A Commander Dad, a Doctor Mom, and a Beast-Talking Baby Turn the House Upside Down

[Historical era + military marriage + two unhinged parents + animal-speaking cutie + adorable child + fun, satisfying story]

Niannian is a “little mute” who grew up in a kennel. She can understand animals and has a fearsome bite.

She thought she would rot in the muddy slums of the apartment blocks, until a beautiful woman in a white coat, twirling a scalpel, kicked the iron cage flying.

This new mom is a little crazy.

Other people argue with words. She gives awful relatives “cosmetic surgery without anesthesia.”

Other people cry when they get divorced. She hangs her ex-husband’s underwear on the military compound’s front gate.

Even scarier is her new dad, the one they call “the commander.”

In uniform, he’s refined and abstinent. Behind closed doors, he’s wilder than a wolf. The bed frame shakes like there’s an earthquake every night. (Niannian asked Big Yellow the dog, who said humans were fighting, and it sounded pretty brutal.)

Sitting on a little stool with a meat bun in hand, Niannian directs the stray cats and dogs in the courtyard. “That bad woman wants to steal money! Big Yellow, go bite her butt! Don’t be scared, Mom says we’ve got plenty of rabies shots!”