“Fifth Brother, take Dalang and Sanlang. Use stones to smash open the ice, then use the long spears and nets to scoop them out. Watch the ice—just stand by the riverbank,” Bai Dazhuang assigned the tasks. He then warned the two little ones, “Dalang, Sanlang, you’re not allowed to be naughty. If you fall into the water, I’ll beat you.”
Although all the children in the family could swim, and there was no fear of drowning, falling into the water in the dead of winter was a miserable ordeal.
Whether they actually caught fish or not was one thing, but they absolutely could not have an accident.
After all, the family had just added a sister. If something happened to the others now, who knew what kind of rumors the villagers would invent about her.
If that happened, Grandmother and his parents would never forgive him for being the eldest.
Hearing his big brother’s warnings, Bai Zhaomei said nonchalantly, “Don’t worry, Big Brother. I’ll watch Dalang and Sanlang.”
Dalang: “Father, I’ll stay on the bank.”
Sanlang: “Eldest Uncle, I won’t go on the ice.”
Bai Dazhuang was satisfied with the effect of his authority. He pointed at the stones by the bank and began assigning work: Dalang and Sanlang were responsible for carrying stones, while Bai Zhaomei smashed the ice. Once the ice was broken, Dazhuang would go down onto the ice to scoop out the fish.
Soon, the several Bai men, large and small, were working busily by the riverbank.
Dalang and Sanlang carried stones one by one to the river, piling them up at Bai Zhaomei’s feet. Bai Zhaomei was strong and looked down on the small stones the children handed him; he walked a bit further and hauled over a massive boulder.
Bai Dazhuang sucked in a breath. His fifth brother’s strength was truly extraordinary; even he might not have been able to move such a large rock.
“Watch this!”
Standing on the bank, Bai Zhaomei lifted the giant stone over his head. With all his might, he hurled it down. With a dull thud, a crack opened in the ice.
The water beneath the ice hole flowed slowly, but there wasn’t a trace of a fish.
Bai Dazhuang felt that, just like before, they were working for nothing.
Life was hard for the villagers, and they couldn’t usually afford meat. When they craved it, they would try to catch fish in the river. Most likely, the fish here had been caught clean back in the summer.
This trip would likely end empty-handed again.
“Big Brother, look, is that a fish blowing bubbles?”
Bai Zhaomei, who was holding a stone to smash another spot, suddenly stopped. He pouted toward the ice hole, his face full of uncertainty.
“It’s a fish! It’s a fish!” Bai Dalang saw it clearly. In his excitement, he threw his father’s warning about staying off the ice to the wind and slid down the withered grass along the bank.
Dalang stood cautiously on the ice. It was thick and wouldn’t collapse. He leaned over the ice hole, and a large carp leapt up.
Bai Dazhuang, Bai Zhaomei, and Sanlang watched open-mouthed as the large carp vaulted out of the water. Like a performing acrobat, it splashed water all over Dalang’s face, danced twice in mid-air, and landed right at Dalang’s heels, flopping wildly on the ice.
Dalang was turned to stone on the spot.
Oh my god!
The Lao Bai family had finally broken their streak of returning empty-handed!
Wait… were there even fish this big in this river?
Bai Dazhuang slapped the stunned Bai Zhaomei, grabbed the net, bucket, and spear, and went down to the river.
The large carp flopped twice at Dalang’s feet, coming within a palm’s width of the hole but refusing to fall back in. Dazhuang reached Dalang’s side, reached out with both hands, lifted the fish, and tossed it into the bucket.
Catching this fish had been far too easy.
Dazhuang stood before the ice hole and lowered the net into the water.
Suddenly, his arm felt heavy, and his heart leaped into his throat.
He pulled the net up: several large, silvery silver carps surfaced, their scales shimmering in the sunlight.
Bai Zhaomei’s eyes sparkled with excitement. He ran over to help his big brother haul the net up.
Dalang’s voice cracked with excitement: “So many fish! They’re all big fish!”
Dazhuang and Zhaomei dragged the fish-filled net across the ice toward the bank and poured them out. Dalang followed behind, excitedly throwing them into the wooden bucket.
“Heavens, so many fish! Fish! Fish!”
Sanlang stood by the ice hole, looking as if he wanted to dance on the ice, shouting with excitement.
Bai Dazhuang thought Sanlang was referring to the silver carps in the net.
“We finally didn’t come for nothing. With so many fish, we can stew them for everyone for lunch…”
“No, Father, look in the ice hole! There are more big fish!”
Before Dazhuang could finish, Dalang started shouting along with Sanlang.
Dazhuang looked up and saw fish after fish leaping out of the ice hole one by one. A large bighead carp was being held tightly in Sanlang’s arms.
Sanlang was still a little sprout; the fish was too big. He strained with both hands to encircle the fish’s body while it struggled in his embrace, its massive head completely obscuring Sanlang’s face.
“I can’t carry it anymore! Someone help me!” Sanlang was tossed about until he slid down onto his bottom on the ice, but his arms remained locked around the fish, and his feet clamped down on the fish’s tail.
Bai Zhaomei dropped the net and ran toward the ice hole with a howl.
Another large, fat fish leapt from the hole, landing directly in front of Bai Zhaomei.
Bai Dazhuang was completely bewildered. He subconsciously ran over to pick up the fish.
One, two, three…
Clearly, this river didn’t have fish this big or this many even in summer, so why were they swarming out now in the middle of winter?
Was it a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat—just a stroke of luck?
“Dalang, go home and get your grandfather. Tell him to bring several large buckets, quickly!” Dazhuang pulled the fat fish from Sanlang’s arms and gave orders to his son.
“Don’t shout! Don’t let the villagers know!”
If the others in the village found out, what if they came to snatch them?
“Got it!” Dalang climbed onto the bank and sprinted toward home.
Bai Muban had just moved his second grandson, Erlang—who was paralyzed in bed in the side room—to the warm main hall when he heard Dalang calling for him.
“Grandpa, there are so many fish in the river…”
After hearing Dalang’s animated description, Bai Muban’s face was full of disbelief.
He had lived for half a lifetime and had never heard of fish jumping out of an ice hole in mid-winter.
However, he knew his grandson wouldn’t lie to him.
So, grabbing the large wooden buckets from the house, he headed for the river.
As soon as Bai Muban left, Xie Chuntao brought the millet porridge and dough drop soup from the kitchen into the hall.
“Mother, eat the dough drop soup while it’s hot.”
As Xie Chuntao spoke, her eyes involuntarily drifted toward her little sister-in-law in the middle of the bed.
What a handsome little baby; she had never seen such a beautiful girl.
Leaning against a pillow next to the baby was her son, Erlang, who was looking at his little aunt with joy.
Xie Chuntao felt a pang in her heart. When her second son was a year and a half old, his legs suddenly became unable to support him. The physicians couldn’t find the cause, and he had been bedridden for six years.
This was the first time she had seen Erlang smile so brightly.
She couldn’t help but think of the limping priest’s words from years ago, wondering if this little sister-in-law really could bring fortune to the family. Selfishly, she thought: If only a little bit of that fortune could rub off on Erlang so he could stand up again.
Mrs. Zhen saw two eggs poached in the white-flour dough drop soup and the millet porridge brewed thick. She frowned and asked, “Whose house did you borrow these from?”
“Mother, the white flour was a gift from Auntie Zhao (the Village Chief’s wife); she also gave a piece of pork. The millet was borrowed from Great-Grandmother’s house,” Xie Chuntao said with a smile, hiding her worries.
“The Chief’s house is one thing; we can repay them later. But Great-Grandmother’s house… alas, their life is also very hard.” Mrs. Zhen sighed and added, “Our family owes Great-Grandmother more than just favors; don’t go there to borrow things anymore.”
Xie Chuntao nodded.
“Give the dough drop soup and eggs to Erlang. Keep the millet porridge for Grandmother. I’m not hungry. Save the remaining rice in the house; we have to raise your sister from now on,” Mrs. Zhen instructed her daughter-in-law.
“Grandmother, give it to Little Auntie. I’m not hungry,” Erlang said, staring expectantly at the soup and eggs. He was salivating with hunger, yet his head shook like a rattle.
“Good child, your aunt is still small; she can’t eat these.”
Mrs. Zhen stroked her grandson’s head with affection, feeling a dark sense of guilt toward him. She had originally saved a sum of silver intended to hire a good doctor for Erlang’s legs, but it had all been spent.
Under Mrs. Zhen’s command, Xie Chuntao picked up the soup and fed it to Erlang bite by bite.
Xie Chuntao was a bit puzzled.
When her mother-in-law first returned, Chuntao had been too happy to look closely, but after being in the same room for a while, she felt that her mother-in-law didn’t look like someone who had just finished childbirth.
As a mother herself, she stole a glance at her mother-in-law’s chest, and that glance confirmed her suspicion.
Chuntao was not a talkative person; she respected her parents-in-law and never asked about things they didn’t tell her. If they said this baby girl was her sister-in-law, then she would cherish her as such.
“Mother, Dalang just came home and called Father away. Father even took two large wooden buckets. Did they catch fish?” Xie Chuntao chatted with Mrs. Zhen.
Outside, she had seen Dalang beaming and her father-in-law acting mysteriously, so she was curious.
“In this winter river? How could it be that easy to catch anything?” Mrs. Zhen laughed.
When Dalang was talking to Bai Muban at the door earlier, her ears had indeed caught a few words about many fish coming up from the ice hole. But she shouldn’t tell Chuntao about something she hadn’t seen with her own eyes.
Can this baby girl really bring fortune to the family?
Mrs. Zhen looked down at Little Fuyuan, a faint spark of expectation in her heart.