Transmigrated as Cannon Fodder — I Rise to Female Lead Through Hard Work-Chapter 53: Connections

Yi Roujing sidestepped swiftly, raised her knife and struck, hitting the vital point of the snake. With one swift motion, she finished off the cobra. Looking at the snake now split in two, Yi Roujing expressed her apologies, "I’ll make sure you’re utilized well, we’ll eat you for dinner tonight."

She immediately removed the snake’s organs, leaving the head out, skinned the body, and extracted the gall bladder, which was indeed a valuable item. After cleaning it up, she wrapped it in large tree leaves and placed it in her basket.

Hehe, Yi Roujing approached the Lingzhi, didn’t miss a single one, and took them all. Then, with satisfaction, she hummed a tune as she descended the mountain.

While Yi Roujing was in a good mood, Ding Anmin was pacing anxiously.

"Where do you think she’s gone? She’s such a worry," Ding Anmin paced back and forth, deeply furrowed brows, mumbling to himself.

"Anmin, our sister-in-law is capable; don’t worry," Xia Xingchen consoled him.

"Capable? Capable enough to fall into the water, catch a fever, and be bedridden for five days."

Xia Xingchen found himself at a loss for words, as this was indeed something Yi Roujing had done before. "Shall we go up the mountain to look for her?"

"Look for what?" Yi Roujing’s amused voice came from above.

"Got better skills now, huh? Going up the mountain alone," Ding Anmin scoffed, yet he visibly relaxed upon seeing Yi Roujing.

"Struck it rich," Yi Roujing approached and whispered gleefully.

"Found money?" Ding Anmin exclaimed with wide eyes, "Or lottery tickets?"

"Treasure," Yi Roujing put down her basket and removed the fodder used as a cover to reveal layers of Lingzhi inside.

Xia Xingchen’s eyes nearly popped out, "Ling..."

Ding Anmin quickly covered her mouth, "Keep it down, keep it down."

Xia Xingchen could clearly feel Ding Anmin’s hand trembling, showing her own nervousness.

"Did you go into the deep forest? You didn’t get hurt, did you?" Ding Anmin’s first question, upon regaining her senses, warmed Yi Roujing’s heart. What a caring girl she was.

"I got hurt?" Yi Roujing retorted disdainfully, "I took care of it in no time, we’ll have a feast tonight; we can all replenish ourselves."

"A wild chicken?" Xia Xingchen speculated.

"Snake meat," Yi Roujing squinted, "A bite of snake meat, as heavenly as being an immortal."

"You ran into a snake." Ding Anmin’s voice rose sharply.

"Don’t worry, aside from rodents, I’m not afraid of anything; I can handle them all," Yi Roujing declared righteously, "Let’s hurry back, come to my house for dinner tonight, I’ll also share some with Mr. Qi and Aunt Bai Wei."

"The Lingzhi is good for the three of you too; I’ll set aside a small piece for you all to stew gradually, it’s nutritious."

"No need, sister-in-law. The medicine Elder Ren prescribed has already helped me a lot; I’m breathing easier, and it’ll only get better in a few days. These can be sold for money; people are always on the hunt for wild specimens," Xia Xingchen said.

"There will be more; health is most important, and Mr. Qi and Jie both need some too, don’t be polite with me," Yi Roujing replied generously.

The three descended the mountain swiftly. Upon returning home, Ding Anmin went to clean the snake meat while Yi Roujing took care of the Lingzhi. After some simple processing, once dried, its medicinal value would be perfect, and the price would be more appealing.

Ding Weihuo, Li Hongying, and Ding Anguo returned home to the sight of a large wooden basin filled with snake meat, and the enormous "mushrooms" drying on bamboo racks.

"Where... where did this come from?" Li Hongying struggled to find her voice.

"Is this Lingzhi?" Ding Weihuo leaned in for a closer look, never having seen Lingzhi this large. These were two different kinds; someone once brought purple Lingzhi back from the mountain the size of an enamel mug’s bottom, which was already a rarity. But these here were at least two or three times larger, "How did they get so big?"

"Did you go into the deep mountains?" Ding Anguo asked, full of disapproval. Even if there were any nearby, it wouldn’t have been their family’s turn to find them; such large Lingzhi could only be in the deep woods.

"Did you go into the deep mountains!" Li Hongying’s voice rose sharply, "Are you alright?"

"We didn’t go." Ding Anmin outright denied, then pointed a finger, "Look, it’s her, she went alone, and quietly too."

"The place I went wasn’t that deep," Yi Roujing responded calmly, "I didn’t intend to go; I simply got lost, then stumbled upon the treasure."

"And this ’treasure.’" Ding Anmin lifted the clean snake meat she had prepared, "I weighed it earlier, it’s about six or seven pounds. A bite from this, and you’d be done for."

Yi Roujing shot Ding Anmin several glances, sure that this girl was trying to get her in trouble. As expected, the faces of Ding Weihuo and Li Hongying had darkened quite a bit.

"Things like this, treasures of heaven and earth, are not easily found, right? I thought it must be a formidable one, but it turned out to be nothing more than a pushover. I genuinely finished it with a single strike." Yi Roujing gestured proudly, recounting her feats.

"Dad, I noticed your eyesight isn’t the best. This snake gall bladder is most suited for you," Yi Roujing began to persuade the easiest target, Ding Weihuo.

"You’re thoughtful." Ding Weihuo gave a slight smile, though his face remained serious, "However, you can’t go that deep in the future; someone from the brigade was once killed by a wolf, the deep mountains are very dangerous."

"Dad, Mom, I know. This time I truly got lost, I promise not to go into the deep mountains alone again in the future," Yi Roujing assured, keeping in mind that going with someone else was still an option.

"Good, good." Ding Weihuo’s expression softened further.

"Although these are good, there’s no clear path for doing business with them. What’s your plan?" Ding Anguo asked, eyes bright as he looked at the Lingzhi.

"Do you have a way?" Yi Roujing asked with a smile.

Ding Anguo shook his head repeatedly, sneaking glances at Ding Weihuo and Li Hongying, "What nonsense, what way could I have?"

"Second Brother, you’re not mingling with bad company, are you?" Ding Anmin furrowed her brows and asked.

"You rascal, ’mingling’ isn’t used that way." Ding Anguo lightly knocked Ding Anmin on the head.

"I’ll go cook the snake meat," Li Hongying went off to do just that.

"Mom, I’ll take some over to Mr. Qi and Aunt Bai Wei later," Yi Roujing said.

"Okay, good." Li Hongying asked, "What about Xingchen?"

"She went back to make her traditional medicine, and she’ll come over for dinner later," Ding Anmin replied. Li Hongying nodded and went into the kitchen.

Once the elders had left, Ding Anguo sidled up to Yi Roujing, hesitant yet unwilling to leave.

"What way do you have?" Yi Roujing inquired proactively.

"Do you know Song Yiluo’s sister-in-law at the Zhiqing spot?" Ding Anguo asked in a low tone.

Yi Roujing’s eyes flickered, sizing Ding Anguo up from head to toe. The book hadn’t mentioned this scoundrel having a crush on Song Yiluo.

Ding Anguo took a step back, "Sister-in-law, what’s wrong?"

"Do you have relations with Song Yiluo?" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"What relations?" Ding Anguo looked genuinely puzzled.

"Then how do you know she has that kind of connection?" Yi Roujing asked with a smile, which, in Ding Anguo’s eyes, seemed a bit dangerous. Was it just his imagination?