This Certified Lucky Carp Brings Her Husband Good Fortune!

My name is Jiang Zaozao. Last month, I was still using a twig to teach Ergou to write the character for “rice” at the village entrance. This month, I’m already riding an ox cart to the capital, clutching the village’s last hope: a bag of clinking copper coins. The drought this year was absurd. The riverbed had cracked like a tortoise shell, and the crops had toppled in swathes like ants scorched by the sun. Grandma said that if it didn’t rain soon, we’d have to sell our children. Then a trafficker really did come to the village, but she brought an idea even more outrageous than selling people: “Send the Jiang girl to the capital and have her marry some high-ranking official. She’s born under a lucky star, and wherever she goes, rice flowers will bloom for miles.” At the trafficker’s words, the whole village clung to her like a lifeline. That night, every household dug through their savings. Auntie Li poured out all the money she’d saved for her daughter’s wedding shoes. Uncle Wang offered up the silver he’d put aside to buy seeds for next year. Even six-year-old Shuanzi stuffed the copper coins he’d spent three years saving for a sugar figurine into my hands, then cried in his baby voice: “Sis Zaozao, when you become a fine lady, remember to ask the Jade Emperor to make it rain candy!” My mother strung the coins into a “silver belt” and wrapped it around my waist, wiping away tears as she went. “Zaozao, the whole village’s cooking pots are hanging from your waistband now. When you get to the capital, pick the richest, kindest, most handsome official you can. Don’t let the villagers down.” Truthfully, my heart was pounding. High-ranking officials weren’t turnips in a field, ready to be pulled out whenever you wanted. But seeing all those smiling faces outside the window, cracked and peeling from the drought, I thumped my chest and declared: “Don’t worry! If there’s one thing I can do, it’s count money, make people smile, and... bring good fortune to the fields!”