Chapter 317: A Bustling Village

Clutching the net bag full of thrashing small yellow croakers, Yun Jiao grinned at the two sea turtles swimming toward her, revealing a set of pearly white teeth.

"Here’s a little something for you."

She was still holding a few small yellow croakers in her little hands, an extra snack for the two turtles.

"Alright, I’m heading back."

The two net bags she’d brought were nearly full; it was time to go home.

She swam all the way to shore, tossed the two full net bags aside, and said goodbye to the sea turtles.

"I’ll come play with you again in a few days. You can go back now."

The two turtles slowly returned to the sea.

Then, a tiny figure shouldering a huge bundle, she headed home.

She ran into some villagers on the way.

"Jiaojiao, you went to the sea again? My goodness, you brought back so much?!"

Everyone was stunned.

Yun Jiao nodded, a smile on her chubby little face.

"Mhm, I ran into a school of fish."

"A school of small yellow croakers, at that. It’s a shame you didn’t have a fishing net or a boat, or you would’ve caught even more."

Yun Jiao’s young voice had a childlike lilt to it. No matter how hard she tried to sound mature, she couldn’t hide it.

"We’ll eat them tomorrow. It’s enough."

"Just for your family?"

"Hey, you haven’t heard? Jiaojiao’s family is treating tomorrow. The whole village is invited to eat. They said it’s to celebrate Yun Chen Nan getting into college."

"With his grades, getting into Qingbei was a sure thing."

"What? You’re eating that well? Jiaojiao, don’t tell me you’re using all this for the feast?"

He had seen it—the other net bag held a big lobster and abalone.

’HISS... If they sold all this, how much money would that be?’

Seeing Yun Jiao nod, the villagers all winced in sympathy for the Yun Linhai family’s wallet.

"Jiaojiao is just that capable. We could never catch things like these."

This little Yun Jiao could dive to the bottom of the sea, a feat that even they, adults who had lived by the sea for half their lives, couldn’t manage.

"Come on, let Uncle help you carry this stuff back."

A few enthusiastic uncles came forward to help.

When she got home, her house was instantly bustling with noise and activity again.

Yun Jiao was taken to bathe and change her clothes. Then, with a boiled egg pressed into her hand, she sat on a small stool, nibbling away. She watched as her father, not far off, listened to everyone praise her, his smile stretching nearly from ear to ear.

After seeing everyone off, the whole family heard she was going to use all the seafood for tomorrow’s feast, and they all grimaced, feeling the financial pain.

Yun Chen Nan clutched his chest. "Jiaojiao, maybe we shouldn’t... What have I, your third brother, done to deserve this?"

’This wasn’t like getting into Qingbei; this was like ascending to the heavens to get this kind of treatment.’

Yun Jiao just huffed. "I want to eat it."

"And I want my masters to eat it, too."

"Fine, fine, fine... You eat, you eat."

Helpless, the family could only take the seafood over to Ah Wang’s to be stored on ice.

When Ah Wang learned that all this was for tomorrow’s feast, he grimaced too.

The village chief also came over after hearing the news, and the look he gave Yun Jiao was something else.

"We’re all in Yun Jiao’s debt tomorrow. We’ll get to taste these things we’d never bear to eat ourselves."

’This is true luxury.’

It was ironic, like bank tellers who handle so much money every day, none of which is theirs.

Weren’t they, the fishermen, the same? They fished their whole lives, but whenever they caught something good, they could never bring themselves to eat it.

"Lin Hai, Lin He, I want to discuss something with you two."

The two brothers, Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe, looked at the village chief.

"From the looks of it, our village is going to be very lively tomorrow. It’s rare for us to have such a big event, so I was thinking, why don’t we all go up the mountain tomorrow to worship Mazu and the Dragon King?"

Hearing this proposal, Yun Linhe and Yun Linhai agreed without a second thought.

’In that case, we won’t take Jiaojiao today. It’ll be more lively if everyone goes together tomorrow.’

「The next day arrived in a flurry of activity.」

Before the professional chef hired by Qin Xin arrived, the villagers were already busy at work.

Almost no one in Bailong Village went out to sea today. Early in the morning, a group of women arrived at Yun Jiao’s house, kitchen knives in hand.

The men, meanwhile, went to Yun Wang’s shop to move the seafood ingredients that Yun Linhai’s family had stored there.

When they saw the tuna, the entire village erupted.

"What’s the meaning of this? You’re eating this amazing fish too?"

"Hiss, that’s a tuna! Lin Hai, what were you thinking? This fish would sell for a lot of money!"

Yun Linhai scratched his head. "It’s fine. Let’s eat it."

’He felt the sting, too.’

’Jiaojiao was a bit of a spendthrift, but she earned money even faster than she spent it.’

Everyone looked at each other. "But... none of us really know how to prepare this."

’If we just prepare it any old way, we’ll be wasting it.’

Right now, everyone was thinking the same thing Yun Linhai’s family had thought earlier.

Yun Linhai chuckled. "Let’s set this aside for now. Jiaojiao’s senior sister helped hire a chef who knows how to prepare it. We’ll wait for him."

The villagers clicked their tongues in amazement. Just how much money was this one meal going to cost?

Setting the tuna aside, everyone got busy washing vegetables, abalone, and the large lobster, as well as cleaning the other fish.

The village chief had taken most of the men up the mountain to the Mazu Temple and the Dragon King Temple. They were going to have a grand worship ceremony today and needed to clean the temples first.

Someone went to clean the ancestral hall as well.

There was an old man who looked after the village temple, but his movements were stiff; he definitely couldn’t do it all by himself.

When Yun Jiao’s masters arrived, they were greeted by the sight of a village bustling with activity.

"Master, Senior Sister, Senior Brother, Teacher, Grandpa Gu..."

Yun Jiao was with a group of children, tying wildflowers they had gathered into beautiful bouquets. When she saw the newcomers, a brilliant smile spread across her face, and she quickly trotted over to greet them.

Song Chengyou scooped her right up.

"Well now, your village is certainly lively today."

’Not just lively—the smiles on everyone’s faces are just radiant.’

Yun Jiao giggled. "We’re going to the village temple to worship Mazu today."

Yun Jiao pointed to where she had been standing with the other village children.

"We’re making bouquets."

"Beautiful. Does that mean we can join in on the fun today?"

The most prominent belief in coastal regions was in Mazu. Elder Xu had heard of this but had never witnessed it firsthand.

He’d heard that even during the years when "feudal superstitions" were most severely suppressed, the fishermen of the coastal regions still worshiped Mazu.

They might get reported for other practices, but never for worshiping Mazu.

Anyone who dared to report them would face the collective wrath of the local fishermen.

The crackdowns were over now, and during festivals for worshiping and parading deities, the coastal areas were the most vibrant of all.

Although today was just a village temple worship, the villagers’ sheer enthusiasm made it a sight to behold.

Yun Jiao led her masters and the others to her house, pouring them tea and offering them snacks like sunflower seeds.

Then she ran off again to continue making bouquets with her brothers.

These were also to be taken to the village temple.

Although all coastal regions believed in Mazu, the methods of worship varied from place to place; they weren’t even necessarily identical from one village to the next.

In any case, everyone poured their utmost passion into it.

Yun Jiao had been influenced by this over the years and took the matter quite seriously.