Chapter 397 - 391: Yun Zhaodi Asks Yun Jiao

Feeling refreshed after dealing with a few thugs, Yun Jiao headed home with her brothers to eat.

"Dad, when are we going to salvage the sunken ship?"

Yun Jiao didn’t want to go to school anymore. It was too boring.

She’d rather be salvaging things from the sea than sitting in a classroom, spacing out.

These days in class, aside from the few math problems she couldn’t solve, she spent most of her time reading medical books.

But even that got boring after a while.

’Speaking of medicine, I wonder how those books I asked Grandpa Gu to get restored are doing.’

"You check the weather for the next few days. If it’s good, we’ll go."

Yun Linhe added, "I also rented a metal boat from the village chief. He and his family are busy with other things right now and don’t need it, so it worked out perfectly for us to rent it."

Yun Jiao nodded. "Great! The weather looks good for the next few days. There might be a little rain later, but as long as we bring diving suits and raincoats, we’ll be fine."

"Alright. Then tomorrow, Dad will go with you to ask your teacher for leave."

As for Yun Xiaowu and the other boys, they were desperate to go too.

"Dad, get us excused from school too, please! I want to go and see what it’s like!"

Unsurprisingly, Yun Xiaowu was met with the "deep affection" of his father’s shoe sole.

"’See what it’s like?’ When you pull your grades up like Jiaojiao, then you can come talk terms with me."

Rubbing his bottom, Yun Xiaowu mumbled, "Fine, don’t then. Why do you always have to hit me?"

But the kids in the family had been getting spanked since they were little and were tough. A little beating like that was nothing they took to heart.

’But I really, really want to go salvage the sunken ship with my sister!’

’The frustrating thing is, we don’t have diving suits. And we can’t fit into the two sets at home anymore.’

The next day, Yun Linhai went to ask for leave on Yun Jiao’s behalf, so she skipped school entirely.

She ambled along behind her uncle on the way to the village chief’s house.

Along the way, she spotted a crowd gathered around some commotion. Without a second thought, she changed course and squeezed her way in.

’Huh? It’s Yun Zhaodi’s house.’

"Scram! I’m not interested in being matched right now. Take your things and get out."

Yun Jiao squeezed in, just in time to see a woman and a man being driven out with a broom by Yun Pan Di.

The woman yelped as she dodged, "Hey! What’s wrong with your family? Wasn’t it your grandma who said she wanted to arrange a match for you? I brought the man here, so what’s with the attitude?"

Yun Jiao glanced at the man the woman was talking about. ’Hmm... he was short and squat, not at all good-looking, and his buck teeth were impossible to ignore.’

’And his age... He had to be in his thirties, right?’

At that moment, the man’s eyes were roving all over Yun Pan Di.

"Yun Pan Di, is it? Don’t get so worked up. I know I’m a bit older than you, but an older man knows how to dote on a woman. Plus, I’ll offer a bride price of one hundred yuan, a bicycle, and a watch. And I have a respectable job—I’m a team leader at the town cannery, making fifty yuan a month! You won’t regret being with me."

As he spoke, he puffed out his chest confidently. Though he wasn’t much to look at, he believed that for a man, ability was what truly mattered, not looks.

He then added, full of himself, "With what I have to offer, plenty of women have wanted to marry me, and I’ve turned them down."

The onlookers were left speechless.

’Just how confident did you have to be to say something so shameless?’

Just then, Yun Zhaodi suddenly ran out to stand in front of her sister. "My sister said she’s not interested! Can’t you understand? Get lost!"

Seeing this, the villagers started to see Yun Zhaodi in a new light.

Who would have thought? Yun Zhaodi had really changed.

"That Zhaodi... she’s a lot more agreeable like this than she used to be."

"I know, right? It just goes to show, Cai Jinhua really didn’t know how to raise her kids."

"But the man’s offer is decent. It’s just his looks..."

Never mind his looks, the guy was just way too full of himself.

Still, if he was really offering a hundred yuan, a bicycle, and a watch for the bride price, someone might actually marry him just for the stuff.

And just like that, Yun Pan Di’s grandpa and grandma came out.

"Pandi, what’s all this fuss about? It’s normal to get married when you come of age! Why would a girl like you want to mooch off the family and never leave? That won’t do. This house is for our Dazhuang! And you’re still not happy with an offer this good? Being so picky... you really think you’re hot stuff, don’t you?"

Yun Pan Di glared fiercely at the two elders.

"My affairs are none of your business!"

"Oh, dear child, how can you say that? Marriages are arranged by parental order and a matchmaker’s word. Your father and mother aren’t here, so your grandpa and grandma are kindly handling this for you. They even found a man with a decent offer. How can you be so unfilial?"

Yep. The one who stepped forward to speak was, of course, the nosy Granny Yuan.

Yun Zhaodi glared at her. "If he’s so great, why don’t you marry him!"

"Hey! You little girl, you have no respect for your elders."

"Granny Yuan, you should stop meddling. If you really had Pandi’s best interests at heart, would you find someone that old for her? It’s not like Pandi and Zhaodi can’t support themselves."

"Exactly. A salary of fifty yuan a month isn’t even that high anymore."

If this were a few years ago, a bicycle, a watch, and a proper job with a fifty-yuan salary—that would have been a really great offer.

But now, with the national economy developing, a fifty-yuan salary really wasn’t high. And while few people owned a bicycle and a watch, they weren’t exactly rare treasures anymore.

Now, the motorcycle at Yun Linhai’s house, that was a real rarity.

Yun Pan Di’s grandma always wanted to have her granddaughter under her thumb, but unfortunately for her, Yun Pan Di wasn’t the same little girl anymore.

"I refuse! If you arrange this marriage for me without my consent, I’ll go to the police station and report you for forcing an arranged marriage!"

Ever since her "awakening," Yun Pan Di had carried an air of ferocity.

She had it all planned out. Around the time her father and mother were released, she would take Zhaodi and leave Bailong Village.

After all, they had saved some money, enough to buy train tickets and leave.

In the end, with her son and daughter-in-law both in prison, Yun Pan Di’s grandma had her own fears and reservations.

Although she was angry, she really didn’t dare to force this marriage on Yun Pan Di.

In the end, it naturally came to nothing.

Of course, this led to some people in the crowd, who were clearly bored out of their minds, to mutter that Yun Pan Di was unfilial, too ruthless, and so on.

Yun Jiao rolled her eyes dramatically.

’It’s easy to judge when you’re not the one being cut.’

The show was over, and the crowd began to disperse. Yun Jiao got ready to leave too.

But Yun Zhaodi suddenly ran over and called out to her.

Yun Jiao was a little curious. ’What does Yun Zhaodi want with me?’

"Yun Jiao, you’ve been to many places and know a lot. If my sister and I leave, where do you think would be a good place to go?"

Yun Zhaodi and Yun Pan Di had never left the village; the farthest they’d ever gone was the local town.

The two of them had already made plans to leave this place. The only people they could talk to who knew more about the outside world were Yun Jiao and her family.

So, Yun Zhaodi swallowed her pride and came to find Yun Jiao.