Soon, the news that Tian Laosi's family was about to receive the approval to build a brick and tile house spread throughout the village.
Everyone greeted Tian Laosi's family with beaming smiles.
To make room for their house, Tian Laosi and Zhang Shi simply built a long row of temporary shacks behind the cornfield.
To protect against wind and rain, Tian Laosi plastered all the walls of his shack with mud, making it safer to live in.
Some villagers came to help with the voluntary work in order to curry favor with them, hoping to get a share of the profits when Tian Laosi's family had soup later.
August has arrived, and it's harvest time for potatoes and corn.
Tian Sangui returned home early, rested at home for one night, and went to the fields early the next morning to harvest vegetables.
The potato stems and leaves were yellowing and creeping on the ground. Tian Sangui took a sickle and first cut off the stems and leaves to prevent the remaining leaves from spreading germs and insect eggs in the soil.
Seeing this, Tian Laosi took a sickle and imitated Tian Sangui, starting to cut the ground from the other side.
Zhang was responsible for collecting the rice seedlings behind him, piling them on the ridges of the field, letting them bask in the sun for a few days, and then burning them to destroy them.
As time goes by, the bet made by the two parties has reached its conclusion.
Many villagers gradually gathered on the ridges of the fields.
Some chatted with Zhang, while some of the old men, finding Tian Sangui's work too slow, rolled up their trousers and went barefoot to help.
They were all eager to see what kind of vegetable it was that could grow in the wasteland.
With more and more villagers joining in, the potatoes per acre were harvested before noon.
When everyone saw the abundant harvest, which couldn't be contained in twenty large baskets, they were overjoyed, even though they didn't know how they would eat.
"Fourth brother, you'll have more food than you can eat this year!"
"I have some baskets at home, I'll go get them for you!"
"I have one at home too, I'm going!"
The women went back to fetch their own baskets to help!
Only one person remained with a dark expression throughout the entire process of harvesting and packing, her resentful gaze never leaving Tian Sangui's family. This person was Yang, the wife of Tian Sheng.
Everyone was so engrossed in the joy before them that they had no time to think about the bet.
Tian Sangui's family had a bumper harvest, which alarmed the village head. Later, the villagers came with a large scale and four thick wooden sticks.
After Tian Laosi and the others had finished collecting all the potatoes into baskets, the villagers clamored to weigh them, all curious to see how many kilograms this lumpy soybean would yield per mu.
Unable to resist the villagers' and village head's enthusiasm, Tian Sangui secretly nodded to Tian Laosi.
Join everyone in weighing the potatoes.
Tian Sangui estimated the yield to be around 5,000 jin of potatoes per mu.
The result shocked everyone instantly. This was something they had never dreamed of, something they never dared to imagine, yet it had actually come true for Tian Laosi's family!
"Baby, is this grain or vegetable?"
The old man with a white beard placed his hands on the scale beam and asked Tian Sangui excitedly with his old eyes.
"It's both food and a vegetable. Vegetables have their own way of being eaten, and food has its own way of being eaten. If we have potatoes in a famine year, it won't be a problem for a family to survive for three to five years!"
"Oh~"
Everyone was amazed, and the village head suddenly seemed to be deep in thought.
The crowd jeered: "Does everyone remember the bet between the fourth brother's family and the Tian Sheng family?"
"Hey, isn't this the Yang family? So you're here watching the show too?"
"Now, not only have they grown grain, but their yield is the highest in the whole village. Oh dear, you're probably going to lose your land!" The woman, always eager for drama, exclaimed.
Every word pierced Yang's heart like a knife. Looking at the piles of potatoes in front of her, she not only sighed but also felt regret.
If she had known it would turn out this way, she shouldn't have made that bet on the spot.
Now they're in a dilemma. Without land, what will their family eat and how will they survive?
Yang glanced around and saw everyone enthusiastically discussing potatoes. Taking advantage of this lull, she slipped out of the crowd and ran home.
When Tian Sheng returned from the fields, he heard everyone talking about the bumper harvest at Tian Lao Si's family.
Enraged, he returned home and slapped Yang across the face twice, yelling, "I'll beat you to death, you spendthrift woman! You've ruined our family!"
"Don't be angry, sir. I was wrong. It was all because I had a sharp tongue. Now that things have come to this, we need to think of a solution. Otherwise, are we really going to hand over our ten acres of land to Old Tian's family?"
Yang's words made sense. Let her go for now, and settle accounts with her properly after things have calmed down!
“These next two days, we’ll all stay home. No one is allowed to go out or open the door. In a few days, everyone will forget about this. In the future, you’d better not go around talking nonsense outside, or I’ll definitely divorce you.”
Yang nodded obediently and did as she was told, seemingly forgetting the conditions she had added.
At noon, Tian Sangui used potatoes to cook several dishes for his family: stewed chicken with potatoes, hot and sour shredded potatoes, mashed potatoes with salt and pepper, and fried crispy shredded potatoes.
The four and five children clearly had a great appetite and couldn't resist taking a piece of cake to taste.
"Crispy, fragrant, and spicy, it tastes amazing! Third Sister, you're so talented, I admire you so much!"
"Third Sister is our idol!"
After listening to Tian Sangui talk about celebrities and idols, the two little ones started to learn and apply what he said.
"Potatoes can not only be stir-fried, but also made into translucent noodles!"
"ah?"
"Third sister, hurry up and make it for us to see! We want to know what transparent noodles are!"
"Yes, I'd love to see what it looks like!"
Tian Sangui affectionately patted their heads: "I'll start making it after the corn harvest. You two can come and help me then, okay?"
"Okay, okay, Third Sister, you must invite us!"
"good!"
The three siblings secretly made an appointment, and a sumptuous lunch was already laid out on the table.
With a table full of delicious dishes, everyone couldn't wait to start eating.
Zhang first tasted a mouthful of shredded potatoes: "Oh, it's sour and spicy, so appetizing!"
Old Tian tasted the stewed potatoes: "They're like noodles, and they taste delicious!"
With these vegetables, why worry about not having enough to eat in winter?
"Plant them in October and harvest them in February next year. The potatoes will taste good and keep for a long time!"
Upon hearing Tian Sangui's words, the couple's eyes lit up.
"This is wonderful! It's worry-free, yields high output, and can be grown for two seasons. It's a really great vegetable!"
Old Tian was overjoyed. He loved having an endless supply of grain; it made him even happier than receiving a thousand taels of silver.
As the afternoon sun gradually weakened, the family, with the help of the villagers, harvested the corn.
The villagers were happier as they picked the fruit. If they had grown this in their own homes, wouldn't they have had a bountiful harvest by now?
I've never seen crops grow so fast before. I'll talk to Tian Laosi about it later, and hope that his family can plant corn next year too.
In the afternoon, adults and children alike came to help; almost the entire village mobilized, except for the Tian family.
The harvest was completed before sunset.
As usual, we weighed it: "A full two thousand jin!"
"Wow, the fourth brother's family is going to have a prosperous New Year!"
"That's wonderful!" The old woman was happy for Tian Sangui's family.
Tian Sangui and Zhang were overjoyed, and Tian Laosi didn't shut up all day.
Xiao Si and Xiao Wu danced with joy. When Tian Da and Tian Er returned and heard about their bumper harvest, they were overjoyed.
The villagers helped them a lot today. Zhang and Tian Sangui agreed to take out 100 jin of corn and divide it among each family, giving each family five or six jin on average.
The villagers were overjoyed, and Tian Sangui explained to them several simple ways to eat corn.
Everyone rushed home excitedly to cook, stir-fry, or make soup.
Before long, the aroma of fresh corn wafted from every household in the village, making Zhao Yan, who had just brought Yu Niang back, drool.
"What's that smell? It smells so good!"
Seeing that Yu Niang was about to leave, he quickly came to his senses and shouted, "Don't forget our agreement. After it's done, I'll bring you into the house as my second concubine!"
Yu Niang trembled, but did not turn around. She could hear the sound of the oxcart slowly driving away.
Her eyes filled with tears of hatred and helplessness as she gazed vaguely at the figure that was no longer visible.
"Why does it have to be her?" he grumbled through gritted teeth, venting in a low voice.
He then looked down at the foot of the mountain, and after a moment he came to his senses and started his journey home.
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