Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 851 - 841. Cleaning up Sweet Potato Vine

Chapter 851: 841. Cleaning up Sweet Potato Vine

Song Youde and Wang Lifan stopped their bike by the roadside; only then did they descend the mountain and walk along the field ridge to the sweet potato field nearby.

The field wasn’t large, covering just one or two acres. Now, with the autumn air crisp and clear, it was the peak season for mad growth. The leaves and stems were densely packed, completely covering the field, leaving no space unfilled!

If people didn’t come every few days to pick some for cooking or feeding the pigs, they would have had to flip the vines over in summer because of their vigorous growth!

Looking at it now, they appeared densely packed and exceptionally robust.

Only from one corner to the middle, it was sparse like a bald spot, clearly where the wild boar Dahei had rummaged and eaten, causing what was once a complete field to now have gaps like missing teeth.

Seeing this, Wang Lifan felt somewhat reluctant:

"The frost is almost upon us, yet the vines are still growing so well, maybe we should wait a bit longer?"

However, Song Youde disagreed: "It’s precisely around the first frost that the sweet potatoes are sweetest and most delicious! Let’s not wait, the cattle below are waiting to be fed, what’s more valuable, meat or sweet potato vines!"

With that said, Wang Lifan nodded, "That’s true—if we wait any longer they’ll wither, and then they won’t taste good. Even pigs can be picky."

She picked up a small sickle: "Let’s start with the vines, and Tantan can come later to dig up the sweet potatoes—did we plant red-core or white-core this year?"

Red-core sweet potatoes are the yellow-skinned varieties touched with red; they are crunchy when raw and soft and moist when cooked.

White-core with red skin have more starch, less moisture when raw, and a fuller feeling after being cooked, with a fluffy texture.

Song Youde couldn’t remember either—there were too many planted at home for him to keep track. He vaguely recalled it was about half and half?

Looking at the sweet potato vines in front of them, there were green and purple-red ones. Since they were random varieties from the market, the colors were somewhat inconsistent.

Professor Song had seen them recently and thought they were lacking in nitrogen and phosphorus! But after more research, they confirmed it was a problem with the variety.

Recalling Professor Song, who had taken his students and left, Song Youde felt quite reluctant... It’s great to have an expert! Looking after the family fields certainly hasn’t been less worrying!

He lifted the heavy entangled vines, and Wang Lifan, wielding the sickle, cut at the base a few times before letting go and moving to the next pile.

The old couple coordinated well, their actions for a time quite in sync.

By the time Qiaoqiao came running over with a mobile phone stand, the old folks had already cut a whole row.

He set up the phone: "Grandpa, let me help you cut!"

"Good!" Song Youde pointed at the piles on the ridge: "Load them on the truck, later we’ll take them to the factory yard!"

"Alright!" Qiaoqiao immediately got busy enthusiastically.

Thus, viewers who had just entered the live stream were momentarily dazed, watching as the stream emptied out, only occasionally seeing Qiaoqiao energetically carrying sweet potato vines past...

Their hearts were breaking, barely managing to leave comments in the chat—

[Hey hey hey, don’t leave!]

[I came as soon as I got the notification, why is the host leaving again?!]

[Does the host care about me at all, or not at all?]

["The Back View"]

[The one in front calls daddy, you call too, anyway I don’t acknowledge ’The Back View’—]

[You stand right there, don’t move, I’ll bring you a bundle of sweet potato vines.]

[Is this sweet potato vines? Do potatoes grow this way too?]

[Suddenly harvesting so many vines, are they for feeding pigs or the new cattle and sheep?]

[Look at the calves, look at the calves, look at the calves.]

[Look at the sheep, look at the sheep, look at the sheep... The host only mentions, never takes us to see]

The old couple was still efficient at working, but cutting vines and loading them onto the tricycle was a different story in terms of efficiency.

Qiaoqiao only ran a few trips, and soon there were none left on the ground.

He curiously squatted on the ridge: "Grandpa, are the sweet potatoes ripe yet?"

"Ripe!" Song Youde laughed heartily: "Anyway, we’re going to dig them up in a couple of days, why not dig two out now and take a look?"

Upon hearing this, Qiaoqiao was instantly delighted, then he remembered the livestream, quickly adjusted the stand to place it beside:

"Kids, today I’ll teach you how to dig sweet potatoes."

"Professor Song at home says, ’At the autumn equinox, the millet frost drops, harvest sweet potatoes around the first frost’—the first frost was last week, and because of the light rain, we only started harvesting the rice today!"

Qiaoqiao had a good memory and recited everything Professor Song taught before leaving.

"However, I’ve already taught the kids how to harvest rice in the summer, so we won’t review that today."

Thinking it over, he hesitated: "Sister said it’s a bit busy at home, so I won’t invite classmates over for now, you still remember the pig-slaughtering feast in winter, right? Kids should study hard!"

Qiaoqiao spoke seriously, making it sound very convincing, but the chat barrage flew by swiftly again:

[Remember, I’ll be there for the pig-slaughtering feast]

[Thanks, host, for being considerate; I can’t differentiate grains, so I can’t do rice harvesting, just call me for the pig-slaughtering]

[Call me, call me! I’ve been diligently practicing and have already learned how to handle a pig’s leg! My husband can attest!]

[I’m different, because I learned too well, I even tore off my husband’s underwear—]

[Host, I’m a judo coach, I’ve practiced my sacrifice technique and over-shoulder throws well, could be used on a pig!]

[The two heroes from before, you guys are really going all out, huh!]

Some of the comments were more serious:

[It’s been five or six days past the first frost, harvesting rice is a bit late]

[Didn’t you hear the host say? It rained a few days ago]

[Doesn’t it germinate easily in the rain?]

[No, looking at the environment, the temperature is low today, it won’t germinate quickly, a few days’ delay doesn’t matter]

[I just want to know, harvesting sweet potatoes a week before the frost, will they taste good?]

[You’re overthinking, bro, it’s not like he’s selling them to us anyway]

[Suddenly, I’m heartbroken]

Will the sweet potatoes taste good?

Qiaoqiao grabbed a branch nearby and had already started energetically digging.

The soil was loose and the sweet potatoes were big in size, and after a few digs, a round and large one was unearthed, which looked nothing like the elongated sweet potatoes sold online.

Qiaoqiao, holding the big sweet potato, was stunned.

The barrage was stunned too:

[I miss the sweet potatoes we used to grow back in my hometown! Many of them were this round shape.]

[I don’t like them this large, they just can’t be thoroughly roasted in a stove, the outside is burnt while the inside is still raw.]

[It’s true, the larger ones are hard to cook, you have to cut several slits when steaming them.]

[Not this... Can anyone tell me? Do sweet potatoes naturally grow this big in the ground?]

[They’re really huge! If the sweet potato stall at the school gate dared to sell them this big, they’d bankrupt me with just one.]

[Are you talking about those sold by the pound at five yuan? Just any one of them weighs several pounds.]

[Five yuan? Where are you? Here it’s seven yuan!]

[Air fryer, 40 minutes for roasted sweet potatoes... Yummy!]