Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Jiaojiao Hands Out Marbles
The boy was genuinely startled, staring blankly with snot and tears streaming down his face.
"What do you think you’re doing?"
Seeing her grandson get yelled at, the old woman was displeased.
"Such a nasty temper for a little girl. How will you ever get married?"
Yun Chenxi was furious. "You don’t need to worry about that. Why don’t you worry about not spoiling your own grandson rotten?"
"What kind of manners are these? Bullying an old woman and a child."
"And what kind of manners do you have? Letting your grandson beg for food. If he’s going to beg, he should do it on the street."
"You..."
"Both of you, shut up! Any more arguing and you can get off."
The driver had lost his temper. The old woman, after all, was afraid he’d actually kick them off midway.
Yun Chenxi rolled his eyes and fell silent as well.
After that scene, Yun Jiao wasn’t too happy anymore.
Her good mood had been completely ruined.
Their spirits lifted once they reached town. Yun Linhe even purposefully felt for the money he had hidden, reassuring himself with the familiar feel of the thick stack.
"Come on, let’s head back."
"I’ll carry the bags. Second Brother, you carry Jiaojiao. Let’s walk back."
There was no bus from here to their village, and there were no tractors available at the moment either. They would have to walk.
But they hadn’t eaten yet, and their stomachs were growling.
Yun Linhe made an executive decision: they would get a bowl of noodles first.
Yun Jiao wasn’t particularly hungry. She’d had two sponge cakes on the bus.
Still, she slurped down a whole bowl of noodles.
With their bellies full, she trotted along on her own short little legs for the first half of the journey. Only for the latter half did she let her second brother carry her home.
As they returned to familiar territory, both Yun Linhe and Yun Chenxi visibly relaxed.
"Uncle! Second Brother! Little Sister!!!"
They hadn’t even reached the village entrance when a few rowdy kids came running toward them, shouting at the top of their lungs, accompanied by the WOOF-WOOFing of two big yellow dogs.
"You’re finally back!"
Yun Xiaowu and the others charged over like cannonballs. "What did you buy? Let me see!"
"Little Sister, why didn’t you wake me up? If you had, I could have gone with you!"
Yun Chenxi chuckled and set Yun Jiao down.
"In your dreams. Don’t start rummaging through everything here. Wait till we get home."
By the time they reached the village entrance, the old grannies and aunties sitting under the locust tree weaving nets were all craning their necks, their eyes practically boring holes into their bags.
"Lin He, you went into the city? What’d you buy?"
Yun Linhe replied with a smile, "Oh, just a few things."
"Granny Wang, you all carry on. We’re going to head home now."
With that, he led Yun Xiaowu and the others away, quickening his pace. He was afraid that if they were a step too slow, the nosier ones wouldn’t hesitate to just grab their bags and see what they’d bought.
That sort of thing happened all the time in the village.
Once they were home, all the Yun family children swarmed Yun Linhe and Yun Chenxi, chattering away and asking a million questions. They were as loud as a flock of ducks.
"What did you buy? Is there any food?"
"Wow, sponge cakes! I want some! I want some!"
"And Dabai Rabbit milk candies! Uncle, since when are you so generous?"
"Holy shit, canned goods!!!"
At Yun Xiaowu’s shout, everyone’s gaze landed on the two cans, their eyes gleaming with excitement.
Yun Chenxi smacked his troublesome little brother on the head. "No swearing. How many times have I told you?"
Yun Xiaowu, who’d just been hit, didn’t care at all. He held the cans and jumped up and down with excitement.
"Canned goods, canned goods! This one’s meat—it’s braised pork! And this is canned yellow peaches! HAHAHAHA, I’m finally getting to eat canned goods!"
None of these things were cheap, especially the canned goods. The sight of them made both Old Man Yun and Granny Yun’s hearts ache from the expense.
"Why did you buy so many things? You little spendthrift! How much did all this cost?"
As she spoke, Granny Yun irritably smacked Yun Linhe’s arm a few times.
Yun Linhe scratched his head. "I just thought, since it’s such a rare trip to the city..."
Yun Jiao said in her sweet, sticky voice, "Grandma, Jiaojiao wanted to buy them."
Granny Yun said, "Even so, you shouldn’t have bought so much. This must have cost a fortune, didn’t it?"
"Not much."
Yun Jiao gestured with her little hands. "There were lots of bills, but Uncle only used one for Jiaojiao."
After speaking, Yun Jiao took out the box of glass marbles and gave it a shake. A crisp CLINK-CLANK sound came from inside.
"Brothers, marbles!"
At her words, her brothers immediately crowded around.
"Let me see! Quick, let me see!"
Once the box was open, the beautiful marbles instantly became the boys’ new favorite treasure.
"Glass marbles!"
Yun Jiao held the box of glass marbles.
"Ten marbles for each brother. Jiaojiao will hand them out."
She sat on a little stool, swinging her short legs with a hint of smug satisfaction.
"Fifth Brother is first, Sixth Brother is second. The rest of you, line up by age."
The Yun family adults watched with cheerful smiles as Yun Jiao handed out the glass marbles.
Yun Xiaowu beamed, showing all his teeth, and cupped his hands together.
"Little Sister, I want a red one, a blue one, three with patterns, two white ones..."
As Yun Xiaowu picked his, the brothers behind him craned their necks, watching anxiously, afraid their favorites would be taken.
Yun Jiao’s fair little hands picked out the glass marbles. In her grasp, the glass beads looked as beautiful as expensive pearls.
"Here, these are for you, Fifth Brother."
She did the same for the others in line.
Once all five of her brothers had their share, she clapped her hands and moved on to handing out the snacks.
If she didn’t hand them out, she knew Grandma and the others would be too reluctant to eat anything.
"Jiaojiao, you don’t have any marbles? I’ll give you three to play with."
"I’ll give you three, too," Yun Xiao Liu added, sidling up to her.
The other brothers chimed in as well.
Three from each of the five of them would mean their little sister had more marbles than any of them.
Yun Jiao shook her head. "No, thank you. I’ll just watch my brothers play."
Her brothers were so moved they could hardly stand it. ’Our sister is the best in the world!’
Grabbing a handful of Dabai Rabbit milk candies, Yun Jiao started handing them out again, running all over the house.
Of course, she didn’t forget herself, unwrapping one and popping it into her own mouth.
It was safe to say this was the happiest day the Yun family children had ever had. Not only did they get all sorts of delicious treats, but they got new toys as well.
Once everything was divvied up, Granny Yun took the leftovers and locked them away, planning for everyone to have a little bit each day.
Yun Xiaowu and his brothers grabbed their marbles and ran off hollering, most likely to show them off to the other children in the village.
The adults of the family gathered together to finally discuss important matters.
Yun Linhe took the money out directly.
When they saw the money, the rest of the family gasped, their eyes wide with disbelief.
"Th-this much?!"
Yun Linhe was beaming. "I know, right? Who would’ve thought that one tiny little pearl could be so valuable?"
"It sold for a total of 1,500 yuan. We spent ten, and the rest is all here."
The money for the bus fare and the noodles came from the family’s funds. Aside from the ten yuan for Yun Jiao, they hadn’t touched any of the money from selling the pearl.
Yun Jiao slammed her little hand on the table. "Build a big, pretty house!"
"Alright, alright..."
Granny Yun wiped the tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "We’ll build a big house!"
Mr. Yun said, "Now that you two brothers are here, I’ll get straight to the point. This money will be used to build two new houses. Once they’re built, we’ll split the family."
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