RAM Chapter 22

After hearing the news, Hai San’er had been in low spirits. As soon as night fell, he went upstairs early.

It seemed that Hai San’er wouldn’t be heading back to the sea tonight. Lu Xie closed up the shop and went upstairs to find his fish.

When Lu Xie entered the room, he saw Hai San’er lying on the bed with his back turned. Closing the door behind him, he approached the bed. “Asleep already?”

“No,” came Hai San’er’s muffled reply. Only when he felt Lu Xie lie down beside him did he turn over and curl into Lu Xie’s arms. Given his tall and sturdy frame, squeezing into Lu Xie’s embrace was a bit of a struggle, and Lu Xie’s arm had to lift slightly to accommodate him.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Lu Xie sounded impatient but didn’t stop Hai San’er. “Do you think you’re small? How old are you? Why are you squeezing in?”

Pressing his face against Lu Xie’s chest, Hai San’er spoke in a sorrowful tone, “Lu Xie, I don’t want any fish to get hurt, and I don’t want people to get hurt either.”

The news from earlier had clearly affected Hai San’er. Lu Xie wasn’t good at comforting others, let alone comforting a fish. He couldn’t lie and say that no one would get hurt, the world was just that cruel. Whether war happened or not wasn’t something they could control.

“No one can ensure that nobody gets hurt. Just take care of yourself.”

Hai San’er fiddled with Lu Xie’s chest. “Isn’t that possible?”

The merman’s thoughts were still too naive. Patiently, Lu Xie continued, “You can’t take everyone and leave this place. At most, we can only take care of ourselves. If war really breaks out, the only option is to leave.”

When it came to leaving, Lu Xie hesitated. If he had to leave, what would happen to Hai San’er? He couldn’t just abandon him. And what about the pearl? Hai San’er couldn’t even take care of himself, let alone the pearl. What if Hai San’er was discovered? What if he ended up in a lab?

Lu Xie thought about a lot of things, but he forgot the original reason he was taking care of Hai San’er.

Lu Xie’s words, however, gave Hai San’er an idea. If war broke out one day, he could just take all the fish and leave, find a safe place to live for a while, and return once peace was restored.

Hai San’er raised his head to look at Lu Xie’s face. But what about Lu Xie? Lu Xie couldn’t live in the sea for long periods like a fish. How could he bring him along?

The future was uncertain, and Hai San’er felt both confused and distressed. At this moment, it seemed that tightly holding Lu Xie was the only thing that gave him a sense of security. He unconsciously tightened his grip around Lu Xie’s arm, and the hand resting on Lu Xie’s chest applied more pressure.

“Stop scratching,” Lu Xie said, pressing down on the fingers digging into his chest. He wanted to curse this shameless fish, who was anything but well-behaved, for scratching his chest red. But facing Hai San’er’s pitiful eyes, Lu Xie could only feel helpless. “It’s not yet a life-or-death situation, so there’s no need to be so dramatic.”

Lu Xie’s words did manage to comfort Hai San’er, who propped himself up and hovered over Lu Xie’s face. “Lu Xie, I want to kiss you.”

The sudden declaration caught Lu Xie off guard. Instinctively, he resisted, raising a hand to cover Hai San’er’s mouth to prevent any sudden moves. But Hai San’er leaned down, slowly pried Lu Xie’s hand away, and when Lu Xie tried to cover again, he pried it away once more. This went on until their lips were almost touching.

“I’m going to kiss you.”

When Hai San’er said this, his face was already close to Lu Xie’s. His words were slightly muffled, and before Lu Xie could respond, Hai San’er pressed their lips together.

He still wasn’t very skilled at kissing, pulling back to let Lu Xie go for a moment before diving back in. He repeated this several times, until finally, Lu Xie, who had maintained a neutral expression throughout, couldn’t help but laugh.

“Enough already? Are you stamping a seal on me or what?”

Whenever he kissed Lu Xie, Hai San’er’s heart would race, his blood felt like it was flowing backward, and even his bones went soft. He wanted to act spoiled, but without his tail, he could only habitually press his feet against Lu Xie’s insteps and rub against him.

Lu Xie could tell exactly what this shameless fish was thinking. He must be imagining some improper things again.

“Alright, sleep. If you keep staying up late, you’ll go bald.”

The earlier flirtatious mood dissipated as Hai San’er froze. Protectively cradling his long hair like it was a treasure, he stared at Lu Xie in shock, as if struck by a terrible blow. He was on the verge of breaking apart, almost splitting in two on the bed.

“Go… bald?”

Lu Xie had no qualms about scaring the fish. “Yes, bald. You’ll turn into a bald fish.”

Bald… bald fish…

Before Lu Xie could say more, Hai San’er lay down quickly, straight as a board. The normally talkative fish didn’t try to drag Lu Xie into a conversation and tightly shut his eyes, praying to fall asleep as soon as possible.

Seeing Hai San’er act like this, Lu Xie found it funny. His playful side emerged, and he nudged Hai San’er’s arm. “Hey, why are you suddenly asleep?”

Hai San’er didn’t dare open his eyes, so he turned away from Lu Xie, still pretending to sleep. But Lu Xie wasn’t ready to let it go.

“Don’t pretend. I know you’re still awake.”

To Hai San’er, humans closed their eyes when they slept. As long as he didn’t open his eyes, he considered himself asleep. So, with his eyes tightly shut, he replied, “You’re so annoying. Didn’t you tell me to sleep? And now that I’m sleeping, you’re talking to me.”

Lu Xie propped himself up and looked at Hai San’er’s face. The delicate features were scrunched up tightly from squeezing his eyes shut so hard. “Just closing your eyes counts as sleeping? As a human, let me tell you, that doesn’t count. You’re still talking to me, which means you’re not asleep, and that means your hair will fall out and you’ll go bald.”

Even then, Hai San’er didn’t dare open his eyes. With a trembling voice, he whimpered, “Then… then don’t… don’t talk to me…”

“Oh, now you think I talk too much? What about when you’re pestering me all the time? Didn’t think you talked too much then?” Lu Xie teased, thoroughly entertained. He even reached out to lift Hai San’er’s eyelids, causing the fish to roll his eyes in fright.

Hai San’er broke into sobs. “Ah… don’t touch me! I want to sleep…”

“You’re just going to sleep like that? Let me see.” Lu Xie flipped the fish over forcefully.

“You’re so annoying.” Terrified of going bald, Hai San’er’s brain finally started working, and he noticed a loophole. “If you don’t sleep, you’ll go bald too. You should sleep.”

Unfortunately, he was still too inexperienced. Lu Xie remained unfazed. “I’m not afraid of going bald. If I lose my hair, I’ll just shave it all off.”

Shave… shave it all off…

Hai San’er imagined Lu Xie with a shaved head and laughed and cried at the same time. “I don’t… I don’t want to go bald. And I don’t want you to shave your head either… sob… haha…”

The two of them laughed and joked on the bed, completely oblivious to the fish tank by the window. Inside, a sea spirit stirred several times, but its shell never fully opened. A faint beam of light escaped through the cracks, accompanied by small bubbles that rose to the surface and popped gently.

The moonlight streamed through the window, casting a serene glow over the room.

The room was quiet, and Hai San’er had one leg draped over Lu Xie’s thigh. Both the human and the fish had fallen into a deep sleep.

With a soft gurgle, the sea spirit flipped over at the bottom of the tank. The shell slightly opened, but no pearl fell out. The light inside had become brighter, and a faint small figure could be seen.

Hai San’er had a terrible dream. He dreamt of himself being bald, and Lu Xie being bald too. He cried bitterly in the dream until he finally woke up from crying. Rubbing his eyes and wiping his tears, he complained to Lu Xie.

“Lu Xie, sob… I dreamed that we both had no hair…”

Hai San’er sobbed for a while, but didn’t hear a response from Lu Xie. When he turned his head, he saw that Lu Xie, who originally had been sleeping beside him, was now squatting by the window. Hai San’er sniffled and asked, “Lu Xie… what are you doing…”

Lu Xie slowly turned his head, his face full of both joy and surprise, pointing at the fish tank on the floor. His words were disjointed, “I… the little… little mermaid… came out…”

Following the position Lu Xie pointed to, Hai San’er saw the fish tank on the floor. A small figure was lying against the wall of the tank, its silver curls just reaching its earlobes, a rosy little face, a tail fin full of iridescent colors. It was curiously observing its surroundings with light blue eyes.

Baobao!

Hai San’er quickly jumped out of bed and squeezed beside Lu Xie. He tapped the little mermaid’s cheek through the glass. The little mermaid, like a puppy, rubbed its cheek against the wall of the tank. “It came out so quickly.”

Lu Xie was so excited he was practically jumping up and down. The little mermaid was a bit too small, and he was afraid his loud voice would scare it. He lowered his voice, “Why is it so small?”

“Small? The little mermaid is always this small when it’s young.”

Lu Xie thought mermaids were similar to humans, so the little mermaid should be at least the size of a human baby. But instead, the little mermaid was only the size of a palm, barely larger than the fish fry beside it. No wonder Hai San’er had said that after birth, the little mermaid would grow under the protection of sea spirits for a while.

“Touch it.”

Lu Xie swallowed nervously, and under Hai San’er’s gentle guidance, he stretched out his hand into the fish tank. His fingertips trembled as he gently tapped the little mermaid’s head. The little mermaid curled its neck and clung to his finger. It was so small, yet so real.

“Baobao, this is Daddy,” Hai San’er said, introducing the little mermaid.

Lu Xie’s eyes were full of excitement as he looked between the little mermaid and Hai San’er. Finally, he whispered, “Can it talk?”

“It’s still a baby mermaid, of course, it can’t talk.”

“Then how can you talk?”

“I’ve been learning for a long time.” Hai San’er pointed at the sea spirit and said to the little mermaid, “Baobao, go inside.”

The little mermaid swam quickly. Though it was so small, its tail had surprising strength and soon returned to the shell.

Lu Xie was stunned. “It can understand what you’re saying.”

“It can understand what you’re saying too. It’s just too small to talk.” As he spoke, Hai San’er took the sea spirit out of the water and gave Lu Xie a look.

Lu Xie immediately tensed up, his hair standing on end. He wiped his hands on his body nervously, then carefully held his hands out to Hai San’er. The water on the sea spirit hadn’t dried yet, and it was damp when placed in his palm. Inside the shell, the little mermaid swished its tail and tilted its head, locking eyes with Lu Xie.