After the separation, I took my whole family to eat delicious food and drink spicy

After dinner, Bai took some cakes sent by Manager Zhao and went to Uncle Zhao's house near the east end of the village.

Uncle Zhao's house is near the foot of the mountain. Because he makes a living by hunting, Uncle Zhao's house is a little different from others. His house is made of stone, which looks much stronger than mud brick houses.

The stone courtyard wasn't large, with only three main rooms, but it was kept very clean. Mr. Zhao and his wife were the only two children in the family. They had come to Lijia Village from outside over a decade ago and settled there, so the villagers didn't know much about him.

Because Li Shan was also a hunter, Bai had frequent contact with Uncle Zhao's family. When she arrived at Uncle Zhao's door, she knocked gently. Aunt Zhao came to open the door, saw Bai, smiled, and welcomed her in.

After a few pleasantries, Mrs. Bai explained her purpose and handed the cakes to Aunt Zhao. Aunt Zhao was filled with gratitude and said, "I'm so sorry. Your family has had a hard time, and you're still thinking of us. I'm just afraid you'll have to wait a few days. My old man's legs have been hurting a lot these past few days."

Mrs. Bai smiled and shook her head, saying, "We are all neighbors, and we should take care of each other." Then she asked about Uncle Zhao's health.

Aunt Zhao said that Uncle Zhao's leg disease had worsened recently and he couldn't even get out of bed. Bai felt very sad when she heard this, as she remembered that her husband also died of leg disease.

She told Aunt Zhao that she knew of a herbal remedy that was very effective in treating leg ailments. Aunt Zhao's eyes flashed with hope as she quickly asked, "Really? What's the name of that herb? Where can I find it?"

Mrs. Bai explained the herb's shape and habitat in detail to Aunt Zhao, and offered to help find it. Aunt Zhao thanked her profusely, and Mrs. Bai left her home, determined to find the herb as soon as possible to help Uncle Zhao alleviate his pain.

Bai returned home and told Li Xiaoxiao and the others about Uncle Zhao's situation. The next morning, Bai and Li Xiaoxiao took their tools and headed to the mountains to look for herbs according to the route they remembered.

After some effort, the two finally found the herb in a remote corner.

Bai carefully picked the herbs and took them home.

She carefully washed and processed the herbs, and then sent them to Aunt Zhao's home.

Aunt Zhao was overjoyed and quickly applied the medicine to Uncle Zhao.

A few days later, Mr. Zhao's leg disease did improve and he was able to get out of bed and walk.

Uncle Zhao and Aunt Zhao were so grateful to Mrs. Bai that they began to help Li Xiaoxiao make the ground traps. In one day, Uncle Zhao made six ground traps and asked Aunt Zhao to deliver them to Mrs. Bai. Mrs. Bai quickly expressed her gratitude to Aunt Zhao.

Aunt Zhao asked Bai what she wanted so many traps for. Knowing Aunt Zhao's character, Bai did not hide anything and told her that Li Xiaoxiao was planning to use them to catch crayfish and rent paddy fields to raise crayfish.

Aunt Zhao slapped her thigh and said, "Oh, why didn't you tell us earlier that you wanted to rent paddy fields? We have them at home. We were planning to ask the village chief if anyone in the village would be willing to rent our fields. Your uncle Zhao and I are going on a long trip and don't know when we'll be back. Besides, we're old and have difficulty walking, so we can't do farm work anymore. Those few acres of paddy fields are lying idle. If you don't mind, you can use them."

Mrs. Bai was overjoyed to hear what Aunt Zhao said and thanked her profusely. She asked Li Xiaoxiao to accompany Aunt Zhao to see the paddy fields. They found that the land was fertile and had an abundant water source. It was close to the village river, making it easy to divert water and other supplies, making it very suitable for raising crayfish.

Li Xiaoxiao immediately decided to rent the paddy fields and expressed her willingness to pay them the normal rent. Aunt Zhao waved her hand and said that it was not necessary, as the paddy fields would have been left idle anyway if they had not rented them.

Li Xiaoxiao smiled but said nothing, thinking that she could ask Bai to send the baby to Aunt Zhao's house when the time comes.

After solving the paddy field problem, Bai and Li Xiaoxiao asked Uncle Zhao to help them weave eight more traps. That afternoon, Li Xiaoxiao and Bai lowered all the traps into the grass by the river, ready to start again the next day.

In order to catch more crayfish, Li Xiaoxiao got up early the next day and took Li Fang and Li Linlin to the stream on the mountain. Soon they caught a basket of crayfish. Li Xiaoxiao carried the crayfish and went down the mountain with his younger brother and sister to go home.

After returning home, Li Xiaoxiao saw that it was still early, so he told Bai that he would first deliver the basket of crayfish to Xiangmanlou in town and see how customers reacted to the crayfish.

When they heard that they were going to town, Li Fang and Li Linlin also said they wanted to go. Afraid that Li Xiaoxiao couldn't take care of her, Bai also said she wanted to go with them.

To save time, Bai paid four copper coins to take the village ox cart. When she arrived at Xiangmanlou, Zhao, the shopkeeper, came out to greet her personally.

"Oh, Miss Li, you're finally here. If you hadn't come, I would have gone looking for you."

Li Xiaoxiao was very surprised when she heard this. She thought there was something wrong with the crayfish recipe she gave. After listening to the explanation from Manager Zhao, she realized that the restaurant had used all the remaining crayfish yesterday to make small portions and gave them to some of the restaurant's higher-spending customers. After tasting it, they all said they wanted to eat more. Manager Zhao said that someone had booked several tables early this morning and specifically asked for crayfish.

Li Xiaoxiao was ecstatic to hear this; she hadn't expected crayfish to be so popular. Shopkeeper Zhao paid for the crayfish and, noticing Li Xiaoxiao's younger brother and sister were there, packed some extra pastries for them, promising a long-term partnership. They agreed to initially deliver about 35 kilograms of crayfish to Xiangmanlou every day, and then, once Li Xiaoxiao's shrimp farm had grown to a sufficient size, they would expand the service to other restaurants.

Li Xiaoxiao happily took the money, thanked Manager Zhao, and then went to the market with Bai to buy some daily necessities and rice. She also went to the grocery store in town to buy some fishing nets to use in the shrimp fields, and then took a ox cart back home.

Along the way, the siblings talked and laughed, and Bai also rarely showed a relaxed smile.

In the afternoon, in order to store the collected crayfish conveniently, Li Xiaoxiao asked Bai to go to the next village to order a large tank and put it in the yard.

A few people went to the river to collect traps. Maybe because the villagers didn't catch crayfish, this time they had a good harvest and the traps were full of crayfish.

They put the crayfish into the bucket, put all the traps back, and happily carried them back home and put them into the water tank. Li Xiaoxiao roughly estimated that there were about 50 kilograms.

In the evening, Mrs. Bai prepared a sumptuous dinner, and everyone sat around enjoying the delicious food. Li Xiaoxiao looked at the smiling faces of her family, her heart filled with happiness and satisfaction. She knew that the days ahead might be difficult, but as long as the family remained united, they would surely be able to live a better life.

After dinner, Li Xiaoxiao began to think about her plans for tomorrow. She planned to ask Uncle Li and Brother Tiezhu to help her convert the paddy field into a shrimp farm, and then start raising shrimp fry.