The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 281: So Many People Like Me (9)_1

Chapter 281: Chapter 281: So Many People Like Me (9)_1

"Only one sweet potato was stolen? The cabbages are alright?" Pei Qin inquired.

"The cabbages are untouched! It is just one sweet potato that got stolen!" the person from Sun Quanliang’s family hastily replied.

"The sweet potatoes are ready to be harvested, curiosity from others is inevitable. Go back and keep a close watch!" Pei Qin, having snatched melons and dug up sweet potatoes herself when she was young, figured it could be any child from the families around, lured by curiosity and craving, sneaking out at night to dig one up.

Seeing that she wasn’t pursuing the matter, the representatives from Sun Quanliang’s family quickly expressed their gratitude and promised to keep a close watch, before hurrying off.

"It might have been them who stole it! And you just let them go without even a proper questioning!?" Pei Qian exclaimed furiously.

Pei Qin gave her a look, "Stealing a melon or pinching a date isn’t worth making a big deal about. Besides, once we dig up the sweet potatoes, we’ll give some to their family anyway, so it’s not worth stealing just a few!"

The suspicion that one of Sun Quanliang’s had committed the theft was just a casual remark from Pei Qian. In truth, she was more suspicious of someone from Old Pei’s House or someone else from Back Mountain Village since it was only a bit more than two miles from Back Mountain Village to Taiping Town. Their fifty mu of land adjoined the land from Back Mountain Village.

But since there were people watching during the day, it was impossible to find out who might have stolen one at night. Buying a whole manor would be much cheaper; it’s just that they didn’t have that much silver on hand right now. They could only make sure the people from Sun Quanliang’s family kept a tighter watch.

Mo Heng, who hadn’t visited in a while, came by again, "Is the soy sauce workshop finished yet?"

"We’ve just finished raising the beams and laying the tiles," Pei Qin answered him.

Mo Heng was silent for a moment, then said, "Once the workshop is completed, I’ll help you look after it!"

Pei Qin raised an eyebrow.

Not hearing her response, Mo Heng looked down and said, "Old Father Kong’s grandson is getting married, they need to renovate the house for the wedding."

"So they kicked you out?" Pei Qin said.

"You definitely need someone to guard inside your workshop. I’ll help you with it without asking for payment," Mo Heng said as he raised his eyes to ’look’ at her.

Upon hearing this, Pei Qin pointed at him angrily and said, "You still owe me twenty taels of silver, and you dare to ask for payment!?"

A slow smile spread across Mo Heng’s face, "I won’t ask for money!"

Pei Qin stood with her hands on her hips, silent, her brows furrowed in displeasure. Feng Wei undoubtedly had no money on him; not willing to travel far, he spent whatever little he earned on this blind man for medicine and food. If they were to rent another place, it would be more convenient for the two Little Radishes to go for their martial arts lessons.

Seeing Mo Heng actually smiling, she said irritably, "What are you laughing at? Think your smile looks good, do you!?"

The smile on Mo Heng’s face deepened, "Whatever you need, let me do it!"

Pei Qin gave him a look that could be taken as an assent. At least Feng Wei was trained in martial arts, and with him watching over the workshop, she didn’t have to worry about theft. Though she didn’t want to involve herself with this master and servant duo, clearly embroiled in trouble, Little Radish had already begun learning both martial arts and academics from them.

Mo Heng expressed his thanks. After becoming blind, for the first time, he felt his mood... lift. When he returned home, he even took a handful of sugar-coated peanuts to snack on.

The workshop was simple and easy to construct. Besides having quite a few buildings, it was soon completed.

The front yard contained the oil press and smaller workshops, while the rear housed the soy sauce workshop and a large drying yard.

The quarters for the long-term workers were also equipped with heated brick beds; once the rooms were heated and dried out, Mo Heng and his servant Feng Wei moved into the workshop to live.

By this time, the sweet potatoes had also peaked in growth, and Pei Qin had said she would call Wang Ting to come over. When it was time to send the peanuts to the county town, she stopped by the Wang family to notify them.

Wang Ting had already made arrangements with his family, and Zhang Yan proposed to accompany him to check out the sweet potatoes. The uncle and nephew set off early in the morning, riding along in a horse-drawn carriage.

The Fang family, the Feng family, and the people from the Lizheng family also came to help.

Pei Qin additionally hired a few more people to join them. They began by cutting the sweet potato vines and setting them aside, then slowly started to dig with three-toothed iron rakes.

Last time, Pei Qin had Sun Quanliang find help, and together with her siblings, they only dug up a bit more than one mu. This time they had more land, and since they started digging, they wanted to be done within a single day, thus requiring more hands.

Seeing them begin the sweet potato harvest, quite a few people came to watch.

Wang Ting didn’t even know that sweet potatoes grew long vines above ground and then formed sweet potatoes below ground. He was amazed at the sheer number of them clustered together, and especially at their large size.

Zhang Yan had researched sweet potatoes. They were not widely planted in foreign countries, and he was surprised that Pei Qin knew of and could cultivate them.

When they had dug up two mu and accumulated a large pile of sweet potatoes, not only the onlookers but also Sun Quanliang’s family, who had dug earlier, couldn’t help but be astonished.

When Wu Dongsi hurried over and saw the mountain of sweet potatoes, his eyes bulged out, "How much ground did you dig up for these?"

"A little over three mu, not quite four," Pei Qin replied to him.

Sun Lizheng instantly came over to bow, "Master!"

Sun Quanliang also knelt down swiftly, "Your humble commoner greets you, Master!"

On hearing that it was the Master County without official attire, yet accompanied by guards and a carriage, when Sun Lizheng bowed, a wave of people swiftly followed suit, barely able to hide their shocked curiosity. The Master County was here to watch the sweet potato digging!?

Wu Dongsi quickly gestured for everyone to rise and took an extra glance at Pei Qin, who had not knelt to pay her respects. He did not question her or say much else but inquired of her, "How many jin do you think you’ll get from these seven plus mu of sweet potatoes?"

Pei Qin made a quick estimate and answered, "Probably about thirteen to fifteen thousand jin. It should not be more than that by much!"

Such an amount already had people gasping.

Wu Dongsi, however, laughed out loud and exclaimed, "Good! Keep planting next year!" If he could promote the cultivation of sweet potatoes, his contribution couldn’t be ignored! A mere village girl like Pei Qin, even if rewarded by the officials, would not outshine him!

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