The GORGEOUS Mermaid Who Lands in the Eighties: Nine Brothers and Endless Pampering! - Chapter 19

After leaving that narrow alleyway, Yun Linhe and Yun Chenxi finally managed to get their excitement under control. Yun Linhe thought for a moment, then pulled out a crisp ten-yuan note—a ‘Great Unity’—and handed it straight to Yun Jiao.
“Jiaojiao, here’s ten quid, all yours. Get whatever you fancy. We’ve got more than enough left over for the house now.”
The pearl had been her find, so handing her ten yuan felt right to everyone.
Yun Jiao didn’t stand during the ceremony. Clutching the money with her two soft, fair hands, she flashed them a sweet, beaming smile.
“Tins! Tins!”
She’d been absolutely dying for tinned food for ages.
“Ha ha ha, alright, let’s go buy some right now.”
Yun Linhe carefully tucked the rest of the money into the innermost pocket, right against his chest. They couldn’t lose this; thieves were sharp back then.
The two men took Yun Jiao straight to the city’s biggest department store.
Although individual businesses were quietly sprouting up, people still preferred shopping at the main department store because it genuinely had the most comprehensive range of goods.
Inside, the place was packed with dazzling commodities, and there were several types of tinned food that Yun Jiao immediately wanted.
They had meat tins and fruit tins. Since they lived near the coast, most of the meat tins were various types of fish, tinned shrimp paste, and, naturally, tinned pork.
“Excuse me, Comrade, which of these tastes the best?”
The sales assistant in the tinned food section was friendly and enthusiastic: “Hello, Comrade, what sort of tin are you looking for?”
“Meat, I think, and we’ll take some fruit tins too.”
“Our best-selling meat tins are this braised pork, the tinned shrimp paste, and this tinned dace with black bean sauce. For fruit, the best sellers are the tinned yellow peach in syrup, and the tinned pineapple in syrup is also quite popular…”
Yun Linhe quickly dismissed the fish and shrimp paste; they lived by the sea and were sick of eating it.
“Excuse me, Comrade, could you grab us that braised pork tin and the yellow peach tin.”
The braised pork cost two yuan fifty cents, and the tinned yellow peach was one yuan eighty cents.
Just those two tins used up over four yuan.
Yun Linhe’s heart genuinely ached watching the money go. Could their family really afford this kind of luxury?
The two tins were handed over to the greedy little Yun Jiao to hold.
The little girl opened her mouth and tried to take a bite out of the metal lid.
Yun Linhe & Yun Chenxi: … (A long sigh). They were used to this. Completely used to it.
They smiled awkwardly, scooped up Yun Jiao, and headed off.
“Jiaojiao, we have to open the tin first, love. Let’s grab the other bits, and we can tuck in once we’re outside.”
Yun Jiao released the lid. “Oh.”
Cuddled in her second older brother’s arms, her large eyes rolled everywhere. “Those custard cakes.”
“And I want White Rabbit toffee.”
“Fruit rolls, and fizzy drinks, I want two—no, three bottles, and biscuits.”
Finally, they stopped at the toy section. Yun Jiao squatted on the floor, looking at toy pistols and catapults.
“Toys, buy them for my brothers.”
Yun Linhe smiled bitterly: “Jiaojiao, we don’t have enough money. We can’t just buy one pistol and one catapult; they’ll end up fighting over them.”
Yun Jiao scrunched up her little brow, her eyes scanning the shelves before finally landing on a metal box crammed with dazzling, beautiful glass marbles.
They were round like perfect little pearls and came in all sorts of colors.
She remembered Yun Zhuangzhuang, Cai Jinhua’s precious son, had a few marbles, and when he showed them off in the village, all the children were incredibly jealous. Her own brothers were envious, too.
However, they only watched and never played with Yun Zhuangzhuang because that spoiled boy and his sister had once snatched her sweets.
Although Yun Jiao had slapped him and bitten his hand at the time, Cai Jinhua later brought her crying precious son to their home to cause a huge fuss.
Naturally, they were driven out by their fierce auntie and their protective Grandma Yun and Great-Grandma Yun.
The little girl suddenly felt heroic; if others had them, her brothers should too. They didn’t need to envy anyone!
“This one.”
She pointed at the marbles.
Marbles weren’t expensive. You could get five for a ten-cent coin. “Big Brother, Second Brother, don’t you want any?”
Yun Chenxi felt a surge of warmth in his heart. Yun Jiao’s age usually only ever think about food or playing by themselves.
But their Jiaojiao, though she loved to eat, always thought of her family.
“Big Brother and I don’t play with these, and your Third and Fourth Brothers don’t either. You can buy them for Fifth Brother and the others.”
They used to envy the toys other children had, but they were long past the age for playing with these things now.
Yun Chenxi couldn’t help but feel a little envious of Yun Xiaowu and the others.
Having a sister like this was truly wonderful.
Yun Jiao bought twenty cents’ worth for each of her brothers, five through nine. She carefully selected the glass marbles she thought were the prettiest and had the best colors.
By this point, her ten yuan was practically gone.
The three of them left the department store, laden with their purchases.
On the way back, they took the public bus again. This time, Yun Linhe sat by the window, and Yun Chenxi sat on the outside, mainly to protect the money.
Yun Jiao sat in her little uncle’s lap, slowly gnawing on a fragrant, fluffy custard cake.
She was afraid that if she ate too fast, it would be gone immediately.
The custard cake in her hand made a little boy in the opposite row of seats desperately crave one.
“Grandma, I want a custard cake too.”
The little boy began to pester his grandmother, crying out loud.
The old woman holding the little boy turned her head and saw Yun Jiao eating the custard cake.
Yun Jiao wrinkled her nose and immediately turned her back to them.
The little boy wailed, thrashing his arms and legs: “Grandma, I want to eat custard cake! I don’t care, I just want custard cake!”
The noise made everyone on the bus uncomfortable.
“Lads, look at my grandson. He’s kicking up a fuss, he’s only little, and that custard cake…”
“No.”
Yun Jiao immediately clutched the entire bag of custard cakes to her chest.
The old woman’s face immediately darkened. “The grown-ups haven’t even said anything yet! Why’s a kid trying to butt in?”
Yun Linhe smiled protectively: “Granny, the custard cakes are our daughter’s, and frankly, there aren’t enough for her to have many of herself anyway.”
The old woman retorted: “Oh, don’t be so mean, young man. You’ve still got loads there.”
That was an unkind thing to say. Would he only stop being stingy if he gave it to her?
Yun Chenxi simply rolled his eyes.
Yun Linhe said: “It’s not loads at all. We’ve got a huge family; this wouldn’t even stretch to everyone.”
Hearing this, the old woman pulled a face and said directly to her grandson.
“Well, Grandma hasn’t got a custard cake. Go cry and bother the person who does have one then.”
Hearing that, the little boy actually ran over to Yun Linhe’s side and started to make a scene.
“Custard cake, I want a custard cake, I want a custard cake…”
Yun Linhe and Yun Chenxi’s faces immediately turned ugly; this was truly appalling behavior.
Some people on the bus couldn’t stand it: “Granny, why are you like that? Control your grandson!”
Who would willingly share their precious food with others these days? Those custard cakes weren’t cheap.
The old woman glared back: “It’s none of your business. If he wants a custard cake, why don’t one of you just give him one and he’ll shut up?”
“Honestly, how are you raising that child? Even a single custard cake costs two cents! Why don’t you go and buy one yourself?”
The old woman argued with several people single-handedly, while Yun Linhe and Yun Chenxi, the two adults, couldn’t figure out what to do about a child.
Yun Jiao, fierce yet totally childish, roared: “Shut up! I’ll eat you if you make another sound!”
Her eyes fixed on him, carrying the raw ferocity she had when hunting prey in her previous life.
(The end of this chapter)