The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 169 - 158 Mountain Yam Beans

Chapter 169: Chapter 158 Mountain Yam Beans

Keke wanted to encourage her to take advantage of the still not too cold weather to walk around the mountains, and by the way, look for some rare species...

Never mind, the host is still young.

Keke felt that if it were human, with a human body, it would now be silently swallowing a mouthful of old blood.

But it didn’t let Manbao continue making such plans, because it knew that no matter what, she could never save money, so it was still necessary to earn more.

It reminded her, "Host, didn’t you want to make candied yams last time?"

Manbao thought back to the yam and bean stewed chicken they had a few days ago and said, "Stewed chicken is also very tasty, tastier than candy."

Having been accustomed to sweets since childhood, Manbao had a limited fondness for sweetness; she still found yam and bean stewed chicken to be more delicious.

With that thought, she immediately said, "Let’s go pick some yam beans, and tonight we can kill a chicken for dinner."

Keke: It knew it would turn out like this; how could she possibly think of saving money? That’s impossible.

Manbao immediately left her room and ran back to find her mother, "Mom, let’s kill a chicken for dinner tonight."

The reason was quite valid, "Look at how thin Four has become; he needs to nourish his body, so he needs to have a stewed chicken."

Ms. Qian thought it over and also felt that Four had been too undersupplied lately, so she nodded, "All right, go call your sister-in-law back to kill the chicken."

Manbao immediately turned and ran.

Ms. Qian shook her head with a smile, picked up the needle and thread from the basket and continued making clothes for her, certain that Manbao was just craving a good meal again.

Manbao ran to call Junior Ms. Qian back home to kill the chicken, and while she was at it, she called over Datou, Daya, and the rest of the kids to come pick yam beans together in the field.

A group of children, clutching two bamboo baskets, began shouting as they ran toward the field. Most of the ginger had been sold, but only a few yams had been harvested.

Initially, they thought the yams were a bit small, but after waiting over ten days, even though it was past last year’s harvest season, they found upon closer inspection that the yams hadn’t grown much and realized that was probably as big as they were going to get.

Keke said it was due to poor seed genetics; these were primitive species whose seeds hadn’t been selectively bred or optimized, plus various factors like climate and soil fertility contributed to their size.

If they wanted a better harvest next year, they needed to select good seeds this year.

But of course, this wasn’t something Manbao could handle; she had told Daya, leaving it to them to do.

What Manbao had to do was drool over the yam beans on the vines and yams in the ground.

Because they were thinking about keeping good seeds, they hadn’t dug up many yams; the Zhou Family unanimously decided to wait until they were old enough before digging them all up together, choosing the best for seeds, and the rest would be eaten, sold, or dried.

Yams could be preserved for a long time, and with the low winter temperatures, Keke said that if they found a well-ventilated place, they could be stored for six to seven months; but with something so tasty, why not hurry up and eat them all?

Manbao rushed to the field, stood on tiptoe, and started picking the yam beans she could reach. Daya saw that she was scooping everything she saw into the bamboo basket and, frightened, quickly grabbed her hand, "Little auntie, we’re picking the big ones, not the small ones yet."

Manbao said, "I think the small ones are tasty, too—one bite each, one bite each."

Daya felt pity, "I think they can still grow bigger."

"All right," Manbao began to look for yam beans that were slightly bigger with wide eyes.

Daya figured it was enough and wanted to call Manbao back home, but Keke said in Manbao’s mind, "Pick more, I can help you look up the recipe for yam bean candied yams, and you can try making it."

Manbao asked curiously, "Keke, do you want to eat candied yams?"

Keke: "...Yes."

Manbao immediately said, "Okay, we’ll pick some more, and when it’s made, I’ll eat it for you to see."

Keke: "...Good."

Manbao then turned around and waved to Daya, "Come on, let’s pick some more, we’re going to make candied yams."

When the children heard this, their eyes lit up—candied yams, they had never tasted them but had seen them.

The group of children rushed over, "Little auntie, you know how to make candied yams?"

"No, but my sister-in-law does."

Datou and Daya both widened their eyes; their mother could make candied yams, and they had no idea.

Children have a particular enthusiasm for food, especially sweets, so they weren’t in a hurry to go back but excitedly weaved through the vines, picking any yam beans that were slightly larger.

After they weaved their way through the vines, they realized they had picked quite a lot—the two bamboo baskets they brought were both full.

Since yams were even more expensive than meat, the family had always been reluctant to eat them, even the yam beans—now they had picked so many...

Datou instinctively touched his bottom and, after a shiver, handed the biggest basket to Manbao, saying, "Little auntie, this is too heavy, can you help me carry it?"

Manbao, considerate, lifted it and said, "Sure."

Datou scratched his head and with a red face, finally said, "So, little auntie, when we get home and mom asks, you absolutely have to say that it was you who told us to pick them."

Manbao, so clever, immediately understood. With an "Oh," she said, "Are you afraid of being beaten by my sister-in-law? Don’t worry, it won’t happen; since we’re going to eat these yam beans eventually, it doesn’t matter if we eat them sooner or later."

Manbao happily said, "Tonight we’ll have yam bean stewed chicken, tomorrow we can have yam bean stewed meat, and the day after tomorrow we can have yam bean stewed bones. After all, it can be kept without spoiling."

Datou widened his eyes, "Little auntie, didn’t you say you were going to make candied yams?"

"Oh, I almost forgot; actually, I think yams stewed with meat are tastier."

"No," Datou shouted, "I want to eat candied yams."

Daya, Second Son, Erya, and others immediately made their positions clear, "I want to eat candied yams, too!"

Outvoted, Manbao had no choice but to sigh and say, "All right."

Keke said, "Host, human records hold yam candied yams in high regard."

"But didn’t you say that just because they speak so highly of them, it might be because they can’t get yams anymore, so they find them tasty?"

Anyway, the last time she ate candied yams, she didn’t find them tasty, but Fifth Brother and the others liked them, so she thought the ’like’ that Keke talked about probably differed from her own ’like’.

Keke stopped talking; it felt that in such situations, the host should try it at least once, only after tasting would she know whether she liked it or not.

Manbao and Datou carried a bamboo basket back home; Junior Ms. Qian had already killed the chicken. When she looked up and saw the children carrying back two baskets full of yam beans, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes, rolled up her sleeves, and prepared to give someone a thrashing.

"You little monkeys, I told you to pick enough for a meal, and you’ve gone and picked all of them?"

Datou had already dropped the basket and was starting to run out, shouting, "It’s not my fault; it was the little auntie who told us to pick them."

Manbao said happily, "Sister-in-law, it was my idea to pick them, Datou and the others want to eat candied yams. Let’s make some yam candied yams."