The Beachcombing Kid Can Tame Beasts, and Seafood Lines Up to Come Home

From the start, three-and-a-half-year-old Haizhu's uncle and aunt took the family's last sack of rice, then turned around and accused her of stealing food, forcing her parents to head out to sea on empty stomachs. The little girl wiped away her tears and gave the seagulls a baby-voiced command: "Peck them!"

Nobody knew that behind her greedy, shampoo-fearing little-girl act, she was a clever child reborn, able to talk to insects, fish, birds, and beasts. At her command, schools of fish swam to shore, crabs lined up to fill the baskets, and her father came home with a full hold every time.

From then on, the poor fishing family quietly dried fish, traded for ration coupons, and built a new house. Their lives got better and better. Her gullible big brother, meanwhile, was put to work by her every day: carrying wooden buckets, digging for clams, and hiding spare change. He'd be gasping with exhaustion and still grinning like a fool.

Her uncle and aunt grew jealous and tried to learn the "secret" by stealing a boat and staking out the shore. Every time, the seagulls chased them and the crabs pinched them, leaving the whole village in stitches. That day, her aunt lunged for a basket of abalone again, but little Haizhu suddenly blew a whistle...