The GORGEOUS Mermaid Who Lands in the Eighties: Nine Brothers and Endless Pampering! - Chapter 24

The Cat’s Eye Snail had quite a bit of its meat poking out of its shell. If you scared it, it would squirt water and quickly pull itself back inside its protective casing.
Yun Jiao squeezed the snail’s flesh, and the water shot out even faster.
The meat looked incredibly tempting.
Yun Xiaowu saw the look on her face and knew exactly what she was thinking.
“You can’t eat that raw.”
Yun Jiao just glanced at him, turned her back, and sulked in silence.
Yun Xiaowu leaned in: “We’ll stir-fry it for you when we get back home.”
Yun Jiao cheered up instantly: “Okay!”
“This Cat’s Eye Snail is pretty huge, actually.”
Yun Xiaojiu and the others came running over, too: “Jiaojiao, Fifth Brother, what are you up to? Mum told us to come and watch you two so you don’t go too near the sea.”
“We’re fine, we just found some whelks here.”
Whoosh…
There was a loud splash out in the water. Everyone looked out towards the sea.
Yun Xiaowu gasped in surprise: “Oh! Is that the big sea turtle?”
Yun Xiaoliu: “That is one massive turtle.”
Yun Xiaoqi: “Brother, you know that turtle?”
Yun Xiaoba: “Wow… it’s swimming right toward us.”
Yun Xiaojiu: “Turtle, turtle!”
The sea turtle wasn’t shy. It held something in its mouth and made a beeline for them.
When they clearly saw what it was, Yun Xiaowu yelled: “Blimey, get out of here! That turtle is trying to give us a jellyfish as a thank you gift! That’s no favour, that’s an attack!”
With that, Yun Xiaowu hoisted Yun Jiao onto his shoulder and bolted.
Sea Turtle: ???
Its beady eyes stared at Yun Jiao being carried away, looking deeply hurt.
But you asked me to bring something yummy?
Yun Jiao kicked her short legs, struggling: “Brother, put me down! That’s a present the big sea turtle brought for me.”
Merfolk can eat jellyfish, too.
She’d had it before—it was crunchy and really springy, a great treat for a Mermaid.
Yun Xiaowu: “Eat what? Dad said that stuff is poisonous! If those jellyfish tentacles sting you, it’s going to hurt like mad, and people can actually die!”
“Quickly take that thing away! If you want to repay kindness, at least bring a decent fish!”
Standing far away, Yun Xiaowu pointed and gesticulated at the big sea turtle.
Yun Jiao stuck out her lip, all huffy and annoyed.
“Fifth Brother, can that thing truly not be eaten? If it’s poisonous, why is the sea turtle fine?”
“Fifth Brother, why did it catch a jellyfish?”
“Fifth Brother…”
She bombarded him with questions.
Yun Xiaowu: “I don’t know, stop asking me!”
The sea turtle looked towards Yun Jiao, as if asking if she still wanted it.
Yun Jiao, eyes welling up: “I can’t eat it! My brother won’t let me!”
Seeing her distress, Yun Xiaowu quickly reassured her: “Be a good girl, Jiaojiao. We’ll eat something else, not that thing.”
Sea Turtle: Right, I’ll just eat it then?
It dipped its head and quickly scarfed down the jellyfish.
Yun Jiao was even more upset watching that.
“I want scallops! I want a big fish!”
If she couldn’t have the jellyfish, she’d settle for scallops, fish, or even a sea snail.
Yun Xiaowu and the others scratched their heads: “Jiaojiao, are you talking to it?”
Yun Jiao nodded.
“It can’t understand you. How could an animal understand what we’re saying?”
Yun Jiao’s childish tone was firm: “It can.”
The sea turtle had already turned and headed back out to sea.
Yun Xiaoqi sighed: “I wonder if it’ll ever come back. It was trying to be nice, bringing us a present, even if we can’t actually eat it.”
“Come on, let’s head back. Mum’s calling us.”
Yun Jiao: “No.”
She was still waiting for food.
“Be a good girl, Jiaojiao, we’ll come back next time.”
Yun Jiao glanced over at her mother: “It’s still early. Mum and Auntie are still digging away.”
“Yun Xiaoqi.”
“Yes, Fifth Brother!”
“Go and tell Mum and Auntie that we’re just beachcombing here and we won’t run off.”
“Roger that!”
Yun Xiaoqi gave a playful military salute, then ran towards Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei.
He quickly ran back.
“My mum and my aunt said we have to keep a close eye on Jiaojiao.” Yun Jiao pouted, unhappy. Why are they only watching me?
“Right, let’s go, let’s go check over there.”
Taking Yun Jiao with them, they moved their location and ran towards the mudflats.
The bay’s mudflats were huge, and there were lots of people foraging for seafood there.
“Brother, I see a mud crab!”
Yun Jiao followed behind them, her sharp eyes scanning for treasure.
Her eyesight was way better than any normal person’s.
She quickly spotted an Ornate Crab tucked away in a rock crevice.
“Fifth Brother, there’s an Ornate Crab over there!”
Yun Xiaowu immediately followed the direction of her finger, poking into the rock crevice with his tongs. Sure enough, there was an Ornate Crab waving its claws aggressively.
“Excellent! That’s about three hundred grams, that is!”
Yun Jiao: “Cat’s Eye Snail.”
She found another Cat’s Eye Snail.
The Cat’s Eye Snail was buried in the sand, creating a small bump.
“There looks like a snail over there, let’s go have a peek.”
It was a pretty white sea snail that the tide had washed ashore.
When they picked it up, they realised it was just an empty shell; there was no meat inside.
Yun Jiao held the shell, which was bigger than her hand, and shook it: “There’s something inside.”
Yun Xiaowu took the shell and shook it hard. A few tiny tentacles popped out.
“Well, look at that! It’s a little white octopus.”
They kept the snail shell anyway because it was so lovely, and Yun Jiao liked it.
“Jiaojiao, your luck is fantastic and your eyes are sharp! You’ve found loads of stuff already. Point in another direction and we’ll keep looking.”
Yun Jiao closed her eyes and pointed randomly.
The brothers genuinely took her in that direction.
A few minutes later…
“No way!”
“Wow! So many clams! Why do these look different from the ones we usually eat?”
Yun Xiaowu quickly splashed into the small pool of water.
“You daft thing! These are Bl00d Clams!”
Bl00d Clams are different from common clams; the meat inside is red, making it look like it’s bleeding.
They don’t sell cheaply, either.
“Ha ha! A whole nest of Bl00d Clams!”
Some of the Bl00d Clams had opened up, revealing the tender, red flesh inside.
They look incredibly good.
That was Yun Jiao’s private opinion.
They excitedly picked up the Bl00d Clams. Yun Jiao also stretched out her little arms and grabbed one.
Then, turning her back on her brothers, she secretly pried it open and ate the meat inside.
Yummy!
She only ate one, though. The rest needed to be sold for money.
“Jiaojiao, have you been secretly nibbling on something?”
Yun Jiao shook her head, absolutely refusing to confess.
“Your mouth isn’t clean!”
Yun Jiao quickly wiped her mouth and continued to gaze innocently at her brother with her big eyes, shaking her head: “I haven’t been secretly eating.”
“Honestly, why do you love eating seafood raw? It’s so fishy—I don’t know how you stomach it!”
They collected just over a kilogram of Bl00d Clams from that spot.
After gathering them, they still weren’t ready to stop: “Jiaojiao, point in a direction again, and we’ll keep searching.”
Yun Jiao spun around in place and pointed randomly: “Over there.”
This time, following her direction, they searched for ages without finding anything great. It was Yun Jiao herself, poking around with her small spade, who finally hit upon a shell.
It was a Moon Clam.
It was the size of her palm. The shell looked full, with a pale purple inner ring and a white crescent shape on the outside.
It was a beautiful shell.
“It’s a Moon Clam.”
“Are there any more?”
Yun Jiao stared at the tiny, almost invisible air holes in the sand. She poked her small spade in again.
This time, she had to dig a lot deeper, but it was another Moon Clam.
“Look!”
(End of Chapter)