Chapter 4

Old Madam Zhou was puzzled in her heart, so she first went to check the chicken coop. Sure enough, there were seven eggs inside—so many?

She raised eight chickens herself, seven of which were hens. Not every hen lays an egg every day, so did they all lay eggs today?

She quickly gathered them up; all were still warm, clearly just laid. It seemed that this little granddaughter really brought good fortune to the whole family.

“Hurry, bring a basket! These hens laid seven eggs all at once. This is all the blessing my little granddaughter brought. I need to check if the geese and ducks have laid eggs too.”

Old Madam Zhou hurried off to check the geese and ducks, and indeed they had laid eggs too. Today was not only a good day for fishing but also for the family’s harvest.

Hearing this, Zhang, the wife of the second son Song Fucai, was somewhat skeptical. This was too exaggerated—how could it be possible?

She hurried out to see and saw Old Madam Zhou really carrying a basket on her way back, filled with goose eggs, duck eggs, and chicken eggs—a truly bountiful harvest.

Zhang herself knew clearly that such a situation had never happened before. This was the blessing brought by this little girl who was born with auspicious signs.

Her heart grew jealous—why wasn’t this girl her own child? If she had this kind of blessing, what else would she say?

“Hurry, boil a goose egg for the wife of the fourth son. Oh, look at this, how wonderful!” said Zhou with a smile.

Zhang replied, “Yes, the wife of the fourth son is really blessed to have given birth to such a fortunate girl.”

Zhou smiled and nodded, “Yes, truly so.”

Then Zhou carried the basket to the east wing to show the wife of the fourth son and the midwife, this was something worth boasting about.

Over at Old Master Song’s place, the sons also had a bountiful harvest. The Song family was poor and didn’t have a good fishing boat, only a small old boat that two people could take out to sea.

So except for the fifth son who was a teacher, the other sons took turns fishing. Today, the first and fourth sons went fishing, while the second and third went to work in the mountains.

Most of the time they caught half a basket of fish, but sometimes they caught more, so they brought a few baskets. Today was good—they had six baskets, all filled to the brim.

“I thought today would be like any other day, but near the end, the net suddenly got full—luckily we got everything,” said the eldest son Song Fusheng with a smile to his father.

The fourth son Song Futian nodded in agreement, “Yes, and they’re all big fish.”

Old Master Song nodded, looking at the full baskets of fish. This was a full harvest, truly the blessing brought by his little granddaughter.

“There’s even happier news—the wife of the fourth son gave birth, to a girl,” Old Master Song happily said.

The eldest son exclaimed and grinned; the whole family had been hoping for a girl, especially the parents. Their wish was finally fulfilled.

The fourth son was stunned for a moment, then realized his wife had given birth, and it was a girl. He now had both sons and daughters, fulfilling his parents’ wishes.

“Is the mother okay?” Although happy about the daughter, the fourth son still asked about his wife’s condition.

Old Master Song smiled, “Don’t worry, she’s fine. This girl is blessed—a truly fortunate child. Look at today’s colorful sunset, and our bountiful harvest. This girl has brought us all good luck.”

“That’s true, but she made your mother so happy she got confused, saying she could hear the little girl talking,” Old Master Song added.

Both sons laughed, but the fourth son was anxious to get home to see his daughter, quickly jumping onto the cart.

Old Master Song drove the cart, the baskets of fish packed full, with the three of them beaming happily.

The sky and sea reflected each other, the sunset’s colors mirrored in the ocean, making the sea look like it was on fire, glowing red.

The three father and sons drove the ox cart through the village, immediately drawing attention.

“The Song family is truly lucky—the daughter-in-law gave birth to a girl. For generations, they only had this one girl, so she’s treated like a precious treasure.”

“Yes, the midwife just came out of their house saying the little girl didn’t cry at birth, but smiled. It’s so rare; I’ve lived half my life and never heard of such a thing.”

“The storyteller said such children are special people—maybe someday she could even become an empress. Look at this colorful sunset, when has it been like this? And look at those baskets of fish, full today—this is fortune.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Whether boy or girl, this child was destined for greatness. People believed girls with such blessings could enter the palace and become empresses.

At the Song family home, Old Master Song drove the ox cart into the courtyard. Zhou heard the noise and quickly came out, smiling broadly when she saw the full baskets of fish.

“Old man, this girl really brought blessings to our family. Look, they went fishing and caught full baskets of fish. The hens all laid eggs, and the geese and ducks laid eggs too.”

Old Master Song nodded repeatedly. If the full baskets of fish were a coincidence, then how could all the chickens, ducks, and geese lay eggs too?

It couldn’t all be coincidence—it had to be the blessing this little girl brought.

“Good, very good…”

Old Master Song wasn’t a man of many words, only knowing he was happy but not knowing what to say.

“Oh, the eldest and fourth sons caught so many fish! Today is a good day. The second and third sons were at the fields; one caught a rabbit and the other a wild chicken—haha, we have meat to eat.”

Just then, the second son Song Fucai and the third son Song Fugui came in from the mountains, each carrying a wild rabbit or wild chicken.

Seeing the full cart of fish, the second son spoke up, waving his wild chicken, “A big fat chicken, this will improve our meals.”

Old Madam Zhou happily clapped her thighs and hurried to tell everyone about the fish, the chickens, ducks, geese laying eggs, and the baby girl who only smiled and didn’t cry.

The family was stunned; if it weren’t for Old Madam Zhou saying it herself, they wouldn’t believe it.

Unfortunately, because the wife just gave birth and was in confinement, the men couldn’t go in to see the baby. Otherwise, they’d all want to see this little baby.

The fourth son couldn’t wait; he quickly washed his hands and went inside to see his wife and baby girl.

Inside the house, the eldest daughter-in-law Zhu was finishing up chores and talking with the fourth daughter-in-law Liu. When she saw Song the fourth come in, Zhu found an excuse and left.

Song the fourth saw Liu smiling happily, looking well. The pain of childbirth had passed, and there were no other signs of discomfort.