Chapter 444 - 425: Going to Town

"Oh, don’t you worry about it. If you’re really that concerned, then you and your second brother should work hard so you can be Jiaojiao’s rock in the future."

"But let me be clear: your own safety has to come first. You two brothers better not do anything foolish."

Yun Chendong nodded seriously.

"I know."

But he still took it to heart. ’I really do need to work harder.’

Yun Jiao didn’t dwell on saving the boy. She had saved too many people from the sea to count.

Right now, she was more upset about the wild duck eggs she had lost.

"I lost all the eggs I gathered."

Yun Chenxi said, "What’s the big deal? Your second brother will go with you to find more tomorrow."

It was getting dark, so they shouldn’t go now.

That evening, Lu Yu’s family came over. The first thing they did was ask if Yun Jiao was alright.

Lu Yu said, "You have no idea, I was so scared when Guo’er came back and told me. Your daughter is so brave, jumping into the lake just like that without a thought for the danger. The weather is still freezing, you know."

Shen Yunlian smiled and said, "She’s fine. My Jiaojiao is an excellent swimmer. We live by the sea, you know? She’s always in the ocean. If she gets cold, she just needs to drink some ginger soup when she gets back. Look, see? She’s perfectly fine, full of energy."

Watching Yun Jiao playing with her own daughter, Lu Yu sighed with a mix of admiration and envy.

"She really is in great shape."

She hadn’t even sneezed once.

The meat was still being smoked in the small courtyard. The adults from the three families sat and chatted, with Lu Yu translating for the elderly landlord and his wife. They were all having a good time.

When the elderly landlord and his wife heard about Yun Jiao saving the boy, they became even more hospitable toward the family, bringing out all sorts of snacks.

Yun Jiao was loaded up with treats.

The night passed, and the next day, someone came looking for them.

To be precise, they were looking for Yun Jiao.

It was Aman’s family, and they had brought gifts.

As soon as they arrived, Aman’s family tried to kowtow, but thankfully they were stopped.

"Thank you, thank you so much..."

The family thanked her over and over again.

Yun Jiao had faced this kind of situation many times before, so she was able to handle it calmly.

Of course, it was mainly her mom and dad who did the talking.

Once Aman’s family had calmed down, they pressed the gifts upon them.

A chicken, some chicken and duck eggs, and even a sheep.

They could accept the other things, but Shen Yunlian and her family didn’t want to take the sheep.

But Aman’s family insisted, leaving them no choice but to accept it in the end.

"How is that boy, Aman?"

Shen Yunlian took the initiative to ask about Aman’s condition.

Aman’s grandfather’s face was full of worry. "He’s alive, but the doctor said the cold entered his body and caused some damage. He’ll have to rest and recuperate for a long time."

Yun Linhai was curious how the boy had fallen into the lake.

Aman’s grandfather explained that while they were gathering duck eggs, Aman had wandered toward the lake. Just as he was about to head back, he saw a fish swim up close to the shore, and he tried to catch it.

But he didn’t catch the fish. Instead, he was lured into the water and fell in. He couldn’t swim, so he struggled, drifting farther and farther from the shore.

Thankfully, Yun Jiao got there in time and pulled him out not long after he’d passed out. If she had been any later, he really wouldn’t have made it.

That’s why his family was so incredibly grateful to Yun Jiao.

The lake water was freezing. Aman’s father had only jumped in for a moment yesterday, and he came down with a cold afterward.

After seeing off Aman’s grandparents, Yun Jiao looked at all the chicken and duck eggs and thought it would be fine if she didn’t go gathering any today.

"Mom, can we have chicken today?"

Shen Yunlian figured they wouldn’t be able to take the chicken back with them anyway, so they might as well eat it here.

"Alright. Go tell your dad to slaughter the chicken."

Of course, everyone shared the chicken.

Yun Jiao was stuffed, so she took a walk around the courtyard.

"Jiaojiao, come on! Let’s go have fun in town."

They were only here for a few days, so they couldn’t waste any time.

Yun Chenxi lifted Yun Jiao straight onto his shoulders.

Her view suddenly elevated, and Yun Jiao was delighted.

They left the smoked meat in the courtyard in the care of the landlady. Then, their family, along with some other villagers, boarded a tractor that rumbled its way toward town.

Some of the people on the tractor recognized them.

After all, word had gotten around the village about the family that fought a horse bear and saved Aman from the lake, so everyone was paying some attention.

Because of this, even though they were outsiders, the villagers on the tractor weren’t unwelcoming. In fact, they enthusiastically pressed food on them, like steamed bread, Baozi, and mantou.

Everyone sat together and chatted. Yun Chendong and Yun Chenxi translated what they could, and with the help of some body language, the atmosphere was quite lively.

The town was quite a distance from their village.

It took the tractor nearly two hours to get there.

The town consisted of low-slung buildings and didn’t look much different from a rural village, but there were quite a few places selling things.

"What’s this?"

"Soft pears."

The local soft pears were similar to frozen pears, fermented through a long freezing process. You could eat the pulp directly.

Yun Jiao tried one. It tasted pretty good, so she bought some.

Seeing a place that sold distinctive local clothing, Yun Jiao went to try some on.

It was a red dress. The shopkeeper also braided a few small strands of her hair and put a hat on her. She looked just like a little beauty from Xinjiang.

"It’s beautiful!"

Yun Jiao thought it was beautiful too. She decided to keep wearing it, just throwing a coat on over it.

"What are these?"

Arriving at a rather unique stall, Yun Jiao looked at the stones piled on the ground and asked curiously.

"These are all jade stones. Please, take a look."

Jade stones. Yun Jiao’s interest was piqued.

Having salvaged so many things, she naturally knew what jade was.

Some of the stones looked no different from ordinary rocks, while others had a bit of a sheen to them.

They were all different sizes and shapes.

There were other people next to them picking out stones. Once they made a selection, they would haggle over the price with the stall owner, a bit of back-and-forth.

Yun Jiao started picking some out too.

She had never done any stone gambling before, so she just picked based on her gut feeling.

In the end, she chose a bluish-gray stone the size of a basketball with a rough surface, two slightly smaller ones, and a few the size of an adult’s fist whose skins looked smooth, white, and lustrous, with some yellow spots.

Surprisingly, the smaller stones were more expensive.

The stall owner asked for two thousand right off the bat. In the end, Shen Yunlian rolled up her sleeves and dove into haggling, with Yun Chenxi helping out. They finally bought the stones for eight hundred yuan.

Yun Linhai also picked out a stone that looked quite nice and spent thirty yuan on it.

The others weren’t interested in this, so they didn’t buy any.

Yun Jiao had a small basket on her back and put all the stones inside. With her strength, she barely felt their weight at all.

"Let’s go. We’ll keep looking over there."

There were also people selling cattle, sheep, and horses nearby.

Yun Linhai looked regretful. "What a shame. You can’t transport these on the train. Otherwise, I’d really love to buy a horse to take back."

He had just learned to ride and was really getting into it.

Yun Chendong said, "We could ask if there are any freight trucks heading south."

Yun Linhai shook his head. "Forget it. That would be too much trouble."