Chapter 145
Chapter 145
Jin Bao soon grew a small mountain of potatoes right where she stood.
Growing plants consumed relatively little of her Mental Power.
It would not make her fall into a deep sleep.
The sight of the dirt-covered lumps piled high before them left every miner gaping, their eyes filled with wonder and reverence.
Had they not witnessed it themselves, no threat in the world could have made them believe such a power existed.
Yet no one knew what Jin Bao had grown or what it was used for.
In less than fifteen minutes, she produced over a thousand catties of potatoes.
Word spread quickly among the miners.
That was not all. Jin Bao also had them bring over firewood so they could roast the potatoes on the spot.
The man who had given her the hairpin gathered his courage and stepped forward to ask, “Star Maiden, what are these dirt lumps? Why have we never seen them before?”
Jin Bao crouched down, wrapped both little hands around a huge potato, and stood up again.
When she saw everyone’s gaze fixed on the potato in her hands, two deep dimples appeared in her cheeks. She began extolling its many virtues to the crowd.
“Uncles, what Baby is holding is called a potato. The seeds came from Persian merchants. It’s also one of Baby’s favorite foods.
“Potatoes are really yummy! You can roast them, boil them, stir-fry them, or steam them. They’re best when you fry them in oil.
“They’re soft and sweet and much easier to swallow than coarse grain. Most important, they produce a huge harvest. Second Brother says the potatoes we grow in Black Pine Valley can yield five thousand catties per mu, and even poor land can grow three thousand catties!”
Beaming, Jin Bao told them all about the potato’s benefits once again. When she reached the different ways to cook it, she prattled away like a comic performer who never needed to pause for breath. She was clearly a seasoned little foodie.
Such high yields were possible not only because the Northern Frontier’s soil was fertile, but also because Jin Bao had used her powers to select superior seed potatoes.
The crowd ignored everything she had said about cooking methods and focused entirely on the thousands of catties each mu could yield.
If they had not seen the potatoes grow with their own eyes, they would have dismissed the claim as an impossible fantasy.
But Jin Bao had grown them right before them.
Many miners had been farmers before coming here. With one look, they could tell the estimate was close. The claim was no boast. Each mu truly could produce thousands of catties.
“Thousands of catties! This thing is a divine gift for the people of the Northern Frontier. If everyone grows these dirt lumps, won’t that mean no one has to go hungry anymore?
“Every household would have grain to spare. We could build new homes and never fear a snow disaster again.”
Jin Bao heard every word of their discussion.
So everyone feared that snow could destroy their homes. If only there were houses that did not fear snow.
Oh, right. The houses in her previous life had never feared snow. How were they built again? With something called cement, perhaps?
But she did not know how to make cement.
Jin Bao never forced herself to do things she did not know. The matter soon slipped from her mind.
Someone brought firewood and built a large bonfire right there.
The fighting outside had thrown the miners into a panic early that morning. Xiao Che had killed all the guards, including the cooks, so everyone was still hungry.
Many of them had never known what it felt like to eat their fill in their entire lives.
Today, Jin Bao would let them experience it.
“Uncles, come get your potatoes! Just put them in the fire until they’re cooked. If you have water, you can boil them too. They’re even yummier that way.”
With hundreds of miners to feed, they had to do the cooking themselves. They could hardly expect a little toddler like Jin Bao to feed each of them.
The crowd was about to surge forward when the Shadow Guards’ stares frightened them into forming five or six long, orderly lines.
Each person received three large potatoes.
“Uncles, if three potatoes aren’t enough, you can come back for more. Everyone gets to eat their fill today!”
Jin Bao wondered if filling everyone’s stomach would make them happy.
The miners stepped forward one after another to collect their potatoes. Each man bowed to Jin Bao and thanked her.
Jin Bao felt incredibly happy at that moment. Was this what Second Brother meant when he said the fragrance of flowers lingered on the hand that gave them away?
Second Brother was so learned. Everything Jin Bao learned from him eventually came alive in her own experiences.
In high spirits, Jin Bao hummed the theme song from the animated Journey to the West she had watched in her previous life.
Xiao Che and his men carried several crates out of the stone building. When they reached the camp, he saw the miners busily preparing food for themselves and a large pile of potatoes in front of his daughter.
He immediately understood that Jin Bao must have used her powers to grow them again.
No one had eaten breakfast. After a sleepless night and such a long battle, they all had to be starving.
Xiao Che walked over to Jin Bao and lifted his daughter into his arms. Then he picked up a few potatoes, sat on the ground with the miners, and tossed his share into the fire.
The camp had become a ruin. The miners sat in groups of more than a dozen, each roasting his own potatoes.
Soon, the aroma of potatoes filled the air, making everyone swallow constantly.
The charred fragrance mingled with a clean sweetness unlike anything they had ever smelled. The aroma alone left them eager to taste the potatoes.
The miners stole glances at Xiao Che.
He did not put on airs at all. He was nothing like their previous overseers.
Those overseers had often forced the miners to serve them.
After laboring all day, the miners would still be summoned to wait on the overseers at mealtime and forced to stand by while they feasted. That torment was even worse than going hungry.
The Valley Master not only ate the same food as they did, but also sat directly on the ground without the slightest concern. In an instant, the distance between Xiao Che and the miners narrowed.
Xiao Che even began talking to them of his own accord, asking what they needed.
At first, everyone was tense and uneasy, too afraid to speak. But as time passed, Xiao Che’s warm, approachable manner gradually drew them out. He had come from an army camp and had always lived and worked alongside the Xiao Family Army. There was nothing bureaucratic or pompous about the way he spoke.
The miners slowly opened up and spoke from the heart.
All ordinary people wanted was three meals and warm clothes through all four seasons, with a wife, children, and a heated bed waiting at home. Yet in this world, even those simple wishes had become the greatest luxuries.
Jin Bao held a roasted potato in both hands and nibbled it in tiny bites. Her big eyes kept watching the miners as they spoke, while her little mouth never stopped moving. She looked as adorable as a groundhog.
She committed everything they said to memory.
So these uncles all wanted wives and children. Baby could be their child, but where was she supposed to find wives for them? What a headache.
Xiao Che remained with the miners for four or five days. They worked on only two of those days and spent the rest of the time recuperating.
Everyone ate potatoes grown by Jin Bao.
The moment they tasted them, every miner fell in love with the food.
Just as Jin Bao had said, potatoes tasted far better than coarse grain.
On the sixth day, Long Xia finally arrived with the main force.
The men he brought were from the Dragon Tiger Guard.
Long Xia assigned one hundred Dragon Tiger Guards to garrison the mine. They also brought a vast quantity of supplies.
The hundred soldiers looked even more formidable than the several hundred troops Prince Cheng had sent before them.
The miners privately wondered what kind of man their new Valley Master truly was. They were all natives of the region, yet none had ever heard of Black Pine Valley.
Then again, the Northern Frontier was enormous. Most had lived in one place for generations, so it was hardly strange that they had never heard of it.
The camp quickly bustled with activity once more.
What surprised the miners most was that Xiao Che had ordered Long Xia to bring crates of copper coins.
He intended to pay everyone’s wages in public.