After eating a roasted sweet potato with a fried dough pastry and drinking some hot water, Qin Nian finally had something substantial in her stomach. She felt much better and regained her energy.
Taking advantage of her improved condition, she immediately went back to work.
Meanwhile, Aunt Wang’s son came and sincerely thanked Yang Yufen.
“If it weren’t for your help, Auntie, I was already planning to stop planting these honey sweet potatoes next year.”
He had truly considered giving up. When crops were not accepted by the public and had no market value, they would naturally be eliminated.
“It’s because your sweet potatoes are really good that people like them. Anyone who has eaten them keeps thinking about the taste. More people will like them next year,” Yang Yufen said modestly.
She didn’t think she had done anything special. Moreover, she sold the sweet potatoes at 0.13 yuan per jin to others, while this nephew only charged her 0.06 yuan per jin—so in the end, she was actually the one benefiting.
Out of 15,000 jin of sweet potatoes, after selling some and keeping some for herself, there were 13,000 jin left. Of those, 10,000 jin were sold at 0.13 yuan per jin, and 3,000 jin at 0.15 yuan per jin.
Just from raw sweet potatoes, she had earned 850 yuan.
The roasted sweet potatoes had even higher profit margins, but she also had to buy fuel barrels and charcoal. After deducting costs, in just seven days she had earned over 1,000 yuan.
She had someone help cultivate her land each year, and the grain she received was enough for food. She grew her own vegetables and raised chickens, so she barely spent any money throughout the year.
In just seven days, she had earned more than she had made in the past two years since land was distributed to households. Her confidence suddenly grew much stronger.
No wonder so many people were willing to become street vendors.
Aunt Wang’s son wasn’t jealous of how much Yang Yufen earned. He only knew that his research project could continue, and he no longer had to fear being pushed out by others. Yes—once he returned, he would apply to the academy for farmland. No one would be able to take it from him!
Yang Yufen originally thought Xiao Zhang and the others would not come until the next day. Unexpectedly, not long after she returned from delivering food to her daughter-in-law, the security office said someone had come to see her.
Wang Dazhi and Xiao Zhang ended up meeting again at the entrance of the residential compound. They stared at each other.
“What are you doing here instead of selling sweet potatoes properly?”
“And what are you doing here, Uncle Wang?”
“You brat, don’t tell me you’re here to steal my sweet potatoes behind my back?”
“Same to you.”
The popularity of roasted sweet potatoes exceeded their expectations. With Yang Yufen’s groundwork, they only needed to shout, and many curious people gathered. Seeing the same price, people quickly bought them to try—they figured they wouldn’t lose out.
They couldn’t keep up with roasting at all. Some people couldn’t wait and even wanted to buy raw sweet potatoes to roast themselves.
Even raw sweet potatoes sold for 0.18 yuan each, and people were still snatching them up.
If Wang Dazhi hadn’t restrained himself for long-term plans, he could have sold out everything raw immediately.
When Yang Yufen heard they needed more sweet potatoes, she simply called Wang’s nephew over to avoid back-and-forth transport. The two groups followed him to collect the goods.
Of course, Yang Yufen collected the money first.
Wang Dazhi later learned that these honey sweet potatoes came from an agricultural research institute and was shocked. No wonder—ordinary people couldn’t access such things.
He stopped trying to ask about pricing.
Wang’s nephew also suddenly became more strategic.
“These are all we have left; it probably still won’t be enough for you. Our institute has other varieties of sweet potatoes too. They also taste very good. You can sell them together, but you’ll need to negotiate the price yourselves.”
He was also trying to help his colleagues secure funding. Otherwise, if someone made things difficult for him later, no one would help him, and even fieldwork would be hard to arrange.
“R-really? That’s great!”
They didn’t expect such an unexpected bonus.
Wang’s nephew, Professor Wang, contacted several colleagues he was close with and discussed it with them, also giving them a rough price.
“Tsk, so this is what they mean by the power of the masses. Selling roasted sweet potatoes alone can solve such big problems. Next year’s funding will be much easier.”
When they sold things themselves, the price was too low and they often had to subsidize costs. Although they were called professors, their wallets were tight.
Since everyone agreed on the price, negotiations went smoothly. Both Wang Dazhi and Xiao Zhang were satisfied, and so were the professors.
“Hey kid, let’s divide up territories.”
Wang Dazhi, being older and more experienced, pulled Xiao Zhang aside after leaving the institute.
“Uncle, I was just thinking the same thing.”
With just the two of them, they couldn’t sell everything and would miss the peak period. But since they had learned how to sell roasted sweet potatoes, they could also reverse the strategy.
Yang Yufen didn’t know any of this. She was focused on cooking. She didn’t know many dishes, and pregnant women were hard to satisfy.
If they were in the countryside, it wouldn’t be a problem—but her daughter-in-law was different. She couldn’t bear to let her suffer and just endure it.
So she started asking neighbors for advice.
Because of her previous “battle with Yi Mengling,” she was quite famous in the compound. As soon as she arrived, everyone became nervous.
“No one has been spreading rumors about Little Qin researcher lately, right?”
“No, no. It’s just that her husband is said to be missing…”
“Hey, stop talking, shut your mouth.”
Yang Yufen went straight to the group of women gathered near the water tap.
“Everyone is busy? I have something to ask.”
“Y-Yang auntie, go ahead. We’ll tell you whatever we know.”
The woman being questioned, Mrs. Wang, was terrified. The last time she witnessed her temper up close, it felt like the slap was on her own face too. She didn’t dare move.
“It’s nothing big. I just want to know what you pregnant women could still eat when you were suffering from morning sickness. I want to make something for my daughter-in-law. I won’t take it for free—I’ll exchange it for eggs.”
Unfortunately, her daughter-in-law couldn’t eat eggs at the moment, so it was better to save them.
Mrs. Wang was first stunned, then moved, and finally a little envious.
But everyone was kind-hearted. Knowing this might be her only grandchild, they all started sharing advice. Some even ran home to fetch things. Yang Yufen tried to give eggs, but they all refused.
In truth, they felt both admiration and sympathy—having such a good mother-in-law, but losing her husband at a young age, and now her son was missing.
Not a single egg was given away, but she left with a basket full of things and many tips for easing morning sickness. After thanking everyone, she went home.
She didn’t have much else, and it wouldn’t be good to show off wealth, but she did have sweet potatoes. Although the stove had been borrowed, she made a new earthen oven, which could also be used for roasting.
The next day, she distributed roasted sweet potatoes for everyone to try. Small portions, shared among many, and no one minded.
Her reputation in the residential compound improved even further.