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In the end, the Magistrate left one hundred pounds of rice for Aoyama Village and took everything else. Before leaving, he mentioned that he would return after the Sweet Potatoes were harvested. What could the villagers do? They had plenty of Sweet Potatoes given by their Ancestors, and every village grew them, so the Magistrate surely wouldn’t come to take the Sweet Potatoes again—what a joke!
Elder Brother Li smiled upon hearing about the Magistrate's actions. When he heard the villagers complaining about only receiving one hundred pounds of rice, which was hardly enough to cultivate a few acres, Elder Brother Li comforted everyone: “Who knows, perhaps our Ancestor will show his spirit again and bless us with more rice seeds for next year’s planting.”
The villagers were easily swayed by his words, all gazing eagerly at the ancestral hall.
Li Zhoule quietly asked Elder Brother Li, “Big Brother, isn’t it a bit much to always let Sister Han spend money?”
Elder Brother Li replied with a smile, “She is your sister-in-law; we are family. There’s no such thing as spending too much. Didn’t you all happily accept the things she gave you before?”
That was because they thought those items were gifts from the divine. Li Zhoule grumbled inwardly. However, her big brother was doing well; Sister Han was now part of their family, and Big Brother didn’t mind her spending money. They could just enjoy it.
Elder Brother Li reached out to pat Li Zhoule’s head but then thought better of it since she was about to get married. He withdrew his hand awkwardly, sighing internally: At her age in modern times, she would just be starting high school, and now she was getting married—it was truly hard to let go!
“Make sure to finish embroidering that four-panel screen and pass it on to Sister Han; that way, she won’t be at a loss.”
Li Zhoule felt a heavy responsibility upon hearing this: “That screen only has one side left to finish. I’ll work harder on it; I can complete it in three days and give it to Sister Han.”
Elder Brother Li reminded her, “No need to rush; don’t stay up late stitching by oil lamp light; it’s bad for your eyes.”
Li Zhoule replied, “But if I don’t finish it in three days…”
Elder Brother Li reassured her, “It’s fine if it takes a little longer. Sister Han won’t mind waiting a few extra days. She isn’t poor in that world; buying a thousand pounds of rice is just a small matter.”
Li Zhoule smacked her lips but said nothing more; her expression relaxed.
Elder Brother Li chuckled and walked into the storage room, connecting to Porcelain Jar's video chat. Hanno had been holed up in her rental apartment during the day except for going home to sleep at night. She even turned down Yang Yun’s invitation to go out for a movie, and as for Liu Zhaoren, he hadn’t contacted Hanno in quite some time.
As soon as the video connected, Hanno appeared on Porcelain Jar's screen.
“Can Sweet Potatoes be planted for a second harvest after they are harvested?” Elder Brother Li asked.
“Wait a moment, let me check online,” Hanno quickly opened a webpage and typed in the question about whether Sweet Potatoes can be planted in winter. After a quick search, the answers were limited.
“Yes, but it would have to be in a greenhouse,” Hanno replied with a smile.
Elder Brother Li chuckled helplessly, “Nono, stop joking around; this is an important question.”
Hanno put aside the playful mood and browsed through several pages. He said to Elder Brother Li, “There’s an answer here stating that Sweet Potatoes are summer crops and primarily propagate through tubers. In winter, the climate is cold, and since Sweet Potatoes are generally located about one centimeter underground, they can freeze and become damaged. Therefore, Sweet Potatoes should not be planted for a second season.”
Elder Brother Li frowned. He had been thinking about encouraging the villagers to plant another crop of Sweet Potatoes, not only to ensure everyone had enough food and seeds for the year but also to provide surplus for people in other counties so that more could grow Sweet Potatoes. Now it seemed that plan wouldn’t work.
Hanno spoke up, “You want to help your people get more food, right? You could plant potatoes instead; they can be grown in two or even three seasons a year. In provinces like Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Hunan, and Hubei, potatoes are planted twice a year. For instance, in Shandong and Hebei, spring potatoes are sown in February or March and harvested in June or July; autumn potatoes are sown in August and harvested from late October to early November. In Jiangsu and Zhejiang, spring potatoes are sown from January to February and harvested in May or June; they are sown again in September for a December harvest. In southern regions, potatoes can be sown in November and harvested by the following February or March. Potatoes can withstand winter.”
Elder Brother Li’s eyes lit up at this information.
Hanno asked, “Is Aoyama Village located in the south or the central plains?”
It certainly wasn’t in the north; otherwise, there wouldn’t be a Northern Liang Kingdom.
Elder Brother Li replied, “It’s in the southwest, similar to modern-day Sichuan near Yunnan.”
Hanno clapped his hands together. “That’s great! You can grow potatoes three times a year there. However, I suggest you first plant one season of rice before planting potatoes.”
Elder Brother Li considered his girlfriend's advice. “We’ll do it your way. But you’ll need to provide the potatoes. By the way, why didn’t you give potatoes to Li Yishu and the others before? Instead, you gave them Sweet Potatoes?”
Hanno explained, “Isn’t it because potato sprouts are toxic? I was worried they might get poisoned from eating sprouted potatoes.”
"Elder Brother Li," he said, "Indeed, if potatoes are not stored properly, sprouting is a significant issue. I will remind them about this problem to prevent any poisoning incidents. Nono, please buy two thousand jin of potatoes and send them to me. Also, get another thousand jin of rice seeds like the ones you bought last time."
Hanno puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. "Buying so many potatoes and rice, people will think I'm a grain dealer."
Elder Brother Li chuckled, "You're the prettiest grain dealer around."
Hanno rolled her eyes at him. "Flattery won't disguise your orders for me to do things. Hmph, when we are in the same world, I want you to personally prepare my foot bath."
Elder Brother Li laughed, "Forget the foot bath; I would gladly wash you myself."
Hanno smiled back, "Alright then, from now on, you'll be responsible for washing my feet."
"Your servant obeys!" Elder Brother Li replied.
After sharing a laugh, Hanno ended the video call and got busy. Although she complained verbally, she took Li Wei Feng's instructions very seriously. After informing Han Dad and Mom Han about her plans, Hanno took her bank card to withdraw several tens of thousands of yuan. This money was Wei Feng's compensation; since Li Wei Feng was living well in another world, she decided to use it freely. She donated half of the compensation to an orphanage and kept the other half for herself, claiming it was her way of using her husband's money to support herself.
"I'll take care of looking beautiful while you earn money to support the family," Hanno assigned a task to Li Wei Feng.
Li Wei Feng nodded repeatedly, assuring her that he would not let down the trust placed in him.
Since this purchase was substantial, Hanno could no longer go to the nearby villages in D City—she wanted to avoid being recognized by her relatives—and instead headed straight to the agricultural market and seed store in the suburbs of the Provincial Capital. Buying potatoes was easy; she completed it in less than an hour. Hanno rented a warehouse near the agricultural market to store both the potatoes and seeds. She opened the boxes carefully and gingerly took out several layers of cotton cloth and foam wrapping that protected a Porcelain Jar. The Porcelain Jar was a treasure that allowed her and Li Wei Feng to be together; it must not suffer any damage.
After placing the Porcelain Jar safely, Hanno tapped on its bottom and initiated a video call. "I'm ready to send something; are you prepared over there?"
"Elder Brother Li replied, "We're ready; go ahead and send it."
He had already called his brothers Wen Zixia and Li Yishu, as well as Li Zhoule, to the storage room. When the potatoes and grain were delivered in a bag, they would carry one bag together to the yard. Of course, Elder Brother Li could easily carry two or three bags by himself without using any internal energy. The sun had already set outside, and the tired villagers had returned home to rest; no one would pass by the Li Family yard to see the many Two Large Burlap Sacks in the courtyard. However, just to be safe, Li Zhoule pretended to be drying bedding, hanging quilts and sheets all over the yard to shield it from prying eyes.
Hanno understood Elder Brother Li's intentions, so he didn't just buy two One Thousand Jin bags of potatoes and one One Thousand Jin bag of rice seeds; he doubled each amount. This made it tough for these few people from ancient times, who were exhausted after moving several One Thousand Jin worth of goods, their arms sore from the labor. And it wasn't over yet; they still needed to hide the potatoes and rice in the ancestral hall. Currently, Sweet Potatoes had not been harvested yet, and people's understanding of Celestial Seeds was still shallow. Once the Sweet Potatoes were harvested and these seeds were revealed, they would be taken more seriously by the farmers.
This work continued for half the night. Once everything was done, they were all so tired that they collapsed into bed and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows. The next day, when the entire village was busy harvesting Sweet Potatoes, they did not wake up until a deafening cheer jolted them awake.
"What happened?" Li Yishu rubbed his sleepy eyes as he walked out of his room.
Li Zhoule covered her mouth and yawned delicately, looking around in confusion. "It's already this late! I haven't made breakfast yet."
She hurriedly ran into the kitchen.
Elder Brother Li stopped Li Zhoule. "Don't bother; how long will it take to start a fire and cook? I'll have Sister Han bring us something to eat later."
Li Yishu perked up at this news. "Then I want to eat the Jianbing Guozi that Sister Han brought over last time."
Elder Brother Li chuckled. "Your taste is just like mine. Alright, we'll have Jianbing Guozi."
Li Zhoule smiled as she came out of the kitchen; she also loved eating Jianbing Guozi. It contained eggs, ham sausage, vegetables, and You Tiao all wrapped together—so delicious! In this world, there was no such thing as You Tiao. In Hanno's world, You Tiao was only introduced during the Southern Song period. It is said that after Qin Hui murdered Yue Fei, both military and civilians in Southern Song were filled with righteous indignation. At that time near Lin'an Wind and Wave Pavilion, there were two breakfast vendors who each took dough and shaped it into figures resembling Qin Hui and Wang's family before frying them in oil, calling them "fried cypress," which was the prototype of You Tiao.
The cheers erupted again outside, and Li Yishu curiously asked, "What are they shouting about?"
Elder Brother Li raised an eyebrow. "Today is Sweet Potato harvest day; they must have announced the yield per mu."
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