Chapter 108: An Extra-large Turtle
After listening for a while, the onlookers were left speechless by the old woman next door.
Just because her eldest daughter-in-law had eaten some chicken soup yesterday, and because she herself had quarreled with Grandma Shen and Yun Jiao, she was taking her anger out on her daughter-in-law, who had just given birth.
She was passive-aggressively calling her daughter-in-law a traitor, accusing her of siding with outsiders, and even withholding food from her.
She said things like, since her daughter-in-law had eaten her fill at someone else’s house, why should she eat their family’s food?
She scolded her eldest daughter-in-law, who had just given birth, to the point of tears.
Last night, Shen Jiang had reached the end of his rope and had a huge fight with his mother. This morning, the old woman had again given the younger daughter-in-law two eggs while preparing nothing at all for the elder one.
And that was what led to the scene Shen Jiang was making now.
"I just want to ask, am I really your son? Or did you find me somewhere on the street? I’ve tolerated your favoritism. I used to think you disliked my wife because you look down on women.
But now that my wife has given me a son, you’re still like this—you seem to dislike her even more! Even when she was pregnant, she worked tirelessly for this family, taking care of you and my younger brother and his wife. What in the world did she ever do to you that makes you despise her so much!"
Shen Youcai’s lips twitched. "Brother, that’s not right. When has Mom ever shown favoritism? My wife, she just..."
"You shut up!"
When a meek man truly gets angry, it can be a terrifying sight.
Shen Youcai was so stunned by his older brother’s roar that he didn’t dare say another word.
His wife, standing beside him, pinched him several times, but he didn’t budge.
"Useless coward!"
she muttered under her breath, but she didn’t dare step forward and say anything herself.
Old Mrs. Li was about to throw another tantrum, but Old Man Shen, the usually silent head of the family, finally spoke.
"Have you made up your mind?"
Shen Jiang nodded, putting his arms around his two daughters.
"Dad, I’ve made up my mind. We’re splitting the family."
Old Mrs. Li shrieked, "I don’t agree!"
"You be quiet." Old Man Shen was usually quiet, but when he put his foot down, even Old Mrs. Li was taken aback.
"If we let you keep carrying on like this, our eldest and second sons will be completely estranged from us sooner or later."
Old Man Shen sighed. "Go get the village chief. Since we’re splitting the family, we might as well split everyone off."
Of everyone present, only Lao San’s family and Old Lady Li were unhappy. Everyone else was thrilled.
Old Lady Li said resentfully, "Eldest, Second, you two better think this through. Your third brother is about to get a job in the city. Once you’ve split from the family, don’t even think about asking Lao San for help."
Shen Jiang replied, "We don’t need his help. My family will work hard and honestly. We can make a good life for ourselves."
’Rely on Lao San? Heh... maybe in my next life.’
’Even if Lao San’s family strikes it rich in the future, it will have nothing to do with me.’
Yun Jiao and her group watched the entire drama unfold. Even after they had finished their noodles, they kept holding their bowls and watched for a little while longer.
"Come on, let’s go. The show’s over, and we still have to harvest the corn."
Their own chores were more important, after all.
Old Mrs. Li shot them a vicious glare, feeling utterly humiliated and furious that they had witnessed her family’s drama.
But who paid her any mind?
Taking the things they had prepared earlier, Yun Jiao and her whole family headed up the mountain again.
Yun Jiao had her mind on the hawthorn tree. She also remembered the spot in the bamboo forest where they had picked bamboo fungus before; they had left some of the "eggs" behind. She wondered if they could harvest more bamboo fungus if they went back now.
Today, it was again just her and Yun Xiaojiu foraging in the woods. Yun Xiaowu and the others had really wanted to come along, but the adults made them stay behind to work.
"Bamboo fungus!"
There wasn’t as much as yesterday, only about a dozen stalks.
The two of them were very satisfied nonetheless.
"Brother Nine, the hawthorns."
"Those things are sour. They’re no good to eat."
Yun Jiao said, "We’ll take them home and make candy-coated hawthorns."
Yun Xiaojiu replied, "Okay! Let’s go pick them right now."
Yun Jiao was terrible at climbing trees, but Yun Xiaojiu wasn’t.
Although he wasn’t as skilled a tree climber as Yun Xiaowu or Yun Xiaoqi, he could still make his way up.
Of course, the best climber of all was Cat Boss.
While Yun Xiaojiu was still huffing and puffing his way less than two feet up the trunk, Cat Boss zipped up the tree in a flash.
"Whoa... So cool!"
Yun Jiao’s eyes filled with envy as she clapped her hands like an excited seal.
Cat Boss’s tail swished even more merrily.
Although Cat Boss was up the tree, there was just one problem... its paws couldn’t pick the hawthorns.
So it just lounged on a branch, watching Yun Xiaojiu do the picking.
Yun Jiao gathered them on the ground below.
After they had gathered a full basket of hawthorns, the weather grew too hot, and Yun Jiao wanted to go play by the river.
There was a river near Shen Family Village. Every year, several surrounding villages relied on its water to irrigate their crops.
The river was quite wide and deep, but the current wasn’t strong.
Taking off her shoes and rolling up her pant legs, Yun Jiao stepped into the water and felt instantly refreshed.
Cat Boss watched from a safe distance, having no desire to get wet.
"Brother Nine, there’s a fish!"
A big one, too!
It was at least as long as her arm—a big black fish.
Without a second thought, Yun Jiao dove into the water and swam toward the fish.
Yun Xiaojiu wasn’t worried. ’They aren’t even afraid of the ocean, so why would they be scared of a river?’
When Yun Jiao surfaced again, she was holding a thrashing fish with both hands.
It looked to be about three or four pounds.
"The basket! Brother Nine, bring the basket over, quick!"
She tossed the fish in. "I saw something else down there. I’m going to go get it."
With that, she dove back into the river.
Yun Xiaojiu craned his neck, peering into the water. "Jiaojiao, did you get it? What is it?"
The spot where Yun Jiao had dived was the deepest part of the river.
The locals didn’t dare to swim there, and they strictly forbade their children from even going near it.
This time, Yun Jiao was underwater for nearly ten minutes before she resurfaced. Yun Xiaojiu had even swum over to look for her, but unfortunately, his diving skills were no match for his little sister’s.
Just as he was on the verge of tears with worry, Yun Jiao finally broke the surface.
She was holding something huge.
The reason she had been gone so long was that she’d been trying to pry this behemoth loose.
"Brother! Brother Nine, look! I caught a huge turtle!"
’This is what they call a soft-shelled turtle, right?’
Yun Jiao thought, uncertain.
’Turtles from the sea are called sea turtles. Turtles from the river are just called turtles, but I think they’re also called soft-shelled turtles.’
When Yun Jiao dragged the "soft-shelled turtle" onto the bank, Yun Xiaojiu gasped in amazement.
"It’s even bigger than the turtle we have at home."
Indeed, and its shell had a faint golden sheen.
"How did you spot it?"
Yun Xiaojiu excitedly circled the "turtle" a few times.
Yun Jiao said proudly, "I saw it move."
Even Cat Boss was drawn over from a short distance away. It hopped right onto the huge creature’s back and began pawing at the shell curiously.
"Are we going to take this big guy home?"
Yun Jiao shook her head. "No."
Yun Jiao could sense some of the great creature’s emotions. Its will to live was very strong.
That meant it had already developed a certain level of sentience.
She had only brought it ashore out of curiosity, and to let her brother see such a massive freshwater turtle.
"How old are you?"
"Are you what they call a soft-shelled turtle?"
Yun Jiao squatted in front of the huge creature, mumbling her questions.
’Don’t... know.’
’Am... not...’
’Gah... ble... glub...’
The replies were slow and halting, like a toddler learning to speak.
There was a lot that Yun Jiao couldn’t understand.
Yun Jiao stroked her chin. ’Could this be some kind of river dialect?’
"Sigh. It’s a shame Mom and Dad aren’t here. I would have liked for them to see you."
"Go on, go back now. I’ll go catch something else."
Having gotten the all-clear, the great golden turtle dragged its cumbersome body and struggled back toward the river.