Chapter 1 — The Secret Behind the Jade

When I was seven years old, I picked up a piece of jade pendant. It's gray, located in a dry stream behind my mountain. Nothing special. But I saw it again. For some reason, I bent down to pick it up and put it in my shirt. On the way home, I tripped and fell, my knee was scratched, blood seeped out and stuck to the jade piece. At that moment, the jade suddenly felt hot, like it burned me. I lowered my head and looked back, the blood stains disappeared. But the jade piece... seems to be a little brighter? I didn't pay attention, I'm a child, I forget easily. When I got home, I wiped the speaker with a torn cloth, found an old red string, put it on, and hung it around my neck. From then on, that piece of jade became the thing I wear next to me. Take it with you wherever you go. My name is Tham Vi. The name was given to me by my father - a reader who passed away early. He said the word "Vi" is good, meaning small, not noticeable, easy to be at peace. My mother died while giving birth to me because of difficulty giving birth. My father also died when I was five years old. People in the village said I had a hard life and was cruel to my loved ones. No one wants to raise me. I live in a thatched house that my parents left behind. Relying on digging wild vegetables, collecting dry firewood, and occasionally doing odd jobs for the rich people in the village, I can get by. Until I picked up that piece of gem. Life seems... not much better. Hungry is still hungry. Being called a "comet" is still being called. It's just that, since wearing it, every night I no longer feel cold like before. It was as if there was a small, warm fireplace right next to my chest. When I was ten years old, it snowed very heavily that winter. I went up the mountain to look for food, but unfortunately fell into an animal trap left by a hunter. The hole is so deep, I can't climb out. The sky is getting darker and darker, the snow is falling more and more thickly. I was cold, hungry, and scared. I sat huddled in the hole, hugging my trembling knees. When he thought he was about to freeze to death, the piece of jade on his chest suddenly became hot. A warm current surged through my body. In my haze, I seemed to hear a voice. Cold, like the sound of ice melting in the middle of a ravine. "It's so troublesome." Then I didn't know anything else. When I woke up, I found myself lying on a tattered bed in a cottage. The only cotton blanket in the house was covered. The fireplace was still burning, and there was even steaming white porridge in the pot. I was dumbfounded. Who saved me? Who took me home? Who lights the fire and cooks porridge for me? People from the village? No way. They didn't even have time to avoid my house. I reflexively raised my hand to touch my chest. The jade piece is still there. Warm. Life goes on like that, vaguely passing by. Strange things are increasing more and more. Going up the mountain to pick mushrooms, I clearly saw fresh and colorful mushrooms, but when my hand was about to touch it, the piece of jade on my neck suddenly felt hot, making me withdraw my hand. Later I learned that it was an extremely poisonous mushroom. While cutting wood, I slipped and thought I would fall down the slope, but my body suddenly stabilized, as if something was catching me. In winter, the well water froze. I was too weak to break the ice, but when I woke up the next morning, a small hole appeared on the ice, just large enough to drop a bucket to scoop water. I feel more and more that something is not right. There's something strange about this piece of jade. I took it off, placed it on the rotten wooden table in the house, and looked at it intently. Still covered in dust, gray, looking unremarkable. "Hey," I said softly, "did you do those things?" The piece of jade didn't move. "Did you save me? Make me hot porridge? Stop me from eating poisonous mushrooms? Help me get water?" It remained silent. I started to get discouraged, thinking maybe I was so cold that my brain was broken, thinking random things. But just as I reached out to put it back on my neck, the piece of jade... extremely light... slightly stirred under my fingertips. It was as if it was annoyed and lightly rubbed it. I was almost scared

Throw it away! From that day on, I started to be more vigilant. I started talking to the piece of jade. "It's a beautiful sunny day today." – No reaction. “The Big Bear at the front of the village took my wild vegetables, how disgusting!” - The piece of jade seems to be... a bit cold? "I'm so hungry, it would be nice if some stupid rabbit crashed its head into the tree..." - I stole a glance at the piece of jade.