Ba tells Minli 'The Story of Fruitless Mountain,' explaining the legend of Jade Dragon and her lost children.

Minli spends one of her two copper coins to buy a goldfish from a traveling salesman, hoping it brings her family luck.

Minli releases the goldfish into the Jade River; the grateful fish speaks and offers to guide her to Never-Ending Mountain.

Minli secretly leaves a farewell note for her parents and fashions a compass from her bowl and a magnetized needle.

Ma and Ba discover Minli's farewell note and set off in pursuit, determined to bring their daughter home.

Minli dives into a river and discovers Dragon trapped and tangled in ropes left by the peach grove monkeys.

Minli traps the greedy monkeys by placing a net over a pot of rice, clearing safe passage through the peach grove.

Minli uses her last copper coin to buy a peach for a poor beggar and discovers the beggar is the king in disguise.

The king gives Minli a page from the Book of Fortune inscribed with the line 'You only lose what you cling to.'

The Green Tiger attacks Minli outside the cave, and Dragon intervenes to protect her, suffering a poisoned wound.

A-Fu tricks the Green Tiger into leaping into a well to fight his own reflection, killing him; A-Gong then heals Dragon.

Minli builds a kite from her borrowed lines that transforms into a bridge, and she climbs alone to Never-Ending Mountain.

Minli reads 'thankfulness' in the Book of Fortune and chooses to ask the Old Man of the Moon Dragon's question instead of her own.

Minli removes the stone ball from Dragon's head, and Dragon immediately gains the ability to fly for the first time.

Dragon flies Minli home; the stone ball transforms into a dragon's pearl, and Fruitless Mountain turns green and fertile again.

Poor village girl Minli is inspired by her father's folk tales to seek the all-knowing Old Man of the Moon, believing he can end her family's poverty. After a talking goldfish shows her the way, she sets off alone, fashioning a compass from her bowl and needle and leaving a farewell note for her parents. She rescues a flightless dragon from peach grove monkeys, and together they journey toward Never-Ending Mountain, receiving a page from the Book of Fortune from the king of the City of Bright Moonlight. The Green Tiger wounds Dragon and allies help defeat the tiger and heal him, but Minli must ultimately climb to the Old Man of the Moon alone. There she makes a selfless choice that rewards everyone — Dragon gains the ability to fly, and his return to Fruitless Mountain reunites him with his dragon mother, restoring prosperity to Minli's village.

Minli's quest to change her family's fortune from beginning to end.

Ma scolds Minli for wasting money on the goldfish; Ba secretly shares his own rice to feed it that night.

Dragon reveals his origin story — Painter Chen painted him as a lesson about greed intended for the powerful Magistrate Tiger.

The goldfish man convinces Ma and Ba to trust Minli's journey and return home, gifting them a silver goldfish.

Minli rides on Dragon's back through the dense forest, but his enormous size makes navigating between the trees slow and difficult.

Minli enters the City of Bright Moonlight alone and is taken in for the night by the orphaned buffalo boy.

The weaver girl visits the buffalo boy secretly at night and reveals the king will appear at the Market of Green Abundance.

Ma and Ba return home to their village, and Ma quietly feeds the silver goldfish from her own bowl of rice.

Dragon discovers the stone lion statues at the city gates can speak and receives the red string of destiny from them.

Minli and Dragon shelter in a cave for the night; Minli lies awake feeling ashamed for not appreciating her parents' sacrifices.

A-Gong stays through the night at Dragon's side administering healing medicine while Minli sleeps safely in the village hut.

Amah sews Minli a warm patchwork coat from pieces cut from each family member's own clothing as a farewell gift.

Da-A-Fu decline the chance to ask the Old Man of the Moon anything and head back eagerly to their grandparents.

Ma asks Ba to tell a story; Ba tells 'The Story of the Dragon's Pearl,' and the couple shares a rare tender moment.

Ma tells her own story admitting her discontent drove her daughter away; the goldfish speaks to Ma for the first time.

The goldfish man returns to find a prosperous, transformed village; Ba prepares to retell Minli's adventure story to him.

While Minli travels toward Never-Ending Mountain, her parents' parallel story unfolds at home as they wrestle with worry and slowly grow closer together. Along Minli's path, important encounters shape her journey — Dragon's revealing backstory, the buffalo boy's quiet hospitality, the weaver girl's timely advice, and the warmth of Da-A-Fu's extended family. Dragon grows from a lonely, uncertain creature into a loyal companion, while the stone lion statues contribute their own gift to the quest. Back home, Ma's transformation from a bitter, frequently sighing woman into a faithful and grateful mother mirrors Minli's inner journey, culminating in the goldfish finally speaking to her for the first time. The novel closes with the goldfish man returning to a transformed village, where Minli's story has already become a legend Ba is eager to retell.

The supporting moments and parallel journeys that shape Minli's world.

Ba tells Minli 'The Story of the Old Man of the Moon,' convincing her the Old Man holds the power to change her family's fate.

Minli struggles with whether calling herself 'obedient' in her farewell note is truthful, then commits to leaving home.

Minli names the lonely dragon 'Dragon,' and the two commit to traveling together as companions to Never-Ending Mountain.

The goldfish man tells Ma and Ba his personal story, proving even fates written in the Book of Fortune can be changed.

An orange goldfish tells Minli and Dragon 'The Story of the Dragon Gate,' about fish that can pass through a gate and become dragons.

The buffalo boy refuses Minli's offered copper coin, showing her that wealth holds entirely different meanings for different people.

Minli follows the king through a hidden door in the city wall, entering the Palace Garden and gaining a private royal audience.

Ba guesses the secret word on the Paper of Happiness is 'faith' while trying to comfort a weeping Ma in the night.

Dragon collapses from the Green Tiger's poison and falls unconscious; Minli sets out alone across rocky terrain to find help.

Da-A-Fu tell how their ancestors' kites reached the Old Man of the Moon, who saved their village from Magistrate Tiger.

The kite's red string transforms into a never-ending bridge to the sky, but Dragon discovers he is too heavy to cross.

The Old Man of the Moon says he will answer only one question, forcing Minli to choose whose need matters most.

Minli recognizes the red strings on the Old Man's clay figurines as those the weaver girl carried, revealing her true identity.

Dragon learns Minli gave up her own question to help him fly and is overcome with gratitude and sorrow.

Dragon senses Fruitless Mountain is his true home and chooses to remain; Minli realizes he is one of Jade Dragon's lost children.

Every major turn in Minli's journey hinges on a decision or revelation that deepens her understanding of gratitude and sacrifice. From her fateful choice to leave home to naming Dragon and forming an unlikely friendship, Minli is shaped at every step by what she learns from those she meets along the way. The buffalo boy, the king, and Da-A-Fu all reveal in different ways that contentment matters more than wealth, and Ba's guess that the secret word is 'faith' echoes throughout the story. The climax arrives when the Old Man of the Moon forces Minli to choose whose question to ask, and the word 'thankfulness' in the Book of Fortune makes her answer clear. Her journey ends with the greatest revelation of all — that Dragon's return home was the answer to the very first story she ever heard.