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

"...They're still blaming Uncle Medicine Basket for it, they're so stubborn about it."

Li Qingmei was indignant. "At that time, Xianjing almost couldn't hold back... and told us about how you taught us to dig for winter bamboo shoots..."

"Forget about them, Xianjing, you did the right thing. Ignore them and let's dig our winter bamboo shoots. Don't pay attention to those gossipy old women. Look at this map I just drew. It's a little further away from the hillside, near the ditch. Little sister, do you remember the area with the two chestnut trees?"

"know."

"It's right over there. This is a map showing the distribution of winter bamboo shoots. Take a look and dig according to this. There should be about ten pounds. Call Xianle along later." Li Qingqiu pointed to the map. It would take some effort to dig up more than ten pounds.

"I see."

"Third Brother, you really don't care? Those women are really annoying."

"It's not worth taking to heart. Let them talk. The facts speak for themselves."

No sooner had she finished speaking than she heard someone call her name. "Who is it?"

"Third brother, I'm here to celebrate."

"They're here."

Upon arriving at the courtyard, Li Qingqiu saw Li Qingzhu and wondered why he wanted to see her now. "Come in and sit down."

"No, Third Brother, Da asked me to come and tell you that he has to stay in the team tomorrow to take care of the villagers' medical needs and can't go into the mountains with the treasure hunting team. Please keep an eye on him tomorrow."

"I understand. Go back and tell Uncle Medicine Basket that I will lead the team well tomorrow, and tell him not to worry." Li Qingqiu thought to himself that he had originally planned to continue digging smaller nests, about thirty or forty catties would be enough, but he didn't expect that Uncle Medicine Basket had something to do.

Besides, Wang Yulan and her group of women were always gossiping, so I decided to dig a bigger hole; a hundred catties of winter bamboo shoots should be enough to shut them up. "Little brats, do they really think I, the elder steward, am made of clay?"

It's a pity the quest wasn't triggered, otherwise, Li Qingqiu planned to dig a whole nest of winter bamboo shoots that would take a whole day to dig, and then dazzle them with its sheer abundance.

After seeing Li Qingzhu off, Li Qingqiu returned to his cave dwelling and chatted with Li Qingmei and Li Xianjing for a while.

It wasn't until Xianle called for dinner that they had steamed cornbread again, stewed cabbage with some beef added. The food was unusually good, and Li Xianshu and the other children ate with their mouths glistening with oil.

During the meal, Lin Xiu, the second sister-in-law, gave Li Qingqiu a rare smile and even praised him a few times.

Wang Yun nudged his older brother, Li Qingchun, who looked puzzled. "What's wrong?" Wang Yun didn't answer. After cleaning up the dishes and washing up, he returned to the room and told Li Qingchun about what happened at the dinner table.

Why is the second son's wife trying to curry favor with the third son?

Li Qingchun couldn't understand it. His third son was so unreliable. Logically speaking, his second son's wife would look down on him. She often spoke ill of him behind his back. Li Qingchun had even mentioned this to his second son. After all, they were family, and they shouldn't let outsiders hear and laugh at them.

Unfortunately, the effect wasn't great. Although I didn't say it to his face, I still talked about it a lot behind his back.

"You don't know."

Wang Yun only learned about this at noon. "This morning, my younger sister took Xianjing and Xian'an to the hillside and dug up five or six catties of winter bamboo shoots. I asked Xianjing, and she said that Lao San (the third brother) told them about the place and even drew a map. They dug right there and found it without any trouble, digging up five or six catties of winter bamboo shoots. With this much snow, let alone digging, it's difficult for others to find winter bamboo shoots, but Lao San can always draw a map and direct them."

"You mean, it's because of this that the second son's wife?"

What do you think?

Although Wang Yun was honest, hardworking, and gentle, he wasn't stupid. He knew this was a good thing. His second son's wife was such a shrewd person; she must have known. Otherwise, why would she have spoken well of Li Qingqiu during the meal?

"I'm afraid she's already spoken to the third sister; her son Xianle will definitely be coming with her tomorrow."

"Let him come along, we're all family." Li Qingchun didn't think there was anything wrong with it. The third brother was just an uncle to the children, there was no difference in their relationship.

"You."

Wang Yun sighed. This guy is just too honest. The third brother is still unmarried and has no children. He might teach him this skill. If Xian'an can learn it, he'll have more confidence when it comes to finding a wife.

Wang Yun was a little worried when Xianle went. Xianle was more outgoing and talkative, while her Xian'an was more honest and always suffered because he was not good with words. It would have been better if the second son's family hadn't gotten involved, but now that they were involved, things were uncertain.

Wang Yun, being a mother, had her own selfish motives, but Li Qingchun, the uncle, didn't have so many thoughts; he believed it was good for whoever learned it.

"How about we talk to the third brother?" Wang Yun hesitated.

"What you're saying is forcing the third brother to teach our Xian'an, isn't that a lie?"

"I didn't say that."

"You don't need to worry about this."

"Should we talk to Mother about it?"

"My mother is very shrewd. Don't talk about this carelessly, or you'll upset her. It's best not to teach this skill to anyone right now. With this skill, it'll be easier to find a wife." Li Qingchun was more concerned about Li Qingqiu's skill, which would make it easier to find a wife.

After all, he was his brother. Although children are close, brothers are also close. Li Qingchun treated his second, third, eldest, and youngest sisters without question.

In another room, Shi Lanhua was also talking to Li Fuhai about Li Qingqiu. "Hey, what do you think? Should I tell everyone? Does Third Brother have that kind of influence?"

"Let's wait and see. Didn't the child say he'd wait a couple more days before deciding?"

"He might have something on his mind, so let's not make things worse."

"Alright, if he still doesn't say anything after a few days, I'll brag about it for him again." Shi Lanhua is most worried about the third son right now. He's twenty-five or twenty-six and still doesn't have a wife. People outside are already calling him a bachelor.

"Never mind, I'll still talk to him about this."

When they arrived at Li Qingqiu's door, they found it closed and he wasn't there. Where had he gone? Li Qingqiu was sitting in the main room of the educated youth settlement, warming himself by the fire, tasting the food. He slurped it up – it was very spicy, almost like a hot pot. "Not bad, not bad. I'll get a big cabbage later, and some vermicelli and tofu skin from the commune's supply and marketing cooperative. You can also slice some beef. This will definitely be delicious."

Do you have food coupons?

"No."

"So how will you buy it?"

Yin Yi looked at Li Qingqiu with a question mark in her eyes. The little girl's head was buzzing for a long time, but she couldn't figure out what Li Qingqiu's solution was.

"There will always be one."

Li Qingqiu thought to himself, "Let's just sign in. Uncle Medicine Basket isn't going tomorrow, so there's not much to sign in at the trial grounds. I'll just go back to the brigade headquarters to sign in. Maybe I can get some tickets. If once doesn't work, I'll try twice, three times, five times, or six times. I'll eventually run into him."

"oh."

Yin Yi said "Oh," and then put a few more pieces of beef on Li Qingqiu's plate before whispering, "The seasoning is a bit lacking, so the taste is slightly off."

"That's pretty good."

The beef was quite tender. I have to say, Yin Yi has a deep understanding of food; she knows exactly how long to cook the meat in the hot pot for the best flavor. "Later, write down a list, and we'll add the seasonings we bought to it."

"Um."

Yin Yi patted her pockets and said softly, "I'm afraid I don't have enough money."

How much money do you have?

"I only have 12.53 yuan left."

Yin Yi took out the money wrapped in her handkerchief, a few loose coins. "I originally wanted to buy some dried sweet potatoes and some grains..."

"Is all your belongings here?"

"Um."

Seeing Li Qingqiu staring at her money, Yin Yi assumed Li Qingqiu needed it and pushed it in front of him, saying, "Do you need money? Here."

"Give it all to me?"

Li Qingqiu was taken aback. "You're not going to eat or drink anymore?"

"There are also some mixed grains."

"There are still about ten pounds of dried sweet potatoes left."

"These were left by Xiaoyan when she left; I can borrow some from her."

Yin Yi thought Li Qingqiu was a nice person. Although his mother was a bit scary, Li Qingqiu had taken her out for roast chicken twice and even saved some braised beef for her.

"Forget it, you should keep the money for yourself. You're going to spend the New Year here, so you should at least buy some flour to make dumplings."

"I'm out of food stamps."

"Out of food stamps?"

Li Qingqiu thought to himself, "What's wrong with Yin Yi's family? Not only can they not go home, but they also won't send us any food coupons."

"Then how will you buy food?"

"Xiao Yan said there's a broken bridge archway not far from the commune where you can buy grain. It's a bit more expensive, but you don't need grain coupons," Yin Yi said softly. "Xiao Yan promised to go with me, but I'm a little afraid to go alone."

Thinking about it, with Yin Yi's small courage, she might actually be scared to tears if she went to the black market.

"When I have some free time, I'll go with you once the snowstorm has subsided."

Li Qingqiu thought to himself that he had a lot of grain coupons from signing in, and he could lend some to her. She was a young girl, and he didn't know what was going on at home. It was one thing to leave her in the countryside, but he didn't send her any more grain coupons. It was really dangerous for a young girl to go to the black market alone.

"Thank you, Li Qingqiu, you are such a good person."

Li Qingqiu wanted to say, "Come on, I don't need that 'friend card'," but seeing Yin Yi's sincere eyes, he decided to let it go. "Don't be so polite. We're friends now. I'm just helping a friend out; it's nothing."

"Really? We're friends now?"

Yin Yi was very happy, her big eyes were full of joy, and she kept cooking meat for Li Qingqiu. After eating for a while, Li Qingqiu looked at Yin Yi who kept cooking meat for him.

Aren't you going to eat?

"Oh, but you were the one who bought the beef."

Yin Yi said matter-of-factly, and Li Qingqiu then remembered that since he arrived, Yin Yi had been cooking meat for him without eating a single bite herself. He had assumed she had already eaten, and now he realized that was the reason. "You can't say that. The meat was good, but the seasoning was yours, and it's more expensive than the meat."

"The seasonings I brought from home didn't cost me any money."

Yin Yi whispered, and Li Qingqiu was both amused and exasperated. The seasonings at home hadn't cost any money; she was quite naive and innocent, which was rare. "This is yours now. Eat it all, or I won't consider you a friend anymore."

"So many?"

"I ate a lot too."

Actually, it's at most three ounces of beef, and that's more than enough. Logically speaking, this girl's appetite is much larger than that. Li Qingqiu doesn't know that these days, eating even one ounce of meat in a meal is considered a luxury. "Stop looking at it, hurry up and eat. We'll be good friends after you finish eating. Now we're the captain and the team member. Team member Yin Yi, did you hear that? I, Captain Li, order you to eat all this meat."

"oh."

Yin Yi had actually been drooling for a while, but she held back when she thought that the meat was bought by Li Qingqiu.

Eat it in big bites.

"Um."

Yin Yi's timid side is quite amusing. Despite her usual strong facade, she softens instantly when faced with someone with a tough personality. Li Qingqiu watched Yin Yi eat beef with a smile, and Yin Yi felt a little embarrassed. "Li Qingqiu, you eat too."

"You eat yours, this is mine later. I won't lift a finger. After you're done eating, help me cook the meat."

"Okay."

When Yin Yi heard Li Qingqiu ask her to help with the hot pot, she nodded vigorously, knowing she was useful and could help Li Qingqiu. "I'll eat quickly and help you with the hot pot."

"Don't burn yourself, take it easy, I just ate something, let me rest for a bit."

"oh."

Yin Yi slowed down a bit, glancing at Li Qingqiu out of the corner of her eye while eating. Li Qingqiu was the most handsome person in Lijia'ao. Xiao Yan had said before that this guy was not a good person, but she thought Li Qingqiu was a good person, a very good person.

"What are you looking at?"

I didn't look at you.

"Haha, I asked you if you've seen me?"

Upon hearing Li Qingqiu's words, Yin Yi blushed. At that moment, Li Qingqiu couldn't help but sigh at how beautiful the girl's shyness was.

"Don't just stand there, eat quickly. I see you're getting hungry watching you eat. Hurry up and help me cook some meat."

"Okay, I'll finish eating quickly."

Yin Yi finished eating in no time and started helping Li Qingqiu cook beef. Li Qingqiu thought to himself that it would be perfect if there was some wine.

"I need more..."

"continue."

"One more bite, please."