Chapter 9: Planting Sweet Potatoes

Liu Yinyin didn’t know, nor did she care, whether people would gossip about her. Right now, she was simply happy, knowing that she would soon have a home of her own.

From now on, she would never have to worry about not having a place to stay.

Liu Laifu clasped his hands behind his back and looked at her several times, his expression hesitant, as if he had something to say but was holding back.

“Dad, if you have something to say, just say it,” Liu Yinyin said with a smile.

“Well…” Liu Laifu coughed twice before asking, “What you just told the village chief… that wasn’t true, was it?”

“Which part are you referring to?” She had said quite a lot just now and wasn’t sure exactly what her father was asking about.

Liu Laifu furrowed his brows and said, “You said… that you’re not going to get married again? Have you really thought this through? If you don’t remarry, raising a child alone won’t be easy.”

Liu Yinyin replied seriously, “I’ve thought it through. People’s hearts are unpredictable. If I remarry while bringing a child with me, and if I end up marrying the wrong person again, it would ruin the child’s life. Rather than take that risk, I’d rather raise the child on my own.”

She truly didn’t dare to marry again. She had a system as her secret, and if the wrong kind of person discovered it, her future would be anything but peaceful.

So, it was better for her to live alone.

Hearing this, Liu Laifu sighed and didn’t press the matter further. He only said, “As long as you’re sure about your decision. But… don’t mention this to your mother just yet.”

If Jiang Cuihua found out, she’d probably be up all night worrying.

Liu Yinyin wasn’t the type to talk too much about her own affairs, so she had no intention of sharing this with others anyway.

“And one more thing,” Liu Laifu added, still uneasy. “If you ever get bullied outside, don’t stay silent. You have me and your three brothers—we’ll stand up for you.”

A “widow” raising a child alone was the easiest target for bullies.

“Mm, thank you, Dad.” Liu Yinyin knew she needed the support of her family.

Hearing her speak so formally made Liu Laifu feel a little awkward. Since when did this child start talking in such a refined way?

With the village chief’s approval, Liu Yinyin couldn’t wait to visit the house at the village outskirts the very next day to take a closer look.

The house was indeed quite run-down. Like most homes in the village, it was a simple adobe house.

The original owner had lived alone, so the house wasn’t very big—just three rooms in total, without even a central hall.

The three rooms were connected: the leftmost room was the bedroom, the middle one was the kitchen, and the rightmost room was used for firewood storage and miscellaneous items. Outside, there was even a pigsty attached.

Although the house itself wasn’t large, the yard was quite spacious—about two fen of land (a fraction of an acre).

There was also the small plot of land that Liu Changquan had mentioned, right next to the yard, about three or four fen in size.

Both plots of land were currently abandoned. But given the time of year, she could still plant some vegetables or other crops.

Liu Yinyin was quite satisfied. Life was slow-paced in this era, and aside from food, shelter, and daily necessities, there weren’t many other pressures.

Now, she had a house and a yard—it was almost like an early retirement.

Thinking about it, she found it quite amusing. However, she couldn’t move in just yet.

Sigh!

Since the house had been left vacant, anything of value had already been taken by others. There wasn’t even a door. Half of the roof tiles were missing as well.

The bed, windows, and stove were all in disrepair and needed to be replaced.

As a woman, Liu Yinyin had no knowledge of house repairs, so she had to rely on the Liu family for help.

Fortunately, Liu Laifu and her brothers could handle the repairs themselves without needing to hire extra help.

Of course, fixing a house wasn’t just about manpower; they still needed materials. Beds, windows, and doors had to be custom-made by skilled craftsmen.

Liu Yinyin took out fifty yuan and gave it to Liu Laifu, asking him to buy the necessary materials.

Given her circumstances, she wasn’t in a position to be picky—everything would be done as simply as possible.

For the next period of time, the Liu family was extremely busy. Liu Laifu and his sons had their hands full.

During the day, they had to work in the fields, and after work, they still had to help repair Liu Yinyin’s house.

Fortunately, it wasn’t planting or harvesting season, so the workload in the fields wasn’t too heavy. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to handle it all.

Liu Yinyin didn’t stay idle either. She was busy clearing up the two abandoned plots of land.

It would be a shame to let the land go to waste. With the help of Jiang Cuihua and Liu Da-sao, both plots were tidied up and ready for planting.

In the two fen of land inside the yard, Liu Yinyin planted all sweet potatoes.

She was preparing for the worst. If she remembered correctly, this year was 1958…

Next year, in 1959, the difficult years of famine would begin.

Liu Yinyin didn’t know exactly how things would unfold in Liu Family Village, but…

Since she had foreknowledge, she had to do something about it. Otherwise, she wouldn’t feel secure.

Sweet potatoes had a high yield. When harvested in the fall, they could be dried into sweet potato chips for long-term storage—who knew when they might come in handy?

For the private plot of land outside the yard, Liu Yinyin used half of it to grow vegetables. She planted one row of cucumbers, one row of eggplants, one row of string beans, one row of Chinese cabbage, one row of radishes, one row of tomatoes, and one row of water spinach. She also planted a row of scallions, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers.

Along the base of the yard wall, she planted several pumpkin vines.

She used the remaining half of the land to plant more sweet potatoes.

Seeing this, Jiang Cuihua couldn’t help but whisper to her daughter, “Why are you planting so many sweet potatoes? If you want to eat sweet potatoes, just take some from me. And you’re only growing this little bit of vegetables—will that be enough for you?”

After all, most people in the village used their private plots to grow vegetables. They would dry the vegetables to store for the winter since there wouldn’t be any fresh produce available then.

“I’m just one person—it’s enough for me,” Liu Yinyin replied. She had her system, so she wasn’t worried about running out of food. The vegetables were mostly for show.

“Besides, sweet potatoes have a high yield. I don’t have much grain this year, so I need to grow more sweet potatoes.”

Jiang Cuihua sighed and said, “But you can’t just eat sweet potatoes all the time…”

Her heart ached for her daughter. A good young woman like her—how did her life end up like this?

Liu Yinyin, however, wasn’t bothered at all. She giggled and said, “Of course, I won’t just eat sweet potatoes. Oh, by the way, Mom, I want to raise a few chickens.”

At this time, the regulations on raising chickens weren’t too strict. Each household was allowed up to five chickens.

Of course, that was just the official rule. The villagers all had their little tricks—most households secretly raised one or two extra, and everyone turned a blind eye.

Since Liu Yinyin lived alone, she could easily raise five or six chickens. That was a great deal, so she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

If she weren’t pregnant and it wasn’t inconvenient, she would have wanted to raise a couple of pigs this year too.

“You’re right—you should raise some chickens,” Jiang Cuihua agreed with a nod. “I’ll bring you a few chicks later. You can keep them in the pigsty for now. In a few days, I’ll have your father and the others fix up the pigsty as well.”

Since her daughter lived alone, she could raise more chickens than most families, which was a real advantage.

By the time the house was fully repaired, two months had already passed. Before they knew it, it was mid-June.