li Qingqiu muttered, "Why are you glaring at me? You little brat, Sixth Aunt, you're playing shameless games and glaring at me now, so I won't be polite." "Sixth Aunt, slow down! Your foot is slipping, don't fall."

"Thump."

Aunt Liu slipped and fell face-first into the snow. Luckily, the ground was covered in snow, so she wasn't hurt, but she was incredibly annoyed. "That little bastard, he'll get what's coming to him sooner or later..."

"Hahaha."

Shi Lanhua clapped her hands with a laugh, "Good for you! You rotten mouth, you talked bad about Lao San, I'll make you fall in the butt and split you."

"Mom, let's move the food inside first."

"Yes, yes, let's get the grain inside first."

Shi Lanhua was so caught up in her smugness that she forgot it was snowing. "You little ones, come inside quickly. You've been busy all afternoon, so dry your heads properly and don't catch a cold. We'll boil some hot water later so you can have something warm to drink."

"Mom, make some brown sugar and boil it. We still have some ginger slices at home, so add some to dispel the cold."

"Yes, I have ginger slices. Your grandmother sent me several pieces a while ago. And the brown sugar you bought was a big bag, but I haven't touched it yet."

Shi Lanhua raised her voice a few decibels, "Brown sugar, this stuff is really good. Normally, unless it's for postpartum confinement or a wedding, who would be willing to part with it? After all, sugar coupons are hard to exchange and cost a lot of money. Usually, people really can't bear to part with it."

Where else can you find someone like Li Qingqiu who buys things by the pound? Even her aunt felt that Li Qingqiu was too extravagant and didn't live a proper life, while also feeling a little envious.

Although this kid is unreliable, he sent all the things he bought to his mother's house, including Waiwai Oil. She has several sons and daughters, but none of them have ever bought her Waiwai Oil.

"Eldest daughter-in-law, boil some brown sugar water and add a few slices of ginger."

Shi Lan Hua went into the inner room, took out some brown sugar, poured some out, and handed it to Wang Yun. Li Qing Qiu glanced at the brown sugar packet and noticed that so much was missing; she figured some had been distributed. "Sister-in-law, add a few more slices of ginger; we've been out in the wind all afternoon."

"Understood."

Wang Yun glanced at the basket. So much grain, and peanuts, such good stuff. This third brother is really lucky. I heard that after selling the rat skin, the third brother is going to give each of the children 50 cents. Two of them went, so that's a dollar.

That's quite a lot. Second sister-in-law Lin Xiu also went to help. She was thinking a lot about the rats. All three of her children went. Fifty cents each would be a dollar and fifty cents. That's enough to buy two pounds of meat. If she wasn't worried about affecting her children's reputation, she would have liked to let her children follow her third son around all the time.

Li Qingqiu was completely unaware of his two sisters-in-law's ulterior motives. He was squatting next to Yin Yi, watching her prepare the snake meat. "Is this snake meat alright?"

"No, it's fine, there are no bugs."

The snake skin can be sold for money, and snake gallbladders are also easy to sell, but no one in Li Qingqiu's family knows how to prepare them. The younger ones were clamoring to swallow the snake gallbladders directly, but Li Qingqiu thought it best to be careful.

Second brother didn't see it or stop it, otherwise he definitely would have stopped it. This guy swallowing snake gall bladders alive is a bit too fierce.

"Take one back with you later."

Li Qingqiu knew that Yin Yi was an excellent cook, and most importantly, she had seasonings and some fine grains; the snake soup she made would surely be delicious. "Give me one, how could I possibly accept that?"

"You helped me all afternoon."

"What's a snake?"

Li Qingqiu thought to himself, "You're my little points baby. It's always good to accumulate more goodwill towards you. It'll be easier to talk to you when I visit the educated youth settlement in the future." "Oh, and take ten rat skins back with you as payment for today."

"No need, no need, this snake is just fine."

"It was all agreed upon."

Li Qingqiu looked at the pile of rats. His father would be busy for many days skinning them. The tubular skinning method was good, but it required superb skills. Otherwise, if the fascia was slightly torn, the skin would be ruined.

A good one costs 15 cents, a larger one even costs 20 cents, but the skin is ruined. Any bigger one will only be worth a few cents. The difference is too big. That's where the skill is valuable. It would be too hard for Li Fuhai to do all these hundred or so rats by himself.

Asking Yin Yi for help and offering a few pieces of leather as payment would also deepen their relationship. Right now, they're just slightly acquainted strangers, but with more interaction, they might become friends. Putting aside the possibility of becoming cultivation partners, Li Qingqiu is already very envious of Yin Yi's cooking skills.

Maybe once we get to know each other, we can get her. Even if we don't, it's still good to have her do the work while he provides the ingredients.

Yin Yi didn't actually have much money left. Two months ago, her father wrote to her saying that something was wrong and that she shouldn't go back to Beijing until things were really settled. The money sent with the letter wasn't much, which shows that her father's situation wasn't good either.

"Thank you."

"This is what you promised. Skinning the snake takes a lot of time and effort. If I don't show my appreciation, what kind of person would I be?" Li Qingqiu said, lowering his voice so that only the two of them could hear him. "As for the snake meat, I'd like to ask you to share some with me. But that can't be considered payment."

"Okay, I'll call you when it's cooked. I still have some seasonings on hand, just in time to make snake soup."

Yin Yi felt that Li Qingqiu was not as unreliable as the rumors suggested. He was quite fun, had a pleasant voice, and most importantly, was very generous.

"Oh right, the firewood from the bushes, Third Brother and Eldest Brother just went and brought it back."

Li Qingqiu said, "Snake soup will probably take quite a while to simmer. I'll provide a bundle of firewood; please don't refuse."

Thank you.

There was still some firewood at the educated youth settlement, but it was always better to have more, since it was snowing so heavily and it would be inconvenient to gather firewood in a short time, especially since she was a girl and not very strong.

"You're too kind."

After chatting with Li Qingqiu for a few minutes, Yin Yi and Li Fuhai started processing the rats together. Skinning them was a delicate task that Li Qingqiu couldn't do. After watching for a while, he realized it was too difficult and he probably wouldn't be able to learn it in a short time.

"It's a pity we don't have any spirit-enhancing talismans left. Otherwise, we could try getting one," Li Qingqiu muttered to himself. Upon entering the main room, he found the grain spilled onto a bamboo mat. The women and children were busy thinning it out; inevitably, some of it had spoiled.

"Quite a few peanuts, huh?"

"Absolutely."

Shi Lanhua was overjoyed. Peanuts! These are good stuff, especially since they're still in their shells; she could just peel them open and eat them. "There are probably three or four pounds of them. These rats really know how to steal."

"Look at these corn kernels, every single one is plump and full."

Second Sister-in-law rubbed the corn kernels together and, to her surprise, said, "I picked out all the best ones."

To be honest, these mountain rats are really cunning. They picked out all the good stuff. Li Qingqiu estimated that they could probably pick out more than a hundred catties of good grain. After washing and drying it, it would be enough to feed the pigs. Actually, Li Qingqiu still felt that it was a rat's den after all. But if he said it now, Shi Lanhua would probably say that feeding pigs such good grain was too extravagant. In this day and age, wasting grain was simply a heinous crime.

I'll just stop talking about it and see if I can check the system later. I just tried using rat meat, and the system actually reacted a bit.

The Blood-Eyed Demon Beast meat (slightly poisonous) can be purified, but it requires a certain number of points, which is not worthwhile.

Li Qingqiu grabbed a handful of sorted grains and put them into the system's storage shelf. It immediately displayed "[Spiritual Plants (Slightly Dirty)]". That's good, it's not poisonous. It's a little dirty, but it can be washed off. Li Qingqiu was relieved and grabbed some peanuts to put on the storage shelf.

Several pounds of peanuts, but it's not easy to tell if you only get half a pound or eight ounces. You can fry them later and have them as a snack, something to freshen your mouth when you have nothing to do.

"Ring ring ring".

The family was busy at work, peeling skins, picking up grains, and boiling brown sugar water. No one noticed that Li Qingshi, covered in snow and pushing his bicycle, had already reached the entrance of the yard.

"dad."

Li Qingshi watched as Li Fuhai finished setting up the cart in the yard and leaned closer to take a look, exclaiming in surprise, "Where did all these rats come from?"

"Fourth brother, what brings you back?"

"The commune has some things to inform the team. I went to two other brigades this morning, and I only have time to come back to our brigade now."

Li Qingshi said with a wry smile, "I thought I could finish the whole route in one morning, but I never expected the snow to be so heavy that I couldn't even ride my bicycle."

"Hurry inside, your mother and the others are scavenging for food inside."

"Scooping for food?"

Li Qingshi muttered to himself, "Could it be from a rat hole?" But as soon as he entered the house, his eyes widened in disbelief at the sheer amount of grain. "Mom, what's all this grain?"

"Your third brother took Xianle and the others to dig up rat burrows on the hillside this afternoon, and that's how they found them."

Shilan clapped her hands. "Why are you back now?"

"Qingmei, quickly get a cloth for your fourth brother to wipe himself."

"The fourth brother is back. Perfect timing. He can have a bowl of brown sugar ginger water to ward off the cold."

Wang Yun, the eldest sister-in-law, wiped her hands and came out of the kitchen. Seeing Li Qingshi covered in snow, she smiled and said, "What a coincidence! Xianle, you guys should have a drink too, and so should the third brother."

"I know, everyone should have some."

Li Qingqiu filled two bowls and carried them out of the kitchen. He smiled at Yin Yi, who was peeling fruit, and said, "Drink some brown sugar ginger water to warm yourself up and avoid catching a cold."

"Thanks."

"Let's leave it for now."

Drink it while it's hot.

"Oh well."

Yin Yi grabbed a handful of snow and wiped the blood off her hands.

"There's hot water inside, I'll get it for you."

"No, no need."

Yin Yi waved her hand, she wasn't that fussy. Seeing Yin Yi's attitude, Li Qingqiu didn't insist. After drinking the brown sugar ginger water, the cold was dispelled, and she felt much better. Li Qingqiu squatted down and watched for a while longer. "Peeling is really not easy."

"That's right, it's rare to find a young girl with such skill."

Li Fuhai quite admired Yin Yi; his skills in such a small area were no worse than his own.

"I can't compare to you, Uncle."

Li Fuhai liked hearing Yin Yi's words. He thought it was a pity that Yin Yi was a bit too young, and that she was a city girl. As for the nonsense his third son had said, he could forget about it. He couldn't even marry a cultured person from the city; even illiterate people in the city probably wouldn't want him.

Li Qingqiu muttered to himself, "What kind of eyesight does this cheap old man have? He looks at me like I'm a turtle. Seriously, I just dug up a big rat's nest and found a bunch of grain, how come he's still looking down on me?"

"It's getting late."

Li Qingqiu glanced at the sky, which was getting dark. There was no electric light, and a kerosene lamp certainly wouldn't work. "Let's wait until tomorrow to do it. Yin Yi, I'll take you home. Dad, I talked to Yin Yi this afternoon. I'll give her ten hides and a bundle of firewood."

"Of course."

Skinning isn't easy, but it's a skilled job that gets paid, so there's not much to say. Ten is a little more than that, but they also helped with the digging, so it's not a bad deal. "Hurry up and take them home, don't let them miss their meal."

As for inviting someone to dinner, that's extremely precious these days. Ordinary people wouldn't just casually offer to treat someone; it would take several days to prepare.

"Uncle, I'll head back now."

Yin Yi wiped the knife clean and put it away. She picked up the skewered rat skin and snake meat, while Li Qingqiu had already slung the firewood over his shoulder. "Let's go, hurry up, don't delay your dinner."

"Thank you for your help."

"Look, you're being too polite with me again. We're comrades-in-arms who fought together to wipe out the rats."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony with you."

Yin Yi smiled, her round face quite pretty. Sure enough, city people are better looking than country folk. Li Qingqiu thought to himself, the task of dual cultivation partners is still quite particular. Someone as handsome as him should definitely marry a more beautiful woman from the city to be worthy of him.

Back at the educated youth settlement, Li Qingqiu didn't go home immediately. Instead, he helped Yin Yi smooth the snow off the roof. "Be careful with the doors and windows tonight. I'm going back now. Come over for snake soup tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I'll start stewing it soon, and we'll definitely be able to eat it tomorrow."

"Then I'll bring something nice to go with it tomorrow."

Li Qingqiu figured there were still a few agar nutmeg balls and delicious meat buns on the storage shelf, so it wouldn't be a waste to eat someone else's snake soup for nothing.

After saying goodbye to Yin Yi and returning home, he saw that Shi Lanhua and Li Fuhai, who had been laughing and chatting, looked rather unhappy.

"Little sister, what's wrong?"

"Fourth Brother just said that the forest farm isn't hiring this year because of the heavy snow," Li Qingmei whispered. "Our family's spot is useless this year."

"Oh, I see."

Losing several hundred work points is good, but it also saves food for two people. For Li Qingqiu's family, this is not good news. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. It looks like the snow is going to continue."

"Yes, the commune thinks so too. Today, they sent out several cadres to notify all the production teams to be careful of snow disasters, especially to prevent houses from collapsing under the weight of snow. We must do our best to avoid that." Li Qingshi finished his cornbread in a few bites. "I'm done eating. I'm going to Uncle Fuyuan's house first."

"Slow down."

Shi Lanhua sighed. "Now look what's happened, why is it snowing so heavily?"

"There's nothing we can do, God isn't giving us food," Li Fuhai sighed.

"If only we could dig a bigger rat hole, at least we could make up for the food shortage," Li Qinghua sighed.

"Where did all these rat nests come from?"

Second Brother is really daring. Even Li Qingqiu, with his system, wouldn't dare to dream of such a thing. It's already a miracle that there's one rat in such a big den.

"I wonder if the river construction project will be able to proceed?"

"This snow probably won't stop anytime soon, and the river works will likely be in trouble too." Li Qingchun frowned as he looked at the snow falling heavily outside.

"It seems to have gotten bigger."

Li Qingqiu muttered to himself, "What if there's a blizzard? The patrol team's going to be busy today. Luckily, I didn't join them." Back in his hut, Li Qingqiu sighed. He had originally planned to go to the commune in a couple of days to collect some steamed buns, and maybe some agar-agar and nutmeg.

With such heavy snowfall, it's not worth going there. What should we do? How about we try to get some meat from the pig farm and some flour from the warehouse?

"I don't want to think about it anymore. We're having snake soup tomorrow."

The thought of snake soup made Li Qingqiu smack his lips. He ate a cornbread and drank cornmeal porridge that night, and his mouth was practically tasteless. "Sigh, with this heavy snow, the wild animals in the mountains probably aren't doing too well. Maybe I should try checking in. If I can get a map of a wild rabbit or pheasant cave again, that would be great."

"How about I go check in at Uncle Old Hunter's house? What if he gives me a Hunter skill? No way, I don't have a gun at home."

"Go to sleep. Why think about that? Winter is long, there are so many chances to sign in, and besides, I'll almost have enough points for the lottery."