"But wasn't last year's heavy snowfall enough?"

"Not at all. Spring planting is just around the corner, and what to plant is crucial. Let's prepare for the worst first. Sigh, we've only had a few days of peace and quiet."

Zhang Hongmei fell silent, mainly because she didn't know what to say.

"Mistress, did you call me?"

"Yes, sit on the kang. Hongmei, why don't you talk to your third uncle?"

"Uncle, I had a dream all night last night. It was something like there would be a drought for the next few years. I don't know what's going on. I was scared, so I talked about it with Grandma."

“Mao Cai, I think you need to take this seriously. In previous years, there would be several snowfalls before and after the New Year, but this year there was only one. This is related to the food and drink of our entire village.” The old lady had suffered all her life and her greatest fear was going hungry.

“Second wife, I really didn’t notice this. I went to a meeting the day before yesterday, and they said that we need to plant wheat and corn on a large scale this year. If there is a real drought, we can’t plant either of them because they are not drought-resistant. If we don’t plant them, I guess the township’s technical station and agricultural machinery will also stop working.”

"What I mean is, don't plant it. Go ring the bell later and we can all discuss it together. Also, don't say it was Hongmei who dreamed about it; just say that the weather this year is abnormal."

“Okay, I understand. Our village has a total of over 1,400 mu of land, of which 200 mu are mountainous and 500 mu are barren fields. We can grow sweet potatoes and sorghum on these. As for the remaining 800 mu, we’ll decide whether to harvest the winter wheat and plant sweet potatoes, corn, or sorghum later.”

“Okay, that’s settled. Your uncle will be back in a bit. You two can discuss it first. As for the township’s call to action, let’s ignore it for now. If all else fails, we can use sweet potatoes to make up for it.”

"The township probably won't agree to such a large quantity."

"Even if we don't work, we'll still go hungry when we don't get the harvest. We have to keep as much wheat as possible after the wheat harvest this year, or we'll have to pay the fine."

Zhang Hongmei then realized that the old lady had to make the final decision on important matters in the village, which was truly remarkable.

"Mom, why did you call me back in such a hurry?" Liu Changhe also returned.

Seeing that there was nothing else for her to do, Zhang Hongmei wanted to go home. "Grandma, I'm going home now."

"Go ahead. Don't overthink it."

"Okay. I understand." There's nothing I can do even if I just let my imagination run wild.

Zhang Hongmei didn't know what the three people in the room were talking about, but she quickly went home, guessing that Er Ya had already arrived.

Liu Erya, who was standing at the door, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Zhang Hongmei. "Hongmei, where did you go?"

I went to my great-grandmother's house. Sorry, Sister Er Ya, I forgot the time.

"What's wrong with waiting a little longer? I'm just worried because I don't know what you're doing."

"Don't worry about me. Don't worry about me if anything happens in the future." Zhang Hongmei made a strong gesture.

The two returned to their room to study. When they heard the bell, Zhang Hongmei told Er Ya what had happened. She said that there was no point in them going to do anything about it, so they should just go about their business.

At noon, Zhang Hongmei steamed rice, stir-fried shredded potatoes, and fried a bowl of scallion eggs.

"Hongmei, you're eating too well! What will you eat next?"

"Sister Er Ya, you don't understand, do you? Isn't the point of living to eat? Why be so stingy? If you want to eat well, work hard to earn it yourself. You can't let your mouth and body suffer."

Seeing Liu Erya deep in thought, Zhang Hongmei felt a sense of accomplishment, realizing she had been fooled.

After two days of discussion, the village decided to plant more sweet potatoes. As for what to plant next after the winter wheat harvest, that will depend on the actual situation.

Liu Maocai had to withstand pressure from above. Some villagers could understand and sympathize with him, while others were indeed unwilling, but with the old lady and Liu Changhe in charge, they dared not speak out against it.

Now that the decision has been made, we're getting ready to start cooking sweet potatoes. If the team doesn't have enough sweet potatoes, we'll collect them from each household and cook them all together. Each household will go to the team to collect their own sweet potato.

Zhang Hongmei brought the sweet potatoes out of the cellar, keeping only one-fifth and handing over the rest.

Some people tried to shirk their responsibilities and didn't want to pay, so Wang Hongxi and the accountant simply recorded the amount each household paid in the ledger. You only received the amount of seedlings you paid. This made the shirkers behave and they paid a second time.

Since she could get the sweet potato seedlings, there was no need to rush. However, she still wanted to build a sweet potato shed in the yard so she could plant them on the mountain later. So Zhang Hongmei participated in the whole process of building the sweet potato shed, and when she got home, she set it up herself and actually managed to build it.

In the sunny spot of the front yard, dig out a plot of land about the size of two vegetable beds and two shovelfuls deep. Then, make ridges around the pit, just like vegetable beds.

This created a pit, and the sweet potatoes were placed one by one inside. Zhang Hongmei even went to a sandpit a few miles outside the village to fetch some sand, but she only went once to make it look like a sandpit; the rest she brought back using her storage ring. She really knew how to make the most of everything. Finally, she covered the sweet potatoes with sand.

Willow branches are inserted horizontally on the ridge, with the spacing between the branches roughly the width of the plastic film. Their purpose is to support the plastic film.

The sweet potato trough was now ready. Zhang Hongmei would water it every day, adding a spring watering agent to the water. This made the sweet potato vines grow much better than those in the village. So, whenever it was Li Cuihua's turn to water the sweet potatoes, Zhang Hongmei would secretly add a drop to the bucket as well.

In Kaihua, with the soil moist, Liu Maocai and Wang Hongxi led everyone to build sweet potato ridges, while the ridges for their own family plots were the responsibility of the older children.

There were only three old oxen in the village, and they were slow. Besides, the terraced fields on the mountain were not suitable for oxen to plow. So the able-bodied men all picked up hoes and started building ridges.

Zhang Hongmei also wanted to join the ridge-making team, but she was not strong enough, so Liu Maocai told her not to start working yet, and of course, she wouldn't get any work points.

Liu Erya has already taken leave from school. After finishing her own chores, she came to help Zhang Hongmei. The two girls finished preparing the sweet potato ridges for one acre of land in two days.

Zhang Hongmei didn't want to plant sweet potatoes in the yard anymore, so she planted potatoes instead. Planting potatoes also requires making ridges, and the ridges should be wider than those for sweet potatoes. Li Cuihua demonstrated one ridge, and Zhang Hongmei made the rest herself. She spent two days working on half an acre of land in the backyard by herself.

Lying in bed, looking at my hands covered in blisters, I felt an intense pain. Being a farmer was exhausting. But the thought of my life being in danger made me lose my temper. I had to keep going!

We still need to choose potato seeds tomorrow. The next day, Liu Erya arrived early. The two of them studied first, mainly because Zhang Hongmei was giving Liu Erya a test.

At noon, the two ate cornbread made with pumpkin and cornmeal, and since there was no cabbage, they ate pickled vegetables. They also each drank a bowl of goat milk.

In the afternoon, the two of them worked together to bring potatoes up from the cellar and then selected and cut them into pieces in the yard.

The potatoes selected must have a smooth surface and must not have sprouted.

When potatoes are harvested in autumn, Xiaohongmei selects the best ones and puts them in the cellar, so they can all be used as seeds.

Place it on the square table, find a broken board, and Liu Erya cuts it into pieces.