She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

After Sun Ergou was driven out of the village, he did suffer some hardships at first.

Without the village's protection and without any money, he was like a stray dog, wandering aimlessly without a fixed abode.

When he was starving, he returned to his old ways—stealing. But he wasn't very lucky and was caught and thrown into jail several times.

Later, he felt that staying in the government jail was not bad. No matter what, at least he had something to eat every day and wouldn't starve to death.

Later, after spending a long time in prison, he met several fellow sufferers. After his release, he joined the Fierce Tiger Stronghold through their introduction and became a low-level henchman.

Tiger Stronghold was, to put it bluntly, a den of bandits. Their base was on Tiger Mountain, which borders Qiufeng Town and Ling'an County, and they made a living by robbing passersby.

Sun Ergou originally thought that everything would be fine once he entered the bandit's den, but little did he know that the bandit's den was also very strictly hierarchical.

From the lowest-ranking henchman to the highest-ranking boss, everyone has a clear position and responsibilities.

The village leaders do the easiest jobs, yet they eat the best food and enjoy the highest treatment in the entire village.

Meanwhile, low-level henchmen like Sun Ergou are busy carrying out various dangerous missions every day. A slight mistake could cost them their lives, and what they eat is what the higher-ups leave behind.

Therefore, he always fantasized that one day he could sit in the top or second-in-command position, eat and drink well every day, and be able to order his underlings around. Just thinking about it made him feel powerful!

However, as more and more people joined the village, it became difficult for a lowly henchman like him to keep his job.

Furthermore, everyone knows that bandits roam the road from Qiufeng Town to Ling'an Town, so people are taking detours to other places, causing their income to plummet.

Just two weeks ago, the village chief called a meeting with everyone to discuss how to increase their income. He demanded that each person come up with a feasible way to make money, or else they would have to pack their bags and leave.

The head of the gang also said that if someone could bring in 5,000 taels of silver for the village in one go, they could be promoted to the second-in-command. If they could generate 10,000 taels of silver for the village in one go, they could be on equal footing with him.

Over the years, Sun Ergou had been working at Meng Hu Zhai, often going down the mountain to carry out missions, and he knew that Xiaoyao Village had become one of the wealthiest places in the area.

But he had also heard about tigers eating people and was worried that he might be eaten himself.

Therefore, although he coveted the wealth of Xiaoyao Village, he never dared to make a move against it due to concerns for his own safety.

But things are different now. If he can't get money for the village, he will be driven out and become homeless again.

However, if one successfully raises money for the village, one will instantly become the second-in-command, and one's status and power will be greatly enhanced.

With a bit of luck, I might even have a chance to be on equal footing with the boss.

After a fierce internal struggle, Sun Ergou finally decided to seek fortune in danger and resolutely volunteered to the chief, hoping to seize this rare opportunity to make great contributions to the village and change his fate in the mountain stronghold.

However, last time, he had several brothers from the village pretend to be a caravan, intending to rob the village while they were off guard. But they were discovered by the villagers as soon as they stepped into Xiaoyao Village's territory.

Later, they had no choice but to leave obediently, and before leaving, they gave a lot of things to the young people in the village.

Seeing that this path was blocked, Sun Ergou decided to take another approach. He decided to use his identity as a resident of Xiaoyao Village to infiltrate the village, gain everyone's trust, and then capture them all in one fell swoop.

It must be said that Sun Ergou's self-inflicted injury ruse was very successful today. Ninety percent of the villagers believed him. However, there were still ten percent who did not believe him, including Lanxiang and her daughter.

That evening, when Shen Man returned from town, Lan Xiang told her that Sun Er Gou had already returned to the village.

"Mom, what did you say? That Sun Ergou is back again?" Shen Man was shocked to hear this.

Why did Sun Ergou come back at the exact time of the new emperor's general amnesty? Was it a coincidence or was it intentional?

"That's right, he came back at noon today. I heard he wasn't wearing a single piece of cloth properly, and he looked extremely disheveled. When he saw the village head, he immediately kowtowed to him and apologized, crying very sadly. The village head and the villagers felt sorry for him, so they let him stay in the village," Lanxiang said with a worried expression.

“Sun Ergou has lived half his life by stealing chickens and dogs. Do you think he can change his nature after a few years away?” Shen Man advised. “In any case, we should be careful in the future and try to have as little contact with him as possible.”

Lanxiang nodded. Of course she knew that Sun Ergou was not a good person. He had often bullied her and her daughter in the past, and had even tried to take advantage of her.

In the days that followed, Sun Ergou was like a completely different person. He worked alongside everyone every day, and even took on the dirtiest and most tiring jobs, showing a hardworking and conscientious attitude. He quickly won the trust of the villagers.

They all felt that Sun Ergou had suffered greatly over the past ten years and had finally reformed.

Even the village head, who usually didn't give him a good look, had a smile on his face when he saw him now.

However, only Lanxiang and her daughter knew that Sun Ergou was putting on an act.

He did this simply to lower everyone's guard. Several times, he went up to Lanxiang, wanting to help her with the chores, but she refused each time.

In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.

Today's abundant rainfall, coupled with the rapid warming of the weather, has resulted in the first batch of silkworms growing exceptionally fast. By mid-April, the first batch of cocoons will be ready for harvest.

Silk produced by domesticated silkworms is easier to dye, and with the villagers' silk reeling skills becoming more and more proficient, in just a few days, snow-white silkworm cocoons have been transformed into bundles of colorful silk threads.

Every year at this time, merchants come to the village to buy silk without needing to be notified.

Because the silk from Xiaoyao Village is of the same quality and price as silk from other places, but it doesn't have the problem of fading. Whoever gets their hands on it will make a profit.

Therefore, Shen Man stayed in the village these past few days, helping the village head receive the merchants who came to collect their goods.

Among these merchants, besides the Zhu and Kong families, there were also some who came from the prefectural city or even further afield.

Shen Man always adhered to the principle of "everyone gets a share," distributing the goods equally among them without showing favoritism.

These merchants also enjoy dealing with her, as they don't have to worry about making a wasted trip.