RPAGF Chapter 182 Tasting Sweet Potatoes Together
Chapter 182 Tasting Sweet Potatoes Together
The other villagers continued, "That's right. When we came to pick the sweet potato seedlings, you didn't ask us for money! We just helped dig the sweet potatoes, how could we charge you for it?"
"Yes, we'll need Wan Ning's help in teaching us how to grow seedlings in the future! In rural areas, helping each other is common. We can't measure everything by money."
After hearing what the villagers said, Shen Wanning no longer insisted.
"Everyone is tired today, so why don't we eat steamed sweet potatoes in the evening. However, most of these sweet potatoes will be handed over to the county or Fuzhou for use in seedling cultivation next year. So we can't eat too much today. Just take out a part and let everyone have a taste." Shen Wanning suggested.
"Okay, we just want to taste it, no need to steam too much." The village head replied.
Because there were too many people, everyone helped to wash and cut the sweet potatoes together.
Finally, they requisitioned the large steamers that the refugees used to steam buns, and steamed about 100 kilograms of sweet potatoes to ensure that everyone had a piece.
Everyone stood at the door waiting for the sweet potatoes, afraid of missing out. Most people would occasionally look into the steamer to see if the sweet potatoes were cooked.
After about twenty minutes, the sweet potatoes were steamed. Shen Wanning asked them to wash their hands one by one and go to the steamer to get the sweet potatoes to eat.
Except for one or two people who don't like sweet potatoes, everyone else likes them, whether they are old or young.
After eating the sweet potatoes, everyone went home satisfied. Many villagers said that they must plant more sweet potatoes next year. These sweet potatoes are much better than rice. They are sweet and don't need to be eaten with vegetables.
The villagers were still not satisfied, but they knew that the remaining sweet potatoes would be very useful, so they didn't ask for more and each person only ate one piece.
When only half of the villagers had left, Lin Jingcheng came back driving a horse-drawn carriage.
As soon as he got off the carriage, he saw Captain Yan and another constable at home. He asked curiously, "Captain Yan, why are you and this young man here at my house? And there are so many uncles here, what are they doing here?"
Captain Yan pointed to the uneaten sweet potatoes and said, "Brother Lin, these are steamed sweet potatoes. Come and try them. They came to help dig out all the sweet potatoes this afternoon, so Wan Ning steamed some for them to try as a thank you."
"Sweet potatoes? You dug them up so quickly? I'll take the horse to the backyard first and come out to taste them later."
"Well, not for now. Could you please ask Brother Lin Er to take us to the county town? The sweet potato yield per mu is as high as more than 5,000 kilograms. We want to go back to the county town as soon as possible to report the good news to the county magistrate." asked Captain Yan.
"Okay! That's no problem. I'll put the carriage at the door first and feed the horses some water and fodder later." Lin Jingcheng responded while going to the well to wash his hands.
Influenced by Shen Wanning, the whole family is now accustomed to washing hands before eating.
After washing his hands, Lin Jingcheng took a piece of sweet potato directly with his hands and praised it after eating it.
Captain Yan and Constable Zhao stayed for dinner, and Lin Jingcheng escorted them back to the county town. On the carriage was a bag of sweet potatoes.
This is what they brought back for County Magistrate He to inspect and taste.
Guessing that County Magistrate He would send someone over, Shen Wanning did not go to the county town the next day, but waited in the village for the person sent by County Magistrate He.
It was almost lunchtime when the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the door. Shen Wanning sat in the yard and looked outside.
There was a carriage in front, followed by a group of officials. It seemed that all the officials had arrived, with Captain Yan leading the way.
Such a grand event attracted many villagers to stop and watch.
Captain Yan dismounted and bowed towards the carriage, saying, "Sir, we have arrived at the Lin family."
Shen Wanning was surprised for a moment, it turned out that it was County Magistrate He who came in person.
She quickly shouted towards the kitchen, "Dad, Mom, eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, the county magistrate is here."
Lin Dashan was tinkering with carpentry in the yard, Aunt Zhang and Xu were busy in the kitchen, and Wen was breastfeeding the baby in the room.
Hearing Shen Wanning's shout, everyone came out and stood in the yard.
Shen Wanning was the first to go out and greet him, "Greetings, His Excellency the County Magistrate."
As soon as he finished speaking, County Magistrate He waved his hand to signal her to get up, then looked inside the carriage, "Zhenzhen, come out!"
He Zhenzhen lifted the door curtain and saw Shen Wanning's face. She happily called out, "Sister Shen."
"Zhenzhen, why are you here too?" Having met each other many times, she and He Zhenzhen were no longer as unfamiliar as before, so she called her by her nickname directly.
"I've been stuck in the mansion for a long time. My father told me that he would come to Daqing Village to see you today, so I begged him to take me with him." He Zhenzhen replied after jumping off the carriage.
This jump frightened County Magistrate He so much that he quickly supported her and scolded her lightly, "Look at you, you don't act like a girl at all. You jumped off the carriage, and you're not afraid of hurting your feet."
He Zhenzhen smiled mischievously, "No, when Daddy is not around, I always jump down like this."
"Yaohong failed to protect her master. When I get home, I will definitely scold her." County Magistrate He threatened.
He Zhenzhen stuck out her tongue and said nothing.
At this time, the rest of the Lin family came over, knelt on the ground, and bowed respectfully, "Greetings, Your Excellency the County Magistrate."
"Get up! I came here today to see whether the yield of those sweet potatoes is really as high as more than 5,000 kilograms as Captain Yan said." County Magistrate He said gently.
Aunt Zhang said enthusiastically, "Of course it's true. We knew Lord He would send someone today, so we left the sweet potatoes in the yard and didn't take them in."
Shen Wanning invited, "Sir, please come in and have a cup of tea first. We will take you to see it later."
"No need for that. I'd better go look at the sweet potatoes first!"
Shen Wanning and the others led County Magistrate He to the yard and displayed the sweet potatoes that had been bagged yesterday in front of County Magistrate He.
"Sir, these are all the sweet potatoes. We ate about 100 kilograms last night, and there are more than 5,000 kilograms left." Shen Wanning introduced.
"When you told me that, I thought you were exaggerating. I never thought this one acre of land could yield so many sweet potatoes. If we had discovered sweet potatoes before, so many people wouldn't have died in this drought."
Through the compassionate eyes of County Magistrate He, Shen Wanning seemed to see corpses everywhere.
She then sighed, "The dead are gone. I only hope that everyone in my Great Xia Dynasty can have enough to eat and wear warm clothes in the future."
"Miss Shen has done a great job. From discovering cassava and encouraging everyone to dig cassava to planting sweet potatoes now, these are all great contributions to our Daxia. I will report it truthfully to the court." County Magistrate He still smiled gently.
"Speaking of which, since I came to Qinghe County, my contribution to the people is not as good as Miss Shen's. If it weren't for Miss Shen, I really don't know what to do." County Magistrate He praised again.