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

Chapter 33: A Snake Was Caught
"Jiaojiao and the others were lucky. The three large yellow croakers weighed a total of seven jin, and the conch wasn't cheap either. They sold them for a total of ninety yuan and sixty cents."

Looking at those nine ten-yuan bills, everyone's face lit up with smiles.

"This typhoon brought a lot of things up here, not just to our house. I also heard that someone found a rather large rat-spotted cat."

"A rat-shaped hamster, how much would that cost?"

"Not only that, other families also found big yellow croakers, but only one. I heard that they even fought over that big yellow croaker, and in the end, Cai Jinhua took advantage of the situation and snatched it away."

Wang Mei curled her lip upon hearing this: "No wonder Cai Jinhua was so smug when she saw me today, and said some strange things, like her Yun Zhuangzhuang is the real Fuwa or something..."

She was in a hurry to get back for dinner, so she simply chased the person away.

After dinner, the other family members also saw the sea turtle.

The sea turtle was very calm, lying in a large wooden tub filled with seawater that barely covered its bottom shell.

But it seemed completely unconcerned, lying motionless in the large basin like a meditating old man.

"Mom! How did we catch such a big sea turtle?"

Wang Mei was cleaning up the empty bowls when she went to the kitchen and was shocked when she went into the backyard.

Grandma Yun's voice came: "Those were brought back by Jiaojiao and the others. They said they wanted to keep them as pets."

"It was this fish that brought us that big yellow croaker before."

As she spoke, Grandma Yun found some small fish and cheap shrimp that she had picked up that day and handed them over. The sea turtle opened its mouth and began to eat them with relish.

Wang Mei muttered, "Can our family afford to keep such a big sea turtle?"

"It's okay. Jiaojiao said that she always takes it with her when she goes to the beach to find food."

"Huh? So the sea turtle can come back after it runs away?"

Grandma Yun: "I don't know, let the children play by themselves."

After dinner, the adults in the family went off to do other chores.

Yun Xiaowu also led his younger brothers and Yun Jiao into the mountains.

"Let's not go to the beach, let's go to the mountains. I wonder if the guava fruit from that guava tree we found last time is ripe yet."

Seeing that they were about to go up the mountain, Shen Yunlian quickly called out to them: "Take a basket with you, pick some wild vegetables if you see them, and also a basket to gather some firewood."

Yun Xiaowu: "Understood."

That's how people in the village are; when children go to play in the mountains, they always bring a basket and a wood-chopping knife, and they bring back any firewood they find.

Some families raise chickens, ducks, geese, or pigs, so they need to gather some pig feed.

The four brothers, Yun Xiaowu, Yun Xiaoliu, and Yun Xiaoqi and Xiaoba, carried baskets on their backs, some large and some small.

Yun Xiaojiu and Yun Jiao carried two small bamboo baskets.

The brothers and their sister skipped and hopped up the mountain.

"Wait, this flower..."

Yun Jiao followed her brother's gaze and saw that it was just an ordinary wild purple flower.

"Wait, I'll make a flower vine hat for Jiaojiao."

He quickly found a thin vine, then made a circle around Yun Jiao's head and began to wrap it around the vine.

Once the others knew what he was going to do, they joined in, finding some pretty wildflowers around to decorate the area.

And just like that, a beautiful, colorful wreath is made.

Yun Xiaowu put it on Yun Jiao's head.

"It's beautiful! My sister has to have everything that others have."

No matter where she lives, the little girl always loves to look beautiful.

Since they couldn't afford pretty hair clips and hair ties, the skillful girls liked to weave flower wreaths to wear on their heads when they were in the mountains, just to look pretty.

Yun Jiao had never done that, but her brothers couldn't resist her vain behavior.

"My sister is the most beautiful girl in the entire Bailong Village!"

Others nodded.

Yun Jiao touched the flower wreath on her head: "Can we eat the flowers on this?"

"No."

"I see a patch of thunderwort. Let's go over there quickly. It rained so hard and thundered yesterday. This thunderwort is growing well."

The group went over and started weeding, eventually filling a basket.

"We're lucky; this thunderwort is delicious and hard to find." It only grows after a thunderstorm.

Yun Xiaowu: "There's a dry tree over there, I'll go cut it down. Jiaojiao, don't run around."

Yun Jiao said "Oh," and then she looked around to see if there were any mushrooms.

The brothers said in unison, "You're not allowed to put raw mushrooms in your mouth."

Yun Jiao: How annoying, she just wants to taste it.

While her brothers went to chop firewood, Yun Jiao took a small stick and poked around here and there.

They actually found mushrooms for her.

It's also known as the delicious wild morel mushroom.

Morel mushrooms have a dark brown cap that looks like a pointed little hat, and the surface is covered with uneven pits like a sheep's stomach. The stem is white.

This can not only be eaten, but it can also be sold for a lot of money.

But Yun Jiao would rather eat than sell.

Yun Jiao placed the basket at her feet and squatted down to start picking.

There's a small patch here.

As she squatted down to pick morel mushrooms, a black snake, about three fingers thick, slowly slithered down from the tree behind her.

It quietly approached Yun Jiao, raised its neck, and lunged at her.

Yun Jiao felt a chill run down her spine. Her vigilance from her past life was still there. She turned to the side, grabbed the snake's head, and slammed it to the ground with lightning speed.

"snake?"

Before the snake could react, Yun Jiao grabbed its tail and flung it toward a nearby rock.

With a bang, blood splattered, and the snake's head was smashed and deformed.

The snake looked like it was going to die, but its body was still writhing.

"What happened?"

Hearing the commotion, Yun Xiaowu and the others ran over and their expressions changed drastically when they saw such a thick snake not far from Yun Jiao.

Yun Xiaowu picked Yun Jiao up in one go.

"Were you bitten?"

Yun Jiao shook her head: "No."

"Are you scared?"

He continued to shake his head, his big eyes wide and his expression innocent as he replied, "No."

The snake must have been terrified; it was scared to death.

"It's a black-tailed snake."

Yun Xiaoqi picked up the snake, whose head had been smashed and deformed, and looked at it with relief.

This snake is not poisonous.

"Little sister, you're amazing! You managed to kill such a big snake!"

Yun Jiao just stood there looking obedient, fair-skinned, and soft, not at all like someone who could kill a snake; their styles were clearly not on the same level.

But... she's the one who killed such a huge snake.

"How ruthless."

"This must weigh about two pounds."

Yun Xiaowu: "Put it in the basket and take it back. Let Grandma kill a chicken. We have to make a dragon and phoenix soup with it."

"Dream on! You want me to kill you? I'll kill you first."

There are only two laying hens in the family, and they cherish them dearly.

"It would be great if we could run into a pheasant."

"What are you dreaming about? It's impossible. How could we be so lucky?"

"Jiaojiao, you found morel mushrooms?"

Yun Jiao nodded, picked up the small basket to show them, and spoke in a soft, childlike voice with a hint of pride.

"so much."

(End of this chapter)