Chapter 233: Even sweeter, perfect for breakfast
Xiaolan chased out with a rabbit basket on her back. The sweet potato seedlings in the basket were covered with morning dew, shining with emerald light in the morning light.
"Wait for me!" She ran so fast that her bamboo rabbit ears swayed. "My mother said that we should plant the newly dug sweet potatoes with the seedlings, so that they can grow a large area next year."
Fu Yucheng lifted Nian'an onto his shoulder again and said, "Come here, let me show you how Nian'an competes with sweet potatoes."
The soil in the sweet potato field was loose and soft. Fu Yucheng used a hoe to dig it gently, 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 it could be eaten like candy."
Nian An slipped down from his shoulder, raised the small shovel and poked into the soil, but he broke the skin of the sweet potato, and the orange-yellow juice oozed out, making him smack his lips.
The sweet potato mash in the kitchen was steaming, and Jiang Jianhua sprinkled a handful of sesame seeds into it.
"It has to be kneaded into dough," she said, stirring the mashed potatoes with her hands, "so that it won't fall apart when you press it into the mold."
Aunt Zhang came over with a basket of freshly made fermented tofu. She inhaled the aroma and said, "What's this delicious? It smells so good that my dog is scratching at the door."
Seeing the wooden model on the stone table, her eyes lit up. "This tiger head is carved so vividly. Jianhua, can you make a copy for me?"
In the threshing ground, Fu Yuanshan was weaving a bamboo plaque for drying sweet potatoes.
"This plaque needs to be woven densely," he said, weaving bamboo threads together, "to prevent the thin strips from falling off, and to leave some gaps for air to flow through."
Xiaolan squatted nearby to help pass the bamboo sticks. Suddenly, she pointed in the distance and shouted, "Look! Nian'an is running with a big sweet potato in his arms!"
Nian An was seen holding a sweet potato that was bigger than his head. His tiger-striped bellyband was covered in mud, making him look like a little tiger that had just rolled around in the ground.
Jiang Jianhua put the sweet potato sesame dough into a wooden mold and pressed it flat with his palm.
"It needs to be allowed to rest for half an hour," she said, brushing oil on the edge of the mold, "so it's easier to remove from the mold after steaming."
Song Yushuang came in with a soft-boiled egg. The eggshell cracked when it was lightly tapped on the edge of the bowl. "Hurry up and peel the eggs for the children. They're so hungry they'll be throwing a tantrum."
Nian An opened his mouth to take the egg yolk that was handed to him. The corners of his mouth were stained with orange-yellow egg liquid, which made everyone laugh.
The midday sun made the sweet potato leaves curl up. Fu Yucheng walked back with a basket full of sweet potatoes on his back. Nian An followed behind like a little tail, chewing a piece of raw sweet potato in his hand.
"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, however, pointed at the sweet potatoes in the basket and shouted, "Tiger, do it, Tiger."
It turned out that he wanted Jiang Jianhua to use the largest sweet potato to make tiger sugar cake.
Yun Tangyin was turning over and drying sesame salt in the yard. The white salt grains wrapped in sesame seeds were sparkling with tiny lights in the bamboo basket.
"This sesame salt needs to be dried thoroughly," she said, fiddling with it with her chopsticks, "otherwise it will clump together in the can."
Xiaolan squatted nearby, helping to pick out sesame shells, and suddenly said, "Second Aunt, my mother said that if you feed pigs with sweet potato vines, they grow very fast."
Yun Tangyin smiled and nodded: "I'll bundle up the vines and send them to your house later, so your mother doesn't have to go out to cut grass for the pigs."
Jiang Jianhua's sweet potato sesame cake has just come out of the pan, with the emerald green lotus leaves underneath, making the orange-yellow cake look particularly bright.
"Come and try it," she said, pushing a piece into each of the children's hands. "It won't be soft and chewy when it gets cold."
Nian'an laughed as he held the tiger-shaped cake. The sesame seeds stuck to 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. "This is amazing! It's sweet and sticky, even better than the snacks in town!"
The evening glow dyed the bamboo plaque golden red, and Fu Yuanshan arranged the cut sweet potato strips neatly.
"We need to dry them for three days before we can harvest them," he said, sprinkling some sugar on the strips. "This way they'll be sweeter and they'll also prevent moths."
Nian An came over with the sugar cake in his hand. The sesame seeds on the cake fell into the sweet potato chips. Fu Yuanshan immediately picked them up and put them in his mouth: "Little ancestor, don't mix the sugar cake residue in, otherwise the sweet potato chips will taste bad."
The dinner table was filled with sweet potato sesame cakes, soft-boiled eggs, fried sweet potato leaves, and freshly cooked sweet potato porridge.
Nian'an drank the porridge happily. The sweet potato chunks in the porridge were soft and powdery, and the salty aroma of sesame salt melted in his mouth.
Xiaolan picked up some sweet potato leaves and put them in his bowl: "Eat more of this dish. My mother said it brightens your eyes."
Nian'an opened his mouth to catch it, and some porridge grains were stuck on his little face, like a little cat stealing food.
As the moonlight climbed up to the top of the locust tree, Jiang Jianhua was sewing a small cushion made of sweet potato vines for Nian'an.
"This rattan needs to be soaked until it softens so it won't prick you," she said, sewing the rattan into a tiger shape with needle and thread. "You can sit on the bench in winter so your butt won't get cold."
Song Yushuang sat beside him, sewing shoe soles. The sound of the hemp thread threading through the cloth soles was particularly clear. "I've sewn a layer of sweet potato cloth on the soles. It's soft and absorbent. I can make cotton shoes for Nian'an tomorrow."
Fu Yucheng and Fu Yuanshan sat in the yard smoking, the flickering light of their pipes illuminating the sweet potato basket in the corner.
"Chop the big sweet potatoes into pieces tomorrow," Fu Yucheng knocked off the ash from his cigarette, "and steam them. Dry the small ones and give them to the children as snacks."
Fu Yuanshan nodded and said, "I will weave a bamboo basket to hold the dried sweet potatoes and hang it on the beam to prevent them from being eaten by mice."
The lingering aroma of sweet potato cake wafts from the kitchen, mixed with the fragrance of rice flowers in the night breeze, as if wrapping this ordinary day in a layer of honey.
Nian An was lying on the small bed holding a sweet potato cushion, with a piece of uneaten sesame candy in his hand.
"Sweet potato," he mumbled vaguely, his eyelids gradually drooping.
Jiang Jianhua covered him with a thin blanket and gently blew out the oil lamp: "Go to sleep, you will have enough sweet potato cakes in your dreams."
The only things left in the house were moonlight and the sound of the child's even breathing. The night in the locust tree courtyard was like a warm sweet potato, wrapped in the smell of fireworks in the yard, slowly settling into the most peaceful feeling.
As soon as the sky was getting light, Nian An was awakened by the sweet smell of dried sweet potatoes on the windowsill.
He sat up holding the sweet potato cushion, touching the vine pattern on the cushion with his little hands. Suddenly he remembered something and ran barefoot into the yard.
Fu Yuanshan was hanging a bamboo basket on the beam. The dried sweet potatoes in the basket gave off a sweet aroma. "Little ancestor, why aren't you wearing shoes again? Be careful not to get frozen by the dew."
The aroma of sweet potato porridge wafted through the kitchen. Jiang Jianhua cut the leftover sweet potato sesame cake from last night into small pieces and sprinkled them into the porridge.
"It makes the porridge 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 tongs picking up the charcoal was particularly clear. "I steamed some egg custard and mixed it with porridge for Nian'an to eat. It's easy to digest."
Fu Yucheng carried a hoe to plow the soil, intending to plant the sweet potato seedlings that Xiaolan had brought.
"These seedlings need to be planted at an angle," he said, digging a small hole with a hoe, "so that you can get more sweet potatoes."
Nian An followed behind and threw the sweet potato seedlings into the pit, but he 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."
Xiaolan came with a rabbit basket on her back to deliver some freshly picked peppers, with red and green peppers piled up into small hills in the basket.
"My mother said that stir-frying sweet potato stems with chili peppers is spicy and goes well with rice." She placed the basket on the stone table, the bamboo rabbit ears stained with grass leaves. "Look at the sweet potato seedling basket I made. It can hold ten seedlings."
Yun Tangyin was filling a jar with sesame salt. Upon hearing this, she picked up the basket and examined it carefully. "This basket is really sturdy. I'll let your second uncle use it when he plants the seedlings later."
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