Chapter 24: Appreciating the Ship – Does This Make Us Island Lords?

“I’m fine.” Bai Xi looked up, turning around to wipe her face with her sleeve.

She then walked quickly to the window and opened the porthole in the cabin.

“Second Sister.” Bai Miao followed quickly, hugging her leg and looking up.

“Mm, does Miao Miao want to look outside?” Bai Xi picked her up and let her lean against the window to look out. “This is our window. From now on, we can stand inside the cabin and look outside. Isn’t it pretty?”

“Wow,” Bai Miao immediately forgot about everything else, focusing intently on the view outside. “It’s so beautiful.”

“Second Sister thinks it’s beautiful too. In the future, whenever we have nothing to do, we can stand here and look out,” Bai Xi’s chin rested gently on Bai Miao’s head. “If you’re sleepy during the day, you can sleep here too.”

“Yay!” Bai Miao said happily, bracing her hands against the window frame as she tried to climb up.

Bai Xi was startled and nearly lost her grip. Fortunately, Bai Yu had been watching the two of them the whole time and caught Bai Miao as she started to climb.

Bai Yu patted Bai Miao’s back. “No climbing the windows.”

“Oh,” Bai Miao nodded slowly, staying steadily in Bai Yu’s arms. After a moment, she grew excited again, pointing a small hand forward. “Eldest Sister, look! The sun! Such a big sun!”

The three of them looked in the direction Bai Miao was pointing.

Today’s sun was no different from usual, but for some reason, looking at it now, it seemed more beautiful than ever before.

It kept them watching by the window for a long time.

It wasn’t until the sunlight grew increasingly bright and their eyes could no longer bear the glare that they finally withdrew their gaze.

Held in Bai Yu’s arms, Bai Miao looked back toward the interior and cried out with her hands open, “Eldest Sister, I can’t see!”

Bai Yu’s own vision was actually a bit blurred, but she knew what was happening. She immediately reached out to cover Bai Miao’s eyes. “It’s okay. Close your eyes and wait a moment.”

Not just Bai Miao, but Bai Yu herself closed her eyes for a while, waiting until they adjusted before opening them again.

She slightly parted the hand covering Bai Miao’s eyes. “Try opening your eyes now.”

“I can see?!” Bai Miao expressed her surprise and confusion.

“That’s why you can’t keep staring at the sun in the future,” Bai Yu waited a bit longer, only lowering her hand once Bai Miao could see perfectly. “Otherwise, you might really lose your sight.”

Bai Miao nodded repeatedly.

Bai Yu felt a sense of relief; after all, Bai Miao wasn’t the only one who had been foolish today.

“There’s another level beneath this ship. The passage down should be on the other side,” Bai Yu pulled Bai Miao off the bedding and helped her put on her shoes. “That lower level should be for storage.”

“Then we’ll finally have a place for all our things,” Bai Xi said, putting on her shoes a step faster. She walked out of the cabin to the other side and quickly found the entrance to the lower level, pulling back the hatch cover. “Come quick! There’s so much space down here!”

She set the cover aside and turned to step onto the wooden ladder leading down.

Bai Yu arrived with Bai Miao. She first placed Bai Miao on the ladder for Bai Xi to carry down, then Bai Yu followed.

The lower cabin was just a plain, empty room with nothing in it, but even so, it was inexplicably exciting.

“I used to hear that some families on land had cellars, but I never knew what a cellar looked like. Thinking about it now, it’s probably similar to this cabin,” Bai Xi walked around the space. “With such a large area, we can store a lot of things.”

“But we might not have that many things,” Bai Yu said with a smile.

Their original boat had been so small that they truly couldn’t fit much, so they had kept their belongings to a minimum. Since coming to this island, they had acquired far more than they ever had on the water, but even so, if they moved everything into this cabin, it would likely only occupy a tiny corner.

“Then we’ll save up slowly,” Bai Xi laughed as well. “It would be such a waste not to store things in a place this big.”

The ordinary small boat had turned into a double-decker ship. Even the young Bai Miao was beyond excited, let alone Bai Yu and Bai Xi. After inspecting the lower cabin, the three of them began to examine the entire ship from front to back and left to right.

The overall changes weren’t just about the ship getting bigger; the sails and oars had also undergone significant transformations.

Every part of the ship looked brand new.

If they were still on the inland waters, they would never have been able to hide such a massive change. But now they were on an island in the middle of the sea. Forget permanent residents, there wasn’t even a passing ship in sight. Only they could see the transformation the vessel had undergone.

Bai Xi stood before the newly appeared helm, her hands resting on the wheel.

“Want to go out on the water?” Bai Yu walked up beside her.

“A little, but this ocean is too big,” Bai Xi spread her arms wide. “In an ocean this vast, once you go out, it won’t be easy to come back. I’m afraid to go.”

“It’s fine as long as we don’t go too far,” Bai Yu looked out at the sea. “We are people who have always lived on the water; we can’t be afraid of it. Even if this is the ocean, it’s still water. But before that, we need to move the ship’s position.”

Bai Xi looked at her in confusion.

Bai Yu pointed at the ship beneath their feet. “We could barely manage to push that original small boat, but with our strength, we can’t push this large ship. If we want to be able to set sail at any time, we first need a place on the island where the ship can dock and stay in the water.”

Before they arrived, this island had been completely uninhabited, so naturally, there was no pier for a ship to moor.

“It seems we can’t go into the water until we figure out a solution. Otherwise, if we go out when the tide is high and the water recedes by the time we return, the ship won’t be able to get back to this position,” Bai Xi sighed.

After all, it had already taken a lot of effort to pull the small boat to this spot. Now that it was a double-decker ship, they truly couldn’t move it unless the water rose.

And if the ship were any further away, the place where they tied the ropes would be too far to keep the ship secured.

“After we come back from the Magic Plane today, let’s walk around the island and see if we can find a suitable docking spot.”

“You can… Bai Miao, don’t you dare climb that railing,” Bai Xi shouted.

Bai Miao silently lowered the foot she had just lifted.

“Look at what’s down there,” Bai Yu walked over, picking her up and setting her on the railing so she could see the height for herself. “If you fall from here, do you have any idea what will happen to you?”

Bai Miao took one look and immediately turned back to cling to Bai Yu’s neck.

“Do you still dare try it?” Bai Yu asked her.

“I don’t dare, Eldest Sister,” Bai Miao whispered, hanging her head.

“Bai Miao, you’re becoming more and more disobedient,” Bai Xi reached out and poked Bai Miao’s forehead. “Climbing windows, climbing railings… what if you actually fall? Didn’t we teach you before that you aren’t allowed to stand by the edge of the boat alone?”

Bai Miao’s eyes widened, and they instantly filled with tears.

Bai Xi took a deep breath, maintaining her stern expression. “You aren’t allowed to climb anymore, do you understand?”

Bai Miao answered softly, “I understand.”

Bai Xi kept her face stiff. “No crying.”

Bai Miao let out a single sob and lifted her sleeve to wipe her eyes. But as soon as she wiped them clean, more tears welled up. She tried several times, but she couldn’t keep them dry.

Bai Yu rocked her gently, patting her back as she turned away. She pressed the little girl’s head against her shoulder and looked at Bai Xi, giving a slight shake of her head.

The stern mask Bai Xi had been wearing finally crumbled. She wiped away the moisture that had inexplicably appeared in her own eyes and gave Bai Yu a silent, weary smile.

Bai Yu tilted her head, sensing Bai Miao’s state, and whispered, “She should have learned her lesson by now.”

“It’s just too dangerous. The boat is so high now; it wouldn’t be okay if she fell,” Bai Xi sighed softly. “Back when we were still on the water, she was always so good and stayed in the cabin while the two of us went into the river.”

As she spoke, Bai Xi went to get a cloth, dampened it with water, and walked behind Bai Yu. She lifted Bai Miao’s head to help wipe away the tears and snot.

“Second Sister isn’t scolding you because she’s mean. I’m afraid that if you climb up and fall, it will hurt very, very much, okay?” Bai Xi said gently. “Second Sister is just afraid of Miao Miao getting hurt.”

“Miao Miao won’t do it anymore.” Bai Miao kept her eyes closed as her face was wiped.

“If Miao Miao wants to see what’s down there, find Eldest Sister or Second Sister. We’ll hold you so you can look. You can’t climb by yourself, understand?” Bai Xi talked to her softly.

Bai Miao nodded obediently. “I understand.”

“Good girl,” Bai Xi patted her head. “Alright, it’s okay now. Let’s go up and make some food.”

Bai Yu turned her head and saw that Bai Miao’s mood had stabilized. She carried her toward the gangplank where they could disembark.

“I’ll go down first. You hold onto Miao Miao from above, and I’ll catch her at the bottom,” Bai Yu said.

Bai Miao was still young and hadn’t spent much time navigating ladders or steep steps. She wasn’t very good at it yet and needed someone to help her up and down, otherwise both sisters worried she would tumble.

Bai Xi immediately warned her again, “In the future, you aren’t allowed to go down the ladder by yourself either, do you hear me?”

“I hear you.” Having recovered her spirits, Bai Miao nodded solemnly.

The three of them reached the exit. Bai Yu set Bai Miao down and stepped off the boat first. Then, Bai Xi held Bai Miao’s hand from above and had her turn around to face the boat, guiding her to step down one rung at a time.

Halfway down, Bai Yu caught her and lifted her directly off the ladder.

Bai Xi then turned and climbed down herself.

Once she reached the ground, she realized Bai Yu was standing there with her arms open toward her as well.

“I can do it myself,” Bai Xi said with a laugh.

“It’s always good to be careful. You aren’t that big yourself,” Bai Yu smiled and rubbed her head. “It’s late today, so let’s just eat something simple. Otherwise, we might run right into Qiqi when we get over there. It’s better to go early.”

“There are three Steamed Buns left from yesterday. That’s exactly one for each of us. We can eat those, finish gathering the herbs, and then come back to cook. We won’t be hungry for long.”

“Then today, after Qiqi goes home, we’ll come back early to make dinner.”

The three of them walked upward, hand in hand.

Bai Xi looked up and saw the small kitchen on the island and the woodshed Rain Pavilion had built. She smiled and said, “This place is starting to feel like our home. It’s full of our things.”

“If you put it that way, the whole island belongs to us.”

“Does that make us the Island Masters¹?”

“It seems… we could count it that way.”

“Then how about we give this island a name?”

“What should we call it?”

“I haven’t thought of one yet. Let me think about it.”

Translator’s Notes