The drought was getting increasingly severe.
Surface water had long disappeared. The queue of people at the village well stretched like a long dragon every day, yet each person could only fetch a bucket’s bottom worth of water—barely enough for basic drinking needs.
With no grain harvest at all, the Bai family’s food supplies were nearly exhausted.
As winter approached, life was becoming even harder. During spring, summer, and autumn, they could still forage for wild vegetables and fruits from the fields, but winter offered nothing.
Everyone faced thirst and starvation. The government’s disaster relief grain had not yet reached the hands of the people, and some families were already preparing to flee the famine.
Little Tiger Girl was now one and a half years old, still the family’s little joy. Whenever Bai Renyi saw his daughter, the dark clouds weighing on his heart would lighten somewhat.
Lately, thanks to Little Tiger Girl taking Little White Wolf and Little White Tiger up the mountain, they occasionally managed to catch small prey—frogs, sparrows, and once even a snake—providing the family with some meat.
But as the weather turned cold, catching such wild game was becoming difficult.
“No wild game, no grain—this is driving people to despair!” Bai Renyi complained behind the backs of the women and his sons.
As the head of the household, if the women heard such words, it would cause great panic.
Unbeknownst to him, Little Tiger Girl was hiding under the kang playing hide-and-seek with Little White Wolf and Little White Tiger, and she overheard him.
Bai Laoda remained silent for a moment before saying, “Father, if we truly can’t survive, I could sell my indenture and become a servant for Li Caizhu.”
Little Tiger Girl trembled with fear upon hearing this. Was her eldest brother going to sell himself to Li Caizhu’s family?
That wouldn’t do! She’d heard Li Caizhu was a perverse man, and her eldest brother was so handsome… Oh dear, the more Tiger Girl thought about it, the more worried she became.
Fortunately, Bai Renyi promptly said, “No! Servants are treated like livestock with low status. Even if we have to sell everything we own, we Bai family members will never become household slaves!”
Bai Laoda frowned with worry. “Father, then what should we do? All fourteen family members are waiting to eat. We can’t just starve to death.”
Little Tiger Girl hadn’t realized the family’s situation had deteriorated to the point where they couldn’t afford food. As the family’s treasure, she had never gone hungry and assumed there were still food reserves.
“If there’s truly no other way, our whole family will flee the famine,” Bai Renyi said after a long silence.
None of the three brothers responded. They knew their father would only consider taking the entire family to flee if he could see no other way out. After all, their ancestors had lived here for generations—no place, however luxurious, was better than their own humble home!
“Let’s wait a few more days to see if the government’s relief grain arrives. If it doesn’t come, we’ll probably have to flee the famine indeed,” Bai Renyi concluded the heavy topic with deep anguish.
Suddenly, Little Tiger Girl remembered the cliff she had fallen down months ago—wasn’t there fish and water below? Since everyone had no food and didn’t want to flee, why not try their luck at the cliff bottom?
With this thought, she quietly crawled out from under the kang and called for Little White Tiger and Little White Wolf in her small milky voice: “Little Meow Meow! Little Doggy!”
Little White Tiger and Little White Wolf had grown from palm-sized fleece balls to the size of several-month-old puppies.
They were hiding in the stove cavity. They had heard their little mistress calling but refused to come out—having finally found this perfect hiding spot, they weren’t about to reveal themselves easily.
Little Tiger Girl said angrily outside, “Little Meow Meow… Little Doggy… I-I-I’m angry…”Little White Wolf and Little White Tiger finally crawled out of the stove, rolling with soot all over their bodies, when they heard their little master was truly angry. They rubbed against Little Tiger Girl, dirtying the new pants she had put on that morning.
Little Tiger Girl said in her milky voice, “Me… me… me want fishies!”
Little White Tiger wagged its tail, meaning they couldn’t get fishies right now.
“Me… me… me want fishies from below! You… you… you take me there!”
Afraid they wouldn’t understand, Little Tiger Girl pointed her small hand toward the ground.
This time the two little ones understood—their little master wanted to go catch fish under the cliff and needed them to lead the way.
“Aw!” Little White Tiger responded.
“Ooh-ooh!” Little White Wolf also howled at the sky.
That meant they agreed!
After communicating with the two little ones, Little Tiger Girl decided to sneak out without telling her family. She had heard the adults say it was very dangerous under the cliff, and if they found out, they would definitely not allow her to take such a risk.
Little Tiger Girl led Little White Wolf and Little White Tiger out quietly.
Before leaving, she remembered something else and brought the goat along too. The cliff was too far for her short little legs to walk, so with the goat, she could ride on its back. Plus, if she got hungry, she could have a few sips of goat milk.
With the goat in tow, Little White Tiger and Little White Wolf flanked her as guards, and Little Tiger Girl rode on the goat’s back as they set off grandly!
Little Tiger Girl remembered that the last time she went to the cliff with Da Keng, the road was very, very far—it seemed like it took two days to get there.
But this time, with Little White Tiger and Little White Wolf leading the way, the road seemed much, much shorter. They arrived in less than a quarter of an hour.
Of course, she didn’t know that Hu Danniang had granted Little White Tiger and Little White Wolf superpowers, which shortened the time.
The scenery under the cliff was still beautiful. Although winter was approaching, the small river below was steaming slightly, and the big fish in the river swam even more joyfully. There were also many trees along the riverbank with thick green leaves.
Little Tiger Girl climbed down from the goat’s back and patted its head with her chubby little hand. “Goat… goat milk, you… you… you wait here. Me… me… me go catch fishies to eat.”
The goat glanced at her gently, as if understanding her words, then lowered its head and began eating grass. The grass here was lush and tender—the goat hadn’t eaten such fresh, delicious grass in a long time, and green juice dribbled from its mouth.
Little Tiger Girl led Little White Wolf and Little White Tiger to catch fishies.
Both Little White Wolf and Little White Tiger knew how to catch fish, and soon they had caught many. The big fish were very tame, not even hiding when the tiger and wolf caught them, as if waiting specifically to be caught.
After catching a pile of big fish, Little Tiger Girl suddenly tugged at the Little Skyrocket Bunches on her head and muttered to herself, “So many fishies… me… me… me how carry back?”
Then, blinking her big eyes, she asked, “Little Meow Meow, Little Doggy, you… you… you know how weave back basket?”
Little White Wolf and Little White Tiger both wagged their tails.
“Go… go… go home call Daddy,” Little Tiger Girl said again in her milky voice.
“Aw-aw!” Little White Wolf howled in response.
Hearing they were going home, the goat stopped eating grass and came to Little Tiger Girl’s side, kneeling on its front legs to make it easier for the little one to climb onto its back.
Little Tiger Girl picked up the biggest fish from the ground and sat on the goat’s back.
She wanted to bring this fish home to show Daddy, so he would believe her and come back with her to carry the fish.
With Little White Wolf and Little White Tiger guarding her, Little Tiger Girl returned to her own courtyard in less than a quarter of an hour.Bai Renyi and Cui Shi were discussing in the courtyard whether to flee the famine when they saw Little Tiger Girl riding a sheep, holding a large fish in her arms.
The little one was plump and fair-skinned, and the couple thought she was a lucky child from the New Year paintings descending to the mortal world.