Chapter 16: White Sweet Potatoes

The white sweet potatoes were enormous, almost comparable to red sweet potatoes, with long roots and stems heavy with tubers.

Fang Mingxi’s small frame was hardly strong enough to pull them out herself. She had nearly exhausted herself trying to harvest peanuts yesterday, so today she wisely decided not to get her hands dirty.

While Tang Yao’s attention was elsewhere, Fang Mingxi activated the auto-engineer shovel from her backpack.

The shovel resembled the one from her past life, except for a small, round sphere at the handle’s end that could temporarily store food.

With a flash, the engineer shovel transformed into a stream of light, shooting from Fang Mingxi into the soil to harvest the white sweet potatoes.

The earth trembled faintly, splitting along fine lines. The green vines above sank into the soil, disappearing as if they had never existed.

After the harvest, the small pits left behind automatically reverted to the forest floor, covered in dead leaves.

Throughout the process, Fang Mingxi’s heart raced. She kept glancing at Tang Yao, terrified she might notice something and discover what was happening.

Once about a third of the white sweet potatoes had been collected, Fang Mingxi recalled the shovel. It emerged from the soil as a stream of light again, then became transparent and returned to her body.

Checking her backpack, she saw that the harvested sweet potatoes had automatically emptied into the basket. Fang Mingxi exhaled in relief, closed the panel, and sat cross-legged in front of the remaining vines.

Having rested enough under the tree, Tang Yao walked over to Fang Mingxi. “What’s this? Wild vegetables?” she asked, curiously brushing the dead leaves off Fang Mingxi’s head.

Fang Mingxi froze for a moment, her expression twisting with awkwardness. Tang Yao didn’t even know these were white sweet potatoes.

She handed the leaves to Tang Yao, then hesitated, lightly digging into the soil with her fingers to reveal a few soft clumps of dirt.

She had to appear curious without being obvious, subtly uncovering the sweet potatoes while keeping her actions natural. Honestly, pretending like this was exhausting.

Fang Mingxi considered how to guide Tang Yao to discover the white sweet potatoes when she saw Tang Yao reach into the bucket for a sickle.

Quickly, Fang Mingxi retrieved a white sweet potato from her backpack, ready to place it in the pit just as Tang Yao tugged at the vines.

“Snap!”

The vine broke. Tang Yao stared in shock at the white sweet potato now exposed in the soil.

“Is this… food?” she asked, incredulous. The surface was pale yellow. Could it really be a sweet potato? But could a sweet potato really grow this big?

Fang Mingxi nodded silently in confirmation. Yes, it’s edible, Older Sister.

Realizing this, Tang Yao hurriedly dug the sweet potato out, brushed off the excess dirt, and gently peeled back the thin skin with a knife.

The pure white flesh resembled garlic cloves, juicy and crisp, slightly dripping from the exposed cut.

Tang Yao swallowed, eager to taste it. The aroma confirmed it was fine, and she took a careful bite.

Sweetness filled her mouth. The crisp flesh offered a refreshing crunch with every chew.

Her eyes widened with delight as she continued. This was truly edible. If the entire patch was like this, her family wouldn’t have to worry about food for a long time.

Tang Yao didn’t dare eat too much. She set the potato down, grabbed the vine with renewed energy, and frantically pulled up more white sweet potatoes.

She unearthed a long string of them. Some clumps of soil were too hard, so she used a stick to loosen the dirt before successfully pulling them out.

Fang Mingxi focused on her own work. The day’s main harvest was already safely stored in her backpack. She didn’t know the exact weight, but tens of kilograms were guaranteed.

Her main concern now was Tang Yao’s limited strength. The soil was too hard, and she couldn’t finish harvesting the rest alone. They’d need the adults’ help.

Fang Mingxi opened her panel and saw they still had twenty minutes left. She navigated to the system adjustment menu and used the control function to copy the vines into the real forest.

However, this method wasn’t perfect, it could only duplicate the vines, not the actual food. While this prevented exposure from losing items during exploration, it still required using daily harvesting quotas at a 2:1 ratio.

In other words, two harvests could be exchanged for one duplication.

Fang Mingxi quickly checked her harvesting count. She had already used the engineer shovel once, but since she hadn’t personally harvested, it didn’t count.

Thankfully, the shovel’s automatic harvest didn’t count toward her daily quota, so she could safely duplicate the vines.

She cleared all other nearby food, leaving only the white sweet potatoes.

She had no intention of searching for anything else. Sitting beside Tang Yao, she watched her work and patiently waited for the time to end.

When the moment came, the real white sweet potatoes disappeared, but Tang Yao didn’t notice. Every potato had truly turned into wild grass.

Exhausted, Tang Yao pounded her aching waist and looked at the small patch of white sweet potatoes with a satisfied smile.

Perfect. At least for the next half-month, they wouldn’t have to worry about food.

Tang Yao had planned to continue, but she was too tired. She leaned against a tree to rest, holding Fang Mingxi in her arms. Listening to the cicadas and feeling the sunlight streaming through the leaves, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Hearing steady breathing, Fang Mingxi turned to see Tang Yao asleep, then closed her panel and waited for nightfall.

…

Night fell, and temperatures on Maple Leaf Mountain dropped. Tang Yao woke, shivering, noticing the sunset slanting across the sky.

She panicked, instinctively glancing down at Fang Mingxi in her arms. Seeing the small, round head, her fear melted, and her soul returned to her body.

“Xixi! That scared me! I didn’t even realize I fell asleep,” Tang Yao said, wiping her tears.

The little culprit, Fang Mingxi, touched her nose obediently, secured tightly on Tang Yao’s back.

Sorry, Older Sister. Things will go smoother once it’s dark.

Tang Yao’s arms were too sore. She wisely chose not to carry the bucket or sickle down the mountain. She hid everything, even covering the dug-out sweet potatoes with dry leaves and straw, taking only a small one with her.

Unable to carry more, she had to return home to inform the adults so they could come help dig.

Once again, she was grateful for choosing this northern part of the forest otherwise, they might not have found the entire patch.

The descent was grueling. Tang Yao was exhausted, making the journey extremely difficult.

For safety, she circled the descent several times before finding a stable path with fewer thorns. By the time she neared the cowshed, dusk was falling.

They hadn’t reached home yet, but from a distance, they could see a noisy crowd outside the cowshed. The shouting and commotion stopped Tang Yao in her tracks.