Chapter 4: Getting the Treasure

"Is it the end of the dynasty already?"

Xiao Fan was surprised when he heard this.

After all, he had not awakened the memories of his past life before; he was just an ordinary villager living in Osmanthus Village.

How could he know what was happening in the outside world?

He hadn't even been actively paying attention to it.

Thus, his information was naturally not as up-to-date as that of Uncle Fugui, Uncle Ziqiang, and the other older villagers.

Maybe his father and mother also knew about this but hadn't told him.

However, according to the history books he had read, this was already the scene at the end of the dynasty.

If the rebel army comes to Yunmeng Lake, these small fishing villages could easily turn into scorched earth.

No one knows how many lives would be lost in that event.

And leaving Osmanthus Village was impossible.

To be honest, a small fishing village like Osmanthus Village was already quite good; at least there were countless large fish in Yunmeng Lake.

There was water and fish, making it relatively easier to survive.

If you went to the northern lands, where there have been years of drought, crop failures, and dried-up rivers, it would be catastrophic.

There could be heartbreaking instances where children were exchanged for food, or worse, bodies dissected for cooking.

Therefore, even if the Dragon King Gang increased the monthly taxes and made life very difficult, the fishermen had no intention of leaving.

Thinking of this, Xiao Fan stopped reading.

Although Uncle Meng's family was in a dire situation, he felt that even if he wanted to help, he was powerless.

After all, his family only had three days of rations left; how could he do much?

He also returned to his home.

"Brother Xiao, Uncle Meng and the others are okay, right?"

At this time, Mu Qingyao knew that the accident involved Meng Da's family, but she didn't know the specifics of their situation.

"It's nothing serious. They just got beaten up; it's not life-threatening."

"But I guess they won't be able to get out of bed for at least half a month."

Xiao Fan shook his head.

For the Meng family, this was undoubtedly a disaster.

If they had to stay in bed for a month, they wouldn't be able to go fishing, which meant they'd be left with nothing.

If they ran out of food, they might starve to death next month.

This is the reality for fishermen in this era. If you are not careful, it can lead to calamity.

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"Fortunately, we also paid the test fee; otherwise, we might have followed in Uncle Meng's footsteps."

Mu Qingyao looked frightened.

She didn't expect the Dragon King Gang to be so ruthless.

"It's okay. As long as I'm here, everything will be all right."

Xiao Fan comforted her and reached out to gently touch her little head.

"Yeah."

Feeling the warmth of his big hand, Mu Qingyao blushed and looked at Xiao Fan with watery eyes. She didn't know why, but even though she knew there was chaos outside, she still felt at ease inside. There was a man at home; it felt safe.

Gululu~~

At this moment, Xiao Fan's stomach gave a low growl.

Hearing this sound, Mu Qingyao teased playfully, "Listen to that, Brother Xiao, are you hungry too? I'll cook for you."

Then she ran to the kitchen and got busy.

"I'm here to help you too."

Xiao Fan walked over.

"No, the kitchen is a woman's place; you're not allowed to come."

Mu Qingyao playfully pushed Xiao Fan out of the kitchen.

After a while, she was busy lighting the fire and cooking.

Under the sunlight, her delicate and pure face, along with her graceful figure, looked particularly enchanting.

Seeing Mu Qingyao bustling about, Xiao Fan felt very emotional. In his previous life, he probably would never have been able to marry such a woman.

It didn't take long for Mu Qingyao to finish her work.

On the black wooden table, there was a cooked snakehead, steaming and fragrant.

Aside from that, there were only wild vegetables and sorghum flour cakes; nothing more.

Fortunately, this was a fisherman's house, so eating fish was relatively easy.

If they were farmers, they would likely only eat some wild vegetables and flour, which would be quite sparse.

"As expected, it's not very delicious."

Xiao Fan took a bite. Apart from the snakehead, the other dishes were a bit hard to swallow.

Even though Mu Qingyao's cooking skills were exceptional, if the ingredients weren't good, it wouldn't matter how well they were made.

The wild vegetables were a bit choking and tasteless—just enough to keep him from starving.

For someone who came from a world of abundance, it was indeed uncomfortable.

When had he ever eaten such poor-quality food? In his previous life, this would have typically been used to feed chickens.

But in this era, that was the staple diet for ordinary people.

Despite this, humans are incredibly adaptable creatures.

A few days after awakening to his past memories, he had become accustomed to this food.

After all, there's nothing he can do if he is not used to it. This was the food of the poor. If he didn't eat it, he'd starve.

...

Time flew, and soon it was late at night, nearing the third watch.

Mu Qingyao was already asleep.

The whole of Osmanthus Village was silent, except for the occasional chirping of insects and the rustling of leaves.

It was so dark everywhere that one couldn't see their fingers in front of them.

After all, there were no light bulbs in this era, and the poor couldn't afford candles.

Everyone typically went to bed by 7 p.m.

At this time, Xiao Fan got up, picked up the iron shovel, and carefully walked out of the house.

Following the instructions from the point of light in the depths of his consciousness, he arrived about a hundred meters from the entrance of Osmanthus Village and quickly found the osmanthus tree.

However, this osmanthus tree looked no different from the others, and there was nothing suspicious about it.

He held the shovel in his hand and began to dig into the soil beneath it.

After a while, Xiao Fan's iron shovel hit something hard beneath the ground.

"Is there really a treasure?"

Xiao Fan was immediately overjoyed. Initially, he had some doubts about the message from his consciousness, but now that he had found something, it confirmed that it was indeed true.

With this in mind, he dug into the soil vigorously.

In just a few breaths, he unearthed an ancient wooden box from beneath the dirt.

Originally, the wooden box had a lock on it, but it had long since rusted from age.

With just a gentle pull, the lock came off easily.

Then he couldn't wait to open the ancient wooden box.

"No way, there is actually money in here? A full twenty taels of silver!"

Xiao Fan saw the silver in the wooden box for the first time and was absolutely ecstatic.

He knew what twenty taels of silver represented; it was a huge sum.

A fishing family wouldn't know how many years it would take to accumulate twenty taels.

If it were just for food, drink, and basic necessities, twenty taels of silver would cover expenses for two or three years, eliminating the need for him to fish at all.

If this little fortune were discovered by others, it was hard to say how much evil it could cause.

It could even lead to death, as that was not impossible.

Originally, he had been thinking about how to make money, but these twenty taels of silver could solve his urgent needs right away.

"Huh? There's another book here?"

Xiao Fan took the twenty taels of silver and noticed a book in the wooden box. Perhaps this was the real treasure; the silver coins were just a bonus.

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