Chapter 73: Going Home
Yun Jiao saw clearly; this environment did not have much impact on her eyes.
They were several half-grown children mixed in with the crowd.
Her brother was among them.
After they finished throwing stones, they ran away.
Yun Jiao had her father put her down, and she ran after them.
“Hahaha… I hit it, I hit it.”
“I hit it too.”
“Are you not sad anymore? We avenged you.”
Shen Xiuyuan said to a skinny little boy beside him.
The little boy sniffled, “When was I sad? I don’t even like my aunt.”
He pouted, “But compared to my aunt, I dislike that drunkard uncle-in-law even more!”
Yun Xiaowu said, “Jiaojiao, why are you here?”
Yun Jiao replied, “I followed you here.”
In the darkness, the delicate and beautiful Yun Jiao was exceptionally good-looking, and many of the little boys present were stunned.
Such a pretty little sister, I like her.
Of course, they were still young, and this liking was purely a fondness for beautiful things.
The skinny little boy suddenly jumped up, “My dad and grandpa are here, I’m going to see.”
With that, he ran into the crowd again, and the other children followed.
Yun Xiaowu held his sister’s hand, and her older brothers cleared a path for her. They squeezed through the adults’ legs and occupied the best spot in the front row to watch the drama unfold.
“Shen Jiantong, you scoundrel, for cheating outside and hitting my sister, do you really think our family has no one?!”
When Shen Cuimei’s family arrived and saw Shen Cuimei’s condition, they immediately began cursing Shen Jiantong.
They originally intended to fight him right away, but smelling the stench on Shen Jiantong, they couldn’t bring themselves to lay a hand on him.
In the end, they found a wooden stick and fought him with it.
As for Shen Jiantong’s parents, when they arrived and saw their son being beaten, they immediately started cursing and hitting Shen Cuimei’s family.
Everyone was protective of their own children.
The scene descended into chaos.
To avoid getting any of Shen Jiantong’s stench on them, Yun Xiaowu and the others pulled Yun Jiao further away.
It was only when the village chief and several elders from the village arrived that this farce was stopped.
At this time, Yun Jiao had also returned home with her father and mother.
In the end, it was someone else’s business, and everyone just talked about it when they sat together, spat on Shen Jiantong for not being a man, and then moved on.
The next morning, Yun Jiao was woken up and dressed while still groggy.
They were preparing to go home.
The Shen family was extremely reluctant to see them go.
Shen Xiuwen held Yun Jiao’s hand, “Little aunt, when you go back, can you leave my sister with our family?”
Shen Yunlian replied, “No, Jiaojiao has to come home with us; she can’t stay here forever.”
Shen Xiuwen said, “This is Jiaojiao’s home too.”
Yun Xiaowu added, “Even if you’re my cousin, you can’t steal my sister; she has to come home with us.”
Yun Jiao softly comforted him, “Cousin, I’ll come again with my mom and the others next time. You can also come to my home to play with my grandpa and uncles.”
Grandma Shen and Grandfather Shen were busy outside, filling their backpacks with many things.
Yun Linhai said, “That’s enough, father-in-law and mother-in-law, it’s too much.”
Grandma Shen replied, “Too much? It’s all just inexpensive things.”
As she spoke, Grandma Shen tucked in a piece of cured meat that they had been reluctant to eat.
“We can’t accept this, we really can’t.”
“Take it, you brought so much seafood too.”
Grandfather Shen came out carrying the cooling mat he had just woven.
“Linhai, come here, take this too. Jiaojiao gets hot easily; this will keep her cool when she sleeps on it.”
Yun Jiao happened to walk out and touched the cooling mat with her little hands.
“Grandpa made this for Jiaojiao?”
Grandfather Shen nodded, “Jiaojiao will sleep comfortably.”
Yun Jiao felt warm inside. Merfolk were solitary ocean hunters; after the age of ten, parents would go their separate ways and completely abandon their young merfolk’s survival. After that, they might never see each other again, and the young merfolk had to rely entirely on luck and their own abilities to survive.
That’s why there were so few merfolk in the deep sea.
The familial affection of humans was a strange yet heartwarming and a little sad feeling.
“Thank you, Grandpa; I’ll visit you often.”
Hearing this, the Shen family’s eyes crinkled with smiles.
In the end, the two backpacks that were full when they arrived were almost as full when they left.
The backpacks contained several watermelons, eggs, and some grain.
Several chicks, ducklings, and goslings were placed in bamboo baskets and carried away.
Yun Jiao also held a small bamboo basket containing two little rabbits, one black and one white.
After they left, Grandma Shen discovered money under the tea mug.
Without needing to guess, they knew who had put it there.
“That dead girl, taking some grain and still bringing money, afraid we wouldn’t accept it so she hid it under the tea mug.”
Grandfather Shen frowned, “Forget it, let’s keep it. Next time we visit our in-laws, we’ll bring more things.”
It was too late to chase after them now.
The way back was downhill, much easier than going uphill, but it still took a considerable amount of time.
And without a tractor, they were unlucky and didn’t encounter any of the village tractors, so they walked all the way back.
Yun Jiao’s little feet were sore.
But she didn’t want her father to carry her; they were already carrying enough things.
“We’re back!”
Before they even reached the doorway, Yun Xiaowu cheered.
Smelling the sea breeze blowing from a distance, Yun Jiao’s mood also lightened considerably, and her steps became quicker.
At this time, Granny Yun was cooking at home, and Xiao Qi and Xiao Ba were playing marbles by the door.
They were just wondering when Jiaojiao and Fifth Brother would return when they heard Yun Xiaowu’s voice the next moment.
The two children were immediately surprised.
“Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, Ninth Brother!”
“Little Sister Jiaojiao, Brother misses you so much!”
The two of them ran over, opened their arms, and along with Yun Xiaowu, who also had his arms open, they lifted Yun Jiao up.
Yun Xiaowu: ……
Is there no brotherly love at all!
“Jiaojiao, what are you holding? Rabbits!”
“So many chicks, and ducklings and goslings!”
“Wow… watermelons, big watermelons!”
For a moment, all that could be heard were the excited shouts of Yun Xiaoqi and Yun Xiaoba.
Back home, Yun Jiao immediately found a small stool and sat down, utterly exhausted.
She wouldn’t get tired from swimming in the sea all day, but climbing mountains and walking really tired her feet.
Taking off her shoes, her soft, plump feet, like little steamed buns, were revealed.
However, her toes were a little red, and the soles of her feet… had blisters.
“Dad, Sister’s feet have blisters,”
Yun Xiaowu was the first to notice and immediately cried out with distress.
“What should we do? It must hurt so much!” He pouted and blew air on Yun Jiao’s feet.
Shen Yunlian gently held Yun Jiao’s foot and looked at it, her eyes full of concern.
“Why didn’t you say your feet hurt? You could have had Dad and Mom carry you.”
Yun Jiao pursed her lips and shook her foot slightly.
“They won’t hurt if I soak them in the sea.”
“Nonsense, you can’t go into the sea. You can’t go until your feet are healed.”
Yun Jiao: The sky is falling!
She felt she would recover faster if she were in the sea.
Yun Jiao’s temper flared; if they wouldn’t let her go, she would go to the sea.
But not now.
Shen Yunlian pricked the blisters on her feet and washed them with salt water.
“It might sting a bit, bear with it.”
Infected by the anxious mood of her mother and father, Yun Jiao herself nervously and carefully placed both her feet into the salt water.
However… it didn’t hurt?
She blinked her eyes.
“It doesn’t hurt at all.”
