A stunning mermaid dressed in the 1980s, the whole family lined up to pamper her endlessly.

Chapter 23 Meeting a giant sea turtle
Shen Yunlian patted her son again.

“If you want to sing, go sing it yourself. Jiaojiao’s voice is still too young. If you ruin it, I’ll never forgive you.”

Wang Mei also put her hands on her hips and said, "You're all acting like big shots. What are you listening to? Hurry up and dig."

A group of boys immediately scattered and started digging in the sand.

Wang Mei handed Yun Jiao a lightweight little bucket and a small wooden shovel.

This little wooden shovel was specially made for her by her family.

"Jiaojiao, go play somewhere else."

"Can I go into the sea?" she asked, her eyes darting eagerly towards the water.

"Jiaojiao can already swim, that's amazing."

"that's not allowed."

Clearly, neither of the adults would allow her to take the risk.

"Children shouldn't go to the sea to play, otherwise a wave can wash them away, which is very scary."

Yun Jiao turned her head away; these were words she didn't want to hear.

She squatted on the ground, poking at the sand with a small shovel. She looked a little puffed up, and her tiny body resembled a round, swollen pufferfish.

Wang Mei couldn't resist and gently rubbed her fluffy, adorable little head.

"Jiaojiao is so well-behaved, so cute."

Yun Jiao: …………

They pounded the sand with even more force.

Click...

I poked something.

When the little hand picked it out, it turned out to be a pretty little stone.

The blue one is pretty.

Throw it into the bucket, then change direction and keep poking.

This time, we poked out a clam.

Ouch, I popped it into my mouth.

"Jiaojiao, what are you eating again?!"

Yun Jiao was crunching away when Yun Xiaowu rushed over and scooped the sand clam out of her mouth.

"Why are you so greedy? You put everything in your mouth."

Yun Jiao pursed her lips and stared at him.

Yun Xiaowu: "Idiot, at least pry open the shell, but there's a lot of sand inside these clams, it's not easy to eat them."

Yun Jiao nodded: "It's not tasty, not as good as scallops from the sea."

“Come on, we can’t go to the sea, but I’ll take you to find sea urchins. You can eat them raw, and we can bring them back for Grandma to steam with eggs.”

Yun Jiao's eyes lit up immediately.

However, sea urchins were not easy to find. They searched for a long time near the tide line and around the rocks, but instead of finding sea urchins, they found a small white octopus.

There was also a blue crab that I estimated to weigh three ounces.

"Sea urchins, sea urchins, where can I find sea urchins?"

Yun Jiao heard a strange sound.

She glanced at the sea, her dark blue eyes able to see very far, even clearly.

And so, we saw a large sea turtle swimming towards us.

"Little sister, come quick! I see what looks like a sea urchin over there."

Yun Xiaowu took her little hand and walked towards the rocky beach on the opposite side.

"It really is."

A black, spiky sea urchin was stuck in a crevice in the rocks. Yun Xiaowu didn't dare to touch it with his hands, as it would hurt a lot if he got pricked by its spines.

He used tongs to remove the sea urchin.

"Jiaojiao, you play over there, I'll open a sea urchin for you."

"But you are not allowed to go into the sea."

Yun Jiao said "Oh," and pointed to the snails clinging to the rocks.

"Fifth brother, spicy snails."

Yun Xiaowu took out the scissors from the bucket and started snipping at the sea urchin spines.

Hearing this, they looked in the direction Yun Jiao was pointing.

"Hey, there really are quite a lot."

A small patch of them densely adhered to the rocks, some of them quite large.

Spicy snails are a group of small, brown snails with hard-looking shells. They get their name from their slightly spicy taste. I was so focused on the sea urchin that I didn't even notice them.

"It's a bit steep over there, Jiaojiao, don't go over there yet. Wait until I've finished preparing this sea urchin before I go over."

He cut off the sea urchin's spines, then cut open the shell to reveal the fresh sea urchin roe inside.

"Here you go, you can eat this."

Yun Jiao took the sea urchin, and Yun Xiaowu suddenly pulled a wooden spoon out of his pocket.

Yun Jiao: …………

Fifth brother has made very thorough preparations.

She sat on a clean little rock and started eating sea urchins with a spoon.

Like a monkey, Yun Xiaowu darted to the rock where the snails were crawling, picked up the larger snails and tossed them into the bucket with a clinking sound.

Yun Jiao glanced at him, then lowered her head to eat the sea urchin. She then looked at a certain sea turtle peeking out from behind a reef not far away, looking furtive and suspicious.

Yun Jiao beckoned: "Come here."

The giant sea turtle, Dou Dou, stared at Yun Jiao for a few seconds before slowly moving to her side.

The turtle's head and tail looked longer than her, and its shell, bigger than her foot bath basin, was covered in barnacles.

Do you want me to help you get rid of this barnacle?

Sea turtles have very hard shells, which are their best protective shield.

Barnacles growing on a turtle's shell won't pose a immediate threat to its life, but if too many grow, it's like the turtle is carrying a heavy load while swimming in the sea, which can damage its shell.

In fact, not only sea turtles, but many marine creatures are troubled by barnacles, such as large whales.

The sea turtle seemed to understand Yun Jiao's words and actually nodded.

Yun Jiao didn't have any suitable tools to remove the barnacles from the turtle shell, so she rummaged through her brother's bucket.

Then he took out a shovel.

She was holding something that was a bit too big; it was something Yun Xiaowu had dug in the sand.

She took the shovel and started prying at the barnacles on the tortoise shell.

"I'll get you barnacles, you have to catch fish for me in return."

Yun Jiao continued to tell the sea turtle her conditions: "It has to be delicious."

The sea turtle lay there quietly.

When Yun Xiaowu returned after picking up the spicy snails, he took a look.

"Fuck!!!"

Yun Jiao poked her furry head out from behind the sea turtle, her big eyes looking at him.

Yun Xiaowu ran over: "Wait, where did this giant sea turtle come from?!"

Yun Jiao said in a childish voice, "From the sea."

Yun Xiaowu wanted to say something, but kept quiet when she met her sister's clear eyes.

He wanted to say, "Sister, you were also brought here by a sea turtle."

However, her family told her not to mention it. They raised Yun Jiao as their own child, and they were afraid that if they brought it up often, Yun Jiao would think that everyone was reminding her that she was adopted.

"Jiaojiao, what are you doing?"

Yun Jiao raised her shovel: "Shovel the barnacles."

Yun Xiaowu rolled up his sleeves: "I'll do it."

After the two cleaned the barnacles off the sea turtle's shell, Yun Xiaowu touched the sea turtle's shell.

"Alright, I wonder if you're the same sea turtle from back then."

To people, sea turtles look almost identical except for the different species, making them really hard to distinguish.

The sea turtle rubbed its head against Yun Jiao's hand, then moved to the beach and went into the sea with the surging tide.

Yun Xiaowu stood on the beach for a while and said, "If only I knew where the sea turtles lay their eggs."

You can't eat sea turtles, but you can eat sea turtle eggs.

It's also very nutritious.

Yun Jiao tilted her head, resting her chin on her small hand, lost in thought.

"let's go."

Yun Jiao shook her head and refused: "We have to wait."

The sea turtle promised to bring her something.

She was holding Yun Xiaowu's hand when she suddenly noticed a small bulge on the beach not far away.

She walked over and picked it up with her fingers.

It's a cat's eye snail.

(End of this chapter)