The next morning, Jiang Bai was also busy.
Jiang Lu had already planted one mu of the two mu of dry land at home, and with the help of Jiang Anlin, the other mu was also planted with bean seeds.
She went up the mountain early in the morning, but still couldn't find any yams in the area near the end of the village. So she had to go further away to the place next to Zhujia Village yesterday and dug up another basketful.
The yams there grew well, but two large baskets were used to dig them all out.
Jiang Bai searched the surrounding area but couldn't find any new yams.
As soon as we entered the village, we heard Shanzi take out a gong and call everyone to the square in front of the village ancestral hall.
"Brother Shanzi? Are you talking about the yams?"
"Yes, my great-grandfather told me to call everyone over so that they could get to know each other."
"Then I won't go."
She found everything herself, so if she doesn't want to go, so be it; Shanzi didn't force her.
After Shanzi left, Jiang Bai went home, put down his basket, and anxiously called out to Jiang Lu, "Er Ya, have you seen this thing anywhere else? Before everyone realizes what's going on, let's hurry up the mountain and dig for yams."
Jiang Lü and Jiang Songwen had just finished learning characters for half a morning and were enjoying their free time.
Hearing Jiang Bai call, he quickly put down the tree branch he was using for practicing calligraphy and came over.
Jiang Lu is usually either at home or in the fields, and has never actually seen this before.
On the contrary, Jiang Songwen's eyes lit up when he saw the yam beans and leaves that Jiang Bai took out: "Yam."
His finger pointed outside.
Jiang Bai picked him up and said, "Quick, show your older sister the way."
Jiang Lu naturally picked up another basket and the two sisters followed the path Jiang Songwen pointed out.
The further they walked, the stranger Jiang Bai's expression became.
Isn't this the road to the old house?
The old house gradually came into view, and sure enough, Jiang Songwen was pointing to the road leading to the old house.
When they reached the ridge in front of the old house, Jiang Songwen pointed behind him. About a mile further on the slope behind, was the road to Shangping Mountain.
He pointed to the area behind the old house.
Jiang Bai glanced at it and saw that what was growing on a patch of slightly yellow plants was yam beans.
These yam beans are growing on the slope behind the old house.
"Good job, little brother."
Jiang Bai gave him a big kiss.
Now everyone in the village has gone to the ancestral hall to identify the yams. The yams here grow right next to the old house, so they must have seen them before. Just thinking about how by the time they come back after identifying the yams, they've already dug them all up makes her want to laugh.
Without further delay, the two sisters put their baskets aside, picked up their tools, and began digging for yams.
Jiang Bai can sense the energy underground.
The movements of digging yams were quick and precise.
A single hoe strike won't damage the yams buried underneath.
Perhaps because this place is close to people, it has absorbed some human fertilizer from the old house's outhouse, which is why the yams here grow long, straight, and large.
In no time, he had filled a basket with water.
Even so, they've only dug less than halfway.
After filling both baskets, there were still more than half of the yams left in the field.
"Er Ya, you keep digging. I'll take these back first."
Jiang Bai grabbed a basket in each hand and carried both baskets of yams home in a single-handed, sturdy manner.
Then he came back with a basket on his back.
The slope behind the old house was dug up by them, leaving it pitted and uneven. Within a mile radius, not a single yam plant could be seen.
When Wang and the others returned from the ancestral hall, they were overjoyed, thinking that there was a patch of yams behind their house, which saved them a lot of effort compared to other families having to go up the mountain to dig them.
"Hurry up and grab the stuff, let's go dig for yams in the back."
He quickly instructed his wives and granddaughters to get to work, and the whole family, carrying tools, marched in a large procession toward the back of the house.
When they arrived at the place, seeing the newly turned soil and the yam seedlings with their roots removed and covered by soil, Wang was stunned for a moment, then sat down on the ground and cursed loudly, "Which heartless bastard stole my yams to feed?"
"If I catch you, I'll chop off your filthy hands!"
Jiang Minchang's face darkened; he never expected that the area behind his house had been completely dug up.
"Stop howling! Hurry up and go look for more. That's something that can fill your stomach. You can't expect to find food just by howling!"
After saying that, the family searched around their house in the direction of Pingshan.
It wasn't until we were a full mile away from home that we finally found a clump of yams and managed to dig out a few.
The whole family went out, but they didn't even fill half a basket.
Looking at other businesses, everyone was leaving with a full load.
Their expressions turned even more grim.
“Jiang Bai, it must have been Jiang Bai who dug up our yams.”
"Grandpa said that she was the one who discovered the yam. Everyone in the village went to the ancestral hall, but no one from her family went there."
Jiang Songhu was right; the people in the old house also believed that Jiang Bai had dug up their yams.
"That brat, I'm going to find her."
Wang was seething with anger. The thought of her eldest son selling that wretched girl into slavery fueled her rage.
"stop."
"Do you want her to sell our whole family to her as her lowly slaves?"
Jiang Min often stopped Wang Shi, but he had a bellyful of anger in his heart with nowhere to vent it.
Jiang Bai still has all of their family's household registration documents in his hands. This old woman is really not afraid that if she gets angry, she'll sell off the rest of the family as well.
They may have been sold, but Da Sun Jiang Songzong must never be sold by her.
"She dares? At worst, we'll go find our elder brother. He's the clan leader. Does she still dare to sell us out in front of him?" Wang was furious. Just by looking at the soil that had been dug up, she knew how many yams had been dug up—enough for her family to eat for at least ten days to half a month.
The family didn't have much food left to begin with, and this was readily available food; how could she be willing to give it up?
“Do you think your brother will side with you? She found these yams, and everyone in the village speaks highly of her. Go find your brother and see if he'll favor that girl.”
"Then what do you suggest we do? Are we just going to let that brat ride roughshod over us?"
They are elders, how could that girl dare to do that?
"An Lin, go."
"Doesn't she have your indenture? Even servants in wealthy families get a monthly allowance. You've been working for her for almost a month now, go ask her for your allowance."
“And the eldest daughter, doesn’t she like to sell people into slavery? Go and be Jiang Bai’s maid, and take good care of them.”
With a simple gesture, Jiang Minchang gave orders and easily determined the fate of Jiang Anlin and his wife.
“Anshan and Anshan’s wife, you two go with your eldest brother to Jiang Bai’s house to help out. I heard she bought five acres of wasteland from the village head, and if she wants to reclaim it, she’ll definitely need manpower.”
“You are her own uncles, and everyone praises you for coming to help.”
Jiang Minchang finished speaking in one breath, his mouth dry.
Seeing the whole family staring at him as if they'd seen a ghost, he couldn't help but frown: "Why are you all looking at me like that? Don't my words count?"
"Dad, why don't you just tell us what your plans are? It's already a favor that I'm the only one working for her. If you ask the whole family to come, won't that just make her take advantage of you even more?"
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