Gu Xiaoxiao frowned.
So not only had that poultry stall owner been cheating them out of money—
he had even lied about the weight of their chickens by that much!
What a scoundrel!
Inside, she was furious.
But none of it showed on her face.
Instead, she calmly accepted the 250 copper coins the restaurant manager handed over.
A bright smile spread across her face.
Luckily she had sensed something was wrong.
Otherwise, they would have lost a substantial amount of money.
Taking the coins, she smiled sweetly.
“Thank you, Shopkeeper.”
“If we catch more game in the future, when can we bring it to sell here?”
The manager looked at her.
Compared to when they’d first met, his expression had softened considerably.
The little girl was clever.
He liked clever people.
“Any time.”
“If you catch game, bring it directly to me.”
“Great!”
“Thank you, Shopkeeper!”
As soon as she finished thanking him, the back door closed.
Only then did Gu Xiaoxiao finally relax.
Turning around, she prepared to leave.
Then she noticed the expressions on the faces behind her.
Gu Zhenzhong, Old Madam Gu, and Xu Yan all looked completely stunned.
She waved a hand in front of them.
“What happened?”
“Why are you all staring at me like that?”
Gu Zhenzhong was the first to recover.
He looked at her in disbelief.
“Little Sister…”
“Did you hear what the shopkeeper just said?”
“Twenty-five jin!”
“The chickens weighed twenty-five jin!”
“Why did that poultry seller tell us they only weighed eight jin?”
Gu Xiaoxiao looked at him as if he were an idiot.
“Why do you think?”
“Because he was cheating you!”
“I bet he’s been doing it for a long time.”
“What I can’t believe is that you never thought it was strange!”
That last sentence hit the hardest.
Old Madam Gu immediately joined in.
“Exactly!”
“You’ve been selling game for so long and never realized he was cheating you?”
“And you practically supplied him with wild game every day!”
“Oh heavens…”
“How much money have we lost?!”
Just these two chickens alone had sold for over two hundred coins.
Meanwhile, Gu Zhenzhong had usually come home with only twenty or thirty.
The more Old Madam Gu calculated, the more her heart hurt.
At least one tael of silver!
Maybe more!
The old woman’s eyes immediately turned red with anger.
“No!”
“We’ve been cheated out of so much money!”
“I have to get it back!”
She spun around and started marching off.
Gu Xiaoxiao quickly grabbed her.
“Grandma, calm down!”
Old Madam Gu didn’t dare struggle too hard for fear of hurting her precious granddaughter.
Still, she was furious.
“Why shouldn’t I go?”
“That’s our money!”
“I know.”
“But we can’t do anything about it now.”
Seeing that her grandmother wasn’t convinced, Gu Xiaoxiao patiently explained:
“Today we caught him because I noticed something was wrong.”
“So we took the chickens back before the sale happened.”
“But all the previous game?”
“We already sold it to him.”
“We have no proof he cheated us.”
“If we go make a scene now, people will only say we’re causing trouble.”
Gradually, Old Madam Gu calmed down.
After thinking it through, she realized Xiaoxiao was right.
Only then did she reluctantly give up on confronting the poultry seller.
Gu Xiaoxiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Turning to her brother, she asked:
“Brother, does that poultry seller mainly buy game from you?”
Gu Zhenzhong nodded.
“He’s bought from me before.”
“Actually, most of his wild game comes from me.”
“Whenever I delivered game, he’d tell me to hunt more.”
“He said if I didn’t bring any, he wouldn’t have enough to sell.”
Gu Xiaoxiao immediately understood.
So that was it.
The stall owner’s wild game business depended heavily on Gu Zhenzhong.
Without him, the man wouldn’t be able to stock nearly as much.
And without stock, he wouldn’t make nearly as much profit.
Sooner or later, someone like that would suffer the consequences of his greed.
After selling the game, they had no other business left in town.
It was time to head home.
Unfortunately, they had missed the ox cart.
The only option was walking.
Fortunately, the return journey felt easier than the trip there.
Before long, they arrived back at Qingmu Village.
Grandpa Gu and the others were still working in the fields.
Apart from Gu Xiaoxiao, everyone else immediately grabbed their tools and headed out to help.
Not long afterward, Gu Yanchen returned from the mountains carrying a basket of grass.
The moment he saw that his sister was home, his face lit up.
He dropped the basket and ran over.
“Big Sister!”
“You’re back!”
At that moment, Gu Xiaoxiao was inspecting the rabbits.
Hearing the familiar little voice behind her, she turned around and smiled.
Without hesitation, she reached out and pinched his soft cheeks.
Gu Yanchen obediently stood there and let her do whatever she wanted.
Recently, his sister seemed to love pinching his face.
And honestly…
he was happy about it.
Did this mean his sister liked him?
When she’d returned earlier, Gu Xiaoxiao hadn’t seen him anywhere.
She’d guessed he was gathering grass for the pigs and rabbits.
“You went to cut grass?”
Gu Yanchen nodded.
He looked so obedient that he resembled a little rabbit himself.
While checking on the rabbits earlier, Gu Xiaoxiao had noticed that the usually gentle female rabbit had become irritable.
Out of curiosity, she’d used the encyclopedia function of her warehouse system to scan it.
The result surprised her.
The rabbit was pregnant.
At this rate, they’d have a whole litter of baby rabbits in about a month.
When she shared the news with Gu Yanchen, he didn’t fully understand what pregnancy meant.
But he understood one thing:
There would soon be baby rabbits.
And that made him incredibly excited.
Then Gu Xiaoxiao added:
“The rabbits are having babies because you’ve taken such good care of them.”
Hearing that, the little boy practically puffed up with pride.
Afterward, he became even more attentive to the rabbits.
Watching him crouch beside the cage and chat seriously with them, Gu Xiaoxiao couldn’t help laughing.
The sun was already climbing higher.
Grandpa Gu and the others would be back soon.
She needed to prepare lunch before they returned.
Yesterday, Gu Zhenzhong had caught three wild chickens.
They had sold two.
One remained.
After thinking for a moment, she made her decision.
Today, she’d cook Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms again.
There were still mushrooms left over from the last batch.
Alongside that, she’d stir-fry a few vegetables.
That would be more than enough to fill everyone’s stomachs.
First, she started the rice.
This time she mixed white rice and brown rice together.
That way the texture wouldn’t be so rough.
Since everyone had already eaten mushrooms once, they probably wouldn’t be as shocked as before.
Before long, the meal was ready.
Perfect timing.
Just as the dishes came out of the pot, Grandpa Gu and the others returned from the fields.
The rich aroma drifted through the courtyard.
Grandpa Gu sniffed the air.
“Xiaoxiao!”
“What delicious thing are you making now?”
“It smells amazing!”
Then he paused.
The smell seemed strangely familiar.
Like meat.
But that couldn’t be right.
Surely they weren’t eating meat every day now?
A moment later, Gu Xiaoxiao carried the dishes outside.
The instant Grandpa Gu saw the large bowl, his eyes lit up.
Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms!
One of his favorites.
Everyone quickly washed their hands and gathered around the table.
Looking at her impatient family, Gu Xiaoxiao couldn’t help smiling.
“Alright.”
“Let’s eat!”