Chapter 188: Yun Laide Is Found Missing

"We’ll buy one. Linhe, find some time to go to your in-laws and tell them to set aside a big, fat pig for us!"

Coincidentally, Yun Linhe’s in-laws were raising five pigs.

Yun Linhe nodded repeatedly.

Hearing that their family would also be slaughtering a pig for the New Year, everyone was overjoyed.

They started looking forward to it even though it wasn’t New Year’s yet.

Yun Jiao was also looking forward to it, because New Year’s was the liveliest time, especially for a family that was slaughtering a pig.

It wasn’t that their family hadn’t considered raising a pig, but before, Yun Xiaowu and the other kids were too young. With Yun Jiao in the mix, the adults were busy watching the children, gathering from the sea, and going to work. Besides, their old house had no space for a pigsty.

But now, Mr. Yun was already planning in his head to fence off a piece of land behind the new house to build a pigsty. They could get a piglet to raise at the start of next year.

The boys were much older now and going to school, so the trouble of childcare was gone. Even if his sons and daughters-in-law were too busy going out to sea to raise a pig, the two of them had the time.

When Xiao Wu and the others got out of school, they were old enough to help with some chores.

As he thought about it, Mr. Yun rubbed his hands together, took out his dry pipe to smoke, and a smile never left his face.

For people in the countryside, there was nothing more joyful than raising a big, fat pig at home. Slaughtering that pig for the New Year was a moment of immense pride.

It meant the family’s fortunes were improving.

He used to envy other families who slaughtered their own pigs for the New Year.

The Flame Pearl was carefully put away for safekeeping.

Granny Yun hid it in her little cabinet, locked it, and carefully hid the key as well.

It had truly been a happy day.

The next day, however, Yun Xiaowu and the others weren’t so happy.

Because it was time to go to school.

Going to school was hardest when the weather turned cold.

The warmth of the blankets was just too comfortable, making it exceptionally difficult to get out of bed.

In this weather, Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe went out to sea less and less.

Soon, they would stop going out to sea altogether.

The harsh winter weather was not suitable for working at sea.

Even on the rare occasion they did go, Yun Jiao wasn’t allowed to join them.

With the cold weather, her family didn’t dare let Yun Jiao go into the ocean.

So, to her dismay, even though she didn’t have to go to school, she still had to practice writing at home.

To be able to write letters to her big brothers herself, Yun Jiao’s attitude toward her studies was actually quite serious.

Although her characters were still crooked, they were much better now compared to when she first started, back when a single character would sprawl across the page like it was two.

A major event had also occurred in the village these past two days.

Yun Laidi had disappeared.

The matter came to light two days after Yun Laidi had vanished completely.

The first day Yun Laidi didn’t show up, Cai Jinhua didn’t think anything of it and just happily counted her money.

The family Yun Laidi was supposed to marry had delivered the betrothal money. For the sake of the money, Cai Jinhua, for once, didn’t spend the day ordering Laidi around. She only called out for her a few times, and when there was no answer, she just muttered curses about her being lazy.

But on the second day, when the groom’s family was ready to come pick up the bride, they were shocked to realize Yun Laidi hadn’t been seen for a long time. Only then did they start frantically looking for her.

Cai Jinhua didn’t even consider that Yun Laidi might have run away. She just assumed Laidi was throwing a tantrum and hiding because she didn’t like the arranged marriage.

She searched and cursed at the same time, her voice so loud that people could hear her no matter where she went. Many couldn’t bear to listen to the filthy things she was screaming about her own daughter.

But it was another family’s private matter, so they couldn’t interfere. Otherwise, with someone like Cai Jinhua, they’d just be asking for trouble.

Cai Jinhua even came looking over by Yun Jiao’s house. Her voice was so loud that Yun Jiao, who was sitting at home practicing her writing, heard everything.

Yun Jiao knew Yun Laidi had run away, but she didn’t tell anyone.

’Let her curse. Yun Laidi can’t hear her anyway.’

After a full day of searching with no results, Cai Jinhua’s family had shouted themselves hoarse. Only then did it dawn on them that Yun Laidi might have actually run away.

The groom’s side was furious. They demanded the bride or their money back. At that, Cai Jinhua went crazy. She started cursing Yun Laidi even more viciously and began asking everyone if they had seen her.

Yun Jiao hugged her little turtle, brought her little dog, and with a pocket full of melon seeds, went to the village chief’s house to watch the commotion.

That’s right. Unable to find her, Cai Jinhua had gone to harass the village chief.

’A moment of silence for the village chief.’

Little Yun Jiao was beginning to understand. This business of managing people was full of trouble, and you often had to deal with weirdos.

By now, a large crowd had gathered at the village chief’s house.

After all, there was less work to do in this weather, and few people were going out to sea. Everyone was quite idle.

And with no other forms of entertainment, they were all especially enthusiastic about watching drama, gossiping, and enjoying the show.

Yun Jiao also saw her grandma.

She immediately ran over, hugging her little turtle.

"Grandma, Grandma."

Granny Yun waved her over. "Quick, come here."

She and her good friends from the village had snagged a great spot and squeezed together to let Yun Jiao join them.

Then, all eyes were fixed squarely on Cai Jinhua’s family and the village chief, whose hair was growing thinner by the day.

The village chief sat on a stool, chain-smoking out of frustration.

Cai Jinhua sat on the ground, slapping her thighs while crying and screaming.

"Village Chief, you have to help us find Laidi! That damn girl was about to get married, and now she’s vanished! How are we supposed to explain this to the in-laws...?"

She went on and on, but Yun Jiao didn’t hear a single word of concern for the missing Yun Laidi. Instead, everything she said showed, between the lines, that she was more worried that with the girl gone, the two hundred yuan they received as betrothal money would go down the drain.

Yun Jiao pouted and pulled out a handful of melon seeds.

She gave a handful to Grandma, a handful to Granny Liu, a handful to Granny Zhao...

These grannies were all good friends with her grandma, so she gave some to each of them.

"Oh my, Yun Jiao even brought so many melon seeds."

"Here, here, Jiaojiao, try some of our roasted soybeans. Eat them slowly, now, be careful with your teeth."

"Jiaojiao, have some peanuts."

After handing out a few handfuls of melon seeds, Yun Jiao received other little snacks in return.

Peanuts, roasted soybeans, and a few pieces of candy.

She put them all in her little bag, then started cracking melon seeds to the soundtrack of Cai Jinhua’s wailing and the sight of her throwing a fit on the ground.

’Roasted melon seeds are so good!’

"It’s been two days!" the village chief exclaimed. "Where do you expect me to go find Laidi for you? What kind of parents are you? Laidi disappears for two days, and you’re only just realizing it now!"

The village chief truly couldn’t stand Cai Jinhua’s family. After scolding them, he started to worry that something might have happened to a young girl like Laidi, so he asked the crowd when they had last seen Yun Laidi.

Yun Jiao, who knew perfectly well that Yun Laidi had already left, said nothing, pretending to be completely clueless.

But others who had seen Yun Laidi the day before yesterday spoke up.

"The day before yesterday, around lunchtime, I saw Yun Laidi heading toward the sea cove with red eyes."

Hearing this, everyone started murmuring amongst themselves.

"You don’t think that Laidi girl got depressed and jumped into the sea, do you?"

"What’s there to be depressed about? It’s just getting married. Everyone goes through it. And I saw that young man from the family Cai Jinhua mentioned; he looked perfectly decent."

The family Cai Jinhua had arranged the marriage with had visited the village before, so everyone had seen their youngest son.

"But why the rush? They could afford a two-hundred-yuan betrothal gift, but they aren’t even holding a wedding banquet."

That was right. The groom’s side planned to just pick her up and keep things low-key, with only a few relatives from each family sharing a single meal.