Chapter 346 - 344: Fortune Babies

"Here, these are the Peace Locks. They’re made of solid gold from your little sister. One for each of you."

Each Peace Lock was engraved with their name and zodiac animal.

Yun Xiaowu had protested, wanting the dragon for his zodiac sign, but his mother, Shen Yunlian, mercilessly shut him down.

"Jiaojiao, this is yours."

"And this one, too."

In addition to her gold Peace Lock, Yun Jiao also received two delicate golden bracelets and a palm-sized gold monkey.

The trinkets were crafted from the gold Yun Jiao had brought back from the seabed.

Yun Jiao’s eyes lit up. She slipped the golden bracelets onto her wrists, hung the Peace Lock around her neck, and hugged the little gold monkey.

She was already dressed in a little red outfit with a white fur collar. All she needed was a little red dot between her eyebrows to look just like one of the fortune babies from a New Year’s painting.

Wang Mei chuckled and teased, "Come on, who wants to paint a little red dot on our Jiaojiao?"

Yun Xiao Ba raised his little arm. "I will! I will!"

’Drawing a little dot? That’s super easy for me.’

Soon enough, Yun Jiao was sitting obediently and holding her little gold monkey, looking exactly like a beautiful little fortune baby who had just stepped out of a New Year’s painting.

Yun Xiaojiu circled his sister for a good while before pulling Brother Ba aside.

"Bro, I want one too! Give me a dot!"

"Mom, I want to wear red clothes too, just like Jiaojiao."

Yun Xiaojiu was also quite handsome and a little vain.

Yun Xiao Ba didn’t mind and quickly painted a red dot on his forehead as well.

The family wasn’t short on money anymore. With a sewing machine in the house, it was only natural that everyone got a new outfit or two for the New Year.

Yun Xiaowu and the others had similar outfits, too.

Yun Jiao’s, however, was a little dress. She wore long johns and boots, so she wouldn’t be cold.

"Come on, everyone, get dressed! We’re taking a family photo today."

"It’s just a shame the two oldest boys aren’t here."

Mr. Yun and Granny Yun put on their new clothes as well, and all the younger children had little red dots painted between their eyebrows.

However, Yun Xiaowu and Yun Xiaoqi had slightly darker skin, and the red outfits only made them look a bit tanner.

The whole family stood together in the courtyard. Yun Jiao was at the very front, between her grandparents, and even the family’s two dogs and tabby cat got in the picture.

They had asked Uncle Wang to help take the photo.

He took several shots.

"Beautiful. They’re just beautiful."

Ah Wang was impressed just looking at them.

"Chenbei, could I borrow your camera for a bit? I want to go take a family photo too."

Yun Chenbei nodded. "Sure."

After the photos were taken, Yun Xiaowu and the others took Yun Jiao around to visit the neighbors.

How could they not take such an adorable little sister out to show her off?

"You lot, hide those Peace Locks properly. Don’t let anyone see them on a normal day. If they get snatched, you’re not getting another one."

In those days, there were actually people who would snatch gold earrings or bracelets right off you if they saw them.

Yun Jiao, on the other hand, didn’t have to worry. With her strength and skills, even several thieves combined couldn’t rob her.

But it was a different story for her brothers.

"We know."

The Peace Locks hung from red cords. After putting them on, the boys tucked the locks inside their clothes.

"Let’s go, Yun Jiao! They’re selling lanterns at the village temple today. Let’s go buy a couple."

The temple in their village was very well-built. Today was the Lantern Festival, and the temple in town was too crowded and far away. For some reason, people from several surrounding villages were all heading to their village instead.

As a result, the area around the village temple was now incredibly lively, with vendors selling food and toys.

As soon as Yun Jiao and her brothers arrived, they became the center of attention. Their red outfits and the red dots between their eyebrows simply made them look too fortunate.

Yun Jiao and Yun Xiaojiu were the most eye-catching of the group.

"Whose children are these? They’re so adorable."

People from other villages who didn’t recognize them couldn’t help but stare.

"Those clothes are so vibrant."

"You don’t recognize them? These are the kids from the families of the brothers Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe. That little girl is Yun Jiao, the one who brought the boat back from the sea."

"Oh, it’s their family? The one that donated sixty thousand to the village?"

"So many boys! They’ve certainly been blessed with children."

"There’s more. Except for Yun Jiao and the youngest, the rest are all sets of twins."

"What? They’re all twins?"

"That’s right. Talk about blessed, right? They’re living the good life now. The two elders in the family even went to the Capital for a long stay. I heard the chubby little boy found a master chef in the Capital to be his teacher. His future is set."

Those who weren’t in the know became more and more envious the more they heard.

Now *that* was what you call living. Compared to them, everyone else was just struggling to get by.

"Third Grand-uncle! Yun Sui!"

Yun Jiao and her brothers discovered that Yun Sui and his grandfather were also running a stall there. On display were incense, candles, and some beautiful paper lanterns.

Yun Sui’s grandfather was very skilled at weaving bamboo. Most of the paper lanterns were shaped like zodiac animals, but there were also lotus lanterns, little fish lanterns, and more, all of them lovely to look at.

The old man’s deeply wrinkled face was all smiles. Beside him, Yun Sui was helping his grandfather hand lanterns to customers.

"Jiaojiao!"

Yun Sui’s eyes lit up the moment he saw Yun Jiao and her brothers.

"Third Grand-uncle, you’re selling lanterns! They’re so pretty! I want a little monkey lantern."

Yun Sui excitedly grabbed a little monkey lantern—it depicted a small monkey holding a large peach—and handed it directly to Yun Jiao.

"For Jiaojiao. No charge, hehehe..."

Yun Sui’s grandfather saw this and didn’t object. Instead, he chuckled and offered to give each of Yun Jiao’s brothers a lantern as well.

"No, we have to pay."

Yun Jiao, with a grand gesture, slapped three yuan into Yun Sui’s hand.

The lanterns were fifty cents each, and with six of them, that was just enough for everyone to get one.

She also bought a bundle of incense.

Yun Sui didn’t want the money.

Yun Jiao put her small hands on her hips. "If you don’t take the money, then I don’t want the lanterns."

Yun Sui was torn.

Seeing this, Yun Sui’s grandfather simply picked up a few small, woven-straw toys and handed them to the children.

"Jiaojiao, you can have these for free."

Yun Jiao accepted them. "Okay."

They stood there for a while, and quite a few people came over to Yun Sui’s family stall to buy things.

Yun Xiaoqi jumped in and started hawking for them.

He had a silver tongue and could make even an ordinary lantern sound like a heavenly treasure. Soon, a good portion of the items on Yun Sui’s stall had been sold.

’Yun Sui’s grandfather felt a sense of gratitude toward Yun Jiao’s family that he could never fully express.

’In the past, when he took his crafts to sell in town, he wouldn’t sell much in an entire day.

’The area near the temple in town was bustling during the New Year, but the good stall spots were always taken long in advance. An old man like him had no advantage there.

’But now things were different. Ever since the village temple was rebuilt, more and more people had been visiting. Many villagers saw the business opportunity and came to set up their own stalls.

’They lived close by, sold more, and he could even keep Yun Sui by his side.

’This was all thanks to Yun Jiao and her family.

’With Yun Jiao and her brothers here today, the items on his little stall were selling much faster than the past two days.’