Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Han Yiyi's words. Aunt Zhang, who was standing to the side, looked at the sweet potatoes that covered about half an acre in front of her and spoke up.
"Han girl, since everyone's here today, let's dig out all your sweet potatoes together, and we can also dig a cellar for your family while we're at it. That way, you two won't have to lift a finger," everyone chimed in when they heard Aunt Zhang say this.
“Yes, Han girl, Young Master Yun doesn’t do farm work either. If you were to dig by yourself, it would take you days. We’re taking advantage of the large number of people here today to dig it together…”
Upon hearing everyone's words, Han Yi quickly expressed her gratitude.
"Thank you so much everyone! Here's what we'll do: everyone help me dig up some sweet potatoes, and I'll steam some for you to try first. When you leave, you can also take some home to eat!"
Almost every household sent people to see what sweet potatoes actually looked like, and also to see how to dig them up. With so many people coming, the work was done very quickly.
The land was only about half an acre in total, and everyone was busy digging sweet potatoes and digging cellars.
While they were digging enthusiastically, Han Yiyi's steamed sweet potatoes were ready. To make them cook faster, Han Yiyi chose some small ones, so that everyone could have one, which made it convenient to eat.
Han Yiyi carried the steamed sweet potatoes to the edge of the field and called out, "Everyone, stop for a moment and come over to taste these sweet potatoes."
Everyone's mouths were already watering from the aroma wafting in the air, and now that they heard Han Yiyi's call, they quickly put down their farm tools and gathered around.
One of the boys, seeing this, couldn't wait to reach out and grab one, only to be burned so badly that he kept switching hands, which caused everyone to burst into laughter. The adults next to him saw this and couldn't help but laugh and scold him.
"You glutton..."
At first, everyone was a little embarrassed, but when they saw the village chief take one, they all stepped forward and took one each.
One bite, and everyone's eyes lit up.
"This, this, could it be that sugar was added? How come it's so sweet?"
"Yes, it's sweet and soft. I, I have never eaten anything so delicious before."
Praises erupted one after another, and the village chief, who was eating nearby, nodded in agreement.
Seeing how much everyone loves sweet potatoes, Han Yi felt a great sense of accomplishment. She had just eaten one herself, and it was indeed sweet and sticky.
The village chief swallowed the sweet potato in his mouth before speaking.
"These sweet potatoes have a high yield and are easy to grow, so we can plant more next year. Plus, the sweet potato leaves can be cooked and eaten, so nothing is wasted. With this, we'll never have to worry about going hungry again..."
The villagers nodded in agreement, as if they could already see the good days to come.
After eating the sweet potatoes, everyone seemed to have even more energy, and the cellar was dug in less than half an hour.
Because Han Yiyi was planning to start making some sweet potato noodles in the next few days, she did not put all the sweet potatoes into the cellar.
As the sweet potatoes were placed into the cellar one by one, everyone's face was filled with a happy smile, after all, these little sweet potatoes gave them new hope for their future life.
As everyone was leaving, Han Yiyi told them to take some home to steam for dinner. They were initially a little embarrassed, but seeing Han Yiyi's firm attitude, they reluctantly accepted it.
Although they all had sweet potatoes at home, they all wanted to let them grow a few more days. After all, Han Yiyi had said that as long as they were all dug up before the end of October, they could grow even bigger if they were allowed to grow a few more days.
After everyone took them back, they cooked and ate them that very night, so much so that the air throughout Zhushan Village was filled with the unique sweet aroma of sweet potatoes.
Han Yiyi loves sweet potatoes, whether they are steamed, boiled, or roasted. However, besides these ways of eating them, Han Yiyi's favorite is sweet potato porridge.
That kind of porridge doesn't need rice. Instead, you cut sweet potatoes into small pieces, put them in cold water and cook them together. After the sweet potatoes are cooked, you thicken it with a small amount of cornstarch, bring it to a boil again, and it's ready to drink. The porridge cooked this way is fragrant and sweet, and it feels very comfortable in your stomach. Ah! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
Moreover, this porridge tastes even better when cooked in this kind of wood-fired earthen stove. So Han Yiyi decided to cook this porridge for dinner that night, and then put a few small sweet potatoes under the stove fire to roast. That would be her dinner for tonight.
Meanwhile, two men in black, who had come to Zhushan Village to gather intelligence, were wafting a sweet aroma they had never smelled before from the village below. They were hiding in the back mountain and swallowing hard.
"What, what is this thing? How can it smell so sweet?"
The man in black standing to the side swallowed hard when he heard his companion's question before shaking his head and speaking.
"I don't know, I haven't smelled it either. Let's wait a bit, then we'll go down and take a look..."
"Didn't the Dongli people say that there's no food left in the entire Beichen region? How come the dinner smells so sweet in this remote little mountain village?"
"The Dongli people have always been cunning. Their goal is to join forces with our Nan Jing to attack Bei Chen. We cannot believe everything they say, otherwise our national army would not have sent us to investigate the situation..."
It turned out that Dongli was unwilling to accept defeat, and because of that crushing defeat, he was powerless to continue attacking Beichen. So he thought of instigating Nan Jing to launch an attack on Beichen together.
Furthermore, the envoy from Dongli told his king: "Beichen's army was already weakened by the previous war, and it also suffered from floods a few days ago. As a result, the entire Beichen is now without food. If we send troops now, we will surely inflict heavy damage on Beichen and take it into our hands. Then, the land of Beichen can be divided equally between the two countries."
The King of Nan Jing was naturally tempted by the envoy's words about bringing Bei Chen under his control, but he was still wary of Nan Gong Yuan. Moreover, he did not entirely believe the words of the Dong Li envoy, which is why he sent people to Bei Chen to investigate the situation.
Naturally, Dongli used the same rhetoric towards the Northern Dynasty on the other side, hoping that one of them would eventually send troops.
The two men smelled the aroma wafting from the village and swallowed hard. One of them couldn't help but speak up.
"Why don't we go down and see what they're eating, and whether they're really as the Dongli people say, that every single one of them is a scoundrel!"
The other person nodded slightly upon hearing this, but still spoke up.
"Be careful, don't get discovered..."
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