Chapter 142: You’re Burning the Bridge After Crossing It

Chapter 142: Chapter 142: You’re Burning the Bridge After Crossing It

"So, we shouldn’t sell the dried fish in town. We should also find a new path to get here. In the future, we can enter the mountain from somewhere else and come here directly. Wouldn’t that solve the problem? The chances of this place being discovered would naturally be much, much lower." Gu Nuan Nuan confidently shared the idea she had thought of long ago. She was certain her grandfather and mother would agree with her suggestion.

Of course, she had another motive for this suggestion. It was crucial for her to explore the mountain forest as soon as possible to find the energy Cao Cao needed. Having seen just how useful Cao Cao was, she couldn’t afford to ignore its energy problem. If she waited until its energy was completely depleted, it would be too late to start worrying.

"That’s a good idea, but neither of those things is easy to achieve." Zhang Minzhen frowned in frustration. "This mountain is so huge. How could we possibly find a new path in just a day or two? And if we don’t sell the dried fish in the nearby town but take them to the city, it’ll be very inconvenient. Not only is it a long way and the travel costs would increase, but I’m also worried that we don’t know anyone there. We could haul our goods all the way over and not even make enough money in a day to cover the trouble. Even if we get lucky and business is good one day, we’d still have to worry about running into a local bully who might try to push us around. What would we do then, being so weak and alone?"

After speaking, Zhang Minzhen shook her head and looked at Zhang Dazhuang. "Dad, don’t you think I’m right?"

"You’re not wrong, but Nuannuan is even more right. Finding a new path and taking the goods farther away to sell are both necessary... They say where there’s a will, there’s a way. There’s nothing in this world you can’t do if you set your mind to it. In any case, these fish aren’t going anywhere, so we don’t have to be in a rush. It’s better than having our secret exposed and letting someone else benefit from it." Zhang Dazhuang looked at Gu Nuan Nuan with admiration, extremely pleased that she could think of so many things—so comprehensively—in such a short amount of time.

After hearing this, Zhang Minzhen nodded and said no more.

"Mom, actually, before we dry the fish to sell, we can still put them to good use," Gu Nuan Nuan said, giving her mother a mysterious smile.

"What use?" Zhang Minzhen’s spirits lifted, and she looked at her daughter expectantly.

"Aren’t you going to be making and selling meat buns, Mom? Pork is so expensive, why don’t we try using fish to make fish-filled buns instead?" Gu Nuan Nuan suggested excitedly. The idea had just occurred to her, and she also realized that besides using it as filling for buns, the fish could be processed into many other things, like fish floss, fish balls, fish rolls, and fish cakes.

She blinked, not saying everything at once. ’I know how to make all of those,’ she thought. ’But there’s no hurry. I can "try" them out slowly later and suggest them to Mom at the right time.’

"That’s right! Why didn’t I think of that? Fish-filled buns... we have a ready supply of fish right here. If we use this, we could save more than half on our costs!" Zhang Minzhen was overjoyed at the thought. She didn’t ask if her daughter knew how to season a fish filling. In her mind, since her daughter could create such a delicious pork filling for the buns, switching to a different meat would naturally be no problem.

But soon, her excitement faded, and Zhang Minzhen grew dejected again. "But doesn’t that bring us back to the original problem? To make a fish filling, we’d need to use fresh fish. Not to mention the journey is so long that coming here every day isn’t feasible, but if we keep coming into the mountains daily, wouldn’t that eventually make people suspicious?"

"Then we’ll scout out a new path first. Let’s see how long it takes to get to Lihua Village from here." Zhang Dazhuang estimated the location of Lihua Village in his mind and made a decision.

"Are we really going to scout for a path?" Zhang Minzhen hadn’t thought much about it when it was first mentioned. But now, after her initial excitement had cooled and the topic came up again, her worries and reservations began to multiply. "Dad, any deeper and we’ll be in the heart of the mountains. What if we run into dangerous animals if we keep going? No amount of money is more important than our lives."

"I’ll go with Grandpa! I’m about to be on vacation. Mom, my ears and eyes are sharp. If I hear any animals, I can lead Grandpa away in advance," Gu Nuan Nuan quickly volunteered.

"This isn’t a job for a child. Don’t get mixed up in this." Seeing Gu Nuan Nuan’s eagerness, Zhang Dazhuang couldn’t help but laugh, waving her away.

"Mom, you say something." Gu Nuan Nuan pinned her hopes on her mother. ’Mom knows my secret, so she should support me going with Grandpa, right? Otherwise, with the potential dangers deeper in the mountains, it’s not just Mom who’s worried. I’m also afraid something will happen to Grandpa if he goes in any deeper.’

"Listen to your grandpa. It’s not appropriate for you to be involved in this." Although Zhang Minzhen knew her daughter’s hearing was extraordinary, so what? ’My daughter is so young; I’d be even more worried if she went deep into the mountains.’

"Huh?"

Gu Nuan Nuan was dumbfounded. ’If I don’t go with him, what if something happens to Grandpa? And without Cao Cao’s special ability to help cheat, how long would it take Grandpa to find a path? And what about my plan to find energy... No, I have to find a way to be part of this scouting mission.’ "You’re just using me and tossing me aside!" she protested indignantly.

"Don’t talk nonsense. This is not up for discussion," Zhang Minzhen said firmly.

"Have you seen what’s back there?" Zhang Dazhuang found Gu Nuan Nuan’s reaction a little amusing. He glanced toward the back of the cave and asked casually.

"No," Gu Nuan Nuan mumbled, still trying to figure out how to get her grandfather and mother to change their minds.

"Let’s go take a look." After a moment’s thought, Zhang Dazhuang pulled the machete from the back basket he had set down when they first entered the cave.

The three of them walked through the cave and discovered it was truly a wonderful place. The reason they could see light from where they stood by the Fish Spring was that the back of the cave opened into a natural, courtyard-like open-air area. It was a sizable space, filled with weeds and several growing trees.

On the other side of this "courtyard," there were two more caves. Compared to the cave on this side, those two were not very large. A quick glance suggested one was over a hundred square meters, while the other was even smaller, only about thirty or forty square meters.

"This place is great. If we smoke out these three caves a few times and install some doors, we could use them for living or as a warehouse. No problem at all." Zhang Dazhuang was very satisfied after looking around.

"That’s right. If we clean this place up, we could stay here for short periods. We could even grow some grain and vegetables." Zhang Minzhen was also excited after seeing it. This place was an ideal hideaway, almost like a paradise secluded from the world. She couldn’t help but murmur softly, "At the end of the woods, by the stream’s source, he came upon a mountain with a small opening, from which a light seemed to glimmer. So he left his boat and went in. At first it was very narrow, barely enough for a person. But after a few dozen steps, it suddenly opened up..." ’See,’ she thought, ’even the entrance is almost exactly the same.’