Chapter 22: Half a Day Passes Quickly

Meng Liang said, “Tastes good! Let’s just dig it all up—we could eat for a long time with this, haha.”

Meng Ling replied, “This isn’t grain for meals, come on, dig faster.”

The two continued digging up yams. Meng Ling noticed many small yam bulbs, about the size of fingertips, growing on the vines.

These could be used as seeds and were called “aerial bulbils” or lings. They’re the same as the yam root, just a different form.

There were also some yellow triangular fruits on the vine. When opened, they held small seeds inside.

But yam seeds often aren’t viable. The main way to propagate yams is through bulbils and root cuttings.

Meng Ling collected both the bulbils and the seeds—they could plant them in a plot later.

After a short while, they unearthed the yams. Fortunately, the slope was steep and the soil soft from the long rains, making digging easier.

“Sis, there’s a lot—whole rows of them!”

“Mm, dig faster. Let’s try to finish before dark.”

The siblings were full of energy. In just over half an hour, they pulled up a yam over two feet long. After that, it was easy—just follow the trench they’d started.

The yams grew end to end, some nearly three feet long and as thick as a child’s arm.

Just as they were really getting into it, someone came walking over—a boy about fifteen or sixteen, carrying a basket and a machete.

Meng Shiqiao recognized him from far away.

“Sis, it’s Zhang Fa.”

Zhang Fa walked over slowly. Seeing the siblings digging at something, he asked, “What are you guys digging up roots for? Gonna use them for firewood?”

Roots? Firewood?

He’s got to be an idiot.

Annoyed, Meng Shiqiao shot back, “Got too much energy with nowhere to use it!”

Zhang Fa figured they really were idiots—chopping up roots for firewood instead of cutting actual trees.

He thought to himself he’d better keep his distance from these two. They’d always been a little weird growing up.

The older one acted crazy—not at all like a girl. The younger one was worse—when he was four or five, he used to collect goat droppings and throw them at the aunties.

Zhang Fa sneered and walked off.

“Sis, that guy’s eyesight is getting worse and worse,” said Meng Shiqiao.

Zhang Fa had poor eyesight since childhood—couldn’t see far.

“He’s nearsighted.”

“Nearsighted?”
Meng Shiqiao blinked. “Don’t jinshi become officials? He can be one?”

“I said nearsighted, not jinshi.”

Same difference!

They dug for over an hour and still hadn’t finished. They already had half a basketful, but couldn’t carry much more.

“Daye, what are you carrying back there? Looks like tree roots?” Shen Yun asked.

She was sitting in the sun, sewing a cotton jacket.

“Yam—edible,” Meng Ling replied cheerfully.

She explained what yams were. Shen examined the basket curiously. It was her first time seeing a wild edible like that in the mountains, though she vaguely recalled spotting some in the county town.

“I think I’ve seen it before in town, but I don’t remember clearly. I’ve only been there twice,” Shen said.

“You have seen it? That’s great! That means we can sell it!” Meng Ling said excitedly.

She was afraid no one would recognize the stuff and that they’d be stuck eating it all themselves.

Now it looked like her dreams of pork lard and mutton were in reach. Maybe even a chicken! Those free-range mountain chickens were delicious—Meng Ling was thrilled.

Shen said, “Yeah, we can sell it. Just not sure what the price is. When your father goes to town, he might know.”

Meng Ling nodded.

The next day, she took the whole family to dig yams. Even if they couldn’t sell them for much, it would be good to store and eat. The excess could be preserved in the cellar.

The family dug all morning and finally finished. They left some roots in the ground to grow back, and Meng Ling planted some seeds nearby so there would be more in the future.

They decided to leave the yams in the mountain hollow untouched for now, only harvesting a half-basket of bulbils.

Meng Liang planned to take some to town and test the market. If they weren’t worth much, they’d leave them in the ground—few people went there anyway.

After his trip, he came back in the evening. Turns out there were people selling yams in town, and the going price was six wen per jin. A lot of townspeople recognized them.

He didn’t go to town often, and when he did, it was just for basics—firewood, rice, oil. He never paid attention to other goods, let alone their prices.

That evening, he brought back only a few jin—it wasn’t easy to sell. Still, it was a decent bit of income for the family.

Under the eaves…

Meng Ling said a bit awkwardly, “Mom, you’ve got to ask Dad to tell customers about the benefits of eating yams.”

“You know, the night-time… benefits. You get what I mean? Like… that…”

Shen looked puzzled. “Which one? What are you talking about?”

“It’s food, it fills your belly—what other benefit could there be?”

She had no idea what Meng Ling was implying.

“It strengthens digestion… and boosts kidney function,” Meng Ling said more plainly.

Cough cough!

Meng Liang coughed and gave his wife a look, then headed inside.

Shen realized there was more to say and quickly followed.

Sure enough, sales improved the next day. They sold around twenty jin. Meng Liang even taught buyers how to cook it—stew it with chicken, ribs, meat, stir-fry, etc.

He also warned them not to touch peeled raw yam with bare hands—very important. If their hands got itchy, no one would buy more.

They’d earned 162 wen in total, and most of the yams at home were sold.

Seeing the cash, the whole family was fired up. While the rest of the village slept in, they were already headed up the mountain.

No one usually entered that mountain hollow—there wasn’t even a path. Only Meng Shiqiao went in when raiding bird nests. Otherwise, it could go untouched for years.

Digging was harder there. The ground was flat, but with Meng Liang’s strength, they still managed over seventy jin in a day. The place was packed with yams.

They dug for two days and still hadn’t finished. On the third day, they returned only to find Auntie Zhang and Zhang Fa’s families already there.

“Dad, how did they know?” asked Meng Shiqiao.

Meng Liang replied, “We’ve been digging every day so close by—it’d be more surprising if they didn’t notice.”

“Forget it. There’s not much left anyway. Let’s just gather firewood and head back.”

“Hey, Meng Liang! Why don’t you come down?” shouted Zhang Dahe.

“You’ve nearly finished digging anyway. We’ll just collect some wood and go,” Meng Liang shouted back.

“Alright then!”

They chopped some firewood and headed home.

Around noon…

Meng Ling was sitting in the courtyard when Auntie Zhang came running in, scratching her hands furiously.

“Daye! What is that stuff you were digging? My hands itch like crazy!”

Meng Ling replied calmly, “You’re not supposed to peel it with bare hands—you have to wrap it.”

Should’ve asked earlier, she thought. Now you’re itchy.

Meng Ling knew they hadn’t asked because they felt a bit guilty—they knew she’d found it first.

She never intended to hog all of it—it was wild, after all. But at least give a heads-up.

They didn’t even figure out what it was before scrambling to dig. Serves them right.

“Aiyo, if I’d just asked you, I wouldn’t be suffering now,” Auntie Zhang said, full of regret.

Meng Ling rolled her eyes inwardly. Yeah right. “If only” is just something people say after they mess up.

“It’s fine. You’ll be better by tonight. Half a day goes by quick,” she said with extra cheer.