Chapter 1: Became A Little Infant
“Don’t blame me. Blame yourself for being born into that bitch’s womb. Die early and reincarnate quickly.”
In a daze, Yun Jiao heard a woman say this, followed by a feeling of weightlessness.
“Plop…”
In an instant, she was enveloped by seawater.
Yun Jiao subconsciously flailed her arms and tail, but she quickly realized her tail seemed to be… gone.
In the dark, anyone coming this way would surely exclaim that the one thrown into the sea was an infant.
For a normal child, sinking into the sea would lead to drowning before long.
But at this moment, the little infant was infused with the soul of a Merfolk from the deep sea of another world.
The seawater posed no harm to her; instead, it felt familiar and comforting, and she didn’t feel uncomfortable with it covering her face.
After an unknown amount of time, Yun Jiao tiredly closed her eyes, her tiny body drifting with the waves.
The fish in the sea discovered this anomaly. Some curiously swam closer to look, but none harmed her; instead, they circled her.
Suddenly, an enormous sea turtle swam over.
The giant sea turtle circled the sleeping infant twice, then decisively took her small clothes in its mouth and swam in a certain direction.
Early morning…
As dawn broke, the sky was still somewhat dark, but a single ray of light was enough for people to see the situation on the beach clearly.
In 1980, resources were still scarce, especially for those living in small fishing villages by the sea. To fill their stomachs, they had to go to the seaside to find food every day. If they were lucky, they might even find some valuable seafood to sell for money to supplement the family’s income.
The tide had just receded, and the villagers, timing it perfectly, groggily carried buckets to the beach for tide pooling.
Seeing more and more people, Yun Xiaowu headed towards a more remote area.
He had a secret spot there where he could always find good things; no one else knew about it besides him.
“Eh, a big catch!”
Seeing what appeared to be a large object moving on the reef from a distance, Yun Xiaowu sprinted towards it.
But upon getting closer, he was startled.
It was actually a giant sea turtle!
“Good heavens, such a big sea turtle.”
The light in his eyes disappeared.
He thought it was a big fish, but it turned out to be a sea turtle!
He would have been happy to find turtle eggs, but it was the turtle itself.
According to their local custom, a sea turtle was the Dragon King’s Turtle Prime Minister, and eating such a creature would bring bad luck.
People who lived by the sea were very superstitious.
Yun Xiaowu walked over and patted the giant sea turtle’s shell: “Turtle Prime Minister, why did you come ashore? Hurry back into the sea.”
The sea turtle moved its somewhat cumbersome body, turned its head, and placed something by Yun Xiaowu’s feet.
Yun Xiaowu looked down and then let out a sharp scream.
A baby, it was a baby!!!
Yun Xiaowu’s face turned pale with fright, thinking the baby was dead.
The sea turtle looked at him as if he were an idiot.
It nudged the still sleeping Yun Jiao closer to him again.
Yun Xiaowu came to his senses and then, with trembling hands, looked at the baby carefully.
Upon closer inspection, he saw that although the infant’s clothes were wet, her complexion was rosy and she was breathing.
He quickly picked up the infant, and the sea turtle, as if having completed a task, dropped the child to him and crawled back into the sea.
Yun Xiaowu’s visible panic set in: “Wait, Turtle Prime Minister, hold on!”
It was no use; the Turtle Prime Minister had already disappeared into the sea.
Yun Xiaowu:………..
What to do? He went out and found a baby.
Hesitating, he couldn’t just leave the child there, so he carefully held the infant in his arms and ran home.
Taking a closer look, this child was really beautiful.
………..
“What did you say? What did you bring back?!”
Early in the morning, a roar came from Yun Mu’s house.
Yun Jiao slowly woke up amidst the roaring.
She opened her eyes and made an unconscious grunt.
Instantly, everyone in the dilapidated room focused their gaze on the infant Yun Xiaowu was holding.
Yun Jiao moved her limbs, feeling as if she were bound by something. Her small face wrinkled, and she tried to struggle fiercely.
But after struggling for a long time without success, Yun Jiao became a bit angry, and her sounds turned into the innocent cries of a baby.
Yun Jiao:???
Yun Jiao:!!!
What had she become!
“Quickly change this baby into dry clothes.”
The Yun family members sprang into action. As Yun Xiaowu’s mother was changing the infant, she exclaimed.
“Father, Mother, this is a baby girl!”
Yun Jiao’s eyes widened as she looked at the people leaning in, “What is this?”
A baby girl! All the men in the room became excited.
“Everyone move aside, let the old woman have a look.”
Old Madam Yun pushed her son aside and looked down, her face beaming with joy.
“It truly is a baby girl, and such a beautiful baby girl! Her little arms and legs are so fair and delicate, and her big eyes look so lively! Her little face is also beautiful, truly beautiful, almost like a little attendant serving a deity.”
Several heads crowded around to admire her.
Everyone chimed in: “She’s so beautiful, is she really a little sister?”
“Xiaowu, where did you find her?”
“Father, why don’t we raise her?”
Seeing that everyone liked the milky little baby, Yun Xiaowu immediately puffed out his chest, no longer feeling guilty.
He said mysteriously, “You probably won’t believe it, but this baby was given to me by the Dragon King.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his father hit him on the forehead.
“Talk normally, or I’ll beat you to death!”
Yun Xiaowu jumped: “I’m telling the truth! Although I didn’t see the Dragon King, I saw the Turtle Prime Minister. There was such a big sea turtle, and this baby was given to me by that sea turtle.”
Seeing that he didn’t seem to be lying, the Yun family was shocked.
Old Man Yun took a couple of draws from his pipe stem filled with dried tobacco.
“I’ll go find the Village Chief and ask if any families in nearby fishing villages have lost a child. If not…”
He looked at the fair-skinned baby girl and hardened his heart: “Then we’ll raise her!”
It wasn’t that the entire family was so delighted for no reason; it was simply that their family had a “sun shining, moon waning” situation.
Out of the dozen or so people in the entire household, only the three elders were women; the younger generation was all boys.
Nine children, all boys.
Others envied their family for having so many boys, but only those involved knew how difficult it was to support so many boys and mouths to feed.
As it was, their family was currently the poorest in Bailong Village.
It wasn’t that Old Man Yun and his wife wanted to keep having children. The main reason was that in this era, especially in the countryside, there were few effective birth control measures. If they became pregnant and couldn’t bear to abort, they could only give birth.
Later, after having Xiao Jiu, they learned about intrauterine devices for women, and the two women in the family underwent the procedure without hesitation; any more children would mean eating the north wind.
“Are we really going to raise her? But given our situation, how can we raise another child?”
Another woman’s voice rang out.
Hearing this, Yun Xiaowu, like a protective cub, held Yun Jiao, still swaddled in her arms.
“Uncle and Aunt don’t have to, our family will raise her. She’s the one I found, my sister.”
Aunt Yun put her hands on her hips: “Stinky kid, do you think raising a child is as easy as raising a kitten or puppy? She’s so small now, she’ll definitely need milk. Where are we going to find milk?”
“Then I’ll carry my sister to borrow milk.”
