Chapter 27

In the past, they only started frying meat and making meatballs at the end of the year, afraid that doing it too early would tempt people to eat it all before the holidays.

But this year was different. This year, they had money in hand, and with such a joyous event happening, they had to prepare delicious food in advance.

This New Year was the most festive and lively one they had experienced in years, and little Tianbao received so much lucky money that her hands were sore from collecting it.

Not only that, but little Tianbao finally started talking—earlier than most children. Naturally, the Song family was overjoyed.

However, now they could no longer hear her inner thoughts—just her spoken words.

Although she could now talk, she was still wobbly on her feet. Tianbao wished she could grow up faster, at least to walk steadily, so she could earn wish-fruits.

Life continued peacefully with little Tianbao’s hopes. The Song family finished building five houses, and the brothers had divided the property.

Each family received 150 taels of gold and a house. Everyone happily moved in.

The fifth son had been promoted from county assistant to county magistrate. The Song family became famous far and wide.

They continued planting sweet potatoes, and other villagers followed suit. The government bought them all and transported them away.

But while others only yielded about 3,000 to 5,000 jin per mu, the Song family had astonishingly high yields.

Everyone knew the Song family had a little lucky star. Even planting on rocks, their harvest was better than anyone else’s—there was no comparing.

And so, life passed by peacefully for four years. Song Tian’er turned five.

Five-year-old Tianbao could speak fluently, walk steadily, and though still chubby, soft, and adorable, she could now run all over the village on her own.

“Mom! Mom! Tianbao went out to sea on her own—what do we do? What do we do?!”

Tianbao’s older brother, Song Dajin, ran home crying. Their parents had told him to play with his sister, but she’d slipped onto the boat while he wasn’t watching.

But wait—uncle, second uncle, third uncle, and dad were all at home. There was no one on the boat! Dajin felt like the sky was falling.

Fourth brother’s wife, Liu, nearly fainted when she heard. That little girl—how dare she?!

The Song family was better off now and had upgraded to larger boats. But little Tianbao was only five years old. How could she know how to steer?

“Oh my goodness! Husband, this is bad—go find Tianbao, quickly!” Liu shouted in panic.

Even old Granny Zhou next door felt her world collapse. If anything happened to her little granddaughter, she couldn’t live with herself.

The Song brothers had together bought two large sailboats. These boats relied on wind, water, and manpower to travel into deeper seas.

They immediately rushed to the shore to take the other boat and look for Tianbao.

Everyone was panicking.

But in truth, Tianbao—her hair styled into the little tufts seen on traditional New Year pictures—was playing on deck with her brightly colored rooster.

It was Grandpa Song steering the boat. It was a clear, sunny day. His little granddaughter had begged to go out to sea. How could he refuse her wish?

“Grandpa, look—so many big fish!” Tianbao pointed at the sea not far away.

Grandpa Song looked and felt the sky crash down. A huge dorsal fin broke the surface—clearly a massive fish, probably a killer whale.

He hadn’t gone far out—just nearshore waters. These creatures normally didn’t appear here. What was going on?

“Tianbao, come to the center of the boat. Grandpa’s getting us out of here,” he said, wiping sweat from his brow.

If anything happened to Tianbao, he’d be the family’s sinner for life. He couldn’t forgive himself.

Tianbao just waved and smiled. “It’s fine, Grandpa!”

Of course it was fine. She had three wish-fruits: one for immortality, one for endless good luck (like a koi fish), and one that allowed her to understand and communicate with animals and insects.

Naturally, she could talk to these fish. Tianbao cupped her hands and called out in their language.

Tianbao: “What’s wrong?”

Big Fish: “Our baby is caught in a net—we need help.”

Tianbao: “Come here. I’ll help.”

The big fish swam over excitedly. Grandpa Song panicked even more.

He rushed forward to protect her and saw a swarm of huge fish arriving right beside the boat.

Tianbao then jumped straight into the water. She had grown up by the sea and knew how to swim. And with the rooster with her, she felt safe.

If these fish betrayed her and attacked, she could enter her space instantly. The rooster could carry Grandpa into the space too.

Grandpa didn’t understand how she suddenly fell into the sea. With so many giant fish, how could she survive?

Overcome with panic, he fainted. The rooster looked speechlessly at Tianbao. Girl, are you trying to give your grandpa a heart attack?

The fish surrounded Tianbao. She saw a similarly chubby fish baby trapped in a fishing net. With no hands, it couldn’t escape.

These fish were clearly intelligent and had ventured into human areas for help. But had it not been Tianbao they met, they could’ve faced disaster.

Tianbao pulled out a sharp dagger from her space and cut the net. The fish baby immediately perked up.

She climbed back onto the boat while the fish swam away. Grandpa was still passed out.

“Ugh. They didn’t even say thank you,” Tianbao muttered, pinching Grandpa’s philtrum to wake him up.

After a while, Grandpa Song gasped awake. Seeing Tianbao safe and smiling at him, he clutched his chest in fright.

“Oh Tianbao, you scared Grandpa to death. If anything happened to you, the whole family would hate me forever. I couldn’t live with that!”

Tianbao nodded sincerely. She shouldn’t have scared Grandpa like that.

But she couldn’t tell him she could talk to animals—that would be too much.

“Okay, Grandpa. I’ll behave from now on.”

Grandpa wiped her wet hair, looking at her adorable face, unable to scold her anymore.

But then—just as they were about to leave—more giant fish returned.

Tianbao was curious. “Why are they back?”

Tianbao: “What’s going on?”

Baby Fish: “We came to thank you.”

With that, the fish all surfaced—each one holding an ocean currency in its mouth.

What’s “ocean currency”? It refers to manta rays, sea turtles, and jellyfish.

When humans help marine creatures, the sea creatures repay them with one of these three “currencies.”

The manta ray rolled its eyes and was about to collapse. It was utterly confused.

Manta Ray: “Orca, what the hell?!”

Sea Turtle: “Seriously? Using me as a favor?”

Jellyfish: “Orca, are you freaking serious?”

Orca Baby: “Human child, this is for you—thank you. Take it home and eat it.”

Tianbao: …