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Before Jin Yin even reached the Zhu family home, she encountered some of the Zhu family members out gathering morning dew. Some carried bowls, others basins. Grandma Zhu spotted Jin Yin immediately and exclaimed, "Er Hua, Er Hua, I'm here!"

Someone nearby laughed and said, "Oh my, this old lady is so sharp-eyed despite her age; it's pitch black, yet she can still tell it's Er Hua?"

Grandma Zhu huffed proudly, "Of course! Our family always gathers the most morning dew every Dragon Boat Festival. I drink dew water all the time, so my ears are sharp and my eyes are clear. How can you young ones compare?"

Regardless of how much exaggeration was in those words, hearing them made the others' intentions to gather morning dew that morning suddenly vanish.

Grandma Zhu grew anxious, "Why are you all running? Oh dear, Er Hua, hurry up a bit, don't let them gather all the morning dew."

Jin Yin had already reached Grandma Zhu's side, pulling her arm and trying to suppress a laugh, "It's alright, Grandma, it's alright. There's dew all over the mountains and fields, how could they possibly gather it all?"

Seizing the opportunity, she subtly infused a bit more of her special ability into Grandma Zhu's body. Immediately, Grandma Zhu felt her entire body relax. She patted Jin Yin's hand, "If it weren't for that, why would I cherish this little Er Hua so much? Just having you by my side makes me feel refreshed."

A faint, cold snort echoed nearby. If Jin Yin's hearing hadn't been enhanced, she would have missed it. She turned her head to see Zhang Yun's disdainful, chin-lifted gaze.

Jin Yin was too lazy to argue with her, but this cunning woman was truly too annoying. She didn't want to interfere with the Zhu family's affairs, but this woman had snorted right in front of her, and in the dark of night no less. If she didn't teach her a lesson, it would be hard to swallow this anger.

Throughout the rest of the journey, Zhang Yun frequently tripped over grass roots, stumbling more than a dozen times. Grandma Zhu didn't even bother to look, "Zhang Yun, what's wrong with your legs today? You're even worse than this old lady. Why don't you go back and help Hong Tao make breakfast?"

Zhang Yun was also frightened by her falls. Even the unluckiest person would only fall two or three times at most, but she had been very careful, yet her legs felt like lead, causing her to fall over a dozen times. She herself couldn't believe that no one was secretly interfering.

She mumbled a reply and turned back. She walked cautiously, but still fell two more times in front of everyone. Grandma Zhu sighed helplessly, "Zhu Xuan Lan, Zhu Xia He, you two help your mother go back together."

Zhu Xuan Lan and Zhu Xia He were already reluctant to be woken up, so hearing Grandma Zhu's words, they quickly followed Zhang Yun back.

This time, not only did Zhang Yun fall several more times, but her two daughters also fell with her. Everyone watched in horror, thinking: Zhang Yun must be possessed by something. It's best to stay away from her for a few days, so as not to be infected.

It had rained several times in the past few days, so the morning dew was exceptionally thick today. Jin Yin collected half a bowl of morning dew with a small cup, her sleeves and trouser legs already soaked.

Early mornings in the countryside were still a bit chilly. Fortunately, Jin Yin's body in this life had a good constitution, and with her cultivation, she wasn't afraid of the cold. If it were her body from her previous life, she would probably be shivering uncontroll
ably.

It was still very dark at this time. Jin Yin took the opportunity to rest, found a patch of grass, and sat down, using her released special ability and her spatial ability to collect morning dew.

Suddenly, her special ability sensed someone crawling in front of the grass patch. At first, Jin Yin thought it was someone else gathering morning dew, but gradually she realized the person was motionless, yet their breathing was steady, not like someone who had fainted. Was this hiding? Or an ambush?

Her special ability continued to search further, and she discovered several more people lying motionless, among them the figure of Xia Yu.

Well, he didn't come back all night, and now he's lying in ambush here? But that's not right, where's his car?

At this moment, Xia Yu was drenched, lying prostrate in a puddle, shivering from the cold. But because people were passing by in front, he didn't dare to move. He wondered if they knew about the custom of getting up early to gather morning dew on the Dragon Boat Festival, or if the person they wanted to monitor was among those gathering dew.

Jin Yin pretended to casually walk past the puddle where Xia Yu was hiding. As she bent down to pick dew, her eyes met Xia Yu's.

Xia Yu waved his hand, signaling her to leave quickly and not expose his position. Tsk tsk, his scholarly face, which had just gotten a bit tanned from the sun, was now pale.

Jin Yin couldn't help but smile. She wondered if these people had eaten anything yet. The amount of zongzi she gave Xia Yu last night was enough for at most two people, but she had found no less than five people lying in ambush here.

So, Jin Yin tossed Xia Yu several large packets of dried beef, and then gave him a cup of hot red sugar ginger tea.

Xia Yu received the cup of red sugar ginger tea, his whole body trembling. His mouth opened, and finally, he almost whispered, "Don't give it to anyone else!"

Jin Yin was stunned. She had thought that as a department head, Xia Yu would think about how to improve the combat effectiveness and ensure the safety of his subordinates, but what he said was that he was afraid she would expose his secret?

Her heart warmed, and she thought to herself: That's right, I'm also his subordinate. It's not wrong for him to want to protect his secret.

In a better mood, Jin Yin tossed Xia Yu a wooden gun and several magazines she had gotten from Eighth Brother. Seeing Xia Yu's eyes widen in surprise, Jin Yin snatched the empty cup he had just drunk from, clapped her hands, and happily ran off.

She only hoped that this morning's dew-gathering activity wouldn't disturb or affect the ambush operation of Xia Yu and his comrades.

Back at the Zhu family home, breakfast was already on the table. On two tables were several basins of zongzi wrapped the day before.

Washing her eyes with morning dew, then washing her face, Jin Yin truly felt her eyes were brighter than before, whether it was due to a psychological effect or not.

At this time, in rural Northeast, zongzi were mainly of two types: large-grained yellow millet and glutinous rice. Some had only rice, while others added red dates and red beans. When eaten, they were always dipped in white sugar. The fruit jams Jin Yin made yesterday were not common, let alone savory meat zongzi.

Jin Yin asked around, but found no savory meat zongzi. She regretted forgetting to mention making zongzi with smoked pork hock.

Fortunately, Xi Xi had given her quite a few zongzi with salted egg yolk and smoked pork hock. After returning, she would enjoy them herself.

Besides zongzi, there was also a basin of eggs, including chicken eggs, salted duck eggs, and salted goose eggs.

Jin Yin saw Hua Ai Dang holding a goose egg, smaller than Zhu He Xiang's chicken egg, and bumping it. Both had fair skin, but that little Zhu He Xiang didn't even notice Hua Ai Dang cheating, continuously breaking five chicken eggs. When she was about to take the sixth chicken egg, Zhang Yun slapped her on the back of the head.

"Stop playing! If you break them all, how will we store them?"

Zhu He Xiang licked her lips, regretfully looking at the basin of chicken eggs. Jin Yin suddenly understood; this girl was indeed mischievous. How could she not see that Hua Ai Dang was using a goose egg? She just wanted to break a few more chicken eggs.

Only that foolish Hua Ai Dang was still grinning innocently at his "clever" achievement.

After breakfast, Zhu Lai Fu wanted to lead people up the mountain to pick strawberries. The Hua family, seeing they had nothing to do, also followed.

As soon as they stepped out the door, they heard gunshots echoing from outside. Zhu Lai Fu was startled, shouted for the militia to gather, and then shot off like a gust of wind.