Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Becoming a Daughter of the Yun Family
Yun Jiao was still too little. She couldn’t see, but she could hear the people talking in the room.
And she couldn’t understand what they were saying.
’I’m so hungry.’
Yun Jiao whimpered to express her displeasure, her big, dewy eyes framed by thick, fluttering eyelashes.
Seeing her little brow furrowed, Granny Yun’s heart ached. "The child must be hungry. I remember the Shuanzi family’s goat just had kids. Eldest, you go borrow some goat’s milk."
Yun Linhai, Yun Xiaowu’s father, immediately replied, "Okay, I’ll go right now!"
Yun Jiao was so hungry she felt dizzy. Her little arms and legs flailed about unconsciously. ’I really want to suck on something.’
By the time Yun Jiao realized what she was doing, she had already stuck her chubby little hand in her mouth and was sucking on it.
’I have no teeth!’
Yun Jiao used her still-clumsy fingers to feel around several times before finally giving up in despair. Annoyed, she blew a big, round bubble from her mouth.
Then it burst with a POP.
"Little Sister is sucking her fingers! And she blew a bubble!"
The youngest, Yun Xiaojiu, lay by the head of the bed. Only five years old, he stared at the fair, soft, beautiful baby with a silly grin, thinking how soft and cute his little sister was.
Yun Jiao’s dark eyes widened as she looked at the little boy who had leaned in close, his own clear eyes filled with curiosity.
’Are these the legendary humans?’
Having never been on land in her entire life, Yun Jiao was completely unfamiliar with the species known as humans.
Yun Xiaowu squeezed his way over, pushing his younger brother aside.
"Little Sister, look at me! I’m your Fifth Brother, the one who found you."
Yun Jiao’s big eyes shifted, and her gaze indeed fell upon him. Yun Xiaowu was instantly so happy he looked like a little fool.
"Poor thing, you must be starving. Let’s make do with some rice water for now."
Yun Jiao felt someone gently pick her up. A fragrant aroma wafted over, and her survival instinct kicked in, making her eat in big gulps.
She even choked a little.
Granny Yun quickly patted her back to help her breathe.
"How could anyone be cruel enough to abandon such a beautiful baby?"
The more Granny Yun looked at the little baby, the more she adored her.
Yun Jiao stared at the rice water. ’What is this stuff? It’s pretty good.’
’Just one more sip.’
"Good girl, we’re not drinking this anymore. We’ll have some goat’s milk in a little while."
Yun Jiao gurgled a few times, her soft little hands clinging to the now-empty bowl, refusing to let go. She wanted more.
She even looked a little adorably fierce.
This amused the entire family.
"She’s quite strong," Granny Yun said, delighted. Great strength and vitality were proof that she was healthy.
Yun Jiao didn’t understand what they were saying. She just protectively hugged the bowl in front of her, her big eyes fixed on the food.
"Nannan, be good. Let’s have some goat’s milk." Yun Linhai had returned with the milk, and it was already warm.
’It smells so good.’ She immediately abandoned the empty bowl.
As the warm goat’s milk flowed into her mouth, Yun Jiao began to swallow it eagerly.
Her toothless mouth latched onto the spoon in one go.
She wanted to taste what the spoon was like, but her tender, clean gums couldn’t get a grip on it.
’Forget it. I’ll just keep drinking that white liquid.’
A baby’s life is just eating and sleeping, and the Yun family changed her diapers.
Yun Jiao was one of the Merfolk, so no one could expect her to feel any sense of shame at this point.
In the end, Yun Jiao was allowed to stay. Although the Yun family was poor, they did their best to raise her. Even Aunt Yun, who had previously said they couldn’t afford another child, would still come to change her diapers and feed her, despite her words.
Because of her, Yun Xiaowu and his brothers stopped their mischievous romps outside. Instead, they would go with the adults to forage for seafood, clamoring about how they were going to provide for their little sister.
Almost every day, the Yun family would trade some of the seafood they gathered from the sea for goat’s milk.
Soon, everyone in Bailong Village knew that Yun Xianglin’s house had taken in a baby.
After confirming no one in the village had lost a child, Yun Xianglin’s house actually adopted her!
This news shocked all of Bailong Village.
"I heard it’s a baby girl. What were they thinking? They’re already so poor, and now they’re raising a money pit."
"I’ve seen those Yun boys carrying things to the Shuanzi house every day to trade for goat’s milk."
"That whole family must have something wrong with their heads. Why are they so devoted to a foundling girl?"
Yun Jiao had no idea she had become the latest topic of gossip for the village aunties.
At that moment, she was staring with wide, curious eyes, her bright, dark pupils taking in everything in her new home.
「One month after she was found.」
Yun Jiao had more or less figured out her current situation.
She had gone from being a Merfolk of the deep sea to a human—and a human baby, at that.
The sudden change from a familiar marine creature to a terrestrial one felt a bit strange and uncomfortable.
The Merfolk had a strong aptitude for language. Although she still couldn’t fully understand everything people said, after all this time, she could basically recognize the members of the Yun family.
The younger generation of this family consisted of nine children, all of them boys.
The eldest members of the Yun family were Mr. Yun and Granny Yun. Below them were two sons, Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe.
Yun Linhai’s wife was Shen Yunlian. They had five sons together, the first four of whom were born as two sets of twins.
Yun Linhe’s wife was Wang Mei. They also had four sons, born as two sets of twins.
Their family’s gene for having twins was famous throughout Bailong Village.
Although Yun Jiao was a foundling, the entire family treated her exceptionally well.
Even though they were so poor they were skin and bones, with clothes so patched they looked like beggars’ rags, they still went to trade for goat’s milk for her every day.
But Yun Jiao wanted to eat the fragrant dishes even more. Since she was still a baby with no teeth, she could only watch with longing. No matter how much she wanted some, the adults wouldn’t give her any.
’I want to grow up faster! This body is just too weak.’
When she was five months old, Yun Jiao was placed in a homemade baby carrier on the back of her Ama Yun, Shen Yunlian, and taken to forage for seafood.
This was Yun Jiao’s first time going outside. She looked around everywhere with wide eyes, curious about everything.
Like the other locals, Shen Yunlian’s skin was slightly tanned, but it was easy to see that her features were quite beautiful.
The line of skinny sons and nephews behind her, all wearing heavily patched clothes, followed Ama Yun barefoot toward the beach.
In contrast to them, the fair, soft, and chubby baby Yun Jiao, who looked like a little Baozi, was particularly eye-catching.
Yun Jiao was easy to raise. When there was no goat’s milk, she would drink fish soup or rice water. She was not a picky eater at all.
Even as a baby, one could see the delicate, mixed-race quality in her immature features. Her hair was thick, soft, and glossy black. Her large eyes were as clear as a mountain spring. If you looked closely, you could actually see that her pupils weren’t black, but a particularly deep, dark blue.
Her skin was exceptionally fair, and her chubby little arms were segmented like lotus roots. Looking like a collectible doll, she was currently perched obediently on Shen Yunlian’s back, gazing around curiously while blowing bubbles, an absolutely endearing sight.
Along the way, everyone who greeted Ama Yun couldn’t help but let their gaze fall on Little Yun Jiao.
"This baby is a real beauty! I’ve never seen such a good-looking child before."
"Her eyes are so bright and lively! Oh, look, she’s smiling! What a heart-melting smile."
Listening to these praises, the smile never left the face of Shen Yunlian, who was carrying Little Yun Jiao on her back.
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