The GORGEOUS Mermaid Who Lands in the Eighties: Nine Brothers and Endless Pampering! - Chapter 10

He’d heard there were a lot of kidnappers about, and with his Jiaojiao being so pretty and lovely, it wouldn’t be hard for those wicked traffickers to set their sights on her.
The old woman ignored Father Yun, her gaze fixed only on Yun Jiaojiao.
“My precious, my precious, Mummy bought your favorite hair tie! Come here, let Mum put it on. I’ll give you the prettiest braids.”
Father Yun scratched his head. Why did this old woman seem a bit… off?
Yun Jiaojiao pulled Father Yun’s hand: “Daddy, this Granny is hungry.”
Father Yun glanced at the steamed bun in his daughter’s hand, which was only half-eaten, then at the empty hands of the old woman.
It hurt his wallet a bit, but seeing the poor old dear seemed to be suffering from memory loss, he took pity on her. Still, how on earth could she mistake his Jiaojiao for her daughter? She was far too old.
“Granny, here you are, have something to eat.”
The little girl’s soft, tiny voice made the old woman beam, her eyes warm with loving kindness as she looked at her.
“Yes, yes, I’ll eat something.”
“But darling, why are you calling me Granny? You should be calling me Mum.”
The poor thing was clearly out of her wits.
Father Yun scratched his head, looking around and asking people, but nobody seemed to know who the old woman was.
“What am I supposed to do?”
He knew a little about her condition. There had been an old person like this in their village, too, who couldn’t recognize anyone or remember anything. She ended up wandering off to the sea and was swept away by the tide.
“My dear, come here. Mum will tie your hair.”
Yun Jiaojiao glanced at her Dad.
Father Yun nodded at her: “Go on. We’ll wait here for a bit to see if her family comes looking for her.”
If they didn’t, he’d have no choice but to take her down to the police station.
Yun Jiaojiao and the old woman settled down on the stone steps not far from the bun shop. Father Yun even insisted on getting two pieces of old newspaper from the bun seller to spread on the ground before they sat.
He then found a bowl of water: “Here you are, Auntie. Have a drink.”
“Thank you, thank you.”
After eating half a bun and drinking the water, she even pulled a piece of paper from her coat pocket to wipe her hands clean.
Then she got to work, seriously combing Yun Jiaojiao’s hair with her hands, as she didn’t have a comb. Yun Jiaojiao’s hair was excellent quality, thick, black, and incredibly smooth. At just three years old, her hair reached her back, which was perfect for the old woman to work with.
Her movements were so gentle, and she even hummed a very old nursery rhyme.
After only hearing the song once, Yun Jiaojiao nibbled on her bun and hummed along. Her version sounded even sweeter, tender and crystal clear. Father Yun just thought his own girl’s singing was truly lovely.
At the same time, on the other side of town, the old woman’s family was frantically worried and beside themselves with searching.
“Magistrate, Magistrate, she’s been found…”
When the rescue party arrived, the thirty-something County Magistrate heard the familiar nursery rhyme being hummed by his mother and his eyes immediately welled up.
“Mum, Mum, why did you wander off here? I nearly didn’t find you.”
The middle-aged man in a Tunic suit pulled the old woman into a tight hug.
The old woman looked up, her cloudy gaze falling upon him: “Who are you?”
“It’s me, Jianlin, your son.”
Yun Jiaojiao also watched the newcomer with wide, curious eyes.
The old woman’s wrinkled, rough palm stroked her son’s face, her voice trembling.
“Jianlin, why have you grown so old? Your little sister is still so tiny.”
Saying this, she grabbed Yun Jiaojiao’s small hand: “Look quickly! I found your little sister! Little lass is found, she’s come back.”
Wang Jianlin glanced at Yun Jiaojiao, his heart heavy with pain upon hearing his mother’s words. His little sister had gone missing when she was only three, snatched by traffickers.
“Yes, Little Sister is found,” he said gently.
He gave Father Yun and Yun Jiaojiao a slightly apologetic look, then coaxed the old woman. “Shall we go home, Mum? Let’s head home first.”
The old woman stood up and tidied her clothes: “Yes, we’ll go home.” Wang Jianlin first handed his mother over to his secretary, then turned back to Father Yun and his daughter.
“Thank you both for looking after my mother. She has amnesia and doesn’t remember things very clearly. I apologise for the bother.”
Father Yun quickly waved his hand: “No bother at all! We didn’t look after her much, just gave her one bun.”
Wang Jianlin planned to have his secretary get their home address and properly pay a visit another day to thank them, but the most important thing now was getting his elderly mother home safely.
However, they hadn’t walked more than a couple of steps holding his mother’s hand before the old woman turned back to look for Yun Jiaojiao.
“Dear girl, dear girl, come home with Mum and your big brother.”
“Jianlin, quick, take the dear girl home!”
Father Yun held Yun Jiaojiao tighter. Hold on, they weren’t about to nick his daughter, were they?
Wang Jianlin: …………
“How about you two come over to my place for a while?”
Wang Jianlin was clearly a filial son and simply couldn’t bear to refuse his mother’s slightest request.
“I can’t, I can’t. I still have to wait for my sons.”
“Oh? And where are your sons?”
Father Yun rubbed his hands, an honest, simple smile spreading across his face.
“My two sons want to join the army, so they’ve gone for their physicals. The family can’t go in with them, so I just brought my girl along to get a bite to eat.”
Wang Jianlin thought for a couple of seconds: “Tell you what, I’ll ask my… friend to check. What are your two sons’ names? When they come out, I’ll have them brought straight over to find you.”
Father Yun: “My sons are called Yun Chendong and Yun Chenxi.”
The secretary took note of the two names, and in the end, Father Yun and Yun Jiaojiao followed Wang Jianlin back to his house anyway.
After they arrived, Father Yun belatedly became nervous and utterly out of his depth. This… this Western-style villa looked far too grand.
He was a fisherman from a tiny village; where would he ever have seen such a grand house?
Father Yun hesitated, clutching his daughter. “Maybe, maybe we shouldn’t go in after all.”
Wang Jianlin, however, smiled: “Since you’re here, you must stay for a meal before you leave. I still don’t know how to properly thank you for looking after my mother.”
Father Yun waved his hands, looking genuinely humble: “No looking after, no looking after.”
Feeling dizzy, he followed them into the villa. Wang Jianlin’s immediate family was quite small. Soon, a sharp, capable-looking woman, dressed smartly, appeared. “Well, did you find Mum?”
Wang Jianlin nodded: “We did. It’s all thanks to this gentleman and his daughter for minding her, so Mum didn’t wander off too far.”
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Father Yun looked at the house’s interior and regretted coming even more. Why on earth had he let himself be dragged along?
Yun Jiaojiao held Father Yun’s hand, tilting her head in confusion: “Daddy scared?”
There wasn’t anything here that would eat people, was there?
Yun Jiaojiao, for her part, had no strong reaction to this house that was so much better than their own. In her previous life as a Merfolk, the sheer scale and rich variety of the underwater world had broadened her horizons. Could anything here compare to the deep-sea’s dazzling beauty?
Wang Jianlin’s wife brought out some fruit, and now Yun Jiaojiao’s eyes truly lit up.
The old woman was still clinging to Yun Jiaojiao’s other hand, talking away, rambling and confused. Yun Jiaojiao held her food and listened patiently, though she didn’t actually understand a word, only nodding occasionally and pretending she did.
In the kitchen, Wang Jianlin’s wife, Liu Yun, said: “That little girl is so patient. If it were our son, he’d be completely restless by now, only thinking about getting out to play basketball with his mates.”
Wang Jianlin nodded, sighing as he looked at his mother’s happy face. “You know, when my sister vanished when she was little, Mum had promised to buy her a hair ribbon when she went to the market, but when she came back, the child was gone. Our family searched for so long. Mum cried every day back then, she nearly cried her eyes blind. Now she can’t remember things and mistakes that little girl for my sister. And that hair ribbon… I never realized she’d kept it all this time.”
Wang Jianlin’s eyes went red as he spoke of this.
Liu Yun comforted him: “We really should find a professional carer to look after Mum. I’ve wanted to say it for ages—Auntie’s cousin isn’t looking after Mum properly at all.”
Thinking about how his mother nearly got lost this time, Wang Jianlin nodded: “I’ll speak to the relative about it.”
But that person might not be so easy to get rid of.
(End of Chapter)