Chapter 1: Check-in Successful, Obtained Fine Salt *1

“Miao Miao.”

“Coming!” Bai Miao ran quickly out of the cabin. She knelt at the bow, leaning over to grasp the rope already tied to the boat. “Second Sister.”

Bai Xi raised her hand, revealing something held within. “Look, see what Second Sister found for you.”

Bai Miao was instantly captivated by the object in her hand. The glittering shell looked like a celestial treasure that only appeared in storybooks¹; it was the most beautiful shell she had ever seen in her life.

“I knew you’d like it,” Bai Xi said with a smile, gripping the rope as she lifted her hand. “Come, sit steady and hold out both hands.”

Bai Miao immediately sat firmly and opened her palms toward her, watching as her Second Sister placed the shell into her hands. “It’s so pretty, Second Sister.”

“Is Second Sister prettier, or is the shell prettier?” Bai Xi asked teasingly.

“Second Sister is prettier!” Bai Miao replied without hesitation.

Bai Xi laughed and pointed toward the cabin. “Go inside and play. I’m going back down to see if I can find any more good things. If I can find a pearl and sell it on shore, we won’t have to worry about food or drink for a while.”

“Okay, be careful, Second Sister,” Bai Miao said obediently. She watched as her sister went back into the water, then lightly patted the rope. “Be good now, hold onto Second Sister tight.”

After speaking, she retreated backward on her knees. Only when she reached the center of the boat did she shift to unfold her bent legs, steadying herself against the slightly swaying vessel as she walked into the cabin.

Inside the cabin, the bedding was spread out, already feeling a bit stiff.

Once she sat down steadily in the middle, she kept her head down, staring at the shell in her hands.

Without knowing exactly where she had touched it, a voice suddenly came from the shell.

(Do you wish to check-in?)

(Do you wish to check-in?)

Bai Miao’s eyes widened in surprise. She looked around in all directions before bringing the shell close to her mouth. “Is that you talking?”

The shell made no sound.

She furrowed her brows and continued questioning, “Are you something belonging to an immortal?”

“Why aren’t you talking?”

She lowered the shell and continued to feel its surface. When her finger brushed against a protruding spot inside the shell, the voice rang out again.

(Do you wish to check-in?)

(Do you wish to check-in?)

Bai Miao gripped the shell earnestly and repeated the words, “Do you wish to check-in.”

(Do you wish to check-in?)

Bai Miao held it and gave it a shake. “Check-in?”

(Check-in successful. Obtained [Fine Salt] x1 bag.)

The moment the voice sounded, Bai Miao saw a package drop down in front of her.

Just as she was feeling confused, a voice called out from outside: “Miao Miao.”

“Eldest Sister!” Bai Miao dropped the shell, grabbed a set of clothes from the side, and hurried out. She saw a large fish fall from the basket in her Eldest Sister’s hand, landing in the small water tank on the boat used for keeping fish. She crouched down while holding the clothes. “What a big fish!”

“This fish is enough to feed us for two days,” Bai Yu said, reaching into the basket to pull out a handful of shellfish, setting them aside. “We’ll boil these for dinner. After we eat the meat, you can have the shells to play with.”

“Second Sister just gave me a really, really pretty shell. That shell can even make sounds,” Bai Miao looked up, speaking seriously to her Eldest Sister. “And something even fell out of it.”

Seeing that her Eldest Sister had finished tidying up, she immediately handed over the clothes.

“Is that so?” Bai Yu reached out and took the clothes from her younger sister. Thinking the sound was just a clicking noise and the “fallen object” was just meat from inside the shell, she didn’t take the words to heart. “I’ll listen to it once I’ve changed.”

“Mm-hmm.” Bai Miao nodded repeatedly, stepping back to give Bai Yu enough space to change.

By the time Bai Yu finished changing, a tapping sound came from the edge of the boat.

Bai Yu turned and took a bamboo basket from Bai Xi, who was still in the water. “The harvest wasn’t much today.”

“The fish down there are getting harder to catch. Should we change locations?” Bai Xi climbed up the rope ladder.

Bai Miao turned back into the cabin to get Bai Xi’s clothes, bringing them out for her to change into.

Bai Yu was already discussing the move with her. “We can’t do it alone. We’ll have to ask Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle later. If we move, we have to move together, otherwise we won’t get a good spot.”

“Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle’s boats have gone quite far these past two days; they won’t be back for another day or two,” Bai Xi said as she changed out of her wet clothes. “Tomorrow, let’s head in the direction they went. After we meet up, we can take the salted fish ashore to sell and buy some salt and vegetables.”

“Alright.”

As Bai Yu and Bai Xi talked, they both finished changing. They then busied themselves on both sides of the boat, pulling in ropes, gathering fish, and preparing ingredients.

Bai Miao wanted to tell them about the shell the whole time, but they were simply too busy. She couldn’t help and couldn’t get a word in, so she could only sit obediently in the cabin, continuing to fiddle with the beautiful shell in her hands.

Now, no matter how she pressed it, the shell no longer made a sound.

She could only mimic the speech.

“Do you wish to check-in? Do you wish to check-in? Do you wish to check-in?”

“Miao Miao, what are you saying?” Bai Yu walked into the cabin.

“Do you wish to check-in,” Bai Miao reached out, handing over the item that had just fallen out of the shell. “Eldest Sister, the thing that fell out.”

“Where did this fall out from?” Bai Yu asked in confusion as she took the paper package.

“The shell,” Bai Miao held up the shell in her hand. “Do you wish to check-in, pop, and it fell out.”

“How is that possible?” Bai Yu laughed in spite of herself. She opened the paper package, and upon seeing the contents, her brows furrowed in confusion. She leaned down to sniff it.

Remembering what the shell had said when the item appeared, Bai Miao immediately repeated, “Check-in successful, obtained one bag of fine salt.”

Bai Yu suddenly stared at Bai Miao.

After a moment, she used her finger to dab a bit of the substance from the package and put it in her mouth to taste. She cried out in shock, “It’s actually salty? Could this really be fine salt?”

Bai Miao continued to hold up the shell, repeating once more, “Check-in successful, obtained one bag of fine salt.”

Bai Yu turned her head. “Second Sister!”

After calling out, she took two steps toward where Bai Xi was. “Second Sister, that shell in Miao Miao’s hand—was there anything inside when you gave it to her?”

“No, it was just an empty shell. It just looked nice,” Bai Xi said, spotting the paper package in Bai Yu’s hand. “What is that?”

“Taste it,” Bai Yu said.

Confused, Bai Xi also reached out a finger to dab some, placing it in her mouth to taste carefully. Then she said, “This is salt? How can it be this snowy white?”

Bai Yu looked solemn as she took Bai Xi’s hand. “Come inside, we need to talk about this in detail.”

The two entered the cabin. Bai Yu held onto Bai Xi while facing Bai Miao directly. “Miao Miao, say what you just said one more time.”

Bai Miao looked at the two of them and repeated, “Check-in successful, obtained 1 pack of Fine Salt.”

Bai Yu said in a low voice, “Miao Miao says this thing fell out of that beautiful shell you gave her.”

Bai Xi was stunned for a moment. She glanced at the shell in Bai Miao’s hands, then at the paper packet in Bai Yu’s hand. “This… things can actually fall out of this shell?”

“It definitely didn’t fall out of the shell itself, right? Even if something did fall out, it couldn’t possibly be a paper packet, could it?” Bai Yu held the paper packet in her palms. “Touch it, see if it’s wet.”

Bai Xi’s hands were still damp. Hearing this, she lifted her hand and touched the corner of the packet. Sure enough, the tip of the paper became wet, confirming that it was indeed made of paper.

Both were utterly amazed. Once the shock passed, they turned back to look at their youngest sister.

“Miao Miao, was it true when you said just now that this shell can talk?” Bai Yu asked.

“Mmm, but it’s not talking anymore.” Bai Miao showed them the shell, pointing to the spot she had pressed earlier that made the sound. “Here, it was talking just now.”

“What did it say?”

Bai Miao spoke in her soft, milky voice, “It said ‘Do you wish to check-in?’, ‘Do you wish to check-in?’, ‘Do you wish to check-in?’.”

Bai Yu and Bai Xi didn’t understand what “Do you wish to check-in?” actually meant, but they could infer from “Check-in successful, obtained 1 pack of Fine Salt” that checking in would grant them items.

“Does this mean it won’t make a sound anymore?” Bai Xi asked.

“I don’t know,” Bai Yu shook her head, cradling the paper packet. “But this is real, it should be fine salt.”

“Then we can consider it a lucky find. This is great,” Bai Xi said happily. “Now we won’t have to buy salt the next time we go ashore. We’ll save some money.”

“Yes, this pack of fine salt is enough to last us many days.” Bai Yu carefully folded the paper packet. Hearing the sounds of hunger, she smiled. “Let’s go cook something first. Miao Miao must be hungry.”

Bai Miao covered her growling stomach and looked up with a grin. “Miao Miao is a little bit hungry.”

“Second Sister will go cook right now.” Bai Xi reached out and rubbed Bai Miao’s head.

Food on the water was simple, consisting of pure fish rice: a little bit of fish meat, a little bit of shellfish, and some coarse grains, all mixed and boiled together.

In reality, it wasn’t exactly boiled but rather braised; it just needed to be cooked through.

After all, conditions on the boat were limited. Firewood and fuel had to be replenished on shore. While living on the boat, they used as little firewood as possible.

They had a good harvest during the day, but the dead fish and shrimp would spoil if left overnight. It was better to cook them, so they prepared one such meal every evening, and the leftovers would serve as their food for the following day.

Because of this, the evening meal tasted decent, and they always ate it with great focus.

But today, none of the three were focused on their food. After swallowing their meal hastily, they sat together in the cabin to study the shell.

As the sky grew dark, they continued to talk in the pitch-black cabin.

There was a kerosene lamp on the boat, but it was only for extremely special circumstances. For ordinary matters, they naturally wouldn’t use it.

Firstly, they couldn’t bear the expense. Secondly, the boat was constantly rocking and made entirely of wood; if a kerosene lamp were lit and accidentally knocked over, the entire boat would go up in flames.

For people like them who lived on the water, this boat was their entire livelihood. If it burned, they would have nothing left.

Chatting like this, the three of them eventually drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Bai Miao woke up rubbing her eyes.

“Eldest Sister, Second Sister.”

“Miao Miao is awake,” Bai Yu picked her up. “Need to go?”

“Mmm.” Bai Miao wrapped her arms around Bai Yu’s neck and let her sister carry her.

Bai Yu carried her out of the cabin.

A moment later, the two returned.

Bai Miao was fully awake now. Seeing the shell in Bai Xi’s hand, she pointed at it. “Pretty shell.”

“Second Sister pressed it, but there’s no sound.” Bai Xi handed the shell to her.

Bai Miao used both hands to grasp the large shell and pressed down on the spot that could make a sound.

[Do you wish to check-in?]

Bai Yu immediately sat down on her knees while holding her.

Bai Xi leaned in close to her youngest sister and tried pressing it, but there was still no sound.

Bai Miao pressed it again.

[Do you wish to check-in?]

“It turns out only our youngest sister can make it talk,” Bai Xi said, feeling a bit disappointed, though she quickly cheered up again. “What’s next? Miao Miao, what did you do yesterday?”

Bai Miao thought about it carefully.

She held the shell to her mouth with both hands and called out softly in her sweet voice, “Check-in.”

Translator’s Notes