novelhk Chapter 45 Making Sweet Potato Flour
Chapter 45 Making Sweet Potato Flour
Of course, Song Jiaojiao knew nothing about these things. Looking at the sweet potatoes in the yard, she estimated that they weighed around 600 jin (300 kg). After all, it was only the first day, and many people didn't believe it.
Of these 600 jin, more than a third came from Aunt Lin's family.
Xu Fang looked at the sweet potatoes in the corner of the yard. Although she didn't know what the master intended to use them for, she thought that the master was so clever that he must have his reasons, and perhaps he would give them a big surprise.
That evening, Stonemason Wang delivered the stone tools that Song Jiaojiao needed and placed them in the positions she specified. Looking at the sweet potatoes in the yard, he thought about what he had heard on the way here. It seemed to be true. He wondered if he should go back and wash some to sell.
Song Jiaojiao was unaware of Wang the stonemason's intentions. After paying the remaining amount, she saw him off.
Looking at the stone tools that had been delivered, Song Jiaojiao couldn't wait to start, but thinking about her period and the feeling, she resisted the urge to do it herself.
After dinner, Song Jiaojiao got everyone settled in. Mu Qing and Mu Xue peeled sweet potatoes, Xu Fang cut them into pieces, and Wang Hefan and Xu Da pounded the sweet potatoes.
Song Jiaojiao chose to filter the sweet potatoes last, not knowing the starch yield of this era. She filtered the pounded sweet potatoes until there was no starch left before letting them go.
Thinking it was just an experiment, I only used 100 jin (50 kg). I left the filtered sweet potato starch to settle overnight, and tomorrow I could pour off the clear water on top, leaving only the starch slurry at the bottom.
Exhausted from a long day, everyone lay down and fell asleep immediately. Except for Song Jiaojiao, who, perhaps having slept too much during the day, couldn't sleep at night. Looking at her two sleeping sisters beside her, Song Jiaojiao entered her spatial dimension.
The persimmon trees in the space have all grown tall, and some have even blossomed. The grapes have also started to bear fruit, and they look different from those on the mountain, probably because of the space; they are growing better.
The lotus roots have all blossomed, and some flowers have withered and sprouted lotus seeds. The rice paddies are also heavy with grain, bending low, just waiting to turn yellow. And the white fungus I brought last time has already matured into more than a dozen pieces in my space.
Looking at the thriving scene in the space, Song Jiaojiao felt incredibly comfortable. Of course, it would have been even better if Fei Hu hadn't been nagging in her ear.
“Host, you haven’t brought any new seeds in a long time. Don’t you think this space is too small?” Fei Hu sighed in Song Jiaojiao’s ear as he followed her around.
"Didn't you bring in two persimmon trees last time? It hasn't been that long," Song Jiaojiao said, her voice weak.
"Last time? That was twenty days ago." Fei Hu exclaimed in surprise, not expecting Song Jiaojiao to have the nerve to bring up last time.
Thinking that she hadn't really paid attention to the space lately, Song Jiaojiao laughed and said, "Okay, okay, I'll definitely go when I'm done. Haha, it's getting late, I'll head out now."
After saying that, Song Jiaojiao disappeared into the space. As soon as she came out of the space, Song Jiaojiao let out a long breath. Thinking about Fei Hu's resentment, which was deeper than a ghost, she decided it was best not to go in for a while.
Flying Tiger: ......
"Host, you haven't forgotten that I'm mentally connected to her, have you?" He could hear everything Song Jiaojiao was thinking.
Early in the morning, Song Jiaojiao felt much better than yesterday, so she got up early. The early autumn morning was really cold, and the fog was so thick that you couldn't even see the road.
After washing up, Song Jiaojiao went to the sweet potato water she had prepared the night before. Seeing that the water had settled, she asked Xu Da to pour off the clear water on top, revealing the snow-white sweet potato starch underneath.
Judging from the color, it should be free of impurities. Mu Qing was asked to bring out the winnowing basket. Using a clean spatula, the sweet potato starch was scooped out and poured into the winnowing basket to dry in the sun.
One hundred pounds of sweet potatoes only yielded about eleven or twelve pounds of starch. It seems that yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes produce more starch. I wonder if that still exists in this day and age.
Song Jiaojiao picked out a few small sweet potatoes to roast in the stove, and also selected a few from her space to compare which one tasted better.
Having just finished breakfast, Song Jiaojiao saw the village chief arriving with the workers and quickly went forward.
"Uncle Wang, you've arrived."
"Jiaojiao, it's just in time that you've arrived. What are your plans for the mountain?" the village chief asked Song Jiaojiao.
“Uncle Wang, here’s my plan. I’m going to dig a pond on the mountaintop. A few days ago, I went to the back of the mountain and found a spring on Qingshui Mountain. I plan to divert water from there and build a pavilion next to the pond so we can rest there. We’ll also build a wooden fence about three meters high around the pond, just the size of the barren mountain. We can make it as tight as possible so that even rabbits can’t escape.”
Song Jiaojiao plans to feed the chickens and rabbits on the barren mountain.
"We still need to build a pavilion? Then we'll probably need to order more tiles. The walls and pavilion will be built pretty quickly, but the pond might take a bit longer. How big of a pond are you planning to build?" The village chief thought for a moment and realized that he didn't have many tiles left for building the house, so he had to go to town.
The flat area on the mountaintop isn't very big, and with the addition of a pavilion to be built, it's probably only about half an acre at most.
“About half an acre,” Song Jiaojiao said after thinking for a moment. “Uncle Wang, come with me for a bit. Let’s settle the accounts for the previous ones first, and we can settle the accounts for the rest after we finish. It’s been so long, we need to make sure the villagers have the money in their hands before we feel at ease.”
The village chief thought about it and agreed. He remembered that someone had said a while ago that Song Jiaojiao couldn't pay the workers and that they were just lying to them to get the jobs. The person who said it made it sound so convincing that he almost believed it if Song Jiaojiao hadn't given him the money in advance.
It almost escalated to the point of involving Song Jiaojiao, but the village chief managed to suppress them by displaying his years of authority.
"Okay, you all go cut down the trees first, and I'll tell you what needs to be done later." The village chief arranged the tasks for everyone before following Song Jiaojiao into the house.
"This is the receipt for the wood, bricks and tiles. The wood cost 20 taels, the bricks cost 47 taels, and the tiles cost 28 taels. Including me, there were 25 people in total. Counting up to yesterday, we worked for 24 days. At 20 wen per person per day, that's 500 wen per day. So, for 24 days, that's 12 taels."
The foundation and the barren hill cost 103 taels in total, and the total cost was 210 taels. You gave me 180 taels at the time. Jiaojiao, is that correct?
The village chief took out a receipt and gave it to Song Jiaojiao, settling the accounts for the past few days.
“That’s right, I still owe you 30 taels. Here’s 100 taels. I need to deliver vegetables tomorrow, so Uncle Wang, you can go with He Fan. It’ll be faster by carriage.” Song Jiaojiao looked at the money and took out 100 taels, pushing it into the village chief’s hand.
After the village chief put away the money, he said, "Okay, I'll go with He Fan tomorrow. If there's nothing else, I'll go and get busy."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Uncle Wang."
The village chief nodded and headed towards the back mountain, just as Aunt Li arrived.
"Aunt Li, come here." Song Jiaojiao called Aunt Li in, thinking of settling the accounts with the other aunts as well.
"What's wrong, Jiaojiao? Is there any plan for what to do next?" Aunt Li asked as she walked in, puzzled.
"No, I've been thinking about this for so long, it's time to settle part of the aunties' wages, and the rest can be settled after it's all over."