The GORGEOUS Mermaid Who Lands in the Eighties: Nine Brothers and Endless Pampering! - Chapter 13

The dinner from the night before had been so amazing that even as they lay down to sleep, everyone was still rubbing their full bellies and smacking their lips, fondly recalling the taste.
Lying in bed, Yun Xiaowu rubbed his stomach. “I wonder when we’ll get to eat something that good again.”
Yun Xiaoliu was even greedier—he was the biggest eater in the whole house, besides Yun Jiao. He was lying there with his belly sticking out, barely asleep, but still muttering about those big steamed meat buns.
Yun Xiaowu shoved his twin brother away in disgust, then pulled Yun Jiao close.
The fragrant, soft little sister made him think of an equally fragrant, plump, big steamed bun.
“Jiaojiao, sleep next to your Fifth Brother. Tonight, I’m definitely going to dream about big meat buns.”
Yun Jiao yawned. “???”
There were four people sharing the bed: the three of them, and Yun Xiaojiu.
The family only had a few rooms. Luckily, Yun Xiaowu’s younger siblings were still small enough to squeeze in, but once they got older, that wouldn’t work.
So, building a new house was an absolute must.
The adults in the family were really stressed about this, but without money, all the planning in the world wouldn’t help.
The next morning, Yun Jiao got dressed and was led by her Fifth Brother to look for food.
“Grandma, what are we having today?”
They were still dreaming about the fruit that had been locked away yesterday.
Grandma Yun lightly tapped them on the head.
“Always thinking about food,” she chuckled.
“We’re eating pumpkin today.”
Grandma took out two eggs and handed them to Yun Jiao.
“One each for Jiaojiao and Xiaojiu.”
Even though the Yun family showed a little favoritism towards Yun Jiao, they deeply cherished all their own children, especially the youngest ones.
Yun Xiaojiu was seven, not much older than Yun Jiao.
The family’s eggs were scarce, and the adults were reluctant to eat them themselves, but every couple of days, they’d boil two for Yun Jiao and Yun Xiaojiu. Yun Jiao often saved her yolk and secretly gave it to her Fifth Brother.
Maybe it was because Yun Xiaowu was the one who found and brought her home, but he treated her almost like his own daughter, always giving her the first of anything tasty or fun.
Because of this, Yun Jiao was also more reliant on her Fifth Brother than her other brothers.
“Hehe, let’s go! We’re off to the seaside again today to look for things.”
With a roasted sweet potato in hand, Yun Xiaowu was ready to take Yun Jiao to the beach.
The adults of the family had been busy since early morning. Father Yun, the youngest uncle, and the eldest brother had gone to work on someone else’s boat. Second Brother, Yun Chenxi, was unusually staying home today. Third and Fourth Brothers had gone to school. Mother Yun, the youngest aunt, and Grandad were out tending the family’s fields.
“Hold on.”
Second Brother Yun Chenxi called out to them.
“Xiaojiu and Jiaojiao are going to learn how to swim and dive today.”
Kids who live by the sea have to learn to swim and dive from a young age.
Xiaojiu also started learning when he was three, but he still needed an adult to watch him when he went into the water.
Upon hearing about swimming lessons, Yun Jiao’s eyes immediately lit up.
She’d wanted to go into the sea for ages, but because she was so tiny, the Yun family dared not let her anywhere near the water.
“Will Second Brother teach me?” Yun Jiao looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
Among the Yun children, Second Brother and Fifth Brother were the strongest swimmers.
But the adults weren’t comfortable with Fifth Brother taking Yun Jiao, so this important task fell to the Second Brother, Yun Chenxi.
“Yup, let’s go.”
As he spoke, he gently scooped up his fragrant, soft little sister.
Yun Jiao’s plump little arms immediately wrapped around his neck.
Yun Xiaowu was utterly put out.
“I can teach little sister to swim, too! I swim even better than Second Brother.”
Yun Chenxi gave him a sideways look.
“You’re still too young. Wait ’til you grow up a bit.”
He carried Yun Jiao towards the beach, followed by a long, magnificent line of his younger brothers. It was quite a sight on the road, and it made plenty of people envious.
After all, in this era, having many sons was a sign of great fortune, and the Yun family had that twin gene—apart from Yun Xiaojiu, almost every birth before him resulted in twins.
If the Yun family had a daughter, even if they were dirt poor, countless matchmakers would have worn a path to their door.
The Yun family didn’t lack boys, but other families certainly did.
Once at the seaside, Yun Chenxi sent the younger brothers off to forage, while he took Yun Jiao to a spot with a suitable depth and began to teach her to swim.
Yun Xiaowu didn’t leave; he insisted on teaching too.
“Little sister, don’t be scared! We need to learn to hold our breath. Copy me, take a huge gulp of air, hold it, and then go under the water. Seriously, don’t be afraid…”
Yun Xiaowu completely took over Second Brother’s job, even trying to push him out of the way.
Then the Second Brother tapped him on the head.
“Am I teaching, or are you?”
Holding his head, Yun Xiaowu mumbled, “Little sister clearly likes me more.”
In the middle of their bickering, Yun Jiao had already quietly squatted down into the water.
She didn’t need teaching at all. She was a Jiaoren (Merperson), naturally skilled at swimming in the sea!
Most importantly, she was now certain that she could truly breathe underwater.
This was simply too exciting.
“Little sister! Jiaojiao, where have you gone?!”
Realizing their little sister was missing, Second Brother Yun and Xiaowu both dove underwater to search for her.
“Second Brother, Fifth Brother, I’m here.”
Yun Jiao suddenly popped her head up about three metres away, naturally floating in the seawater, clutching some object in her two small, plump hands.
The two terrified brothers quickly swam over and hugged her tightly.
“You scared me half to death! How did you disappear in the blink of an eye?”
Yun Jiao smiled. “Look, brothers! I can swim!”
The two brothers: “…………”
Wait, they hadn’t even managed to teach her anything, had they? And she already knew how?
She really did. She had swum that far, and now she was floating so effortlessly in the water.
Yun Xiaowu hugged her and laughed heartily. “My little sister is a genius! She’s totally worthy of being sent by the Turtle Prime Minister!”
Although surprised, Second Brother Yun felt relieved, considering that Yun Jiao’s appearance had always been tinged with a mythological color.
He merely warned Yun Xiaowu, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Just say we taught her, but she learned incredibly fast.”
The two young ones nodded.
Yun Xiaowu just said, “I’m not that stupid.”
He was also afraid that if others knew their little sister had been sent by the Dragon King of the Sea, she might be taken away.
“Wow, what a massive snail!”
Back on the shore, the two brothers finally turned their attention to the object Yun Jiao was holding.
It had a smooth, yellowish-brown shell, but the exposed snail meat was patterned with brown and white stripes. Yun Jiao had to hold it with both hands because the snail was huge.
It was bigger than her face.
“That’s got to be at least one and a half to two kilograms!”
Yun Xiaowu was excited. “Such a big snail, that must be worth a fair bit of money!”
Yun Chenxi took it and weighed it in his hand. “It’s a coconut snail. This size is probably worth over three yuan.”
That was still quite valuable, considering that many fish only cost a few pence per half-kilo.
“Don’t sell it.”
Yun Jiao hugged the coconut snail. “Don’t sell it.”
Three yuan was a considerable sum for the Yun family. After all, they were poor, and all their money was saved up bit by bit.
“Alright, alright, we won’t sell it,” Second Brother conceded. “Our Jiaojiao has such good luck, finding such a huge snail just by learning to swim.”
(End of Chapter)