Chapter 16: The White Sweet Potato

The white sweet potato was enormous, nearly rivaling the size of a regular sweet potato, with a whole string of tubers hanging from the vine.

Fang Mingxi knew she definitely couldn’t pull out such a large sweet potato herself. Just yesterday, when pulling up peanuts, she had nearly exhausted herself. So today, she wisely chose not to do it by hand.

Taking advantage of Tang Yao’s momentary distraction, Fang Mingxi activated the automatic engineer’s shovel from her backpack.

The engineer’s shovel was similar to one from her previous life, except for a small round ball at the end of the handle that could temporarily store food.

The shovel transformed into a streak of light that shot out from Fang Mingxi’s body, burrowing underground to harvest the white sweet potatoes.

The soil trembled slightly, cracking in fine lines as patches of green on the surface vanished one by one, causing the sweet potato vines to sink seamlessly into the earth.

After the vines were harvested, the small holes left behind automatically restored themselves into a forest floor scattered with dry leaves.

Throughout this process, Fang Mingxi was on edge, frequently glancing at Tang Yao, fearful that she might hear the noise and discover what was happening.

Once at least one-third of the white sweet potatoes had been collected, Fang Mingxi immediately recalled the engineer’s shovel, which re-emerged from the ground like flowing light before turning transparent and returning into her body.

Checking her backpack, she saw that the sweet potatoes gathered by the shovel had been automatically deposited inside. Relieved, Fang Mingxi closed the interface and sat cross-legged before the remaining sweet potato vines.

Tang Yao, having rested enough under a tree, got up and walked over to Fang Mingxi. “What is this? Wild vegetables?” she asked curiously, removing the dry leaves from Fang Mingxi’s head.

Fang Mingxi froze for a moment, her expression complicated. Embarrassed, she realized that Yao Yao didn’t even recognize these as white sweet potatoes.

She handed the leaves to Tang Yao, paused thoughtfully, then dug a few chunks of loose soil with her fingers.

She needed to appear curious without being too obvious, while subtly exposing the sweet potatoes beneath.

Honestly, this act was exhausting.

As Fang Mingxi pondered how to lead Tang Yao to discover the white sweet potatoes, she saw Tang Yao, unwilling to let the wild vegetables go, pull a sickle from the bucket.

Acting quickly, Fang Mingxi pulled out a white sweet potato from her backpack, ready in hand. When Tang Yao grabbed the sweet potato vine and yanked it outward, Fang Mingxi smoothly slipped the white sweet potato into the hole.

“Snap!”

The vine snapped at the root, and Tang Yao stared in surprise at the white sweet potato exposed in the hole.

“Is this something edible? Could this be food?” The outer skin was yellowish—could it be a sweet potato? But could sweet potatoes really get this big?

Fang Mingxi nodded in agreement. No doubt, sister, this is definitely food.

Realizing this, Tang Yao hastily dug out the white sweet potato, placing it on the ground to knock off excess soil. Then, with a knife, she gently peeled away the skin.

The skin was thin, and peeling off a large chunk of the flesh was almost effortless.

The pure white, clove-shaped flesh was juicy, droplets trickling from the freshly cut surface.

Tang Yao swallowed hard, eagerly bringing the white sweet potato to her lips. After smelling it to confirm it was safe, she gently bit into it.

The taste was sweet, the flesh crisp, with a refreshing crunch echoing in her ears.

Her eyes brightened, and the more she ate, the more amazed she felt inside.

It really was edible. If this whole area was filled with these, the family wouldn’t have to worry about food for a long time.

Tang Yao didn’t dare eat more on the ground. She immediately placed the white sweet potato down and grabbed the vines, pulling white sweet potatoes out frantically.

A large string of white sweet potatoes was pulled up. Some soil was so hard Tang Yao couldn’t pull them out alone, so she loosened the earth with a stick before finally prying them free.

Seeing this, Fang Mingxi returned to her own tasks. The day’s major harvest had been stored in her backpack. Though she didn’t know the exact weight, it was definitely several dozen pounds.

Now, the real worry was that Tang Yao couldn’t finish pulling all the remaining sweet potatoes. The soil was too hard, and with her strength, she could only manage so much. They’d have to go back and call the adults for help.

Fang Mingxi opened the interface and saw there were still twenty minutes left. She ran to the adjustment system and used the control function to copy the sweet potato vines, storing them in the real forest.

However, this method wasn’t perfect. It could only copy the vines, not the food itself. While this ensured that the exploration wouldn’t disappear and expose their secret, it required exchanging daily gathering attempts at a ratio of two to one.

In other words, two gathering attempts were needed to exchange for one copy.

Fang Mingxi hurriedly checked her remaining gathering attempts for the day. She had used the engineer’s shovel to collect food once earlier, but since she hadn’t gathered it herself, she wasn’t sure if it counted.

Thankfully, the shovel’s automatic gathering didn’t count against her total. Relieved, she chose to proceed with copying.

She removed other nearby food items, leaving only the white sweet potatoes.

Then, losing interest in exploring other foods, she climbed back beside Tang Yao and watched her busy with the harvest, sitting quietly to await the end of the time limit.

When the time was up, the real white sweet potatoes vanished, but Tang Yao didn’t notice at all that the sweet potatoes she was handling had all turned into genuine wild grass.

She was utterly exhausted, rubbing her sore waist and looking up at the small patch of white sweet potatoes before her, smiling with satisfaction.

It was wonderful—at least for half a month, they wouldn’t have to worry about food.

Tang Yao wanted to rest a bit before continuing to pull sweet potatoes, but she was too weak and could only lean against the tree.

Holding Fang Mingxi in her arms, listening to the cicadas’ calls from the trees, and watching the sunlight filtering through the leaves, her eyes slowly closed, and she fell asleep without realizing it.

Hearing the steady rhythm of breathing nearby, Fang Mingxi turned to see her asleep, then closed the interface and waited for nightfall.

...

At night, the temperature on Red Leaf Mountain dropped a bit. When Tang Yao woke from the cold and saw the slanting sunset, she suddenly snapped fully awake from her half-dream state.

Her first reaction was panic. Reflexively, she looked down at Fang Mingxi in her arms, and when she saw the round little head, she almost fainted before her soul returned to her body.

“Xixi, you scared me to death. I don’t even know how I fell asleep,” Tang Yao wiped away a tear.

Fang Mingxi, the culprit, honestly rubbed her nose, tightly strapped to Tang Yao’s back.

Sorry, sister, it’s easier to handle things after dark.

Tang Yao’s hands were too sore, so wisely, she chose not to carry the wooden bucket and sickle down the mountain. She hid the tools and even covered the dug-up white sweet potatoes with dry leaves and straw, only bringing a small one with her.

Unable to move more, she had to go back and notify the adults to come up and dig.

Once again, she was grateful for choosing this northern part of the forest. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have found such a vast source of food.

The path down the mountain was rough, and Tang Yao was drained, making the journey arduous.

To descend safely, she circled the mountain path several times before finding a smooth, less thorny trail. By the time she reached the area near the cattle shed, it was nearly dark.

Before they reached home, they saw a crowd noisily gathered outside the cattle shed. The noise was so loud it made Tang Yao stop in her tracks.