Chapter 61: Visiting Relatives
After returning home, Yun Linhai called the two elders to a separate room and then carefully took out the gold bar from his close-fitting pocket.
Upon seeing it, the two elders’ eyeballs almost popped out.
“Where… where did you get this?”
Yun Linhai handed the gold bar to Old Madam Yun to hold.
“Mother, this is what our sea turtle brought back from the sea.”
Old Madam Yun’s voice trembled: “What? Our, our sea turtle?!”
Old Master Yun was also shocked: “It, it can also bring gold home?”
Yun Linhai: “Mother, you keep this. Otherwise, it’s not suitable for either of us brothers to keep this gold bar. When we have a chance later, we can exchange the gold bar for money, or you can divide it and give it to us.”
With just this one gold bar, he and Lin He had a good relationship, so it wasn’t suitable for either of them to have it.
Yun Linhai thought clearly, he didn’t want this gold bar to damage their brotherly affection.
Old Master Yun and Old Madam Yun also thought of this.
Although that sea turtle was raised by Jiaojiao, and Jiaojiao was nominally the eldest daughter-in-law.
But in reality, the second son’s family treated her like their own daughter.
So it was indeed not suitable for either of the two brothers to have this item.
“Alright, we, the old couple, will keep it for you for now. After the family division later, we will find a time to divide this item into two parts, and each of you will get one part.”
After Yun Linhai left, Old Madam Yun held the gold bar and felt that nowhere was suitable to hide it.
She searched for a long time before finally hiding the gold bar properly.
“Jiaojiao, are you going to collect the fish traps?”
Yun Jiao was staring at her mother making food, not moving like a sticky rice cake.
Hearing this, she shook her head: “No.”
She couldn’t eat what was caught in the fish traps, and she was craving the food in the kitchen right now.
“I’ll go, I’ll go, I want to go.”
Yun Xiaowu energetically raised his hand and bounced.
“This time we should be allowed to go, right?”
“Okay, let’s go.”
Yun Linhe took his son and nephews to collect the fish traps. Old Master Yun and Old Madam Yun came out of the room and looked at the sea turtle in the large basin in the courtyard, feeling heartbroken.
“Living in such a small basin, we’ve wronged you.”
“Eat more.”
Yun Jiao came out of the kitchen holding a boiled cat’s eye snail and saw the two elders affectionately feeding the giant sea turtle.
She felt a bit strange.
“Jiaojiao, aren’t you going to raise chicks? Someone in your maternal grandfather’s village has a chicken farm with many chicks. Tomorrow, go with your mother to their hometown to take a look?”
Yun Jiao immediately ran back to the kitchen.
“Mother, are we going to grandfather’s house tomorrow?”
Shen Yunlian also heard her mother-in-law’s words. She wiped her hands: “Okay, you haven’t been to your maternal grandparents’ house yet. We’ll take you tomorrow.”
Yun Jiao happily hopped with her feet following her mother’s heels.
“Cousin said there are many wild fruits and wild chickens and rabbits in the mountains where they are.”
Shen Yunlian’s maternal family was from the mountains, completely different environment from the fishing village.
There was no sea where they were, and the road was even harder to travel.
Relying only on walking, it would take half a day.
Old Madam Yun also walked into the kitchen: “Jiaojiao is grown up now and can go visit relatives. You two take the child back to acknowledge the family tomorrow, and buy some rice and flour on the way back.”
She took out twenty yuan and gave it to Shen Yunlian.
“Take this. You absolutely cannot take things for free from your mother’s family, or what kind of person would that make you?”
Shen Yunlian felt warm inside. Although her family was a bit poor, having such reasonable in-laws was truly her greatest fortune.
Moreover, the family was improving now and was no longer considered poor.
It was almost evening when Yun Linhe and the others returned with the fish traps.
They brought nothing but the traps, indicating that the contents of the traps had been sold.
“The harvest from the fish traps today was also good, we sold thirteen yuan.”
Hearing this, everyone’s faces broke into smiles.
Yun Linhai came in with a bamboo pole.
“Jiaojiao, look what Dad brought you. Weren’t you always wanting a fishing rod?”
Yun Jiao ran over and sweetly called out: “Daddy, make a fishing rod.”
“Yes, yes, yes, I’ll make it for you after dinner.”
“Jiaojiao, your uncle said you rode an orca back from the sea today? Quickly tell your brother what happened…”
The already cramped house felt even smaller with so many people suddenly crowding in.
But having lived here for so long, no one complained.
Instead, it was lively and full of warmth.
Yun Jiao was surrounded by her brothers as she recounted the story of the orca.
The youths, full of vigor, wished they were the ones riding the orca and roaming freely in the sea.
“Sister, you’re amazing! In the future, when I tell people that my family has a sister who plays with orcas in the sea, how much face will that give me.”
“Can the orca give us brothers a ride too?”
Yun Jiao: “I don’t know, I need to ask.”
Yun Xiaowu: “Then we’ll go ask tomorrow!”
Shen Yunlian: “No going tomorrow, tomorrow we’re going to your maternal grandparents’ house.”
“Ah?”
If it were any other time, he would have been very happy to go to his maternal grandparents’ house.
It was fun to go into the mountains with his cousin to catch wild chickens and rabbits.
But now, his mind was set on the great orca!
Old Granny Yun: “Aren’t you going to raise chicks? Someone in your mother’s village has a chicken farm. Go pick out some chicks to bring back.”
Yun Linhai: “Why don’t you want to go? If you don’t go, then stay home.”
Yun Xiaowu: “I’ll go, of course I’ll go!”
…………
Shen Yunlian definitely couldn’t return to her mother’s home empty-handed.
Early in the morning, Old Granny Yun got up and prepared a lot of things for her.
Two full backpacks, mostly dried salted fish, kelp, and some small fish and shrimp.
“It’s a bit rushed. Otherwise, when the dried mussels are ready, we could bring some.”
Shen Yunlian quickly said: “That’s enough, Mother, these things are enough.”
“Big Brother and Second Brother aren’t going?”
Yun Jiao, wearing clean little clothes, looked like a beautiful snow doll.
“They’re not going. Today your second brother is going out to sea with your uncle.”
Yun Jiao nodded and obediently held her mother’s hand.
The two adults carried their belongings, and the tractor took them part of the way.
But for the latter half of the journey, the tractor couldn’t go, so they had to walk.
Fortunately, it didn’t rain, and the dirt road was dry, otherwise, every step would be muddy.
“Jiaojiao, if you get tired, Daddy will carry you.”
Now they had to start climbing the mountain path.
Yun Jiao nodded and ran ahead with her Fifth, Sixth, and Ninth brothers.
There was a small stream ahead, and Yun Xiaowu lifted stones from the stream.
“There are crabs, Jiaojiao, come quick and see.”
Yun Jiao ran over and crouched down, staring intently at the small stream in front of her.
The water was a bit murky from moving the stones. Yun Xiaojiu caught the small crab.
Yun Jiao: “It’s so small.”
Having seen the large crabs by the sea, this crab looked really tiny.
It was about the size of a pigeon egg.
“Can it be eaten when it’s this small?” Yun Xiaoliu also seemed a bit disgusted.
Yun Jiao reached out: “I’ll try.”
As for how she would try it, she would naturally put it directly into her mouth.
Yun Xiaowu: “Don’t even think about it.”
He looked at his sister with some worry. Jiaojiao was easy to raise, but this was too easy to raise, she could eat anything.
Yun Jiao turned her face away, a little angry.
Her large eyes stared at the stream, trying to find a small crab herself to taste the difference between freshwater crabs and sea crabs.
