Chapter 205: Little Red Carp’s Happiness
Chapter 205: Chapter 205: Little Red Carp’s Happiness
A glint appeared in Liu Lanhua’s eyes. ’Zhao Nuanyue is sharp, but her foolish brother isn’t. And then there’s that one- or two-year-old toddler—she’s a burden, too.
If I deal with those two, I can make Zhao Nuanyue suffer a fate worse than death, heartbroken and in despair. That would be a truly satisfying form of revenge.’
Now that she had a plan, Liu Lanhua’s spirits lifted, and she gradually started to feel better.
Naturally, Zhao Nuanyue didn’t let down her guard against Liu Lanhua and Wang Cuihua. Every day, she would remind Zhao Nuan Yang and the Little Red Carp to be careful.
Zhao Nuan Yang could now paint inside the Space, so he no longer had to sneak off to the mountain cave. Aside from working with everyone else, he almost never left the Dragon King Temple, so he was very safe.
As for the Little Red Carp, although she looked like a little girl, she had lived for many years and naturally knew how to take care of herself. Plus, she had Spells and various other special abilities.
Therefore, Zhao Nuanyue was confident that they would be safe.
Zhao Nuanyue split bamboo into thin strips, carefully sanding them down until they were very smooth and pliable.
"Nuanyue, what are you doing?" Li Qiong asked curiously as she watched Zhao Nuanyue busying herself with some bamboo sticks at the stone table in the courtyard. "Are you making tanghulu?"
Sitting to the side with her chin in her hands and watching her sister work, the Little Red Carp’s eyes lit up. "Ooh, can we make tanghulu now? I love tanghulu! It’s sour and sweet and so delicious."
Hearing the Little Red Carp’s words, Li Qiong and Zhao Nuanyue looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"There’s no hawthorn at this time of year, so we can’t make the sweet and sour kind of tanghulu," Zhao Nuanyue said, shaking her head. She then gently bumped the top of her head against the Little Red Carp’s. "But I promise you, if we get some cherry tomatoes or other fruits, I’ll make you a fruit tanghulu."
"Okay." Hearing that she couldn’t have tanghulu, the Little Red Carp slumped listlessly onto the stone table. She knew her sister couldn’t help it; after all, it wasn’t hawthorn season. As for other fruit, it was spring—things were just starting to bud and blossom, not bear fruit yet.
Zhao Nuanyue finished making a large, fish-shaped kite frame, then pasted paper over it. She handed it to Zhao Nuan Yang and asked him to paint a cute, big red carp on it.
Faced with his little sister’s pleading eyes, Zhao Nuan Yang carefully painted a lifelike red carp for her.
Finally, Zhao Nuanyue added two tails to the back of the kite to balance it.
The Little Red Carp was overjoyed when she saw the vivid, lifelike carp kite before her.
Using the leftover scraps, Zhao Nuanyue also made a pinwheel for the Little Red Carp.
However, she decided to put the pinwheel away for now. She would take it out once the Little Red Carp got tired of the kite.
There was nothing to do that afternoon, so Zhao Nuanyue, Zhao Nuan Yang, Li Qiong, Yang Guanghui, Qian, Old Madam Qian, Old Sir Qian, and He Qiang all sat on stools at the entrance of the Dragon King Temple, watching the Little Red Carp fly her kite.
As the kite flew higher and higher, the Little Red Carp’s laughter grew more and more cheerful.
March was the perfect season for flying kites.
The wind at this time of year had lost some of its chill and gained a touch of warmth. It was no longer as powerful as in winter, having become quite gentle.
The Little Red Carp’s kite attracted the other children in the village. Some began to pester their parents to make kites for them, while others came over to play with her.
Seeing so many playmates around her, the Little Red Carp was happy to share. This was exactly the kind of scene she had so often watched from under the water—the village children playing and laughing together.
’I’m human now, so I should have these experiences too.’
That evening, the Little Red Carp refused to let go of her kite. She insisted on keeping it by her bed, wanting to fly it and play with it even in her dreams.
"Sister, I want to sleep with my kite!" she announced, placing the little kite next to her pillow.
Seeing the Little Red Carp act like this, Zhao Nuanyue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
"Little Red Carp, you know you’re a restless sleeper. This kite is made of paper; it’ll break if you crush it. If you keep it on the bed, you’ll definitely wreck it during the night. How about we put it on the bedside table instead?" Zhao Nuanyue shook her head at the Little Dragon Girl who wanted to sleep hugging her kite. ’No way. That kite was flying in the sky for a long time, and all those kids were touching it. Who knows how many germs are on it?’
Zhao Nuanyue was a bit of a neat freak and absolutely could not allow something like that on the bed.
The Little Red Carp clutched the kite, looking from her sister to the bed, completely torn. But the thought of the kite getting broken and being unable to fly again made her grit her teeth and say, "Okay. But I want to sleep on the outside of the bed today. That way I can be close to Xiao Yanzi."
"But you don’t sleep well. What if you fall out of bed?" Zhao Nuanyue shook her head, refusing to let the Little Red Carp sleep on the edge. The girl tossed and turned all night, practically doing 180-degree spins, and had even fallen onto the floor once before.
"Sister, I won’t fall out, I promise! And even if I do, it’s okay. I won’t get hurt," the Little Red Carp said, shaking her sister’s arm. When she saw her sister still wasn’t agreeing, she stood up and started planting kisses all over her face. "MWAH! MWAH! MWAH!"
Hearing the interaction between the Little Red Carp and her sister from the next room, Zhao Nuan Yang smiled and called out, "Since she’s begging you like that, just let her have her way and sleep on the outside."
The Little Red Carp looked at her sister hopefully, clasping her hands together. "Please, please, please, dear sister."
Zhao Nuanyue laughed and shook her head, pinching the Little Red Carp’s nose. "I don’t know what to do with you," she said. "Fine, you can sleep on the outside."
’At worst, I’ll just have to pay more attention tonight. I can get up and check on her so she doesn’t actually fall.’
And indeed, the Little Red Carp did not sleep well that night. She tossed and turned so much that if it weren’t for Zhao Nuanyue, she probably would have fallen out of bed two or three times.
Toward morning, Zhao Nuanyue was exhausted. She let her guard down for just a moment, and the Little Red Carp fell to the floor.
THUMP! followed by a little "Ah..." from the Little Red Carp.
Zhao Nuanyue’s eyes flew open. She scrambled up and saw the Little Red Carp on the floor.
The Little Red Carp sat on the floor rubbing her eyes. She looked at her sister, and only then did she realize she had fallen out of bed.
Before Zhao Nuanyue even had a chance to comfort her, the Little Red Carp simply picked herself up off the floor, climbed back onto the bed, and went right back to sleep.
All the comforting words she had prepared for the Little Red Carp were now useless.
Seeing the Little Red Carp’s adorable antics, Zhao Nuanyue couldn’t help but break into a smile.
’My Little Red Carp is just too cute. I wouldn’t mind having a dozen sisters like her.’
Outside, Li Qiong was already awake. Zhao Nuanyue hurried to get up, because today the village was organizing for the start of the spring plowing.