"Really?"

  Cang Tongkai leaned in closer. In the bucket surrounded by the kids, there was a white fish, its fins and tail waving like ce. A few scales were missing from its back, revealing a slightly red, tender flesh. One mischievous child, pyfully poking at the fish's body with a sharp twig, made the fish dart away in a hurry. Its round eyes spun rapidly, looking directly at Cang Tongkai.

  "Save me!"

  Cang Tongkai suddenly heard a faint cry for help.

  He looked at the white fish, puzzled.

  "I'm talking to you! If you don’t take me away soon, they’re going to sell me and eat me!"

  The fish thrashed in the water, bubbles rising from its mouth.

  When the mischievous child was about to poke the fish's eye with the twig, Cang Tongkai shoved him aside.

  When it came down to a real fight, Cang Tongkai was as fierce as a small leopard.

  The few children ran away in panic.

  The white fish in the bucket looked at the child who had stood up for it with a hint of surprise.

  The evening weather was actually better than the day. The gently swaying sea reflected the soft glow of the sunset.

  Cang Tongkai squatted by the shore, the incoming tide soaking the tops of his feet. The wooden bucket was pced in front of him.

  "How can you talk?" he asked the fish.

  "I′ve been able to talk since I was born!" The fish innocently blew a bubble.

  "Then why can't those kids hear you?"

  "Because they are human."

  "But I'm human too!"

  "Maybe we are destined to meet..."

  Cang Tongkai smiled. This fish was really interesting.

  "Do you have a name?"

  "My name is TuTu."

  "My name is Cang Tongkai!"

  Cang Tongkai scooped the fish out of the bucket and pced it in the seawater.

  "Today is my birthday; nice to meet you!" Cang Tongkai made a funny face at TuTu. "You can go now; your mom and dad must be worried."

  "I don’t have parents," TuTu answered seriously, then suddenly grinned, "Is today your birthday?"

  Cang Tongkai nodded.

  TuTu wagged its tail and disappeared into the sea. The st bit of light in the sky faded away.

  It must have left. Cang Tongkai stood up and stared at the silent sea, feeling a little lost. After standing still for a moment, he turned to walk back. Suddenly, a crisp voice behind him called his name.

  Turning around, a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl in a white dress stood before him, holding a beautiful red coral, smiling at him.

  "You are..." Cang Tongkai was stunned.

  "I'm TuTu." She walked up to him, pced the coral in his hand, and smiled sweetly. "I picked this one after a long time. It's the most beautiful, so I'm giving it to you. Happy birthday!"

  "Th... thank you." Cang Tongkai stared bnkly at the coral in his hand, then after a moment, asked, "Did you pick this gift specially from the sea?"

  "Yes!" TuTu nodded. "A birthday gift must be carefully chosen. That′s what makes it meaningful."

  "Thank you." Cang Tongkai suddenly hugged her. "I haven't received a real birthday gift in a long time."

  Cang Tongkai didn′t know what was happening to him. He was clearly smiling, but tears were falling onto TuTu's shoulder.

  TuTu smiled and patted his back.

  "TuTu, your shoulder..." Cang Tongkai suddenly noticed a faint red mark on TuTu's shoulder. His tears fell onto it, and a small wisp of white smoke rose from the red mark, and then the mark disappeared.

  "Ah, I must have been scratched by those kids earlier." TuTu looked at her shoulder in surprise. "Huh? How did the wound heal so quickly?"

  "Is it because of my tears?" Cang Tongkai wiped his eyes and asked innocently.

  "Maybe." TuTu nodded seriously, then ughed happily, grabbing his hand. "Kai, you're amazing!!"

  Facing such a sincere smile, no one's heart could remain untouched. And so, on the beach under the night sky, a boy and a girl happily conversed and pyed. Even the dark sky seemed to sprinkle with stars, their reflection dancing on the sea, adding a beautiful glow.

  "TuTu, can you stay until dawn?" Cang Tongkai suddenly stopped his joyful jumping, lowered his head, and said, "I always spend my birthday alone."

  TuTu thought for a moment and said, "I won't leave. I'll always py with you from now on. That way, neither of us will be alone anymore. Okay?"

  "Okay!!" Cang Tongkai jumped up happily.

  The next evening, Xuan looked worriedly at TuTu in the fish tank: "Kai, we can't keep it; it's a fish. The Master also doesn't allow it."

  "It's my friend!" Cang Tongkai corrected. "Xuan, you have to keep this a secret for me. I'll put it in the secret room, and no one will know. As for my dad, he won't come home for years, and when he does, it won't be for more than an hour. He won't find out." He tugged at Xuan's sleeve. "I just want one more friend."

  Xuan hesitated in silence, then finally nodded. He rarely went against Cang Tongkai's wishes.

  He is a few years older than Cang Tongkai. When he was two, he was just a frail stray cat, spending his days rummaging through garbage heaps for food and avoiding the traps set by cat catchers. On a rainy night when he was close to death, it was Cang Tongkai's father who saved him, brought him home, and taught him the ways of cultivation, transforming him from an ordinary bck cat into a cat yaokai capable of protecting himself and others.

  Cang Tongkai's father had only one request of him—protect and accompany Cang Tongkai.

  Xuan had never forgotten the promise he made to the Cang Tong family.

  One vow, sting for seventeen years.

  For Cang Tongkai, he would give up anything—even his life.