The people nearby coaxed, "You're showing your good heart again."
"Hey!" An old man with a mouth full of yellow teeth joked with a smile:
"Haven't you read too many novels, with stories about a princess from an underwater dragon palace caught by a fisherman and later bought by a scholar, turning into a Dragon Girl to repay kindness? All fake!"
The scholar blushed from the teasing.
He quickly emptied his savings to buy this carp and hurried home.
Once home.
The kind-hearted scholar placed the carp in the tank for care and, after confirming the fish was fine, murmured:
"Poor fish, this is all I can do for you."
He clasped his hands together and prayed, "Merciful and compassionate Xibo, please protect this fish to survive its grave injuries."
He babbled a heap of lines and then returned to his rundown house, sitting at the window to read, preparing for his scholarly exams again.
Splish splash—
