Armed with a machete and a gun, armed with a system, they fled the famine.

"That's a lot."

Zhao Yan casually replied, "Sweet potatoes are steamed until half-cooked, and then dried in the sun to make dried sweet potatoes, which can be considered a kind of snack."

"Sweet potatoes can also be made into sweet potato starch, and sweet potato starch can be made into noodles. These are also delicious. They taste good when you add them to a big pot of stew."

"There are also sweet potato cakes, candied sweet potatoes... there are so many things you can make."

"When I get back, I'll put together a food catalog and share it with everyone."

When Qiu Zhen and the others heard that sweet potatoes could be made into so many dishes, they were overjoyed, as if they had found money.

Qiu Zhen nodded and said, "Okay, okay, you can start tidying up first, no rush."

After hearing this, Zhao Yan smiled gently at them and said, "Mm."

After seeing Qiu Zhen and the others off, Zhao Yan returned home and handed Xiao Fu Bao, Xiao Fu Niu, and Zhao Xiaomi to Yang Sanlang. She then hid in her room for the entire morning, copying down all the different ways to cook sweet potatoes and potatoes from a cookbook.

After lunch, she pulled Yang Sanlang into her room and handed him the food recipes she had copied down.

"Sanlang, please make a few more copies of this, and I'll send them to Xingyan and the others later."

Yang Sanlang took the recipe book and glanced at it. He saw that it was full of various ways to cook sweet potatoes and potatoes. The recipes were very detailed, and anyone who wasn't stupid could make them by following the instructions.

Yang Sanlang nodded to Zhao Yan with deep affection in his dark eyes.

"Okay, I'll go in a bit. By the way, Yan'er, I have a question I'd like to ask you."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yan glanced at her sideways and asked, "What do you want to ask?"

"You taught Uncle Zhou and the others how to grow sweet potatoes, but what about potatoes... what are you planning to do with them?"

Yang Sanlang knew that whether it was potatoes or sweet potatoes, they were all good things that the gods had given to Yan'er.

Yan'er is generous and never keeps anything to herself; when she tells Uncle Zhou and the others, she is giving it to them.

But he was a little puzzled. Besides sweet potatoes, they also had potatoes, but Yan'er didn't seem to be planning to tell Uncle Zhou and the others about the potatoes.

Zhao Yan couldn't help but roll her eyes at Yang Sanlang after hearing his words.

"Are you wondering why I didn't tell Uncle Zhou and the others how to grow potatoes? You usually seem pretty smart, so why are you acting so stupid now?"

Yang Sanlang felt embarrassed by what was said and awkwardly touched his nose.

Zhao Yan smiled and continued, "Sweet potatoes are too limited in the variety of dishes they can be used in, unlike potatoes. Plus, sweet potatoes are quite sweet, making them more suitable as a staple food. The reason I'm so generous in sharing my sweet potato cultivation methods is that I hope sweet potatoes can become more widespread. Imagine, if every household grows sweet potatoes, and the yield is so high, wouldn't people no longer be afraid of going hungry?"

Yang Sanlang naturally understood this principle and nodded slowly, "That's the truth."

"As for potatoes..."

Zhao Yan pursed her lips, thought for a moment, and then continued, "Actually, even though potatoes have a higher yield per acre than sweet potatoes, they have a drawback: if not stored properly, they easily sprout. Once potatoes sprout, they produce toxins, which can cause poisoning if people eat them. That's why I decided not to reveal anything about potatoes for the time being."

"Poisoned?"

Yang Sanlang's dark eyes flickered slightly, and he said in surprise, "I thought that as long as it was dug out in time, it would be fine. I didn't know that it could produce toxins."

No wonder Yan'er kept quiet about the potato incident.

Thinking of something, he asked again, "Yan'er, are those sprouted sweet potatoes poisonous?"

Zhao Yan smiled and said, "Sprouted sweet potatoes are generally not poisonous and can usually be eaten. However, if the sprouted sweet potatoes have gone bad, such as becoming moldy, turning black, or having an off-odor after being stored for too long, they should not be eaten. Eating these spoiled sweet potatoes can cause poisoning."

"I'll have to talk to Uncle Zhou and the others about this later, so they're aware of the situation. I'll also have to tell them about how to preserve sweet potatoes later."

Thinking of those two cookbooks, she said to Yang Sanlang, "How about this, I'll tell you what to do and you remember it. When you copy the recipes this afternoon, make a few more copies and send two copies to Xingyan and the others when you deliver the potatoes and sweet potatoes."

Yang Sanlang's eyes flickered.

"You mean, send potatoes to Xingyan and the others?"

Zhao Yan couldn't help but roll her eyes at him again.

"Of course I'll send some. Xingyan likes potatoes, so I'll send her a lot. And Brother Shen, he just opened a restaurant, so I'll have him put on a potato feast there. I don't believe anyone who's tasted the delicious potato dishes won't crave them."

"We've indirectly helped Brother Shen, and we can gradually build a potato industry chain."

She had thought it through; she could share the sweet potatoes, but she wouldn't share the potatoes for the time being.

I won't be sharing this for at least the next two or three years.

She will only release the methods for planting and preserving potatoes after these few years.

If all else fails, she will only share within the Huaihua Village area; anything further away is out of the question.

Actually, she had an even simpler method: she could just buy ready-made potatoes directly from the system's shop.

However, this would be more troublesome for her to explain, and she would have to put on a show in public, wouldn't she?

Upon hearing this, Yang Sanlang naturally understood Zhao Yan's plan.

So he stopped asking questions, obediently sat down, and wrote down Zhao Yan's words one by one.

Yang Sanlang copied down several recipes for sweet potatoes and potatoes, as well as storage methods and precautions.

Zhao Yan took out a separate copy of the sweet potato recipe and storage instructions and gave it to Yang Sanlang, asking him to deliver it to Muramasa Zhouhu across the street.

Zhou Hu goes to the school to learn to read whenever he has free time, and now he can basically understand the contents of the booklets.

After reading the contents, he said gratefully to Yang Sanlang, "Sanlang, you are all such good people."

He held onto Yang Sanlang's arm, reluctant to let go.

"Sanlang, do you think Xiao Zhao has any plans for the sweet potatoes? I asked her before if she wanted to report this to the authorities, and Xiao Zhao said she'd wait until after the sweet potatoes are harvested. Now we've already harvested the sweet potatoes, and we've calculated the yield per acre, so what do you think..."

Yang Sanlang patted the back of his hand and comforted him, "Uncle Zhou, don't worry, Yan'er is thinking about this. I'll ask her when I get back and then I'll tell you."

Zhou Hu chuckled and nodded, replying, "Okay, okay, I'll wait for your news."

When Yang Sanlang returned home, he indeed asked Zhao Yan again, "Yan'er, what do you think about Uncle Zhou asking whether we should report this matter of sweet potatoes to the authorities?"

Zhao Yan said with a smile, "No need for that trouble. In a few days, you can come to the capital with us, and we'll take the things and go directly to Brother Dou."

Rather than reporting through layers of government, they might as well go directly to Dou Qingran.

Dou Qingran is now in charge of the Great Ruan Dynasty, so it's convenient and quick to find him.

Zhao Yan would never waste time on something that could be done in one go.