Chapter 22: Yun Jiao’s Song
Yun Jiao later learned that Cai Jinhua had spoken ill of her again.
But her aunt scolded her back on her behalf.
Hmph, ever since she refused to give her fruit last time, she’d become even more resentful.
But Yun Jiao wouldn’t let Cai Jinhua ruin her mood.
Yun Xiaowu and his friends, holding glass marbles, had clearly become the little kings of Bailong Village, with a bunch of ‘little brothers’ following them everywhere they went.
Yun Jiao either went tide pooling with them or played with her older brothers, too busy to pay any attention to Cai Jinhua.
“Jiaojiao, come here, glass marbles are fun, you should play too.”
Yun Jiao watched her brothers lying on the ground, with their bottoms in the air, playing marbles, and shook her head in refusal.
“I don’t want to.”
She was a clean little cub.
“Come on, just try it.”
Yun Xiaowu slipped a marble into her hand.
Yun Jiao squatted on the ground, definitely not lying down like her brothers.
“Use this one to hit the marbles on the ground over there. If you hit one, it’s yours.”
Yun Jiao looked at the red glass marble in her hand, and her soft, white little hand tossed it.
“Plink…”
“Wow! I hit it!”
“It went so far.”
“Jiaojiao is amazing.”
Her brothers immediately lavished her with praise.
Yun Jiao’s lips curved upward, her eyes bright and beautiful, especially when she smiled, her large eyes curving into little crescents, so soft they made people want to pet her.
The little boys around them couldn’t help but glance at her a few more times, envying Yun Xiaowu and his friends for having such a beautiful younger sister.
“Jiaojiao, keep playing.”
After playing marbles with her brothers for a while, Yun Jiao found it boring.
She wanted to go to the sea more.
“Brothers, I want to go to the sea.”
Yun Xiaowu said, “That’s not okay. Father and Eldest Brother are busy building houses, and we can’t go into the sea without them watching.”
Yun Jiao pouted, unhappy.
When she was unhappy, her eyebrows drooped, her large eyes were watery, and her lips were pursed downwards, looking pitiful and wronged.
Her brothers felt immense heartache.
“Let’s go find Mom and Aunt. They’re going tide pooling to get more food for the family. We can’t go into the sea, but we can play by the seaside.”
Fine, that was the only option.
Yun Xiaowu and the others stopped playing their beloved marbles, greeted their friends, and left with their sister.
A few girls not far away were extremely envious.
“Yun Xiaowu and them are really good to Yun Jiao.”
As girls themselves, they weren’t allowed to play when they came out; they had to pick up firewood to take back, otherwise, they’d get beaten.
Actually, Yun Jiao wasn’t the only girl in the village who was doted on by her family; she was just more prominent.
An adopted daughter, doted on by all her brothers and the adults in the family.
Without comparison, children who weren’t favored at home envied her even more.
“Hmph, what’s so great about her, she’ll still have to get married in the future.”
Yun Zhaodi thought with malice, “Perhaps Yun Xiaowu’s family is only so good to her because she’s pretty, and they think they can get a good price for her later!”
Her eldest sister was sold like that. They called it marriage, but what the situation actually was, even though Yun Zhaodi was young, she knew.
“What are you talking about? Be careful if they hear you, you won’t get away with it!”
Yun Zhaodi’s third sister scolded.
Yun Zhaodi rolled her eyes at her, “Hmph, we’ll just wait and see.”
Meanwhile, Yun Jiao sneezed.
“What’s wrong, Jiaojiao? Do you have a cold?”
Her brothers stared at her anxiously.
Colds were so uncomfortable, not only did you have to get shots, but the long needles poked into your butt and hurt like hell.
And you had to eat super unpleasant medicine.
Yun Jiao sniffled and shook her head, “I don’t have a cold. Let’s go find Mom quickly.”
Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei were indeed going tide pooling, and they didn’t stop the children when they heard they wanted to tag along.
“Grandpa, where’s the boat?”
Yun Jiao ran to Grandpa Yun’s side, walking like a little tail, following his heels, and asked with her fair, clean, beautiful little face soft and gentle.
She hadn’t forgotten that Grandpa Yun had said he was going to buy a boat.
“Jiaojiao still remembers this.”
Grandpa Yun was skillfully pushing sand with a wheelbarrow.
“The boat has already been ordered. Your father will go see it tomorrow. If there are no problems, we’ll pay and the boat can be brought back tomorrow.”
Yun Jiao nodded happily, her two pigtails bobbing up and down with her movements.
With a boat, they could go to sea, and she would pester them to go then.
“Jiaojiao, let’s go, we’re going to the seaside.”
Yun Jiao immediately bid farewell to Grandpa Yun and, with her short little legs, ran towards her brothers.
Yun Xiaowu reached out and took her hand.
Yun Xiaowu hummed the song he had recently learned: “Little little Erlang, carrying his schoolbag to school…”
This song was played every day from the school’s loudspeakers, audible throughout the village. The lyrics were easy to remember and catchy, so most children had learned it.
Yun Jiao skipped along with her brothers, quietly singing along, “Carrying his schoolbag to school.”
“Holy crap!”
Yun Jiao followed suit, “Holy crap~”
Yun Xiaowu’s sudden exclamation of “holy crap” earned him a beating.
Yun Xiaowu said, “Stop hitting, stop hitting! I know, I shouldn’t swear!”
Shen Yunlian said with a dark face, “Yun Xiaowu, how many times have I told you not to swear in front of your sister!”
Yun Jiao looked at Shen Yunlian innocently.
“No, Jiaojiao was singing just now. Mom, listen quickly, Jiaojiao sings so well.”
It was a kind of good that he couldn’t describe, but it was much better than what was sung from the school loudspeakers.
That’s why he couldn’t resist exclaiming “holy crap.”
“Jiaojiao, sing it again.”
Yun Xiaowu looked at her expectantly.
Yun Jiao sang, “The sun shines in the sky, flowers smile at me, the little bird says good morning, good morning, good morning, why are you carrying a little schoolbag…”
This time, not only Yun Xiaowu, but Shen Yunlian, Wang Mei, and the other Yun boys were stunned.
Logically, children Yun Jiao’s age had similar childish voices.
When they usually heard Yun Jiao speak, they just felt she sounded a little nicer than other children.
But they never expected her singing voice to be so incredibly beautiful, beyond their ability to describe.
It was a little ethereal and soft, like the calm sea surface in the warm sun.
“It’s really beautiful.”
Wang Mei couldn’t help but praise her.
Yun Xiaowu held his chin high, as if he had sung the song.
“Of course, who do you think is her brother?”
Yun Jiao continued to hum.
Merfolk shed tears that turned into pearls, their singing was dreamlike, and they could even weave illusions with their singing to confuse minds.
Yun Jiao was human now and had lost the ability to turn tears into pearls, but when she cried, her tears fell one by one, like strung pearls, crystal clear under the sun.
Now, her singing had lost the ability to weave illusions and confuse minds, but she had possessed an enviable voice since childhood.
It was as if heaven itself was feeding her talent.
But she was still young, her voice was still soft and childish, and it hadn’t fully developed yet.
Along the way, everyone who had heard one song wanted to hear more.
It was a bit addictive.
Yun Jiao sang another song, but when asked to sing again, she directly hugged her arms and turned her head away from her brothers, her little back facing them, sulking.
She proved with her actions that she was angry and didn’t want to sing.
At this point, I’m not sure if the school was playing songs. Novels would definitely have discrepancies with reality, so please don’t compare them entirely to reality.
