Chapter 8
In winter, it got dark quickly. The sky was completely dark before six o'clock. After dinner, the villagers closed their doors and went to bed early.
After Qiao Zhen Jun was paralyzed, old Qiao Family took turns to send someone over to guard him during night. It was Qiao Zhen Guo who came over the past few days.
With her uncle there, Da Qiao had nothing to worry about. She went to bed after wiping her body.
At some unknown time during the night, a sudden crash sounded in the room...
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
In such a quiet winter night, the sound was clear and abrupt.
Da Qiao awoke.
She sat up from the bed and rubbed her eyes with her hands. Her little face was flushed from sleep, like a little cat whose sleep was disturbed. Looking naive and cute.
She listened carefully, but the sound had disappeared. After waiting for a while, the sound didn't pop up again. Just when she thought she had misheard, the crash sounded again.
She heard it clearly this time.
The sound came from a wooden basin in the corner. It contained a small koi which Grandmother had exchanged for with an egg.
She climbed down from the bed and walked to the basin. Her voice softly said: "Little fish, it's, this late, you, why, not going, to bed?"
Little Koi spit out a few bubbles and suddenly spoke, "Da Qiao, thank you for saving me! But I can't stay here for a long time. Can you send me home?"
Its voice was babyish. It sounded like the voice of a five or six-year-old child, sweet and silky.
Da Qiao was so surprised that her mouth opened into a circle. Big enough to stuff a bird's egg: "You, you, you can talk?"
Little Koi spat out a few more bubbles: "I am the eighteenth daughter of Dragon King. Naturally, I can speak naturally. My elder siblings can even transformed into a human form. But my age is too little and don't have enough strength. So I can't be transformed into a human form. You haven’t answered me yet. Can you take me home? If I don’t go back, I’ll be dead, woooo..."
Da Qiao couldn't understand why a fish could talk, but she understood the latter half of what the little Koi said.
Seeing Little Koi crying miserably, she quickly comforted it: "Don't, don't cry. I will send, you home, but, where is your home? Where is it?"
Little Koi immediately stopped crying: "There is a waterfall in West Wood. Take me to the waterfall."
Da Qiao's small face suddenly pinched together.
The last time she went to West Wood to collect bird eggs, she almost died. After that, her father was sent to the hospital, so she subconsciously didn't like the West Wood.
Little Koi saw Da Qiao's refusal and burst into tears again as she miserably looked at her with big eyes, It made people's heart go soft.
Da Qiao had always been soft-hearted. How could she stand such a look?
So despite the internal conflict, she nodded and agreed: "Don't cry. I, I promise you. Alright."
"Great! Thank you, Da Qiao. I will repay you!" Little Koi happily blubbered out several bubbles as she swam happily in the basin.
When she woke up early the next morning, Da Qiao remembered what happened in the middle of the night. She thought it was a dream. Unexpectedly, when she came back from breakfast, Little Koi spoke again.
"Da Qiao, are you free? When will you send me to the small waterfall in West Wood?"
Da Qiao was shocked again: "So, I, wasn't, dreaming!"
Little Koi made an action similar to rolling-eyes: "Of course it's not a dream. Take me over, please, my good Da Qiao!"
Da Qiao felt she was better than Xiao Qiao at acting cute. Her eyes mistily looked at people, which made people totally unable to refuse.
She nodded her head: "Okay, I, take you, over."
The basin was too heavy. It was also easy to be noticeable when brought out. So she found a small basket: "No, no water. Can you, hold on?"
Little Koi said crisply, "En, I have no problem. As long as you reach the small waterfall within half an hour."
Da Qiao didn't know how far the waterfall was. but in order not to let Little Koi die, she gave her da a heads-up and went out immediately.
All the strong laborers in the village were sent to the farmland infrastructure development site. The children were kept at home because the weather was too cold. That's why Da Qiao didn't meet anyone on the way.
She couldn't help but secretly be relieved. She was afraid that she would meet Song Jin Lai's wife again like the last time.
West Wood was still foggy. She couldn't see her fingers. Da Qiao stood at the entrance of West Wood. Her heart was trembling.
Little Koi comforted: "Don't worry, I won't let you fall into the pit-trap."
Da Qiao was easily persuaded by the full of promise appearance. It proved that Little Koi really didn't lie to her. The journey was unimpeded and no accident happened.
Following the guidance of Little Koi, she came to the small waterfall smoothly.
The small waterfall was about less than ten meters high. The water rushed down from above and hit the rocks below and splash everywhere. Da Qiao couldn't help but stare at it.
West Wood was full of fog all year round and inside, traps were set. Villagers dared not enter recklessly, let alone go deep into the mountains. So no one knew that there was a waterfall inside.
This was also Da Qiao's first time seeing a waterfall. However, right now, she was staring at the fishes in the water.
Lots of fish!
She couldn't help swallowing.
The last time she ate fish was during the Chinese New Year. She still remembered that the fish was so tender that she almost gobbled her tongue. She only ate two pieces because her mother said she was too young to digest too much.
Recalling of the fish's taste, her saliva flowed out.
Little Koi giggled as she watched Da Qiao constantly swallowing saliva: "Da Qiao, wipe your saliva. It's dripping on my body!"
Da Qiao subconsciously wiped the corners of her mouth, only to realize that she was being teased. Her face flushed red immediately: "Bad, fish!"
Little Koi fluttered in her hand and said, "Da Qiao, quickly put me in the water!"
Although their time together was only a few days, Da Qiao was full of reluctance. Still, she put Little Koi into the water according to her instruction.: "Goodbye, little Fish."
Little Koi swam freely in the cold stream, and then swam back to the edge: "Give me your hand."
Da Qiao obediently stretched out her little hand.
Little Koi spit out a piece of jade pendant from her mouth. At first, the jade pendant was only the size of a fingernail, but it became bigger and bigger after it was spit out and covered Da Qiao's entire palm.
The whole body of the jade pendant was snow-white and crystal clear. Its carvings were vivid. The scales on it can be clearly seen. More importantly, its shape was exactly the same as that of the little koi.
"So, pretty!" Da Qiao stared at the jade. Her eyes sparkled.
Little Koi said: "For you. As a gift for saving me."
Da Qiao felt it wasn't right to accept such a precious gift. But Little Koi had already turned around and swam away after speaking. She didn't give her a chance to refuse.
She watched it go up against the falling water and swam speedily towards the top of the waterfall.
It wasn't easy to swim against the water. What's more, she had to go upstream against gravity. Little Koi had failed time and time again. It fell from mid-air many times and hit the bottom of the water. The fish's body was full of visible wounds. .
Still, Little Koi did not give up.
A shining halo appeared at the top of the waterfall. Little Koi jumped in. Her whole body glowed with a colorful light. The wounds on her body disappeared immediately.
Little Koi flicked her tail at dragon entrance toward Da Qiao and said happily, "Goodbye, Da Qiao!"
Da Qiao vigorously waved hir tender little hand: "Goodbye, little fish."
The light flashed and Little Koi disappeared. Da Qiao was taken aback for a while before looking down at the jade pendant in her hand.
This jade pendant was so pretty. Where should she hide it?
If someone saw it, how would she explain it?
At this moment, the jade suddenly entered her palm and disappeared!
Da Qiao was so scared that her breath stopped.
Where was the jade pendant?
Why did it disappear from her palm?
She turned her palm to look over and over. Then she crouched down on the ground to look for it, Her heart was yelling anxiously. Jade come out quickly. The next moment, the jade popped out of her palm.
Da Qiao was so stunned that she couldn't close her mouth again.
She didn't understand why the jade would hide in her palm. But after the jade's several "disappearing act", she faintly found the pattern and knew how to hide and reappear it.
She put the jade pendant away. Suddenly, a continuous splashing sound came from the water edge. She looked back and just saw a dozen fish automatically jump onto the grass from the water!
Fishes jumped onto the shore by themselves. This was unheard of. Unseen of!
However, Da Qiao had witnessed too many weird things today. So she wasn't "surprised" at this moment.
She walked over and counted them. There were fifteen in total. Each weighed four to five jins, They were very fat and tender!
She didn't dare to stay alone in West Wood for too long and immediately proceeded to put the fishes into the small back basket.
The small back basket was full. There were two more that couldn't fit. She looped two straw ropes through the gills of the fishes and carried them with her hands.
It stood to reason, the average fish weight was only four jins. Fifteen fish added up to 60 jins. A six-year-old girl can't carry it on her back.
However, Da Qiao was born with supernatural powers like her grandmother. Otherwise. she wouldn't have took on most of the family's housework since she was four years old.
However, no matter how strong she was, she was still too young. Her shoulders felt hot and painful due to the 70 jins back basket. After resting several times in between, she barely walked out of West Wood.
Although the pain in the shoulder made her breathless, she felt overjoyed in her heart.
She had already planned what to do with the fifteen fish. Excluding the five for grandmother and grandfather, three were for Aunt Hui. The rest for her dad.
Her dad had been lying in bed for a month. Not only did his condition not get better, it seemed to be more serious. She was very worried.
As for her mother?
Sorry, this person never came across her mind at this moment.
She was also lucky. She still didn't run into anyone on the way back. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why there were so many fish.
After returning home, she ran to her dad's room and put the precious small back basket on the ground. As she panted, she said, "Dad, fish!"
Qiao Zhen Jun saw a basket full of fish and was shocked on the spot: "Where did you get so many fish? Did your grandmother give it to you?"
Da Qiao shook her little head: "It wasn't, grandmother..."
She wanted to tell her dad about Little Koi and how that these fishes all jumped out of the water by themselves. But for some unknown reason, every time she spoke, there was a force preventing her from telling the truth.
She tried several times. Her face turned red and still couldn't let it out.
In winter, it got dark quickly. The sky was completely dark before six o'clock. After dinner, the villagers closed their doors and went to bed early.
After Qiao Zhen Jun was paralyzed, old Qiao Family took turns to send someone over to guard him during night. It was Qiao Zhen Guo who came over the past few days.
With her uncle there, Da Qiao had nothing to worry about. She went to bed after wiping her body.
At some unknown time during the night, a sudden crash sounded in the room...
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
In such a quiet winter night, the sound was clear and abrupt.
Da Qiao awoke.
She sat up from the bed and rubbed her eyes with her hands. Her little face was flushed from sleep, like a little cat whose sleep was disturbed. Looking naive and cute.
She listened carefully, but the sound had disappeared. After waiting for a while, the sound didn't pop up again. Just when she thought she had misheard, the crash sounded again.
She heard it clearly this time.
The sound came from a wooden basin in the corner. It contained a small koi which Grandmother had exchanged for with an egg.
She climbed down from the bed and walked to the basin. Her voice softly said: "Little fish, it's, this late, you, why, not going, to bed?"
Little Koi spit out a few bubbles and suddenly spoke, "Da Qiao, thank you for saving me! But I can't stay here for a long time. Can you send me home?"
Its voice was babyish. It sounded like the voice of a five or six-year-old child, sweet and silky.
Da Qiao was so surprised that her mouth opened into a circle. Big enough to stuff a bird's egg: "You, you, you can talk?"
Little Koi spat out a few more bubbles: "I am the eighteenth daughter of Dragon King. Naturally, I can speak naturally. My elder siblings can even transformed into a human form. But my age is too little and don't have enough strength. So I can't be transformed into a human form. You haven’t answered me yet. Can you take me home? If I don’t go back, I’ll be dead, woooo..."
Da Qiao couldn't understand why a fish could talk, but she understood the latter half of what the little Koi said.
Seeing Little Koi crying miserably, she quickly comforted it: "Don't, don't cry. I will send, you home, but, where is your home? Where is it?"
Little Koi immediately stopped crying: "There is a waterfall in West Wood. Take me to the waterfall."
Da Qiao's small face suddenly pinched together.
The last time she went to West Wood to collect bird eggs, she almost died. After that, her father was sent to the hospital, so she subconsciously didn't like the West Wood.
Little Koi saw Da Qiao's refusal and burst into tears again as she miserably looked at her with big eyes, It made people's heart go soft.
Da Qiao had always been soft-hearted. How could she stand such a look?
So despite the internal conflict, she nodded and agreed: "Don't cry. I, I promise you. Alright."
"Great! Thank you, Da Qiao. I will repay you!" Little Koi happily blubbered out several bubbles as she swam happily in the basin.
When she woke up early the next morning, Da Qiao remembered what happened in the middle of the night. She thought it was a dream. Unexpectedly, when she came back from breakfast, Little Koi spoke again.
"Da Qiao, are you free? When will you send me to the small waterfall in West Wood?"
Da Qiao was shocked again: "So, I, wasn't, dreaming!"
Little Koi made an action similar to rolling-eyes: "Of course it's not a dream. Take me over, please, my good Da Qiao!"
Da Qiao felt she was better than Xiao Qiao at acting cute. Her eyes mistily looked at people, which made people totally unable to refuse.
She nodded her head: "Okay, I, take you, over."
The basin was too heavy. It was also easy to be noticeable when brought out. So she found a small basket: "No, no water. Can you, hold on?"
Little Koi said crisply, "En, I have no problem. As long as you reach the small waterfall within half an hour."
Da Qiao didn't know how far the waterfall was. but in order not to let Little Koi die, she gave her da a heads-up and went out immediately.
All the strong laborers in the village were sent to the farmland infrastructure development site. The children were kept at home because the weather was too cold. That's why Da Qiao didn't meet anyone on the way.
She couldn't help but secretly be relieved. She was afraid that she would meet Song Jin Lai's wife again like the last time.
West Wood was still foggy. She couldn't see her fingers. Da Qiao stood at the entrance of West Wood. Her heart was trembling.
Little Koi comforted: "Don't worry, I won't let you fall into the pit-trap."
Da Qiao was easily persuaded by the full of promise appearance. It proved that Little Koi really didn't lie to her. The journey was unimpeded and no accident happened.
Following the guidance of Little Koi, she came to the small waterfall smoothly.
The small waterfall was about less than ten meters high. The water rushed down from above and hit the rocks below and splash everywhere. Da Qiao couldn't help but stare at it.
West Wood was full of fog all year round and inside, traps were set. Villagers dared not enter recklessly, let alone go deep into the mountains. So no one knew that there was a waterfall inside.
This was also Da Qiao's first time seeing a waterfall. However, right now, she was staring at the fishes in the water.
Lots of fish!
She couldn't help swallowing.
The last time she ate fish was during the Chinese New Year. She still remembered that the fish was so tender that she almost gobbled her tongue. She only ate two pieces because her mother said she was too young to digest too much.
Recalling of the fish's taste, her saliva flowed out.
Little Koi giggled as she watched Da Qiao constantly swallowing saliva: "Da Qiao, wipe your saliva. It's dripping on my body!"
Da Qiao subconsciously wiped the corners of her mouth, only to realize that she was being teased. Her face flushed red immediately: "Bad, fish!"
Little Koi fluttered in her hand and said, "Da Qiao, quickly put me in the water!"
Although their time together was only a few days, Da Qiao was full of reluctance. Still, she put Little Koi into the water according to her instruction.: "Goodbye, little Fish."
Little Koi swam freely in the cold stream, and then swam back to the edge: "Give me your hand."
Da Qiao obediently stretched out her little hand.
Little Koi spit out a piece of jade pendant from her mouth. At first, the jade pendant was only the size of a fingernail, but it became bigger and bigger after it was spit out and covered Da Qiao's entire palm.
The whole body of the jade pendant was snow-white and crystal clear. Its carvings were vivid. The scales on it can be clearly seen. More importantly, its shape was exactly the same as that of the little koi.
"So, pretty!" Da Qiao stared at the jade. Her eyes sparkled.
Little Koi said: "For you. As a gift for saving me."
Da Qiao felt it wasn't right to accept such a precious gift. But Little Koi had already turned around and swam away after speaking. She didn't give her a chance to refuse.
She watched it go up against the falling water and swam speedily towards the top of the waterfall.
It wasn't easy to swim against the water. What's more, she had to go upstream against gravity. Little Koi had failed time and time again. It fell from mid-air many times and hit the bottom of the water. The fish's body was full of visible wounds. .
Still, Little Koi did not give up.
Da Qiao was nervous as well. Her little hand clenched into a fist to cheer for her: "Little fish, add, oil!"
After countless tries and countless failure, Little Koi succeeded in the end!A shining halo appeared at the top of the waterfall. Little Koi jumped in. Her whole body glowed with a colorful light. The wounds on her body disappeared immediately.
Little Koi flicked her tail at dragon entrance toward Da Qiao and said happily, "Goodbye, Da Qiao!"
Da Qiao vigorously waved hir tender little hand: "Goodbye, little fish."
The light flashed and Little Koi disappeared. Da Qiao was taken aback for a while before looking down at the jade pendant in her hand.
This jade pendant was so pretty. Where should she hide it?
If someone saw it, how would she explain it?
At this moment, the jade suddenly entered her palm and disappeared!
Da Qiao was so scared that her breath stopped.
Where was the jade pendant?
Why did it disappear from her palm?
She turned her palm to look over and over. Then she crouched down on the ground to look for it, Her heart was yelling anxiously. Jade come out quickly. The next moment, the jade popped out of her palm.
Da Qiao was so stunned that she couldn't close her mouth again.
She didn't understand why the jade would hide in her palm. But after the jade's several "disappearing act", she faintly found the pattern and knew how to hide and reappear it.
She put the jade pendant away. Suddenly, a continuous splashing sound came from the water edge. She looked back and just saw a dozen fish automatically jump onto the grass from the water!
Fishes jumped onto the shore by themselves. This was unheard of. Unseen of!
However, Da Qiao had witnessed too many weird things today. So she wasn't "surprised" at this moment.
She walked over and counted them. There were fifteen in total. Each weighed four to five jins, They were very fat and tender!
She didn't dare to stay alone in West Wood for too long and immediately proceeded to put the fishes into the small back basket.
The small back basket was full. There were two more that couldn't fit. She looped two straw ropes through the gills of the fishes and carried them with her hands.
It stood to reason, the average fish weight was only four jins. Fifteen fish added up to 60 jins. A six-year-old girl can't carry it on her back.
However, Da Qiao was born with supernatural powers like her grandmother. Otherwise. she wouldn't have took on most of the family's housework since she was four years old.
However, no matter how strong she was, she was still too young. Her shoulders felt hot and painful due to the 70 jins back basket. After resting several times in between, she barely walked out of West Wood.
Although the pain in the shoulder made her breathless, she felt overjoyed in her heart.
She had already planned what to do with the fifteen fish. Excluding the five for grandmother and grandfather, three were for Aunt Hui. The rest for her dad.
Her dad had been lying in bed for a month. Not only did his condition not get better, it seemed to be more serious. She was very worried.
As for her mother?
Sorry, this person never came across her mind at this moment.
She was also lucky. She still didn't run into anyone on the way back. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why there were so many fish.
After returning home, she ran to her dad's room and put the precious small back basket on the ground. As she panted, she said, "Dad, fish!"
Qiao Zhen Jun saw a basket full of fish and was shocked on the spot: "Where did you get so many fish? Did your grandmother give it to you?"
Da Qiao shook her little head: "It wasn't, grandmother..."
She wanted to tell her dad about Little Koi and how that these fishes all jumped out of the water by themselves. But for some unknown reason, every time she spoke, there was a force preventing her from telling the truth.
She tried several times. Her face turned red and still couldn't let it out.
Both of them are so cute. But this almost feels like one of those uncountable folklores about a farmer saving XX animals and the animals rewarding them for saving them Lol.
ReplyDeleteSo is the "little" brat cursed then? Just asking because strange things have been happening each time she her snake try to hurt Da Qiao bad thing happen to them.
ReplyDeleteShe had the same supernatural power as her grandmother?
ReplyDeleteDid the adults know?
So she was, in our language called 'Suh' since she was born feet first. We have a beliefs that one once born in unnatural (not CS )way they will have these healing power kind of. They have healing nature as their affinity.
ReplyDelete