Chapter 282: Large Giant Clam

At the mention of buying a TV, Yun Jiao’s brothers got as excited as puppies, their eyes shining brightly.

"But... we don’t have a ticket for one."

Wang Hongfei raised his hand. "I actually have a ticket for a sewing machine, if you want?"

A sewing machine was a definite possibility. Both Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei were tempted.

That thing would make sewing clothes so much faster and save a lot of time.

"Yes."

Yun Jiao opened her mouth to take a bite of the mango Wang Hongfei had peeled for her, nodding with her cheeks stuffed full.

"Then let’s buy the sewing machine first. We can worry about the rest once we get the tickets."

Yun Jiao’s eyes darted around as she was already scheming about where to get tickets for a television and a refrigerator.

Wang Hongfei said, "Sister, Brother-in-law, you don’t need to worry. Having to consider what others think about everything you do makes life way too stifling. If you’re really that concerned, just tell everyone I bought it. I’m a legitimate businessman now, and I’ve earned a bit of money."

Wang Hongfei puffed out his chest, looking smug. With his first trip’s experience, he now had a better idea of what was scarce up north. So, for his second run, he not only had more capital but also sold his goods faster. Although this trip took a bit longer, he earned about four thousand yuan.

Of course, after setting aside Jiaojiao’s share, he was left with around three thousand for himself.

It was hard work, to be sure, but a profit like that was worth it.

"You’d better be careful. Don’t get too cocky. It’s dangerous out there."

Although Wang Mei had never been on one of his trips, her younger brother had come back much thinner and tanner this time. Just looking at him, you could tell how tough it had been.

Wang Hongfei scratched his head and chuckled. "I know, Sis. I was with a few buddies, and we took turns watching our stuff on the train. Don’t worry."

"Let’s go, Jiaojiao. Take your uncle to see the big fish."

Yun Jiao got up, grabbing a net bag and a few burlap sacks, and tied them around herself.

"Aren’t you hot?"

Shen Yunlian couldn’t help but comment on her getup, but her hands moved quickly to put a hat on Yun Jiao’s head.

Yun Jiao grinned like a little sunflower—bright and beautiful. Her face was fair as snow, making one want to pinch her chubby cheeks.

"Wait, Jiaojiao, we want to go too!"

It was hot, so Yun Xiaowu and the others were only wearing shorts. They ran after them without bothering with hats.

They were already tan, so getting a little darker was no big deal.

When they reached the shore, Wang Hongfei once again witnessed Yun Jiao’s ability to summon killer whales. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen it, but it was still just as shocking.

"Let’s go!"

Her brothers expertly dove into the water. They took dried fish and shrimp from the small bamboo baskets slung over their shoulders to feed the killer whales, then patted their bodies and climbed on.

"Uncle, hurry up and get in!"

Wang Hongfei quickly nodded.

"Coming!"

’Thrilling!’

The killer whales were incredibly fast. Racing through the sea on their backs was even more exhilarating than drag racing.

Yun Jiao loved diving deep. She patted the killer whale she was riding, and it plunged into the depths of the ocean.

The others didn’t have Yun Jiao’s ability to breathe underwater and ignore the pressure, so they could only dive in the shallower areas and had to surface frequently for air.

Wang Hongfei had already surfaced for air five times. Although he could swim and dive, he wasn’t a seaside local. He couldn’t even hold his breath as long as a child like Yun Xiaojiu.

"Where’s Jiaojiao? Why hasn’t she come up yet?"

’It’s been so long.’ He couldn’t help but worry.

Yun Xiaowu said, "Uncle, don’t worry about Jiaojiao. She’ll definitely be fine."

"There’s a big fish over there! Xiao Wu, after it!"

Yun Xiaowu patted the killer whale beneath him.

That’s right, the large killer whale he was riding was also named Xiao Wu.

Yun Jiao had crudely named the killer whales in order of size.

When Yun Xiaowu and his brothers came to play with the killer whales, they liked to play with the ones who shared their names.

Over time, they had all grown familiar with each other, making their interactions more natural.

Meanwhile, Yun Jiao was already dozens of kilometers away from them.

She observed her surroundings in the water for a while and came to a conclusion: this was the sea area beneath the island where she had pried abalones off the rocks before.

She remembered tossing a large sea clam down here. She had meant to come look for it earlier but had forgotten.

’Well, since I’m already here, I might as well look for it.’

She casually picked up a few sea urchins and broke them open. The killer whales following her eagerly rushed over to snatch a bite.

’You have to admit, sea urchins are pretty tasty.’

But the creatures were covered in spines and were quite small, so most marine animals couldn’t open them.

For the killer whales, they were little desserts, not even enough to get stuck in their teeth. Getting full was out of the question; it was just enough for a taste.

After cracking open a dozen or so sea urchins, Yun Jiao stopped and began looking for other things nearby.

Circling the island, Yun Jiao discovered that a lot of abalones had once again attached themselves to the rock wall.

She picked out the biggest ones, grabbing them and stuffing them into her burlap sack.

She quickly filled nearly half the sack.

She decided not to catch the rest. She’d let them grow bigger.

"Found it."

In a patch of overgrown seaweed, Yun Jiao finally located the giant clam.

’It’s gotten this big?’

Pushing aside the seaweed, Yun Jiao stared, dumbfounded, at a large giant clam so big she couldn’t wrap her arms around it.

’No way. Do these things grow this fast in this world?’

As she swam around the giant clam, she noticed something else not far away.

She swam over, pushed aside the seaweed, and—holy cow, another large giant clam!

Yun Jiao’s interest was instantly piqued, and she began searching the entire area.

Soon, she had found several giant clams among the seaweed.

The large ones were bigger than her family’s foot basin, while the small ones were only the size of a bowl; you could easily miss them if you weren’t looking carefully.

Who knows how long they had been here. Their drab, gray shells had almost blended in completely with their surroundings.

Yun Jiao also found the empty shell of a large giant clam.

She tried curling her body up slightly and slipping inside. It was a perfect fit!

’Take it, definitely take it. I can’t catch the live ones, but I can at least take this empty shell, right?’

KNOCK KNOCK...

Yun Jiao leaned against a giant clam about the size of a car tire, tapped its shell, and asked politely.

"Hello, do you happen to have any pearls?"

"If you have a pearl, could you open your shell? I’ll help you take it out."

’Pearls are foreign objects to them, right? It must be uncomfortable to keep them inside.’

Yun Jiao patiently asked three times. Just as she was feeling disappointed, thinking her efforts were in vain, the giant clam opened a round hole in the middle of its fleshy, outward-facing mantle. Then, a small gap opened in the flesh surrounding the hole.

Yun Jiao’s eyes lit up.

She was bold. As soon as the gap was wide enough for an arm, she plunged her hand right in, unafraid that the giant clam would snap shut and trap her.

With her hand inside, Yun Jiao began carefully feeling around the giant clam’s interior.

The giant clam was so large that she had to shove almost her entire upper body inside.

If anyone had seen her, they would have been scared to death.

Yun Jiao fumbled around for a good while before she finally felt a hard lump.

Yun Jiao clearly felt the giant clam’s flesh contract slightly.

"It’s inside the flesh. Getting it out is going to be a little difficult."

’I’ll have to make a small incision to get the pearl out, and I can’t harm the giant clam in the process. But I don’t have any tools on me right now.’