This was a momentous occasion: Ding Dang had come of age—but there was a problem with that statement itself, because she had already come of age twice. The first time was on some birthday God knew how many tens of thousands of years ago. The second was when she learned how to switch into God Form, which was the recognized standard of adulthood among the gods. This time, she had shed two leaves. That made it the third time.
Apparently, Ding Dang celebrated enthusiastically every time. Life Goddesses coming of age three times in their lives was one of the quirks that made them stand out among all the gods in the star realm. In Father God's words: these little things lived in complete chaos. Take them seriously, and you lose.
Now Ding Dang's two leaves had fallen off. One went to Lilina, who planned to transplant it into the dead vines of the Mother Tree in a few days, then graft the Mother Tree onto Heavenly Garden. Ding Dang planned to plant the other one.
"If it grows into a little Ding Dang, we can play together." Those were her exact words.
The moment the little one said she wanted to grow a little Ding Dang, Qian Qian sprang into action. To her, anything rare that she had never seen before had to be fun, and she wanted in on everything. Before we had even reacted, she had already run in carrying a flowerpot filled with dirt she had dug up from the yard. "Plant it here, plant it here!"
Ding Dang solemnly lay beside the flowerpot, dug a little hole in it, and placed her leaf inside. As she covered it with dirt, she muttered, "Dig a hole, bury some dirt, count one, two, three, four, five... Father