As the saying goes, you’re hardest on the ones you love most.
The two children, who had brazenly run off to play in the sea without telling their family, both received their punishment today.
It was the first time she’d ever been spanked. Yun Jiao clutched her bottom where she’d been smacked several times, her pretty little face flushed crimson.
Before, she had always been the one watching her brothers get punished, cackling from the sidelines.
Well, now it was her turn. Payback had finally caught up with her.
Of course, Yun Xiaowu had it even worse. He was whipped with a thin switch and howled in pain.
Although Shen Yunlian and the others’ hearts ached, they knew they had to teach the little rascals a firm lesson.
"Do you know what you did wrong?"
Yun Jiao clutched her little bottom, remaining stubbornly silent.
"I wouldn’t have gotten hurt."
Yun Linhai grew anxious. "How can you be so sure? The ocean is incredibly dangerous! There are sharks, the waves are strong, and what if you got a cramp while you were swimming?"
Yun Jiao sniffled. "It won’t."
Granny Yun shooed the others away and took Yun Jiao into her arms.
"Jiaojiao, dear, we’re only doing this because we’re worried about you."
"Your grandma, your daddy, and your mommy... we all know you’re not like other people. But we’re still afraid. You don’t understand. We’ve seen it with our own eyes—the waves sweeping people away. In the blink of an eye, they’re gone, impossible to chase after. The sea really does devour people, Jiaojiao. You die, and they never even find a body. We’re truly terrified."
Yun Jiao’s head was bowed, but she looked up at her grandmother when she heard this.
Granny Yun stroked her hair and began to tell her stories.
All of them were about things that had happened right there in their village.
Some people went out to sea and simply never came back.
Some had drowned right at the water’s edge. Others were snatched by the waves and never seen again.
"We fishermen make our living from the sea. It is the sea’s gift, but it is also dangerous. Sometimes, the weather changes in a heartbeat. One moment, it’s clear skies, and the next, the wind and waves rise up and capsize a boat. A living, breathing person is just... gone.
"That’s why we fishermen risk our lives every day. We are so afraid precisely because we know the dangers all too well. If something were to happen to you and Xiao Wu... what would your daddy and mommy, and the rest of us, do?"
Yun Jiao peeked her head out slightly, cautiously glancing at the other members of her family.
They were all gathered around her, their eyes filled with worry. Her mother’s and her aunt’s eyes were even red.
For the first time in her young life, Yun Jiao felt a pang of guilt.
’I know nothing will happen to me.’
’I was a Merfolk in my past life, and I brought some of those abilities with me into this one.’
’The ocean life in this world is much gentler and easier to handle than in my previous life. That’s why I dared to go on an adventure at such a young age.’
’But... Daddy and Mommy don’t know that.’
Yun Jiao hesitated for a moment. "Daddy, Mommy, can you have my brothers go outside for a minute?"
Mr. Yun glanced at his grandsons. "Go on outside."
Yun Chendong and the others left obediently without a word.
Only then did Yun Jiao turn to the elders and say, "I’ll be fine. It’s because I can breathe underwater."
"Wh-what?!"
It took a long moment for everyone to process what she’d said. They all stared at her, their eyes wide with disbelief.
They wondered if they had heard her correctly.
"You... How is that possible...?"
How could anyone possibly breathe in the ocean?
To prove she could really breathe underwater, Yun Jiao asked her mother for a basin of water and unhesitatingly plunged her face into it.
A long time passed. Just as her family was starting to worry, she lifted her head out of the water.
Her small face dripping, she asked, "How long was that?"
Yun Linhe answered in a daze.
"I think... I think it’s been more than ten minutes."
Yun Jiao looked a little smug. "See? I was telling the truth."
Mr. Yun took a puff from his long-stemmed pipe. "Jiaojiao, when did you discover you could breathe underwater?"
"When I was swimming."
She fiddled with her fingers, feeling a little guilty and not daring to look at their faces.
"Because... because I’m different from other people, I was afraid to say."
Mr. Yun stroked her head. "You did the right thing."
His expression suddenly turned stern, and his old yet sharp eyes stared intently at the others in the room.
"Listen to me, all of you. What we’ve discussed about Jiaojiao does not leave this room. Not a word of it. And don’t you dare tell those boys, either."
"The fewer people who know about this, the better."
Right now, those boys treat Jiaojiao well because she’s their only little sister.
But one day they’ll start their own families. They’ll have wives and children of their own.
There are too many variables. Jiaojiao was right to ask them to leave.
Mr. Yun turned to his son and daughters-in-law. "You all go out as well."
The adults exchanged glances before obediently leaving as well.
They knew Mr. Yun only had Jiaojiao’s best interests at heart, and they figured he had something to say that wasn’t meant for their ears.
Mr. Yun took Yun Jiao by the hand, his tone grave as he began to instruct her.
"Jiaojiao, you listen to me. If one day your ability is discovered, and someone threatens your life because of it, you find a way to get help from the government. Our country is more reliable than anyone else. Your best bet would be to find soldiers."
Yun Jiao nodded. "Okay, Grandpa. I understand."
Grandpa Yun stroked her head. "It’s best if no one ever finds out. We don’t need you to achieve anything grand. You have several older brothers to pave the way. As for our family, having enough to eat and warm clothes on our backs is plenty. Everyone makes their own way in this world; it’s not like we’re too old and frail to manage."
They didn’t have grand ambitions. As long as they had enough money to get by, that was all that mattered. Mr. Yun and Granny Yun’s greatest wish was for their family to be close and live in harmony.
When she came out of the room, she found the whole family gathered around the seafood they had brought back, pointing and chattering about it.
Yun Xiaowu was a tough kid. He had only cried out while he was being disciplined. Now, he was back to his usual self, animatedly telling everyone how he rode a killer whale and conquered the four corners of the sea.
His exaggerated language and expressions gave Yun Jiao a profound new understanding of the "art of storytelling."
"And Jiaojiao met a strange fish in the sea! It led her to go catch sea urchins. It’s a shame I couldn’t go down and see it..."
Mr. Yun said, "That must have been a Sparrowfish."
Having lived by the sea for the better part of his life, the old man knew a thing or two.
"Grandpa, what’s this fish? Its colors are so pretty!"
"This... is a Qingyi!"
"Qingyi are going for fifteen yuan a jin at the purchasing station. Hurry and take these fish over to be sold."
Yun Jiao asked, "Are we selling the sea urchins too?"
"We’re not selling the sea urchins. We’ll keep those for you."
After all this time, everyone knew how much Yun Jiao loved eating sea urchins.
Granny Yun rolled up her sleeves. "With all these sea urchins, I’ll make steamed egg with sea urchin and sea urchin fried rice tonight!"
"Yay!"
The atmosphere in the Yun family’s home instantly brightened.
Yun Jiao, thinking of Dabai and the three puppies, took out a few sea urchins for them.
’Anyway, the ocean is full of sea urchins. I can just go get more next time.’
Granny Yun didn’t stop her. Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe had gone to sell the fish, while the rest of the family sat together, happily busying themselves with trimming the sea urchin spines and scooping out the golden roe.
「At the purchasing station...」
Ah Wang didn’t expect anyone to show up at this hour, especially with the rain coming down outside.
"Brother Lin Hai, Brother Lin He, what brings you two here?"
Yun Linhe was grinning from ear to ear.
"We brought some good stuff for you."
"What good st— Holy shit!"
This really was some good stuff!!!