Little Fuyuan opened her eyes once more.
“Auntie is awake!” Erlang clapped his hands. It was the first time he had ever seen such a beautiful little girl. “Auntie is the prettiest person in our whole family!”
Xie Chuntao saw her sister-in-law awake for the first time and felt her son’s description was far too conservative. It wasn’t just the Bai family; you couldn’t find a girl that beautiful in the entire village.
“You’re not wrong. Auntie is even prettier than the dolls in paintings,” Xie Chuntao said, searching for the right words. “Mother, look at her eyes—so watery and bright, it’s as if they can speak. And her eyelashes are so thick, like little fans. Her eyebrows are shaped like willow leaves, dark and dense; she won’t even need to draw them when she grows up. And her skin… it’s like a tender egg, so incredibly white…”
The more Xie Chuntao praised her, the more moved she became. Her sister-in-law was truly like a little fairy, without a trace of the typical “village girl” look. She couldn’t help but feel envious of her mother-in-law. She hoped she could give birth to a daughter like this in the future.
“And look at these fleshy earlobes. Oh, Mother, look! There’s a mole on her right earlobe. The elders in the village say a mole on the earlobe is a sign of a life of wealth and honor.”
Xie Chuntao had made a new discovery and continued her joyful praise.
“Wealth or no wealth, those are just empty words. I only hope she stays healthy and safe,” Madam Zhen replied. If the villagers knew that Little Fuyuan’s birth had coincided with her mother almost dying, they might tell a different story. Madam Zhen thought to herself that she must keep that secret guarded.
“By the way, Mother, does Auntie have a name yet?” Xie Chuntao asked.
“She does. Her formal name is Bai Fuyuan, and her nickname is Yuanyuan.”
“Fuyuan… that’s a good name. It means happiness, perfection, and reunion.” As Xie Chuntao spoke, she smilingly tucked in Little Fuyuan’s swaddle.
Little Fuyuan blinked. The young woman before her looked as kind as her mother—a good person. She couldn’t help but stick out her tongue.
“Oh! Is Auntie hungry?” Erlang exclaimed from the side.
Xie Chuntao asked Madam Zhen worriedly, “Mother, is it okay to only give her rice water?”
While she was out borrowing rice and flour in the village, she had heard that Grandmother Bai was trying to get a mother goat that had just given birth on credit. But how could it be that easy? Only a few families in the village had goats, and they cherished those nursing goats like the apples of their eyes. They were kept to raise kids and make money; people wouldn’t even sell them easily, let alone let someone take one on credit.
Madam Zhen sighed and took the goat milk out of a basin of warm water sitting on the stove. Her mother-in-law had been gone for quite a while and hadn’t returned; she likely hadn’t been able to secure a goat. Once this bottle of milk was gone, they would have to rely on millet porridge to keep the baby alive.
Little Fuyuan wasn’t originally hungry, but the moment she saw Madam Zhen holding the bottle, she felt a pang of hunger. However, hearing that she might not have milk to drink in the future made her feel immensely aggrieved. She pouted, and her large, grape-like eyes clouded over with a layer of mist.
Seeing that porcelain-carved face and the “about to cry but not yet” expression, Madam Zhen and Xie Chuntao’s hearts nearly shattered. Anyone who saw this would feel a deep ache in their chest.
Xie Chuntao patted her own chest and turned around. “Oh, I can’t take it! This won’t do! I’m going to the houses in the village with nursing mothers to beg for a bowl of milk for Auntie.”
For the sake of the Bai family’s first girl, she would throw her pride away. Xie Chuntao rushed out toward the village in a whirlwind.
Madam Zhen held Little Fuyuan in her arms, feeding her the remaining goat milk, feeling incredibly pained. The thought of making her young daughter drink rice water in the future made her want to shed tears of guilt. She only regretted not taking on more work from the embroidery workshop earlier.
Just as Madam Zhen was lost in self-blame, a sudden commotion erupted outside.
The entire Shenshu Village was in an uproar. A massive crowd was surging toward the Bai family’s dilapidated courtyard. It was the first time they had ever seen anyone catch so many fish from the river at the edge of the village.
Bai Muban was happily leading the way, clutching a large wooden bucket filled with several large fish. The fish were jumping and thrashing, their snowy-white scales dazzling in the sunlight.
Following right behind him was Bai Da Zhuang, also carrying a large wooden bucket. Similarly, his bucket was full of lively, large fish.
The most eye-catching one, however, was Bai Dalang, walking beside his father. He was tightly hugging a large carp—a dazzling, red koi. It lay obediently in his arms, its mouth opening and closing as if it had attained a spiritual essence. For many years, the villagers had fished in that river, but no one had ever caught a red koi.
The old Bai family had truly run into some luck.
A few steps behind was Bai Zhaomei. He was carrying a wooden basin with both hands, filled with grass carp. Their tails flicked, splashing melted snow all over the ground. Being young, he couldn’t hide his emotions as well as his father and elder brother; his small face was flushed with excitement, and he walked with a proud, heroic stride.
Even the little one, Bai Sanlang, was cradling a large silver carp in his arms.
Shenshu Village had never seen such a spectacular sight! So many fish, all so big and fat—never mind catching them, most had never even seen them before. People began to wonder where all these fish had suddenly come from. Some of the more opportunistic villagers slipped out of the crowd, ran home for their nets, and dashed toward the river. (Of course, after days of back-breaking effort, they wouldn’t even see a minnow—but that is a story for later.)
“Oh my heavens!” Grandmother Bai saw the crowd from a distance and hurried over on her small feet. When she squeezed inside and saw the fish, she gasped, clutching her chest.
She had gone all over the village to get a goat on credit but failed. Either the goats hadn’t given birth, or the owners were unwilling to part with them. Just as she was despairing, her sons and grandsons had brought home this miracle.
In the past, the Bai family couldn’t even pick up a piece of goat dung if they tried.
“Muban’s mother, what kind of crazy luck have you run into in your old age? To catch such big fish… tsk tsk tsk,” an old woman in the crowd said, her voice a mix of bitterness and envy.
“What? Is my family not allowed to have a bit of luck?” Grandmother Bai snapped back.
“Brother Bai, this is a sign that your family is about to prosper!” The village chief, smoking his pipe, looked at Bai Muban with a smile.
“Not at all, it was pure luck. Just a few fish,” Bai Muban replied with a cheerful modesty.
“Brother Bai, look at what you’re saying! Is that just ‘a few fish’? What does a fish represent? It means ‘abundance year after year.’ This is an auspicious omen,” the village chief, being well-traveled, concluded.
Hearing the chief’s words, the crowd chimed in, as if the broken courtyard and shacks of the Bai family were now bathed in the glow of a lucky star.
“I’ll take your kind words, Chief!” Bai Muban laughed. Regardless of whether it was an omen, who doesn’t like hearing auspicious things?
Standing in the crowd, Grandmother Bai finally had a smile on her face.
“Dalang, why don’t you give that red carp to me?” someone teased the boy.
Dalang guarded the basin closely and shook his head. “No. The big carp is for my Little Auntie.”
“Oh, look at that! Already thinking of giving the best things to his auntie.”
“The baby girl just born to the Bai family is something else. You won’t find a more precious girl in the whole village.”
“Exactly. The moment she’s born, the family catches all these fish. It’s clear she brought this fortune with her.”
“Maybe what that lame Taoist said was true. This little girl from the Bai family might really be born with a noble destiny.”
The villagers surrounded the fish, gossiping and wondering why the lame Taoist hadn’t pointed out such luck for their own children years ago. Little Fuyuan’s “luck halo” was confirmed right then and there by those large fish. For so many years, the Bai family had produced boy after boy, and their lives had grown poorer by the day.
Could it be that their luck was finally turning?
Standing amidst the envious gazes, Grandmother Bai felt a complicated mix of emotions. She had heard the talk about the lame Taoist’s prophecy, but to be honest, she didn’t fully believe it.
Because many years ago, the family had experienced a similar moment of glory. The year her second grandson passed the scholar examinations, it caused a sensation for miles around. Everyone said the Bai family had produced a “Literary Star” from heaven.
But their good luck had frozen the moment the results were posted. Since then, it had been nothing but a streak of relentless misfortune.