Chapter 315

Yun Tao’s wife still had to go take care of Yun Tao at the hospital. After expressing her thanks and dropping off the gifts, she hurried away with her child.

Other people also came with gifts. These were from the families whose boats had been recovered. Of course, there were also some who came purely to see Yun Jiao.

After what had happened yesterday, they were extremely enthusiastic toward Yun Jiao, as if they needed to get a good, clear look at her.

Yun Jiao spent almost the entire day surrounded by everyone’s enthusiastic gazes and thanks.

At first, her little face still wore a smile, but it gradually turned into a perfunctory one, and then she couldn’t muster a smile at all.

Her little chubby face had gone stiff!

It wasn’t until the village chief and Yun Linhai couldn’t stand it anymore that they quickly sent everyone away.

"That’s enough, all of you. It’s not like you’ll never see her again. Even if you aren’t tired, Yun Jiao is. She needs to eat, so what are you all still doing here? Go on, get back to what you were doing."

After the people left, Yun Jiao rubbed her face with her small hands, her big eyes holding a hint of grievance.

’This much enthusiasm is really hard to handle.’

This greatly amused the Yun family.

"Oh? Why the long face when so many people like you?"

Yun Jiao mumbled, "Now I know how Third Brother felt that day."

Yun Chen Nan smiled and ruffled her hair.

"This kind of enthusiasm will probably last for a few more days."

Yun Jiao’s eyes widened in terror.

Yun Chen Nan was right. For the next day at least, wherever Yun Jiao went, she was greeted enthusiastically. Some people even shoved things into her hands without a second word.

They were all little snacks, small toys, and the like.

All the children in the village looked at her with adoring eyes.

Yun Jiao: ’I can’t take it! I just can’t take it!’

The next day, the village chief called a meeting.

Almost everyone in the village went. When Yun Linhai arrived carrying Yun Jiao, everyone made way for them to go to the very front.

The village chief looked at Yun Jiao, nodding in immense satisfaction.

At that moment, Yun Jiao seemed to have become the most accomplished person in the entire village, even more so than Yun Chen Nan, who had gotten into university.

After almost everyone had arrived, the village chief coughed to quiet the crowd.

"This typhoon came too suddenly. If it weren’t for Yun Jiao, who knows how much property our village would have lost. Even Yun Tao might not have been saved."

The village chief’s expression turned serious. "Of course, a few families’ boats haven’t been found. Don’t you dare harbor any resentment, or you’ll be worse than animals."

"There are also a few boats that aren’t from our village. I will hand those over to the police station. It’s not our property, and it would be ugly if the owners came looking for them later and caused a scene."

"In a bit, everyone go and identify your boats. Take them home and make any necessary repairs. Finally, as the village chief, I will, on behalf of everyone, properly praise and thank Yun Jiao."

"These things are thank-you gifts bought with money pooled together by the families whose boats were recovered. You all can take them home later."

A sack of rice, a bag of flour, a canister of rapeseed oil, and about ten pounds of pork.

These were all practical things they could really use. Before, people had also given them some eggs, dried noodles, and so on. This time, everyone had pitched in to buy these gifts.

After the meeting, Yun Jiao’s family happily returned home with all the items.

Yun Jiao was holding a big armful of snacks, including candies and spicy strips from the little convenience store, as well as some peanuts, melon seeds, and some wild fruits from the mountains.

She could barely hold it all.

Although she was a little embarrassed being praised in public, she was still quite happy.

People from this era, when praised in public, wouldn’t feel embarrassed; they’d just grin from ear to ear like a happy fool.

"Jiaojiao, our family’s boat wasn’t recovered."

That’s right, their own boat was not among the ones Yun Jiao had found.

Yun Linhai patted Xiao Wu. "The boat’s gone, so it’s gone. What matters is that everyone is safe. Later, we’ll take some incense and offerings to the sea to pay our respects. After all, it accompanied us to many places."

Yun Linhe said, "The weather is getting cooler now, so we won’t buy another wooden boat. For now, we’ll just find some odd jobs, or occasionally rent a boat to go out to sea. Our iron-hulled boat will be here next year."

"Jiaojiao, if you want to go in the sea, just let us know, and you can go play with your whale friends."

Yun Jiao nodded. "Okay."

When she got home, she shared the snacks.

After lunch, they took incense, wine, some meat, and fruit to the seaside.

After arranging the offerings, they lit the incense, poured out the wine toward the sea, and the whole family bowed to the ocean.

This was to bid farewell to the boat that had been with their family for some time.

As they were preparing to head back, Yun Jiao’s sharp hearing picked up the sound of flapping wings coming from the sky.

Yun Jiao looked up. ’Well, look at that. A very familiar bird.’

"Wow, what a huge bird!"

Yun Jiao whistled, and the sea eagle circling overhead flew down.

Yun Jiao held up her small arm, and the sea eagle found its spot and landed on it.

As it landed, it carefully retracted its talons, making sure not to scratch her.

"Is that the sea eagle you tricked out of its fish twice?"

Yun Jiao glared at him. "Uncle, what are you talking about? I didn’t trick it. I traded several fish for them."

"But since when did you get so friendly with this sea eagle?"

Yun Jiao replied, "We’ve always been on good terms."

Yun Jiao’s brothers looked on with envy.

"Jiaojiao, can we pet it?"

Yun Jiao pointed to the sea eagle on her little arm. "You ask it."

’How was the sea eagle supposed to answer?’

However, when Xiao Wu eagerly reached out to try and pet it, he was immediately slapped away by one of the sea eagle’s wings.

’Do they think just anyone can pet me?’

Xiao Wu said, "Alright, it won’t let me."

Yun Linhe remarked, "It’s a bird of prey. Of course it has a temper."

Yun Jiao returned home with a sea eagle, and many people saw her along the way. The way they looked at her became even more different.

After getting home, Yun Jiao placed the sea eagle on a wooden perch and asked her mom to get some strips of meat.

Conveniently, they had the pork that everyone had given them today.

"Let me feed it, let me."

Xiao Wu was the first to rush out. "Jiaojiao, let your big bro feed it."

Yun Jiao looked at his eager expression, then at her other brothers who were also itching to try.

"Alright, you guys can give it a try."

As it turned out, this sea eagle was a real glutton.

It also ate the meat strips her brothers fed it. After all, who would turn their nose up at fragrant strips of meat?

But it still wouldn’t let anyone other than Yun Jiao touch its feathers.

It would get fierce if anyone got too close.

Yun Jiao suddenly remembered the yellowfin tuna she had caught yesterday.

"Dad, our tuna."

Yun Linhai replied, "Should we still take that fish to the county town to sell?"

Yun Jiao shook her head. "We’re not selling it. We’re eating it ourselves."

HISS...

Yun Linhai sucked in a sharp breath.

"Our family... is going to eat it ourselves?"

’What kind of wealthy family would it take to afford something like that? Besides, we don’t even know how to prepare that kind of fish. To just cook it casually would be a huge waste.’

"And our family can’t even finish it all."

Yun Jiao said, "Let’s invite everyone to eat with us, to celebrate Third Brother getting into university."

Yun Chen Nan had already submitted his university application, with Qingbei as his first choice. With his grades, getting into Qingbei was a sure thing.

Of course, the main reason was that Yun Jiao herself wanted to taste what such an expensive tuna was like.