The GORGEOUS Mermaid Who Lands in the Eighties: Nine Brothers and Endless Pampering! - Chapter 26

Yun Jiao was itching to bite him, but the boy was absolutely filthy—it looked like he hadn’t washed in ages. She pulled back in disgust.
So, she settled for smacking him, hard, right across the face.
“Waaah, waaah, waaah… I’m telling my mum to all of you!”
Yun Jiao gave him a kick. “Wimp!”
Yun Xiao Jiu chimed in, “Just a useless baby who runs crying to his parents!”
In the end, Yun Zhuangzhuang and his cousin were thoroughly beaten and scurried away, looking pitiful.
Yun Xiao Jiu immediately reported, “Fifth Brother, when you were fighting, Yun Zhuangzhuang tried to hit you with a big stone.”
Yun Xiao Wu was furious. “That little brat! Next time I see him, I’m going to beat him so hard his own mother won’t know who he is!”
The outing had been completely spoiled; they didn’t get to play marbles and their mood was ruined by Yun Zhuangzhuang.
Their faces were grim when they got home.
What made it even worse was that Cai Jinhua and her sister—Yun Zhuangzhuang’s cousin’s mother—actually came marching up to their door to kick up a fuss.
“Just look at this! Both our boys have been badly beaten by your lot! If you can’t raise children properly, why on earth do you have so many? And that little rascal of yours even dared to hit my son’s face! Bring her out here, I’m going to teach her a lesson she won’t forget today!”
Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei spun around, each grabbing a broom, and immediately started swinging.
“Our children are perfectly well-behaved! Cai Jinhua, is your mouth full of rubbish, or what? Who do you think you are, to lecture my Jiaojiao? You need to sort out your own son first!”
Yun Xiao Wu rushed forward. “Mum, Auntie—Yun Zhuangzhuang tried to smash my head with a stone. My sister saw it and that’s why she hit him.”
Yun Xiao Qi added, “Mum, Yun Zhuangzhuang brought his cousin to beat us up, and he wouldn’t even let us play with our glass marbles.”
“Exactly! We would have been badly hurt if there weren’t so many of us.”
The two women started hitting them even harder: “Shameless wretches! Trying to throw stones at people! You’ve got some nerve, coming here and telling tales! Since you haven’t raised your son right, then us adults will teach the mother a lesson instead!”
Cai Jinhua and her sister were promptly beaten off the property.
“You bunch of maniacs, just you wait! I’m not letting this go!” Cai Jinhua spat a final threat as she left.
But no one gave her words a second thought.
“Jiaojiao, are you hurt at all?”
Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei checked the children from head to toe, finally relaxing when they confirmed no one was injured.
Grandma Yun came out, too.
“That Cai Jinhua is getting more and more brazen. The way she’s raising her boy, something bad will happen eventually.”
She treats her daughter like a slave, yet she spoils that son of hers completely. No matter what trouble Yun Zhuangzhuang causes, she always runs after him to create a scene and clear up his mess.
“But our Jiaojiao is good. We don’t go looking for trouble, but we’re certainly not afraid of it either.”
Yun Jiao nodded. “Grandma, that smells lovely.”
“The food’s done. Just waiting for your Grandpa and the others to get back for dinner.”
“Yun Xiao Wu, go call your Grandpa and them.”
“Okay, Mum.”
The construction workers were only given lunch; they went back to their own homes for dinner in the afternoon.
Food was precious that year, and no family in the village provided three meals a day for the workers.
The family gathered and started eating. Grandma Yun picked up a garlic scallop and placed it in Yun Jiao’s bowl.
“Thank you, Grandma.”
The scallops were steamed, with the seasoned garlic and chilli paste placed on top. The meat was tender and delicious.
There wasn’t a lot of chilli or garlic, but it was just enough to draw out the wonderful flavour.
If she hadn’t been stopped, Yun Jiao could easily have devoured a dozen of them!
It was a shame there weren’t that many to begin with.
“Today when they were out foraging, Jiaojiao and Xiao Wu found a huge yellow croaker, two and a half kilos! I’ve never seen one that big before. Plus some bl00d clams. Our family sold another thirty-four yuan and nine mao today.”
Hearing the news, the entire family was thrilled.
Father Yun announced, “Tomorrow, we’re going to look at boats. If we can, we’ll buy one straight away. Our life is going to get better and better.”
Yun Jiao looked up, her voice soft with a sweet plea, “Daddy, I want to come too.”
It was the natural instinct of a child. She wanted to see the boat, and if possible, sail straight back home on it. Since she couldn’t jump into the sea, getting closer to it was the next best thing.
“Alright, Jiaojiao can come with Daddy tomorrow.”
They were looking for a second-hand wooden boat. They had made arrangements with the owner beforehand, so when they arrived, the owner took them straight to see it.
“This wooden boat is a bit old, yes, but we’ve taken good care of it; there’s nothing broken. It’s eight metres long, and three hundred and twenty yuan is definitely a fair price for you.”
Yun Linhai inspected the boat thoroughly; he needed to see it for himself to feel confident.
Yun Jiao, meanwhile, had already scrambled aboard.
The boat’s interior reeked of a mix of fish and sea, and it was quite grubby.
An eight-metre-long wooden boat was certainly a decent size.
The boat was sound, but they still had a bit of haggling to do over the price.
They finally settled on three hundred and ten yuan.
“Can you throw in a fishing rod?”
Yun Jiao pointed to the rod lying in the corner, which was basically just a bamboo stick with a line and a hook attached.
At this time, professional fishing rods weren’t sold here; most were handmade.
Few people went line fishing at sea; they mostly used nets or traps.
“Go on, take it. The rod’s just been sitting here unused anyway.”
“Thank you.”
Yun Jiao thanked him sweetly and politely, her soft voice making the uncle who gave her the rod feel rather pleased.
When she took the fishing rod, Yun Jiao noticed it was a little heavy, but her current strength was enough to handle it easily.
“Daddy, are we sailing her home?”
Father Yun was excitedly rubbing his hands together. Their family finally owned their very own boat.
“Come on, aboard! Daddy will row.”
Father Yun grew up by the sea, and although his family had never owned a boat before, he had often worked on other boats and knew exactly how to operate this one.
Soon, their newly bought boat was moving across the sea.
“Jiaojiao, hold tight! We’re setting out to sea!”
The sheer joy was radiating from his voice.
The village where they bought the boat and Bailong Village were next to each other, so the distance wasn’t too far, but it would still take a while to paddle.
Yun Jiao sat steadily on the boat, a tiny, soft bundle of white, playing with her new fishing rod.
She threaded a dried tiny shrimp onto the hook.
It was one of the small snacks her mother had packed for her, and she was now using it as bait.
The hook, baited with the dried shrimp, was tossed into the sea. Yun Jiao gazed at the endless ocean. If she hadn’t been worried about her father, she really would have wanted to jump in.
Compared to the ocean, their little wooden fishing boat was small enough to be insignificant.
The boat moved slowly across the surface, when suddenly, there was a sharp, powerful tug on the rod in her hand.
The sudden jerk almost yanked Yun Jiao into the sea.
Yun Jiao reacted instantly, pulling the fish up with force.
It was a black sea bream, weighing about a kilo, a common fish near the shore. Its price at the purchasing point was relatively low, fluctuating around thirty to forty pence.
One dried shrimp snack had bought her a one-kilo fish—Yun Jiao was quite pleased.
She bent over, sticking her bottom out, and grunted as she carried the fish to toss it aside.
Sitting on the deck, she took out all the dried shrimps she had left. There were only twelve remaining.
(End of Chapter)