With Yuan Si's agreement, the old woman started packing that very evening.
"We can't just take white flour, that'll attract too much attention. Thank goodness we listened to you this year and planted sweet potatoes instead of wheat. They may not be a proper meal, but in times like these, they'll keep us from starving," the old woman muttered as she packed.
This year, the family had listened to Yuan Si and hadn't planted any wheat. Instead, they had planted sweet potatoes in April. Her paternal uncle's family had followed suit, planting a few plots of their own. In the end, it proved to be the right decision. Come autumn, they were able to harvest two whole sacks of sweet potatoes.
The old woman disliked sweet potatoes, so she rarely ate them when she was home alone. She had given more than half a sack to her eldest's family, and the rest was stored in the woodshed.
This time, the old woman planned to pack up all these sweet potatoes and bring them to her third child.
