The GORGEOUS Mermaid Who Lands in the Eighties: Nine Brothers and Endless Pampering! - Chapter 6

Suddenly, Yun Jiao, walking right between her older brothers, felt a sharp, nasty glare aimed straight at her.
She turned her head to look and immediately met the eyes of an eight-year-old girl in the crowd.
The girl clearly hadn’t expected Yun Jiao to look back; she flinched for just a second, then quickly shot a defiant look back before turning tail and running off, bucket clutched tight in her hand.
Yun Jiao gave a small sneer and dismissed her.
She knew the culprit: Yun Zhaodi.
She was from the same village, vaguely related to the Yun family, and a constant nuisance.
Yun Jiao was well used to it. For reasons she couldn’t fathom, Yun Zhaodi had strongly disliked her from day one.
When Yun Jiao was barely walking and talking, Zhaodi had even tried to nick her sweets when her family wasn’t nearby.
Yun Jiao was only a tiny one-year-old then, but she wasn’t one to take a beating. She immediately clamped down on Zhaodi’s hand with a savage bite, making her scream loudly in pain.
Her brothers heard the racket and sprinted over to give Zhaodi a piece of their mind.
But that just made Zhaodi dislike her even more. She frequently egged on her foolish younger brother to try and steal Yun Jiao’s things.
Yun Jiao’s first ever proper scrap after being reborn as a human child was against the boy, Yun Zhuangzhuang. Though she was a good deal smaller than him, she made the chubby little oaf cry loudly.
Hmph. I’m a deep-sea hunter, you know!
“What’s up?”
Noticing Yun Jiao had zoned out, Yun Xiaowu thought she might be tired.
Yun Jiao immediately pointed where Zhaodi had fled and tattled without hesitation: “Brother, I just saw Yun Zhaodi, and she was glaring at me.”
Yun Xiaowu instantly flew off the handle: “That Yun Zhaodi must be out of her mind! What’s the point of a big girl like her always bullying a little kid?!”
Yun Xiaoqi rubbed her little sister’s head: “Yun Zhaodi’s just dead jealous of our Jiao Jiao!”
“Good job, she made a quick getaway. Listen, sis, make sure you keep well clear of her if you’re ever on your own. You’re tiny; you won’t stand a chance against Yun Zhaodi.”
Yun Jiao nodded obediently.
In truth, she was quite strong. She couldn’t fight at one because her body was still underdeveloped and her walking was shaky.
But now, at three, she was discovering that some of her mermaid powers from her previous life were slowly waking up.
Things like incredible hearing, a burning desire for the ocean, and… the ability to breathe underwater.
She’d found that last one out when she dunked her face into the washbasin.
She hadn’t tried it in the sea yet. Whenever they went out, her brothers were always there, and every time she tried to bolt towards the water, they’d scoop her up like a little chicken, constantly warning her off the sea.
“Come on, come on! This fish will drop in value if it dies.”
They quickly hurried home to find the grown-ups.
Only Grandma and Grandpa Yun were at the house.
“Grandpa! Grandma! We’re home!”
Yun Jiao’s soft, sweet little voice followed the booming shouts of her older brothers.
Her gentle, milky tone was a lovely contrast to the lads’ racket.
Grandpa Yun was mending nets in the yard but dropped them instantly when he heard the shout.
“Jiao Jiao’s back! Come and give Grandpa a hug.”
Yun Xiaoqi whined loudly: “Grandpa, you always play favorites! You only ever think of our little sister. What about us?”
The three boys looked incredibly pleased with themselves: “Look at the amazing stuff we brought back!”
Grandpa Yun instantly spotted the massive fish Yun Xiaowu was lugging and the small spiny lobster Yun Jiao was cradling.
His eyes immediately bugged out.
“Wait, wait… Did you just find all of this on the beach?!”
Grandma Yun came rushing out of the house, still clutching a cooking spatula. She’d clearly been in the middle of dinner prep.
“Oh my goodness, my sweet children! How on earth did you get so much?”
Grandpa Yun quickly picked up the tiger grouper and told his wife to grab a big bucket and put some water in it.
The grouper was still alive, though not quite as energetic as when they’d first caught it.
“And there’s a leopard coral grouper, too!”
“So many spiny lobsters! Did you wipe out a whole lobster nest today?!”
“Mazu bless and Dragon King protect! How lucky are we?” Grandma Yun looked at everything, her eyes practically shut with laughter.
Yun Xiaowu and the others stuck their chins out: “We’re brilliant, aren’t we? Carrying this huge fish nearly did me in.”
Grandpa Yun thought, Plenty of folks would happily be ‘done in’ for this kind of haul, his face crinkling up with sheer joy.
“Quickly, quickly! Get them down to the buyers while they’re still fresh.”
Yun Jiao looked down at the spiny lobster in her arms.
“Can we keep just one, please?”
She wanted a taste, and it would be a nice treat for the family.
If it had been any other child, the two elders would have certainly given them a sharp earful, asking why on earth they should keep it—did they have gold stomachs to be eating such fancy grub?
But seeing their soft, pale little granddaughter looking so hopeful, Grandma Yun managed to fight back her worry about the expense and conceded.
“Alright, we’ll keep one. We’ll keep the spiny lobster that Jiao Jiao is holding.”
Yun Jiao instantly broke into a beautiful, innocent smile, her eyes turning into happy crescents.
She was already a delicate, beautiful child, like a little white kitten, and when she smiled, she was simply gorgeous and sweet.
Anyone who wasn’t spiteful towards Yun Jiao couldn’t help but feel their heart soften looking at her.
Grandpa Yun affectionately cuddled his sweet-smelling little granddaughter: “Right, let’s go and sell our catch.”
They went back to Yun Wang’s purchasing spot.
As a relative, he was known to give a decent price.
When he saw the whole family turn up, Yun Wang beamed as though welcoming a millionaire.
“Uncle, I heard people talking! Xiaowu and the lads have apparently found some cracking stuff today.”
The folks gathered around the station all crowded in for a look.
That tiger grouper really was a spectacular sight.
If fishermen had caught it with nets out at sea, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but this had been picked up by a few kids while scavenging on the shore.
Who wouldn’t be envious of that sort of luck?
Grandpa Yun chuckled loudly: “Ah Wang, come on over and figure out how much this lot is worth.”
Yun Wang stepped out, took one look, and his eyes instantly popped.
“Blimey! You kids found all of this yourselves?”
Quite a few villagers had followed the Yun family to witness the excitement, filled with raw jealousy and admiration.
If they couldn’t have the luck, they could at least get an eyeful of someone else’s good fortune.
Yun Xiaowu and the other children stood tall, puffing out their chests like victorious generals.
“Third Uncle, we caught all of this! It’s all down to our little sister leading the way; that’s how we caught so much. Our sister’s lucky charm!”
Her other brothers nodded enthusiastically.
Yun Jiao, currently munching on a crispy radish that her grandma had given her, wasn’t at all shy about the attention, happily crunching away with plump, round cheeks.
She was adorable.
She really did look like a child blessed with good fortune.
Right then, many people started murmuring to themselves, wondering if she really was a Lucky Doll.
It seemed that ever since they took her in, old man Yun’s family always managed to find something brilliant whenever they went beachcombing.
Regardless of what people were thinking, Yun Wang was already impatiently starting to weigh the seafood.
Only the tiger grouper wasn’t particularly valuable in this haul, but it was heavy.
The final tally showed: the four spiny lobsters weighed 15 catties (about 7.5 kg). Spiny lobsters over three catties were quite expensive, and since they were rare and delicious, Yun Wang knew they’d sell quickly. At 12 Yuan per catty, the total was 180 Yuan.
The leopard coral grouper was also highly valued. It wasn’t just its lucky red color and tender flesh; its main draw was its rarity.
Rarity means value. At 10 Yuan per catty for a fish over three catties, this one weighed 3.6 catties, coming to 36 Yuan.
Finally, the tiger grouper weighed 8.3 catties, and at 1.2 Yuan per catty, it came to 9.96 Yuan.
(End of this chapter)