Chapter 416 - 406: A Warm Welcome and a Reunion

The train ride to the Capital went smoothly this time.

Yun Jiao was taken to her master’s home.

Elder Xu’s family had known about her for a while. They had even met before when they went to Sea City to visit him.

This time, she was staying at the home of Elder Xu’s eldest son.

The whole family welcomed her warmly and even prepared gifts for her.

Of course, Yun Jiao had also prepared gifts.

"Senior Brother, this is for you. Sister-in-law, this is for you..."

The gift for her Senior Brother was a calligraphy brush, also salvaged from the shipwreck. The brush’s handle was made of jade and featured a relief carving.

Ancient guessed that it was originally a tribute brush intended for the Emperor.

For her Sister-in-law, she had prepared a pearl bracelet.

Her Senior Brother had two sons, and she had gifts for them as well, but the two boys were still at school. She would give the gifts to them when they returned.

Everyone was stunned when they saw the gifts.

"These... these gifts are far too valuable."

’Didn’t the old man say his young apprentice was just a child from a small fishing village? How could she afford such expensive gifts?’

The calligraphy brush was clearly an antique, and the pearl bracelet was made of light pink pearls, each one perfectly round and almost identical in size.

They were obviously Sea Pearls. Even for a family like theirs, it wouldn’t be easy to assemble a necklace of pink Sea Pearls so uniform in color, shape, and size.

Elder Xu shot Yun Jiao a look.

’Why didn’t you tell this old man you were preparing all this!’

Yun Jiao scratched her head. "It’s nothing special. I have more at home."

She had ten more brushes just like that one, and even more pearls.

Hiss...

’Just what does the old master’s little apprentice’s family do for a living?’

"Alright, alright, just accept her gifts," Elder Xu said. "Just be good to her from now on."

Elder Xu’s eldest son and daughter-in-law felt a little embarrassed. Compared to Yun Jiao’s welcome gifts, the ones they had given her seemed rather shabby.

"Jiaojiao, are you hungry? Come, let’s go eat."

Elder Xu’s daughter-in-law had taken a real liking to the child, mainly because she was so beautiful.

’I’ve always dreamed of having such a beautiful little girl.’

Too bad she only had two little rascals at home.

Knowing they would be arriving today, the Xu family had prepared a sumptuous meal.

After eating her fill and taking a nap, Yun Jiao woke up to find that the Xu family had guests.

"Brother Xu Rong, what do you think Grandpa Xu’s new little apprentice is like? Is she better than me? Why won’t Grandpa Xu take me as his apprentice?"

A childish, somewhat sweet voice reached Yun Jiao’s ears.

Xu Rong: "I don’t know."

"Brother Xu Qing..."

"Don’t ask me. I don’t know either."

Hearing this, Yun Jiao raised an eyebrow and headed straight downstairs.

Hearing the footsteps, the three people in the living room downstairs looked over.

There was a little girl who looked about her age, and two boys who must be her Senior Brother’s sons—one was about ten, the other around eight.

"So you’re the apprentice Grandpa Xu took in?"

The little girl was wearing a pink dress and clearly looked spoiled.

Her temper, of course, was just as spoiled.

"Hmph, you’re not all that. My mom said you’re from a fishing village. Do you smell like fish?"

Yun Jiao: "Who are you?"

"Hmph! If it weren’t for you, Grandpa Xu would have taken me as his apprentice! You stole what was mine!"

The child’s eyes were filled with obvious hostility.

"Su Nian!"

Ten-year-old Xu Rong frowned. "She’s the apprentice my grandpa chose himself. What does that have to do with you? As far as I know, Grandpa never had any intention of taking you as his apprentice."

’So annoying. Uncle Su does business with his dad, and every time he visits, he brings Su Nian along, and they have to babysit her.’

"Brother Xu Rong, how could you say that to me?"

Su Nian immediately looked like she was about to cry.

The two Xu brothers instantly felt a headache coming on.

Xu Qing said, "Can you not burst into tears at the drop of a hat?"

"SOB SOB SOB... You guys are so mean! You’re bullying me for an outsider."

Xu Qing retorted, "Get it straight. She’s my grandpa’s apprentice, which makes her our junior sister."

’Who’s the real outsider here?’

’She’s visited our house a few times and already acts like she’s part of the Xu family.’

"SOB SOB SOB... Daddy..."

Before Yun Jiao even had to do anything, the two Xu brothers had already argued Su Nian into running off.

She walked down the rest of the stairs. "Brother Xu Rong, Brother Xu Qing."

After greeting them, she took out their gifts.

"These are for you. My fourth brother made them."

They were two mechanical wooden puppets of generals on horseback.

The horses could move, and the swords in the generals’ hands were movable too.

The wood carvings themselves were already beautiful, but Yun Chenbei had also painted them, making them even more striking.

Few boys could resist such a temptation.

They loved them at first sight. They already had a good first impression of Yun Jiao because she was so pretty, and now their impression was even better.

"You brought us gifts too? You really shouldn’t have."

Although he said that, he really loved it, so Xu Qing accepted it.

"Come on, I have toys in my room. You can take whatever you like."

Xu Rong added, "Me too."

"By the way, that little girl just now is named Su Nian. She loves to tattle and has probably gone to do just that. You should probably stay inside for now."

"Su Nian’s mother is very unreasonable. Once, a group of us kids were playing with her, and one of our friends accidentally bumped into her and made her fall. She started crying, and later her mom yelled at that kid for a long time."

"Actually, we pushed her too while playing, but her mom only scolded that one kid."

Xu Rong said, "My mom says it’s because Su Nian’s mom bullies the weak and fears the strong."

"But since you’re at our house, they probably won’t dare to come looking for trouble with you."

Yun Jiao understood. ’They’re just snobs.’

Yun Jiao wasn’t a masochist. She had no desire to go out and face the Su Nian family’s passive-aggressive remarks or dirty looks, so she just followed the two boys to their room.

They really did have a lot of toys, all the kinds that little boys love.

"These model cars and planes are pretty realistic, right? You can take one if you like."

As he said this, you could clearly sense his reluctance.

Yun Jiao shook her head. "Do you have any snacks? I like to eat."

Xu Qing chuckled. "My parents don’t let us eat too many snacks, but I have a secret stash."

Xu Qing pulled out his hidden snacks from various nooks and crannies in the room.

He also took out his treasured handheld game console.

"Yun Jiao, look at this! This is my game console. It’s so much fun."

He brought it over to Yun Jiao, and the three of them started playing on the console while eating snacks.

The console only had one game available to play: Tetris.

Even so, they had a great time playing it.

Yun Jiao thought, ’My brothers would definitely love this thing.’

When Elder Xu and the other adults came looking for the children, they found the three of them playing together.

They all smiled at the sight.

"Little Rong, Xiaoqing, while your little sister is here, make sure you play with her and show her a good time."

"Okay."

The two brothers looked up and agreed.

Their new little sister, Yun Jiao, was pretty. Most importantly, she didn’t bother them when they were playing games, didn’t try to make them play with dolls, and didn’t burst into tears over nothing.

The next morning, Yun Jiao was ready to go find her Sixth Brother and Third Brother.

The Xu family drove her to her Third Brother’s university.

She and Brother Ba wandered around the school gate, and soon their hands were full of things.

"Brother Ba, try this tanghulu."

"Jiaojiao, this cake is delicious too."

The two children fed each other, creating an adorable scene.

Plus, they were both very good-looking. Yun Jiao, in particular, looked just like a life-sized doll.

Passersby couldn’t help but stare at the brother and sister duo.

"Come on, let’s go inside and find Third Brother."

Yun Xiao Ba said, "But we don’t know where Third Brother is right now."

University classes change locations all the time, so they really had no idea where Yun Chen Nan’s class was.

So, the two of them discussed it and decided to just go into the university and wander around.

Qingbei University allowed visitors, and both the Xu and Gu families had made arrangements, so it was no problem for the two children to enter.

The drivers from both families were following them.

Both the Xu and Gu families were too busy. Yun Jiao and her brother would probably be at the university all day, and the adults had no time to accompany them, so they could only ask the drivers to keep an eye on them.

When Yun Jiao and Yun Xiao Ba entered Qingbei, they both let out a gasp of amazement.

The reason was simple: the university was huge.

It truly lived up to its reputation as a famous institution of higher learning.

But in such a massive university, how were they supposed to find their Third Brother?

’We should probably find a professor and ask.’

The two children wandered and played, asking people for directions along the way.

Finally, after two hours, they found the classroom where their Third Brother’s class was currently being held.

They waited for the class to end and finally found one of Yun Chen Nan’s classmates. They learned that their Third Brother was doing great—he was already studying under a well-known professor and had even been brought onto a project team.

The classmate’s face was full of envy as he spoke.

"Are you Yun Chen Nan’s younger brother and sister?"

They both nodded.

"Come on, I’ll take you to him."

Led by this kind "big brother," Yun Jiao and Yun Xiao Ba finally arrived outside a laboratory.

"Excuse me," the classmate said to someone at the lab. "I’m looking for Yun Chen Nan. His younger brother and sister are here to see him."

As he spoke, he stepped aside, revealing Yun Jiao and Yun Xiao Ba.

The student at the door took one look and said, "Wait a moment. I’ll go get Yun Chen Nan."

It wasn’t long before Yun Chen Nan came out of the lab. He was wearing glasses and a white lab coat, and combined with his handsome features, it was a side of him Yun Jiao and her brother had never seen before!

Yun Jiao’s eyes lit up. "Third Brother!"

Yun Xiao Ba also called out happily, "Third Brother!"

Yun Chen Nan was happy too. "What are you two doing here?"

"Hehe, we came with Master."

Yun Chen Nan understood. "Wait a minute. I’ll go ask my professor for a day off."

Yun Jiao asked, "Won’t that get in the way of your work?"

"It won’t."

Yun Chen Nan went to ask his professor for leave, then changed his clothes and left the academic building with his younger brother and sister.

"So, you’re here for the auction?"

In that short amount of time, Yun Xiao Ba had already explained to Yun Chen Nan what they were here for.

"That’s right."

"Jiaojiao is auctioning off a lot of things to buy that island."

"Third Brother, your university is so big! It took us forever to find you."

Yun Chen Nan picked Yun Jiao up. "Are your legs tired?"

Yun Jiao put her little hands on her hips. "Of course not! Brother Ba’s the one who’s tired."

Yun Chen Nan glanced at Yun Xiao Ba. "I don’t think I’m strong enough to carry you."

Yun Xiao Ba huffed. "I don’t need to be carried! I’m a little man now!"