Chapter 398 - 392: Going Out to Sea, Salvaging a Shipwreck

"You’re leaving?"

Yun Jiao was a little surprised.

Yun Zhaodi nodded. The thought of leaving Bailong Village for somewhere else made her feel both excited and anxious.

The anxiety stemmed from her fear of going to an unfamiliar place, as she had never traveled far from home.

But she was also excited because she wanted to see bigger cities, to live in one, and held high hopes for her future.

"My parents are coming back. When they do, they’ll definitely come after my older sister and me."

’It was a given.’ Yun Jiao thought. ’When that couple gets back, Yun Pan Di and Yun Zhaodi are definitely in for it.’

After all, since their parents’ arrest, the sisters had disciplined their "precious" brother more than a few times. With a personality like Yun Dazhuang’s, it would be a miracle if he didn’t snitch on them.

’Maybe leaving really is the best choice for them,’ Yun Jiao thought.

’But where would they go...’

"If your sister is looking for factory work, she should head to Guangdong. That’s just my suggestion, of course."

There are a lot of factories in Guangdong now. For someone like Yun Pan Di—uneducated, unskilled, and with no idea what else to do—working in a factory is the best option.

Of course, if she had the nerve, she could try reselling things like clothing. But that would mean traveling all over the place and would require the street smarts to handle emergencies. The risk is higher, but so is the reward.

Working in a factory was the more stable option, but the pay certainly wouldn’t be great.

The only reason Yun Jiao knew so much was thanks to her photographic memory and her love for gossip.

While studying with her Master, she’d often overhear patients gossiping when they gathered together, so she was surprisingly well-informed.

Add to that the fact that her relative, Wang Hongfei, also traveled all over the country and knew a lot about the market. So even though Yun Jiao had never been to Guangdong, she knew it was where everyone was heading.

Yun Zhaodi listened, a thoughtful expression on her face. She politely thanked Yun Jiao, pressing two candies into her hand as a thank-you gift before running home.

She was going to share this news with her sister.

Yun Jiao looked at the two candies in her hand and skipped off to find her little uncle.

"Jiaojiao, you’re here."

The village chief’s family gave Yun Jiao a warm welcome.

The village chief’s daughter-in-law pressed a peach into her hand.

"Huzi found this wild peach up on the mountain. It’s a little sour, but still pretty tasty. Here, Jiaojiao, you eat it."

Yun Jiao: "Thank you, Auntie."

She sat to one side and started nibbling on the peach.

The wild peach was small and a little tart, not as tasty as the ones her uncle had brought her before.

But it was a nice little snack to keep her occupied, and she finished the whole thing.

Yun Linhe rented a boat, said goodbye to the village chief’s family, and left with Yun Jiao.

On the way, Yun Jiao told him about Yun Pan Di and her sister’s situation.

Yun Linhe sighed. "That Cai Jinhua and her husband are a real menace."

Look what they’ve done, pushing two perfectly good girls to this point.

"Still, it’s better that they leave. A girl Pandi’s age at home... it’s too easy for people to start scheming about her marriage. Cai Jinhua and her husband took such a huge loss, they can’t have much money left. The first thing they’ll do when they get out is probably marry Pandi off for a bride price."

And there was no question they’d dare to do it.

The main reason they were arrested was for arranging a ghost marriage.

They might lay low for a while after getting out, but it wouldn’t last. With their selfish, greedy personalities—the kind that never learns a lesson—they would absolutely find Pandi a ’good’ family, all in the name of marrying off their child.

If they left and went far away, Cai Jinhua’s family wouldn’t be able to find them. They could work, earn their own money, and make a life for themselves. It actually sounded like a good plan.

Of course, that’s assuming they stayed safe and didn’t run into any unscrupulous human traffickers or sweatshops.

They only spoke a few more words about the other family’s affairs before moving on. The most they could do was offer a bit of help and some advice if Pandi and her sister truly decided to leave. Beyond that, it was not their place.

Right now, their own business was more important.

When they returned, Yun Linhai had also taken leave from work and was back.

Shen Yunlian and the others had packed the food and supplies they would need for the trip, and then moved them onto the boat.

As they were about to leave, there was naturally a flurry of last-minute instructions and reminders.

By the time all the farewells were said, it was half an hour later before they finally left the dock.

Two metal boats set off together, with Yun Jiao sitting in her family’s.

This time she didn’t call the killer whales. Yun Jiao knew the way herself now.

In the ocean, getting lost was simply not a concept for her; her sense of direction was innately superb.

Because they weren’t out to fish and would be sailing for several days straight, their boat was loaded with plenty of diesel fuel.

When she was bored on the boat, Yun Jiao would fish.

Since the boat was moving, catching anything was purely a matter of luck.

But Yun Jiao had always had great luck at sea.

The first day, she caught two large yellow croakers.

When it was time to eat, they fired up a small stove on board, cooking noodles and preparing the two large yellow croakers.

Yun Linhai was a decent cook—he even made saozi noodles.

After the meal, they all rested for a while before continuing on their way.

If they happened upon an island around the time they were ready to rest, they would stop to take a break and explore the new territory.

Occasionally, they would even find some pleasant surprises on the islands.

Their metal fishing boat was no match for the speed of the killer whales. A journey that took the whales three days took them five, with all their stops and starts.

The Yun brothers let out a huge sigh of relief when Yun Jiao announced their arrival.

It was their first time traveling so far by sea.

"This is it?"

Yun Jiao nodded. "Dad, Uncle, want to go down and take a look?"

"Let’s go."

We’re already here.

The two of them changed into diving suits, then followed Yun Jiao into the water and down into the depths.

This was the open ocean, and with it came more dangers.

For instance, they’d barely entered the water when they ran into several bull sharks.

They were in the middle of a meal; the large fish they were attacking had been reduced to a single, wide-eyed head, as if it had died with a grievance.

Spotting the humans, the bull sharks turned their large, cold eyes toward them.

These things were notoriously bad-tempered and aggressive.

Even though they had just eaten, they headed straight for them.

But Yun Jiao was even more aggressive.

She reacted instantly, slapping the lead bull shark so hard it was sent spinning, dazed. Then, she grabbed it by the tail and started wielding it like a club.

She swung it with ferocious power, spinning in place at high speed. Any shark that came close got hammered, one by one.

Seeing this, the other bull sharks beat a hasty retreat. ’Run! Run! What kind of monster is that?!’

After "dealing with" the bull sharks, Yun Jiao swam back to her dad and uncle.

If the two men hadn’t been underwater, their jaws would have been on the floor.

’Their Jiaojiao... is an absolute overlord of the ocean!’

With the safety hazard eliminated, Yun Jiao led them deeper. But before they even reached a hundred meters, the men couldn’t take the pressure anymore.

So they gestured that they had to go up.

Yun Jiao also turned and followed.

Without the killer whales for protection, she didn’t feel safe letting her dad and uncle return to the surface on their own.

Breaking the surface, the two men took a deep breath. "Jiaojiao, we can’t go down there."

"It’s too deep."