The GORGEOUS Mermaid Who Lands in the Eighties: Nine Brothers and Endless Pampering! - Chapter 12

The shouted rebuke left Cai Jinhua utterly stunned, and one look at Yun Lin Hai’s grim face was enough to shut her up. The second son, Yun Chen Xi, looked just as cold. Meanwhile, the eldest quickly gathered Yun Jiao into his arms, covering her ears, his dark eyes set fiercely on the hysterical woman.
For a moment, silence descended on the tractor.
Yun Chen Xi broke it. “Auntie Cai, honestly, saying all that in front of a little one? Is that really the proper thing for an elder to do? If you don’t cherish your own children, that’s your business, but don’t you dare worry about ours. We’re adults; you ought to think before you speak.”
Cai Jinhua pointed a shaky finger. “You lot! You’re just ganging up on me ’cause I’m on my own!”
No one bothered to dignify that with a response.
The three Yun men couldn’t be bothered to engage further; the more you talked to her, the more worked up she got.
It was an auntie, a woman who usually got on well with her, who finally pulled her arm. “Right, come on, get up. Can’t you see how much the Yun family adores Yun Jiao? Of course they’d be furious if you started shouting insults at their girl.”
Even she, a bystander, thought Cai Jinhua had gone too far.
Cai Jinhua was clearly so used to railing at her own daughter that she assumed every other family treated their girls like rubbish. Yun Jiao might not be their biological child, but the Yun family was full of boys, and she was beautiful to boot. If that were their child, they’d be spoiling and protecting her just as much.
Cai Jinhua finally settled down, and the journey back to the village proceeded without further incident.
The father and two sons hauled the bags, while Yun Jiao, clutching a pear, followed close behind her dad and two older brothers.
Her legs were short and her steps tiny, and since her dad and brothers had long strides, she had to take two steps for every one of theirs. It made her look like her little legs were working incredibly hard just to keep up.
To their credit, the three men took her pace into account and deliberately slowed down.
As she walked, Yun Jiao didn’t forget to nibble her pear. It was a crisp, green-skinned fragrant pear with a lovely burst of juice.
Even while munching, she remembered her family. She held up a small, plump hand, stood on tiptoe, and offered the pear—which now had a little crescent bite taken out of it.
“Dad, have a bite.”
Yun Lin Hai was utterly charmed by his sweet, gentle girl. He stroked the little one’s head. “No, Dad’s fine, Jiao Jiao, you eat it.”
Yun Jiao’s soft voice was surprisingly firm. “Dad has to eat with me. And my brothers too!”
There weren’t many pears, and with such a big family, they wouldn’t go very far.
Her dad bent down and took a tiny nibble. “It’s good, very sweet.”
Yun Jiao instantly broke into a soft, happy smile, her dark eyes sparkling, the little dimples at the corners of her mouth looking adorable.
“Big Brother, eat.”
“Second Brother, you eat too.”
Like a busy little bird, she made sure all three men had a taste of her pear before she was finally satisfied and went back to happily chomping on the rest.
Yun Jiao did, after all, possess the soul of a mature sea creature. While she was as curious about this world as any newborn child, some of her actions were much more refined than those of an ordinary toddler.
For instance, when she ate, she was very careful and never made a mess of her mouth or her clothes.
Once they were home, they could spot Yun Xiaowu straight away, sitting on the doorstep and craning his neck into the distance.
The moment he saw them, he jumped up and ran over.
“Sister, my Jiao Jiao! Did you miss me? Fifth Brother missed you terribly!”
Yun Jiao let him hug her obediently and broke into a delightful, crinkly-eyed grin.
Her beautiful big eyes curved into tiny crescent moons, and her thick, curled lashes fluttered beautifully.
“Yes, I missed you. Have this, Fifth Brother.”
She handed him the pear, which she’d already finished half of.
Yun Xiaowu was instantly moved.
How did he get such a perfectly behaved sister?
The rest of the Yun family soon emerged. Seeing the three men carrying large bundles, the younger kids went wild, swarming around them, demanding to know what everything was. Yun’s dad and the two older brothers were instantly frazzled; with so many boys, the questions and the noise were relentless—it was like being in the middle of a market.
The adults, though, were seriously starting to feel the pinch. A very big pinch.
Grandma Yun swatted Yun’s dad’s arm. “What on earth are you wasting money on? Buying all this stuff must have cost a fortune!”
“I didn’t spend any money, Mum, honestly, stop hitting me. I really didn’t spend a penny.”
Once inside, Yun’s dad had a drink of water and explained exactly what had happened.
Shen Yun Lian and Wang Mei started putting everything away. These were valuable goods, and if they were just left lying around, the young rascals would tear through them in a single day.
Yun Jiao trotted around her mum and her auntie.
“Mum, I want one orange. No, two oranges, two pears, two bananas…”
Her mum stroked her head. “My sweet Jiao Jiao, we have to eat these slowly. We can’t eat them all up at once.”
“I won’t eat them all up.”
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Yun Jiao shook her head obediently. When she saw them putting the items in the cupboard and about to lock it, she became anxious, flitting around their feet.
“Don’t put them away. If they go off, they won’t taste good.”
The younger children, who had crept closer to watch, nodded vigorously in agreement.
Yun Jiao tugged at the two women’s clothes, her pleading eyes making her look just like a pitiful little kitten.
“If they’re kept too long, they’ll spoil and taste nasty.”
“Grandma’s sweets melted when they were kept too long, and they weren’t good anymore.”
The older generation had all seen hard times; when Yun Jiao was small, she’d sit with them and listen to them talk about the past—the days were truly awful then, and lots of people starved.
Because of this, they’d developed a habit of hoarding and hiding anything good, rather than eating it straight away.
But if those things were never eaten, they’d just spoil or go out of date later. Wasn’t that even more wasteful?
Finally, unable to withstand Yun Jiao’s desperate pleading, Yun’s mum caved in and took out a few pieces of fruit.
Yun Jiao instantly beamed. “Eat! Everyone, let’s eat together.”
“Yes, yes, we’ll all eat together.”
The little one’s smile lifted everyone’s spirits. The rascals in the family were practically bouncing off the walls with excitement.
Giving everyone a whole piece was definitely out of the question. The oranges were peeled and divided into segments. They didn’t even throw away the peel, which Grandma Yun carefully gathered and stored.
“This orange peel is a medicinal thing; dried, it can be kept for ages. We can add a bit to the stew for extra flavor.”
The banana and pear were also chopped into small chunks, so everyone could have a little taste.
Even though it was only a tiny amount, the whole family sitting around and eating together made it taste exceptionally good.
“That was so delicious.”
After finishing his share, Yun Xiaowu announced grandly, “When I’m grown up and earning, I’m going to buy loads and loads of fruit—the kind that we won’t even be able to finish!”
Yun’s uncle laughed heartily. “Well then, we’ll be counting on you to spoil us, Xiaowu!”
They thought eating the fruit was a proper treat for the day, but they were amazed to see fragrant, big meat buns and white steamed buns for dinner.
When the plump white buns and steamed bread appeared, the family’s eyes widened, and they all swallowed hard.
People who lived by the sea weren’t short of meat; they could always afford clams and mussels, at least.
But fish was a whole different ball game compared to pork.
And that refined white steamed bread—just looking at it made them hungry.
(End of Chapter)