Xiao Lan chased after them with a rabbit basket on her back. The sweet potato seedlings in the basket were covered with morning dew and shimmered with an emerald light in the morning sun.
"Wait for me!" She ran so fast that her bamboo rabbit ears swayed. "My mother said that newly dug sweet potatoes should be planted with the seedlings on, so that they can grow into a big patch next year."
Fu Yucheng lifted Nian'an onto his shoulder again: "Come on, let me show you how Nian'an can compete with sweet potatoes."
The soil in the sweet potato field was loose and soft. Fu Yucheng gently dug with his hoe and a red-skinned sweet potato rolled out.
“This is called Watermelon Red,” he said, wiping the mud off the sweet potato. “The flesh is orange-red and so sweet you could eat it like candy.”
Nian'an slid off his shoulder, picked up a small shovel and poked at the soil, but broke the skin of the sweet potato, and orange-yellow juice seeped out, making him smack his lips.
The sweet potato puree in the kitchen was steaming hot, and Jiang Jianhua sprinkled some crushed sesame seeds into it.
“It needs to be kneaded into a dough,” she said, stirring the mashed potatoes with her hands, “so it won’t fall apart when you press it into the mold.”
Aunt Zhang came carrying a basket to deliver freshly made fermented bean curd. The aroma made her gasp: "What delicious thing are you making? It smells so good that even my dog is scratching at the door."
Her eyes lit up when she saw the wooden model on the stone table. "This tiger head is carved so vividly. Jianhua, can you make a rubbing of it for me too?"
On the threshing ground, Fu Yuanshan is weaving bamboo trays for drying sweet potatoes.
“This plaque needs to be woven more densely,” he said, weaving it with bamboo strips, “so that the thin strips don’t fall off, and we also need to leave some gaps for ventilation.”
Xiao Lan squatted down beside her, helping to hand her bamboo sticks, when she suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted, "Look, Nian An is running around carrying a big sweet potato!"
Nian'an was holding a sweet potato bigger than his head. His tiger-striped bib was covered in mud, making him look like a little tiger that had just rolled around in the ground.
Jiang Jianhua placed the sweet potato and sesame dough into a wooden mold and pressed it flat with his palm.
“It needs to rest for half an hour,” she said, brushing oil around the edge of the mold, “so it will be easier to unmold after steaming.”
Song Yushuang walked in carrying soft-boiled eggs. The eggshells cracked easily when tapped lightly on the rim of the bowl. "Quickly peel an egg for the children. They'll get hungry and start throwing a tantrum."
Nian'an opened her mouth to catch the egg yolk, her lips smeared with orange-yellow egg liquid, which made everyone laugh.
The midday sun caused the sweet potato leaves to curl up. Fu Yucheng carried a basket full of sweet potatoes back home, with Nian'an following behind like a little tail, still holding a piece of raw sweet potato in her hand and munching on it.
“Eating too much raw sweet potato will cause bloating,” Fu Yucheng took the sweet potato from his hand. “I’ll give you some freshly steamed sugar cake later, it’s ten times sweeter than this.”
Nian'an pointed at the sweet potatoes in the basket and shouted, "Tiger, make, tiger."
It turns out he wanted Jiang Jianhua to use the largest sweet potato to make tiger-shaped sugar cakes.
Yun Tangyin was drying sesame salt in the courtyard. The white salt grains coated with sesame seeds shimmered with tiny light in the bamboo tray.
“This sesame salt needs to be thoroughly dried,” she said, poking at it with her chopsticks, “otherwise it will clump together when stored in the jar.”
Xiao Lan squatted down beside her, helping to pick out the sesame husks, when she suddenly said, "Second Aunt, my mother said that feeding pigs with sweet potato vines makes them grow very fast."
Yun Tangyin smiled and nodded: "I'll tie up the vines later and send them to your family, so your mother won't have to go cut pig feed again."
Jiang Jianhua's sweet potato and sesame cakes were fresh out of the oven, with emerald green lotus leaves underneath, making the orange-yellow cakes look especially bright.
“Come and have a taste,” she said, handing each child a piece. “It won’t be soft and chewy when it gets cold.”
Nian'an held up the tiger-shaped sugar cake and laughed. Sesame seeds stuck on the tiger's eyes made it look like two black gems were inlaid on the tiger.
Aunt Zhang took a bite of the cake and smacked her lips, exclaiming, "This skill is amazing! It's so sweet and chewy, even better than the pastries in town!"
The evening glow turned the bamboo tray a golden-red color, and Fu Yuanshan arranged the cut sweet potato strips neatly.
"It needs to be dried for three days before it can be harvested," he said, sprinkling some white sugar on the strips. "This will make it sweeter and also prevent insects from infesting it."
Nian'an held up the sugar cake and leaned over. Some sesame seeds fell into the sweet potato fries. Fu Yuanshan immediately picked them out and put them in his mouth: "Little ancestor, don't mix the sugar cake crumbs in, or the sweet potato fries will taste bad."
On the dinner table were sweet potato sesame cakes, soft-boiled eggs, stir-fried sweet potato leaves, and freshly cooked sweet potato porridge.
Nian'an held the bowl of porridge and drank it happily. The sweet potato chunks in the porridge were powdery, and the salty aroma of sesame salt melted in her mouth.
Xiao Lan put some sweet potato leaves into his bowl: "You should eat more of this. My mother says it makes your eyes brighter."
Nian'an opened her mouth to catch it, and some porridge grains got on her little face, making her look like a little kitten stealing food.
As the moonlight climbed to the top of the locust tree, Jiang Jianhua was sewing a small cushion woven from sweet potato vines for Nian'an.
“These vines need to be soaked until they’re soft so they won’t prick you,” she said, sewing the vines into the shape of a tiger with needle and thread. “So that you won’t get a cold bottom when you sit on a bench in winter.”
Song Yushuang sat beside her sewing shoe soles, the sound of hemp thread passing through the cloth soles was particularly clear: "I've sewn a layer of sweet potato cloth on these soles, it's soft and absorbent, and I can make cotton shoes for Nian'an tomorrow."
Fu Yucheng and Fu Yuanshan sat in the courtyard smoking, the flickering light from their pipes reflecting off the sweet potato baskets in the corner.
"Tomorrow, cut the big sweet potatoes into chunks," Fu Yucheng tapped his cigarette ash, "and steam them; dry the small ones and give them to the children as snacks."
Fu Yuanshan nodded: "I'll weave another bamboo basket to hold dried sweet potatoes. We'll hang it on the roof beam to prevent the rats from stealing them."
The lingering aroma of sweet potato cakes wafted from the kitchen, mingling with the fragrance of rice blossoms in the night breeze, as if coating this ordinary day with a layer of honey.
Nian'an lay on the small bed, hugging a sweet potato cushion, with a piece of sesame candy still clutched in her hand.
"Potato, sweet," he mumbled indistinctly, his eyelids growing heavy.
Jiang Jianhua covered him with a thin blanket and gently blew out the oil lamp: "Sleep well, you'll have plenty of sweet potato cakes in your dreams."
Inside the house, only the moonlight and the child's even breathing remained. The night in Huaiyuan was like a warm sweet potato, wrapped in the warmth of the courtyard's cooking, slowly settling into the most peaceful flavor.
Just as dawn was breaking, Nian'an was awakened by the sweet aroma of dried sweet potatoes on the windowsill.
He sat up, hugging the sweet potato cushion, and ran his little hands along the vine pattern on the cushion. Suddenly remembering something, he ran barefoot into the yard.
Fu Yuanshan was hanging a bamboo basket on the roof beam, the dried sweet potatoes inside emitting a sweet aroma: "Little ancestor, why aren't you wearing shoes again? Be careful not to get chilled by the dew."
The aroma of sweet potato porridge wafted from the kitchen. Jiang Jianhua cut the leftover sweet potato sesame cake from last night into small pieces and sprinkled them into the porridge.
“The porridge will be sweeter this way,” she said, stirring it with a wooden spoon. “It’s perfect for the children’s breakfast.”
Song Yushuang sat in front of the stove adding firewood, the sound of the fire tongs clamping the charcoal was particularly clear: "I steamed some egg custard for Nian'an to mix with porridge, it's easy to digest."
Fu Yucheng carried a hoe to turn over the soil, intending to plant the sweet potato seedlings that Xiaolan had brought.
“This seedling needs to be planted at an angle,” he said, digging a small hole with a hoe, “so that more sweet potatoes will grow.”
Nian'an followed behind, throwing sweet potato seedlings into the pit, but she kept throwing them crookedly, which made Fu Yucheng laugh: "Little ancestor, this is planting seedlings, not throwing stones. You have to put them in gently."
Xiao Lan brought freshly picked peppers in a rabbit basket on her back; the red and green peppers were piled up in the basket like little mounds.
“My mother said that stir-frying sweet potato stems with chili peppers makes them spicy and delicious with rice,” she said, placing the basket on the stone table. The bamboo rabbit ears were covered with grass. “Look at the sweet potato seedling basket I made; it can hold ten seedlings.”
Yun Tangyin was filling the jar with sesame salt when she heard this. She picked up the basket and examined it: "This basket is really sturdy. I'll let your second uncle use it when he plants seedlings later."
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