Li Xiaoxiao carried her basket and strode confidently up the mountain path.
Behind her, Qin Dashu and his two younger brothers each carried a large bamboo basket on their backs, looking utterly listless.
Especially Qin Erlin.
His face was full of misery.
“Mother… aren’t we just picking wild vegetables? Did we really need to bring sacks too?”
Li Xiaoxiao didn’t even turn her head.
“What do you know?”
“If we happen to find something good in the mountains, these sacks will come in handy.”
Qin Sanmu immediately became curious.
“What good things?”
Li Xiaoxiao curled her lips mysteriously.
“You’ll know when we find them.”
Actually, she was already thinking about wild strawberries, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and maybe even bird eggs.
If luck was good—
they might even catch a rabbit.
Just thinking about roasted rabbit made her secretly swallow.
Back in modern times, she’d never had the chance to roam mountains like this.
Now that she had space storage and a bunch of free laborers—
if she didn’t make full use of them, wouldn’t that be a waste?
The deeper they walked into the mountain, the fewer villagers there were.
The forest also became noticeably cooler.
Qin Dashu suddenly pointed ahead.
“Mother, there’s a patch of shepherd’s purse over there.”
Li Xiaoxiao glanced at it.
“Pick it.”
“Take the tender ones only.”
“Don’t bring back old tough stems for me to chew.”
The three brothers immediately crouched down and began working.
Li Xiaoxiao, meanwhile, wandered around leisurely with her basket.
Before long—
her eyes lit up.
Not far away beneath a bush was a patch of bright red wild strawberries.
Tiny little fruits clustered together like gemstones.
“Oh ho!”
Li Xiaoxiao’s spirit instantly rose.
She quickly walked over and squatted down.
The wild strawberries in this era hadn’t been polluted at all. Each one smelled intensely sweet.
She plucked one and tossed it into her mouth.
Sweetness exploded instantly on her tongue.
Her eyes narrowed in satisfaction.
Delicious!
Way better than the tasteless strawberries from supermarkets in her previous life.
Without hesitation, Li Xiaoxiao immediately began picking wildly.
As she picked, she secretly tossed many into her storage ring.
The ones she kept in the basket were only for appearances.
Soon, Qin Sanmu noticed her.
“Mother, what are you eating?”
Li Xiaoxiao immediately glared.
“What else? Poison!”
“You want some?”
Qin Sanmu instinctively shrank back.
But Qin Erlin had already wandered over curiously.
When he saw the wild strawberries, his eyes widened.
“Mother! These are mountain berries!”
“You found so many!”
Li Xiaoxiao snorted proudly.
“Of course.”
“Hurry up and pick them.”
“Move faster before others come.”
The three brothers instantly abandoned the wild vegetables and rushed over enthusiastically.
Even Qin Dashu became energized.
This stuff was precious.
Children in the village loved it, but because the berries were tiny and hard to find, most people only managed to gather a handful after searching half a day.
Yet Li Xiaoxiao had somehow found an entire patch.
The four of them quickly cleaned out the whole area.
Just then—
a scream suddenly echoed from deeper in the forest.
“Snake!!”
“Ahhhh—!”
Everyone froze.
Qin Dashu reacted first.
“That sounds like someone from the village.”
Li Xiaoxiao immediately perked up.
Trouble!
Trouble meant excitement.
Without hesitation, she grabbed a thick stick from the ground.
“Let’s go look!”
The three brothers:
“……”
Their mother really loved joining chaos lately.
By the time they rushed over, several village women were already in complete panic.
One young wife had collapsed on the ground crying.
A thick snake was coiled near a tree root nearby, hissing threateningly.
The crowd didn’t dare approach.
“Move aside!”
Li Xiaoxiao shoved through the crowd with her stick.
Everyone subconsciously parted for her.
After all—
ever since the incident where she nearly castrated Qin Dabao, Li Xiaoxiao’s reputation had spread thoroughly through neighboring villages.
People now instinctively feared her.
The snake raised its head alertly.
Li Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes.
“Oh?”
“A snake?”
“In my eyes this is meat.”
Before anyone could react—
she swung the stick down viciously.
SMACK!
The snake’s head slammed into the dirt.
The snake writhed violently.
SMACK!
Another strike.
This time it stopped moving entirely.
Everyone:
“……”
Even Qin Dashu’s eyelids twitched.
His mother’s strikes…
were getting more and more ferocious.
Li Xiaoxiao calmly used the stick to flip the snake over and nodded in satisfaction.
“Not bad.”
“Pretty fat.”
“Tonight we’re having snake soup.”
The surrounding women instantly shivered.
Only Qin Erlin swallowed subconsciously.
“…Mother, can snake meat really be eaten?”
Li Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes.
“Why not?”
“In famine years people eat tree bark.”
“A snake’s way more nutritious than bark.”
Then she turned and looked at the crying young wife.
“You.”
“Were you bitten?”
The woman quickly shook her head.
“N-no…”
“I just got scared…”
Li Xiaoxiao immediately looked disappointed.
“Tsk.”
“So much screaming for nothing.”
The young wife:
“……”
The surrounding villagers:
“……”
For some reason—
they suddenly felt the snake had died rather tragically.