Chapter Forty-Six: Dried Sweet Potatoes

Zhang Liuyi was quickly taking stock of the stall's equipment: two large pots, a wooden bucket for holding porridge, a stack of stools, and a thick mat sewn by Aunt Feng.

In the kitchen, the pot of pork liver and goji berry porridge was almost cooked, the aroma of rice mixed with the subtle sweetness of pork liver and goji berries.

"Watch out! Are you home?" Aunt Feng's voice came from outside the courtyard gate.

Zhang Liuyi put down the stack of rough pottery bowls he was holding and opened the door in response.

Aunt Feng was standing at the door carrying a heavy earthenware basin. Inside the basin were several dark brown lotus root segments that exuded a strong, sweet fragrance of osmanthus. Next to her was a bulging burlap sack.

"Aunt Feng, what's going on?" Zhang Yiwu asked, somewhat surprised.

"Here, I just steamed some sweet osmanthus lotus root."

Without saying a word, Aunt Feng shoved the ceramic basin into Zhang Liuli's hands.

"I added some osmanthus flowers when I was making the syrup yesterday. It smells so good. I thought you like sweet things, so I quickly brought some over for you to try."

She patted the large sack next to her again: "And these dried sweet potatoes, the ones I dried in your yard last time, I thought they weren't dry enough and might not keep, so I steamed them again and dried them thoroughly. They're so sweet! There are so many left, our family can't finish them all. You can take them, give the kids at the stall a snack, or have them chew on at home."

The earthenware pot was warm, and the sweet aroma of the candied lotus root filled the air. The burlap sack looked quite substantial.

Zhang Yili quickly declined, saying, "Oh, Aunt Feng, this is not allowed! You should keep the candied lotus root for Shuanzi and the others. The dried sweet potatoes are also precious. You can keep them for yourselves and eat them slowly. How can I possibly eat so many?"

"Take it, why are you being so polite with me!"

Aunt Feng pretended to put on a stern face: "The tripe and lung soup you had Zixiang bring last time was so delicious! Shuanzi's father ate three bowls and still wanted more! Neighbors should give and take to each other, that's what friendship is all about. If you don't accept it, do you think my cooking is too rough?"

"Aunt Feng, what are you saying? Who in the village doesn't praise your skills?"

Zhang Liuyi was both amused and exasperated; she was finding it hard to resist Aunt Feng's enthusiasm.

Seeing that Aunt Feng was adamant, she had a sudden idea and turned to call into the house, "Brother Zixiang, Brother Zixiang! Quickly, go to the kitchen and bring out the bowl of steamed pork with glutinous rice and lotus root that Auntie specially saved for us yesterday!"

Upon hearing the sound, Xiong Zixiang came out and quickly brought out a large bowl covered with a covered bowl. When he lifted the bowl, he found several large pieces of steamed pork with glutinous rice and lotus root, neatly arranged and glossy red, with a fragrant aroma.

Yesterday, Aunt Wang specially gave Zhang Liuji the leftovers, which made Zhang Liuji quite jealous. He felt that his mother doted on Zhang Liuji more, and then he got a slap on the forehead from Aunt Wang.

"Aunt Feng, look, this was made by my aunt. It has lots of meat. Take it home and add it to your family's meal." Zhang Xiaoli handed the bowl to Aunt Feng.

When Aunt Feng saw that it was a meat dish, she waved her hands and stepped back, saying, "Oh dear, this won't do! Meat is so precious, how can I take this? You should take it back!"

Zhang Liuyi also deliberately put on a stern face and imitated Aunt Feng's unreasonable tone.

"Auntie, if that's how you put it, then I don't want your things. If you're going to argue with me about this meat and lotus root, how are we supposed to maintain our neighborly relationship? You can take them back, or I'll return your candied lotus root and dried sweet potato to you too!"

He pretended to push the basin and sack in his hand back.

Aunt Feng was speechless at Zhang Xiaoyi's cleverness in mimicking others. Looking at Zhang Xiaoyi's expression and then at the tempting bowl of meat and vegetables in Xiong Zixiang's hand, she could only laugh awkwardly.

"You silly girl... fine, fine, I can't resist you! I'll take it, I'll take it, okay?"

She took the bowl of meat, muttering, "Don't do this again next time..."

After seeing off Aunt Feng, who kept turning back to complain about how much money she had spent, Zhang looked at the large bowl of sweet lotus root covered in broth and the heavy sack of dried sweet potatoes in his hands and couldn't help but feel troubled.

Candied lotus root is easy to handle, but Xiao Nan'er, that little glutton, can't resist sweets. These few pieces of candied lotus root probably won't last more than two days.

But this sack of dried sweet potatoes... even if we eat it all ourselves, we might not be able to finish it even if we choke.

Selling them as snacks at a stall? A small handful for a penny? That'll take forever to sell.

Just as I was worrying, Li Xiulan came over, urging Dazhuang along with a cart.

Seeing the gift in front of Zhang Yi, he was also taken aback: "Oh, who sent this? This gift is quite substantial."

Zhang Liuyi smiled helplessly: "It was given to me by Aunt Feng's family. I really can't refuse it. Never mind for now, getting to my stall is the priority!"

On the dock, the chill of late autumn was even more intense.

Li Xiulan's pork belly soup pot was as popular as ever, with its milky white broth bubbling away. After drinking a bowl of this hot soup, one would immediately break out in a sweat, dispelling the chill from one's body. The three coins were well spent.

In contrast, the pork liver and goji berry congee pot that Zhang noticed looked rather deserted.

Although it was steaming hot, with the aroma of rice, the savory fragrance of pork liver, and the sweet scent of goji berries all blended together, and smelled and looked appealing, not many people bought it.

Occasionally, someone will come to buy it, mostly because of its reputation for brightening the eyes, to bring a bowl home for the elderly in the family or for children with eye problems.

Very few able-bodied men actually sit down at the stall and spend three coins to have a bowl of soup for breakfast.

"Young lady, a bowl of porridge, please!" A regular customer rubbed his hands together and handed over three coins.

Zhang Liuyi deftly ladled out a bowl of thick, sticky pork liver porridge and handed it over.

The man, carrying his bowl, sat down next to Li Xiulan's companion who was buying soup from her pot, and began slurping it down.

Zhang watched with a heavy heart. Her pork liver and goji berry porridge was made with high-quality ingredients, costing significantly more than plain porridge, yet it was priced at three coins, resulting in a very thin profit margin.

The main consumers of the soup would rather spend three coins to drink a more filling and flavorful tripe and lung soup than spend the same amount of money to try this new option.

It seems that this eye-catching sign has limited appeal in a place like the dock where people mainly rely on physical labor for sustenance.

What people appreciate most is the genuine warmth and the satisfying taste.

It was past noon, and the crowds on the dock had thinned out considerably.

Li Xiulan's side also had some free time, and she was tidying up and wiping the edge of the soup pot.

She turned her head and saw Zhang Xiaoli staring blankly at her pot of pork liver porridge, looking lost in thought. She couldn't help but ask, "Yi-jie, what are you thinking about? You look so worried."

Zhang Yi didn't hear, his mind racing: cost... pig liver... three copper coins... dried sweet potato...

"Sister Yi!" Li Xiulan raised her voice.

"Huh?" Zhang Yili snapped back to reality. "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"

"I'm asking you, what are you spacing out for? The fire's gone out!" Li Xiulan pointed to her pot of porridge, which was gradually losing its steam.

Zhang looked at the porridge pot, and an idea formed in her mind.

Her eyes suddenly lit up, the worry on her face vanished, and she even showed a hint of excitement.

"Sister-in-law! I've got an idea! Wait for me!"

Without saying a word, she quickly started packing up her stall, closing up half an hour earlier than usual.

Li Xiulan was completely bewildered by her hurried manner: "Hey? Where are you going? Aren't you going to sell out of porridge?"

"Take the porridge back with me, I have a very important use for it!"

Zhang Yili moved swiftly, carefully pouring the remaining porridge back into the wooden bucket and covering it. He then quickly put away the pots and pans, jumped onto the cart, and called out, "Sister-in-law, let's go! Dazhuang, let's go!"

Li Xiulan looked at her and shook her head helplessly: "This girl, she's so unpredictable, what's she thinking about today?" But she still followed her and got into the oxcart.

Zhang Liuyi practically rushed home, driving the oxcart.

After settling Dazhuang in, she rushed into the kitchen and pulled out the large sack of dried sweet potatoes that Aunt Feng had given her.

Upon opening the bag, the deep orange-red, dry and chewy sweet potato chips exude a natural sweet aroma.

She scooped out a large bowl, placed it on the cutting board, and picked up the sharp kitchen knife from her home.

"Tap tap tap tap tap..."

The blade moved up and down rapidly, in a dense and swift motion.

She cut the tough dried sweet potatoes into thin, even strips.

This job requires a bit of skill and patience. Dried sweet potatoes are not as easy to cut as fresh sweet potatoes, but Zhang is quick and skillful, and soon cut out a small pile of orange-red sweet potato shreds.

Then, she cleaned the large pot where she had cooked porridge that morning and started the fire again.

She added an appropriate amount of water to the pot, poured in the still-warm pork liver and goji berry congee base she had brought back that morning, and added some freshly rinsed rice. Once the water boiled and the rice grains were bubbling, she dumped in all the shredded sweet potatoes.

The bright orange sweet potato shreds tumbled in the milky white rice porridge, gradually softening.

Zhang Yili stirred it gently with a large spoon.

She didn't add sugar or anything else, relying solely on the natural sweetness of the dried sweet potatoes.

Keep the heat at medium and let the porridge simmer slowly, allowing the sweet potato shreds to gradually infuse the rice water with their sweetness.

As it simmers, a fragrant aroma of grains wafts from the pot, a mild and sweet flavor.

The color of the porridge also changed from milky white to a light, warm orange. The sweet potato shreds were cooked until soft and tender, almost blending into the rice grains.

Zhang Liuyi took a small bite.

The rice grains have bloomed, the porridge is thick and smooth, and the sweetness of the sweet potato is fully released.

Just the right amount of sweetness, not cloying, with a natural aftertaste.

It's done!

She felt a surge of joy.

At dinner time, people from both the Zhang and Xiong families gathered in the main room of the Zhang family's house.

Besides the usual meals, the most eye-catching thing on the table was the two large bowls of steaming sweet potato porridge in the middle, emitting an enticing sweet aroma.

The porridge is a warm, light orange-yellow color with a thick consistency, and it's dotted with shredded sweet potatoes that's almost melted in the water, making it look incredibly appetizing.

"Come on, everyone, have a taste. Keep an eye on this new concoction and see if it's good," Li Xiulan said, serving each person a large bowl.

Little Nan'er was already too tempted to sit still by the sweet aroma. She took her small bowl, eagerly scooped up a spoonful, and put it in her mouth: "Whoosh... hot! Sweet! Delicious!"

He blew air into the bowl and mumbled incoherently, chewing rapidly with his little mouth. He couldn't stop, and the bowl of porridge was quickly emptied. He then held up the small bowl for more.

"Auntie, more! Sweet porridge!"

The adults also tried some.

"Mmm, it smells good, sweet, but not cloying." Zhang Dashan smacked his lips and nodded in praise.

"It's a good idea to cut these dried sweet potatoes into shreds and cook them into porridge. It saves on sugar and the taste is just right!" Zhang Liuji also thought it was a good idea.

Xiong Zixiang didn't say anything, but judging from how quickly he was asking for a second bowl, you could tell that the porridge suited his taste perfectly.

She got up and served Xiong Zixiang a large bowl of porridge. Xiong Zixiang pulled her to sit next to him and fed her with a spoon. They shared the bowl of porridge together.

Most of the others couldn't bear to watch the newlywed couple, so they ate their porridge faster, blowing on it and slurping it down.

Li Xiulan felt full after finishing her bowl of water. She looked at her younger sister and laughed, "Take note, you're really quick-witted. The dried sweet potatoes that Aunt Feng just gave you have come in very handy."

Mrs. Song sat at the table holding her baby, who hadn't yet learned to feed himself. The baby showed little interest in the food, so Mrs. Song patiently scooped some rice cereal with a small spoon and coaxed, "Baby, be good, open your mouth, ah..."

Xiao Bao twisted his little head, closed his little mouth tightly, and looked resistant.

Seeing this, Xiong Zijuan also came over to help coax, "Little Bao, look at Mommy drinking porridge, it smells so good!"

She deliberately exaggeratedly took a sip of her sweet potato porridge.

Just then, Xiao Bao's big, bright eyes were suddenly drawn to the spoonful of orange-yellow, fragrant-looking sweet potato porridge in Xiong Zijuan's bowl.

He pointed his chubby little finger at Xiong Zijuan's bowl and made a "Ah...ha..." sound.

Xiong Zijuan paused for a moment, then tentatively scooped a little bit of sweet potato porridge from her own bowl with a spoon, blew on it, and brought it to Xiaobao's mouth.

Just moments ago, the little one had been pursing his lips and resisting the rice cereal, but now he had opened his mouth and taken the spoon in.

He swallowed the mouthful of sweet-smelling porridge, and then, surprisingly, he opened his mouth towards the spoon and made "hmm" sounds to urge it on, as if he wanted to drink more.

"Oh my goodness!" Xiong Zijuan was both surprised and delighted, and quickly fed him another spoonful.

Xiao Bao ate with great relish, smacking his lips, showing no sign of crying or fussing.

"Hey, that's strange!"

Even Xiong Zixiang, who usually has a cold face, couldn't help but laugh: "This little rascal, feeding him porridge is usually like a battle, but he's so well-behaved today?"

Xiong Zijuan smiled too: "It seems Xiaobao also likes his aunt's sweet porridge, doesn't he?"

While feeding the little baby who was eating happily, Song laughed and joked.

"Alright, now I know. My little Bao is a glutton too, just like his brother Nan'er. He only likes sweet flavors. This sweet potato porridge that your aunt makes is really good at satisfying him!"

She looked at Zhang Liuyi beside her son, her eyes full of smiles.