Chapter 202: Mud Lobster

Yun Jiao greeted her Second Senior Sister and Fourth Senior Brother, and two large red envelopes were immediately stuffed into her hands.

Her Second Senior Sister’s eyes lit up as she gently pinched Yun Jiao’s cheeks.

"We finally have a little junior sister! And she’s so young, pretty, and cute."

’So adorable, so well-behaved. I just want to sneak her away and raise her myself.’

Song Chengyou also sidled up to Yun Jiao, taking her soft, boneless-feeling little hand and giving it a squeeze.

Hehehehe...

"I’m finally not the youngest anymore."

This little junior sister was exactly what he’d been hoping for!

Seeing his two disciples acting so foolish, Elder Xu couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

"Get back to work."

Song Chengyou protested, "Aw, Master, we need to get to know our little junior sister better."

Elder Xu shooed the two of them away and stuffed another red envelope into Yun Jiao’s arms.

"You’re just starting to learn. In this weather, it’s inconvenient to travel back and forth from home to the clinic. So, take this copy of the *Tangtou Song* home for now. Memorize the contents first, and then Master will teach you how to identify medicinal herbs."

Yun Jiao took the book and nodded, but when she opened it, she was dumbfounded.

She looked at Elder Xu with a pitiful expression. "Master, I can’t read the words in here."

Elder Xu...

The Heavenly Gate Sect’s lineage belonged to a very ancient school, so the books passed down through the generations were all written in an older script.

The book Elder Xu had just given Yun Jiao, for instance, was written in traditional, archaic characters.

Yun Jiao had only learned simplified characters. Traditional characters were far more complex, so she couldn’t read them.

Elder Xu tapped his forehead. "I forgot about that. No problem. We’ll just start with learning traditional characters."

He had Song Chengyou fetch a thick dictionary.

"Learn from this, take your time. All the traditional characters have a simplified equivalent."

"When the weather gets warmer, I’ll teach you calligraphy."

Elder Xu taught Yun Jiao how to use the dictionary.

They had a sumptuous lunch at the clinic before they left.

As Yun Jiao left, clutching a pile of study materials, her pretty little face was scrunched into a miserable expression.

It was such a heart-wrenching sight.

Qin Xin shot her master a reproachful glance.

Song Chengyou started running his mouth. "Master, you’re being too harsh! Our little junior sister is only three years old! Three! And you’re already making her learn so much."

Elder Xu’s face darkened. They were making him sound like some kind of evil villain.

"My little disciple, take your time. There’s no rush. You can set the *Tangtou Song* aside for now. Just focus on learning the characters first. You can read the book once you recognize most of them."

His voice was incredibly gentle.

Nearby, Song Chengyou glanced at his master, then did a double-take.

His comical actions and expression made Elder Xu unable to resist slapping him on the back of the head.

"What’s with the funny faces?!"

Clutching his head, Song Chengyou replied, "I just wanted to see if my master had been possessed or something. Is this really the same master who used to chase me with a stick to make me study?"

Elder Xu: "...Get out!"

"You got it! Hehe. Little Junior Sister, next time you visit, I’ll take you out for some delicious food!"

Yun Jiao nodded, taking her dad’s hand and saying goodbye to them.

Elder Xu turned his head just in time to see his fourth disciple, Song Chengyou, thrusting several large blue crabs and two menacing, claw-waving coconut crabs in front of his face.

"Master, we’re eating crab today! Little Junior Sister’s family gave us several blue crabs and these coconut crabs. Look how big these blue crabs are!"

Elder Xu looked at them in amazement, then remarked with feeling, "That was very thoughtful of them."

Meanwhile, the smiles never left Grandpa Yun’s and Yun Linhai’s faces the entire way home. Both of them kept praising her for being so promising.

Yun Jiao opened the three red envelopes.

Her master gave her a 500-yuan red envelope, and her second senior sister and fourth senior brother each gave her 200 yuan!

Yun Jiao’s savings instantly increased by nine hundred!

Grandpa Yun and Yun Linhai both gasped when they saw the amount.

So generous! That’s incredibly generous!

The sight of so much money made both of them tremble.

"Jiaojiao, you must be very good to your master from now on."

Yun Jiao nodded, pulling out several large bills and handing them to her dad and grandpa with the magnanimous air of a little heiress.

"Dad, Grandpa, go buy lots and lots of things."

Yun Linhai...

’What does it feel like to have a three-year-old daughter who’s richer than you are?’ he thought, clutching his chest.

Sigh, it was truly heartbreaking (and a little pride-inducing).

With a wave of her little hand, Yun Jiao went on a shopping spree.

Tasty things, like meat patties, sticky rice balls, candied fruit skewers...

’We should get some of everything to bring back for the family.’

"Dad, buy this for Mom and Auntie."

Yun Jiao pointed at a jar of Ya Shuang brand snowflake cream.

That stuff cost three yuan for a tiny jar.

Yun Linhai scratched his head. "Don’t your mom and auntie still have some?"

Fu Mingyu had brought some before, and the two women of the house were reluctant to use it, instead dabbing some on Yun Jiao’s face from time to time.

Yun Jiao paid him no mind, hugging two jars. "If we get more, Mom and Auntie will be willing to use it."

The two clueless men: ...

"And this."

Yun Jiao pointed at the clam-shell balm.

In the winter, the hands of her grandpa, grandma, and dad would get chapped and cracked. The deep cuts were painful just to look at, yet they still had to work.

"This one too."

Lip balm.

Shampoo, scented soap for their faces, and two thermoses decorated with large, red peony patterns. The one they had at home was old and didn’t work well anymore.

Yun Jiao bought quite a lot of things all at once. Watching her spend money so freely made the two grown-ups a little short of breath.

But the little girl was very stubborn, insisting on buying anything she thought was useful.

When it was time to pay, she pulled out the money before her dad and grandpa, standing on her tiptoes to put it on the counter.

The clerk gave Yun Jiao a strange look, then glanced at the two adults behind her.

’Wait, the kid is paying? She’s carrying that much money on her?’

’Aren’t her guardians worried she’ll lose it?’

’And they bought so much stuff. This family must not be hurting for money.’

The back-baskets Yun Linhai and Grandpa Yun had brought were nearly full.

"Dad, let’s go buy coal," Yun Jiao said, holding Yun Linhai’s hand.

"Oh, uh, I didn’t bring the ration tickets."

Yun Jiao’s lip immediately drooped, and she gave him a look that clearly said, ’How could you be so unreliable?’

Yun Linhai gave an awkward laugh. "We still have enough honeycomb briquettes at home to last a while. We’ll come back for more another time, alright?"

Yun Jiao could only nod.

"Oh right, we still have to make a trip to Da Yun Restaurant."

’I still need to ask someone about those shrimp-like things.’

At Da Yun Restaurant, Yun Linhai found the manager who had bought produce from them before. He took out the lobster-like creature that resembled a scorpion and showed it to him.

"Manager Wang, could you take a look at this for me? What is it? Can you eat it?"

Manager Wang turned out to be quite knowledgeable and actually recognized it.

"Crayfish? Where did you guys get these?" he asked, incredulous.

Hearing that he recognized it, Yun Linhai quickly asked how to prepare it.

"Just devein them and you can cook them like any other shrimp. But I don’t recall us having these in our country."

Yun Linhai gave a simple-minded laugh. "Who can say for sure? Maybe they exist in some places people just haven’t found yet."

’If they didn’t exist here, where did these come from?’

Manager Wang’s interest was piqued. "Are these crayfish for sale? I’ll give you five yuan a pound for them."

The price was so high mainly because of the item’s rarity. He had never seen them in the country before and figured they could be a good gimmick to attract customers.