Chapter 10: “The Golden Finger Appears”

“Granny, there’s a patch of tender shoots over there. Let’s dig there.” It hadn’t been long before Sun Pingmei spotted a patch of green.

“You’ve got sharp eyes, Chunxia. You all go together then.” Since they had already found it, she couldn’t let them leave out. After all, the mountain wasn’t theirs.

“Alright.” Ma Chunxia didn’t bother with pleasantries. She went over with her daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

“Grandma, I’ll just play here. You go dig.” Jiang Fubao tried to brush off her grandmother, wanting to explore on her own.

“Don’t run off, understand?” Zhang Jinlan didn’t think much of it, assuming her granddaughter had suddenly become sensible.

“Okay.” Jiang Fubao nodded vigorously.

She watched her grandmother walk away, then crouched by a large tree, pretending to play in the mud. After a few glances from her family, seeing that no one was paying attention, Jiang Fubao finally relaxed and gradually moved farther away. When she was about ten meters from the group, she stood up and wandered around.

This area was on the outskirts, full of trees, and some grass grew as tall as she was.

Because she was constantly scanning her surroundings, she didn’t notice a depression in the ground and tripped, landing face-first in the dirt.

Her fingertips were pierced by a sharp stone, bleeding quite a few drops. Her hands were also covered in mud.

Just ahead was a small stream. She bit back the pain, got up, and washed her hands. The bright red blood mixed into the water like red paint. Vivid and eye-catching.

Suddenly, a flood of voices erupted in her ears, chaotic and noisy:

【Chirp chirp, this human is hurt—】
【Wow, tiny shrimp looks delicious—】
【Glug glug, bubbling—】
【Hey, you over there, you’re blocking my sun! Move your stinky leaf!】
【Huh, who’s laying eggs in my nest, and so many too? You’re killing me, bird!—】
【…..】

Oddly, these voices were of both genders and of all ages. In the otherwise silent mountain, it felt eerie.

Jiang Fubao sat down in fright, searching for the source of the voices.

【Ah, this stinky human sat on me! I’m going to die, I’m going to die—】
【Her butt is so big, move it, it’s so heavy, the little grass can’t take it—】

“Wh-who’s speaking?”

She hurriedly stood up.

Then she noticed that the spot where she had sat had two tiny blades of grass, no bigger than her fingertips.

【Phew, finally up. I almost died!】
【Stinky human, sitting on us, you almost killed us!】

Jiang Fubao froze.

What? Her butt was big? She was only three years old!

Wait—those weren’t humans speaking! Could she… hear plants talking?

Her imagination ran wild. Having experienced time travel, if anyone told her there were ghosts in this world, she would’ve believed them.

【Stinky human, move away, I want to sunbathe—】

Jiang Fubao got scolded again.

That’s when she confirmed her suspicion. She had gained a golden finger—the ability to hear the thoughts of animals and plants! Heaven was generous to her. With both her storage space and this golden finger, she was certain she could shine in this world.

Wasting no time, she quickly adapted, following the voices to the left. She had just heard one voice mention bird eggs.

She had been wondering whether to use the thirty quail eggs in her space, but finding real bird eggs here felt too coincidental.

Her grandfather had said quail eggs were rare in this area. They couldn’t always appear just for her.

To avoid arousing suspicion at home, she had to be cautious.

If there were actual bird eggs, she could just take them back without touching her quail eggs.

【Naughty bird, laying eggs everywhere, I’ll push them all out, humph—】

Approaching a large tree, the voice seemed right beside her. Jiang Fubao stopped.

“Plop—” Suddenly, a sharp pain hit the top of her head, accompanied by a cool sensation.

She touched the top of her head and realized a bird egg had cracked on her, egg white and yolk sticky and gooey.

Looking up, she saw a black bird in a nest pushing eggs out. Jiang Fubao quickly lifted her shirt.

The egg fell straight into her pocket, intact.

This egg was larger than a quail egg and pale in color. She had no idea how it would taste.

【Eight more, I’ll push them all out! You naughty egg-laying bird!—】

Before she could react, the voice spoke again.

Hearing there were eight more, Jiang Fubao set the first egg aside in a grass pile, then looked up, waiting for the next one.

After several rounds, the bird stopped pushing, and Jiang Fubao collected her harvest.

In total, ten eggs—one had cracked on her head, one missed and shattered on the ground. She successfully caught eight bird eggs.

“Fubao—”

“Where did this child run off to?”

Her grandmother’s voice called from nearby. Jiang Fubao, holding the eggs, quickly retraced her steps.

“Grandma, I’m here!” she said, smiling, shouting toward the group.

“You naughty child, why don’t you listen? I told you not to run off, where did you go?” After nearly losing her granddaughter once, Zhang Jinlan’s panic was evident, her voice a mix of warmth and anger.

“Grandma, I found bird eggs again! Look!” Jiang Fubao didn’t care about being scolded. She had been trying to hear her family’s thoughts but couldn’t—this golden finger only worked on animals and plants.

“What? Found bird eggs again?” Zhang Jinlan was dumbfounded. How could her granddaughter always find things? Was she this lucky?

Seeing the eggs, her anger disappeared.

“Wow, what kind of eggs are these? Big and white, pretty nice. Only eight though, not sure how much we could sell them for.”

She carefully placed the bird eggs in a bamboo basket, lining them with freshly dug tender shoots.

Hearing that her granddaughter was bringing eggs to sell left Jiang Fubao a bit speechless. She had hoped her family would eat some, supplementing their protein.

Eating nothing but coarse rice porridge and wild vegetables every day, they had all grown so thin.

“Fubao is amazing! What luck! Always finds bird eggs,” said Sun Pingmei, squatting nearby, digging wild vegetables, her eyes sparkling.

Looking at the eggs, she could almost drool.

“Hey, aren’t these pigeon eggs? I heard these are extremely valuable. One can be exchanged for at least ten chicken eggs! Sister-in-law, you’re rich!”

Ma Chunxia was almost envious enough to cry.

She came to the mountain every day and never found a single bird egg.

Even though her eldest son loved climbing trees and raiding nests as a child, those eggs were too small for a baby to eat and smelled too strong. She preferred wild vegetables.

“What? Exchange for ten chicken eggs? That means twenty wen each? Chunxia, how do you know about these pigeon eggs? You’re not tricking me, right?”

Zhang Jinlan’s smiling mouth didn’t go down all day.