Chapter 71: Mother Hen Yun Jiao

Yun Jiao woke up from her afternoon nap, full of energy.

As the sun began to set and the heat subsided, the adults prepared to go up the mountain to work.

Yun Jiao led the two little rabbits, a string of cheerfully chirping furballs trailing behind her.

Grandma Shen said, "No matter how you look at it, it’s magical. They must think Jiaojiao is their mother."

Yun Jiao’s big, round eyes widened.

’Me?’

’I’m already a mother at my age?’

Shen Xiuyuan and the others went back to herding the sheep, while Grandpa Shen and the men went to weed the cornfield.

Meanwhile, Yun Jiao took the little rabbits to eat grass and led the little furballs to catch grasshoppers and worms.

They were still too small, so she had to find the worms for them.

Following their "mama," they watched her dig in the dirt. Whenever a worm appeared, she would pull it out and use her small knife to cut it into two or three pieces.

The chicks and ducklings already at her feet immediately swarmed over to eat.

It had to be said, Yun Jiao really did look like a mother hen finding food for her chicks at that moment.

Little Nine helped out from the side.

Suddenly, Yun Jiao heard her uncle’s voice.

"Jiaojiao, there are plums over here! Do you want some?"

Hearing the word "eat," Yun Jiao’s little head immediately shot up.

"Yes!"

Her reply was crisp and loud.

Yun Jiao stopped catching worms and darted through the cornfield toward her uncle.

Little Nine followed, carrying the two little rabbits.

And so did the string of little furballs.

Some of the slower ones, or those who had tumbled over, cried out pitifully, as if calling for Yun Jiao.

Yun Jiao stopped in her tracks and had to run back.

"Come on, hurry up."

Only then did the dizzy little creatures scramble on their tiny legs to catch up.

When they reached the plum tree, Uncle Shen had already climbed up.

Yun Jiao stared up at him eagerly.

"Uncle, I want to come up too."

She wanted to climb the tree too.

But she didn’t seem to have much of a talent for it. She had tried before but could never get very far up.

From the tree, Uncle Shen tossed down a few plums that landed in the grass.

"You eat these first. It’s high up here, so don’t come up."

Yun Jiao hummed in agreement, squatting down to pick up the plums. She gave them a quick wipe before popping one into her mouth.

CRUNCH...

Slightly bitter, slightly sour, slightly sweet.

The mix of flavors was a bit jarring on the first bite, and her little face scrunched up.

’My mouth just isn’t used to the taste yet,’ she thought. ’I’ll try a few more bites.’

She kept munching.

They were local wild plums, not particularly delicious, but for the village children, they were a rare fruity treat.

After eating two, Yun Jiao started to feel they weren’t so bad after all.

"CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP..."

A circle of little furballs gathered at her feet, but they wouldn’t eat the plums.

Yun Jiao pulled up a clump of grass, turning over the sod so they could find their own food.

They didn’t head home until it was nearly dark.

Without a moment’s rest, the women got busy making dinner.

Grandpa Shen took out the unfinished straw mat and continued weaving.

Tonight’s dinner was a feast: snake meat, rabbit meat, eggs...

Grandma Shen even made honey water for everyone.

"Thanks to Jiaojiao today, we’re eating more meat than we do during the New Year."

Yun Jiao replied, "My brothers helped too."

She held an enamel mug, drinking lots of the sweet honey water, a look of pure satisfaction on her little face.

"Grandma, I want more."

"Alright, I’ll get you some more."

Although Shen Xiuyuan and Yun Xiaowu had paid a painful price today, they had brought back a lot of honey.

After gulping down another half-mug of honey water, dinner was served.

At the dinner table, everyone piled meat into Yun Jiao’s bowl.

She could barely keep up with eating it all.

In the end, she stuck out her round little belly and let out several contented burps.

So satisfying!

Shen Yunlian wiped her greasy little mouth and hands clean.

"Go walk around in the courtyard to help you digest."

Yun Jiao obediently went with her brothers to wander around the courtyard, and from there, they wandered out of the courtyard and into the village.

It was an unfamiliar village, but the bold Yun Jiao wasn’t scared at all. She just ran along behind her brothers.

Then she discovered that Shen Family Village also had a place where everyone sat and chatted.

There was a large parasol tree in the village, and many people were sitting under it, enjoying the cool air and chatting.

On hot summer nights, it seemed no one really liked being cooped up at home.

Under the cool moonlight, visibility was still quite good.

The moment they walked over, they became the center of attention.

"Hey, Shen Xiuyuan, did you and your cousins really get beaten up by those folks from Big Valley? Your faces... how did they get so swollen?"

"The people from Big Valley are shameless bullies, and their kids are just like them. Several kids from our village have been beaten up by them. I heard they even tried to steal your rabbits?"

Shen Xiuyuan nodded without hesitation.

"That’s right, that’s exactly what happened!"

The crowd immediately erupted in a cacophony of condemnation for the people of Big Valley.

It was clear how deep the resentment toward that village ran.

"This must be Yunlian’s little girl, right? She’s so lovely. Come here and let Auntie have a look."

"This little face, how can she be so pretty? She’s even prettier than Yunlian was as a child."

"Before Yunlian got married, she was the prettiest girl for miles around. And her little girl is even prettier than she was."

Yun Jiao instantly became the focus of this group of middle-aged and elderly aunties.

People are visual creatures. Even those who favored boys couldn’t help but feel a little fondness when they saw such a pretty little girl.

Of course, those who didn’t get along with Shen Yunlian found her daughter an eyesore no matter how they looked at her.

And as it happened, there was one such person right here.

"What’s the use of being pretty? Didn’t she just marry some poor bastard? Look at her face, all tanned by the sun. What’s so pretty about that?"

Yun Xiaowu and his brothers glared at the woman who had spoken.

"What are you looking at? Your family’s poor, and I’m not allowed to say it? Poor is one thing, but to have so many kids... popping them out like a pig, showing off how fertile she is. As if she can even afford to raise them."

Someone who couldn’t stand it any longer spoke up.

"Cui Mei, that’s enough. Why say such things in front of the children?"

Shen Cuimei rolled her eyes. "So I’m not allowed to talk about her now?"

"Acting like a vixen, and now she’s given birth to a daughter who looks just like a little vixen."

She mumbled the last sentence, but Yun Jiao still heard it.

She asked Yun Xiaowu, "Brother, what’s a vixen? She said Mama is a vixen, and I’m a vixen too."

’I’m not some fox,’ she thought. ’I’m a Merfolk, a super pretty Merfolk!’

Yun Xiaowu was about to explode, but someone was faster.

Aunt Shen rushed forward and delivered two sharp slaps to Shen Cuimei’s face.

"Shen Cuimei, you have a filthy mouth! Let me wash it out for you!"

"Hey, why are they fighting?"

"Stop fighting! Quick, stop fighting!"

The people around them stood up to mediate, mostly by talking but not physically intervening.

Some people even felt that Shen Cuimei deserved it. The brainless woman’s words were more caustic than an old crone’s, and few people liked to listen to her.

Shen Cuimei shrieked.

"Wang Wen, are you crazy! What gives you the right to hit me!"

Aunt Shen spat at her. "I just can’t stand your caustic, bitter attitude! You’re not as pretty as my sister-in-law, your personality isn’t as good, yet you’ve spent your whole life competing with her. The man she married may be poor, but he’s a hundred times better than that drunkard husband of yours!"