Jiang Chengzhou stretched, and sure enough, it didn't hurt anymore.
His expression softened a bit, and he let out an awkward "Hmm."
The corner of Su Lang's mouth lifted. "What do you want for breakfast? Your uncle will make it for you."
Jiang Chengzhou spat out the foam in his mouth and mumbled vaguely, "Whatever's available. But today we need to prepare lunch ahead of time and take it to the fields."
He was already a seasoned farmer now, having picked up a little bit of experience.
If he still waited for his Aunt to bring lunch today, yesterday's work would have been for nothing.
Su Lang chuckled. "Alright, I'll fry a few more dishes later and pack them in lunchboxes."
Jiang Chengzhou wiped his face with a towel, folded it neatly, and placed it back on the rack. Then he followed Su Lang to the kitchen to help.
Wang Xiuzhi had thought that after working hard all day yesterday, Jiang Chengzhou wouldn't come again today.
To her surprise, not only did Jiang Chengzhou show up, but Su Lang came too.
Wang Xiuzhi quickly went over to stop him. "Commander Su, why are you here too? No, no, you two go take care of your own business. I can handle this little bit of work myself."
Su Lang unloaded the hoe he had brought and smiled. "Sister-in-law, don't waste time. We're not just helping your family. Once we finish digging here, we still have to help others."
Wang Xiuzhi opened her mouth, at a loss for words to refuse.
Su Lang, just like Jiang Chengzhou, skipped any pleasantries and started working directly.
Wang Xiuzhi watched for two seconds, then quickly turned back to her own work.
Jiang Chengzhou dragged a basket and followed behind Su Lang, picking up sweet potatoes.
He had originally wanted to see if his uncle would make a fool of himself, to see if Su Lang would also dig up and ruin some sweet potatoes.
But Su Lang moved skillfully and quickly. Not only did he not damage a single sweet potato, but Jiang Chengzhou couldn't keep up picking them up behind him.
During a break for water, Jiang Chengzhou clung close to his uncle. "Uncle, how are you so good at digging sweet potatoes? Did the military teach you that?"
Su Lang glanced sideways at Jiang Chengzhou, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Practice makes perfect. I came to this island right after graduation. As long as I'm not at sea, every year during the farming season, I help the villagers with their work. Digging sweet potatoes is nothing for me."
Jiang Chengzhou was stunned for a moment, as if he were getting to know his uncle all over again.
With Su Lang's help, Wang Xiuzhi's plots were quickly dug up.
And Su Lang hadn't lied to her—as soon as they finished here, he took Jiang Chengzhou to help another family.
The soldiers who were also working in the fields laughed when they saw him. "Captain Su, working in the fields means joining us. Why not just transfer back?"
Su Lang laughed too. "What are you so smug about? I'm here as Doctor Lin's family, not on your side."
Everyone burst into laughter.
The heavy, tedious farmwork seemed much lighter.
Jiang Chengzhou's eyes sparkled as he looked at his uncle.
Even though he liked to banter and joke with Su Lang, deep down, Jiang Chengzhou hoped to become someone like his uncle.
A few days later, when the crops in the fields were almost all harvested,
a major cold snap arrived.
Once the cold snap hit, the temperature on the originally hot island plummeted immediately, with lows reaching 4 degrees Celsius.
In previous years, the island had cold snaps too, but never this cold.
Along with the temperature drop came strong winds and heavy rain.
All ships at the dock were halted, so Su Lang couldn't leave the island and was temporarily off duty.
Lin Zhilan's belly was growing bigger with each month, and the hospital had given her time off as well. She didn't have to go to work for the next few days, not until the cold snap passed.
Two very busy adults suddenly had nothing to do, left staring at each other at home.
Especially Lin Zhilan—Su Lang wouldn't let her do anything, and with all that free time, she found it strange.
With nothing else to do, she baked sweet potatoes, pan-fried sweet potatoes, and boiled sweet potatoes at home with the two kids.
The two baskets of sweet potatoes Wang Xiuzhi had given them were being turned into all kinds of dishes.
The kids ate so much they were tooting all day long at home.
Lin Zhilan finally had enough and decided to switch things up.
She decided to make sweet potato starch noodles.
But two baskets of sweet potatoes weren't enough for starch noodles, so Lin Zhilan sent Su Lang to ask if they could trade something for more sweet potatoes.
"Trade" was just a nice way of saying "buy."
Among the neighbors closest to them, Wang Xiuzhi had grown the most sweet potatoes.
Before Lin Zhilan could ask at the grain station, the cold snap had already arrived, and now all the sweet potatoes were piled up at Wang Xiuzhi's place.
When she heard Lin Zhilan wanted to trade, Wang Xiuzhi immediately offered to give some away for free.
Su Lang naturally refused, saying that if she wouldn't trade, he'd go find someone else.
Only then did Wang Xiuzhi agree.
Lin Zhilan wanted a lot, thinking that if it turned out well, she could send some to her in-laws, her godparents, and her second brother's family.
Su Lang went and got 200 jin of sweet potatoes, carrying them home and piling them up into a small mountain.
Next, Su Lang's task was to grind the sweet potatoes.
Using a stone mill borrowed from the mess squad, he cut the washed sweet potatoes into chunks and ground them into a mash. Then, he stretched fine muslin cloth over a large wooden basin, ladling the mash into the cloth scoop by scoop, squeezing it with his hands to filter out the liquid while leaving the pulp behind.
The milky white sweet potato starch slurry collected in the wooden basin.
From 200 jin of sweet potatoes, they got two large basins of starch slurry.
The filtered pulp wasn't wasted either. Lin Zhilan had Su Lang give it to the mess sergeant to feed the pigs raised by the unit's canteen.
The remaining starch slurry was rinsed repeatedly, then left to settle.
They poured off the yellow top water, added fresh water, stirred it again, let it settle, and let it sit again.
This process was repeated several times until the water was clear and the starch at the bottom was pure white. Only then was the first step of making sweet potato starch noodles complete.
Lin Zhilan was busy grinding the starch.
Since it was his first time, Jiang Chengzhou found it novel too.
Because of the heavy rain outside, the kids couldn't play outdoors and had to stay inside.
Jiang Chengzhou's contact with his friends was all conducted by shouting from the second-floor balcony.
"Ma Xiaodong, what are you eating?"
Ma Xiaodong ran out of his house. "I'm not eating anything! It's not mealtime yet."
"Oh," Jiang Chengzhou shouted again. "My Aunt is going to make me hot and sour noodles!"
"What are hot and sour noodles!"
"I don't know, but they're definitely going to be delicious!"
Downstairs, Lin Zhilan, who was watching Su Lang drain the water, rolled her eyes. "Your nephew is such a show-off."
Su Lang chuckled and looked up at her. "So now he's not your child?"
Lin Zhilan shot him a playful glare and couldn't help laughing.
"Aunt Lin, open the door for me," Ma Xiaodong called from outside knocking.
"Quick, go!" Lin Zhilan urged Su Lang.
Su Lang put down what he was doing and opened the courtyard door.
Ma Xiaodong futilely tried to cover his head from the rain. "Uncle Su, I'm looking for Aunt Lin."
The path in the yard was a bit muddy, so Su Lang simply picked him up and carried him into the house.
Jiang Chengzhou ran quickly down the stairs. "Ma Xiaodong, why are you here?"
Ma Xiaodong grinned. "I came to see what hot and sour noodles are."
Lin Zhilan pointed at the basin of starch blocks and said to him, "Here, this is it."
Ma Xiaodong swallowed his saliva. "Aunt Lin, can I have a taste?"
Lin Zhilan: "..."
