The Zhao family has a huge secret. The youngest daughter, whom Wang Shi gave birth to at great risk in her old age, carries within her a magical place—like a realm of immortals.
That place is covered in thick fog all year round. It is about the size of Wanxia Village. In the center of the flat land grows a large peach tree that would take three people to hug around. In front of the tree flows a small stream, and farther away is a steep cliff.
Inside, there are four distinct seasons, day and night cycles, sunny days, and rain… just not in any predictable pattern.
The Zhao family knows all this so clearly because every one of them has been inside it—even the youngest, Zhao Xi.
Even he knows that as long as you make their little aunt happy during the day, then at night, when she is half-asleep, you can hold her chubby fingers and ask her to take you along. She will definitely bring you into that place where immortals live to take a look.
This was something the whole family figured out over three years, after trying every possible method.
Of course, at first they only went in to look around.
But now, the family doesn’t even have enough food to eat. Naturally, they must make use of this place.
There is a stream that seems to never dry up and fertile land as large as a village. After discussing it, Old Man Zhao and Wang Shi decided that every other day, they would have their three sons take turns gaining Xiaobao’s favor, so that at night they could persuade her to bring them in to clear land.
First, they would try to reclaim a piece of land, then use the stream to irrigate it and see if they could grow crops.
After all, immortals are not under the government’s control, and the land of immortals has nothing to do with the state. If they could farm there, then all the harvest would belong to them. Whatever they grow would be theirs, and they would never have to go hungry again.
That night, Zhao Xiaobao dreamed again that she had come to that fog-covered place.
From the first time—when she had cried loudly in fear and called for her parents—to now, she could calmly look around. She knew that it must be one of her family members—her parents, brothers, sisters-in-law, or nephews—coming to find her to “play.”
So tonight, it was her second brother.
Zhao Xiaobao walked around the peach tree and went in another direction. She found a spot, squatted down, and rested her chin in her hands, tilting her head as she watched her second brother working hard with a hoe, clearing the land. She smiled softly. “Second Brother, you came into Xiaobao’s dream again.”
The day before yesterday, the eldest brother had come in and worked all night. Today, Zhao Ertian continued where he left off. Without even looking up, he replied, “Second Brother was worried Xiaobao would be scared, so I came to play with you in your dream.” He said it smoothly, without hesitation.
“Second Brother, Xiaobao is sleepy.” Zhao Xiaobao yawned. Tears clung to her long eyelashes. After speaking, she sat down, then lay flat on the ground, and soon began softly snoring.
Zhao Ertian tossed aside the hoe, walked over, took a mattress hanging from the peach tree, and carefully wrapped his little sister in it like a blanket. Only after making sure she was comfortable did he turn back to continue clearing the land.
Not far from the peach tree, the outline of a wooden house had already been built. The wood was gathered by the three brothers from the forest behind the mountain, and their father would bring some in each time. They planned to build several rooms and make a small bed. In the future, when they worked inside, they could let their little sister sleep there.
Xiaobao could only bring one person in at a time, so whether building the house or clearing land, progress was very slow. They could only take it step by step.
After working with the hoe for most of the night, Zhao Ertian didn’t feel tired at all. Instead, he felt full of energy. Breathing in the fresh, moist air and smelling the faint fragrance of peaches, he felt completely refreshed. Even his sweat carried a sense of comfort.
Why does it smell so good?
He couldn’t help but glance at the peach tree. From the first time their mother entered until now, two full years had passed—this was already the third year. Yet the tree had only grudgingly grown three small green peaches.
But still, those peaches smelled incredible. Even before ripening, their fragrance made one’s mouth water, making him want to climb the tree and pick them.
…
The next morning, the loud crow of a rooster broke the silence, and the quiet village gradually woke up.
With a “whoosh,” Zhao Ertian was pushed out of the immortal place. When he looked up, he met his mother’s eyes.
Seeing her son appear out of nowhere, Wang Shi slapped the thigh of the old man still lying in bed, then got up and said, “Go back to your room and rest. You don’t need to do any work today. Just sleep.”
Zhao Ertian nodded. Before leaving, he glanced at the empty space left on the bed. Seeing his little sister sleeping soundly, wrapped in her blanket, he smiled and walked out with the hoe.
There weren’t extra hoes at home, so taking one in and out each time was troublesome.
Zhao Xiaobao slept until late morning. She lay in bed playing with her feet for a while. Hearing Zhao Xi outside shouting about going to the fields to catch loaches, she suddenly rolled over and shouted out the window, “I want to go catch loaches too!”
“Little Aunt, you’re awake!” Zhao Xi ran over happily and shouted toward the kitchen, “Mom, Little Aunt is awake!”
“Coming!” Sun Shi wiped her hands and went inside to help Zhao Xiaobao get dressed. She picked up her shoes and carried her to the kitchen.
Her mother-in-law had already gone to the fields early in the morning. The other two sisters-in-law were still at the river washing clothes. She was the only one at home, busy all morning cutting grass and cooking pig feed. She had just finished and was about to check on Xiaobao when the girl woke up on her own.
Smiling, she said gently, “You must be hungry. Third Sister-in-law cooked porridge for you. If you don’t get up, it’ll get cold.”
Sitting on her third sister-in-law’s lap, Zhao Xiaobao obediently stretched out her feet to put on her shoes. “Third Sister-in-law, I want to go catch loaches.”
“Eat breakfast first,” Sun Shi said, bringing over a bowl of warm rice porridge.
Zhao Xiaobao had always been given special care with her meals. Her breakfast was a boiled egg and a bowl of plain rice porridge without any bran. After setting the bowl on her small table, Sun Shi saw she could eat by herself and went back to feed the pigs, which were making a loud fuss.
Many families in the village only ate two meals a day, but the Zhao family always ate three. Even though each meal was just thin porridge with wild vegetables, and their stomachs often still rumbled with hunger, three meals were better than two.
They had to eat—otherwise, the hunger would make them dizzy and weak.
There were no lazy people in the family. The daughters-in-law were hardworking, and Wang Shi cared deeply for her children and grandchildren. Everyone, young and old, either worked in the fields or went into the mountains to look for food. Whether digging wild vegetables or trapping animals, they would rather be tired than go hungry.
Wanxia Village was near the mountains. As long as people weren’t lazy, even digging up tree roots could keep them alive. Of course, no one wanted to eat that unless they were on the brink of starvation. Life was poor, but they could get by.
However, while the rest of the family could eat rough meals of bran and beans, Zhao Xiaobao could not. This was something everyone agreed on—no matter who suffered, she must not.
So her three daily meals were made from a big pot of plain rice porridge, divided into three portions. Even though it was mostly water, it was still considered good food for a farming family.
After breakfast, Sun Shi made her wait another half hour to digest before finally letting her go outside after much pleading.
Once free, Zhao Xiaobao ran into the yard like the wind and shouted, “Xi’er, let’s go catch loaches!”
“Little Aunt, you finally came out!” Zhao Xi had been waiting impatiently. He grabbed a straw hat, placed it on her head, and took her running toward the fields.
“Where are Xiao Wu and the others?”
“Big Brother and the others already went ahead!” Zhao Xi muttered unhappily about being left behind to wait for her.
Along the way, they met many villagers. Zhao Xiaobao had a high seniority in the family hierarchy. When she saw Zhao the Lame carrying firewood down from the mountain, she called out, “Second Brother, back from chopping wood?”
Zhao the Lame twitched. Every time he met her, he felt tired. Such a tiny child calling him “brother” felt strange. But by family rank, that was correct—even though they were distantly related.
At least it wasn’t as bad as his bearded son having to call her “Little Aunt.”
“That’s Xiaobao, huh? Where are you going?” he asked awkwardly.
“I’m going to the fields with Xi’er to catch loaches,” she said, then hurried off when she saw Zhao Xi running ahead.
The harvest had just ended. The fields were filled with rows of rice stubble. Children rolled up their pants and bent over, focused on catching loaches. Some had buckets full, while others had caught nothing.
In the Zhao family’s field, Zhao Xiao Wu and his brothers were each in a spot, busily digging.
Zhao Xiaobao ran to the edge of the field, quickly took off her shoes, rolled up her pants, and stepped in.
From afar, Wang Shi called out, “Xiaobao, play for a while, then come up. Don’t catch a chill!”
“Okay!” Xiaobao answered, though she didn’t care if her mother heard. Seeing Zhao Xi already digging, she hurried over and stepped into the muddy water without hesitation.
Her mind was completely on catching loaches. She poked around like her nephews, digging into holes with her small chubby fingers—but after a long time, she still hadn’t caught one.
“Little Aunt, look! I caught a big loach!” Zhao Feng shouted nearby, holding up a wriggling, fat loach.
Zhao Xiaobao’s eyes turned red with envy. She clapped her muddy hands. “Feng is amazing!”
Zhao Feng laughed proudly and tossed it into the bucket, then went to find more. Loaches didn’t have much meat—he wanted to catch eels. He had heard that big eels could be sold for silver in town.
The field was filled with noise—some shouting happily when they caught something, others silently searching.
As the sun grew hotter, Wang Shi called several times. But Xiaobao still hadn’t caught anything and didn’t want to leave. Pretending not to hear, she crept to the edge and poked a bubbling hole.
As soon as her finger went in, she frowned. It was slippery—and moving.
A loach!
Her eyes lit up. She started digging frantically with both hands.
Zhao Xi glanced over and whispered, “Little Aunt, hurry up and come out. I see Grandma coming.”
“Xi’er, come help me dig! It’s a big one—I touched it, it’s really thick!”
Zhao Xi didn’t believe her. How big could a loach be?
“Feng! Feng, come here!” Xiaobao called anxiously, thinking it might escape.
Zhao Feng came over immediately. He reached in, then his eyes lit up. “Little Aunt, step back.”
Seeing her mother approaching, Xiaobao scrambled out of the field.
Zhao Feng spread his legs and thrust both hands deep into the mud, pulling up a large clump. A thick yellow tail—about as wide as three adult fingers—flashed in the mud.
“Huh?!”
Zhao Feng froze, then shouted excitedly, “Brother! Brother, come quick—there’s a really thick ‘silver’ here!”