Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Qingmu’s jaw dropped when he heard what Juhua said, as if he hadn’t expected it either. He said in surprise, "If he were asking you to inquire on his own behalf, that would almost make sense. But for Changming? That’s really strange. I’m afraid it won’t work out, though. It’s not that Changming is a bad guy. The first problem is his family is poor, and the second is that Auntie Hua is just unbearable. If the girl were from another village, you might be able to fool them. But she’s from our village—who here doesn’t know her story? Changming gets dragged down by her, too."

Juhua said, "That’s exactly it. That’s why I didn’t dare promise him anything. Besides, it’s pointless to ask. Meizi will definitely listen to her mother. How could she possibly make the decision herself?"

Qingmu nodded and dropped the subject. He shouldered a carrying pole with two bamboo baskets, about to head to the sweet potato field to dig.

Juhua quickly asked, "It’s almost time for lunch. You’re still going to the field?"

Qingmu said as he walked, "I’m just going to get one load. I’ll be right back."

Juhua sighed. Watching his retreating figure, she thought, ’Studying has been so hard on Brother. He missed several days of class during the busy season, but he deeply understands the benefits of his education, so he refuses to fall behind. He and Zhang Huai have been studying with Zhang Yang at night to make up for the missed lessons. He’s been staying up so late these past few nights.’

’Honestly, if he hadn’t been born in the countryside, Brother could have definitely kept studying to become a Scholar. I’ve asked him about it, but he says he doesn’t want to pursue official rank and honors through study. He claims he’s not cut out for it, but I think he’s really just afraid of being a burden on the family!’

In the afternoon, Juhua wanted to go see the sweet potato field; she wanted to try digging them up with her own hands. But with the soybeans, chili peppers, and sauces drying by the door—not to mention the pigs, chickens, and ducks—she couldn’t leave the house unattended. It wasn’t that she was afraid of thieves, but rather that the livestock might ruin everything.

When her mother returned with a pole-load of sweet potatoes, Qingmu was also just getting out of school. Juhua hurried over to her mother and said, "Mother, you stay and watch the house. I want to go dig sweet potatoes. I’ve been wanting to check it out for a while now."

Her mother smiled. "Then go ahead. There’s not much to see. I’ll stay here and wash the sweet potatoes, and I’ll start dinner a bit later."

Juhua grinned. "I’m going to help!" She changed into a pair of worn-out shoes and went with Qingmu to the sweet potato field.

Qingmu smiled and said to her, "This is the first year we’ve planted this plot, but the sweet potatoes have grown surprisingly well. They’re big, and the yield is high. One plant can have several big sweet potatoes."

Juhua said, "At least we won’t be short on pig feed now. If we chop up all these sweet potato vines and store them in the cellar, they should last a while, right? But the sweet potatoes go in the cellar too. We’re not going to have enough room."

Qingmu said, "Don’t worry. We’ll keep some of the sweet potatoes out to eat now and dig another cellar to bury the rest. We can just dig them up when we need them; that will help them last longer. Besides, don’t we still have to make sweet potato starch and noodles? That will use up a lot of them too."

The siblings arrived at the edge of the field as they talked.

The entire field was covered in vines, their leaves already starting to yellow near the roots. When they lifted the reddish vines, they could see cracks in the soil at the base of the plants. A gentle tug would surely pull out a whole cluster of red-skinned sweet potatoes, a heavy, dangling string of them, big and small.

However, simply pulling on them wasn’t enough. The larger sweet potatoes would snap off and remain stuck in the dirt, impossible to pull out. You had to use a digging fork.

You had to be careful while digging, too. Otherwise, the tines of the fork might break the sweet potato’s skin or dig right into it, exposing the white flesh. Once that flesh got muddy, you’d have to shave off a big chunk before you could eat it.

When Zheng Changhe saw Juhua arrive, he smiled at her and said, "Juhua, look! Dad dug up a huge one! It must weigh several pounds. It’s a wonder this land can produce a sweet potato this big. I barely used any fertilizer." As he spoke, he started rummaging through a large woven basket.

Juhua quickly said, "Don’t go looking for it! We’ll see it when we empty the basket at home, right? The sweet potatoes grew this big because you took such good care of them, Dad. You may not have used much fertilizer, but you were always pulling weeds."

Zheng Changhe was the kind of man who could never sit still. Even if there was nothing else to do, he would be in the fields, squatting down to pull weeds. Hearing his daughter’s praise, he laughed happily, feeling his contribution was immense.

And so, Qingmu dug while Juhua gathered. They pulled one sweet potato after another from the soil. The smaller ones were set aside to be steamed and eaten later or ground to make sweet potato starch, while the large ones were tossed into the basket.

Juhua found quite a few large sweet potatoes herself, crying out in amazement each time. Sweet potatoes might be a humble crop and not particularly valuable, but the joy of the harvest was something you couldn’t get from just seeing her parents carry back pole after pole of them. Digging them up with her own hands was a special kind of fun.

Zheng Changhe said, "Alright, that’s enough for today. We’ll harvest that other section in a few days. It’ll be good to let them grow a little longer."