Chapter 154: A Package from Fu Mingyu

Yun Jiao and Brother Nine played around the village for three days.

The two little ones occasionally helped Granny Yun with the vegetables, or they took the chickens, ducks, geese, and a cat and wandered all over the village.

They played with their friends and eavesdropped on the adults’ gossip.

Life was simple and carefree.

Three days later, her parents, now tanned several shades darker, finally returned.

The Yun home grew lively again.

"Sis, you’re lucky you didn’t go. Look, the sun made a whole layer of my skin peel off."

The sun was truly vicious. On top of that, Yun Xiaowu and the others hated wearing sun hats, and when it got hot, they even just took their shirts off.

As a result, they got so sunburned their skin started to peel.

You could peel the skin right off in a thin layer, but it wouldn’t come off in some spots, which made his body look like a patchwork of new and old skin.

It was a blotchy, angry red.

It wasn’t just Yun Xiaowu. The others were in much the same state.

Those who’d taken better care only had peeling skin on their arms and faces.

The ones who had taken off their shirts like Yun Xiaowu had gotten their backs burned as well.

Yun Jiao watched, her heart aching for them. But she was also relieved. ’Thank goodness I didn’t go!’

Granny Yun cried out, "You little rascal, why would you take your shirt off!"

"Getting burned like this... you’ll be feeling that pain for a while!"

Yun Xiaowu whined, "But it was so hot! And my skin was itchy. It felt awful keeping my shirt on."

Granny Yun grumbled and scolded, but she was still worried about her grandson.

After a moment’s thought, she went to a drawer and took out a few Analgin tablets. She crushed them into a powder, mixed it with water, and then called the boys over to apply the paste to their skin.

Finally, she wiped them all down with medicinal liniment.

The liniment stung like fire, especially on the parts where the skin had peeled off.

It wasn’t exactly painful, just intensely, uncomfortably hot.

"Hello? Is this Yun Jiao’s home?"

Inside, the kids were causing a ruckus as Granny Yun called them over to have the liniment applied.

A knock came from outside, and a voice called out for Yun Jiao.

Yun Jiao and Yun Xiaojiu ran out at the same time.

And opened the door.

The two little ones saw the mailman.

"Hello, Mr. Mailman," the two little ones chirped politely.

The mailman, who was visiting for the first time, was taken aback by how adorable they were.

’These two kids are just too cute and well-behaved.’

"Yes, yes... which one of you is Yun Jiao? Is this her house?"

Yun Jiao raised her little hand. "I... I am."

After the mailman left, Yun Jiao ran back into the house, clutching a large package.

"Fifth Brother, Fu Mingyu sent me something! Look how big the package is!"

Hearing that the package was from Fu Mingyu, the whole family gathered around curiously.

When they opened it, they found a photo album, a letter, some canned goods, and a tin of milk powder inside.

"A photo album."

"This album is beautiful. It looks just like a book."

It had a vintage-style, leather-textured cover. The first thing they saw upon opening it was a photo of Yun Jiao riding a Whale Shark, a huge, happy smile on her face.

"Wow... It’s Jiaojiao and the Whale Shark."

"And that’s Fu Mingyu in the background, with Jiaojiao and the Whale Shark."

The Yun family never tired of looking at photos.

They still looked at the photos Wang Yi had sent them all the time.

The album from Fu Mingyu was full of pictures—some of Yun Jiao and her brothers, and some of other members of the Yun family.

But most of them were of Yun Jiao, especially the ones showing her out at sea and interacting with marine creatures.

"There are some blank pages at the back. We can put our other photos in here."

Yun Linhe stroked the album. He absolutely loved it.

"This is a great album. Once it’s full, our family will just have to buy another one."

"Oh, Xiao Fu is so thoughtful."

After looking through the photos, Yun Jiao opened the letter. Two full pages were crammed from top to bottom with dense handwriting.

It was Fu Mingyu’s handwriting.

Yun Jiao stared at it for a moment, her little face scrunching up.

She couldn’t understand a word. ’I’m just an illiterate little fish!’ she thought, pouting.

’But I’m still so little, what’s wrong with being illiterate!’

Yun Jiao puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips for a moment, then handed the letter to the family’s resident intellectual: her third brother.

"Third Brother, could you read it for me?"

Yun Chen Nan found a stool and sat down. Yun Jiao immediately draped herself over his lap, listening intently as he began to read.

Yun Chen Nan’s voice, much like the young man himself, was clear and gentle, and he read at a pleasant, unhurried pace.

In the letter, Fu Mingyu mostly wrote about his trip north with his grandfather, some of the things that happened on the train, and what he saw after arriving at the military region.

They were all small, everyday details. At the end, he asked how Yun Jiao was doing, said that he missed them, and gave his current address so they could write back.

There were even a few stamps inside the envelope.

He had been remarkably thoughtful and considerate.

Yun Chen Nan chuckled. "I never would have guessed. Fu Mingyu is so quiet in person, but he’s quite the chatterbox in his letters."

Yun Jiao nodded.

"He wants me to write back, but I don’t know how to write," she said.

Yun Chen Nan patted her head. "Just tell me what you want to say, and I’ll write it down for you."

Yun Jiao nodded. "Okay."

Yun Chen Nan added, "But you should learn to read and write yourself, too. You can’t grow up and still be illiterate. Your big brothers are leaving for the army soon. You’ll want to write to them, won’t you? Are you going to have someone write those letters for you, too?"

Yun Jiao’s little face scrunched up. She looked conflicted for a few seconds before nodding.

"I know."

"But I’m still little right now. No need to rush. I’ll take my time."

’Making a little fish like me learn all those complicated human characters is just too hard.’

Yun Jiao had an innate gift for language, so learning to speak had been relatively easy.

But reading and writing? That was a real struggle.

Still, she did want to be able to write to her brothers herself one day.

Yun Jiao gave herself a little pep talk, and then went back to playing.

’No rush, no rush.’

"Canned goods! Hehe, Fu Mingyu sent so many more cans."

"And he even sent bayberries!"

"We haven’t even finished the last tin of milk powder. Why’d he send another one?"

"This one says it’s formula specifically for children. Xiao Fu must have sent it for Jiaojiao."

The Yun family thought Fu Mingyu was such a sincere and earnest boy for sending yet another big package of gifts.

"Well, we should prepare some things to send back to him."

"But what can we send? All we have here are things from the sea."

Yun Jiao’s eyes darted around thoughtfully, and then she ran to find her fourth brother.

"Fourth Brother, can you carve a little Fu Mingyu? And a Jiaojiao to send to him, too."

Yun Xiaowu suddenly rushed over. "I want one too! I want one too! Carve one of me!"

Yun Chenbei: "..."

’My hands are going to fall off.’

There was no immediate rush to send a package back to Fu Mingyu.

The Yun family had something more pressing to attend to.

Yun Chendong and Yun Chenxi were about to leave.

Joining the army was a great honor.

Their family was modest and hadn’t made a big deal about the two of them going off to be soldiers.

But as their departure drew near, they started preparing things for the two young men. When people asked what was going on, the truth naturally came out.

And soon, the entire village knew: the brothers Yun Chendong and Yun Chenxi had both been selected to join the army!

Now, the number of visitors to the Yun home was enough to wear down their doorstep.

"I always said those two brothers looked sharp! Perfect soldier material!"

"Since when was that your prediction? I’ve never heard you say that before."

"Oh my, your family kept such a tight lid on this! Why only tell everyone now?"