Chapter 21

With the help of many people, the Song family still spent many days harvesting all the sweet potatoes. The entire courtyard was piled high, but thankfully, the Song family’s yard was large.

Not harvesting would be worrisome—but having such a good harvest left Old Master Song unsure what to do next. After all, no one knew how long sweet potatoes could be stored.

But for now, that didn’t matter. First, they had to host a good meal for those who helped.

Old Madam Zhou was generous and brought out grilled fish, stewed meat, and steamed sweet potatoes to treat everyone.

Everyone who tasted the sweet potatoes was astonished—none had expected them to be sweet and delicious.

The helpers were also exhausted after these few days, so Old Master Song generously gave each of them a bag of sweet potatoes to take home.

As food rations, sweet potatoes were excellent. After all, these people had given their labor without receiving any silver in return.

That evening, the Song family gathered cheerfully for a meeting.

Old Madam Zhou had even made a red silk outfit for little Sweet Treasure (Xiao Tianbao), making her look even more festive and adorable.

Holding little Sweetie in his arms, Old Master Song began to speak.

“These past days, everyone’s worked hard, but I see you’re all happy, and that makes me happy too. Little Sweet Treasure Xiao Tianbao has brought great fortune to our family—letting us plant sweet potatoes and harvest like this.”

“She was a child we prayed and waited for. Now she’s brought such blessings to our family, so from now on, everyone must remember Sweetie’s goodness and treat her well.”

Old Madam Zhou nodded and added, “That’s right. Your father is absolutely right. In our family—whether adult or child—whoever dares not to dote on Sweet or treat her poorly, I won’t spare them.”

Everyone laughed. Of course, even without the old couple saying it, they all genuinely loved Little Sweet Treasure.

Sweetie had won everyone over with her sweet words and lucky aura.

Eldest son Song Fusheng said, “Dad, the sweet potatoes have all been harvested. I brought Fifth Brother back just to calculate things—let’s see exactly how much we harvested.”

His wife, Madam Zhu, added, “Yes, Dad, and also, this thing isn’t being sold anywhere nearby—how much should we sell it for?”

Fifth son, Song Fuyou, quickly brought out his abacus and got ready to do the math.

Old Master Song reported his estimated yield, and the fifth son calculated the total with his abacus.

450,000 jin—about 30,000 jin per mu, across 15 mu of land.

When Song Fuyou finished the math, everyone was dumbfounded. They had expected a good harvest but never this much.

Second son Song Fucai couldn’t believe it: “Fifth, did you calculate wrong? 450,000 jin? We’ve never had such a yield in our lives. Must be a mistake.”

“You think Fifth Brother is like you?” said Second Daughter-in-law Madam Zhang. “He didn’t get it wrong. It’s Sweetie’s luck! We’re going to strike it rich.”

Fifth Brother recalculated carefully based on Old Master Song’s numbers.

“No mistake—it’s 450,000 jin.”

Fourth son Song Futian grinned and exchanged glances with his wife, Madam Liu. Before Little Sweet Treasure Xiao Tianbao came along, they couldn’t have imagined such an abundant harvest.

Old Madam Zhou squinted at little Sweetie—this was what they meant by “luck.”

Third son Song Fugui laughed, “Dad, this stuff has to sell for more than potatoes, right?”

His wife, Madam Zou, chimed in, “Definitely! I think it can go for at least 80 wen.”

Fifth Brother shook his head: “That high? It won’t work.”

Madam Zou insisted, “But it tastes so good! 80 wen isn’t too much.”

Song Fuyou replied, “We harvested too much. The price must be affordable for common folks. Even if 80 wen is affordable, people won’t buy it regularly—it’s not meat. They’ll only buy it for novelty. If we only sell to wealthy households, how long will it take to sell all these tens of thousands of jin?”

Even Song Tian’er didn’t know what the fair price was, but what her uncle said made sense.

The Song family didn’t travel far to do business. Their market was limited to nearby villages, towns, and the city. And most people here were poor—they couldn’t set the price higher than meat.

Though easy to transport, the Song family were honest farmers. It wasn’t realistic for them to rely on merchants going to the capital.

Even Manager Wang from the local inn didn’t have that ability. So they had to sell it locally and quickly—and at a lower price.

Little Tian’er swung her legs and thought: If only I could grow up faster. Then I could sell these all over the country. But no rush—next year we can plant more. Let’s earn what we can for now.

Old Master Song nodded: “Fifth Brother makes sense. Pork is 35 wen a jin. If sweet potatoes are 80 wen, how much can we really sell? I say we set the price at 20 wen per jin.”

In a time when rough rice was 5 wen and coarse flour 8 wen, 20 wen was not a low price—but not too high either. Common folks could afford it.

Old Madam Zhou agreed: “That sounds good. It tastes great, and we’ll definitely sell it. The goal is to sell it off and get the money. High prices won’t help if it doesn’t sell.”

Song Tian’er added, “Grandpa, we could make sample snacks from sweet potatoes and send them to inns in town and the city. We can go to markets in different villages. On non-market days, we go door-to-door. And we can sell at home too.”

There were just too many sweet potatoes—it couldn’t be just Manager Wang. Any inn willing to buy should be a target.

Plus, setting up stalls in town, markets, using ox carts to visit nearby villages, and selling at home—all these combined should do the trick.

Tian’er didn’t share all her ideas. She suspected sweet potatoes would become famous quickly. Many people would want to plant them. She planned to make processed sweet potato products and expand across the country.

The whole family quietly listened to little Sweetie’s idea—and they all agreed it was reliable. The Song family now had one goal: sell sweet potatoes.

Old Master Song played with little Sweetie, then said, “Let’s do it. Let’s try to sell it all within a few months. Tomorrow, make more snacks—let people taste them.”

Madam Liu said confidently, “Yes! Ours taste so good and aren’t expensive. Anyone who tastes them will want more. Even if the adults don’t buy, the kids will beg them to!”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Seeing little Sweetie radiate such luck made them love her even more.

Old Madam Zhou said, “Fifth Brother, calculate—if we sell at 20 wen per jin, how much silver can we earn?”

Fifth Brother’s abacus clacked as he calculated. He frowned, scratched his head, then recalculated. Three times, same result.

“Mother, if we can sell it all—it’s 900 taels of gold.”

The whole family was stunned with joy.

“How much?! 900 taels? Heavens! We never dreamed of earning this much in our lives!”

Fifth Brother shook his head: “Not silver—gold.”

THUD—Old Madam Zhou fainted on the spot.