Chapter 208: Celebrating the New Year

Cute children who looked blessed were bound to have people try to rub off on their good fortune.

Ever since the first person boldly traded a piece of candy for a chance to rub her hand for good luck, more and more people started gathering around.

Then, for some inexplicable reason, a long line formed in front of Yun Jiao.

"Little Fubao, you’re so precious! How can you be so beautiful and look so blessed?"

"I hope for favorable weather next year."

"I hope for a bountiful harvest from the sea next year."

"Please bless my daughter-in-law with a big, healthy boy."

Yun Jiao was speechless.

’Hold on, are you people serious?!’

Yun Linhai wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Make way, please make way! This is my daughter, not some child deity. Please let us through, we need to go home for dinner."

Yun Linhe shouted to the people lining up behind them, "Hey! Stop lining up back there! This isn’t some event, what are you all queuing for?!"

Wang Mei slapped her thigh. "I’m telling you, ma’am, whether or not your daughter-in-law has a healthy boy is really not up to our Jiaojiao!"

Yun Jiao clutched a pile of things, mostly snacks, a bewildered look on her face.

After finally squeezing out of the crowd with her family, she heaved a sigh of relief.

They all looked at each other and simultaneously burst out laughing.

Granny Yun laughed so hard that tears came to her eyes.

"Oh my, I never expected things to turn out like this today. This just proves our Jiaojiao really is like a little child deity."

Shen Yunlian looked at her daughter, dressed all in red. She really was a beautiful sight.

Yun Jiao pouted, a little unhappy. "My hands and cheeks got pinched so many times."

Of course, they had all been gentle.

"Sweetheart, you can barely hold all that."

Yun Jiao’s arms were full of pastries, cookies, fried dough twists, a small bag of melon seeds, a soda, brown sugar steamed buns, and other snacks.

Her arms were overflowing.

Yun Jiao immediately started handing them out to her family.

She had earned these by "sacrificing her good looks," so she ate them with perfect justification.

"I can’t believe our Jiaojiao got so many snacks just by standing there."

The family walked home, chatting and laughing.

As they passed the village entrance, they saw the little simpleton wandering about.

It was the village guardian, holding a sweet potato and gnawing on it.

Granny Yun sighed. "That Yun Sui, why is he wandering around in this cold weather? And he’s dressed so thinly."

"Yun Sui, where’s your grandpa?"

Yun Sui had an intellectual disability. He was about Yun Xiaowu’s age, but his mind was like that of a two or three-year-old child.

"Grandpa... Grandpa sleeping."

His mouth was messy from eating the sweet potato, and he gave them a silly grin.

His hands and feet had several chilblains and were red from the cold, but he himself seemed to feel nothing.

Granny Yun sighed. "Linhai, take Yun Sui home, give him a bath, and find a set of Yun Xiaowu’s old clothes for him to wear. Linhe, you go check on his grandpa. At his age, we can’t let anything happen to him."

"Okay."

The two men agreed.

Because they considered Yun Sui the village guardian, the adults in the village would give him some food whenever they ran into him.

The children, however, didn’t share that belief. They just thought Yun Sui was a simpleton with no one to protect him, so they often bullied him.

Yun Sui’s family consisted of only him and his elderly grandpa. In this weather, if something happened to the old man at home, it wouldn’t be easily discovered.

Seeing him follow them with a goofy smile, Yun Jiao handed him a sponge cake she was holding.

Yun Sui tilted his head, his nostrils twitching slightly. Realizing it was food, he giggled and took it.

"Yummy."

Granny Yun felt a great deal of pity for the boy. "That’s right, it’s yummy. Eat up."

In the past, her family’s circumstances were poor, so there wasn’t much they could do to help him.

Now that things were better, they could help where they could.

After they got home, Yun Linhai gave Yun Sui a bath while Yun Linhe came running back in a hurry.

"The old man is sick! He’s lying in bed, burning up. Dad, go ask the village chief to borrow his cart. I’ll carry him over."

Hearing this, Mr. Yun immediately stood up. "Alright."

Meanwhile, Yun Linhai was dealing with Yun Sui’s hair. It was a long, tangled mess, with lice jumping around in it.

Yun Linhai decided to just shave it all off and burn it.

He had to wash him twice before he was clean enough to be dressed in Yun Xiaowu’s old clothes.

Because he was small and thin from malnutrition, Yun Xiaowu’s old clothes fit him just right.

When he came out, Yun Jiao stared intently at his bumpy, shaved head, which looked like a peeled egg.

’Ew... this haircut is so ugly.’

The disdain in her eyes was obvious.

Yun Linhai rubbed his nose. "Well, it’s not like I’m a professional."

He wasn’t a professional barber, after all.

But truth be told, once he was cleaned up, Yun Sui was actually quite handsome and delicate-looking, though he still had a simple-minded air about him.

Clam oil had been applied to his hands and feet. He was now sitting by the door in a daze, clutching the sponge cake Yun Jiao had given him.

"Yun Sui, your grandpa is sick and has been taken to the hospital. You’ll stay at our house for now."

Granny Yun called out to the dazed Yun Sui at the door, "Hurry inside and warm yourself by the fire! Aren’t you cold sitting out there?"

As if startled awake, Yun Sui suddenly stood up and ran outside.

"Grandpa, Grandpa..."

"Hey, where do you think you’re going, you little brat?!"

With quick reflexes, Yun Linhai chased after him and caught him a dozen steps later, dragging him back.

Unexpectedly, the previously quiet, simple-minded boy began to struggle violently, crying out for his grandpa over and over.

"Your grandpa is sick. He’s been taken to the hospital."

"Give Grandpa... give Grandpa cake."

Yun Linhai sighed. ’He might be a simpleton, but the kid is filial. He knows to save the good things for his grandpa.’

No matter what Yun Linhai said, the boy just wanted to run outside, making a huge racket.

Yun Jiao lost her patience, walked over, and gave Yun Sui a beating.

Yun Linhai was speechless.

’Good heavens, is my Jiaojiao always this aggressive?’

"Quiet!"

After hitting him, Yun Jiao shot him a fierce glare and barked the command. To everyone’s surprise, Yun Sui actually quieted down.

He just hugged himself and looked at her with eyes full of grievance and a hint of fear.

Yun Jiao pointed inside the house. "Get in there and warm up by the fire."

Yun Sui whimpered pitifully, "Grandpa."

Yun Jiao said, "You dummy, I already told you, your grandpa is sick. He went to see a doctor."

"If you don’t behave, I won’t let you see your grandpa again."

The threat was clearly effective.

With his head hung low, like a scolded puppy with its ears flattened, he glanced timidly at Yun Jiao before heading into the house.

Yun Xiaowu and the other children clapped. "Little sister, you’re amazing!"

"Dad, you’re so useless! You’re a grown man and you couldn’t even handle him like our little sister did."

A vein throbbed on Yun Linhai’s temple.

’This stinky brat is asking for a spanking, isn’t he!’

Seeing that her Jiaojiao could handle Yun Sui, Granny Yun instructed, "Jiaojiao, you keep an eye on him."

They still had to cook. This New Year’s Eve dinner had to be a feast, no matter what.

Yun Jiao nodded. "I know."

Yun Jiao played with the puppy while keeping an eye on Yun Sui.

She saw him clutching the sponge cake, staring at it so intently that he was practically drooling, yet forcing himself not to eat it. She found herself seeing the simpleton in a new light.

’He can actually resist the temptation of delicious food!’