Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

When Li Yinyin arrived at the village chief's house with a large bag of things, the village chief only glanced at her and then laughed: "Is Chengming back? That kid, why did he only get home at the time of the reunion festival? Yinyin, are you looking for Niuniu? She and her mother are inside."

“I’m not looking for Niu Niu, Uncle. I came here specifically to see you,” Li Yinyin put down her things. “My brother is still busy outside and hasn’t come back yet, but he said he had something to discuss with you.”

"Oh?" The village chief looked puzzled, his face showing a kind, coaxing expression, as if he were coaxing a child. "What does Yinyin want to discuss with her uncle?"

Without even needing to explain, Li Yinyin knew that the village chief was still treating her like a junior and coaxing her.

She wasn't angry, but slowly said, "My elder brother said he probably won't be able to come back until the end of this year, and he doesn't know what the arrangements will be next year. So he asked me to come and tell you, Uncle, that he's entrusted me with the task of organizing our village to go to the Western Regions for trade next year. I would appreciate it if you could help me select the right people."

"What!" This time the village chief was genuinely surprised. "My dear Yinyin, this is important, don't try to fool your uncle."

"How could I lie to you about something this big? Why don't you ask my sister-in-law? She'll just expose me."

The village chief pondered this and realized it made sense. Seeing that Li Yinyin hadn't lost her temper at all and was even talking to him seriously, he believed her somewhat, but still had doubts.

Li Yinyin then explained, "Before leaving, my elder brother entrusted the embroidery workshop to me. The workshop is currently handling business from the Western Regions, which is why he asked me to come and discuss this matter with you!"

This time, the village chief no longer doubted it, after all, it was true that Li Yinyin had been frequently going to the embroidery workshop in the past few months.

"So, Yinyin, what are your thoughts? How do you plan to choose people?"

Li Yinyin tried her best to maintain a serious attitude: "My current idea is to ask the uncles and brothers who used to go out with my brother. If they are unwilling or unable to go out due to other reasons, then we will find someone else to fill in."

"After all, this is the first time my elder brother has entrusted me with such an important task, so I still want to prioritize the safest approach."

After hearing her suggestion, the village chief nodded in satisfaction: "Then let's do it that way. Today is the Reunion Festival, and I'll tell everyone about it tomorrow."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Uncle," Li Yinyin finally revealed her usual charming and innocent expression. "These snacks were specially sent back by my older brother. Please remember to try them, Uncle. I'll go back to keep my sister-in-law company now!"

The village chief wanted to keep her, but considering that Yu Qiaoyun was alone at home, he had no choice but to let her go.

The village chief's wife came in from outside: "I was in Niu Niu's room just now, why did she leave again without me noticing?"

“Yinyin has come to talk to me about serious matters this time,” the village chief briefly recounted the events before sighing, “Chengming is really bold to let Yinyin handle something like this.”

“What’s wrong with that?” the village chief’s wife said. “Yinyin may look delicate, but she has actually learned quite a lot.”

“I taught Niu Niu to embroider. She’s been learning for so long, and you’ve seen with your own eyes what she’s embroidered. But Yin Yin, before she was even ten years old, was already making clothes for her brother and sister-in-law. Cheng Ming even showed off in the village back then.”

“I heard from Niu Niu that Yin Yin has been learning to read and write from Qiao Yun since she was a child, and she started helping Qiao Yun with the accounts a few years ago. She can tell whether the accounts on the estate are correct just by doing a quick calculation with an abacus.”

"And then there's the stuff Yinyin handles. In our village, only a few people are seriously doing research and development together. Everyone else is just dabbling in things on a small scale, only making a few things when they have free time."

"But the fifth brother's wife has been to the embroidery workshop. There are about a hundred people working there. In the six months since Yinyin took over the workshop, have you heard of any accidents?"

"So this matter isn't about whether Chengming is bold or not, but rather that Yinyin inherently has the ability!"

Some of these things were known to the village chief, while others were things he had never heard of. Now that they were put together, he felt that his impression of his little niece, Li Yinyin, had changed several times over.

"How come I've never heard you mention this before?"

The village chief's wife rolled her eyes: "You never liked listening to me talk about women, and now you're blaming me? Hurry up and wash your hands. It'll be time to eat once the crabs are steamed!"

The village chief went to fetch water to wash his hands, and Li Yinyin had just returned home. She proactively washed her hands with soap before sitting down next to Yu Qiaoyun.

"Sister-in-law, are the crabs ready?"

Seeing her anxious look, Yu Qiaoyun quickly told someone to put the crabs and mooncakes on the table.

Because Li Yinyin was still too young to drink osmanthus wine, Yu Qiaoyun had someone cook her a bowl of sweet fermented rice wine, sprinkled with osmanthus flowers. The rich, fragrant aroma instantly filled the air. With it, the atmosphere of the reunion festival seemed even warmer.

Besides steamed crab, there was also stir-fried crab roe rice and other dishes on the table, all prepared and served on pretty plates.

In Jiang Kingdom, wealthy families often pickle drunken crabs for the Reunion Festival, but Li Yinyin dared not eat raw food, so Yu Qiaoyun accompanied her, thus the kitchen was spared the trouble of making drunken crabs.

The two sat down side by side in the room, with the window wide open, so that they could see the bright moon in the sky whenever they looked up.

After finishing my meal, with thoughts of Li Chengming lingering, it was time to write him a letter.

Fueled by alcohol, Yu Qiaoyun wrote down many heartfelt words she wouldn't normally say. Li Yinyin, while expressing her longing, also wrote about how she deceived the village chief, and attached the rules for traveling in Sichuan, as well as some ideas on how to tie Shangshui Village closer to her family and how to proactively protect her family's secrets.

Li Chengming received the letter when the autumn leaves had all fallen and the cold wind stung his face.

He first read Yu Qiaoyun's letter home, and his longing for her welled up inside him. He couldn't help but write a reply before opening Li Yinyin's letter.

Before reading the letter, Li Chengming had no idea that his sister had such audacity to use his name to deceive the village chief.

"This girl," he shook his head after reading the letter and called Xiao Liu over.

"Keep a close eye on the caravans from the embroidery workshop heading to the Western Regions next year. Don't worry about how much money they make; as long as they all return safely, there's no need to interfere too much."

After Xiao Liu left, Li Chengming carefully considered Li Yinyin's suggestion in her letter. After much deliberation, he finally picked up his pen to write a reply.

"Ah! Ahh!"

Li Yinyin rubbed her nose: "My ears are so hot, someone must be talking about me!"

"Judging from this date, I've done some calculations and it's definitely my eldest brother!"

“You’re so bold. He might scold you a bit and give you a good beating,” Yu Qiaoyun thought of the questions the village chief had asked when he came to her door, and felt a headache coming on.

Li Yinyin coughed lightly and decided that the best of the thirty-six stratagems was to flee.