Shuiqing's family planted nine mu of fields and fifty mu of land with potatoes.

We didn't have this many acres of land when we divided the family property; this land was reclaimed after the last exchange of labor for crops.

After the family split up, houses were built, kudzu, he shou wu, and fruit trees were planted on the mountain, livestock were raised, fields were cultivated, and even the land was gradually reclaimed and the acreage increased.

The other six households in the village grow potatoes on about the same acreage as her family.

Her family consists of only eight people, most of whom are children.

Relying on their own harvest of fifty or sixty acres of potatoes, who knows when that will be?

Therefore, her family needs to hire someone.

Shanshui Village has 34 households, with more than 400 people of all ages. After deducting the six households that planted potatoes, who have to harvest their own potatoes first, there are still 20 to 30 households left.

Their example of six households is practically a living advertisement.

It was incredibly easy for Shui Qingzhao to help the villagers harvest potatoes.

And none of them wanted copper coins, only potatoes—to keep as seeds.

They found out that another batch could be planted in September, and as long as they could plant, there was hope.

With the right people chosen, Shuiqing's potatoes are ready for harvest.

Some people were given hoes and rakes and were only responsible for digging;

They picked up some potatoes and put them one by one into baskets or sacks.

The remaining people were responsible for hauling the packed potatoes back to the warehouse on carts and arranging them properly.

Basket after basket, sack after sack, lined up in long rows on the narrow paths between the fields. They were first moved to the main road, loaded onto carts and wheelbarrows, and then transported back.

When Bai Manshan, Li Huyu, and Bai Ziqian arrived in their carriage, they were met with a long, winding line of vehicles that seemed to stretch endlessly.

Bai Ziqian was overjoyed and exclaimed excitedly, "It must be Aunt Shuiqing's!"

Li Huyu was born in a small fishing village. Her village was good at fishing, but not good at farming, and there wasn't much land for them to cultivate.

She asked her husband, "What crops are ready to be harvested at this time of year?"

The Bai family are large-scale farmers with hundreds or even thousands of acres of land. Why does my husband say that it's the off-season for farming now and that we can come and stay at Shuiqing's house for a while?

Bai Manshan frowned, quickly going through the grain harvested in June in his mind, when suddenly a thought flashed through his mind, "Is it that... potato stuff?"

Looking at the quantity, he began to have doubts: Brother Jin said his family only had a few acres of fertile land, twenty or thirty acres, but the yield and the number of acres didn't match up.

However, they might have been in a good position; they were responsible for collecting the goods a few days ago, and today they're only responsible for transporting them home, so it seems like there's a lot...

As soon as Bai Ziqian jumped off the carriage, he shouted loudly towards the people outside the courtyard gate, "Auntie! Uncle Fan!"

Shui Qing and Fan Jin looked up and saw Bai Ziqian's family, who had been stopped by the convoy. They exclaimed with delight, "We've finally waited for you!"

They were terrified that if there were torrential rains or chaos in the world, they might not see each other for several years!

Li Huyu strode over and said cheerfully, "What's there to be afraid of? Are you afraid we won't see each other again?"

Bai Manshan understood the hidden meaning in their words.

He looked at Fan Jin, who silently nodded.

Shuiqing handed over the potato harvesting work to Lingran, and the two of them invited Li Huyu and Bai Manshan to the tea room for a cup of hot tea.

As for Bai Ziqian, he was like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins. He never stopped going to the teahouse for tea, and he was always running around outside, playing wildly with Dajiang and Dahe.

After driving the carriage into the courtyard, Bai Manshan passed it from the carriage to the frame, while Li Huyu stood beside the carriage and carried it out.

"Shuiqing, this is the fish maw you asked me to bring before. It's dried really well! Look at it."

"This is dried fish; I only brought one sack."

"These are tiny shrimp. Don't be fooled by the fact that there's only half a sack of them; we probably won't be able to finish them all in a year!"

...

Shui Qing and Fan Jin felt they had brought too many gifts.

The last box that Bai Manshan carried seemed particularly heavy; he had to bend over and hunch his back for quite a while before he could move it out.