Ye Qingcheng bounced over as soon as Ye Anran called him.
But when he pushed aside the grass, his eyes went wide.
“Th… this many?!”
His heart raced. Though he often came up the mountain with the other village kids, he had never seen so many bird eggs.
Without a basket, Qingcheng quickly ran toward Third Uncle Ye San.
Ye San had searched the surrounding area thoroughly, but found nothing. He was beginning to drift toward the deeper mountains in frustration.
Ye Anran, seeing Qingcheng leave, obediently sat down beside the stones. Just as she settled, she noticed a large, fat rabbit in the grass.
Her eyes lit up—but before she could move, the rabbit muttered in a small voice:
“Another human child? Oh ho… I’ll have some fun with you. Come catch me! Come on, catch me!”
The big white rabbit hopped forward twice, then back twice.
Ye Anran’s eyes widened. She could actually understand the rabbit? If this kept happening, how would she ever eat these little creatures?
As she stepped closer, a gray rabbit darted out. Its mouth moved, but Ye Anran couldn’t hear it speak. She grabbed the gray rabbit nearest to her, which squealed and scratched with its front paws.
Clearly, this one wasn’t “enlightened”—she couldn’t understand it.
Then it clicked: she could only understand animals that had gained intelligence or awareness, like the old wolves she’d seen before, and this fat rabbit.
Thinking the rabbit’s meat might be tough, she decided to let it go for now. She held onto the gray rabbit and headed toward the stone.
But the big white rabbit continued to strut around, teasing her:
“Hey, human child, you can only catch fools like that! You can’t catch me, can you? I want to have some fun with you!”
Ye Anran turned suddenly, staring straight at the fat rabbit. Startled, the rabbit froze.
With a smirk, she said,
“Oh? I was going to let you go, and now you’re begging for it? Alright then, big bunny, here I come!”
The rabbit’s bright red eyes widened, and it immediately bolted.
Terrifying! This human child could understand its words!
Ye Anran raised her hand and used her wood-based ability. Vines shot out, wrapping the fat rabbit tightly and bringing it to her feet. The rabbit was completely dumbfounded.
This human child was a monster! Not only could she understand speech, but she could control vines as well.
Ye Anran untangled the rabbit from the vines, lifted it by the ears, and adopted a teasing tone:
“Wasn’t it so proud? Thought you could escape me? Tsk tsk… and now here you are.
When we get home, I’ll have Dad cook you in red-braised style!”
The fat rabbit trembled in fear.
At that moment, Ye San and the boys, Ye Qingwen and Ye Qingcheng, arrived.
Ye San saw his daughter holding the fat rabbit, and even another in one hand. He hurried over, worried she might drop her prize.
The boys jumped up in excitement.
“Sister! You’re amazing! How did you catch the rabbit? Rabbits hardly ever appear here!”
Ye Anran explained,
“Not really amazing. The two rabbits got tangled in the vines, so I just lifted them. Dad, can we cook the rabbit when we get home?”
Ye San nodded eagerly. The fat rabbit really was heavy.
“How did you lift such a heavy one, little one?”
Ye Anran proudly lifted her chin.
“Dad, I’ll let you in on a secret—I was born strong!”
She wasn’t lying. Even if not a strong child, she had more strength than most her age, likely from years of gathering firewood and helping with chores.
Qingcheng said, awed,
“Third Uncle, she really is amazing! Could it be, as Grandma said, she’s truly blessed? She even found so many bird eggs—we never saw them before!”
He started moving the grass aside.
Ye San quickly pointed to the bamboo basket.
“Put the eggs in the basket, then cover them with some firewood.”
The two boys obeyed, busy with their task.
Ye San felt the trip up the mountain had been worthwhile. Hearing Qingcheng, he even began to believe: could it really be a coincidence? Was his daughter truly a lucky star? Could the old lady’s dream be true?
Looking down at the fat rabbit in his daughter’s hands, Ye San chuckled:
“Darling, when we get home, I’ll cook you this rabbit. The gray rabbit can wait a couple of days. The fat rabbit is huge! Not sure if Grandma will eat it though—if not, maybe we’ll have to sell it in town.”
Ye Anran was about to respond when the fat rabbit started shouting frantically:
“Human child! Human child!”
The rabbit continued, finally pleading:
“I know you understand me! Tell your dad to let me go. You just want to eat rabbit meat, right? Let me help you lure more rabbits—I can bring you endless rabbits, please don’t eat me!”
Ye Anran laughed at the idea of the rabbit trying to flirt with others to save itself.
Ye San, seeing his little daughter so confident, smiled warmly, happy that she was happy.
The fat rabbit, seeing the child laugh, went completely silent, then pleaded:
“Please, human child! I can help lure the rabbits from the deep forest! You’ll have more rabbits than you can eat! Just don’t kill me!”