They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 222 Squeezing Out Residual Value

After the vigorous autumn harvest, sweet potatoes and potatoes soon entered their harvest season as well.

Liang, the village head, was really worried sick. He kept telling the villagers not to rush about the harvest, to wait for the notification, but in reality, he went to the fields two or three times a day to check the condition of the sweet potatoes and potatoes, trying to see if there was anything different from yesterday.

Another day has passed. Have you matured a little bit more?

Then, without fail, he went to Xu Zhichun's place every day to ask, "Zhichun, I see that the sweet potatoes aren't growing many leaves or sprouting new shoots, and many leaves are slowly turning yellow. Are they ready to be harvested? And the potatoes too, do they look about ready?"

With Liang Lizheng doing this, Xu Zhichun became quite nervous.

To be honest, she had no experience in growing sweet potatoes or potatoes. All her experience came from "seeing pigs run even though she hadn't eaten pork" and from books. When it really came down to it, she didn't dare to give any advice. She just had to vaguely deal with Liang, the village head, and then secretly dig up two plants from her own field to try it out.

After waiting a few more days, it looks like it's ready!

The yield is indeed very encouraging.

Her field was thickly and evenly fertilized with organic fertilizer, resulting in exceptionally large and high-quality sweet potatoes and potatoes. Even if other people's sweet potatoes weren't as good as hers, they probably wouldn't be much worse.

Suddenly remembering something, Xu Zhichun hurriedly said to Liang Lizheng, "Uncle Lizheng, I see that everyone has planted a lot of sweet potato vines. They will be ready for harvest soon. The chickens, ducks and pigs at home can't eat all these sweet potato vines in a short time. You can harvest the sweet potato vines first, cut them into small pieces, dry them and store them away. You can feed them to your family slowly when needed."

In winter, it's hard to gather pig feed, and there aren't enough vegetables in the garden to feed the pigs. Having dried sweet potato vines makes things much easier.

Liang Lizheng was overjoyed. "Is that even possible? Great idea! I'll tell everyone right away."

There's no need to announce such good news with a gong; just tell everyone you meet, and the whole village will know in less than half a day.

Sure enough, the whole village mobilized that day and began harvesting the sweet potato vines in a great effort.

Some people even went on to ask, "It seems a shame that the potato leaves and stems are being wasted. Can they be used to feed pigs, chickens, and ducks?"

Xu Zhichun quickly looked it up in a book, and it seemed to work too?
It needs to be cooked thoroughly.

So everyone harvested the potato vines and leaves as well.

This made everyone think, "Shouldn't taro work too?" From now on, we should harvest the leaves and stems first and then dig up the taro. It's such a waste that we can't finish eating all those big leaves and stems when raising pigs at home, and they can only be used as bedding for pigsties and compost. Why not chop them up, dry them, and keep them to feed pigs, chickens, and ducks? If necessary, we can just cook them and add a couple of handfuls of rice bran for even better results. It's very simple.

On the day the sweet potatoes and potatoes were officially harvested, Magistrate Lu, Clerk Shao, and Assistant Magistrate Zhao all came, leading a group of about ten yamen runners. Lu Xiaoyue and Granny Ji also came to watch the excitement.

When the village received the news that the county magistrate was coming to personally inspect the sweet potatoes and potatoes, it caused another uproar.

"Really? Magistrate Lu? He's coming to personally oversee our sweet potato and potato harvest?"

"Of course it's true! When has our village head ever made such a joke!"

"Our village is really proud! Hahahaha!"

"Then I will definitely dig well and try to dig out the biggest one to show Magistrate Lu."

"..." Liang Lizheng and the village elders, including Fourth Grandmother and Sixth Grandfather, were both happy and nervous. The news spread back to the village that very night, and they held a meeting. They specially invited Xu Zhichun, the young wife, to attend the village's high-level core meeting to discuss how to receive Magistrate Lu.

"Lord Lu is a good official. Our village is law-abiding. As long as we treat him sincerely and uprightly, there should be no problem, right?"

"Zhichun, your family is quite familiar with Lord Lu's family. Does Lord Lu have any taboos?"

"And we can't underestimate Magistrate Zhao and Clerk Shao either. As for the officers who came, they'll definitely be treated to good food and drink. Should we give them a red envelope as a token of our appreciation when they leave?"

"Tell everyone to keep an eye on their kids and prevent them from running around, making noise, or bumping into each other."

“That’s right. Also, give a warning to those gossipy women like Aunt Hua, and tell them to stop talking nonsense. Fourth Grandmother, go and tell them.”

"Row."

"I think the village roads need repairing and cleaning, and we need to make them cleaner. Each household should tidy up their own front and back yards, and I'll personally supervise the particularly lazy ones. Nobody should try to slack off!"

"Yes, yes, that's a problem too."

"."

There's still some money left in the village's public account, and even if there isn't, everyone here is from a well-off family and would be happy to contribute.

After all, this is a glory that other villages can't buy even if they have the money!

In the future, when people talk about how the county magistrate and the county assistant magistrate personally came to our village to harvest sweet potatoes and potatoes, who wouldn't be filled with respect and admiration upon hearing that?
Everyone discussed it animatedly, and finally decided to prepare a table of simple, rustic dishes to entertain the county magistrate and his entourage. They would kill two chickens, one to make a mushroom soup and the other to braise with fresh potatoes. Two people would be sent to the stream next to the village to catch some small river shrimp, which would then be fried. Someone would be sent to town early in the morning to buy pork and ribs; the ribs would be made into a sweet and sour sauce, and Aunt Zhu'er would make braised pork belly, with a piece of pork belly and a sweet potato placed in a bowl and steamed. They would also make a tomato and egg dish, a stir-fried lettuce with garlic, and a hot and sour shredded potato dish.

Xu Zhichun suggested that Aunt Zhu'er take charge of the cooking, saying, "Aunt Zhu'er is an excellent cook; it's sure to be a good choice to let her cook."

Previously, Xu Zhichun's family had hosted several banquets for Fourth Aunt and others, and everyone praised the dishes as delicious. At that time, they knew that it was Aunt Zhu'er who helped to make them. Now that Xu Zhichun has brought it up again, Fourth Aunt and others recall the taste. Although it is partly because Xu Zhichun was willing to spend money, it probably wouldn't have been possible without good cooking skills.

Although Aunt Pearl is a bit young, maybe she really can do it?

With Xu Zhichun acting as guarantor, everyone agreed.

The meals prepared for the constables were simpler: stewed chicken with potatoes, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and stir-fried pork belly slices with assorted mushrooms and dried bamboo shoots.

When the magistrate and his party left, they were given two baskets of sweet potatoes and potatoes, and each of the constables was given ten coins. That was it.

Next, they discussed how to lead Magistrate Lu and his entourage to collect sweet potatoes and potatoes, and who should be in charge.

Everyone wanted to make an appearance, and Liang Lizheng and Xu Zhichun were well aware of this. Especially Fourth Aunt and Sixth Grandfather, who were quite old, and it wasn't impossible that one night when they closed their eyes, they would never open them again. If they could make an appearance in front of the county magistrate, and preferably even say a word or two, then their lives would be truly worthwhile.

Liang Lizheng was very understanding and gave them every opportunity to shine. Everyone was very satisfied with the discussion and got along very well.

(End of this chapter)