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

"The Demon-Slaying Spirit Fire Gun?"

Upon closer inspection, it's a hunting rifle. It looks pretty good, much nicer than the old headhunter's rifle. But you can't just use this thing carelessly. Do you think this is the world of immortals?

System, you're kidding me! In reality, you need a gun license from the police station to carry a hunting rifle, or you'll be locked up in jail if you get reported. Do you think this is some third-rate novel where you can just fire a hunting rifle anywhere and even register the bullets?

"What a complete mess."

Li Qingqiu sighed. He decided to leave it for now. Fortunately, he had a good tracking method to sneak a rabbit or pheasant. If he didn't show off and just ate it at home, no one would say anything. But if he actually got a hunting rifle, firstly, he would need to apply for a gun license, and secondly, he would need to apply for a hunting license.

Not only are hunting licenses difficult to obtain, but even with one, you must join a large hunting team to hunt. The prey belongs to the collective, and private hunting is not allowed, since the mountains and forests belong to the collective, and the animals in the mountains also belong to the collective.

Aside from rats and insects, the brigade didn't care. Even the firewood in the mountains belonged to the collective. In autumn and winter, everyone worked together to gather firewood. Normally, no one cared about picking up some leaves, twigs, or cutting down some shrubs. But try cutting down a tree!

Hunting is out of the question. Digging up winter bamboo shoots to sell for money is the real business. I'll go home and clear out the storage shelves of winter bamboo shoots later. I'll pack another hundred or so pounds in the next day or two, and when I have a chance to sell them at the food station, I'll have some money on hand.

He wanted to get some more coupons to buy some groceries, especially vermicelli. He loved boiled vermicelli, especially when it was hot. He also wanted some small pieces of meat, preferably beef. He needed to buy more, but his pockets were empty. Li Qingqiu glanced at Yin Yi, who was wiggling her little bottom in front of him.

Spending a woman's money doesn't seem right; that's for people who care about their reputation. Li Qingqiu thought to himself that he wasn't refusing to pay back the money, so why was he being so chauvinistic? A real man would be one who could spend a woman's money every day.

Yin Yi seemed to sense something and turned around abruptly, only to see Li Qingqiu staring intently at her backside. Her face instantly turned red. "Li Qingqiu, what are you looking at?"

"Ah, it's about looks, no, it's about..."

Li Qingqiu blurted out unconsciously. He was so focused on the money that he forgot to look away. Those two thieving eyes, why are they staring at that girl's butt? They're embarrassing me. Subjectively, Li Qingqiu believed that he hadn't looked at Yin Yi's butt.

What does Li Qingqiu care about his eyes? He's got a screw loose. Why are you panicking about his eyes? You're even babbling nonsense. "I wasn't looking at your ass... no, I was just thinking about something, I wasn't looking at your ass..."

"Fine, you're not going to keep your brain, are you? Shut your mouth too," Li Qingqiu thought, feeling a little embarrassed this time, so she decided to let it go. "Well, I'm thinking about what to eat tonight, but we're running low on beef."

"I wanted to get some winter bamboo shoots to sell privately and get some money to buy some beef, but I'm afraid I won't make it in time. I was thinking of borrowing a few dollars from you to buy some beef and store it. I'll pay you back later after I sell the winter bamboo shoots." Li Qingqiu finally explained that he needed to buy beef.

If we don't take this opportunity, we'll never have another chance. Oxen are too precious to kill.

"Is five yuan enough?"

"That's enough, more than enough."

"Buy ten jin for five yuan and store them. You can eat them slowly for a while," Li Qingqiu thought to himself. "This little girl is quite generous."

After the bamboo shoots were delivered to the brigade headquarters, I went to ask Uncle Fuyuan about the beef. It was almost five o'clock when the brigade carrying bamboo shoots left the mountains.

It was getting dark, and the snowflakes were getting heavier. I thought there would be no one at the intersection, but who would have thought that Aunt Liu, who cried so much yesterday, would be the first to wait again? No, Aunt Liu, is your recovery ability on a cheat code?

I've never seen anyone so stubborn. Aunt Liu was incredibly lucky today, digging up more than ten catties of winter bamboo shoots. She was one of the few families to have more than ten catties. After all, there were quite a few people, and the winter bamboo shoots were quite scattered, so each family dug up some.

It's incredibly lucky for a family to dig up more than ten kilograms of bamboo shoots. This made Aunt Liu proud, thinking that digging winter bamboo shoots was quite simple. She thought that Li Qingqiu was probably just lucky to have dug up those bamboo shoots. Now that they've come back to life, she plans to come to the crossroads to take a good look.

If Li Qingqiu's treasure-hunting team doesn't find much, then don't blame Han Caihua for being rude.

"They're here."

Although Aunt Liu is not young, her eyesight is still excellent, and her hearing is even better than that of most young people. Otherwise, she wouldn't have become a rumor-mongering machine and the number one loudspeaker in Lijia'ao.

"Sixth Aunt, you didn't cook at home?"

This time, Li Qingqiu spoke before Han Caihua could even open her mouth.

"What's wrong, Uncle Landlord? Are you still hungry?"

"Li Laosan, it's none of your business whether I cook or not."

Han Caihua glanced at the bamboo baskets Li Qingbing was carrying, and with just one look, Aunt Liu turned and left without saying a word. "I'm going home to cook."

"Don't go, Aunt Liu, look, I haven't told you yet, the bamboo shoot harvest went quite smoothly this year, we dug up six or seven hundred catties. If you don't go to the brigade headquarters, you wouldn't believe how nice the bamboo shoots look when they're piled up."

"I'm cooking at home, I'm not going to check."

Aunt Liu glanced around and saw that Big Foot Sister-in-law and Wang Yulan had already run off. They knew from seeing Li Qingbing and the others carrying baskets full of winter bamboo shoots that they had dug even more today.

"Hahaha."

Sixth Aunt fled in panic. Li Qingqiu thought to himself that Sixth Aunt was quite interesting. Her face was swollen every day, but she could still act cocky before the swelling went down and continue to be beaten. She was truly toughened up. "Let's go back to the brigade headquarters."

As soon as they arrived at the brigade headquarters, Li Fuyuan, Li Fuluo, Li Dajun, and a few others came out to greet them. "Goodness, you've dug quite a lot today."

"It's alright, around 600 or 700 jin."

"I'm afraid we won't have enough time, otherwise we could dig some more."

"How much, six or seven hundred jin?"

Li Dajun was startled. "Good lad, you've got some skills, Brother Fuyuan. It looks like our oxen are going to fall into this kid's hands."

"Haha, the captain that Fro and I chose isn't bad, is it?"

Li Fuyuan was extremely pleased with himself, especially since he had been saying this every day lately: the selection of this deputy captain of the treasure hunting team was excellent; he could practically laugh in his dreams.

"Brother Fuyuan, you really have a good eye for talent."

"Alright, you're all being so flattering," Li Qingqiu said, noticing it was getting late. He poured out the winter bamboo shoots first. "Uncle Fuyuan, look where the winter bamboo shoots are. There are more this time."

"Warehouse, Fuluo, give the key to Qingjing."

"Let's dig for two more days, then we'll send it to the food station."

"Aren't the prices higher at the free market?"

"There's too much of this. Not to mention whether it can be sold or not, it's too eye-catching. A hundred or two hundred catties would be fine, but if you dig for another two days, it might reach a thousand catties." Li Fuyuan had considered the free market. A smaller quantity wouldn't be a problem; he could just give a heads-up and sell it.

If you do too much, some people might get jealous and report you. It's safer to go through the food station. You can carry fewer baskets to sell, since city people love to eat and you're not worried about not being able to sell them.

"Then I'll listen to you, Uncle Fuyuan."

Li Qingqiu was unaware of the current market situation. The early 1970s were still a chaotic period, so it was best to be cautious. "Uncle Fuyuan, there's something else I'd like to ask you."

"What's up? Tell me what's wrong, kid. If we can help, the team will definitely step in without hesitation."

"Well, I'd like to buy a few more pounds of beef."

"I thought it was nothing serious, so I'm giving you three pounds as a reward."

"I can't accept this."

Li Qingqiu never expected to get to eat beef for free. He thought, "Why not take advantage of this opportunity?" Three catties wasn't enough, so he'd ask Yin Yi to buy some more later.

"Go, cut a few pounds of beef, and some tripe. You said you liked it last time, so get some more for you."

"Uncle Fuyuan, then I won't stand on ceremony."

Unexpectedly, although it was said to be three jin, Li Qingqiu knew without even weighing it that it was definitely more than three jin, at least double. Uncle Fuyuan was so good at handling things, without making anyone jealous. He gave Li Qingqiu three jin of beef as a reward, and everyone would only think it was too little.

As for the tripe and omasum, they gave him a whole set from a cow. Li Qingqiu was genuinely touched; Uncle Fuyuan was truly a good person. "Uncle Fuyuan, well, I'll head home now."

"Go on, go on, you've had a long day."

"Go back and get some rest."

"Understood."

Li Qingqiu had Yin Yi divide the beef, tripe, and honeycomb tripe among the meat and tripe before carrying three catties of beef, some tripe, and honeycomb tripe home, along with a piece of beef tallow seasoning.

"Third Uncle, what's this?"

Li Xianshu stared longingly at the beef Li Qingqiu was carrying, then asked a question she already knew the answer to. The little girl was greedy but too embarrassed to say it outright.

"I'll have your grandma stew some beef later, we'll have beef for dinner."

"Great, Third Uncle, that's the best."

The little ones were overjoyed at the mention of beef. Shi Lanhua was chopping cabbage when she heard about the meat. She threw down her knife and ran out of the yard. Sure enough, she saw Li Qingqiu carrying a large piece of beef.

"Why did you buy beef again? We still haven't finished the beef from last time."

"You, you've got money to burn."

"Go back quickly."

She was about to pull Li Qingqiu away to return the beef when Shi Lanhua stopped her, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Mom, this beef was a reward from Uncle Fuyuan, it's free."

"real?"

"If you don't believe me, go ask them."

"A real reward?"

"How could it be fake? Today, I led the treasure hunting team and dug up six or seven hundred catties of winter bamboo shoots. Uncle Fuyuan was so happy that he rewarded me with three catties of beef, as well as some beef tripe and honeycomb tripe. I even went to the educated youth settlement to ask Yin Yi for some beef tallow seasoning. We'll cook a hot pot of it later."

"Good, good, good! The reward meat is good! Look, Uncle Fuyuan rewarded the third brother with beef." Shi Lanhua's voice was loud and clear, making it hard for the neighbors around her not to hear. Jiang Mei, who was cooking, paused when she heard the brigade leader reward Li Qingqiu with beef. Xiao Yan, who was tending the fire, subconsciously smacked her lips. She remembered that her uncle had given her meat last time, but unfortunately, her mother said that her uncle was not proper and wouldn't let her go to play with Xianshu anymore.

"Mom, you'd better be generous today. This meat is a reward, don't save it all."

Li Qingqiu sighed helplessly. "Who did Mom take after? Why can't she be as low-key as me?" Li Qingqiu even doubted if she was really his mother. He wondered if she had inherited his low-key nature, but she was stingy, unlike her son, who was very generous.

"Three catties of meat, even banquets don't serve this much."

"Cut half a pound and stew it with cabbage."

Shi Lanhua spoke very generously, leaving Li Qingqiu speechless. "Half a jin is only a little over. There are more than ten people in our family. Half an ounce per person wouldn't even make up the difference. It's just a bite of meat, Mom, cut it in half."

"Alright, alright, cut off a pound. Who eats meat like this? Sooner or later, we'll run out."

"Beef tripe and honeycomb tripe, do you want to cook them?"

Li Qingqiu took out the beef seasoning. "I specifically asked Yin Yi for this seasoning; it tastes better when cooked with this."

"You."

"What a wasteful thing!" Shi Lanhua poked Li Qingqiu's forehead with her finger. "Cut the tripe in half and save some for later."

"With the Lunar New Year just around the corner, having this much meat will make the holiday much easier."

"Mom, there's still a month or so until Chinese New Year."

Honestly, Li Qingqiu didn't know what to say. This meat was supposed to be saved for the New Year. How could they just eat meat openly?

"Third Brother, what are you saying to Mom?"

"Speaking of meat, Uncle Fuyuan will reward you with three catties of beef."

"What? Beef as a reward?"

Lin Xiu and the others, who had just arrived home, all rushed over to see: beef, tripe, and beef stomach—real, substantial stuff. "Third brother, what have you done this time? Uncle Fuyuan rewarded you with so much meat."

"Second brother, it's nothing. We just dug up a few extra winter bamboo shoots today."

"How much did they dig up?"

"Six or seven hundred catties."

"How much should we dig up from the house?"

"We're alright, not much, about twenty catties." Li Qinghua said proudly. Shi Lanhua didn't say how she would divide the money from the winter bamboo shoots, but he guessed that she would definitely leave some for their little family to visit the maternal relatives during the New Year.

"Quite a few."

"I told Uncle Fuyuan that in a couple of days, we'll go to the free market and sell the winter bamboo shoots to get some extra cash," Li Qingqiu said with a smile. "I remember the free market for our communes isn't far from Lukou Commune, is it?"

"Yes, it's right next to my sister's house."

"That's great, I haven't been to my sister's house for quite a few days."

Li Qingqiu said with a smile, "I'll send them some winter bamboo shoots to try later."

As soon as Li Qingqiu said this, everyone lowered their heads and stopped talking. "Last time you went to my sister's house and tricked her out of five yuan in Mom's name, which made Mom beat you up and warn you not to go to my sister's house again this year. Have you forgotten that?"

The unreliable third uncle was known to all the kids in the Lukou Commune, but Li Qingqiu was talking about it as if nothing had happened.