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

Chapter 62 Shen Family Village
In the end, we didn't find any crabs, but we did find a dark fish with a small tail.

This fish was the smallest Yun Jiao had ever seen, and it looked quite strange.

What kind of fish is this?

She scooped up the little fish and showed it to her brothers.

Yun Xiaowu: "It's a tadpole. It will grow into a frog or a toad."

Yun Linhai and Shen Yunlian also came over.

Yun Linhai exclaimed in surprise, "There are still tadpoles this season?"

Shen Yunlian: "They might have hatched later."

During breeding season, the entire stream is teeming with these tiny black tadpoles.

But now there are only a handful of them.

"You can't eat this."

Yun Jiao gave a regretful "oh".

She continued walking into the mountains, and after a brief moment of excitement, she quickly grew tired.

The sun is strong; walking isn't as comfortable as swimming.

The little legs were sore and it was thirsty.

Soon Yun Jiao became a wilted, thirsty little fish.

"Mother, I want to drink water."

Shen Yunlian handed her the water bottle: "The water is almost gone. I remember there's a mountain spring cave ahead. Let's go get some water and rest for a bit."

They've been walking for an hour.

We still have half an hour to go.

The spring water was sweet and refreshing, and Yun Jiao drank quite a bit before she felt better.

She was carried or held almost the entire way after that.

Yun Xiaowu and the other boys were full of energy. They took turns carrying Yun Jiao and ran quite a distance up the mountain.

We've finally arrived at Shenjia Village.

When passing by some fields, you can see people working in the fields.

These people also temporarily put down what they were doing to look at the group of people coming from the road.

"Xiao Lian is back?"

Shen Yunlian greeted them with a smile; she knew almost all of these elders.

"Xiaolian brought her daughter back this year too? She's so pretty, I've never seen such a beautiful baby before."

To her own family, apart from Shen Yunlian's parents and brother who knew about Yun Jiao's situation, they told everyone that she was born to Shen Yunlian.

No one would doubt that she has had so many children.

Shen Yunlian held Yun Jiao's hand and taught her to recognize and greet people one by one.

Yun Jiao looked at the strangers with her big, watery eyes, seemingly trying to remember their faces, and then called out to the elders in a soft, sweet voice, just like her mother.

"Auntie".

"Uncle Shen".

…………

Many people, and most of the elders, use the same terms of address.

After calling out to everyone, Yun Jiao also received some gifts.

A small handful of peanuts and melon seeds, a cucumber, a cherry tomato, and two plump eggplants or some unknown wild fruit.

Most people didn't give anything, because they arrived suddenly and didn't bring anything with them.

Yun Jiao has no problem finding food; she can even put a bite of bitter melon in her mouth before wrinkling her little face and taking it to her mother to cook.

After saying goodbye to those people, Yun Jiao took an eggplant, stuffed it into her mouth, and took a bite.

Shen Yunlian: …………

Never mind, this is edible too.

"Jiaojiao, eggplants taste better when they're ripe. You can have cucumbers and cherry tomatoes too."

Why did they have to pick up an eggplant and start eating it?

Yun Jiao slowly uttered an "oh," her snow-white, soft cheeks puffed up slightly by the eggplant in her mouth, looking plump and round.

Yun Xiaowu poked it.

Yun Jiao, who was eating, paused, glanced at her fifth brother, and slowly moved the eggplant ball in her mouth to the other side.

Yun Xiaowu chuckled; his little sister looked so cute and funny eating.

She put the half-eaten eggplant aside and started eating other things.

She ate the cherry tomatoes one bite at a time. She counted them, gave one to each of her father, mother, and brothers, and had two left for herself.

Good.

Then divide the cherry tomatoes.

"There's only one cucumber, we're not sharing it."

She discussed it seriously with her parents.

The two of them laughed: "Okay, okay, we won't share. Eat up, and your grandma's house will have some too."

Yun Jiao's eyes lit up.

"Does Grandma's house have cherry tomatoes?"

She likes sweet and sour cherry tomatoes.

"Yes, I'll make you candied tomatoes later."

Yun Jiao responded crisply, "Okay!"

When they got home, they found the door locked and no one was home.

Indeed, almost everyone in the village went to work in the fields during the day.

In the days before mobile phone communication, finding someone relied solely on shouting loudly.

"Father, Mother, where are you...?"

In order to make the sound travel further, Yun Xiaowu climbed up the big pear tree in front of the house and shouted as well.

"Grandpa, Grandma..."

What's amazing is that family members can always tell whose voice it is.

If it's in a nearby field, or on a slightly closer mountain, you can hear and respond to it.

If you don't hear me after calling several times, then I'm not in this area anymore.

Fortunately, a response came quickly from the mountain behind the house.

"We're back, we're back..."

Yun Jiao squatted on the ground, poking ants with a small stick, and every now and then she would look up at the green pears hanging on the tree, her little face showing great longing.

"Fifth Brother, may I have a pear?"

Yun Xiaowu: "It's not ripe yet."

Yun Jiao said seriously, "I think it's ready to eat."

Yun Xiaowu: "Then let's pick one and try it?"

He picked a larger pear from the tree, and Yun Jiao eagerly reached out to take it.

It's a bit astringent when you take a bite, but it's edible.

The pears were juicy and sweet, and Yun Jiao ate them with great satisfaction.

She glanced at the ants she had just bullied on the ground, then placed some pear peels in front of them.

A small black ant tasted the flavor, its thick antennae twitched, and it ran away, but soon it returned with a string of black ants, circling around the small piece of pear peel.

"Aunt, cousin, Jiaojiao..."

A cheerful shout rang out from the mountain path.

Yun Jiao looked up and saw her cousin.

He was wearing a patched blue undershirt and loose, grayish pants, the cuffs rolled up to his knees. He had slightly dark skin, a buzz cut, and was two years older than Yun Xiaowu. He had a big smile on his face.

"cousin."

Yun Jiao called out softly.

She had met her cousin, but not many times.

Because of the distance, we only visit each other three or four times a year, except for important matters or holidays.

Shen Xiuyuan ran down the mountain, which was still some distance away, as fast as a frolicking husky.

In the blink of an eye, he was in front of her, greeted Yun Xiaowu and the others, and then picked up Yun Jiao, who hadn't even reacted yet.

"Jiaojiao is here too! Jiaojiao has finally come to my house. Your cousin will take you to play in the mountains."

Yun Jiao frowned and used her hand to support Shen Xiuyuan's face, trying to block her overly enthusiastic second cousin.

"It's been so long since I've seen Jiaojiao, I've missed you so much, little sister, don't you miss me too?"

Shen Xiuyuan's eyes sparkled, as cheerful as a big dog wagging its tail.

If Yun Jiao said she didn't want to, her eyes would definitely dim, and her tail and ears would droop like a pitiful big dog abandoned in the wind and rain.

Finally, the soft-hearted little fish nodded.

"Yes, I miss my cousin."

(End of this chapter)