Wan Shu had already discovered that, in addition to a large potato grove near the dense forest, there were also many small potato thickets scattered on the mountain.
Although there weren't many, and we couldn't dig up much, it at least proves one thing—potatoes are widely distributed in Sishui County!
Wan Shu asked casually, "Uncle Wang, besides the hills of our Qingshui Village, are there potatoes on the hills of other villages too?"
"Yes, I have!"
Chief Wang nodded affirmatively: "Potatoes are drought-resistant. Since three years ago, I don't know where they came from, they have been rampant in our Sishui Town. They have grown a lot on the hills of Xinghua Village, Lujiao Village and Daman Village."
"Oh dear!" Chief Wang suddenly slapped his thigh. "Rich wife, your words have reminded me. Since everyone is starving and we all have potatoes, I must quickly tell them that potatoes are edible! That way, no one in our county will go hungry!"
Wan Shu: "Uncle Wang, you've thought this through. But everyone knows that poisonous plants are poisonous. If you tell them, they probably won't believe you."
Chief Wang scratched his head: "What should we do then?"
Wan Shu also feigned distress, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Why don't you go see the magistrate, Uncle Wang?"
"The county government is having a headache over the famine. If they knew that potatoes could relieve the famine, they would definitely promote them vigorously. With the county magistrate speaking, no one would dare to disbelieve him."
“That’s a good idea, but…” A hint of fear appeared on the Wang clan chief’s face: “I’m not the village head, no, even if I were, I’d be the county magistrate! Would he be willing to see a small farmer like me…”
Farmers of this era had a natural fear of government officials.
Wan Shu wasn't in a hurry and encouraged him, "How will you know the result if you don't try? Anyway, trying doesn't cost anything. If the county magistrate refuses to see you, Uncle Wang, you can just leave. You won't lose anything."
"If you're willing to meet them, that would be a great act of merit, saving many lives!"
With Wan Shu's encouragement, Chief Wang's fear gradually turned into determination.
"You're right, it's free to try! If the county magistrate is willing to see me, that would be a great deed, and I could enjoy happiness even after I die!"
As they spoke, the group arrived at the potato grove.
"Everyone, please note that when digging potatoes, try not to break the skin. Potatoes that have been broken must be eaten as soon as possible, otherwise they will rot."
"Take the potatoes that haven't been dug up and store them in the cellar away from light. If they are kept dry and well-ventilated, they can be stored for about three to six months!"
After Wan Shu finished giving his instructions, the three hundred or so people responded in unison and began digging potatoes.
We had spent too much time at the drying ground, and it was already late afternoon.
This location is close to a dense forest, where wild animals roam at night.
So no one dared to dig for too long. Each family dug up about a hundred kilograms. As soon as they saw that it was getting dark, they quickly formed groups and helped each other down the mountain.
——
Li Lanhua is the daughter of Li Dagen's younger brother.
Normally, because of Li Dagen, the village head, her mother-in-law and father-in-law always treated her better than their other two daughters-in-law.
But tonight, she was scolded by her mother-in-law and father-in-law because of Li Dagen.
"Second son's wife, it's all your fault!"
“We only have about 20 coins left at home, which is our life savings! We originally disagreed with spending money to learn how to extract the money, but you insisted that your uncle would never cheat you! These 20 coins can buy more than 100 catties of fern powder, which is a great deal, so we gritted our teeth and paid the money!”
"But who knew that after working ourselves to the bone for most of the day, we only managed to get about ten pounds of refined flour from these hundred pounds of fern powder!"
The eldest daughter-in-law grumbled unhappily, "Where did you get ten or so pounds? The powder is wet now; once it's dried, it'll probably only weigh four or five pounds!"
The third son's wife pouted unhappily, "If you had listened to me from the beginning and gone up the mountain with Wan Shu to dig potatoes, that would have been so much better! Not only would it have been free, but we would have gotten more grain!"
"I just saw it with my own eyes. Our neighbor, Aunt Wu, and her two grandsons carried back a huge basket of potatoes. At first glance, it must have weighed at least a hundred pounds!"
"What! Over a hundred pounds!"
Li Lanhua's mother-in-law, Aunt Zhao, was a calculating person who couldn't stand being taken advantage of.
Upon hearing that their family had spent 20 coins and only received five catties of grain, while the neighbor, Granny Wu, had received over a hundred catties of grain without spending a single penny, it was astonishing.
He immediately started cursing in pain.
"Oh dear, second son's wife, you jinx! It's all because of you that our family has suffered such a huge loss! I think you're deliberately trying to drive me crazy!"
Li Lanhua blushed with embarrassment after being scolded.
She never expected that after all that hard work by her whole family, they would only get five pounds of grain in the end.
Because of Li Dagen's position as the village head, she always acted very arrogantly at home, and she was unwilling to admit her mistakes in front of her other two sisters-in-law.
She retorted, "Third sister-in-law, the amount of bracken powder extracted is small, but at least it's not poisonous! What if we listen to you and go up the mountain with Wan Shu to dig potatoes and get poisoned to death!"
"You're only thinking about how much grain Aunt Wu got, but you don't even consider whether that grain is even edible! Aunt Ma might have already been poisoned by the potatoes!"
"Waaaaah—"
Almost as soon as Li Lanhua finished speaking, they heard faint crying coming from Aunt Wu's house next door.
The Zhao family was all taken aback.
"Why are you crying in the middle of the night!"
"Could it be that someone has really been poisoned!?"
Li Lanhua's eyes suddenly lit up.
If Aunt Wu next door really did die from poisoning, then it would prove that her choice was right, and her mother-in-law and father-in-law would stop scolding her! She could also regain her former smugness!
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