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

Chapter 8 The family discusses buying a boat
After waking up from her afternoon nap, Yun Jiao played at home. Her brothers had gone out and hadn't returned yet, so she took her little stool, ate some fragrant roasted sweet potatoes, and went to the village entrance with her mother and aunt.

Several women from the village gathered together, gossiping about this and that, but their hands didn't stop moving at all.

Yun Jiao sat obediently to one side, nibbling on a roasted sweet potato, her ears perked up to listen to their conversation.

At first, they were talking about their family's affairs. The little green dragons that Yun Jiao and Yun Xiaowu and their friends had picked up while beachcombing today, the East Star Grouper and the huge Tiger Grouper had spread throughout the whole village, and maybe even reached the next village.

Such a big event certainly deserves to be on the village's hot topic list. With these people gathered together, including the parties involved, they have no choice but to talk about it.

Everyone envies their family's good luck.

Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei both smiled and modestly said that their families were poor, then changed the subject.

They don't flaunt their wealth, which means they're genuinely poor right now; otherwise, relatives would be coming to their door to borrow money.

"That Cai Jinhua is a real scoundrel. Daya is her own daughter, after all. She married her daughter off to a divorced man who is ten years older than Daya, and I heard that man is also a cripple, all for a dowry of one hundred yuan."

“You don’t know her at all. That woman treats her daughter like a servant. I’ve never seen a mother like that.”

Shen Yunlian asked, "Didn't Yun Dana try to stop it?"

"What are you trying to stop? Of the hundred yuan dowry they gave him, half was used by their son, and the other half was used by him to buy alcohol and have fun. He's a good-for-nothing good-for-nothing. What else can he do besides drink?"
He's entirely supported by his wife and daughter. I reckon his son will be just like him in the future. It's a shame Cai Jinhua keeps bragging about how smart her son is and how successful he'll be.

Yun Jiao ate her food, played by herself, and occasionally helped her mother pass the internet cable. Time passed just like that.

It wasn't until my older brother, who was at school, came back that the other older brothers, who had been playing outside, also returned.

However, the first thing that happened when he got back was that he got a beating.

Wang Mei's anger flared when she saw her son's dirty clothes and the hole in his pants.

She grabbed a thin stick, about the thickness of a finger, from behind the door, grabbed Yun Xiaoqi, and started whipping him across the buttocks.

"You brat, I have to change your clothes several times a day. These pants even have a hole in them. Do you not want to wear them anymore and just run around outside with your bare bottom showing?!"

"Ah! Mother, I was wrong, I was wrong, I didn't mean to!" Yun Xiaoqi jumped up and down like a monkey.

"Yun Xiaoba, you stop right there too!"

Yun Xiaoba wasn't that stupid; she immediately turned and ran outside.

The aunt chased after him with a stick.

Yun Xiaowu and the filthy Yun Xiaojiu laughed gleefully on the sidelines.

But soon they stopped laughing.

Although Shen Yunlian had a milder temper than her younger siblings, she still knew when to discipline her mischievous son!
Yun Xiaowu was grabbed on the buttocks and slapped several times.

Yun Xiaojiu is the same.

"Mom, I was wrong. Please don't be angry. I'll never do it again." This is Yun Xiaojiu pitifully begging for forgiveness.

"Aaaaah!! What's wrong with boys getting their clothes dirty when they go out to play? I'm a man, and dirty clothes prove I'm strong. You women shouldn't meddle in other people's business!"

This is Yun Xiaowu, who is proud and unruly.

Then Yun Xiaowu's situation became even worse.

Shen Yunlian was furious with her stupid son.

"I've changed your clothes, but you'll have to wash them yourself from now on!"

Yun Xiaowu wiped his nose: "I'll wash it myself then."

"Little sister, look what I brought you."

Despite having just been beaten, Yun Xiaowu acted as if nothing had happened, running happily to Yun Jiao covered in mud.

Shen Yunlian scolded, "Don't get too close to your sister. If you get mud all over her, wait until your father comes back and he'll give you a good beating."

"I know, I know."

Yun Xiaowu rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a few eels.

Its body was still twisting when it landed.

Yun Jiao exclaimed, "Fifth Brother, you went to catch eels!" She squatted down, picked up a small twig, and poked the eel that looked like a snake.

Yun Xiaowu held his head high and wiped his nose with his muddy hands, making his face even dirtier: "Yes, let Grandma make soup for you."

"Fifth Brother, you're so kind. Here, have some."

She handed over the small green dates in her hand; one of the aunties she had been chatting with earlier had given them to her.

"And me too, your seventh brother helped catch it too."

“I also helped.”

Yun Xiaoqi and Xiao Ba both came over.

Yun Jiao looked at them longingly: "But I don't have any dates."

"It's okay, we'll go to the mountains to pick guavas in two days, they'll be ripe soon."

Yun Jiao nodded, her eyes shining.

She likes to eat guava.

The brothers Yun Lin Hai and Yun Lin He returned, and the three women in the family had already prepared dinner.

When they saw the particularly eye-catching lobster meat on the table, Yunlin Hai and Yunlin He's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Is our family failing? This is a little green dragon, isn't it?!"

When did their family become so extravagant that they could afford to eat baby lobsters?!

How much does this one cost?

Grandma Yun: "This was specially left by our Jiaojiao to improve the family's meals."

Their meals consisted almost entirely of clams, oysters, and some cheap small fish; everyone in the family was tired of eating them.

There wasn't much meat in the clams and oysters; one chopstickful was all it took for each person to finish it.

But the family was poor, and this was all they could afford to eat.

Now that such a large little green dragon has arrived, everyone at the table has turned their attention to it.

At the dinner table, the talkative Yun Xiaowu excitedly recounted today's achievements, mainly emphasizing his sister's contributions.

I earned over two hundred yuan today, and everyone in my family, young and old, wore beaming smiles.

Infected by the atmosphere, Yun Jiao also smiled with her eyes crinkling, and the two cute little dimples at the corners of her mouth made the whole family adorable.

"Come on, Jiaojiao, eat more."

After the meal was served, everyone sitting next to Yun Jiao put a piece of chewy, snow-white lobster meat into her bowl.

"Eat quickly, eat quickly."

Yun Xiaowu urged her.

Yun Jiao nodded, and felt incredibly satisfied after taking a bite of meat.

Watching her eat, the Yun family couldn't help but laugh.

Because Xiao Yunjiao's mouth was stuffed full, she really looked like a soft little hamster trying to stuff its cheeks full, making people want to pet her.

After finishing his meal, Grandpa Yun, smoking his pipe, took advantage of the fact that everyone in the family was there and told them about his plan to buy a boat.

“Our family doesn’t have that much savings right now. All we have is enough to buy a small wooden boat, but having a boat to cast nets in the near sea is a little better than working as a boatman for someone else.”

The two elderly people laid out all their savings on the table.

"Buy a boat, and save the rest of the money. When we save a little more, we'll build two houses. We have a lot of children, and this old house isn't big enough for us."

Building two houses means they're dividing the family property.

(End of this chapter)