Goldfield
Chapter 40: High Yield

[How many times have I told you? What I absorb is what you humans cannot absorb, spiritual energy. It did not affect the effect of the medicinal herbs at all! However, you still refuse to believe me. The spiritual energy of the medicinal herbs from Old You's home was very little!] The little sacred stone began to bid.

[Good! The next time I go to the city, I'll take a detour to the Tongren Medicine Hall and let you absorb as much spiritual energy as you want!] Finding the sweet potato again, Xiaocao focused all his energy on handling the large sweet potato and casually responded to the Divine Stone. After all, who knew when he would visit the city again.

Lady Liu, who had never tried to evade work or responsibility, bowed and unceasingly looked for yams. He secretly thought: ‘In previous years, the largest sweet potato that came from this piece of sandy soil was no larger than the size of a palm. But this year, it looks like sweet potatoes are filled with gas, each bigger than the next year. ‘

He initially thought that the sweet potato that his youngest daughter had just dug up was already considered the best. But he did not expect that the yam he dug afterwards was also not inferior to the sweet potato his youngest daughter dug. Some even surpass the size of ‘raja potato’.

“Mother, the size of sweet potato this year is much larger than last year. Looks like we can also harvest more sweet potatoes this year! ” Yu Xiaolian felt this was unbelievable. It was the same piece of land as last year and the seed came from the sweet potato from the previous year. However, why does it seem that this year's sweet potato harvest is competing? Each one is bigger than the next!

Madam Li had just started digging as she sat down and started wiping her sweat. He looked down and saw the size of his family's sweet potato field. All the meat on Madam Li's face was pinched as she smiled and said, “Adik Ipar, this year, the sweet potato will definitely produce high. Do you think I'll give us a little to roast and eat? ”

In the past, when the harvest was not abundant, sweet potatoes would be sliced thinly and dried. After that, it will be ground into a powder and served along with other coarse grains throughout the winter. Pancakes made from sweet and chewy sweet potato flour. It tastes much better than pancakes made from raw millet flour and strange-smelling peanut flour.

Every year, the remaining small sweet potatoes are occasionally boiled in a basin. The boiled yam feels very soft and sweet. Unfortunately they can not eat much because it easily causes stomach acid. Sweet potatoes taste better when roasted. However, Madam Zhang found it too extravagant as a portion of the charred sweet potato skin had to be discarded.

“Oldest Aunt, you've had a long break. Quickly get up and find a sweet potato. There's a lot of sweet potatoes. If we don't finish the excavation today, Grandma will be furious. When that happens, we won't even be able to eat yam skin, let alone roasted yam! ”

Yu Xiaocao insulted this lazy and greedy Eldest Aunt. Both she and Xiaolian had already dug up a pile of sweet potatoes, but her eldest aunt had just dug two before she sat down and stopped working. It was impossible for people to refrain from ridiculing him!

Madam Li picked up the little sweet potato and wiped the dirt on the yam with her sleeve, whose color was indescribable. With his big mouth, he violently gnawed at the outer skin of the sweet potato. While gnawing at the skin with a big mouthful, he also did not forget to ask himself and said,

“This is only five plots of land! We can definitely finish the excavation today. If I rest for a while, it won't delay anything. Sweet potatoes this year are not only large, but also sweet. It tastes better than sweet potatoes from previous years. ”

Yu Xiaolian glared at him. He knew that they would never be able to rely on Madam Li when they harvested sweet potatoes every year. Yu Xiaolian raised her head to look at her twin sister. He couldn't help but say, “Xiaocao, rest for a while before you start digging again. Don't exhaust yourself. ”

Madam Liu straightened her waist and gently wiped away the sweat droplets on her forehead. In an attentive voice, he said, “Cao’er, you have never done farm work before. Why don't you sit on the edge of the field and play? Your brother and I can finish this job. ”

In his previous life, Yu Xiaocao was also used to doing agricultural work. Although his family never planted sweet potatoes, no techniques or skills were needed to dig up sweet potatoes. In just a few moments, he started digging sweet potatoes. After taking care of his body for four to five months, and with the training he got by climbing the mountain and going out to sea, he was no longer Yu Xiaocao whose legs would become soft after walking two steps. He smiled at his mother and continued his work without delay.

“Hey, Second Sister-in-law, what kind of fertilizer did your family use this year? All your sweet potatoes are huge. Look that! This sweet potato should at least weigh seven to eight catties! ” After Yu Jiang finished digging yams in his family field, he came to help Madam Liu. However, when he saw a ball-sized sweet potato on the ground, he could not help but be stunned.

Madam Liu shook her head and replied with a smile, “The fertilizer we used this year is the same as the previous years. It was made of the same filth from our family. Maybe, we have a good harvest this year because the weather is very good for the harvest. ”

Yu Jiang picked up the hoe that Madame Li threw to the ground. He skillfully started digging potatoes, saying, “If the reason is because of the weather, then why is my family's harvest the same as last year? Good weather cannot be the reason. Second brother-in-law, if there is a secret recipe to produce an abundant harvest, please don't hide it from me! ”

Yu Xiaolian knew that Third Uncle liked to joke so he said, “Third Uncle, if we have a secret recipe, will we hide it from our own family? The fertilizer we used this year was made by me and my mother. The fertilizer is definitely the same as last year. As for why there is such a big harvest this year, we also have no idea. ”

‘You don't know, but I know!’ Yu Xiaocao thought to himself. With her head lowered, she continued to work and said, “Didn't Mom say that when we farm, we depend on Heaven to eat. Perhaps, Heaven saw that my family was pleasing to the eye, so Heaven gave us high results this year. ”

“Hei! I didn't expect that our Xiaocao family was following your Third Uncle, we both liked telling jokes. Will Heaven also be biased towards certain people? However, the Gods might see that your mother and brother never had enough food to eat. So, it can be justified if Heaven gives you more food. ”

Yu Jiang had long been unhappy with his second uncle's second wife. He was part of the younger generation and not part of the second family, so he was speechless. He could only help the pitiful Second Sister-in-law and her children do as much hard work as he could. He tried to help as much as possible.

“Your family will probably harvest at least about 2,000 catties from your family farm, which is far more than any other family harvest! If our fields are able to produce half of the production of your fields, then I will laugh! ” Although his speech showed that he was envious, his hands never stopped working. He is really a professional when it comes to menial work. The speed is faster than three people combined.

Yu Dashan and Yu Hai came to help in the afternoon after they returned from fishing. So, with the extra helpers, and Third Uncle, who was a free and efficient worker, they were able to finish it off before the sky darkened. All the sweet potatoes in the five fields have been dug up and placed in wheelbarrow to be transported home.

When Madam Zhang, who had always put on a gloomy face, saw the pile of sweet potatoes in the courtyard, she beamed like a flower. It is estimated that this year's sweet potato harvest suddenly reached 3,000 catties. This is more than double the amount harvested last year.

This was all thanks to the luck of the current emperor. Old Yu looked at the mountain of sweet potatoes with satisfaction, as if he did not need to panic as long as he had food in his hands. “When I was young, when I was hungry, I had to eat tree bark and grass roots. When I was very hungry, I even ate poop to fill my stomach. At that moment, many people starved to death! ”

Old Yu paused for a moment and seemed to be trapped in his past memories as he continued, “After the sweet potato was imported from abroad, we also experienced hunger again. Sweet potatoes produce high yields and can be stored for a long time. Therefore, sweet potatoes and sweet potato flour, as well as sweet potato vines, have helped us survive the famine for three terrible years. It saved us from starvation to death. ”

Madam Zhang also nodded her head and said, “That's right. Sweet potatoes are a good plant. However, consuming sweet potatoes and sweet potato flour twice a day will make the stomach bloated. Eating too much sweet potato will cause acid regurgitation. Sweet Potatoes will also make you fart and make you heartburn. It's very hard to bear. It would be great if there are plants that produce high and do not make you heartburn! ”

“Don't be dissatisfied with what you have! You already have something to eat, yet you think about this and that! ” Old Yu glared at the woman, and then continued to see them slicing potatoes into thin slices.

There were not many kitchen knives in the house, so sickles and iron pieces from hoes were used. However, there are still not enough tools for everyone to use. Moreover, the cutting speed was also slow. When can they finish cutting 10,000 kati sweet potatoes?

Yu Xiaocao recalled that in his previous life when his neighbor cut a yam, the tool he used was a razor with one side having the blade open at the end of his blade. The blade will be installed in the center of the wooden board. When a large sweet potato is pushed down on its blade, it will be cut into pieces. In addition, it is also very safe to use because it will not easily hurt your hands.

Yu Xiaocao discussed it briefly with his father. The next day, when his father returned from the city, he had bought some of the blades he had requested. After working on it all afternoon, his skilled father finally finished making some yam slicers.

Yu Xiaocao used broken clothes that they could no longer wear and made several pairs of thick gloves. With thick gloves, they do not have to worry about their hands being cut with the tool.

Lady Liu wore tattered gloves and lifted the wooden board from the tool. Then, he took a large sweet potato and placed it on top of his blade. With a strong push, a medium-sized sweet potato piece fell from its blade.

Madam Zhang also tried the tool and gave them a rare compliment, “This tool is very convenient to use. Not only does it cut sweet potatoes quickly, but it also does not require much energy. That's pretty good!”

Madam Li, who was interested in the new tool, also became diligent for a few days and cut out several hundred sweet potato catties.

Thanks to a sweet potato cutter, they were able to cut 10,000 catties of yam in less than ten days. Initially, it would be difficult even to complete 10,000 kati sweet potatoes in a month. But with the combined efforts of women and men at home, as well as cutting tools, they were able to quickly complete the task.

As they cut the sweet potatoes, some villagers stopped by their homes and saw their sweet potato cutters. After they questioned Yu Hai about the yam cutter, they went to the blacksmith in the city and took out some razor blades. Then, they asked Yu Hai to help them make a sweet potato slicer when he was free. Which family has no relatives in other villages? Soon, the use of sweet potato cutters spread from Dongshan Village to other villages.

In the future, every time the sweet potato harvest season, people would often talk about the Yu Family from Dongshan Village. Yu Xiaocao would never have imagined that the small discovery he had pirated from others would make the reputation of the Yu Family soar high around the nearby village. He only made sweet potato cutters for the comfort of his family. Yu Xiaocao was currently thinking about what kind of good food he should make with sweet potato flour.

With a combination of the little experience he had in his previous life and his own improvisation, he was able to come up with many recipes that used coarse grains as the base ingredient.

For example, there are already several ways to make sweet potato noodles.

The simplest way to make noodles is to use a large grater (Yu Xiaocao had asked his father to take this grater from the blacksmith when he went there to pick up the razor.) To tear the freshly squeezed sweet potato dough over it a pot of boiling water. Noodles made like this will become thick. The thickness will be the same as children's fingers.

But honestly, without seasoning and oil, a big bowl of noodles like that would not be filling at all. Shortly after eating it, the stomach will soon rumble because of hunger.

The most delicious type of noodle dish is noodles served with thick sauce. The first step is to use a flour sieve to filter out the refined sweet potato flour. Next, warm boiled water should be mixed into the flour while kneading the dough into a ball. On a pot of boiling water, grate the dough with a miser and let the yam noodles fall into the boiling water. Because the firewood under the stove continues to burn, the person grating the dough should finish it immediately, or the noodles in the pot will dissolve in the water.

However, making noodles requires a lot of energy. He could only make noodles when his father was home. Although Yu Hai had great strength, every time he made noodles, droplets of sweat would cover his entire body. There were about a dozen people in the Yu Family. To make sure everyone could eat, Yu Xiaocao had to cook a large pot of noodles every time he made noodles. Thus, even as winter approached, Yu Hai's clothes would still be soaked in sweat.

However, the cooked noodles will come out sparkling and translucent. When eaten, noodles have a smooth and chewy texture. When noodles are combined with mussel soup, chopped chives, and a little spice, this dish is very satisfying to eat. This is a classic example of a sweet potato noodle dish.

Another way to make it is to cut the freshly kneaded dough into several pieces of noodles on the cutting board. After making the noodles, just put them in a pot of boiling water. After the noodles are cooked, it can be eaten immediately. Noodles made in this way will remain savory and sweet. Soup broth can also be added to noodles to make them into noodles with broth. But the texture of noodles made in this way is not as smooth as noodles cooked directly in boiling water.

There is also a way to eat it with another that is a combination of thin noodles thick sauce. First, the sweet potato dough is wrapped with wheat dough to make handmade noodles. Once the dough is cut in half, the black and white dough will be very noticeable. When eaten, noodles will have the tenacity of wheat flour, and the smoothness and smoothness of sweet potato flour. The noodles can also be eaten along with the favorite sauce of the eater. This type of dish is also a delicacy. But there was a stingy old woman watching him at home. Unless his younger uncle returns home with his family, he won't let him touch wheat flour.

In addition, sweet potato flour can be used to make flat bread, pancakes, or steamed corn bread. It can also be made into steamed bakpaos, dumplings, and others. With Xiaocao's ability to make various dishes out of sweet potato flour, the Yu Family rarely went out to buy food in the winter.