Chapter 153: The Popular Dolls

’I didn’t expect these coconut crabs to be so expensive. They sold for eighteen yuan a catty. Of course, Da Yun Restaurant definitely offered a higher price.’

Eighteen yuan a catty. The two coconut crabs weighed 12.6 catties in total and sold for 226.8 yuan.

The money was simply handed over to Granny Yun.

Granny Yun divided it into three equal shares this time.

She still set aside one share for Yun Jiao.

"Mom, let’s make it four shares."

Yun Linhai suddenly spoke up, "Let’s add the money from the fish today and the pearl, and divide it all into four shares. You and Dad should take one for yourselves."

Yun Linhe nodded. "That’s right. We all earned this money together today. You two should take a share."

Yun Jiao’s mouth was stuffed with food, so she couldn’t speak, but she nodded in agreement.

At everyone’s insistence, they decided not to divide the money just yet, but to wait until after the pearl was sold.

Granny Yun suddenly took out a few yuan.

"Everyone worked hard today. You kids, come here."

She called her grandsons and granddaughter over, then gave each of them one yuan.

"Take this money. Whether you want to spend it or save it is up to you."

Holding the "huge sum" of one yuan in their hands, Yun Xiaowu and the other younger children felt like they were dreaming.

The four eldest brothers were old enough to have some self-control. The eldest, second, and fourth could already earn their own money.

Although they had to hand over their earnings to the family, both Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei only took half, letting them keep the rest for themselves.

The kids younger than Yun Xiaowu rarely had any money, except for the gift money they received during the New Year.

And even that gift money would be taken away after less than two days in their hands.

You have to understand, their allowance had never exceeded twenty cents!

Now, to suddenly have a whole yuan... it really was like a dream.

Yun Jiao was already a bonafide little rich girl in the family, even though she wasn’t carrying the money on her.

But Granny Yun still gave her a yuan, treating all her grandchildren equally, regardless of age.

Yun Xiaowu and the others were so happy they were jumping and hollering around the room, as if they had reverted to being monkeys.

They only quieted down after being scolded, but the joy on their faces was still plain to see.

Yun Xiaowu even hugged the one-yuan coin and kissed it several times.

"This young master is a rich man now!"

The moment he finished speaking, Yun Linhai thumped him on the head a few times. That finally settled him down for good.

The lively and joyful atmosphere was infectious, and the whole family was beaming.

Having money in the family wasn’t something they needed to go out and flaunt. As long as they themselves knew and were happy, that was enough.

"Tomorrow, you two eldest, take your wives and children to your fathers-in-law’s places to help with the rice harvest."

It was the rice harvesting season.

The two of them nodded.

"Jiaojiao shouldn’t go. The awns from the rice stalks are prickly, and your skin is too delicate. Besides, you’d have to work in the fields under the hot sun all day."

Yun Jiao imagined herself suffering miserably in a rice paddy under the scorching sun. She couldn’t stand it even if she wasn’t doing any work.

’That would be truly miserable. I’d turn into a dried fish.’

She nodded. It was much more comfortable by the sea.

After dinner, sitting in front of the electric fan and listening to the chirping of insects and birds outside gave a feeling of peaceful, yet lively, comfort.

The moon was so bright that the courtyard was illuminated without needing any lamps.

The only drawback was that there were too many mosquitoes.

SLAP...

That was the umpteenth time Yun Jiao had heard the sound of a palm slapping against skin.

Everyone was used to it, but the bites were still itchy.

After just a few smacks, a red, swollen mosquito bite appeared on Yun Xiaojiu.

He picked up his little stool and moved closer to Yun Jiao.

"Jiaojiao doesn’t attract mosquitoes at all."

He was so envious.

Yun Jiao scooted next to him. "Come closer, brother. The mosquitoes will lessen if you’re close to me."

Actually, there wouldn’t be too many mosquitoes if they lit a mosquito coil indoors, but the weather made the house too stuffy. It was more comfortable to sit and chat in the courtyard.

But lighting a mosquito coil outside wasn’t very effective.

Yun Jiao was a walking mosquito repellent. Not only did she not attract insects herself, but there were also very few of them around anyone sitting close to her.

But she had quite a few brothers, and they started fighting to see who could sit next to her.

It was a playful kind of fighting, of course.

「The next day...」

When Yun Jiao woke up, her mother, father, and older brothers were all gone.

Now, the only children at home were her and Brother Nine.

Rising early, Yun Jiao and Yun Xiaojiu busied themselves with feeding the family’s chickens, ducks, and geese. After eating breakfast, they went off to play on their own.

Yun Xiaojiu carried his toys, and Yun Jiao carried her small carved animals. They took Cat Boss and headed to the large banyan tree at the village entrance.

The banyan tree had a tall, vast canopy, providing cool shade underneath. It was a popular spot not only for adults but also for children to come and play.

"Jiaojiao, over here."

The one calling her was Yun Xiaohua, a playmate from the village who got along well with Yun Jiao.

She was Uncle Wang’s child, only two years older than her.

The two families were on good terms, so Yun Xiaohua and she were also quite close.

Yun Jiao walked over. Cat Boss stretched lazily, used the tree as a scratching post for a good while with a SCRITCH-SCRATCH, and then nimbly climbed up to lie down on a branch.

Besides Yun Xiaohua, there were other little girls there.

"Jiaojiao, is it just Brother Nine with you today?"

Yun Jiao nodded. "My other brothers went to help Grandma and Grandpa with the rice harvest."

"Yun Jiao, the hairpin in your hair is so pretty."

One of the children looked at Yun Jiao with envy.

Not only was Yun Jiao’s hairpin pretty, but the clothes she wore were also nice and had no patches.

Yun Jiao shook her head slightly. "My fourth brother made this for me. He’s made me lots of hairpins."

This made everyone even more envious. Why didn’t they have a brother who was so skillful and doted on them?

The sun was strong now, and most of the little girls had come out to cut grass to feed their families’ poultry, or their pigs, cows, and sheep.

Or they were supposed to be gathering firewood.

They were just taking a short break in the shade of the big banyan tree.

Yun Jiao shared her little toys with them to play with.

Except for her absolute favorites, she was very generous, as long as no one tried to snatch her toys.

They just had to be careful when playing. If they got them dirty, she would get angry and not let them play with them anymore.

"This wood carving has clothes!"

"So cute."

The small wood carvings were just a bit larger than their palms. Yun Chenbei had painted each one in a different color.

He had also used scraps of fabric from home, or from his master’s place, to make little clothes and dresses for them.

Little girls loved nothing more than changing the clothes and dresses on their dolls.

They even used leaves or plastic bags to make little dresses for them.

They could play quietly like this for a good while.

"Jiaojiao, does your brother have any more dolls like this? Does he sell them?"

Yun Xiaohua leaned close to Yun Jiao and asked in a low voice.

She really loved these carved dolls and wanted one.

’If I had one, I could use all sorts of things to make different clothes and dresses for it.’

Yun Jiao said, "I’ll ask my fourth brother for you when he gets back."

’My fourth brother seems to be working with my third brother to sell things.’

But they weren’t selling them in town. Instead, her third brother was taking them to school to sell to some of his classmates.

It was just a small-scale side hustle.