Chen Ermao was about to speak when Monkey whispered something in his ear. Chen Ermao nodded in agreement.
"No, ten days is too long. I'll give you three days at most."
"Remember, if I don't see the silver in three days, don't blame me for being rude."
After saying this, Chen Ermao waved his hand and, with Monkey and the others, turned to leave the village.
Once they were far enough away, Chen Xiaobei grabbed Chen Qiao'er, and the two of them turned and ran down the street.
At this moment, at the east end of the village, Chen Ermao and his group began to plot.
Monkey rubbed his shoulder and said viciously, "Damn Chen Xiaobei, hitting me like that, I'll make him pay for this sooner or later."
Chen Ermao waved his hand. "Alright, enough of that. What were you saying earlier?"
Monkey grinned. "Ermao, brothers, you know the situation at Chen Xiaobei's house. He can't come up with a single coin. If he wants to pay the debt, he'll definitely have to go borrow some money. We'll keep an eye on him, and the moment he leaves the house, we'll go grab Chen Qiao'er."
A dark-skinned man beside them sighed and said, "Ermao, at least Chen Qiao'er is one of our own. You think it's right to sell her to Zhao Yuanwai as a sacrificial virgin? Isn't that a bit too much?"
Chen Ermao gave him a sideways glance. "I said, Er Leng, why are you twisting things?"
"Don't forget, Qiao'er is worth three taels of silver. We'll fool Chen Xiaobei, the idiot, with five hundred wen, and the rest of us can go to the county and have a good time, eat, drink, and be merry for a few days. By the way, didn't you want to see what the Hundred Flowers Tower is like?"
Hearing this, the group burst into laughter.
Once the laughter died down, Chen Ermao continued, "Alright, laughing aside, this matter must be kept absolutely secret. Anyone who lets it slip, don't blame me for turning my back on them."
At this point, Chen Xiaobei had already taken his sister and run out of the village.
Outside the village was a small river.
The riverbank was lush with water plants, and the stream babbled gently—a picturesque scene of a rural mountain village.
But Chen Xiaobei couldn't care less about the scenery.
In a hurry, he knelt by the river and drank a bellyful of water.
However, after drinking his fill, he felt even hungrier.
"Brother, I'm not thirsty, I'm hungry," Chen Qiao'er said timidly.
Chen Xiaobei stood up and looked around.
There were fish in the river, but the water was too deep, and without any tools, it would be hard to catch them.
Looking up at the distant Qingniu Mountain, Chen Xiaobei gritted his teeth. He had no choice but to take a chance in the mountains.
The two siblings walked and climbed for over three miles, but all they found were a few wild fruits—nothing else. Chen Qiao'er finally couldn't go any further.
By now, they had reached a rarely traveled area. The villagers had spread rumors that there were fierce beasts in the mountains, and common folk generally didn't dare to go up there. Only brave hunters would occasionally venture in.
Sigh, this is really hard.
Chen Xiaobei looked at his tired little sister, and then thought of their so-called home. Unable to hold it in, he shouted toward the mountain ahead, "Damn, what kind of cursed time travel is this?"
The sound echoed through the mountain, gradually fading away.
Suddenly, Chen Xiaobei noticed the grass in the distance shaking and swaying.
This startled him, and he was about to pull his sister away when, with a flurry of wings, a group of wild chickens flew out of the grass, clucking loudly as they scattered off into the distance.
Wild chickens.
Seeing this, an idea sparked in Chen Xiaobei's mind.
In his past life, he also grew up in the countryside. Wild chickens would often appear in the fields. He and his friends would track them for a long time, just to find their nests and steal a few eggs.
Wild chickens are very clever animals. When they sense danger, they immediately run in the direction opposite their nest.
They run at least four or five meters, or sometimes even more, before taking off into the air.
This behavior helps them keep their nests hidden from predators.
So, to find a wild chicken's nest, one would have to trace its flight path backward.
With this thought, Chen Xiaobei grew excited. He broke off a branch from a nearby tree and began waving it through the grass while heading toward the spot where the wild chickens had flown up.
After searching around, he indeed found several nests of wild chicken eggs. Seeing the white eggs, Chen Xiaobei's excitement grew.
The wild chickens can't take all their eggs away. If they did, they wouldn't return to the nest. So, by only taking a few eggs from each nest, the chickens would continue coming back.
Chen Xiaobei took off his shirt and wrapped up a dozen or so eggs, then hurriedly ran back.
"Qiao'er, look, I've got wild chicken eggs!"
Chen Xiaobei picked up one of the eggs and gently cracked a small hole in it on a stone.
"Here, open your mouth and tilt your head."
As expected, Qiao'er obediently tilted her head and opened her small mouth.
Chen Xiaobei held the egg near her lips, gently shaking it, and the egg liquid slowly flowed into her mouth.
One, two, three—Chen Qiao'er ate three wild eggs in one go, and then suddenly stopped eating.
"I'm full, Brother, you eat."
What a clever and thoughtful child. Chen Xiaobei's heart warmed. At such a young age, she already understood how to care for others.
Chen Xiaobei only drank two of the wild eggs himself before stopping. He wanted to take the rest back.
Later, they would get some wild vegetables, add another wild egg, and make a soup. That would be enough to fill their stomachs.
It was hard to understand how, with so many resources available, the former Chen Xiaobei had managed to starve to death.
At that moment, Qiao'er pointed off in the distance and tilted her head, asking, "Brother, are there any more wild chicken eggs over there?"
Chen Xiaobei was stunned and instinctively asked, "What do you want to do?"
"Take the wild chicken eggs to the county and sell them to help you pay off the debt."
One sentence, however, reminded Chen Xiaobei.
This was a very tricky problem: how could he make two taels of silver in three days to solve the trouble with Chen Ermao?
But at home, there was nothing valuable left to sell. Borrowing money? In the entire village, how many families could he approach? Forget two taels of silver; he might not even be able to borrow two copper coins.
So, he needed to think of another way. After thinking for a while, Chen Xiaobei's gaze once again fell on the wild chicken eggs.
Yes, catch wild chickens.
A memory from his past life flashed in his mind.
Once, a wild chicken accidentally entered their home. His father had caught it and sold it to a big boss, earning quite a bit of money.
So, in this era, wild chickens should be quite valuable as well.
If he could catch a few wild chickens within three days, the problem would be solved.
With this thought, he became excited. First, he tore a piece of cloth from his shirt and returned to the spot where he had found the wild chicken eggs, tying it to a small tree as a marker.
Additionally, catching wild chickens couldn't be done with bare hands; he needed a net.
He stood up, looked around, and finally his gaze landed on a small tree not far away.
This tree was about the height of a person, with two branches splitting at chest height, forming a standard Y-shape.
Since he didn't have any proper tools to cut the tree, he had to use a stone. After some effort, Chen Xiaobei finally managed to break the small tree, about the same thickness as Qiao'er's arm.
He was delighted, calling out to his sister, "Let's go, Qiao'er, we're going home."
But Chen Qiao'er shook her head. "I'm not going back. I'm afraid they'll come and take me again."
Clearly, Chen Xiaobei had underestimated Chen Ermao's shamelessness. He shook his head. "Don't worry, I'll give them some copper coins, and they won't take you."
Hearing this, Chen Qiao'er smiled broadly. "I'll listen to Brother. Let's go home, I'll go dig wild vegetables."
The two siblings, hand in hand, returned home.
Chen Qiao'er took a broken bamboo basket from the kitchen in the east and went to the village entrance to dig for wild vegetables.
Chen Xiaobei, meanwhile, searched the house. According to his plan, he was going to use the branch he brought back to make a net for catching wild chickens.
After looking around, the only thing that met his needs was the old mosquito net at the foot of the bed.
Chen Xiaobei laid the mosquito net on the ground and placed the branch on top.
After working for nearly half an hour, a net, as large as a millstone, was finally completed.
Just then, Aunt Xiumei from next door suddenly appeared at the door, placing a bamboo basket on the ground. "Qiao'er left the basket outside the village again."