Chapter 307: Giant Clam Pearls

The Humpback Whales escorted their boat for a while, but their massive size meant they couldn’t get too close to shore.

Their conspicuous size made the other fishing boats, returning home one by one, cry out in surprise upon seeing them.

Now, their family’s fame would likely spread beyond just Bailong Village.

"Goodbye."

"WHOOOOOOOO~"

The Humpback Whales called out in response, gradually disappearing from view into the afterglow of the setting sun.

As soon as the Humpback Whales left, the fishing boats that had kept their distance drew closer.

"Hey man, what was all that about just now?"

"Yun Linhai! Yun Linhe! I knew it had to be you guys again! Holy shit, you’re actual beastmasters!"

First the killer whales and dolphins, and now a pod of massive whales. This family is something else!

Yun Linhai scratched his head. "It was just a coincidence. Those big whales had a lot of barnacles on them, so when we saw them, we helped clean them off. They were just so grateful they escorted us back home."

The people around them were dumbfounded.

"What? Something like that can happen?"

"Weren’t you guys scared? If I ran into whales that big, I’d be too busy running for my life. Who would even think of cleaning barnacles off them?"

At this, Yun Linhai picked up Yun Jiao.

"What can we do? The big fish just seem to love our Jiaojiao."

All eyes fell on Yun Jiao.

Yun Jiao, who was currently gnawing on a sweet potato with a slightly dirty face: "..."

She subconsciously broke into a perfunctory, fake smile.

Heh heh...

The people from Bailong Village believed him without a doubt.

Plenty of people had seen Yun Jiao singing by the shore and playing with dolphins, sea turtles, and even killer whales.

People from the other villages, however, were clearly not so convinced.

Yun Linhe and Yun Linhai didn’t bother to explain. If others didn’t believe them, so be it.

In fact, it was the other residents of Bailong Village who began to explain with great pride.

Yun Jiao was one of their own, from Bailong Village. Since she had this talent, they, as fellow villagers, were proud of her too.

When they reached the dock, the two adults took charge of selling their catch.

Yun Jiao hadn’t brought anything back from the deep sea today, so their haul was rather ordinary.

There was a lot of it, but most were just common assorted small fish that wouldn’t fetch a good price.

Not that their family minded.

The kids headed home together.

Cat Boss followed beside Yun Jiao, walking with a domineering swagger.

’It had "caught" such a huge fish today. It could brag about this for the rest of its life.’

’What other cat could boast such a rich experience? Even if it hadn’t actually eaten the fish.’

"Ma!"

Back home, several voices called out for their mother.

"Ma, we’re hungry! What’s for dinner?"

"Chen Nan, you really missed out by not coming to sea with us today! You have no idea what we ran into. Have you ever seen a whale? A super, super huge whale, even bigger than a steel-hulled ship..."

The children chattered away, turning the once-quiet Yun family home into a barrel of noisy monkeys.

While listening to his younger brothers’ wildly exaggerated retelling of the day’s events, Yun Chen Nan unwrapped a lollipop and popped it into Yun Jiao’s mouth.

With the candy in her mouth, Yun Jiao found a small stool and sat down quietly.

Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei listened with rapt attention.

"So there really are fish that big."

"Our Jiaojiao is really something special."

Yun Jiao took the lollipop out of her mouth. "Next time, I’ll take you and Little Aunt to see them."

"Alright, alright, we’ll look forward to that."

"Come and eat! I made braised pork belly today."

At that, all the children cheered with delight.

They had Yun Sui stay for dinner, and when he left, they gave him a few baozi to take back to his grandfather.

"And here’s a fish. This is the one you caught yourself. We saved it for you to take home; the others were all sold."

Yun Linhai handed him eight yuan.

Yun Sui beamed, holding the fish and the money.

"Thank you, Uncle."

’Such a polite kid.’

"Lao San, go walk him home."

’The poor kid. Don’t want him getting bullied on the way.’

It wasn’t just the thoughtless kids in the village who liked to bully Yun Sui; there were also a few shameless, idle thugs who would likely just snatch the fish right from him if they saw him with it.

The problem was that Yun Sui was too simple-minded and genuinely didn’t know to tell on them.

That evening, while Yun Jiao was soaking her feet, Shen Yunlian picked up the girl’s small bag.

"Jiaojiao, what’s in here? I’m going to wash this bag for you."

Only then did Yun Jiao remember. ’I forgot all about my treasures!’

’How could I have been so careless!’

"Ma, give it to me."

She pulled her feet out of the washbasin, rummaged around in her little bag, and pulled out three pearls.

When Shen Yunlian saw clearly what Yun Jiao was holding, she froze.

"Holy shit!"

Across from Yun Jiao, Yun Xiaowu, who was also soaking his feet, blurted out a subconscious, "Holy shit!"

Shen Yunlian cried, "Oh my heavens!"

"Quick, quick, lock the door!"

The others hadn’t yet figured out what was happening, but Yun Linhai was very obedient to his wife.

After the door was shut, the others crowded around. Upon seeing what Yun Jiao was toying with in her hands, Wang Mei staggered and nearly fell.

Thankfully, Yun Linhe, who was beside her, caught her.

But his expression was just as shocked, his mouth agape wide enough to fit an egg.

Yun Chen Nan couldn’t help but adjust his glasses. He suspected his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"Jiaojiao," Yun Linhe’s voice trembled. "Th-those things in your hand... are they real?"

’The color, the luster... they don’t look fake.’

Yun Jiao nodded. "Yep. They’re Conch Pearls."

Yun Chen Nan nearly bit his tongue.

"What? From a Conch?!"

"You killed a Conch?!"

"Of course not," Yun Jiao said. "Don’t say such things, Chen Nan."

"I just performed a little surgery on it."

"I politely knocked and only made the cut after it gave me permission. And I only made a tiny little incision."

She held up her fingers, showing a distance about the length of a knuckle.

’The pearl is round, so all I had to do was cut a small slit and squeeze it a little, and it popped right out.’

But her words made everyone’s jaws drop.

’Wait, you can harvest pearls like that?’

The whole family stared at Yun Jiao, completely stunned.

Yun Jiao simply stuffed the pearls into her mother’s hands.

"Here, Ma, hold these for me."

Shen Yunlian panicked. "Goodness, child, why didn’t you give me a warning! What if I dropped and broke them!"

’Pearls this big and this beautiful... you can tell just by looking at them that they’re worth a fortune.’

If they got bumped or nicked, even a tiny scratch would be heartbreaking.

"They’re really pearls... They feel so heavy in my hands, and the luster is just gorgeous."

Shen Yunlian cradled them carefully in both hands while the others crowded around, staring with wide, eager eyes.

"Whoa, there’s even a golden line running through the middle. They look so luxurious."

"I’ve never even heard of pearls this big."

"Goes to show how capable our Jiaojiao is. But Jiaojiao, what do you plan to do with these pearls?"

Yun Jiao dried her feet.

"Keep them at home. For my collection."