Chapter 33: Caught A Snake
“Jiaojiao and the others were lucky. Those three large yellow croakers weighed seven catties in total, and sea snails aren’t cheap either. They sold for ninety yuan and sixty cents in total.”
Looking at the nine Da Tuan Jie banknotes, everyone’s faces broke into smiles.
“This typhoon brought up a lot of things. It wasn’t just our family; I also heard that someone found a decent-sized grouper.”
“A grouper? How much would that be worth?”
“More than that. Other families also found large yellow croakers, but only that one. I heard they even got into a fight to snatch that large yellow croaker. In the end, Cai Jinhua got it for a bargain.”
Wang Mei pouted at the mention of it, “No wonder Cai Jinhua was so smug today, acting like she’d won the lottery. She even said some nonsensical things, claiming her Yun Zhuangzhuang is a true lucky charm…”
At that time, she was in a hurry to get back for a meal, so she directly sent them away.
After finishing the meal, the other adults in the family also saw the giant sea turtle.
The sea turtle was very docile, lying in a large wooden basin. The seawater in the basin barely covered the bottom of its turtle shell.
But it seemed unbothered, lying in the large basin as if in deep meditation.
“Mom! How did our family catch such a big sea turtle?”
Wang Mei was clearing away empty bowls to the kitchen when she went to the backyard and was startled.
Old Madam Yun’s voice came from inside, “Jiaojiao and the others brought it back. They said they want to keep it as a pet.”
“And it was the one that brought back that first large yellow croaker.”
As she spoke, Old Madam Yun found some small mixed fish and inexpensive small shrimp that had been found today and handed them over. The sea turtle opened its mouth and ate them happily.
Wang Mei muttered, “Can our family afford to keep such a big sea turtle?”
“It’s fine. Jiaojiao said that every time they go tide pooling, they’ll let it find its own food in the sea.”
“Huh? So, if this sea turtle runs away, will it come back?”
Granny Yun replied, “I don’t know. Anyway, let the children play with it themselves.”
After eating, the adults in the family got busy again.
Yun Xiaowu also led his younger brothers and Yun Jiao towards the mountains.
“We’re not going to the seaside anymore, we’re going to the mountains. I wonder if the fruit on that guava tree we found last time has ripened yet.”
Seeing that they were going to the mountain, Shen Yunlian quickly called out, “Take the basket with you. Pick some wild vegetables on the way back, and also the backpack for gathering firewood.”
Yun Xiaowu replied, “Understood.”
This is how people in the village are. When children go to play in the mountains, they always bring a backpack and a woodcutting knife to bring back firewood if they find any.
Some families also raise chickens, ducks, geese, or pigs, so they need to gather some pig feed.
Yun Xiaowu, Yun Liuliu, Yun Xiaoqi, and Xiao Ba, the four brothers, carried backpacks of various sizes.
Yun Jiujiu and Yun Jiao carried two small bamboo baskets.
The brothers, along with their younger sister, skipped their way up the mountain.
“Wait, this flower…”
Yun Jiao followed her brother’s gaze. It was just a common wild purple flower.
“Wait, I’ll make a flower crown hat for Jiaojiao.”
He quickly found a thin vine and, holding it up to Yun Jiao’s head, measured a circle. Then, he began to wind the vine around that circle.
The others understood what he was doing and also joined in, searching around for some pretty small wildflowers to adorn it.
A colorful, beautiful flower wreath was thus made.
Yun Xiaowu placed it on Yun Jiao’s head.
“It looks good! If others have it, of course, my sister must have it too.”
No matter where they lived, young girls always loved to be beautiful.
Unable to afford pretty hair clips and hair ties, clever young girls liked to weave flower wreaths on the mountain to wear on their heads and admire themselves.
Yun Jiao had never done this before, but she couldn’t resist her brothers liking her preening ways.
“My sister is the most beautiful girl in all of Bailong Village!”
The others nodded in agreement.
Yun Jiao touched the flower wreath on her head, “Can the flowers on this be eaten?”
“No.”
“I see a patch of thunder cabbage. Let’s go quickly! It rained heavily yesterday and even thundered, so the thunder cabbage must be growing well.”
They went over and plucked a basketful.
“We’re quite lucky. This thunder cabbage is delicious and hard to find.”
This plant only grows after a thunderstorm.
Yun Xiaowu said, “There’s a dry tree over there. I’ll go chop it. Jiaojiao, don’t wander off around here.”
Yun Jiao replied, “Okay. I’ll look around for mushrooms.”
The brothers said in unison, “Don’t stuff raw mushrooms into your mouth.”
Yun Jiao: So annoying, she just wanted to taste them.
While her brothers went to chop firewood, Yun Jiao poked around with a small stick.
She actually found some mushrooms.
It was the famously delicious wild morel mushroom.
The cap of the morel mushroom was a dark brown, like a small pointed hat, with a surface covered in uneven pits like a morel. The stem was white.
This was not only edible but also valuable.
But compared to selling, Yun Jiao wanted to eat it more.
Placing her basket at her feet, Yun Jiao squatted down to pick them.
There was a small patch here.
While she was squatting down to pick the morel mushrooms, a black snake, about three fingers thick, slowly slithered down from a tree behind her.
It quietly approached Yun Jiao, raised its head, and bit towards her.
Yun Jiao felt a chill on her back. Her vigilance from a previous life remained. She sidestepped, grabbed the snake’s head, and slammed it onto the ground with lightning speed.
“A snake?”
Before the snake could react, Yun Jiao grabbed its tail and swung it against a nearby rock.
With a bang, blood splattered, and the snake’s head was smashed and deformed.
The snake looked like it wouldn’t survive, but its body was still wriggling.
“What happened? What happened?”
Hearing the commotion, Yun Xiaowu and the others ran over. Seeing such a thick snake not far from Yun Jiao, their expressions changed drastically.
Yun Xiaowu scooped Yun Jiao up.
“Were you bitten?”
Yun Jiao shook her head, “No.”
“Were you scared?”
She continued to shake her head, her big eyes wide, and replied innocently, “No.”
The one who should have been scared was the snake, which was ‘scared to death.’
“It’s a black-striped snake.”
Yun Xiaoqi picked up the snake, its head deformed, and looked at it, relieved.
This snake was not venomous.
“Sister, you’re amazing! You killed such a big snake!”
Yun Jiao, standing there, looked docile and fair and soft, completely unlike someone who could kill a snake. The image was clearly not on the same level.
But… this big snake was indeed killed by her.
“So ferocious.”
“This must be at least two catties.”
Yun Xiaowu said, “Put it in the backpack and take it back. Let Grandma kill a chicken. We definitely have to cook a Dragon Phoenix Soup with this!”
“Dream on. If you ask Grandma to kill it, Grandma will kill you first.”
The family only had two hens that laid eggs, and their Grandma treasured them dearly.
“It would be great if we could find a wild chicken.”
“Stop dreaming. It’s impossible. How could we have such good luck?”
“Jiaojiao, did you find morel mushrooms?”
Yun Jiao nodded, holding up her small basket for them to see, her tender and soft voice carrying a hint of pride.
“So many.”
