The wild Atractylodes macrocephala still shimmered on the grass, but Jiang Ling's mind was not on it at the moment.
She squinted and began to carefully observe the meadow in front of her. Finally, among the specks of light, she found a plant that, like the Atractylodes macrocephala, had small, light-purple flowers. The difference was that this plant did not have any specks of light on it.
Jiang Ling walked quickly to the plant, squatted down, and began to carefully dig it up with both hands. Soon, the white roots were exposed to the air.
Jiang Ling immediately stopped what she was doing after seeing the root.
Her eyes were filled with disbelief. She patted her chest, took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself down before reaching out her trembling hand to grab the plant's leaves. With a little force, white roots and yellow fruit appeared before her.
"Yes!? These are potatoes??" Jiang Ling's eyes were filled with joy. In this year of famine, Jiang Ling knew how important the potatoes in front of her were to Lu Family Village.
Holding the potatoes in her hand, Jiang Ling hurriedly continued walking deeper into the mountains.
As she walked, Jiang Ling stopped. A large area around her was covered with these small purple flowers. Unlike the wild Atractylodes macrocephala, this time Jiang Ling did not hear any system notifications or see any starlight on the plants.
Jiang Ling repeated her previous actions, and sure enough, she pulled out four or five potatoes the size of ping-pong balls.
Jiang Ling was overjoyed to find the potatoes, and even on her way home she started humming a little tune.
"Mom, why are you so happy?" Jiang Suihe blinked and asked Jiang Ling.
"Suihe, Wenxi, Yaojie, let's go up the mountain!" Jiang Ling said to the three children with a big wave of her hand and a smile.
The three children looked at each other, and in the end, Jiang Yaojie took the initiative to carry the basket in the corner, and followed behind Jiang Ling, holding the hands of Jiang Suihe and Jiang Wenxi.
"Big brother, what's wrong with Mother?" The youngest, Jiang Wenxi, asked Jiang Yaojie in front of him with some confusion.
"This...I...I don't know either, just listen to her!" Jiang Yaojie was actually full of doubts. He felt that Jiang Ling in front of him was both familiar and unfamiliar.
After hearing Jiang Yaojie's answer, Jiang Wenxi still looked puzzled, but did not ask any further questions.
Instead, Jiang Suihe kept her eyes fixed on Jiang Ling's back and couldn't help but think, "Mother has been acting so strange lately, but as long as she has enough to eat, it doesn't matter. After all, no matter how she changes, she's still my own mother."
Jiang Ling led the child to the area where the potatoes had been found earlier.
Jiang Ling squatted down and began to teach the children how to dig potatoes. Although the three children were full of curiosity, they all obediently followed her instructions.
"Mom, what is this? I've seen many of these little purple flowers on the back mountain before, but I never imagined that something like this would grow underneath them!" Jiang Suihe asked earnestly, examining the potatoes she had just dug and processed.
"This is something we can eat, let's call it a potato!" Jiang Ling explained patiently as she tossed the dug and processed potatoes into her basket.
"Potatoes?" Jiang Suihe narrowed her eyes as she examined the object in her hand.
"Food?" Jiang Wenxi swallowed hard upon hearing this.
"Potatoes? For eating?" Jiang Yaojie was secretly surprised.
Busy times always fly by. As the sun sets, the azure sky is soon tinged with a crimson hue.
Seeing that the sky was already half dark, Jiang Ling quickly called the children to leave together and leave the mountains.
The three children were very capable; in less than half a day, they filled two baskets with potatoes.
After returning home, Jiang Ling skillfully washed, peeled, and shredded the potatoes. She then grabbed a handful of flour from the earthenware pot, sprinkled it on the potato shreds, added some water, and stirred them well.
After pouring a little oil into the pot, Jiang Ling carefully placed the mixed shredded potatoes into it.
The aroma soon wafted out of the house, and the three children began to swallow their saliva incessantly because of the fragrance. The youngest, Jiang Wenxi, even started wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
"You must be starving! Come and try these potato pancakes Mom made!" Jiang Ling had just brought out the plate when she saw Jiang Wenxi wiping her mouth. Jiang Ling couldn't help but smile and quickly put the plate on the table.
"Mom... what is this? Why does it smell so good?" Jiang Wenxi's face was almost pressed against the plate as she sniffed hard and turned to ask Jiang Ling.
"Little gluttons, these are potato pancakes. You guys eat them first. Mom's going to the village chief's house!" Jiang Ling said, picking up two potatoes from the corner and walking towards the door.
Three knocks on the door reached the village chief's ears. Smoking his pipe, the village chief slowly rose from his chair and walked towards the gate.
"Jiang? What are you doing here?" The village chief was clearly surprised to see Jiang Ling outside the door.
"Village Chief! I found food!" Jiang Ling said calmly, pointing to the potatoes in her hand.
"What? You can't just say things like that!" The village chief looked at Jiang Ling with a face full of surprise after hearing this.
"I found this in the mountains, and it's edible!" Jiang Ling said, placing the two potatoes in her hand into the village chief's hands.
Upon hearing Jiang Ling's words, the village chief threw his pipe on the ground, picked up the two potatoes with both hands, and then slowly raised his eyes to examine them carefully.
After a while, he carefully placed it under his nose and smelled it again.
"Old man, you... Jiang Shi, what are you doing here?" The village chief's wife, who had been cooking inside, came out of the house after hearing the noise. When she saw Jiang Ling, she couldn't help but frown.
"I found food on the mountain and came to inform the village chief," Jiang Ling said calmly.
"What?" Now it was the village chief's wife's turn to be surprised, and her surprise was much greater than the village chief's.
"My dear wife! What does Jiang mean by that?" The village chief's wife tugged at his clothes and asked in a low voice.
"This... Jiang, did you find this on the back mountain?" The village chief ignored his wife's question and stared intently at Jiang Ling as he asked.
"Yes, there are many on the mountain, and there's a large area on the back mountain too!"
"Nonsense! I've lived in Lujia Village for almost forty years, how come I've never seen it!" The village chief frowned and scolded after hearing Jiang Ling's words.
“Village Chief, do you remember those pale purple flowers on the back mountain? This is the rootstock under those purple flowers! If you don’t believe me, we can go up the mountain right now and I’ll show you!” Jiang Ling explained to the village chief with a hint of helplessness.
"Jiang Shi! Do you know that this is absolutely not something to joke about!"
Jiang Ling understood the village chief's unspoken message, but she wasn't annoyed. She continued to patiently explain, "Village chief, if you don't believe me, you can come with me to the mountains. After I was kicked out by Lu Youren, you lent me a house to stay in. How could I possibly lie to you about something as serious as this?"
Seeing Jiang Ling's resolute gaze, the village chief finally gritted his teeth and said to her, "Alright, then I'll go with you to the mountains to take a look now!"
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