Chapter 19

As soon as the hoe struck the ground, they saw red-skinned sweet potatoes exposed beneath the soil, revealing their light yellow flesh.

“Dad, let me do it. Looks like you’re digging too shallowly,” said the eldest son, Boss Song, as he approached his father, Mr. Song.

Mr. Song had been digging based on his experience with harvesting potatoes, not expecting that, although the sweet potato vines didn’t look too big, the soil underneath actually contained a lot.

When Boss Song struck again with the hoe, he still hit sweet potatoes. The father and son exchanged glances—what was going on? Was the entire underground filled with sweet potatoes?

Could it be that the whole plot was full of them? No matter how far or deep they dug, they kept hitting sweet potatoes.

Mr. Song chuckled, casually picked up a damaged sweet potato, and with a tug, pulled out an impressively large one.

Mr. Song said, “Aiyo, looks like we’ve got a bumper harvest! Could the whole underground be full of sweet potatoes?”

Hearing this, Boss Song was stunned too. No way… If it really was like that, wouldn’t that mean they’d struck gold?

“Dad, this is sandy soil—it’s loose. Why don’t we try pulling one up by hand?”

When growing potatoes, they’d often pull them up by the stems if the ground was loose. Some would remain in the soil and have to be dug out with a hoe.

But since there were so many sweet potatoes, pulling some up first would prevent damaging them with the hoe later and make harvesting cleaner.

Mr. Song nodded. “Alright, let’s try pulling one first.”

Boss Song agreed and gave it a try. Unexpectedly, it was quite heavy. With some force, he managed to pull out the entire sweet potato, none left in the ground.

“Aiyo, so many?”

He stared in shock at the string of sweet potatoes in his hand—about ten of them, large and red-skinned, truly a sight to behold.

If one sweet potato weighed about a pound, then this bunch weighed around ten pounds. If each plant yielded this much, and there were over 3,000 plants per acre, that meant an output of 30,000 pounds per acre?

Of course, that’s because these sweet potato vines were a newly developed high-end variety grown in the mystical space and soaked in spiritual spring water, coupled with Little Sweet Treasure’s blessing.

Normally, a sweet potato field would yield about 4,000 to 5,000 pounds per acre.

The best soil, best planting techniques—even with modern chemical fertilizers and pesticides—could produce 10,000 pounds, and that was considered extremely high yield. In ancient times, yields were far lower, not even half that.

But since the Song family was using crops from the mystical space, a high yield was only natural.

Mr. Song took the bunch and felt its weight. “Goodness! This must be over ten pounds! Just one bunch—and there’s thousands of plants in one acre. How much is that?”

In this era without fertilizers, pesticides, or GMO seeds, growing corn or sorghum yielded very little.

He had assumed this would be similar to other crops.

But doing the math—a single acre might produce tens of thousands of pounds! That was no small number.

Boss Song was sweating. He had never encountered anything like this in his life. Luckily, their family now ran a small business, or else the shock alone might’ve done him in.

Seeing his son stunned silly, Mr. Song took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. They were rich. They had truly struck it rich.

“I think… we might get 30,000 pounds per acre? Or maybe I calculated wrong?” Even he wasn’t confident.

He calculated again—ten tubers per plant, one pound each, 3,000 plants per acre… it really was about 30,000 pounds.

In the past, planting corn with some manure might yield 500 pounds per acre. Poorer mountain plots yielded only 200–300 pounds.

This one acre now outperformed dozens of other plots. How could he not be shocked? The shock outweighed the joy; he was dumbfounded.

Boss Song, mouth agape at the yield, wondered if it was all a dream. Was this real? It felt impossible.

“Maybe it’s just this one plant. Let me try another.”

He pulled another—and again, a massive bunch. He did this three times, and all three were the same.

“My sweet little treasure Xiao Tianbao,” Mr. Song said, eyes tearing up. It must be Heaven’s blessing that brought this little girl, Little Sweet Treasure Xiao Tanbao, into their family.

Hearing this, Boss Song suddenly understood—it was because of Little Sweetie’s luck!

Yes! Before she was born, their chickens, ducks, and geese hardly laid eggs. After she arrived, they laid so many that the baskets were always full. The kids could eat their fill; even the adults got to enjoy some.

Fishing used to yield just one basket a day at best. Now, every trip brought back a full load.

And thanks to their earnings from the special fish recipes, their family no longer had to worry about going hungry—they were eating well.

All of this was thanks to Little Sweet Treasure Xiao Tianbao’s blessing. So naturally, this sweet potato bumper harvest was her doing too.

Indeed, the high yield was due to both the special sweet potato vines and Little Sweet Treasure Xiao Tianbao’s spiritual luck.

“It really is Little Sweet Treasure’s blessing. We even decided to plant sweet potatoes after hearing her little wish. This year is truly a bumper year,” Boss Song sighed.

This little blessing had come to help the Song family live a good life. If one acre yielded 30,000 pounds, how much would 15 acres yield?

He couldn’t even calculate. Only the fifth son—the smartest one in the family—might figure that out.

Mr. Song nodded. “Alright, let’s head home first and figure out how to harvest it all.”

Boss Song agreed, tied up the sweet potatoes, and carried them back.

By the time the two returned, the sun was already up, and some villagers had begun their morning work in the fields.

The villagers had been watching the Song family’s sweet potato experiment with interest. When they saw Boss Song carrying back a big load, they were surprised.

As they entered the courtyard, Grandma Zhou was feeding the chickens. She quickly put down her scoop and rushed over.

“You two already brought some back? Just dig one to test, no need to dig so many,” she said.

Madam Zou, hearing the noise, also came out and was shocked. “Aiyo, so big! They’re just like the ones the peddlers sell!”

Boss Song replied, “These are from three plants—each has about ten sweet potatoes, one pound each.”

Everyone fell silent, stunned by what he said. They stared at him in disbelief.

Grandma Zhou said in shock, “What? Just three plants and you got this much? Thirty pounds from three?”

Boss Song nodded. “Yes, Mom. I was shocked too. They all grew really well.”

Madam Zou turned pale with shock. “Goodness, then how many sweet potatoes do we have in total?”

The rest of the family came out and gathered around. When they saw the pile of sweet potatoes, they were dumbstruck.

“This… Am I dreaming?”

Just as she said that, Grandma Zhou turned and saw Liu carrying out Little Sweet Treasure Xiao Tianbao. She immediately realized what was going on.

“No, not a dream—it’s Sweetie’s blessing. Our little lucky star brings abundance. Of course the land would yield well,” she said joyfully.

Everyone suddenly understood. In their amazement, they had forgotten they had a little blessing in the house. Yes, they had Little Sweet Treasure Xiao Tianbao!

“Thank Heaven, we’re truly blessed to have her,” said Madam Zou.

Zhang nodded. “Yes, we even planted sweet potatoes based on her suggestion. Otherwise, how would we know about them?”

Boss Song added, “They taste great too. Definitely marketable—could be sold to restaurants.”

Only Mr. Song didn’t speak. He walked up to Liu and took Little Sweet Treasure Xiao Tianbao into his arms, holding her like a precious treasure.

Little Sweet Treasure Xiao Tianbao waved her chubby little hands and smiled sweetly, warming his heart.

But tears welled up in his eyes—not from sorrow, but from overwhelming joy and gratitude. He was thankful for having such a lucky granddaughter.

“Tianbao, my dear Tianbao… Grandpa thanks you. Thank you for coming to our family. Thank you for making sure we’ll never go hungry again.”