The GORGEOUS Mermaid Who Lands in the Eighties: Nine Brothers and Endless Pampering! - Chapter 15

Hearing Yun Xiaowu’s excited shout, the other Yun brothers came sprinting over.
Their eyes went wide.
Although they weren’t very old, they lived by the sea and knew their stuff when it came to money. Little razor clams only fetched a fluctuating two or three mao per jin, and they were a proper nuisance to dig up—you needed loads just to make a jin. But a Jumbo Razor Clam (or ‘Razor Clam King’) was worth at least one yuan per jin. Their little sister had already managed to dig up about three jin all on her own.
“These things are tricky to dig up, how did you even manage that?”
They burrow deep and shoot off quickly at the slightest disturbance. You really couldn’t get them without a bit of strength, patience, and know-how.
Yun Jiao said nothing and simply gave them an on-the-spot demonstration.
She first located the little puffing hole of a Jumbo Razor Clam, then rapidly dug downwards with her small spade. They watched as a single scoop went right down, easily flipping up the sand. The small, chubby girl was surprisingly swift, and most importantly, she seemed to know exactly where to aim. In just a couple of tries, a Jumbo Razor Clam was excavated.
The older brothers just stared: “…………”
Stubborn, Yun Xiaowu said, “It looks dead easy! I’ll have a crack at it.”
He found a small hole right next to Yun Jiao and started huffing and puffing, digging haphazardly.
Little Liu, Little Qi, and Little Ba, who were behind him, also found air holes and started digging. However, they couldn’t figure out the direction, and after only a few scrapes, the clam gave them the slip! The boys were incredibly frustrated.
“I got one!”
Conversely, Yun Xiaojiu, who had just been playing in the sand, suddenly pulled out a Jumbo Razor Clam.
And while the others were messing about, Yun Jiao had already pulled out another one.
The older brothers: “…………”
Honestly, the two of you are making us older brothers look like we can’t do anything right.
Yun Jiao didn’t know how to teach her brothers, as she didn’t have any experience digging for clams either—it was all down to instinct and being a bit stronger. That’s right, though Yun Jiao looked soft and cuddly, her strength was quite a bit greater than that of an average child. It wasn’t ridiculously exaggerated; at three years old, her strength was just slightly more than her ten-year-old fifth brother. She was usually well-behaved and hadn’t shown it off, so her family had no idea about her unusual strength.
By the time Yun Chenxi came back with a bowl of oyster meat, they had already dug about half a bucket of Jumbo Razor Clams. Although Yun Xiaowu and the others were slower, after battling the clams for a while, they had also managed to catch several.
Yun Chenxi looked at the half-bucket, which weighed about six jin, then looked at the measly bit of oyster meat in his own bowl, and instantly felt deflated.
“There are Jumbo Razor Clams here?!”
“Razor Clam Kings? Where are the Razor Clam Kings?”
An auntie foraging nearby had razor-sharp hearing and immediately darted over like a gust of wind when she heard the name.
The Yun family had a lot of kids, and they were tough and prone to mischief, so other foragers usually gave them a wide berth—the beach was big enough, after all. Who knew this patch was actually a gold mine? The auntie’s eyes practically bulged out of her head when she saw the Jumbo Razor Clams in their bucket.
“Oh, my word, they really are Razor Clam Kings! And you’ve dug up an absolute haul!”
The auntie was consumed by envy.
“You’ve been digging in this section? Are there really Razor Clam Kings here?”
Saying this, she found a spot not too far from the Yun siblings and started digging furiously.
Yun Jiao and her siblings could only stare helplessly. After all, the beach didn’t belong to the Yun family, and the auntie hadn’t tried to crowd them out or steal their spot; she was just digging nearby. There was nothing anyone could do.
Yun Chenxi slapped his mouth. “My big mouth! Why on earth did I have to say anything!” Yun Chenxi quickly rolled up his sleeves and joined in. The auntie was clearly more experienced and soon dug up a Jumbo Razor Clam herself. She was immediately so excited that she called over her own family.
It was likely her excited and emotional state was too obvious, and soon other foragers came running at the news.
“Razor Clam Kings? There are Razor Clam Kings in this patch!”
“Good heavens, I’ve been here so many times before and never found any.”
Everyone was chattering away, but didn’t stop working, finding patches of sand nearby and starting to dig.
With so many people, this patch of beach quickly ran out of clams.
Yun Jiao’s stomach rumbled—she was hungry. She looked pleadingly at her brothers.
A little girl who is young and especially pretty has a natural advantage. Yun Jiao simply looking at someone with those pleading eyes made her seem like a soft, white dumpling, instantly evoking endless affection and sympathy.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you? Let’s head home.”
Yun Xiaoliu had already tossed his small spade aside and was resting nearby, looking like he was asleep. Who knows where he got all that sleepiness from every day.
“We’re not digging anymore?”
Yun Xiaowu was covered in sweat. The ten-year-old dark-skinned boy seemed to have boundless energy.
Yun Chenxi called to his younger siblings, “No more digging, we’ve pretty much cleaned out this spot.” It was a shame this patch had been discovered, or it could have been their secret base for next time. Their bucket must have at least eight jin now.
Yun Chenxi led his brothers and sister home. All the while, Yun Jiao hugged the coconut whelk, her eyes curved into beautiful little crescents. The sun was intense, and everyone was drenched in sweat, but Yun Jiao barely sweated; her skin was so fair it seemed to reflect the light. Despite spending so long in the sun, her skin didn’t look red at all. The contrast with her dark-red skinned brothers was striking—she looked like a soft white tangyuan (sweet rice ball) mixed in with a bunch of coal briquettes.
Grandma Yun, sitting by the front door sorting veg, broke into a wide smile, her face crinkling up when she saw her grandchildren return. “Oh, Chenxi and the others are back. Just looking at your Jiao Jiao, she’s so white. She looks like a little fairy under the Bodhisattva. How is it that she’s so much fairer than the other children, when she’s been brought up right here by the sea? She’s a sight for sore eyes, she is.”
“What is she holding? Is that a sea snail? It’s massive.” A few other elderly women of Grandma Yun’s age were sitting by the door, weaving fishing nets, chatting, and working together.
“Grandma.” Yun Jiao ran over, hugging the coconut whelk. “Grandma, look at the big sea snail I found.” Grandma Yun’s smile widened. “Good, good, our Jiao Jiao is so capable.”
Little Yun Jiao snuggled into Grandma Yun’s arms, her dark, bright eyes looking at the other elderly women, and she sweetly greeted each one of them. Older people are fond of well-behaved, pretty, and sweet-talking children, and Yun Jiao fit the bill perfectly. The elderly women reached into their pockets and gave her little things. They were all small, cheap items, like a bit of candy that had been kept for who knows how long, a tiny green jujube, or a few small dried fish. Yun Jiao didn’t turn her nose up at them, accepting them and thanking each person politely.
(This chapter is complete)