The next morning, Master Sun arrived with his kiln-casting tools.
Although Liu Yingying's family had already eaten breakfast, they still left an extra breakfast for Master Sun.
It consists of two steamed sweet potatoes and one egg.
Although breakfast is simple, it is considered a delicacy by ordinary people like Master Sun who can no longer afford to eat.
Besides, eggs are so expensive these days!
Most people wouldn't even eat the eggs laid by their own chickens; instead, they would sell them to supplement their household income.
Therefore, although Master Sun subconsciously swallowed, he was too embarrassed to actually eat the food.
"Yingying, you already paid me yesterday, how can I possibly eat your food again?"
Liu Yingying smiled and said, "It's alright. These sweet potatoes are from our own land, and we have plenty of eggs too. You're going to do some heavy work today, so I can't ask you, at your age, to help me with the work while you go hungry, can I?"
She was right. Master Sun's family was in dire straits and had been out of food for a long time. He really did come on an empty stomach this morning.
Unable to resist her persuasion, Master Sun had no choice but to eat something before going back to work.
When he first tasted steamed sweet potato, he thought it was absolutely delicious!
Having eaten so much food, Master Sun worked especially hard.
He felt that if the kiln wasn't fired well today, he would really be letting Liu Yingying down!
Although Liu Yingying didn't know how to cast a kiln, she kept a close eye on the process, frequently communicating with Master Sun to express her intentions...
A morning passed, and Master Sun's skills were indeed well-deserved.
When Zhao Di and her two siblings and Bao'er returned from outside, they saw a bear-shaped object made of mud in the corner of the yard.
"Wow! What's this?" Several children gathered around the bread oven, exploring it with great curiosity.
Liu Yingying was very satisfied with the bread oven and thanked Master Sun profusely.
After settling the final payment, Mr. Sun went home.
Before leaving, he specifically told Liu Yingying that she could contact him if she needed anything in the future...
The bread oven has just been made, but it cannot be used immediately; it needs to be dried for another day.
Liu Yingying went to the kitchen and poured some shredded sweet potatoes into a pot of boiling water. She also sprinkled a few spoonfuls of white sugar on them. When they were about 70% cooked, she scooped them into a bamboo basket and placed them in the yard to dry in the sun for a day.
They were brought back in the evening and steamed in a pot.
This step allows you to adjust the steaming time by extending or shortening it according to your preferred texture.
After steaming, the sweet potatoes are dried in the sun for another day, and a sweet and delicious dried sweet potato dish is made.
Meanwhile, the bread oven had been ventilated and dried, and Liu Yingying also baked some sweet potato chips.
Just then, Shi Sanmei and Lü Sufeng came over, and Liu Yingying took out dried sweet potatoes and roasted potato chips for them to eat.
"This is so delicious!"
"Sister-in-law, are these the snacks made from the sweet potatoes you grew behind your house?"
Liu Yingying nodded and explained her plan: "I signed a cooperation agreement with the Longfeng Theater in Furong County. I will be responsible for supplying them with the snacks they need. As you know, wild winter melons are no longer available in the wild, and it will take some time to grow them myself. So I would like to temporarily use these dried sweet potatoes and potato chips instead!"
Upon hearing this, the two men had no doubt about her decision.
After all, they genuinely felt that the dried sweet potatoes and potato chips were much tastier than the candied winter melon, so the Dragon and Phoenix Theater probably wouldn't have any objections...
Liu Yingying also took the opportunity to extend an invitation to Lü Sufeng to hire her.
From now on, she can come and work here whenever there is work available, just like Shi Sanmei, and the wage will be three copper coins a day.
Lu Sufeng is now truly grateful to Liu Yingying.
At the same time, I was once again secretly thankful that I hadn't fallen for Ma Qiumei's bad influence; otherwise, I wouldn't be living such a good life now...
In the afternoon, Liu Yingying planted sweet potato roots again in the empty vegetable garden behind the house, but this time she also planted two more tomato plants next to it.
Once the fruit ripens, we can make scrambled eggs with tomatoes...
After finishing her work in the fields, Liu Yingying took out a basket, put in some dried sweet potatoes, potato chips, and two eggs, and headed towards the village head's house...
She had long planned to buy more land to engage in agriculture...
If you only need to buy a small amount of land, you can get approval from the village chief.
But the area she needs to buy is quite large, so she has to go to the village head for help.
The village head was the local official in charge of all the trivial matters in the entire Ma'ao Township.
But he wasn't from Taoyuan Village; he was from Zhao Village, which was about four or five miles away from Taoyuan Village—not too far, but not too close either.
Half an hour later, Liu Yingying finally found the village head's house and told him her needs.
Zhao Lizheng was a lean middle-aged man around forty years old.
As the village head, he couldn't possibly be unaware that Liu Yingying had been granted the title of village lady.
Both the village head and the village head were actually village officials.
However, the village head had real power and was in charge of affairs, while the village lord, although he also enjoyed a salary from the imperial court, had no real power. In later terms, he was an "honorary chairman".
Even so, the title of "village head" was a symbol of status. Not to mention the village head, even the county magistrate had to give her face and respect.
Therefore, after listening to Liu Yingying's request, Zhao Lizheng immediately agreed with a pleasant expression.
"This matter is easy to handle, and it's also good that you came at the right time, Lord Lihe!"
"This year, the entire Furong County has experienced a severe drought, the worst in ten years. Almost every village has a few families who have abandoned their land and moved away to other places. I have a record of them all here. Mr. Xiang, can you take a look and see what kind of land you need to buy?"
As Zhao Lizheng spoke, he took out an account book from inside the house and handed it to Liu Yingying.
"Thank you! We're all from the same village, you can just call me Yingying!"
Liu Yingying took the ledger and began to look at it carefully.
About half an incense stick's time later, Liu Yingying marked out all the land she wanted to buy.
Zhao, the village head, took the ledger and was shocked upon looking at it; "So much...?"
"Yes, I'll take them all. How much do you want?"
On this, Liu Yingying has acquired all the farmland within a five-mile radius of Taoyuan Village that is available for sale.
Roughly calculated, it must add up to about one or two hundred acres!
Zhao, the village head, looked solemn, stroking his beard with one hand and fiddling with the counting cards with the other.
The fertile, prime farmland is snapped up by wealthy locals as soon as it's put on the market. In reality, most of the remaining unsold land is rather barren, producing very low yields of grain...
"How about this, if you've decided to buy, the land will be one string of cash per mu, and the dry land will be seventy cash per mu, how about that?"
"Okay! I'll take them all!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao, the village head, was once again astonished. "If we buy them all... it will cost a total of two hundred and sixty-three strings of cash..."
This is a huge sum of money for an ordinary family!
Zhao Lizheng had some doubts about whether she could really come up with that much money.
Don't be trying to put on a brave face!
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