Chapter 51

After identifying the pattern, Li Meiman stealthily made her way to Nuannuan’s Weibo. She intended to express her sincere concern for “Sister Xuening,” thinking that she might just get lucky and be noticed.

To her surprise, she found that Nuannuan’s Weibo had not only been taken over by “Daddy and Mommy fans” begging for cute photos but was also filled with a stream of fans inquiring about Qin Xuening’s well-being. Since little Nuannuan hadn’t posted any new updates, everyone had gathered under that single reposted “Lucky Koi” Weibo.

Most of the messages imitated the format of Gao Yinyin’s greeting. Of course, there were creative ones too—some offering gifts or local specialties—though it was hard to tell if they were sincere. Li Meiman couldn’t help but curl her lip, cursing inwardly: What a bunch of drama queens!

After her silent rant, she followed suit, tapping out a string of words and racking her brain to write a heartfelt blessing. Watching her comment vanish like a stone in the ocean, buried under a mountain of top replies, Li Meiman’s lips actually curled into a slight smile. Whether she was noticed or not, the blessing had been sent. Because of Ye Feifei, she had followed the news about Qin Mo’s family and felt a degree of empathy for that poor little girl. Knowing she was doing well now made her happy. As a tiny fan, she couldn’t do much, so a small blessing was all she could offer.

What the commenters didn’t know was that every blessing left under that Koi post invisibly generated a faint thread of mental energy. These threads eventually converged into an invisible beam of light, flying toward a specific location in the capital of China.

In the Xiang family villa, the little goldfish in Nuannuan’s bedroom looked up at the incoming speck of light. It darted around the tank irritably, refusing to let the light land on it. Its gills puffed out; although a fish face shouldn’t be able to make expressions, it looked visibly huffy.

Not listening, not listening, definitely not listening! Its little owner hadn’t come to talk to it for so long; it absolutely refused to help that human brat fulfill her wish!

“Fishy, what are you doing? Are you playing a new game?”

The little girl’s voice suddenly rang out. Simultaneously, her face pressed ​stolen content​close to the tank. Through the refraction of the spherical glass, her already large almond eyes were suddenly magnified several times over.

The little goldfish, which had been focusing intensely on playing hide-and-seek with the white speck of light, shivered in fright and froze. The white light was quite sentient; as soon as it hit the wall of the tank, it took the chance to reflect back, hitting the goldfish right between the eyes.

Having been a beat too slow, the little goldfish finally failed to dodge. The white speck seized the opportunity to attach itself to its brow. Finally, the light—indistinguishable to the human eye—merged into its body and vanished without a trace.

In that instant, the goldfish entered a state of deep meditation. It floated motionless in the water as if it had lost consciousness. After an unknown amount of time, the stiff goldfish finally flicked its tail again, moving its fins and swimming around the tank. If one observed closely, they would see a faint golden glow shimmering between its scales, which dissipated shortly after. However, after the baptism of the golden light, its scales seemed even more translucent and beautiful.

“Waaaaah—!”

Suddenly, Nuannuan’s crying voice drifted over, giving the little goldfish a massive fright. It followed the sound and saw its little owner—who had looked so happy before the fish “fainted”—leaning against that human brat and crying her heart out.

Did this brat dare to bully my little owner?

The goldfish instantly perked up, its body tensing as it prepared to show its power, only to hear its beloved owner wailing: “Sob… Fishy is dead…”

The “dead” goldfish: “…”

Qin Xuening let Nuannuan hold her, not minding the tears and snot smeared onto her dress. Her slender hand gently and rhythmically patted the girl’s back. The little girl was crying so hard that the sound echoed in Xuening’s ears, making her own heart throb with a dull ache. She pursed her lips, wrapping one arm around read the original at bailiantales.com the girl and tightening her hold to pull her closer, hoping this would give the helpless child a bit of support.

Xiang Nan stood nearby, watching his daughter’s heartbroken state with a mix of pain and helplessness. Goldfish were naturally short-lived and fragile creatures. Although this pet fish was small, they had raised it for nearly a year. Xiang Nan was actually quite surprised his daughter had kept it alive this long.

Maybe… I should buy an identical one?

Xiang Nan looked at the tank with melancholy, thinking of how to soothe his daughter’s emotions, when he accidentally met a pair of round, rolling eyes. Those fish eyes were remarkably spirited—unlike the dull stare of a normal goldfish, they seemed able to focus as if they were truly making eye contact with him.

His heart jumped. He blinked, and when he looked again, the little goldfish that had just been floating belly-up on the surface was now staring with wide eyes. As if spooked, it hurriedly flicked its tail and swam away. Its large, round eyes were back to being dull and slow as usual.

I must have seen wrong, Xiang Nan thought. He quickly turned to his daughter and said, “Nuannuan, stop crying. Look, your little goldfish is still alive and well.”

Nuannuan finally lifted her head from her sister’s arms. Because she had cried so hard, her small body was still hiccuping, looking piteous. Seeing the goldfish poke its head out from the water plants in the tank, its beautiful fins and tail moving with life again, Nuannuan broke into a smile through her tears.

“Fishy! That’s great! You’re okay!” Nuannuan leaned over the tank and cheered. Her eyes and nose were red from crying, yet she wore a smile as bright as the morning sun, making the little goldfish’s heart turn to mush. It couldn’t bring itself to be angry at all.

It stole a glance at the human girl standing behind its little owner, still feeling a trace of reluctance. It truly couldn’t understand why this human brat received so many blessings. The gathered energy had converted into spiritual power that rivaled several months of its own cultivation. How annoying! But having accepted this “karma,” it had no choice but to help her… The goldfish blew a bubble, flicked its tail, and dove back into the plants to continue “playing dead.”

Hmph. There’s no rule on when I have to do it anyway. I’ll wait until I’m in a better mood!

Although it was a false alarm, Nuannuan had been badly spooked. For the next few days, she was inseparable from the goldfish, constantly talking to it and telling it stories.

Qin Xuening found it a bit difficult to adjust to the girl not being by her side while she practiced the piano, but she wasn’t so petty as to compete for favor with a goldfish…

Wait, compete for favor? Xuening’s hand paused on the keys. She froze for a few seconds before continuing to play. How could she use a term like “competing for favor”? She found it a bit absurd, yet upon reflection, she felt there was no more fitting word…

Clang— A discordant, wrong note rang out. Realizing her thoughts had drifted too far, the girl at the piano shook her head slightly, as if tossing away all distractions, and immersed herself back into practicing the piece.

Online, Ye Feifei’s latest Weibo post had sparked another intense discussion.

“Do you guys think the Goddess means Little Xuening might be on Daddy, Where Are We Going? in the next episode?”

“That can’t be right, can it? Her father has already…”

“But Feifei-jie said it so clearly. I think the possibility is high. Maybe Xiang Nan is taking her?”

“Why not go to the official Weibo and ask?”

“If it’s true, I’m definitely watching! I love Mr. Qin Mo, and I feel so bad for Little Xuening. I really want to know how she’s doing and if she’ll keep playing the piano…”

Having their curiosity piqued, netizens quickly swarmed the official Weibo of the reality show. However, the account remained silent, only telling everyone to keep following the upcoming episodes, which left fans complaining loudly.

At this moment, the person happiest about the explosion of popularity was the chief director, Zhou Ludong. He had a premonition the show would be a hit, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so fast. He analyzed the reasons himself: the key likely lay with the Xiang couple and their daughter. Although the other four families’ children had gained many fans, someone always mentioned Nuannuan when discussing the show.

In terms of hype, no one could beat Xiang Qingnuan. The girl’s smile had a special charm that brought warmth to those who saw it, drawing them in unconsciously. Perhaps this was the so-called “Goddess of Moe.”

And Qin Xuening was a purely unexpected delight. Zhou Ludong hadn’t expected that by simply keeping the clips of Nuannuan chattering about “Sister Xuening” to pique curiosity, the netizens would guess her identity so quickly.

Based on the feedback, he felt that even without Xuening, the ratings wouldn’t be low, which gave him a huge sigh of relief. He had his own persistence as a director; he naturally hoped to attract an audience through the strength and innovation of the work itself rather than just marketing hype.

However, seeing a crowd of netizens begging for cute photos, he rubbed his chin. He felt it was indeed a good idea to shoot a set of studio portraits and promotional posters for the five families. Or perhaps record an MV? One for each family would promote the show and serve as a memento for the parents. He believed they wouldn’t refuse.

But… should he include Qin Xuening? Xiang Nan had seemingly put in a lot of effort to convince her to be on the show. Would she be willing to cooperate? Zhou Ludong had a bit of a headache, but he still had his assistant make the arrangements, aiming to complete the promotional shoot on the day after the second episode aired.