The GORGEOUS Mermaid Who Lands in the Eighties: Nine Brothers and Endless Pampering! - Chapter 8

After her afternoon nap, Yun Jiao played around the house. Her older brothers were still out, so she carried her little stool, munching on a sweet, fragrant roasted sweet potato, and headed to the village entrance with her mum and auntie. A few women from the village were already huddled together, chatting about this family’s and that family’s gossip, all while their hands kept busy with their tasks.
Yun Jiao settled down obediently, nibbling her sweet potato while keeping her ears pricked to catch their chatter.
At first, they were discussing the family’s own business. The baby green lobster, the leopard coral grouper, and that massive squaretail coral grouper that Yun Jiao, Yun Xiaowu, and the others had brought back from their foraging trip that day had spread throughout the entire village—and probably even reached the next one.
Such a big event certainly earned a top spot on the village’s hot topics list. When three or five people gathered, and the people involved were right there, of course, they had to talk about it.
Everyone envied their family’s sudden good fortune.
Shen Yunlian (her mum) and Wang Mei (her auntie) smiled, spoke humbly about the family being poor, and then swiftly changed the subject.
A person’s wealth should not be exposed; it was only because their family truly was poor right now that they didn’t have relatives turning up at the door trying to borrow money.
“Honestly, that Cai Jinhua is a dreadful person. Daya is her own flesh and bl00d, yet for a measly one hundred yuan bride price, she shoved her off to some divorcee ten years older. And I hear the man is disabled, to boot.”
“You don’t know her well enough. That woman treats her own daughter like a slave. I’ve never seen a mother like her in my life.”
Shen Yunlian asked, “Didn’t Yun Dana try to stop it?”
“Stop what? Half of that one hundred yuan bride price went to their son, and the other half he took to buy drinks and have a good time. He’s a useless, spineless coward. What can he do besides drink? The whole family relies on his wife and daughter to feed him. I reckon his son will grow up to be just as useless. It’s rich how Cai Jinhua goes around boasting that her boy is clever and destined for great things.”
That whole afternoon, Yun Jiao ate, played by herself, and occasionally helped her mum pass the fishing line. Time just slipped by.
It wasn’t until the school-going brother returned that the other brothers, who had been playing wildly outside, also came home.
However, the first thing they got was a hiding.
Wang Mei took one look at her son’s filthy clothes, and his trousers with a big rip in them, and her temper immediately flared up.
She grabbed the thick stick from behind the door, caught Yun Xiaoqi, and gave his bottom a thorough spanking.
“You messy little monkey! How many times a day do you expect me to change you? And your trousers have a hole—do you want to run around bare-bottomed instead of wearing them, eh?!”
“Ah! Mum, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It wasn’t on purpose!” Yun Xiaoqi bounced around like a frantic monkey.
“Yun Xiaoba, you stop right there too!”
Yun Xiaoba wasn’t so daft and took off running outside.
The little auntie (Wang Mei) chased him out with the stick.
Yun Xiaowu and the filthy Yun Xiaojiu laughed loudly at their brothers’ misfortune.
But their laughter soon died down.
Although Shen Yunlian’s temper was gentler than her sister-in-law’s, her own rowdy little monkey still deserved a good hiding! Yun Xiaowu was caught and got a few sharp slaps on the bum.
Yun Xiaojiu got the same treatment.
“Mum, I’m sorry, don’t be angry. I won’t dare to do it again next time.” That was the pitiful, begging Yun Xiaojiu.
“Aahhh!!! What’s the problem with a lad getting his clothes dirty when he’s out playing? I’m a proper bloke! Getting filthy just proves how tough I am! You lot shouldn’t be sticking your noses in!”
That was the proud and rebellious Yun Xiaowu.
And then Yun Xiaowu got even worse.
Shen Yunlian was utterly furious with her silly son.
“Change your clothes and wash them yourself! You’re washing all your own clothes and trousers from now on!”
Yun Xiaowu wiped his nose. “Fine, I’ll wash them myself then.”
“Little sister, look what I brought you.”
Right after getting a beating, Yun Xiaowu acted like nothing happened, his body caked in mud, as he scurried over to Yun Jiao.
Shen Yunlian warned him sternly, “Don’t get too close to your sister! If you get mud on her, wait till your father gets back—he’ll give you a proper thrashing!”
“I know, I know,” he mumbled.
Yun Xiaowu rummaged through his trouser pocket, eventually pulling out a few eels.
They writhed and twisted on the ground.
Yun Jiao gasped, “Fifth Brother, did you go catch eels?”
She squatted down and used a small twig to poke the long, snake-like creatures. Yun Xiaowu stood tall and puffed out his chest. He wiped his nose with his still-muddy hand, making his face even dirtier. “Yep. So Grandma can make soup for you.”
“Fifth Brother, you’re so nice. Have this to eat.”
She held out the little green jujube she was holding. It was a gift from one of the aunties she’d been chatting with earlier.
“What about me? Your Seventh Brother helped catch them too.”
“I helped as well.”
Yun Xiaoqi and Yun Xiaoba crowded around.
Yun Jiao looked up at them eagerly. “But I don’t have any more jujubes.”
“That’s alright. We’re going to pick guavas in the mountains in two days. They’ll be ripe soon.”
Yun Jiao’s eyes lit up, and she nodded.
She loved eating guavas.
Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe, the two brothers, returned, and the three women of the house had finished making dinner.
When they saw the especially prominent, large lobster meat on the dining table, Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
“Have we come into money? Is this a baby green lobster?!”
When did their family become so extravagant that they could afford to eat a green lobster?! How much did that one creature cost!
Grandma Yun said, “Our Jiao Jiao specifically asked to save this one so we could improve the family’s meal.”
Almost all of their dishes usually consisted of clams, oysters, and small, inexpensive miscellaneous fish, which everyone in the family was tired of. Clams and oysters didn’t have much meat, and one chopstick-full per person was usually all you got. But since the family was poor, that’s all they could afford.
Now, with this huge baby green lobster, everyone at the table stared at it.
During the meal, the chatterbox Yun Xiaowu excitedly recounted the day’s successes, focusing mainly on his little sister’s contribution.
They had earned over two hundred yuan that day, and smiles that wouldn’t fade were plastered across the faces of everyone, young and old.
Infected by the atmosphere, Yun Jiao’s soft eyes curved into a smile. The two adorable dimples at the corners of her mouth made the whole family absolutely adore her.
“Here, Jiao Jiao, eat more.”
Once they started eating, everyone sitting near Yun Jiao put a piece of tender yet firm, snow-white lobster meat into her bowl.
“Hurry up and eat,” Yun Xiaowu urged her.
Yun Jiao nodded and felt utterly satisfied after taking a bite.
Watching her eat, the Yun family couldn’t help but laugh.
With her cheeks absolutely jammed full, little Yun Jiao looked exactly like a soft, fluffy hamster diligently packing its pouches—it made everyone want to just scoop her up for a cuddle.
After dinner, Grandad Yun lit his pipe tobacco and, while the family was all together, brought up the matter of buying a boat.
“We don’t have much put away, mind. All the money we’ve got is only enough to buy a small wooden boat, but look, having our own little boat, even just for netting close to shore, is a darn sight better than working on other people’s ships as deckhands.”
The two elders laid all the family’s savings on the table.
“We’ll buy one boat, and save the rest of the money. When we’ve saved up a bit more, we’ll build two houses. We have too many children in this family; this old place isn’t big enough anymore.”
Building two houses… that meant splitting the family.
The file is now censored and ready! What would you like to do next? We could keep working on this chapter, or I could start drafting a character profile for Yun Xiaowu for you!