Chapter 2: Must Be Kept Secret, Check-in Successful, Obtained Steamed Bun *10

[Check-in successful, obtained [Steamed Buns] * 10]

“Wow!”

In the space where Bai Miao’s arms were circled, ten steamed buns suddenly appeared, stacked so high they reached her mouth.

As she opened her mouth to let out that “wow,” a bun pressed right against her lips. With just a tiny nibble, she could take a bite.

Bai Yu and Bai Xi were also stunned by the pile of buns, rendered speechless for a moment.

It wasn’t until Bai Miao rolled her eyes and bit into the bun right in front of her.

The stack of buns instantly collapsed.

Bai Yu and Bai Xi scrambled to catch the buns falling into the empty spaces, then looked at their youngest sister biting into a bun and burst into laughter.

Bai Miao laughed along with them, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the bun fell out.

Bai Yu was quick, catching the bun. Feeling its warm, soft texture, she swallowed the saliva rising from the depths of her throat. “Miao Miao, is it good?”

Bai Miao licked her lips and swallowed as well, nodding quickly. “Sweet, yummy.”

She reached out both hands toward Bai Yu.

Bai Yu placed the bun between her hands. Seeing her holding a bun almost as big as her face, the girl opened her mouth to bite, and soon her entire face was buried in the soft bread.

The sound of Bai Xi swallowing brought Bai Yu back to her senses.

Looking down at the buns she held, she grabbed one and took a large bite.

She didn’t know where the buns had come from inside the Shell, but they were still warm to the touch. Once in her mouth, they were both warm and soft. It had been a very, very long time since Bai Yu had eaten such a soft bun.

Seeing her start, Bai Xi also picked up a bun and stuffed it into her mouth.

For a while, none of the three spoke, focusing entirely on munching their buns.

Bai Yu and Bai Xi were older, but their appetites weren’t particularly large. After finishing one big bun, they both felt quite full.

“I remember when Mom and Dad were still around, we went ashore once. Dad bought each of us a big meat bun. I still remember the taste of that meat bun; it was so fragrant and delicious.”

“I remember too. That time we happened upon a good spot and caught a lot of fish. There were even a few high-priced ones. After taking them ashore, they sold for a full eight hundred coins. But after that, we never encountered such luck again.”

“Not only did we not encounter luck like that, but we also…”

Bai Xi couldn’t go on, lowering her head in silence.

Bai Miao set down the bun she had been gnawing on for a long time and asked seriously, “Three meat buns? None for me?”

Bai Yu chuckled, reaching out to brush the crumbs off Bai Miao’s face. She answered patiently, “You were still in Mommy’s belly then. Dad bought three meat buns, and Mom had one. When Mom ate it, you ate it too.”

“Then I ate it too.” Bai Miao picked up her bun again with satisfaction and buried her face back into it to continue gnawing.

After a few more bites, she lowered her hands and handed the bun to her Eldest Sister.

“Full?” Bai Yu took the bun.

Bai Miao nodded, poking her little belly with a finger. “Full.”

Seeing her poke her belly, Bai Yu chuckled again. She split the bun in her hand in two, eating half herself and giving the other half to Bai Xi.

The two were long accustomed to sharing whatever their younger sister had eaten.

This time, they both chewed slowly, talking as they ate.

“It seems this Shell’s Check-in only gives one chance a day.”

“Mm, and only Youngest Sister can use it.”

“That doesn’t matter. We’re a family. It’s better that Youngest Sister can use it than no one at all,” Bai Yu said, taking small bites of the bun while watching her sister vigorously poking the Shell. “But today we can be certain that the Shell really can produce things.”

“Such a good thing… what if it gets lost?” Bai Xi worried, also watching their sister poke at the Shell.

“Don’t go into the water today. Later, use some fishing net twine to make a small net, put the Shell inside, and hang it around Youngest Sister’s neck. That way it won’t be easily lost,” Bai Yu said, stuffing the last bite of bun into her mouth. She pulled her sister into her arms and took the Shell from her hand. “Miao Miao, you can’t poke it anymore. If it breaks, we won’t have any buns to eat. You can only poke it once a day.”

Bai Miao let go, clasping her hands in front of her and staying obediently in Bai Yu’s arms.

Bai Xi found a cloth bag inside the cabin and placed the buns inside one by one, asking at the same time, “Then are we still going to look for Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle today?”

“Not today. Now that we have salt and buns, we can last a few days,” Bai Yu said. “Besides, I want to see what we can get from the Check-in tomorrow. But regardless of what it is, we have to go find Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle tomorrow.”

“Are we still going ashore?” Bai Xi asked.

“Of course,” Bai Yu nodded, looking at the well-behaved sister in her arms. “The matter of the Shell is a secret between the three of us. It cannot be told to anyone. No one can know, including Eldest Uncle, Second Uncle, Second Aunt, or Sister He and the others.”

Bai Xi stuffed the last bun into the bag and held it loosely. “We can’t even talk about the things from the Check-in? Some things might be hard to hide.”

“We’ll find an excuse,” Bai Yu said, looking out of the cabin as a boat passed in the distance. “Just say we traded with a passing boat. Didn’t we use fish to trade for salt before?”

“That works,” Bai Xi nodded. “But we shouldn’t say it directly. If they see it, we’ll say that. If they don’t mention it, we don’t need to bring it up, right?”

“Right, don’t volunteer information,” Bai Yu agreed. “Our cabin is small, and basically no one comes aboard, but the Shell must be hidden well.”

“A plain fishing net might chafe,” Bai Xi said, hanging the bag of buns on the cabin wall. She took down another bag and pulled out a large, intact piece of scrap cloth. “How about I sew this into a pouch to hold the Shell?”

“That works,” Bai Yu thought this was better than a fishing net. Although it was a bit of a waste to use such good cloth, the Shell was currently far more precious. “Then you sew that today. I’ll go into the water to catch some fish. If I can catch a few more, we can trade for more things when we go ashore.”

“Okay.”

The two sisters reached an agreement, then spoke softly to Bai Miao, telling her not to tell anyone outside about the Shell, the buns, or the Check-in.

Bai Miao nodded to each of them in turn. “Mm, I won’t say a word. I won’t tell anyone.”

Bai Yu was still uneasy.

Bai Xi comforted her. “It’s fine, go ahead. I’ll repeat it to her a few more times today. Once she understands that telling means no more steamed buns, she naturally won’t say anything to outsiders.”

“Then keep talking to her. I’m going now.” Bai Yu nodded, changed into the diving clothes hanging outside the cabin, tied the rope around herself, and lowered herself into the water carrying a basket.

After Bai Yu submerged, Bai Miao snuggled up next to Bai Xi. “Second Sister isn’t going down today?”

“Second Sister needs to sew a pouch. Once it’s finished, it will be used specifically to hold the shell, otherwise it might get lost,” Bai Xi said, holding cloth, needle, and thread. “Besides, I’ll stay here with you today, alright?”

“Okay! Second Sister will be here the whole time.” Bai Miao rested her head against Bai Xi, kicking up her feet to count her toes. “One, two, three, four… one, two, three, four, five… one, three, five, five… five, two, nine, nine…”

To her, every toe had its own unique numerical position.

Listening to the sound of her counting, Bai Xi smiled and began sewing the pouch.

It needed to be larger than the shell, but not too large.

After sewing for a while, she heard the sounds of “Check-in successful” and “Check-in successful” coming from beside her. She turned her head and saw Bai Miao holding an ordinary shell, pressing it and talking to it.

The girl was very well-behaved. Since she wasn’t allowed to play with the beautiful shell, she just played with a common one.

“Miao Miao, if there are outsiders around, you can’t play like this, okay?”

“I know. If other people are here, I’ll play grass-folding¹ with them,” Bai Miao said, wiggling her fair little feet. “Second Sister, none of them play grass-folding as well as I do. I’m really good at it.”

“Mm, you’re the best at it,” Bai Xi agreed with a smile.

Bai Miao was a late-born child. There was a seven-year age gap between her and Bai Xi, and the gap between her and Bai Yu was a full twelve years. Furthermore, since their father was the youngest sibling, Bai Miao was also the youngest of her generation.

Even the grandsons of their Eldest Uncle were older than Bai Miao.

Because of this, most of the children she played with let her have her way, making her feel like she was the most capable of them all.

Of course, no one was going to argue with a three-and-a-half-year-old child.

The cloth pouch was finished quickly. Bai Xi’s needlework was fine and precise; in less than an hour, she had finished the pouch and carefully sewn on two layers of sturdy straps.

After placing the shell inside, she pulled the drawstring tight and tied the pouch securely.

She then hung the strap around Bai Miao’s neck, tucked it inside her clothes, and placed her hand over it, pressing gently. “Miao Miao, does it feel uncomfortable?”

Bai Miao looked down and felt it carefully. “No.”

“That’s good. If it feels uncomfortable, tell Second Sister and I’ll redo it.” Bai Xi patted the spot where the pouch rested and gave a serious reminder. “Miao Miao, you must remember what Eldest Sister and I told you. You must never, ever speak of the shell to anyone. Otherwise, we won’t be able to eat steamed buns, we won’t have vegetables, and we won’t even have fish to eat.”

If the secret of the shell was revealed, all three sisters would lose their lives.

Bai Miao placed her hand over the back of Bai Xi’s hand, also pressing against the shell, and asked in a low voice, “If there’s no fish to eat, will we only have shell meat to eat?”

Bai Xi shook her head. “No shell meat either.”

Bai Miao asked again, “Then… then what about stinky fish²? Can we eat stinky fish?”

Bai Xi shook her head again. “No.”

Eating stinky fish was a last resort, something only done to fill the stomach when fresh fish couldn’t be caught. In Bai Miao’s mind, stinky fish held the lowest status among all foods.

Bai Miao’s small face crumpled into a frown. “I won’t say it. I definitely won’t say anything about the shell!”

Bai Miao’s face was still crumpled even when Bai Yu surfaced.

Bai Yu still needed to go back down to catch more fish, so she held onto the rope by the side of the boat. “What did you say to her?”

Bai Xi recounted their conversation.

Bai Yu laughed so hard that the water droplets shook off her face. “If she can’t even eat stinky fish, she probably doesn’t know what’s left to eat. Putting it that way, she likely won’t say a word.”

Bai Xi smiled as well. “I didn’t even bring it up; she asked it herself.”

“It’s clear that eating is truly important to her.” Bai Yu loosened the rope. “The harvest is good today. You might as well take the day off and spend more time with Youngest Sister on deck. I’m going back down.”

With that, Bai Yu dove back under the water, swimming away like a fish.

Translator’s Notes