Catching a Spirit Pet

The boat moved slowly across the lake.

The middle-aged man poled the boat from the stern. After they rounded a broad bend, Gao Yunyi stood at the bow and spotted the mudflat the little girl had mentioned in the distance.

The mudflat was not very large, but it was well hidden. Water surrounded it on three sides, and a steep cliff rose behind it. Without a boat and a fisherman who knew the terrain to guide them, ordinary people could never have found it.

A great many white cranes were resting on the mudflat, and Gao Yunyi's eyes lit up at the sight.

The little girl had disappeared from view, though she had not left. She had taken the cooked salted fish into the reed shelter, where her sick mother lay.

Gao Yunyi did not care about their hardships. He had eyes only for the mudflat and the flock of cranes playing there.

As the houseboat drew closer, it startled the cranes. Some beat their wings and took flight, while others gave clear, ringing cries.

"All right, stop here."

Gao Yunyi called for the boat to stop, his sharp gaze sweeping over the cranes.

He wanted to pick out the most perfect crane among them.

The man at the stern did not understand why, but since his passenger had spoken, he did as he was told and stopped the boat.

After feeding her mother, the little girl came out of the reed shelter. She glanced at Gao Yunyi, whose eyes were fixed on the cranes, and was filled with puzzlement and curiosity.

"What a strange young master. But strange as he is, he really is so handsome."

As the little girl washed the pots and bowls, she stole glances at Gao Yunyi's profile.

"If my husband is even a tenth as handsome as him someday—no, a twentieth—I'll be content."

The little girl indulged in her silent fantasies, but the moment she thought of the swarthy, rough men of Yangcheng Lake, her eyes dimmed again.

She was a lowly Tanka boat dweller. When the time came to marry, she could only marry another Tanka. Even the merchants would not take her as a concubine.

The boat remained still for a long time, and Gao Yunyi watched for just as long.

He compared the appearance, bearing, and manner of every crane. One was too fat, another too thin, and yet another too ugly.

This would be his first spirit pet in this world. It had to be perfect; he would rather go without than settle for less.

With nothing else to do, the little girl could no longer contain her curiosity. She asked cautiously in a soft voice, "Young master, what exactly are you looking for?"

"A crane. One so perfect it's beyond reproach."

Gao Yunyi answered coolly.

The little girl was stunned by his answer.

He had come all the way from Dingzhou City and hired a boat just to find a crane?

How bored did someone have to be to do something like that?

Sure enough, a country bumpkin like her could never understand how city folk thought.

"What kind of crane counts as perfect?" the little girl asked in puzzlement.

"The strongest, the sturdiest, and the best-looking."

Gao Yunyi answered without looking back.

"Now that you mention it, I think there really is one."

After thinking for a moment, the little girl spoke.

"Where?"

Gao Yunyi turned around and looked at her with a burning gaze.

The little girl's ears instantly turned red, and she lowered her head without thinking.

"Right... right here on this mudflat. But that crane is strange. It doesn't stay here for long; it flies in from somewhere else, and it doesn't come at any set time. I've only seen it a few times."

The little girl spoke shyly.

"What kind of crane is it?" Gao Yunyi pressed.

The little girl replied, "It's very tall and big, bigger than all the cranes here. It's fierce, too, like a king. All the cranes in Yangcheng Lake are afraid of it. People here once tried to catch it, but not only did they fail, it injured several of them instead."

Gao Yunyi's eyes lit up as soon as he heard her.

That settled it. He would choose that one.

He had to tame it, no matter what.

"I'm hiring your family's boat long-term. First, put me on that big rock. Then, starting today, come here once every morning and evening."

He was not speaking to the little girl. He walked over to the middle-aged man poling the boat at the stern and said it to him.

"Huh???"

The middle-aged man's mouth hung open, and he looked utterly bewildered.

Gao Yunyi tossed him an ingot of silver, and his mouth fell open even wider.

Gao Yunyi was not short of money. After he had wiped out the bandits in Heyang County, County Magistrate Zhang had men carry a chest of silver to him.

He had not refused it. He had thought he would surely need money after leaving Heyang County, so he had simply accepted a sum.

It was not much, only five hundred taels.

The silver might not amount to much in Gao Yunyi's eyes, but in the middle-aged man's hands, it was as heavy as a mountain.

The middle-aged man's hands trembled as he looked at the ten-tael silver ingot before him.

When had he ever seen so much money?

"Daddy, it's silver! Does this mean we can get a physician to treat Mother's illness?"

The little girl asked excitedly, full of joy.

His daughter did not understand the value of the silver ingot, but the middle-aged man knew it all too well.

Even his entire family, together with the boat beneath their feet, was not worth as much as the ingot.

He had thought the young master before him might be generous, but he had never expected him to be this lavish.

"It's too much, far too much."

The middle-aged man trembled as he spoke, fearful and uneasy.

"Bring the boat over there."

Gao Yunyi paid no attention to the boatman's words and walked straight back to the bow.

Sensing that Gao Yunyi's tone left no room for refusal, the middle-aged man hurriedly put the silver ingot away and bowed deeply toward his departing figure.

Then he poled the boat slowly toward the huge rock near the mudflat.

Gao Yunyi looked up and jumped onto the huge rock. The view from there was excellent, taking in the entire mudflat at a glance.

The middle-aged man went to the bow and called out to Gao Yunyi, "Young master, please watch the cranes here at your leisure. I'll be sure to bring you meals by boat on time every morning, noon, and evening. If it rains, I'll also come early to take you back."

Even now, the middle-aged man still thought Gao Yunyi was a young master obsessed with white cranes.

Gao Yunyi could not be bothered to explain. He simply sat cross-legged on the huge rock without a word.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man took it as Gao Yunyi's tacit consent and slowly poled the boat away from the mudflat.

As the boat traveled farther and farther away, the little girl stood at the stern, gazing quietly toward the huge rock.

The middle-aged man understood his daughter's thoughts all too well, but apart from sighing silently to himself, he said nothing more.

Their stations were worlds apart from the young master's. They were destined to belong to two different worlds. Perhaps, after this, their paths would never cross again.

Look, then. Look. Take a few more glances while you can.

"Huh... Daddy, look! There seems to be a light where the young master is."

The little girl suddenly pointed toward the mudflat and turned to call out to the middle-aged man.

"It's probably sunlight reflecting off the lake. All right, Little Ya, stop looking. Go inside and see how your mother is doing. Once we get ashore, I'll fetch a physician right away."

At her father's words, the little girl immediately forgot what she had just seen. She said happily, "Daddy, does that mean Mother's illness will be cured once the physician comes?"

"Yes. Once the physician comes, your mother's illness will be cured, and our lives will only get better from then on."

The middle-aged man felt the silver ingot against his chest, his eyes shining with beautiful visions of the life ahead.