Chapter 74: I Must Have Been a Fish in My Past Life

Shen Yunlian and the others also found Yun Jiao’s reaction strange.

But it was better that she wasn’t in pain.

"Oh, right, Jiaojiao. The day you all left, we took your sea turtle out to sea, but it ran off. We waited a long time, but it never came back."

Fearing Yun Jiao would be heartbroken, Yun Linhe quickly added, "We’ll go look for it again tomorrow."

Yun Jiao shook her head. "It’s fine. If it ran away, then it ran away."

’The turtle probably sensed I wasn’t home and ran off to sea, with no intention of coming back.’

Seeing that she was neither angry nor sad, Yun Linhe breathed a sigh of relief.

Because of her injured foot, she hardly touched the ground for the rest of the day. One person or another was always carrying her.

After lunch, Yun Xiaowu and his brothers milled around Granny Yun, looking at her with pleading eyes.

"Grandma, we can still eat more."

"Yeah, Grandma, let’s cut open a watermelon! The weather is so hot, it’s perfect for eating watermelon."

"Grandma, our little sister is injured. She needs something nutritious to help her recover."

Yun Jiao: "..."

’Can eating watermelon really help my injured foot recover?’

But that didn’t stop her from wanting some, too.

In the end, Granny Yun couldn’t stand her grandsons’ pestering and cut open a watermelon.

She picked the smallest one, of course, but it was still enough for the whole family to eat.

Everyone sat in a line in the courtyard. The little fluffballs they had let out scampered over to Yun Jiao after getting familiar with their surroundings.

They nestled by her feet, pecking at the watermelon scraps she tossed down.

After eating and drinking her fill, Yun Jiao took an afternoon nap.

When the tide went out in the afternoon, Shen Yunlian and the others were heading out to forage on the tidal flats again.

Yun Jiao cried out, "I want to go! Mom, I want to go!"

"Your foot..."

"My brother can carry me on his back. I promise I won’t run around."

Yun Xiaowu puffed out his chest. "Leave my sister to me!"

Yun Xiao Liu chimed in, "I can protect my sister, too."

"And us!"

Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei were satisfied, seeing this scene of brotherly affection.

Yun Jiao insisted on going, and since her foot had been fine soaking in salt water, the ocean shouldn’t be a problem either.

And so, by virtue of being thoroughly doted on, Yun Jiao got her way. She rode on her Fifth Brother’s back, laughing happily as she followed them to the tidal flats.

After the tide receded, the tidal flats were littered with unlucky sea creatures that hadn’t managed to escape in time.

Shen Yunlian and the women were busy digging for clams and snails hidden in the sand and searching for crabs. They were preoccupied with finding the unlucky creatures in tide pools and crevices between the rocks, so they didn’t have much time to watch Yun Jiao and the boys.

"Brother, let’s go toward the sea."

Yun Xiaowu knew she loved running into the ocean, but the seashore was dangerous. Even if you could swim, a sudden wave could easily sweep you away.

"No way. You want to go into the ocean, but Dad and the others said your foot can’t touch the seawater."

Yun Jiao grew anxious. "No, no! What Dad and the others said doesn’t count."

"I know my own body. The wound will heal faster in the sea."

"How is that possible? It’s not like the sea is some kind of miracle cure."

Yun Jiao insisted, "It is for me."

"Brother, brother, brother..."

Although Yun Jiao’s voice was lovely, even he couldn’t take being called ’brother’ so insistently.

"All right, all right! I’ll take you. But let’s get one thing straight: you can’t go where it’s deep."

Yun Jiao’s eyes lit up. "Okay! Next time, I’ll let you ride a killer whale with me and we’ll play in the ocean."

Now it was Yun Xiaowu’s eyes that lit up.

When they reached the sea, Yun Jiao had him put her down in a slightly deeper spot.

Then, she submerged her entire body in the seawater.

Yun Jiao instantly felt as if every pore on her body had opened up and relaxed. The soreness in her arms and the stinging pain in her foot began to feel better.

Like a fish, she was filled with an incomparable sense of comfort the moment she touched the water.

"See, Brother? I told you. I feel much better in the ocean."

"I must have been a fish in my past life. A really, really pretty one!"

She was telling the truth.

Watching how content she looked in the ocean, Yun Xiaowu started to think Jiaojiao probably wasn’t wrong.

Yun Jiao dove back under the waves.

The sky was already getting a little dark, but even on the deeper parts of the seabed, her vision was completely unaffected.

’Well, since I’m here anyway...’

Yun Jiao swam about half a meter above the seafloor, her inky-black hair spreading out like a misty cloud of seaweed. The dark strands made her skin look even more snow-white, like a little sea sprite.

When she spotted a small mound on the seafloor, she swam over and dug at it, revealing a rather meaty Cat Eye Snail.

Nabbed.

She spotted a small octopus.

Nabbed.

A Lan Hua crab.

Nabbed.

"Jiaojiao..."

As Yun Jiao was happily harvesting her prizes from the seabed, she faintly heard a voice calling from the surface.

She glanced at the things she was holding. ’I can barely hold on to all this!’

So, she started swimming up.

"Jiaojiao, where are y—"

Before he could finish his shout, a familiar head popped out of the water not far ahead.

Yun Xiaowu and the others immediately swam over.

Yun Jiao shouted, "Brothers, hurry! I can’t hold on to all this!"

When they saw what Yun Jiao was holding, they were all stunned.

’No way. She found all this in just that short amount of time?’

Yun Xiaowu and the others looked at the crabs and octopuses, which were lying docilely in Yun Jiao’s arms, and wondered, ’They’re not dead, are they? Why else would they be so well-behaved?’

But they soon discovered the creatures stirring. They were all alive.

In fact, the moment they took the creatures from her, they began to struggle even more fiercely.

"Hsss... Jiaojiao, where on earth did you find all this?!"

Yun Jiao replied, "On the seafloor."

"It’s so dark out, and it’s even darker on the seafloor. How could you even see them?"

They quickly swam ashore with everything and tossed it all into their bucket.

By now, the sky had grown almost completely dark.

"Let’s hurry back. Mom will be looking for us."

After all, they had secretly brought Yun Jiao here.

Yun Xiaowu crouched down and lifted the slippery, fish-like Yun Jiao onto his back.

As they reached the tidal flats, they heard Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei calling for them.

"We’re over here! We’re coming!"

They got back just in time, but they still got a fierce scolding.

Yun Xiaowu and his brothers’ ears were twisted until they were bright red.

"You all have some nerve! How dare you take Yun Jiao into the ocean? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?!"

Soaking wet as they were, they couldn’t even try to argue.

In the end, they could only stand there and meekly accept their punishment.

Yun Jiao also stood in a line with her brothers, facing the wall to reflect on her misdeeds.

But due to her foot injury, she was eventually allowed to sit instead.

Behind them, the adults stood glaring, sticks in hand.

"You will all stand there properly until you understand what you did wrong."

Yun Jiao immediately piped up, "We know we were wrong."

Yun Xiaowu and the others nodded along. "Yes, yes! Dad, Mom, we have deeply reflected on our mistakes."

Yun Linhe’s voice was dangerously low. "But you’ll just do it again next time, won’t you?"

Yun Jiao’s gaze flickered away, looking slightly guilty.

Shen Yunlian snapped, "Go practice your writing!"

Since the first punishment wasn’t working, it was time for something more severe.

"Just write your names. You’ll fill five workbook pages each. I’ll check them when you’re done, and you’re not finished until they meet my standards."

Yun Xiaowu wailed, "No! We really know we were wrong!"

But nothing they said worked.

In the end, the children gathered around a table, and even Yun Jiao had a thin workbook placed in her hands.

Her small hand clutched a pencil stub barely the length of her finger. With her brow furrowed in concentration, she painstakingly managed to write out her name in a crooked scrawl.