Hearts Are Hard to Read

Beside the path leading from the village to Water Goose Lake stood a small grove.

The grove was not large, roughly the size of three basketball courts. Its irregular shape left a stretch of distance between Water Goose Lake and the village.

At this moment, the villagers were waiting beside the grove.

"Smells so good!"

Suddenly, a villager closed his eyes, twitched his nose, swallowed, and muttered.

The other villagers also sniffed carefully. Sure enough, a fragrance drifted over from afar, one they had never smelled before. Their stomachs began to rumble one after another. They were hungry.

"A-Cheng, do you think those two little brats can really do it?" an older woman asked skeptically.

Though this world had no saying like "a boy without a beard cannot be trusted with work," people still held the same prejudice against the young.

"Should we go take a look?"

"What if they run away?"

"That smell... they aren't making poison. It feels more like they're cooking."

"Could they be planning to eat and run?"

Once the older woman started, many villagers began chattering among themselves.

A-Cheng clenched his fists and said unhappily, "Owl said no one is allowed to go over there. If we go and ruin things, who's taking responsibility?"

Everyone immediately fell silent. No one wanted to take responsibility.

But then, they all looked toward the village chief. An older woman spoke up, "Village Chief, what do you think? Are you really trusting those two little brats?"

"Wait a little longer." The village chief sat on a wooden stool, looking as composed as an old god.

In truth, during the material-gathering stage, many villagers had doubted Owl and Sa's abilities. It was only because A-Cheng and the village chief had stepped forward to support them that the