Chapter 35, Digging Sweet Potatoes

The first ray of sunshine in the early morning shone into the room, and Su Yan opened her eyes to find a face magnified in front of her.
"Hmm..." Su Yan reached out to push the person in front of her, but her wrist felt a dull ache and weakness, causing her brows to furrow.
"What's wrong?" Pei Jing immediately stopped and looked at her with concern.
"My hand hurts, it's all your fault!" Su Yan sat up and rubbed her wrist. Pei Jing saw this and took her hand to massage it. "You worked hard last night, my dear wife."
Su Yan's face turned red, she looked up at Pei Jing with a serious look, "Alright, it's not early anymore, we should get up." As she spoke, she tried to get out of bed.
Pei Jing grabbed her, "It's still early, there's no need to make tea, let's sleep a bit more." Without any argument, he pressed her down onto the bed.
"Darling, let me sleep a little longer!"
Su Yan was pressed down by him and couldn't push him away, so she could only nestle under him, looking at him pitifully, "Husband, I'm hungry."
"Be good, we will get up soon."
The two of them entangled on the bed for a while. When they separated, Su Yan's face was like the reddish glow of the horizon, with eyes full of spring water. Pei Jing tightly held her in his arms and said, "Yan'er, having you is really wonderful!"
Su Yan leaned against him, thinking this way in her heart?
After a while, Pei Jing let go of her. "Lie down for a while, I'll go fetch some hot water for washing up."
Pei Jing put on a garment and hurried to the main kitchen. But in his mind, he was thinking of buying a few servants to do miscellaneous tasks. Now that he was married, he couldn't still eat in the main kitchen and let Su Yan cook. He couldn't bear it. Buying servants would solve everything.
They had a meal together and didn't go anywhere. Su Yan changed into an old outfit and pulled Pei Jing into the gourd space.
The seven ceramic jars in the gourd space were completely covered by lush green sweet potato vines, with large patches of vines spreading several meters along the ground.
There is also a pile of sweet potatoes like small hills next to them, along with piles of green vines. These were all planted by Su Yan before getting married.
After the first sweet potatoes grew, Su Yan harvested seven large barrels full of sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes are in the shape of long strips due to limited space, with thickness as big as an adult man's fist. One can only imagine how many sweet potatoes would grow from dozens of sweet potato seedlings. Su Yan even doubted that if left unchecked, the water barrels would burst.
On the second occasion, she selected the two biggest sweet potatoes from the new batch and continued planting. This time, the sweet potato seedlings grew even more vigorously. Within two days, the sweet potatoes had grown as thick as a two-year-old child's head, still in an elongated shape. Su Yan quickly harvested the sweet potatoes once again, luckily she had great strength and wasn't afraid of not being able to lift them up.
This sweet potato in front of us is the third crop and can be harvested now.
With Pei Jing here, Su Yan doesn't need to do anything this time. Pei Jing holds a machete and quickly cuts off the sweet potato vines around the jar. The sweet potatoes inside the jar are revealed. The sweet potatoes are large, squeezed tightly together due to being too close to each other, and many of them are stuck together.
"Oh my! If this keeps growing, the barrel will burst." Su Yan hugged the sweet potato vine, feeling a little worried about these large barrels.
Pei Jing grabbed a sweet potato root and pulled it hard, only bringing out one sweet potato. The others, too heavy and too big, remained in the barrel. Pei Jing had no choice but to patiently scoop them out one by one.
Su Yan also busied herself around another large vat. She had already done this task twice and had gained some skills.
"Yan'er, I can handle it. You can take a break for a while."
"It's alright, I've done it twice before and I've got some techniques." Su Yan exerted force and pulled out two sweet potatoes.
"After a busy morning, they finally finished harvesting all the sweet potatoes. Su Yan also planted a large sweet potato sprout at the bottom of the jar."
They sat by the pool and drank some water. Pei Jing held her hand and rubbed it for a while, saying, "I will handle these things in the future. Look, your hand is turning red."
Like white onions, her fingers were now red at the fingertips, looking as if she had exerted some strength.
"It's okay, it's just a small matter. It's getting late, let's pick some young leaves and go out!" Looking at this pile of sweet potato leaves in front of her, she felt like she could eat two bowls of rice."
Because of the water, the sweet potato leaves are still tender even after they have grown, and even the sweet potato stems are crispy and delicious. At this time, besides radishes and cabbage, there are no other vegetables to eat. Isn't this sweet potato leaf a good dish?
Su Yan has been fried several times before, and Pei Jing has also eaten it a few times. Everyone agrees that this leaf tastes very good.
For lunch, Su Yan rolled noodles, fried omelette with chicken and a few slices of sweet potato tips. She also added some gourd water to the noodle soup, so you can imagine the taste.
Suyan took out a basin and filled it with food for Pei Jingduan to bring to his mother's home. Zhang Shi, who was alone at home, naturally had a meal with Luo Shi and her daughter.
Pei Jingduan brought over a basin of noodles, and the three of them had more than enough to eat.
Pei Jing came back and couldn't wait to pick up the noodles in the bowl and started eating them.
After eating one bowl, Su Yan finished the rest of the half pot and stuffed it into his stomach.
After finishing lunch, Pei Jing conscientiously cleaned up the tableware. Su Yan, on the other hand, walked around the yard a couple of times to aid digestion. She exchanged a few words with Zhang Shi through the yard before returning to the house, intending to take a nap. Just as she was dozing off, someone planted a kiss on her red lips.
Su Yan woke up suddenly, opening her eyes. When Pei Jing saw her wake up, he didn't stop at all. He pressed down on her, and their lips and teeth were intertwined. It was unclear how long they brushed against each other's ears before Pei Jing let go of Su Yan.
"Why don't you go to the Parliament House today to take a look?" Su Yan's hair was a little messy, her lips were swollen, and the corners of her eyes were crimson, as if they carried hooks.
"No, I won't go. I'll stay home with you these days." He sat by the edge of the bed, his gaze devouring Su Yan, his Adam's apple involuntarily moving.
Su Yan couldn't help but swallow nervously under his intense stare. Her wrist also started to ache again. Even though the allure was undeniable, she gently pushed his chest with her hand. "Um... I didn't sleep well last night, so I'll take a nap at noon. If you have something to do, go ahead!"
"Yan'er, I want to be with you." Pei Jing unexpectedly moved Su Yan onto the bed and lay down himself. With a wave of his hand, he pulled Su Yan into his embrace. Su Yan felt instantly warmed up in the blankets.
"Sleep," Pei Jing hugged her, kissed her forehead, and then closed his eyes.
Su Yan leaned against his chest and drifted off into dreamland as well.
When she woke up, Pei Jing was no longer in bed. Su Yan put on a pink coat and left the room.
In the kitchen, Pei Jing is cooking, "The meal will be ready soon, wife, please sit for a while."
Originally, there was no kitchen in this house, and Pei Jing always had to go to the big kitchen to eat. But now that he's married, he can't let his wife be at a loss. So he decided to tidy up the house before the wedding and made some adjustments. He added a kitchen and used green stone slabs to pave the floor of the toilet. The toilet pit was also paved with smooth green stone slabs, which could be easily cleaned with water.
Su Yan walked to the stove and added some firewood. "You're awake, why didn't you call me?"
"You were sleeping so soundly, I wanted to let you sleep a little longer." He kept stirring the pot with a spatula in his hand.
"I slept for so long at noon, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep at night." She sat by the stove, unconsciously licking her still slightly swollen lips.
"If you can't sleep, wouldn't that be better?" Pei Jing stood opposite her by the stove and could clearly see her expression. He suddenly felt uncomfortable with a dry mouth and unintentionally blurted out his inner thoughts. Realizing what he said, he quickly tried to remedy the situation, "Ahem, I meant the food is ready."
"Hmph!" Su Yan pouted even higher, her face red as if it was being roasted, feeling a continuous burning sensation. She raised her gaze and glared at Pei Jing for a moment.
"I'll lend you a oil bottle, see if I can hang it on your mouth." Pei Jing smiled at the corner of his mouth.
Su Yan gave him a glare.
He turned around and took out a plate, scooping the dishes onto it. He had a serious look on his face and said, "Let's have dinner first, I'll listen to you tonight."
Su Yan suddenly remembered what happened last night, and instantly, she felt her body go weak, as if she was floating.