Whether that sunfish was dumb or not, they weren’t going to catch it anyway.
After a good look at the curiosity, they steered the boat away.
The killer whales over there were still fighting over the ball.
"We’re heading home!"
After calling out a goodbye to the killer whales, they departed.
Yun Jiao swam through the sea, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.
Wang Yi watched in shock.
"You’re just a kid, how are you such a good swimmer!"
Yun Jiao said proudly, "I’m a natural."
The little killer whale that often played with her swam over, nudged her up onto its back, and joyfully sped forward.
"WOOHOO~~~"
Taking off~
Wang Yi watched, green with envy. ’How come I’m not as popular as Yun Jiao?’
’Human, human, ball, fun, want.’
Turns out, the little killer whale had a motive. What a sly little guy.
Yun Jiao understood what it meant and patted the little killer whale’s head.
"Okay, I’ll have my brother make one for you when we get back."
Making a wooden ball required no special skill. Her other brothers, her dad, and her uncles could all do it.
The killer whale was even happier now. It carried Yun Jiao forward even faster, its joy evident in its calls.
But in its playful frenzy, the little killer whale wasn’t watching where it was going and almost crashed into another boat.
Gripping the killer whale’s dorsal fin, Yun Jiao managed to bring it to a stop, only to lock eyes with the people on the other boat.
"Uncle Song, Brother Wen..."
Little Yun Jiao raised her chubby little hand and obediently greeted the two on the boat.
Their grandfather and her grandfather were brothers. Her grandfather was the third-born, while theirs was the second.
"You... Jiaojiao, you..."
"Hooo?"
The little killer whale tilted its head up, its big, round head sizing up the two people in front of it.
Yun Jiao giggled. "I won’t disturb your fishing! Little killer whale, turn around. Let’s go back and find Dad and the others."
She patted the little killer whale. The little one obediently turned around, then with two flicks of its raised tail, it shot off.
Time to bolt.
Leaving the two on the boat completely dumbfounded.
Yun Chensong muttered, "I wasn’t just seeing things just now, was I?"
Yun Chenwen added, "Was I seeing things too?"
"So Yun Xiaowu wasn’t bragging before! He really did ride a killer whale in the sea!!!"
It was a killer whale, after all. How could it possibly let him ride it?
’I can’t believe it was actually true!’
Regardless of how shocked the two were, Yun Jiao was already nearing the village dock. She dutifully climbed back onto her family’s boat and waved goodbye to the little killer whale.
「At the dock...」
The moment their boat appeared, it drew the attention of many people.
With a Devil Fish that enormous, it was hard not to notice.
"Good heavens, how did you guys catch a Devil Fish that big!"
"You’d need a big boat to catch something like that, right? How did you even haul it in?"
"Lin Hai, your family’s luck at sea is just too good. This has to be another big score."
"This Devil Fish must be over a hundred pounds. How much money will that sell for?"
Faced with everyone’s questions, they only answered the ones they could and just smiled sheepishly at the ones they couldn’t.
"It was an accident. We were lucky. The Devil Fish was already on its last breath when we found it."
"It’s not much money. We’re still in debt."
But the fish had to be weighed to be sold, and as they were unloaded bucket by bucket, the full extent of their haul couldn’t be hidden.
So everyone quickly realized that their catch for the day wasn’t just the Devil Fish, but also a huge amount of golden pomfret!
The onlookers were green with envy.
"That Yun Linhai family, their luck at sea is just too good."
Luck at sea was something you just couldn’t get by being envious.
"Say, do you think that Yun Jiao is really a lucky star? It seems like ever since the Yun Linhai family took her in, their luck has been amazing. Look at how they’re living now—they’ve built two new houses and bought a boat. Even if they borrowed money for the houses, with their luck at sea, it won’t take them long to pay it all back."
"You know, I think you’re right!"
After all the fish were weighed, Ah Wang settled the bill right away.
For him, it had been a good day’s haul too. Not to mention the Devil Fish, there was also a Blue Gourd Seed Spot.
The Blue Gourd Seed Spot weighed three and a half jin and sold for 17 yuan and 50 cents.
Wang Yi was the one who had caught this fish, so Yun Linhai handed the money directly to him.
Wang Yi was fiddling with his camera and was taken aback when the money was handed to him.
"Uncle, why are you giving this money to me?"
Yun Linhai said, "You take it. This is from the Blue Gourd Seed Spot. You’re the one who caught it."
Wang Yi shook his head. "I can’t take this. I used your fishing rod to catch it anyway. Just coming out to sea with you all today has made me so happy and I’ve gained so much. I can’t accept this money."
Today, not only did he catch a fish, but he also rode a killer whale and saw a sunfish.
These were all things he had never experienced before, and he was thrilled.
"That won’t do. What’s yours is yours."
They went back and forth, passing the money between them until Yun Jiao, watching from below, felt her eyes glaze over.
She snatched the money and stuffed it into Wang Yi’s hand.
"I want photos."
Wang Yi looked at the money in his hand, then stared at Yun Jiao.
"Huh?"
Yun Jiao pointed at his camera. "Photos. I want a copy of the ones with me, Dad, and my brothers in them."
Then she added, "And take one of our whole family."
"The money is to buy the photos."
Her words were simple and easy to understand, and only then did Wang Yi stop refusing and accept the money.
"Deal. I’ll get a set of the killer whale photos printed for you too."
Yun Linhai scratched his head. "Oh, that’s too much. Is that money enough for so many photos?"
Wang Yi replied, "It’s enough, it’s enough! Definitely enough."
"Uncle, you’re being too formal. Between us, what’s a few photos? To be honest, even without this money, I was planning to give you a set of prints anyway."
They headed home, talking and laughing, while the people nearby who overheard their conversation were filled with envy.
They wanted to have their pictures taken too.
When they got home, Granny Yun already had dinner ready. Everyone washed up and sat down to eat.
After dinner, Yun Jiao took some specially selected tiny shrimp and fish to feed the flock of fluffballs.
Then she fed grass to the two little rabbits.
After that, she carried over a bowl of sweet potato and pumpkin mash mixed with fish soup to find Dabai.
She was certainly a busy little girl.
"Yun Jiao, where did you run off to? Weren’t we supposed to take a family photo? You disappeared right after dinner."
Wang Yi, holding his camera, felt a surge of mock frustration as he saw the little girl strolling back leisurely. He’d been looking for her for ages.
Yun Jiao blinked. Only then did she remember about the photo.
"Okay, I’ll go change my clothes."
A little girl who loved to look her best naturally had to wear her prettiest outfit.
Hearing that Wang Yi was going to take a family photo, the rest of the Yun family was ecstatic. They reacted just like Yun Jiao: those who needed to change clothes changed, and those who needed to fix their hair fixed it.
They were determined to look their absolute best.
In the end, Yun Jiao appeared wearing a little blue dress, white shoes, and her hair in two pretty, fluffy braids. She was also holding two little rabbits, one black and one white.
"Tortoise, go sit by Grandpa and Grandma’s feet."
Since it was a family photo, no one could be left out.
She even called over the little chicks and ducklings to squat by her feet.
Wang Yi: ...