A stunning mermaid dressed in the 1980s, the whole family lined up to pamper her endlessly.

Chapter 16 Flame Orb

Yun Xiaowu proudly held up the bucket, exclaiming, "Grandma, look! We dug up the King Clam!"

Grandma Yun is old and her eyesight is poor; she has to get very close to see clearly.

I was immediately stunned when I saw it.

"Why are there so many?!"

Several other elderly women also gathered around, and then started groaning and crying out.

"This is truly the king of clams; there must be half a bucket full."

"Where did you find these? They're worth more than razor clams. I remember Awang was buying them for 80 or 90 cents a pound."

Grandma Yun was so happy that the wrinkles around her eyes all bunched up together.

"Quick, second brother, take it to the collection point and sell it while it's still fresh."

Yun Chenxi nodded: "I'll go now."

Yun Jiao didn't go with them; she took the coconut snails back into the house.

"Hey? Jiaojiao, aren't you selling those coconut snails? They're so big, they're worth several yuan each."

Yun Jiao said in a soft, sweet voice, "Grandma doesn't sell."

"Alright, alright, if Jiaojiao likes it, then we won't sell it."

Her indulgent behavior made her older friends furious: "That's several dollars, and you're just going to leave it at home to eat? What a waste!"

People at that time were like that; they were used to being frugal and couldn't bear to keep anything that could fetch a good price for themselves.

Grandma Yun didn't care: "Aren't there still so many king clams? That's enough."

"You're spoiling the child way too much."

Grandma Yun said, "Our Jiaojiao is such a good girl. She picked up these things herself. If she likes them, she can keep them. You all have no idea how wonderful this child is..."

Grandma Yun kept bragging about how filial and good Yun Jiao was, and the smile on her face never left her face.

Yun Jiao, who was inside the house, heard this and happily wiggled her short legs.

She banged her little fist on the coconut snail several times and even shook it.

Then he frowned and muttered, "If we don't come out, we can't communicate."

Yun Jiao opened her mouth and kissed it.

Grandma Yun, who was sitting at the door, hurriedly stood up when she saw this.

"You can't eat it, we don't eat raw! This shell could break your little teeth."

The pretty little girl was gnawing on a coconut shell, her little teeth grinding together. Upon hearing this, she slowly moved her mouth away.

"Oh, when will you cook it, Grandma?"

"It'll be ready soon, we'll cook it as soon as your brothers get back."

It's difficult to extract the meat from a live coconut snail once it's attached to its shell; you have to wait until it's cooked.

After selling the razor clams, Yun Chenxi and his group rushed back and immediately handed the money over to Grandma Yun.

The family hasn't separated yet; the money from selling seafood is all managed by Grandma Yun.

"The milk, a total of twelve catties, plus some other snails and two orchid crabs, sold for eleven yuan."

Grandma Yun put the money away: "Jiaojiao is waiting for you. Hurry up and cook the coconut snails for her. She ate them raw earlier."

Yun Xiaowu ran in: "I knew it! My sister has told me so many times not to eat raw food."

Yun Jiao looked at him innocently, pretending not to hear.

"Brother will boil water for you."

After seeing her old friends off, Grandma Yun brought in the dishes and said, "I should start cooking too. Xiao Wu, you can start the fire here."

When Yun Jiao heard that it was time to light a fire and cook, she immediately ran into the house and carefully selected several sweet potatoes.

"Brother, roasted sweet potato."

"And potatoes."

She's still small and can't carry that many, so she makes a few more trips. Seeing her happily busy, everyone in the family finds her incredibly adorable, looking at her with smiles and doting eyes.

By the time the people who went out to work returned, the meal was almost ready.

Yun Jiao squatted on the ground watching her second brother pry open the coconut snail meat.

"You even found a coconut snail today? Didn't you teach Jiaojiao to swim?"

The older brothers got really excited when this was mentioned.

"My sister learned to swim in no time; she's a genius!"

Yun Xiaowu: "Not only can she swim, but she can also dive. We don't need to teach her at all. She picked up this coconut snail while diving. It's so big, Mom, you've never seen one like it before."

Shen Yunlian nodded: "When I first got married here, I was lucky enough to find a coconut snail the first time I went beachcombing, but this one is less than half the size."

Yun Chenxi has already pried out the snail meat.

Yun Jiao immediately reached out her hand, and Yun Chenxi thought she wanted the snail shell, since the shell of the coconut snail was quite pretty.

But Yun Jiao shook her head: "I want meat."

Yun Chenxi was both amused and exasperated: "Little glutton, you can't eat it now. We'll slice it up and stir-fry it later before you eat it."

Yun Jiao shook her head: "I won't eat."

That's not very convincing. From childhood to adulthood, Yun Jiao has been curious about everything and wanted to take a bite of everything she saw.

Even before I could walk, I would sit on a small blanket and pick up ants from the ground, then put them in my mouth to taste whether they were salty or not.

However, she insisted on having it, so Yun Chenxi had no choice but to hand her the large chunk of coconut snail meat.

Since it's cooked, it's okay to take a few bites.

But Yun Jiao didn't bite it. She touched it with her chubby little hands, then found a spot and poked her finger in, quickly digging out an orange-red bead.

"what!!!"

"Fuck!!!"

Yun Chenxi, Yun Xiaowu, and the others just watched as she dug such a large pearl out of the snail meat.

"pearl!!!"

Upon hearing Yun Xiaowu's words, even Yun A'na, who was busy at work, came over.

"Huh? What is that?"

When they saw the pearl in Yun Jiao's hand, their eyes widened in surprise.

Grandma Yun was the first to react and quickly sent someone to close the door.

One should not flaunt one's wealth. Pearls have always been expensive, especially sea pearls.

The pearl in Yun Jiao's hand was at least the size of a human finger, and was estimated to be over 10mm.

Moreover, the color is a beautiful orange-red, the shape is perfectly round, the surface of the pearl has a porcelain-like luster, and it is covered with beautiful flame-like patterns.

"This...this is a Flame Orb!"

Grandma Yun has lived by the sea for a long time, so she has a broader perspective.

I'm very excited right now.

A group of people surrounded Yun Jiao, their eyes fixed intently on the beautiful flame bead in her hand.

Shen Yunlian slapped her thigh: "This...this coconut snail has pearls inside? And such beautiful pearls at that! Then...the coconut snails I sold before..."

Grandma Yun said, "What are you thinking? If every coconut snail really had a pearl inside, wouldn't everyone be looking for coconut snails?"

“In the past, some people in our village have found coconut snails, but none of them have produced pearls. There is a legend in our village that our village was not called Bailong Village before.”

Legend has it that long ago, a fisherman encountered a shipwreck while fishing at sea. Just when he thought he was going to die, he saw a white dragon soaring through the clouds.

Later, his boat capsized, but he was washed ashore by the waves. He miraculously survived and even found a coconut shell. He told everyone he met that he had seen a white dragon and that a beautiful pearl had been found inside the coconut shell – this is the Flame Pearl.

This Flame Pearl, also known as the Dragon Pearl, was sold to a wealthy man by a fisherman based on a rumor of seeing a dragon. He made a fortune and later became a rich man.

"But those are all old rumors. Anyway, I haven't heard of anyone else getting the Flame Pearl from a coconut snail. I didn't expect Jiaojiao to actually get it."

(End of this chapter)