After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

Lin Qianqian told Ding Xiaohu to block the hole with a basket on his back, while she squatted down to start a fire, intending to smoke the rabbit out using the old method.

"Sister Qianqian, will this trick really work?" Ding Xiaohu asked, half believing and half doubting.

"If it's blocked, don't let it get away. We'll have an extra meal tonight." Lin Qianqian didn't even look up as she deftly lit the fire.

Thick smoke poured into the hole, and a moment later, a gray shadow darted out and crashed right into the basket. Then came the second and the third.

"Stop! Use your belly to hold it in!" Lin Qianqian shouted.

Ding Xiaohu pressed down on it, tightly covering the opening of the basket, while the three rabbits inside thrashed about.

"Got it! Got it!" He grinned from ear to ear.

Lin Qianqian deftly took the rabbits out one by one, tied them with strips of cloth, and casually tossed them into her basket: "I'll make you spicy rabbit meat tonight."

"Rabbit meat doesn't taste good; it has an earthy, gamey flavor," Ding Xiaohu said, scratching his head.

"That's because I don't know how to do it." Lin Qianqian stood up with a smile and walked to Lin Yulong beside her. "Yulong, how's the digging going?"

"Almost there, just a few more tendrils." Lin Yulong was covered in sweat, his clothes soaked through, as he steadily poked at the soil with the deer bone needle in his hand. Although this ginseng was smaller than the previous one, he was already very satisfied.

"Ah Long, look, isn't it fat?" Ding Xiaohu picked up a rabbit to show off. "Sister Qianqian said she's making spicy rabbit cubes!"

"Alright, I'll take care of skinning him!" Lin Yulong patted his chest, full of enthusiasm.

Lin Qianqian had already taken a few steps forward, her gaze landing on a patch of lush green ground: "You two, come quick, let's pick some wild vegetables!"

"Alright!" the two said in unison. One put away the ginseng he had dug up, and the other put down the rabbit and jogged after him.

"This is such a large area, even more than last time. It can sell for a lot of money." Ding Xiaohu's eyes lit up.

"Hurry up, let's get to town as soon as possible." Lin Qianqian said, already bending down to pinch.

The three of them worked non-stop, some pinching, some tying, and soon they had filled two and a half baskets with wild vegetables. The remaining half of the basket had to be reserved for the rabbits—the rabbits were too conspicuous outside, so they had to make do with them for now.

"We'll do the rest next time." Lin Qianqian straightened up, looked at her bountiful harvest, and smiled with satisfaction. "Let's go!"

"Let's go!"

The two boys responded and followed, one in front and two behind, chatting and laughing as they left the deep mountains.

On their way down the mountain, the three quickened their pace and unexpectedly bumped into Widow Wang from the village.

"Oh—!" Widow Wang's eyes lit up, and she came over in a drawn-out voice, "Why are you little kids up the mountain? What good stuff did you get?" As she spoke, she reached out to rummage through the children's baskets.

Lin Qianqian casually stepped aside to block her view, and said with a smile, "Aunt Wang, it's just some wild vegetables. Don't you know what's on this mountain? It wasn't easy to get some wild vegetables, I don't even know if I can chew them."

"Wild vegetables?" Widow Wang squinted, looking incredulous, and stood on tiptoe to peer into the basket on her back. "I heard you set off before dawn, going all that way up the mountain just to dig up a few handfuls of wild vegetables? Who are you trying to fool!"

Lin Yulong instinctively tried to hide the basket behind his back, but Widow Wang, with her sharp eyes, grabbed the edge of the basket and said, "Oh dear, why are you hiding it? Let your auntie take a look—"

"Aunt Wang!" Lin Qianqian raised her voice, smiling as she gently pushed her hand away. "It's really nothing, just some wild vegetables. If we found any treasure, would we hide it from you?"

Widow Wang sheepishly withdrew her hand, her eyes darting around, but her words were still sharp: "Those wild vegetables have all been released for inspection, how can you eat them? They're just little kids, they don't know anything, a wasted trip, serves them right!" She then muttered, "I knew it, what good stuff could there be on that mountain? If there were really anything good, would you few have had a chance? They would have dug it all up long ago!"

As she said this, her eyes remained fixed on the baskets on their backs, as if she wanted to see right through them.

Lin Qianqian smiled and nodded, "Auntie is right, then we won't keep you any longer."

Widow Wang snorted, swayed her hips, and walked away. After a few steps, she turned back for a glance, muttering, "Those little brats, sneaking around like that, nothing good can come of it..."

Seeing that Widow Wang had walked away, Lin Qianqian's face darkened, and she called out to the two in a low voice, "Hurry up! Get down the mountain quickly!"

The three of them practically jogged down the mountain.

"Sister, will she tell everyone?" Lin Yulong asked breathlessly.

"Don't you know how talkative she is? She wants the whole village to know we've gone up the mountain." Lin Qianqian kept walking. "I just hope the news spreads slowly, so we can finish what we need to do before it reaches the Lin family's ears. If they find out, we can't just brush it off with a few words."

Ding Xiaohu followed behind and added, "That Aunt Wang, she can't stand seeing others get the benefits she can't get herself. With that mouth of hers, she'll exaggerate and embellish what she'll say about us."

"Whatever she says, let's go first." Lin Qianqian quickened her pace.