The Little Darling of the Sixties: Everything Chats with Me

Three-and-a-half-year-old Fubao has just returned from the city to Liuxi Village when she discovers something extraordinary. The gray donkey by the village entrance can complain that it’s thirsty, the speckled hen in the yard grumbles that Grandpa feeds her too late, and the ducks in the corner bicker until they start discussing a pot of pickled-cabbage stew. Even the vegetables in the fields softly beg her to water them more. She can understand every living thing: chickens, ducks, crops, and the old locust tree all have their own troubles. Her grandfather, Liu Qingshan, is the first to uncover his granddaughter’s secret. He quietly covers for her and makes sure she’s safe. Thanks to her gift, Fubao helps the neighbor, Auntie Li, find the speckled hen that a wildcat frightened away, saves dozens of acres of the village’s winter wheat from grubs chewing through the roots, and rallies everyone to clear a badly clogged irrigation canal. Each time she helps, she earns goodwill from the living things around her, which she can exchange for high-yield seeds and handy farm tools. Little by little, her family’s life gets better. The trouble is, Fubao can never keep her little mouth shut. Whenever she gets flustered, she nearly lets something slip, and the villagers are growing more and more observant. They keep wondering how the youngest granddaughter of the Liu family always knows in advance when something is wrong in the fields. Before the one-of-a-kind sack of high-yield wheat seeds has even been planted, the village aunties with their bamboo baskets are already knocking at the door. All things have a voice, and a child’s heart brings warmth. In this simple farming village, a soft, cuddly little girl and her many animal and plant friends are making even the poorest days lively and joyful.