The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 283 Foreign Spy (2)_1

Chapter 283: Chapter 283 Foreign Spy (2)_1

Last time it was for a tasty treat, this time it was aimed at the villagers in the town. The ordinary people at the grassroots level didn’t care what delicious dishes sweet potatoes could make—they just cared whether the grain could fill their stomachs.

Old Scholar Fang saw there were still some steamed mixed vegetable dumplings and sweet potato flour mixed grain flatbreads left, so he called out to the onlookers who hadn’t left to come and try. None of them had ever grown or even seen a sweet potato before, so naturally, they would be hesitant to consider it a crop, but once they had a taste and knew the many benefits, there would be no need for a hard sell—they would be vying to plant it themselves!

The sweet potato flour mixed grain flatbreads weren’t that tasty, but they were a bit finer than corn and sorghum flour, and easier to swallow. The steamed dumplings made with sweet potato flour dough, although they looked dark, were really delicious. They could also be made into noodles, really just like corn and sorghum flour. Those who had tasted and eaten were inevitably tempted.

Zhang Yan didn’t use chopsticks either, learning from Sun Tiezhu and Pei Qin, directly pinching the steamed dumplings with his hands. This rough foodstuff wasn’t hard to swallow like corn or sorghum flour, but most importantly, its yield was several times higher than corn or sorghum, and it had the support of the government office. His gaze shifted to Pei Qin, appraising her.

Pei Qin was feeding Xiao Xingwang a segment of noodles, watching him stuff his mouth full and suck on a noodle, laughing merrily as if sunshine was radiating from her smile and body.

Wang Ting turned his gaze away, "Little Uncle! Let’s plant sweet potatoes next year too! These dumplings are delicious!" He saw the people around him appearing fearful; Pei Qin’s efforts to promote the sweet potato certainly wouldn’t be easy.

Zhang Yan looked at his little nephew, his lips curving into a smile, "Sweet potatoes can’t be stored for long, so we shouldn’t plant them excessively."

"They can be ground into sweet potato flour!" Wang Ting replied as he bit into a sweet potato flour dumpling, "Once ground into sweet potato flour, it can be stored like corn, sorghum flour, white flour, and rice for a long time!"

"Indeed, that’s feasible," Zhang Yan remarked, and couldn’t help but look at Pei Qin again.

After Pei Qin finished a bowl of noodles, she scooped up a large bowl of meat and bone broth, eating the steamed dumplings with the soup. She had previously seemed rough in her actions, but when she was placed among these villagers, the difference became clear. The innate elegance and forthright manner, the subtly burgeoning aura.

Farmers can’t sit idle, especially when there’s work to be done in the fields. After enjoying a good meal at their host’s place, Sun Quanliang led the people back to the fields as soon as they’d finished eating.

Wu Dongsi didn’t leave, instead, he asked Sun Lizheng to bring out the large scale used for collecting grain taxes to weigh the sweet potatoes harvested from the plot of over seven acres, as he needed an exact figure to write up a memorandum to submit.

Pei Qin saw that Fang Li, Feng Shouxing, and Sun Tiezhu were present, so she came over to calculate the yield.

Wu Dongsi had brought Master Qianliang and Clerk with him, armed with an abacus and pen and paper, to calculate the exact yield of the sweet potatoes.

But relying on them for calculations, it was estimated they wouldn’t finish even by this afternoon.

As each batch was weighed, Pei Qin made a note of it. As soon as the weight was revealed, she could already have the answer.

Once all the sweet potatoes were dug up and weighed, Pei Qin had the final answer too, "Seventeen thousand two hundred and seventeen pounds. Deducting the dirt on the surface of sweet potatoes, there are seventeen thousand pounds."

Master Qianliang heard her give the answer and was startled—they were still calculating on their side.

Wu Dongsi looked at Pei Qin with a mix of surprise and skepticism.

"I just picked up a little mental arithmetic by stealth," Pei Qin said with a smile.

When the results were calculated and matched Pei Qin’s answer exactly, Wu Dongsi regarded Pei Qin with a more serious expression. Shen Songming wouldn’t get involved with a village girl with no connection to the small town without reason, nor treat her so well. Even if she had a pretty face, what kind of eminent lady couldn’t Shen Songming marry if he wished to?