Chapter 477 - 452: Playing Ghost to Scare Thieves

The group took one last look at the giant skeletons on the island before leaving.

Yun Chendong and Yun Chenxi had a ten o’clock train that morning.

After a reluctant farewell to the two of them, the others also left one by one.

When Yun Jiao returned to the village, she found her house full of people.

"Jiaojiao, you have an island?"

’Just as I thought, it’s about this.’

It was her birthday yesterday, and it wouldn’t have been right not to invite the relatives from the village they were close with.

This situation was to be expected.

"I’m leasing it. It’s the same as leasing land."

"Goodness, what made you think of leasing an island? What can you even do on it?"

Hearing her say that, many of them thought she was a fool.

"You’re the adults, why aren’t you reining her in?"

Yun Linhai chuckled good-naturedly. "The kid likes it, so we let her do it."

Shen Yunlian added, "Our Jiaojiao is very capable and can make money. We can’t tell her how to spend her own money."

That was true. No one else in the entire village made money as fast as she did.

Yun Jiao had brought back two Conch Pearls from the sea a while ago, and this time she hadn’t kept it a secret.

Now everyone knew that Yun Jiao was becoming more and more capable, able to dive deep into the sea to retrieve pearls.

Even if some people wanted to imitate her, they gave up after one or two tries.

It was hilarious. They had overestimated themselves and couldn’t get down there at all.

So, when it came to Yun Jiao, they could only admit her superiority, though they were naturally envious as well.

That was why no one doubted her ability to lease an island.

But what could you do with an island? It felt like such a waste of money.

Someone asked how much the island lease cost.

Wang Mei rolled her eyes. "How can we just tell you that? If you want to lease an island yourselves, our family could help pull some strings."

The villagers all shook their heads. "No, forget it. Who would lease something like that?"

After sending the villagers away, Yun Jiao went with her Fifth Brother to get their photos developed.

As for why it wasn’t her fourth brother, it was because he had to make the bone swords.

Yun Xiaowu said, "Fourth Brother, I’m counting on you for my precious sword! Jiaojiao and I will go get the photos developed. You shouldn’t waste any time; just get to work on the bone swords."

Then he dragged Yun Jiao away.

Yun Chenbei was speechless...

He sulked, dejectedly gathering up his siblings’ dinosaur bones to get to work.

Their family developed quite a lot of photos, so they were familiar with the owner of the photo studio in town.

"Hey, how many photos are you developing this time?"

The studio owner was quite happy to see this family.

It was simply because those photos were unlike anything he had ever seen in his life.

"Sir, could you please develop all the photos from this film? And, um... make ten copies of each."

The studio owner took the film. "So many? That won’t be cheap."

Yun Xiaowu said, "Money is no object."

After saying that, he turned and gave his sister a fawning smile. "Right, sis?"

Yun Jiao was speechless...

But she really wasn’t short on cash.

Not to mention her own money, her first, second, and third brothers had stuffed a lot of cash in her hands when they came back.

The three brothers were earning money now. Every month, her first and second brothers would each wire a hundred yuan home.

Her third brother sent fifty yuan.

Considering the current wage levels, that was already a lot.

"That’s right, we’re not short on cash."

The studio owner didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Alright then, I’ll get right to developing them."

"We’ll come back to pick them up in a couple of days."

The studio owner assumed this batch of photos would be like the previous ones, mostly featuring big fish from the sea.

He had no idea what this family did to be able to interact with so many large sea creatures.

It made him itch with curiosity, wishing he too could get up close and personal with those massive, ferocious marine animals.

This time, however, when he got a clear look at what was on the film, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"W-W-W... What is this?!"

Meanwhile, Yun Jiao and her Fifth Brother were out strolling through town.

They bought whatever they liked.

The weather was gradually warming up, and someone was even selling the small wild berries that only grew in spring.

"How much for these autumn olives?"

"And the raspberries..."

The siblings bought a lot of fruit.

These little spring fruits were the most delicious, but their only downside was that they didn’t keep well.

"Let’s go look for some in the mountains tomorrow, too."

"Okay!"

Yun Xiaowu and Yun Xiao Liu’s leave wasn’t very long; they spent three days running wild at home.

On the last day, they went to the photo studio to pick up the pictures.

The studio owner was busy studying the photos.

"Wait, I’d like to ask you two young comrades, are these in the photos dinosaur fossils? The kind that have been in the newspapers."

"Huh? The newspaper is out?"

They hadn’t noticed.

The studio owner handed them a copy of the newspaper.

"That’s right. The dinosaur fossils in here are identical to yours."

One glance and Yun Jiao guessed it was her godmother’s doing.

As the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Wang Yun naturally wouldn’t pass up such a huge story. She had asked for Yun Jiao’s opinion before she left.

Yun Jiao didn’t really have a problem with the fossils being published in the paper.

’I didn’t think the paper would come out so quickly.’

On their way back, they bought a few more copies to take home.

The Yun family members were so excited after reading the newspaper they were practically dancing with joy.

"My picture is in the newspaper! I never thought I’d be in the paper."

Mr. Yun was so delighted his face was a mess of wrinkles.

Yun Linhai said, "Hehehe... I’m in it too."

Yun Jiao, however, wasn’t in any of the photos.

Not that she minded.

"We have to preserve these newspapers carefully."

Old Man Yun clasped his hands behind his back. "I’m going out for a stroll."

Hah, he was off to show off again.

Everyone was used to it.

Still, their family being in the newspaper was definitely something worth bragging about.

That afternoon, Yun Xiaowu, Yun Xiao Liu, and Yun Chen Nan all boarded the train to the Capital.

"Jiaojiao, remember to mail the photos to our first and second brothers!"

Yun Jiao waved. "I know, I’ll mail them when we get back."

After seeing another three people off, the once-lively house felt much quieter.

Shen Yunlian felt a little melancholy.

’The children are grown now; they all have to leave the nest and fly far away.’

’When the remaining children get older, I’m afraid they’ll also leave for other places.’

Although she was reluctant to see them go, she knew it was a necessary part of their growth.

That night, at three-thirty in the morning, Yun Jiao’s eyes snapped open.

’Hm? A thief has actually come to our door.’

"Are you sure this is the house?"

"Yeah, this is it. I’ve already asked around. They’re the richest family in the village. They found some pearls a while back, and I heard they even leased an island."

"Damn it, rich people just waste their money. If we brothers had that money, we’d definitely be living the good life."

"Stop talking. Where’s the ladder?"

"But boss, this family has two dogs."

"What are you afraid of? Don’t we have anesthetic? In a bit, when you two see the dogs, you’re gonna grab ’em immediately, and I’ll tranquilize them."

The two underlings were very reluctant. Even with two of them, a dog bite would hurt like hell.

"What, you two got a problem with that?"

"No, no."

The two underlings quickly shook their heads, and only then did the boss nod in satisfaction.

Then they propped the ladder against the wall and started to climb over.

Yun Jiao stood behind a cluster of cucumber trellises in the backyard, holding a white bedsheet with a smile on her face.

’Hehe, I just watched a horror movie recently. Now I get to try scaring someone.’

These thieves were pretty smart, actually, coming in through the backyard.

The dogs usually stood guard in the front yard.

A man jumped down lightly from the wall.

He looked around furtively.

"Boss! Second! No dogs, come on down."

So, another man quickly jumped down from the wall.

The last man straddled the wall, moving the ladder.

"Let’s put the ladder up in the back and see if any of the windows are unlocked."

Yun Jiao, with the sheet draped over her, walked out from behind the cucumber trellis. Without a word, she leaped onto the wall and stood there, stiff and straight.

A gust of wind blew, making the white sheet flutter.

The three thieves were sneaking around when one of them caught a glimpse of something white in his peripheral vision and instinctively looked over.

Then his eyes went wide, and the color drained from his face.

"B-B-B... Boss... B-Boss..."

"Are you trying to summon a ghost? Shut the hell up before you attract the dogs."

"T-T-There..."

The other man also turned to look and made the exact same expression as the first.

"B-Boss, when we... when we climbed over the wall, was... was that thing there?"

The boss impatiently turned his head to look.

The wind rustled the leaves with a "RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE" sound. It was a perfectly normal sound, but right now, it sounded terrifying to them.

Three faces were deathly pale in the moonlight.

The boss swallowed hard. "Maybe... maybe we just didn’t notice it before."

The moment he finished speaking, Yun Jiao started to move, running along the wall using a "ghost step."

The ghost step is a special footwork technique from Chinese opera. The feet move rapidly, and hidden by the long sheet, it looked as if the person was floating.

"AHHHH!!!!"

"A ghost! There’s a ghost! Boss, it’s a ghost!"

Yun Jiao’s trick was a huge success; she had successfully terrified the three thieves.

The most cowardly one let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Then all three of them started running for their lives, not caring where they were going.

"WOOF WOOF WOOF..."

The sleeping members of the Yun family were also woken up.

The three thieves ran to the front yard, trying to escape. Who cared about stealing anything at a time like this?

But in the blink of an eye, Yun Jiao appeared right in front of them.

"AHHHHHH!!!"

This time, all three of them screamed in terror.

One of them, a chubbier man, rolled his eyes back and fell flat on his back, fainting dead away.

Yun Jiao leaped and landed on the fat man’s body.

In the eyes of the other two, the "ghost" had just floated over to him.

"Don’t eat me! Ghost!"

One of them was pounced on by the two dogs.

The last one, the boss, ran right into the Yun family members who had come out.

"Who the hell are you?"

Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe were both holding clubs, and seeing a stranger run toward them, they were ready to give him a whack.

"Ghost... ghost..."

The boss pointed a trembling finger in Yun Jiao’s direction.

"Whoa! What the hell is that!"

Yun Jiao whipped off the white sheet.

"It’s me."

"Jiaojiao?"

It took the thief boss a long moment to react. "Holy shit, you’re a person! Are you insane?!"

"Who are you calling insane?"

A flashlight beam shone directly on the man’s face.

"Who are you?"

Seeing things were going south, the thief boss tried to run.

"Hiyah!"

But he had just started to run when Yun Xiaoqi launched forward, leaped up, and delivered a flying kick to the thief’s back.

The thief fell face-first into the dirt, knocking out two of his teeth.

Yun Jiao folded up the sheet. "These three came to steal. Let’s tie them up and string them up in the tree for the night. We’ll take them to the police station in the morning."