Everything proceeded according to Yan Qingqing's plan.

The next day, Li Xiang'an brought back the first batch of chicks, about two hundred in total.

Yan Qingqing told Yuan Huiniang to keep the chickens in the old courtyard and said to her, "Have Yueniang take good care of them these next few days. Once the orchard is finished, we can let them roam freely there."

Although Yue Niang is young, she is very opinionated and can complete the tasks assigned to her by Yan Qingqing in a serious manner.

Because he needed to increase the supply of braised offal to restaurants, Li Xiang'an bought five or six sets of pig offal at once. Cleaning pig offal is a tiring job.

Usually, it's the brothers Li Xiang'an and Li Xiangjian who do most of the work.

Now that Li Xiangjian is in charge of building the ecological orchard, he naturally has no time, so Yuan Huiniang and Li Xinniang have no choice but to take over the job, which is their old profession.

Looking at the yard piled high with pig offal, Yuan Huiniang couldn't help but ask, "Second brother, does Yuelaiju add this much at once? I remember three servings of pig offal used to be enough."

Li Xiang'an replied with a smile, "Sister-in-law, we cooperate with more than just Yuelaiju. Tianxianglou and Tongpengzhai have also been asking me to increase the supply."

You said they're all partners, I can't possibly favor one over the other.

My mother said, "Don't look down on a poor young man." The same applies to business partners. If they are the same type of partner, you can't treat them differently just because they order less. Otherwise, your reputation will be ruined over time.

Besides, Tianxianglou and Tongpengzhai are actually quite good; they're among the top restaurants in Chengyang County.

Seeing that Li Xiang'an spoke so eloquently, Yuan Huiniang couldn't help but exclaim, "Second brother is indeed a natural businessman. Look at his awareness, we can't compare to him."

Li Xiang'an replied with a smile, "I'm still far behind my sister and sister-in-law. You've already started building embroidery workshops, and no matter how much money you make, you have about ten people working for you. I'm still all alone, fighting on my own with just an ox."

Li Xin's mother whispered, "That's because you love us. I didn't do anything."

Yuan Huiniang chimed in, "Yes, I feel like I'm incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful mother-in-law in this life."

Sometimes I even wake up laughing from my dreams.

The three siblings chatted as they cleaned the pig offal, and before they knew it, they had finished cleaning several sets of pig offal.

As autumn deepens, the weather grows increasingly cool, even chilly, and the villagers of Canghe Village begin their autumn harvest once again.

This autumn and summer, the harvest was not very good due to the dry weather.

However, the villagers are still full of hope for this autumn harvest, because it is the result of their hard work throughout the season.

Yan Qingqing also attached great importance to it because her family grew two special crops: sweet potatoes and potatoes.

This is a crucial crop that will determine whether the people of the Great Yan Dynasty will have enough to eat in the future. It's not that Yan Qingqing is a saintly figure, nor that she is overly concerned about the country and its people.

Moreover, Yan Qingqing was well aware of the principle of mutual dependence. Since she was born in the Great Yan Kingdom, even if the Great Yan Kingdom was not peaceful and prosperous, at least most of the people could have enough to eat so that she could live in peace and she could make money with peace of mind.

If she had been born in a chaotic era, no matter how much money she earned, she might not have lived to enjoy it.

During the autumn harvest, the whole family pitched in, including the youngest, Li Xiangyang, who went to the fields.

This was Yan Qingqing's idea. The baby was almost two months old and couldn't stay indoors all the time. Plus, the weather was just right, neither too hot nor too cold, with a gentle breeze. Letting Li Xiangyang come out for some fresh air was a good idea.

The little girl is waking up more and more these days, and she sometimes smiles unconsciously, which is very endearing.

Yan Qingqing squatted down in front of a sweet potato seedling and carefully dug away the soil. In just a few strokes, she revealed the sweet potato inside.

Yan Qingqing was secretly pleased to see that the sweet potato was quite large.

Li Xiangping, who was standing nearby, worried that Yan Qingqing would get tired, so he quickly said, "Mom, let me do it. I think this head is quite big."

Yan Qingqing shook her head and said, "No need. I just want to dig one open to see how many sweet potatoes are growing inside. I've already had the blacksmith make special tools so that it will save a lot of effort when I actually dig them up."

Yan Qingqing quickly finished harvesting the sweet potatoes from one vine. Looking at the pile of sweet potatoes in front of her, her old face immediately broke into a wide smile.

This plant has produced quite a lot, with five or six sweet potatoes, and they're all pretty big. Yan Qingqing estimates that this one acre will yield at least 3,000 jin of sweet potatoes.

You have to understand that back then, it wasn't like today where all sorts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides were used, and yields per acre were very high.

In ancient times, crops typically yielded only a few hundred catties (approximately 500 kg), so a yield of 3,000 catties per mu (approximately 0.067 hectares) for sweet potatoes was unprecedented.

Li Xiangping, who was standing nearby, also roughly calculated the yield of one mu of land and said excitedly, "Mother, the yield of sweet potatoes is so high. If every household grows them, the people will never have to go hungry again."

Yan Qingqing nodded and replied, "What you say makes sense, but it's not quite appropriate to go public yet. I'll save these sweet potatoes for planting this year and plant more next year."

"We should report to the government only after we can truly prove that the sweet potato yield is high."

Although the county magistrate was a good official, Yan Qingqing did not dare to act rashly. If she really offended someone, or if someone wanted to steal such a great merit, it was not impossible for them to kill her. Yan Qingqing understood the principle that "a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime."

Li Xiangjian also whispered, "Mom, such a high yield must have taken a lot of credit!"

Yan Qingqing glanced at him and said, "This is just one of them. Have you forgotten that we also grow an acre of sweet potatoes?"

Li Xiangping and Li Xiangjian looked at Yan Qingqing with shining eyes, and then asked in unison, "Mother, can sweet potatoes also yield 3,000 catties per mu?"

Yan Qingqing replied confidently, "Of course not."

The two men breathed a sigh of relief. If both crops could really yield such high yields per acre, their house would truly be like a treasure trove.

Seeing their expressions, Yan Qingqing said jokingly, "But I estimate it's still around two thousand jin."

Upon hearing this, both of them widened their eyes simultaneously. Two thousand jin was quite a lot.

Yan Qingqing seemed to think that wasn't shocking enough, and then added, "These two crops not only have high yields, but the food made from them is also quite delicious."

Sweet potatoes can be roasted, boiled, or added to porridge. They can also be further processed into sweet potato noodles or sweet potato balls.

This sweet potato can be used as a staple food or as a side dish.

Dishes like roasted taro, spicy and sour shredded taro, fried taro chips, and fried taro strips are all incredibly delicious.

Yan Qingqing not only made Li Xiangping and Li Xiangjian craving food, but she herself also became craving food.

After all, they had never eaten these things and didn't know what they tasted like, but Yan Qingqing had definitely eaten them before.

Li Xiangping looked at Yan Qingqing with admiration and said, "Mother, how do you know so much?"

Yan Qingqing glanced at him and calmly replied, "I always advise you to study more, but you just won't listen."

Li Xiangping scratched his head and stopped talking. He really had no interest in studying, and he couldn't keep up with the lessons his mother was giving him.