The old man repeated, "Right, they are growing well. Each plant has several potatoes."

This news excited Xu Qing who was worried before. Such being the case, they had welcomed a double blessing.

Xu Qing held the old man's hand and said, "Hurry, please take me to have a look."

"No problem, My Lord. Follow me this way," the old nodded and agreed.

Then they walked away.

Everyone made way for them and followed Xu Qing.

Li Ming cupped his hands to Liang Cheng and requested, "Mr. Liang, I'd like to take a look, too."

"Go ahead," Liang Cheng answered by waving his hand.

Liang Cheng didn't head to his small tent until all other people left.

He hadn't had a good sleep for days. Now that the dam was completed, he finally could find a chance to get a sound sleep.

The old man walked Xu Qing to his own field. When arriving, he smiled at Xu Qing and said, "My Lord, here we are."

Stepping into the field, the old man bent and pulled out a plant. After the root was fully exposed, people saw five or six bowl-size potatoes hanging on it.

He carried it and presented it to Xu Qing, "My Lord, look."

"Great, great," Xu Qing kept applauding after picking off one potato and placing it in his palm.

Villagers behind began their discussion, "My potatoes are the same size as these."

"Mine are smaller but I have more potatoes on one plant."

Immediately, Xu Qing turned around to say to his villagers, "Everyone, be quiet. Listen to me."

When the crowd quieted down, Xu Qing said, "Are all your potatoes ripe now?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"My potatoes haven’t been ripe. I guess they still need some time."

"Alright. Now that most are ripe, let's start to harvest. Because it will get cold soon and be raining for days, which make it harder for us to harvest," Xu Qing continued.

An old woman came forward and asked Xu Qing, "My Lord, what should we do after the harvest?"

"Don't worry. I'll ask people to gather your potatoes to sell or trade for goods we need in winter," Xu Qing explained.

When he finished, those villagers discussed with each other again. They could tell from Xu Qing's words that he meant to sell all their potatoes together.

Xu Qing knew some of them were unwilling to do so. But if he let them sell respectively, how could those who lost their breadwinners manage to carry potatoes outside for sale? Moreover, the villagers here were far away from the outside market.

So Xu Qing added, "You are all blessed survivors from the flood hitting Jiandu this year. Now, the victory is right at the corner but we have no necessities to pull through."

While speaking, Xu Qing frowned. Then he continued, "I know you want to sell respectively. But have you thought about how villagers, who lost their breadwinners in flood, should deal with this?"

"My Lord, then how do we divide goods we trade potatoes for?" One in the crowd questioned.

Xu Qing answered, "Everyone, don't worry. I will divide goods and money based on your family size. Having survived the flood and plague, we still need to make sure we won't starve to death in winter. Thus, the priority now is to band together to pull the winter through."

"My Lord, you're right. We have to stick together to live through. I'm rather old now. Having escaped the flood and plague, I will deal with this tough winter next. We're all neighbors and it's better not to haggle over every ounce," an aged man said loudly.

Just when he finished, some in the crowd echoed, "Now that you have agreed, we won't oppose any more. Master Xu is a righteous official who puts his people first, so we will listen to him."

"So will I..."

"So will I..."

At once, villagers all nodded.

Given that they all agreed, Xu Qing first nodded with satisfaction and then waved his hand, motioning them to stop talking. He added quickly, "Since no one objects now, let's start our harvest this afternoon, shall we?"

"Follow your arrangement!" Villagers answered with one voice.

Later, Xu Qing ordered, "Alright. Folks, divide your work and pick potatoes in eastern fields first. I'll send people to hire carriages and deliver potatoes in batches to town for sale. Each villager can select a representative to go with us."

"Yes," all responded with a nod.

Then, Xu Qing continued, "If so, you'd better hurry up. The earlier we finish, the easier it will be for us to survive in winter."

Afterwards, the crowd gradually dispersed.

When almost all villagers were gone, Xu Qing turned his head and ordered Li Ming, "Let's go. We should also make some preparations."

"Yes, My Lord," Li Ming answered with hands cupped. Then he followed Xu Qing back to yamen (government office in feudal China).

In yamen

Yamen now looked like what it used to be after a few days.

However, it was barely decorated.

Seeing Xu Qing, people including Zheng Qiu bowed to him and greeted, "My Lord."

"Save it. You're still my brothers even if I'm the prefect now," Xu Qing said to them.

They nodded.

Then Xu Qing sat on the chair and continued, "As villagers are picking potatoes now, we can't just sit and do nothing. Would anyone like to sell potatoes in towns nearby, or stay here to collect potatoes villagers pick?"

They looked at each other, and then Zheng Qiu stepped forward. "My Lord, I'd like to sell potatoes in towns because I'm familiar with those places."

"I'll join him to offer my help," Zhao Po, a guard from Jing City, followed.

At this time, Su Tong took a glance at Zhao Po and offered, "I'd like to go with them."

Before settling down in Jiandu, Su Tong and Zhao Po treated each other as brothers and did everything together. In fact, only Zhao Po was assigned to Jiandu. But later, Su Tong begged his leader for making him an escort of Xu Qing, too.

"Alright. As for Li Ming and other people, you stay here to collect potatoes to save time," Xu Qing nodded and directed.

They cupped their hands to respond, "Yes!"

"Everyone, go to work now. Remember to hire enough carriages," Xu Qing advised.

After making a reply, they walked outside.

Xu Qing stood up at this time and couldn't help looking out of the door. Potatoes were their only hope. If they were well sold, it would no longer be a problem for villagers to survive in winter.

Thinking of this, Xu Qing prayed in silence: "May God bless us. Villagers really suffered a lot this year and I hope they can live happily in the future."

Day broke.

After having breakfast, Xiao Mu and other people bid farewell to General Li and rode their horses, heading to Suizhou. Suizhou was the nearest town to Jiandu.

They decided to search Suizhou first. If nothing was found, they would go to other towns.

Soon, one day was gone.

Early in the morning, Li Ming and his fellows gathered all the potatoes villagers had harvested yesterday and put them before the yamen gate.

Ten carriages were all filled!

Xu Qing walked out at this time. Seeing potatoes on carriages, he couldn't hold back the joy on his face. These large and round potatoes would definitely be sold for a fair price.

Also, representatives of each family had assembled before the gate.

Xu Qing turned to them and said, "Now that everyone is here, I'd like to give you some more advice. Be careful on the way to deliver potatoes. Don't take liberties to do anything when in trouble. All listen to Zheng Qiu."

"Yes, My Lord. Don't worry. We have kept it in mind," they nodded and answered.

Led by Zheng Qiu, carriages loaded with potatoes were setting off to Suizhou.

In Suizhou

After riding at full speed, Xiao Mu and his fellows arrived in Suizhou at about 4 in the afternoon.

When they just entered the town, they heard vendors hawking everywhere.

Then they chose an inn to stay.

It was still early, so Xiao Mu called two fellows to go out with him to check rice shops first.

Later, they headed out of the inn.

After asking about the largest rice shop in Suizhou, they set off there.

Mu Xiao looked up at the signboard on which the sentence "Food Is Top Necessity" was written.

Then, they stepped in.

Few people were in the shop. The manager who sat behind the counter looked up to glance at them but didn't stop doing his accounts. "Wait a minute," he said.

"Alright," Xiao Mu nodded and responded.

About 10 minutes later, the manager remained engaged in account books with his head lowered, as if he had forgotten he had customers.

The two men going out with Xiao Mu frowned and looked at each other. Then, they walked to the counter to put their swords on it. And they said to the manager while looking at him, "Hey, what are you doing? Do you wanna ruin your business?"

"Calm down, please. I'm done and I'll come right away," the manager looked up and said with the corner of his mouth lifted.

He walked away from the counter to Xiao Mu and cupped his hands. He said, "I'm really sorry."

"Never mind. How much stock do you have?" Xiao Mu asked the manager.

But the latter frowned and asked back, "How much do you want?"

"100 piculs," Xiao Mu answered. (100 piculs were about equal to 5,000 kilograms.)

But afterwards, the wrinkles in the manager's brows didn't disappear. He smiled to apologize, "I'm so sorry. I don't have that much."

"Isn't this the largest rice shop in Suizhou? How come you don't even have 100 piculs of rice?" Asked Rui Yi standing by just after the manager replied.