Is the beginning of a catastrophe? The little farm cook is raising a family with a full warehouse.

Cheng Yuntao's slender fingers tightly grasped Jiang Yu's sleeves and she tiptoed closer. "Jiang Yu, do you still remember the location of the City Lord's Mansion's storehouse and the general categories of items stored there?"

Jiang Yu was so frightened by the sudden heat that the tips of his ears turned red. He subconsciously raised his hand to rub his hot earlobes.

He lowered his eyes to gaze at Cheng Yuntao's eyes reflected by the candlelight, his brows knitted slightly. "Warehouse..." His bony fingers rubbed unconsciously, "There are about seven or eight rooms. The third room in the east corridor stores silver frost charcoal, as well as some spices, silk fabrics and other things. It's piled high. You can smell the spices from a long distance away."

Cheng Yuntao's almond-shaped eyes suddenly lit up, and her fingertips pinched the muscles of his arm unconsciously, "What about the warehouse where the grain is stored?" The charcoal stars exploding in the brazier crackled, igniting two clusters of flickering golden light in her pupils.

Jiang Yu pondered for a moment and continued, "In the corner room on the west side, I peeked through the crack in the door and vaguely saw stacked sacks inside. Although I didn't get close to confirm, I think it's likely food."

He suddenly took a half step back, nearly knocking over the wooden bench behind him. "Could it be... you want to transport grain out of the City Lord's Mansion... and distribute it to the people?"

Cheng Yuntao grabbed Jiang Yu's staggering figure, and her pomegranate-red skirt swirled out a thrilling arc: "That's right, you will take me to the City Lord's Mansion tonight."

She spoke as fast as a barrage of crossbows, without the slightest hesitation.

"No!" Jiang Yu refused subconsciously. He really didn't understand why Cheng Yuntao suddenly made such a request.

He took a deep breath, tried to calm himself, and said kindly, "Yun Tao, this is too dangerous. Although the guards at the City Lord's Mansion have been lax, they should not be underestimated. If we are discovered, with their methods, they will definitely not let us go easily. We will be in big trouble then."

He paused, his tone slowing down. "Besides, there are only two of us. Even if we manage to escape the inspection and successfully enter the grain warehouse, how much food can we get?"

"The City Lord's Mansion has a mountain of grain reserves. The food we can provide with our limited manpower is just a drop in the bucket for those starving people. This method won't work at all."

Jiang Yu reached out and gently held Cheng Yuntao's shoulders, looking into her eyes earnestly.

"I know you're worried about the people who are starving and freezing, and so am I. But we can't put ourselves in danger just because we're desperate. We need to think of other ways. There's always a better solution."

Cheng Yuntao smiled and said, "Don't be so hasty to refuse. I'll perform a magic trick for you. After you see this trick, you can consider whether you want to take me to explore the City Lord's Mansion at night."

Jiang Yu's face was filled with confusion, and he kept wondering: When did Yun Tao learn to perform magic tricks? How come he didn't know anything about it? Besides, weren't they just discussing the City Lord's Mansion treasury? How come they were suddenly talking about magic tricks again?

But out of trust in Cheng Yuntao, he still cooperated and asked, "What trick is that?"

"Okay."

As soon as she finished speaking, Cheng Yuntao picked up the celadon teacup on the table. The glaze reflected the flickering candlelight flowing in her palm. Jiang Yu narrowed his eyes doubtfully, and his gaze followed the movement of the teacup like a falcon locking onto its prey.

Cheng Yuntao raised the corners of her lips in a cunning arc, and suddenly closed her five fingers. Jiang Yu's pupils suddenly shrank, and the teacup actually melted in the other's palm.

He suddenly grabbed Cheng Yuntao's wrist and turned it over to examine it. The calluses on her wrist rubbed against her palm, causing her wrist to turn red. "A trick? When did you learn that?"

Not only Jiang Yu, but also Shaobing, who was sitting by the brazier and warming himself, was shocked. His eyes widened like bells and he exclaimed, "This is amazing! How on earth did they do this?"

Zhou Xiufang, Cheng Jingzhu and Cheng Yueli on the side just looked at each other and smiled without saying anything.

Jiang Yu's heart was in turmoil at this moment. His years of martial arts training had made his five senses much sharper than those of ordinary people. Normally, he could accurately capture the trace of even a mosquito flying by, but he was completely unaware of Cheng Yuntao's move just now.

His eyes were like hooks nailed to Cheng Yuntao's white palm, where the afterimage of the disappearing celadon teacup still remained. His mind kept replaying the scene just now, not missing any details, but he still had no clue.

Jiang Yu really couldn't understand how Cheng Yuntao managed to make the teacup disappear right under his nose. He was confused, but also vaguely looking forward to the next explanation.

Cheng Yuntao took advantage of the situation and leaned closer to Jiang Yu's stiff body, saying playfully, "This isn't some charade; it's an opportunity bestowed by an immortal." She tapped Jiang Yu's chest with her fingertips and added, "What if I said... I could store everything in the City Lord's Mansion's treasury into the Qiankun in my hand?"

Jiang Yu was still immersed in the shock brought by the disappearance of the teacup just now. He stared at Cheng Yuntao with his eyes, as if he wanted to see through her, but he was still full of confusion.

Seeing him in such a daze, Cheng Yuntao smiled faintly and clenched her palm in the air. The candle flame suddenly stretched and retracted, and the disappeared teacup reappeared in her hand as if it had never left.

Then, Cheng Yuntao skillfully brewed a cup of tea with the reappearing teacup. The steaming aroma of tea rose in the air. She handed the cup to Jiang Yu's lips and said softly, "Drink some tea first to calm your mind."

Jiang Yu subconsciously took the teacup, raised his head and drank the tea in one gulp. Then, he stared at the teacup in his hand carefully, as if trying to find something strange in this ordinary cup.

After a moment, Jiang Yu raised his head and looked at Cheng Yuntao with a burning gaze. His voice was filled with confusion and doubt: "Yuntao, are you a fairy or a goblin? I still wonder if I am dreaming."

Shaobing heard the noise and ran to their side, saying loudly: "Sister Yuntao is so beautiful and kind-hearted, she must be a fairy!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Cheng Yuntao couldn't help but burst out laughing, and the crisp laughter echoed in the house like a silver bell.

Jiang Yu came back to his senses, his expression gradually becoming firm. He said, "Since you have such a miraculous ability, you must use it to benefit the people. Tonight, I will take you with me to explore the City Lord's Mansion and take away all the food, cloth, charcoal, etc. in the warehouse."

After he finished speaking, he asked again with some concern: "But the City Lord's Mansion has many warehouses, and there are piles of items of all sizes. Can you really take them all away at once?"

Cheng Yuntao raised her eyebrows slightly, her eyes gleaming with confidence as she spoke crisply, "Relax, with this opportunity bestowed upon me by the immortal, I can take all the supplies from the City Lord's Mansion's warehouse. Leave this to me, there will be no problems."

……