Chapter 7: Huai City

The baby looked only a few months old. His skin was as fine as white porcelain, his cheeks rosy, and his big black eyes shone like two ripe grapes. He wore a little red bellyband, and his arms and legs were plump little segments, like lotus roots—so chubby and adorable.

The moment the baby laid eyes on Zhou Xing'er, he didn't fuss or cry. Instead, his face split into a huge, beaming smile. He waved his chubby little hands and kicked his short legs against the blanket, gurgling with laughter.

Zhou Xing'er looked at this baby, cute as a New Year painting doll, and her heart melted on the spot.

She couldn't help bending down and carefully lifting him out of the wooden basin.

The little one felt soft and warm in her arms, giving off a sweet milky scent. Zhou Xing'er couldn't resist gently poking his plump cheek with her finger.

The baby grabbed her finger and held on tight, giggling all the while.

Just as she was playing with him, a tiny, milky voice suddenly rang out in her head.

[Pretty Mommy! You're finally holding me! I've been waiting for you forever!]

Zhou Xing'er nearly jumped out of her skin. Her hand jerked, and she almost flung the baby right out of her arms.

She stared wide-eyed at the infant, a flicker of panic in her gaze.

The baby blinked his big eyes and looked up at her innocently, his little mouth pressed firmly shut—not moving at all.

Yet that milky voice kept ringing clearly in her mind.

[Don't be scared, Mommy. I'm talking to you in my heart. It feels so nice when you hold me. You smell so good, Mommy!]

Zhou Xing'er swallowed hard, stunned.

She looked down at the little one in her arms and ventured tentatively, "Are... are you talking to me? Can you hear what I'm thinking?"

The baby blinked and laughed smugly in her head.

[Of course! I'm Mommy's baby, so naturally I can hear you.]

[I'm not an ordinary child, you know. I'm a little immortal from the heavens. I made a tiny mistake up there, so I was punished and sent down to the mortal world to face my tribulation. I searched for a long time before I picked you to be my pretty Mommy.]

Zhou Xing'er found it a little funny.

"A little immortal? A tribulation?" she teased him in her mind. "You're an immortal, and you picked me for your descent? Do you have any idea I'm just a cannon-fodder side character? I'm supposed to die a horrible death."

At that, the baby's smile vanished. He heaved a long sigh in her mind, his little face full of sympathy and grievance.

[Sigh. See, that's exactly why they call it a tribulation.]

Just then, the river, the flowers and grass, and the vast white mist around them began to shake violently.

The baby in her arms grew blurrier and blurrier.

"Wait! You haven't told me—" Zhou Xing'er called out anxiously.

But the dream had already shattered.

A rapid, thunderous knocking filled her ears, along with Zhou Dazhu's shrill, panicked shout.

"Dad! Mom! Get out here! Something huge happened! Hurry!"

Zhou Xing'er opened her eyes.

Outside the window it was already bright, golden sunlight piercing through the gap in the curtains, stinging her eyes.

She sat up in bed, gasping for breath. Her forehead was slick with cold sweat, her palms damp.

The knocking and shouting outside grew even more frantic.

"Dazhu, what are you hollering about in the yard at this hour? Did the sky fall or something? You're splitting my head open," Liu Guihua's irritated voice came from outside.

Then Zhou Dazhu's voice followed, breathless and utterly shaken.

"Mom! No! Go look at the backyard! Our vegetable patch... our vegetable patch has gone crazy!"

"What do you mean, gone crazy? What nonsense are you spouting this early? Vegetables don't go crazy," Liu Guihua said, unconvinced.

"I can't explain it! Just go see for yourselves! Dad, come with me, quick! Erzhu, you guys come too!" Zhou Dazhu's voice was frantic, as if he'd seen a ghost.

Zhou Xing'er's heart lurched.

It suddenly hit her—yesterday she had secretly sprinkled spirit spring water on the backyard vegetable patch.

Could the spirit spring water actually be working? And working this well?

There was no time to waste. To keep from seeming too strange, she scrambled out of bed, threw on her clothes and shoes, smoothed down her messy hair, and pushed the door open, running outside.

By now, the Zhou family courtyard was in complete chaos.

Old Man Zhou was still clutching his tobacco pipe, his trouser cuffs not even rolled up, as Zhou Dazhu dragged him toward the backyard.

Zhou Erzhu and Zhang Fangfang trailed behind, looking bewildered.

Li Xiulan stood at the door of the main hall, holding half-year-old Xiao Tiedan, watching everyone with a puzzled frown.

Zhou Xing'er hurried after them, jogging all the way to the vegetable patch behind the house.

The moment everyone reached the edge of the garden, the air seemed to go still.

Old Man Zhou's tobacco pipe clattered to the ground.

Zhou Erzhu's jaw dropped so far you could have fit an egg in his mouth.

Zhang Fangfang let out a shriek, both hands clamped over her mouth, her eyes practically bulging out of her head.

The patch of land before them was no longer the dry, wilted yellow soil from yesterday.

It was a lush, thriving forest of giant vegetables!

Cabbages that had been palm-sized were now bigger than washbasins, their leaves so green they looked ready to drip, packed tight and glistening with crystal-clear beads of water that sparkled in the sun.

The tomato vines had grown taller than a person, heavy with fruit. Each tomato was the size of a grown man's fist, round and plump, red as a ball of fire, its skin so smooth it reflected the light. One look and you wanted to take a bite.

The most absurd were the radishes. They were enormous—white and fat, more than half of each one bursting up out of the soil, sitting there like chubby babies in the dirt.

The air was thick with an indescribably fresh, sweet fragrance of earth and vegetables.

"How... how is this possible?" Zhou Erzhu rubbed his eyes hard, then pinched his own thigh, yelping at the pain. "Am I dreaming? Is this really our garden from yesterday? Those tomatoes were only the size of my finger yesterday—how did they get this big overnight? And they're all ripe?"

Zhang Fangfang took a few trembling steps forward and cautiously touched a big tomato.

It felt cool and juicy, firm and real—definitely not a fake.

"Uncle, these... these tomatoes are real. What on earth is going on? Did an immortal come down last night and cast a spell on our land?" Zhang Fangfang's voice shook, her eyes full of terror and disbelief.