Chapter 186: Yun Laide, Jiaojiao’s Kindness

Yun Chenbei thought of the strange odds and ends his sister had picked up, so he nodded.

"Alright."

"It’ll take a week."

The wooden frame itself was simple, but he had to select the right wood, come up with a design, and deal with other issues.

Yun Jiao’s eyes curved into crescents as she hugged his arm and gave it a little shake.

"Fourth Brother is the best."

"Ahem..."

Old Man Mu’s voice came from behind them.

"It won’t take that long. I happen to be free, so I’ll help you with it."

Yun Jiao’s eyes lit up. She went TAP, TAP, TAP as she ran to Old Man Mu’s side, her little face beaming as she looked up at him.

"Thank you, Grandpa Mu! You’re the best, Grandpa Mu."

Old Man Mu clasped his hands behind his back and nodded, satisfied.

He couldn’t resist patting her little head. ’My apprentice’s sister is practically my granddaughter, by extension,’ he thought.

As Yun Jiao was leaving, Mr. Mu gave her another little gift.

It was a puzzle box.

Old Man Mu taught her how to open it.

On the outside, it looked like a solid, polygonal block of wood. But once opened, it revealed many hidden compartments and small boxes inside, perfect for storing little trinkets.

Without knowing the secret to opening it, the box was completely seamless. Yun Jiao held it in her hands and studied it for a long while, but she couldn’t figure out how it was made.

’Oh well, it’s not like I’m studying to be a carpenter anyway.’

She would put her favorite little things inside it when she got home.

"Big Black, come on, let’s go to my house."

With just a few pieces of dried fish, Yun Jiao successfully lured Big Black away.

She had asked Grandpa Mu for permission, of course.

Yun Jiao had also brought a small stool to sit in front of Big Black, leaning close to his ear and chattering away.

So it was hard to say whether Big Black was truly lured away by the dried fish or simply annoyed into following her by all her chatter.

On the way back, Yun Jiao skipped along, humming a tune. She was leading a large dog and several small furballs, and even held a little turtle in her hands.

The animals seemed to love her singing, their tails wagging with extra enthusiasm.

Even the rabbit’s ears twitched up and down in time with her song.

"RUSTLE, RUSTLE..."

A strange sound came from the bamboo forest. Big Black immediately grew wary, darting in front of Yun Jiao and baring his teeth at the source of the noise. His eyes were sharp with vigilance, and his body was poised to attack at any moment.

Cat Boss leaped gracefully to Yun Jiao’s feet, his emerald-green eyes also fixed on the haystack.

Yun Jiao tilted her head. "What’s that?"

Watched by one girl and her several animal companions, a person slowly emerged from the haystack.

Yun Jiao recognized her. "Sister Laidi?"

That’s right, it was Yun Zhaodi’s second older sister, Cai Jinhua’s second daughter, Yun Laide.

"What are you doing here?"

Seeing it was someone Yun Jiao knew, Big Black and Cat Boss relaxed their guard a little, but they still kept their eyes on her.

Yun Laide was seventeen, but she looked as if she were fifteen. She was painfully thin, her skin was dark, and her eyes were utterly bleak.

Right now, she was looking at Yun Jiao with a complicated expression.

It held envy and jealousy for Yun Jiao, as well as confusion about her own future.

Yun Jiao saw she wasn’t speaking, but her stomach was GROWLING loudly. After a moment’s thought, she took a few cookies, a fried dough twist, and some candies from her small bag and offered them to her.

"Here, Sister Laidi."

Yun Laide stared at the food. She was starving, and she grabbed it and began to wolf it down.

But as she ate, her eyes reddened and she started to cry.

"I want to leave this place."

Her voice was hoarse. At that moment, she didn’t know why, but she found herself pouring her heart out to a three-year-old child.

Perhaps the emotions had been suppressed deep inside for too long.

"My mother sold me for two hundred yuan. She said I was being married off, but I managed to find out some things. That family’s youngest son died a while ago. On paper, I’m marrying their third son, but in reality, I’m being married to their dead youngest son."

Yun Jiao walked over, patted down some dry grass to make a cushion a short distance away, and sat down. She hugged her little knees and tilted her head slightly to look at her.

"Huh? But isn’t the youngest son dead?"

’Why would she have to marry him?’

Yun Laide lowered her head, her gaze falling into a pair of stunningly clear and beautiful eyes.

"Because... they want me for their son’s ghost marriage."

Yun Laide had heard of such things. In her maternal grandmother’s village, someone had a ghost marriage. A perfectly healthy person was married off, but she died not long after.

They said she died of illness.

But Yun Laide had a sharp feeling it wasn’t that simple.

Her life was terrible now, but she didn’t want to die.

She still wanted to live.

Yun Jiao asked her, "Shouldn’t you report it to the police?"

Yun Laide shook her head. "It’s useless."

"On paper, I’m marrying their third son, and nothing has happened yet. Even if the police investigated and the family sent me back, my life at home would become even more miserable."

That’s why she wanted to run away.

Fortunately, you didn’t need a letter of introduction to travel anymore. As long as she could buy a ticket, she could leave.

Yun Laide licked her lips. But where would she get the money for a ticket?

None of the girls in her family had ever had a single cent to their names.

In two more days, that family would come to pick her up.

She had mustered all her courage to come here and hide, planning to leave at night. But the waiting was agonizing. She had even thought about just accepting her fate. After all, living was hard, so maybe dying would be fine. But... but she was so, so unwilling to give up.

While Yun Laide was lost in thought, a few bills were placed in front of her.

Her unfocused gaze gradually sharpened, landing on the money.

Following the money up, her eyes met Yun Jiao’s.

Those clear eyes.

’How I envy her,’ she thought. ’To have a family that loves her so much.’

Tears streamed down her cheeks without her even realizing.

"To leave here, you have to take a bus," Yun Jiao said.

"Sister Laidi doesn’t have money, but Jiaojiao does. This is for you."

Although she didn’t know why, Yun Jiao wanted to help her leave this place.

"Go out and earn money to support yourself."

Yun Jiao thought for a moment and added, "But you have to be careful! Don’t get tricked. There are a lot of human traffickers nowadays. They snatch kids and girls."

Yun Laide wiped away the torrent of tears with the back of her hand, her own hand trembling as she took the money.

It wasn’t much, just five yuan.

But for Yun Laide, it was enough.

Her voice was dry and raspy. "Thank you, Yun Jiao."

Yun Laide never would have imagined that in her moment of despair, the final act of kindness she received would come from Yun Jiao, the very person she envied.

Yes, jealousy.

For a girl born into a family like hers, no one could help but envy and be jealous of Yun Jiao.

But Yun Jiao was too pure, too beautiful.

Even through her jealousy, Yun Laide felt that it was only right for someone like her to be cherished by her family.

It was like how the most beautiful doll deserved to be protected inside an exquisite, ornate display case.

Yun Jiao left, but before she did, she gave Yun Laide all the snacks from her small bag.

So she would have the strength to escape after eating her fill.

There was also a bracelet in the bag, one that her Fourth Brother had made for her.

It was made from pretty stones he had picked up by the sea.

She handed it to Yun Laide as well.

"Sister Laidi, I hope things will be better for you from now on."

Yun Laide clutched the bracelet tightly in her hand, her gaze fixed on Yun Jiao and her animals as they walked away, until they disappeared from sight.

She murmured, "Thank you..."