Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Flame Pearl
Yun Xiaowu triumphantly lifted the water bucket. "Grandma, look! We dug up clam kings!"
Granny Yun was getting old and her eyesight was poor, so she had to get up close to see clearly.
One look, and she was stunned.
"How are there so many?!"
The other old ladies also gathered around, crying out in surprise.
"They really are clam kings! That must be half a bucketful."
"Where did you find them? These are much more valuable than regular clams. I remember Ah Wang pays eighty or ninety cents a jin for them, right?"
Granny Yun was so happy the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes bunched up into a smile.
"Quick, Second Brother, take these to the purchasing station and sell them while they’re fresh."
Yun Chenxi nodded. "I’ll go right now."
Yun Jiao didn’t go with him, instead hugging the coconut snail and heading back inside the house.
"Eh? Jiaojiao, you’re not selling that coconut snail? A big one like that is worth a few bucks."
"I’m not selling it, Grandma," Yun Jiao said in her soft, childish voice.
"Alright, alright. If Jiaojiao likes it, then we won’t sell it."
Her indulgence made her old friends sigh in exasperation. "That’s worth several bucks, and you’re just going to keep it to eat at home? What a waste!"
People were like that back then, accustomed to frugality. They couldn’t bear to keep and eat things that could be sold for a good price.
Granny Yun wasn’t bothered. "Don’t we still have all those clam kings? That’s enough."
"You’re spoiling that child way too much."
Granny Yun said, "Our Jiaojiao is so well-behaved, and she found it herself. If she likes it, let her keep it. You all have no idea how wonderful this child is..."
Granny Yun then went on and on, boasting about how devoted and wonderful Yun Jiao was, the smile never leaving her face.
Yun Jiao, who was inside the house, heard this and happily swung her short little legs.
She tapped her little fist on the coconut snail a few times, THUMP THUMP, and even lifted it to give it a shake.
Then, she frowned and muttered, ’It won’t come out. I can’t communicate with it.’
Yun Jiao opened her mouth and chomped down on it.
Granny Yun, who was sitting by the door, saw this and scrambled to her feet.
"Don’t eat that! We don’t eat things raw! That shell will chip your little teeth."
The pretty little girl was gnawing on the coconut snail’s shell, her little teeth making a GRINDING sound. Hearing her grandma’s words, she slowly moved her mouth away.
"Oh. Grandma, when are you going to cook it?"
"Soon, soon. We’ll cook it when your brothers get back."
A living coconut snail clings tightly to the inside of its shell, making it very difficult to get the meat out. They would have to wait until it was cooked.
Yun Chenxi and the boys came running back after selling the clam kings. The first thing they did was hand the money over to Granny Yun.
Since the family hadn’t split the household yet, all the money from selling seafood was managed by Granny Yun.
"Grandma, it was twelve jin in total. With the other snails and two flower crabs, it all sold for eleven dollars."
Granny Yun took the money. "Jiaojiao’s been waiting for you all. Hurry and cook that coconut snail for her. She was just trying to eat it raw a minute ago."
Yun Xiaowu ran inside. "I knew it! Little sister, you’ve been told so many times not to just eat things raw!"
Yun Jiao looked at him, her little face a perfect picture of innocence, and pretended not to hear a thing.
"I’ll boil some water and cook it for you."
After seeing her old friends off, Granny Yun came in carrying some vegetables. "I should get dinner started. Xiao Wu, since you’re already lighting the fire, just get one going for the main stove too."
When Yun Jiao heard they were lighting the fire to cook, she immediately ran back into the house and carefully selected several sweet potatoes.
"Brother, roast sweet potatoes."
"And potatoes."
She was still small, so she couldn’t carry much at once and had to make several trips.
Seeing her bustling about so cheerfully, her family found her absolutely adorable, watching her with eyes full of smiles and affection.
By the time the rest of the family returned from work, dinner was nearly ready.
Yun Jiao squatted on the ground, watching her second brother pry the meat from the coconut snail.
"You found a coconut snail today? I thought you were teaching Jiaojiao to swim."
At the mention of this, the brothers grew excited.
"Our sister learned how to swim in an instant! She’s a genius!"
Yun Xiaowu added, "Not only can she swim, she can dive, too! We didn’t have to teach her at all. She found this coconut snail when she was diving. It’s huge, Mom! Have you ever seen one this big?"
Shen Yunlian nodded. "The first time I went foraging on the shore after I married into the family, I got lucky and found a coconut snail, but it wasn’t even half the size of this one."
Yun Chenxi had finished prying the meat out.
Yun Jiao immediately held out her hand. Yun Chenxi thought she wanted the shell, since coconut snail shells are quite beautiful.
But Yun Jiao shook her head. "I want the meat."
Yun Chenxi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "You little glutton. You can’t eat it yet. We have to slice it and stir-fry it first."
Yun Jiao shook her head. "I’m not going to eat it."
Her words weren’t very convincing. Ever since she was a baby, Yun Jiao had been curious about everything, wanting to take a bite out of anything she laid eyes on.
Before she could even walk, she would sit on her little blanket, pick up ants off the ground, and pop them in her mouth to see how they tasted.
But since she insisted, Yun Chenxi had no choice but to hand her the large lump of snail meat.
’It’s cooked, anyway,’ he thought. ’A few bites won’t hurt her.’
But Yun Jiao didn’t take a bite. Her chubby little hand felt around the meat, found a specific spot, and dug her fingers in. A moment later, she pulled out an orange-red pearl.
"AHHH!!!"
"HOLY SHIT!!!"
Yun Chenxi, Yun Xiaowu, and the others could only stare, wide-eyed, as she dug an enormous pearl out of the snail meat.
"A pearl!!!"
Hearing Yun Xiaowu’s shout, even the busy Granny Yun came over.
"What? What is it?"
When they saw the pearl in Yun Jiao’s hand, everyone’s eyes went wide.
Granny Yun was the first to snap out of it. She immediately had someone shut the main gate.
Don’t show off your wealth. Pearls have always been valuable, especially Sea Pearls.
The pearl in Yun Jiao’s hand was at least the size of an adult’s fingertip, easily over 10mm in diameter.
Furthermore, it was a gorgeous orange-red color and perfectly round. Its surface had a porcelain-like luster, covered in beautiful, flame-like patterns.
"This... This is a Flame Pearl!"
Having lived by the sea for so long, Granny Yun was more knowledgeable than the others.
Even so, she was incredibly excited.
The whole family crowded around Yun Jiao, their gazes fixed intently on the beautiful Flame Pearl in her hand.
Shen Yunlian slapped her thigh. "So... coconut snails can have pearls in them? And one this beautiful? Then... that coconut snail I sold back then..."
Granny Yun said, "What are you daydreaming about? If every coconut snail had a pearl inside, wouldn’t everyone be out hunting for them?"
"People in our village have found coconut snails before, but none ever had a pearl inside. There is a legend about it in our village, though. They say our home wasn’t always called Bailong Village."
"Legend has it that a long, long time ago, a fisherman was caught in a storm at sea. Just when he thought he was going to die, he looked up and saw a white dragon soaring through the clouds."
"His boat capsized, but the waves washed him ashore. Having survived the disaster, he found a coconut snail on the beach. After that, he told everyone he met that he had seen a white dragon, and that he’d found a beautiful pearl inside that snail—a Flame Pearl, just like this one."
"This Flame Pearl is also known as a Dragon Ball. That fisherman, using the tale of seeing a dragon, sold the Flame Pearl to a nobleman for a huge sum of money and became a rich man."
"But that’s just a legend from a long time ago. In all my years, I’ve never heard of anyone else finding a Flame Pearl in a coconut snail. To think that our Jiaojiao would be the one to do it."
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