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

The two had been warming themselves by the fire for almost two hours, had dozed off enough, and were feeling quite suffocated by the charcoal. "How about we go back?"

"Isn't it a bit too early?"

Yin Yi glanced at her watch furtively. It wasn't even 1 a.m. yet, and it would take about an hour to get back. It seemed a bit like she was letting down her six work points.

"Let's go dig for winter bamboo shoots then."

Li Qingqiu pointed to a spot not far away. "I just saw two bamboo stalks over there; maybe they'll have winter bamboo shoots."

"Is that so?"

Yin Yi glanced at it. Winter bamboo shoots were so easy to dig up? But then she glanced at the chicken feathers scattered on the ground and nodded. Even pheasants could fly into your hands. "Then let's go dig some up."

The first step before digging for winter bamboo shoots was to dig out the snow. Yin Yi found digging out the snow quite interesting, mainly because Li Qingqiu would occasionally put a piece in his mouth. Before putting it in, he would steal a glance at Yin Yi, and if she didn't look at him, he would eat another piece of snow. After all, Li Qingqiu was from the south and went to a school in the south, so he had never seen such heavy snow many times.

"How does it taste?"

"It's a bit bland because it wasn't salted."

Li Qingqiu was joking, but to everyone's surprise, Yin Yi pulled out a small salt bottle and dipped some salt in. "It's salted, want to try some?"

"Then I'll give it a try."

Li Qingqiu had never tasted snow with salt before, let alone snow with added salt. It was alright, with a salty taste. Seeing that Li Qingqiu was eating so earnestly, Yin Yi couldn't resist making a small portion for herself to try. "It tastes like salt water."

"Similar, I suppose."

They continued digging, and after about half an hour, they cleared out an unremarkable area. "Are there really bamboo shoots here?"

"Let's dig it up."

Li Qingqiu was also having doubts. Was there really a giant kudzu root here? Was the kudzu vine too thin and delicate, only about the thickness of a finger? Oh well, since he had already dug up the snow, he might as well dig to the bottom and see. The system hadn't missed any bugs so far.

Digging, Yin Yi continued, gripping the small shovel. The two dug and dug, reaching half a foot deep. Yin Yi looked at Li Qingqiu. "Should we keep digging?"

"Let's dig some more."

"Huh, tree roots?"

"Should we keep digging?"

Yin Yi stared at the yellow tree roots, blinking her big eyes. Her round face was covered in mud, making her look very cute.

"This looks like kudzu root?"

Li Qingqiu squatted down and cleaned the dirt off the kudzu root with his hands. He roughly measured it and found it to be about the thickness of his wrist.

"Kudzu root?"

"It can be ground into kudzu root powder, which is edible and has a cooling effect; it can be considered a medicinal herb."

Actually, Li Qingqiu didn't know much about it; she just heard her mother say that kudzu root powder could reduce internal heat and that it was quite expensive.

"Really?"

"Let's keep digging," the two of them said, toiling away for an hour or so. They dug another foot or so deep, and the deepest part was almost as thick as a calf. "It's getting thicker and thicker, Li Qingqiu, you're really lucky."

"well enough."

"Should we continue digging?"

"Let's dig a little longer."

It's not thick enough; not even the head is showing, at most the hair is showing.

After digging for another half hour, the kudzu root's head was finally unearthed. Yin Yi looked at Li Qingqiu. "Li Qingqiu, shall we keep digging? Why does it seem like it's getting thicker and bigger the more we dig?"

Li Qingqiu thought to himself, "You're right. It's like the blind men and the elephant, gradually getting to the big picture." "It's getting late, let's go back. We won't be able to dig it out today."

"Should we go back and call for help?"

"Should we call for help?"

For a moment, Li Qingqiu almost forgot that he was now the deputy captain of the treasure hunting team, so calling for reinforcements seemed to be an option. "Alright, let's call for reinforcements. If it's too late, we can always dig again tomorrow."

"It's a pity we didn't find any winter bamboo shoots."

"Let's look again tomorrow."

Yin Yixin said, "Your chances of finding winter bamboo shoots are quite high." "Let's go back now. If we hurry, we might even find some today."

"That's right, let's go."

The two looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

"You look like you've fallen into a mud pit. When you get back, people will think you rolled down a ravine."

"You're not bad either."

After quickly wiping his hands and face with snow, Li Qingqiu finally got them a bit cleaner. He looked at Yin Yi. "You still have some mud on your face. Do you need my help?"

"Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"Hey foodie, don't be so polite with me."

"Okay, thank you."

"Don't mention it, I'll need your help later."

Li Qingqiu grabbed a handful of snow, rolled it into a ball, and smeared it on Yin Yi's face a few times to wipe the mud clean. "It's clean now. Apply some Waiwai Oil."

"You still have mud on your face, let me wipe it off for you."

"I'm fine."

Li Qingqiu waved her hand, saying she wasn't a girl and a little mud on her face was no problem, besides, it was quite cold to wipe her face with snow. "Let's hurry up and warm ourselves by the fire, let's go back to the team, hopefully we can make it in time."

The two warmed themselves by the fire for a while, then set off. Before leaving, they left a marker, but the kudzu root was covered by snow. After about an hour, they returned to Lijia'ao, where they happened to run into Aunt Liu, who was taking a stroll.

She really lives up to her reputation as a gossipmonger, always wandering around collecting information. If you try to stay away, she'll inevitably see you and Yin Yi coming back covered in mud and start spouting nonsense.

"It's Li Laosan, acting suspiciously. Maybe he failed to get anything and is slinking back?"

Aunt Liu didn't sleep a wink last night. She was so upset when she learned that Li Qingqiu, that unreliable fellow, only earned fifteen work points a day. It was worse than death for her. Shi Lanhua must be so smug.

It's a pity, Wang Yulan didn't dare to speak, and Da Jiao was too cowardly to step forward. She's already so old, yet she still has to come out for a stroll and get some fresh air. "Let's go find Lao Liu's wife. Li Lao San definitely won't get anything, he'll be embarrassed."

"What did you say? Li Laosan is back? What about Uncle Medicine Basket and Uncle Old Headhunter? Are they back yet?"

"I didn't see him."

"Let's go talk to Yulan." Big Foot put down her needlework. When she got home last night, her husband Xianliang said that Li Laosan had spanked her again. Big Foot's sister-in-law was furious. That bastard only knows how to bully her husband Xianliang. He's a real scoundrel.

If she doesn't get anything this time, she'll really lose face and might even humiliate the vice-captain into getting rid of him.

Achoo!

Li Qingqiu rubbed his nose, thinking to himself, "I'm freezing. I must have caught a cold." He thought to himself, "I have a cultivation system now. If I catch a cold, my fellow cultivators will laugh at me to death."

"Huh?"

"Third Brother, why are you back?"

"I came back because I have something to do."

Li Qingqiu smiled and waved to Li Qingmei. "I'm going to the team."

"What's up?"

Li Qingmei muttered to herself, while Li Qingqiu had already hurried towards the brigade headquarters to find Li Fuluo and explain the situation.

"Kudzu root?"

"Yes, it's kudzu root, probably weighing over a hundred pounds or even more."

"What can this thing do?"

Li Fuluo's words left Li Qingqiu speechless. Wasn't kudzu root powder popular these days? "It can be ground into powder, and eating it can reduce internal heat; it's considered a medicinal herb."

"Can it be sold for money?"

"able."

"Then what are we waiting for? I'll go call people right now. Why didn't you say so earlier if we could make money from this? What nonsense are you talking about?" Well, Li Qingqiu was speechless. Uncle Fu Luo, you're really pragmatic.

"Go now."

"Ah, tomorrow is fine too, it's getting late."

Li Qingqiu didn't want to go back into the mountains, and Yin Yi had already returned to the educated youth settlement.

"We can't wait any longer. They might poach us from another brigade. There's always something going on if we wait too long."

The way Li Fuluo said that he can't stand the thought of money now, he won't let go of a single penny of it. The fact that three oxen were crushed to death not only cost Li Fuyuan half his life, but also left him, the accountant, scratching his head in despair.

In the spring, we need to buy a few more oxen, but the team really doesn't have the money right now. You know, Lijia'ao is not a wealthy team. It's already good enough if we don't have to rely on relief. The team's account is really empty. We're counting on the money we can earn from side jobs in the winter to make up for the shortfall with these three oxen.

"Alright, you go find someone first, I'm going home for a bit."

After washing his face and getting something to eat, Li Qingqiu thought to himself that at least he should have a sip of hot soup.

As soon as Li Qingqiu arrived home, Uncle Old Hunter and Uncle Medicine Basket led Li Qinglian and the others to the foot of the mountain. They had hunted a pheasant and a squirrel that day, but found nothing else. They went to the old mountain gully but couldn't find any trace of wild boar.

As for Uncle Medicine Basket, he carried a basket full of medicinal herbs, but they were all ordinary herbs. The best one was a small piece of Ganoderma lucidum, which could sell for three or five cents. The rest would probably only fetch a few cents or a dollar in total, which was actually quite good under normal circumstances.

"Uncle Fulin, you're back. How was the harvest?"

"Not good."

"Oh, I knew it!"

Sixth Aunt winked at Big Foot Sister-in-law. "Why are you so late? Li Laosan came back much earlier, and I noticed he didn't bring anything."

"Li Qingqiu is back already?"

Li Qingbing looked down on this peer who was about the same age as him, and usually didn't even bother to talk to him. After all, as the third son of the brigade leader, although he was only the leader of the third militia group, he was down-to-earth and hardworking.

Unlike Li Laosan, who is unreliable, always has trouble with his bodily functions, and is lazy and greedy, it's unexpected that he became the deputy captain this time. This should have been his second brother or his own position. This guy got the job by getting lucky twice.

On the first day, he walked a few steps into the mountains and then stopped, thinking that others would follow. But after waiting for a long time without seeing anyone, he began to suspect that Li Qingqiu must have been slacking off and had probably already returned. Now, after hearing what his sixth aunt said, he realized that he had guessed correctly.

"They're back? They're both back?"

"yes?"

"Is your foot alright?"

"There was nothing there, and they walked really fast."

Aunt Liu's eyes lit up; there was a hidden meaning in the medicine basket's words. "You didn't see it; I couldn't catch up even when I was running."

"Uncle, I knew it was an act. That female educated youth and Li Qingqiu were in cahoots."

"I must talk to my dad about this. The two of them are only earning over twenty work points a day, and they're slacking off..."

"Yes, that Li Laosan. The brigade gave him fifteen work points to cooperate with the treasure hunting team, but he came back early. He's probably already in bed by now." Aunt Liu was good at stirring things up.

"Let's go find him. I want to ask him if he's comfortable taking those fifteen work points."

Achoo, achoo.

Damn it, Li Qingqiu sneezed several times in a row; he was really cold. He soaked his feet in hot water. *Thump thump thump*.

"Third brother."

"Uncle Fu Luo, what brings you here?"

"Let's go, hurry up and go into the mountains to dig up the kudzu root you mentioned."

"How about we forget it, Uncle Fu Luo? It's getting late."

"What do you mean, 'forget'?"

"You're back too."

Li Fuluo looked back and, coincidentally, the old headhunter, the medicine basket, Li Qinglian, and Li Qingbing had all returned. Now they wouldn't have to worry about not having enough manpower.

"Uncle Fu Luo, you're here just in time. I was just about to ask Li Qingqiu...?"