Yun Jiao looked up at the ship, her eyes meeting those of several soldiers also dressed in navy uniforms. She gave them a simple and harmless smile.
Like the gentlest of white rabbits.
She had the killer whale hand the two children over to a pair of soldiers.
"You can take them back now. I have to go, too."
It was only then that the soldiers snapped back to their senses. "Who are you?"
"I’m Yun Jiao."
Yun Jiao waved goodbye to them, then led her pod of killer whales away in a grand procession.
"My god, did I just see one of the sea immortals?"
"You can’t just say things like that."
Although no one would get in trouble for it these days, that era had only just ended. It was best not to speak carelessly.
"Quick, get the children on board! Where’s the medic? Get the medic over here to check on them!"
Fu Mingyu felt his consciousness fading. He held on until the figure in the sea completely vanished from sight, and only then did he pass out.
Meanwhile, after searching for a while, Yun Jiao and the killer whales finally swam to the waters where her family’s boat was located.
"Dad! Uncle! I’m back~!"
She called out happily to the people on the boat.
"Look! I brought back so many good things."
A killer whale held a net bag in its mouth. The two men struggled to haul it onto the boat, and they were stunned when they saw the harvest inside.
"Jiaojiao, you’re just too capable. You’re making your dad and me, your uncle, look useless."
What Yun Jiao had found in the sea by herself was worth much more than the combined catch from their entire day of hard work.
In terms of quantity, Yun Jiao’s haul couldn’t compare to their nets full of fish, but in terms of quality, they were the ones who couldn’t compare.
Yun Jiao was pulled onto the boat, and upon hearing this, she proudly lifted her little chin.
"Does this mean I can support the whole family by myself?"
"Absolutely."
The two men were happy to agree.
However, they felt that would be taking advantage of Yun Jiao.
"When the family property is divided, you should keep the money you earn from the sea for yourself. We’re all young and strong, we don’t need you to support us. You can support us when we’re old, Jiaojiao."
Yun Jiao mimicked the tone of an adult, saying, "We’re one family, we don’t talk like we’re two."
"Hahaha... Even families have to separate things. In the future, when your brothers earn money, they’ll keep it for themselves. It’ll be the same for you."
"Are we going to Grandma’s house tomorrow?"
Yun Linhai used a towel to dry her sopping wet hair, holding his daughter in his arms as he spoke to her seriously. "Mhm, tomorrow we’re going to your grandma’s house to help shuck corn. And we’ll have to go again during the rice harvest..."
Throughout the year, the two families only visited each other frequently during the busy farming seasons.
But it was almost always them going to Shen Family Village. Because the Shen family didn’t live by the sea, they had been allotted more farmland. Naturally, during the busy farming season, the more people, the better. It was a relief to get the grain harvested and stored away as early as possible.
Before, when Yun Jiao was little, they never brought her along for the busy season at the Shen family’s home.
She wasn’t much bigger now at three years old, but she wanted to go.
With the towel draped over her head, Yun Jiao began to portion out the things she had caught from the seafloor.
"This is for Grandma’s house, and this one is for Uncle and Auntie to take to their grandaunt’s."
She pulled out two large lobsters.
Both Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe winced.
Those two lobsters looked to be two or three pounds each and would sell for a lot of money.
"Jiaojiao..."
Yun Jiao covered her ears. "Not listening, not listening..."
She was determined to be willful. The little one pouted her rosy lips, crossed her arms, and furrowed her brow, looking very unhappy.
"I caught them, so you listen to me."
The two men: ...
She then pulled out an even bigger one. "We’ll eat this one ourselves."
’I can catch them, so why can’t we eat something nice ourselves?’
’If we need money, I’ll just catch more next time.’
The Little Mermaid had no intention of depriving her own taste buds.
In addition to the Little Green Dragons, she also pulled out several kinds of delicious shellfish, clamoring for the family to eat them too.
Resigned, Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe could only put these items into a separate bucket.
The moment their boat pulled into the dock, Ah Wang’s eyes lit up, and he came running over.
"Brother Lin Hai, Brother Lin He, what kind of good stuff did you bring in this time?"
Yun Linhe showed him what Yun Jiao had caught from the deep sea. "Take a look and give us a fair price."
Ah Wang’s eyes went wide the moment he saw it.
They hadn’t caught anything particularly large this time, but they had a lot of high-quality goods.
"Th-this is a panther grouper! Two big ones! And a mangrove red snapper... This one’s a Qingyi... HISS... You got so many large lobsters again..."
He was incredibly envious just looking at it all. This haul alone would earn them a fortune.
"My friends, I’ll take this entire haul. I’ll absolutely give you a fair price..."
Suddenly, another voice cut in from the side.
They looked over to see another fishmonger, a rival of Ah Wang’s.
The look on Ah Wang’s face soured instantly.
"Have you no decency? Why are you trying to steal my business?"
"Decency? When it comes to seafood, doesn’t the highest bidder always win?"
Yun Linhe smiled. "Sorry, my friend, but he’s one of us. We always sell our catch to him."
Ah Wang shot Yun Linhe a grateful look.
The other fishmonger wasn’t ready to give up. "Even brothers keep clear accounts. The price I’m offering is higher. Are you sure you won’t consider it?"
Ah Wang’s expression was grim. "Who says my price is low? Aren’t you just trying to disrupt the market?"
Neither Yun Linhai nor Yun Linhe had any intention of switching buyers. Ah Wang was an honest man and always gave them a fair price. There was no need to hurt their relationship and offend him over a small bit of profit.
Seeing that they truly wouldn’t sell to him, the other fishmonger could only leave in frustration.
Ah Wang’s mood wasn’t as cheerful as it had been. He gritted his teeth, deciding to raise the price he offered them.
After all, Yun Linhai’s crew had amazing luck at sea and always brought back high-end seafood. Ah Wang didn’t want to lose their business.
Yun Linhe patted his shoulder. "Just give us the usual price. As long as you don’t rip us off, we’ll sell our catch to you. After all, we consider you one of us, and we trust your integrity."
Ah Wang was instantly touched.
"Alright. Brothers, don’t you worry. I would never, ever cheat you."
This haul sold for over four hundred, and more than three hundred of that came from what Yun Jiao had caught from the deep sea.
And that was after Yun Jiao had already set some aside for herself.
When they returned home, the rest of the family was touched to hear that Yun Jiao wanted to keep some of the catch to eat themselves and for the two women of the family to bring to their parents’ homes. At the same time, they thought it was a waste. This was like eating money, and the thought was truly painful.
Though small, Yun Jiao was quite assertive. "I’ll just catch more next time."
"There’s no end to making money, so we shouldn’t shortchange our stomachs."
Everyone was completely amused by her. How could such a tiny little thing come up with such quirky philosophies?
While the Yun family’s home was filled with joy, on a not-so-distant island lay the naval base for H City.
Because the human traffickers had fled onto the sea by boat, the local police station had no choice but to contact the navy to help apprehend them.
At this moment, Vice Commander Zhao was reporting the mission summary to his superior.
During the report, Yun Jiao’s name came up.
"What? You’re saying that little girl wasn’t just riding a killer whale in the sea, she also commanded it to ram the traffickers’ boat?"