Chapter 19: The White Tortoise

That evening, the entire family ate to their hearts' content, feeling thoroughly satisfied.

Lin Huiniang might be pregnant, and since crab is considered "cold" in nature, she dared not take the risk of eating it. The two fish, which had smelled quite strong while being cooked, tasted surprisingly good now.

Ever since his head injury, Gu Tingzhi had not eaten crab. He was quite impatient now, grabbing the crab’s two large pincers with both hands, opening his mouth wide, and biting directly onto the crab's head and body. With a sharp "crack," he actually managed to split the shell—his teeth were certainly in good shape.

It didn't taste good! Gu Tingzhi frowned in disdain. He couldn't understand why Manman liked this ugly thing; it was hard enough to chip his teeth, and it had no flavor.

The family was amused by his antics, and Zhen Mi'er found her husband adorable like this. Smiling, she took the crab from his hands, pried open the shell, helped him pick out the meat and roe into a bowl, and added a small spoonful of vinegar.

"Husband, you can eat it now."

Gu Tingzhi nodded vigorously and ate with gusto. In the end, even Lin Huiniang’s share of the crab ended up in his stomach.

After dinner, as they each finished their chores and lay in bed, none of them could sleep from the excitement. They kept thinking about that "Emperor Crab"—if it could really fetch one hundred taels of silver, their family would never have to worry about food or drink again! But would the officials really give them the money? What if they used their power to embezzle it? What should they do then?

Even with such excitement, they could not fight off the encroaching drowsiness.

On that moonlit night, the withered branches outside the window swayed gently in the soft breeze. Once the Gu family had all fallen into a deep sleep, a white object suddenly stirred in the room shared by Zhen Mi'er and Gu Tingzhi.

A fleshy, short white leg suddenly poked out from beneath a white shell, followed by a second, a third, and a fourth.

The four short legs tentatively tapped against the tabletop. Finding no danger, the white shell lifted itself up. The object then began to crawl slowly across the desk. Suddenly, one leg stepped over the edge of the table, and the entire shell nearly flipped off. It immediately used its other three legs to hook onto the surface, shaking its body as if still reeling from the narrow escape.

In the pitch-black room, only the steady breathing of the two people on the bed could be heard. Moonlight spilled through the wooden window onto the desk, appearing to blend with the white shell. Then, a head finally emerged from beneath the shell.

It was indeed a turtle, but its entire body was white, which was why it hadn't been recognized immediately.

If anyone were there, they would have discovered that this white turtle was remarkably intelligent. It slowly stretched out its head to glance at the bed, and seeing no signs of the two waking, it felt at ease and began to stretch its limbs. Its black, bean-like eyes scanned the surroundings, and confirming there was no danger, it let out a long sigh and sprawled out on the desk.

...

Early the next morning, Gu Qingsong took two fish to the village head's house.

When the village head saw him asking to borrow the ox cart again to sell fish, he didn't hesitate to have his son lead the cart over. The village head's wife watched the two large, lively fat fish in the basin with mixed feelings—a tinge of envy and jealousy. Her own sons had gone to the Longyun River the day before and hadn't caught a single minnow, yet this eldest Gu boy was heading out to sell fish again! How much had he caught?

She had wanted to follow him to the Gu house to see, but a glare from her husband stopped her, leaving her to watch longingly as Gu Qingsong drove the ox cart away.

To await news from the brothers, nobody went to the fields that day. The women gathered in the courtyard to do needlework, while Gu Lizong sat by the kitchen door weaving winnowing baskets.

The family was going to harvest sweet potatoes the next day; these were their most vital rations. Most would be stored in the cellar for porridge and rice, while the rest would be boiled, sliced, and dried into sweet potato chips. The Gu family usually only ate two meals a day, and when the men went to the fields, they would stuff a handful of dried sweet potatoes into their pockets to eat when hungry. It had been like this for years. Gu Lizong quickened his pace; he planned to weave three more baskets today, as the family had grown, and they needed to dry more sweet potato chips.

As for Gu Tingzhi, he was tasked with reading in his room. Although his injury had left him unable to study, he still recognized a few simple characters. The family hoped these books would stimulate his brain and help him recover sooner.

"Manman! Turtle! Turtle!"

His sudden shout echoed from the room. Zhen Mi'er jumped up and rushed inside.

At that moment, Gu Tingzhi had grabbed the white turtle by its short leg as it tried to retract into its shell. He held the leg up and walked toward the door to show Zhen Mi'er. "Manman, look! This really is a turtle!"

Zhen Mi'er finally noticed what he was holding—it was indeed a snow-white turtle. It wasn't small, either; when stretched out, it was about half the size of Gu Tingzhi's head. With its entire body weight hanging from one short leg, it looked quite uncomfortable. Zhen Mi'er quickly took it and placed it back on the desk.

*Hmph! Foolish human, how dare you treat me, this turtle, like this!* The white turtle struggled with its other three legs, wanting the man to let go.

But Gu Tingzhi didn't understand its message. He just pointed at the turtle and looked at the entering Zhen Mi'er. "Manman, look, it really is a turtle!"

"Of course it is. From now on, you can be responsible for taking care of it, okay?" Zhen Mi'er smiled and patted the turtle shell.

Gu Tingzhi nodded heavily.

The white turtle: "..." It wished it could take back what it had just thought.

By noon, Gu Qingsong still hadn't returned. The family guessed that perhaps there were too many fish, and the Wenyue Pavilion couldn't take them all at once.

That was indeed the case. The brothers had taken the ox cart directly to Wenyue Pavilion, but the restaurant only took one bucket, saying the fish had to be freshly killed that day. They had to go to other restaurants to sell the rest. Since those restaurants hadn't bought from them before and already had established fishmongers, only two others bought a few fish after seeing how fresh and plump they were.

After noon, the sky turned gray and overcast, looking like it was about to rain. Not daring to delay, the brothers bought a few steamed buns to fill their stomachs and set up a stall at the market. Gu Qingsong guarded the stall while Gu Qingshuan went to the agency to ask about the price of an ox cart. To his dismay, even the cheapest one cost eight taels of silver, and all the money he had on him was still one tael and three hundred coins short.