RAM Chapter 23

A small figure, about the size of a palm, with delicate features like a porcelain doll. Its brows and eyes were clear, and its expressions were lively. A vibrant life unfolded in front of Lu Xie’s eyes, causing his blood to boil, and a sour feeling surged from his throat. He desperately suppressed the turmoil in his heart, but his body still couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

“What should we do now?” Lu Xie, for the first time, didn’t know what to do. He lowered his voice and cast a pleading look toward Hai San’er.

Hai San’er raised an eyebrow, his beautiful lake-blue eyes gleaming. He repeated, “Touch him.” More contact with the little merman would help nurture their bond.

Lu Xie held his breath, freeing one hand as if afraid of breaking the little merman. His movements were extremely gentle. He lightly tapped the little merman’s cheek with his fingertip. The soft sensation made him slide his finger up and down a few times. Soon, the little merman’s face turned red in a huff, and he pouted, holding onto his finger.

“Are you angry?” Lu Xie found it amusing. Upon closer inspection, the little merman’s redness wasn’t just from anger but also from the fact that Lu Xie had calluses on his fingers, which had likely hurt him. “Did I hurt you?”

Fearing the little merman might not understand, Lu Xie looked up at Hai San’er several times as he asked. Hai San’er didn’t answer but just smiled and watched him and the little merman.

Suddenly, Lu Xie felt a warmth on his finger. He looked down to see the little merman puffing out his cheeks, biting him. It seemed he was quite upset. With such a temper, Lu Xie wondered who the little merman had inherited it from. Hai San’er’s temperament was usually so calm.

Unfortunately, the little merman was too small, his teeth hadn’t fully grown, and his bite had no real force. To Lu Xie, it felt no different than being lightly tickled, neither painful nor itchy.

“Still biting?” Lu Xie’s voice, filled with amusement, was mixed with pride, as if he were showing off to Hai San’er, as though the little merman had done something impressive. “Quite the temper.”

Hai San’er, usually a bit silly, had a fatherly air at this moment as he gently chided the little merman, “You can’t bite people.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Let him bite,” Lu Xie, in a rare good mood, said. When Hai San’er took the little merman from his hands, Lu Xie eagerly followed him, “Hey, is it a boy or a girl?”

Mermen were all beautiful, and judging by appearance alone, it was nearly impossible to tell their gender. If Hai San’er hadn’t come to Lu Xie naked at first, Lu Xie wouldn’t have recognized him as male at the first glance.

Hai San’er poked at the little merman’s scales. “He’s a boy.”

Lu Xie had a bit of a stereotype when it came to mermaids, always thinking girls were better. But whether it was a boy or a girl, it didn’t really matter.

Before, when the little merman was still a pearl, the deep-sea spirit would feed small fish and shrimp to provide nutrition. Now that the little merman had turned into a merman, he had to start eating on his own. Although the little merman was technically a fish, in Lu Xie’s mind, he was no different from a baby. Babies needed milk, and fish or shrimp weren’t very healthy.

Milk?

At this thought, Lu Xie unconsciously glanced at Hai San’er. When he saw Hai San’er’s strong chest muscles, a thought crossed his mind, and he blurted out.

“Do you feed him milk?”

“Milk?” Hai San’er asked seriously. “What’s that?”

He had the necessary conditions but not the ability. Lu Xie felt he must have spent too much time with Hai San’er, and his brain must have gotten waterlogged for asking such a question.

“Can he eat fish food?” Lu Xie changed the subject, taking out a packet of fish food. He placed a few pellets in his palm and let the little merman choose.

The little merman, who had been sulking, immediately changed his expression when he saw the food. He stretched out a tiny hand and grabbed a pellet, which seemed large in his tiny hand. Then he turned away from Lu Xie and happily started eating the fish food.

This love for food was definitely inherited from Hai San’er.

However, the little merman was still holding a grudge. After Lu Xie had touched his cheek and made him blush, the little merman refused to acknowledge him. When Hai San’er teased him, he laughed and played along, but when it came to Lu Xie, he showed no goodwill.

“Why is he so vindictive? He still won’t talk to me.” The little merman, being a merman spirit, could understand what they were saying, so Lu Xie and Hai San’er had to lower their voices when talking.

After Hai San’er had coaxed the little merman to sleep and placed him in a shell, he waited for the shell to close before pulling Lu Xie downstairs.

“It’s because you’ve been too harsh with him from the start. Even when he was a pearl, the mermaid had consciousness and could tell who treated him well and who didn’t. They know where it’s safe and where it’s dangerous.”

Lu Xie wanted to argue. After all, he had bought the little merman fish food, but then he remembered the first time he met the little merman, when he had thrown him to the ground in his pearl form and then tossed him into a trash can. It was understandable that the little merman would hold a grudge. The words didn’t come out, and he could only awkwardly scratch his head.

“That was way too sudden! Any normal person would think I was crazy. If someone saw a naked man holding a pearl and saying it was our child, who would believe it?” Lu Xie felt quite wronged. “So now what?”

“You’ll have to coax him.”

Lu Xie scratched his head. How was he gonna coax a merman? Just as he was feeling troubled, he caught a glimpse of Hai San’er’s expectant expression and suddenly had an idea. The little merman, just like Hai San’er, liked food.

“It’s still early. I’ll go to the town.”

Lu Xie had intended for Hai San’er to stay home to watch the baby, but to his surprise, Hai San’er insisted on going.

“The baby is asleep, and the deep-sea spirits are looking after him. I want to go to the market too.”

Lu Xie, unable to refuse, took Hai San’er with him to the town. He had to buy a new tank for Hai San’er anyway.

Today wasn’t a market day, so there weren’t many street vendors. Lu Xie led Hai San’er to a bathroom store.

The fish tank on the rooftop was made of glass and sealed with glue. It had been left unused for a long time, exposed to the wind and rain. Now, it had started to leak. Glass was fragile, and if it broke, it could cause injury. Replacing it with a bathtub was just right.

For someone as big as Hai San’er, Lu Xie ordered the largest size, and the delivery would be made to their home, with help carrying it upstairs.

“Did you buy this for me?” Hai San’er asked, surprised, cupping his cheeks.

Lu Xie awkwardly explained, “You’re always flailing around in the fish tank, and the glass can’t handle it. If it breaks, it’ll be a disaster.”

In front of the store owner, Hai San’er excitedly hugged Lu Xie’s head and planted several kisses on his face, then snuggled up to him with a look of affection. “Lu Xie, you’re so good to me.”

The store owner eyed them with a gossiping look. After all, Hai San’er’s voice was deep, and it wasn’t hard to tell he was a man.

Lu Xie was already used to Hai San’er’s passionate advances. It was just that, with others around, he felt a little embarrassed. He pressed Hai San’er’s head down. “Okay, we still need to buy other things. Shopkeeper, could you deliver the bathtub later?”

Since Lu Xie wasn’t sure if the little merman could drink milk and didn’t want to risk any problems, he decided to go to the fish market to buy some premium fish food. By the time he returned home, the delivery workers had just arrived.

Lu Xie was worried that the noise from the workers would scare the little merman, so he asked Hai San’er to check on the baby while he helped the workers bring the bathtub upstairs. The workers and Lu Xie all worked together to bring down the old fish tank, and after all the effort, everyone was sweating.

“Thanks.” Lu Xie pulled out a cigarette and handed it to the workers, then grabbed cold drinks from the fridge. After the workers left, he hurried upstairs.

He didn’t find Hai San’er on the second floor. The fish tank was also gone. Lu Xie quickly ran to the top floor and, as soon as he stepped out of the hallway, he heard Hai San’er’s voice.

“Baobao! Look, this is Daddy’s new bathtub!” Hai San’er raised the small fish tank above his head. The little merman, unafraid of heights, was lying on the side of the fish tank, curiously staring at the new large bathtub.

Hearing the noise at the door, Hai San’er turned and loudly said, “It’s something Dad bought for us!”

The little merman was still angry with Lu Xie. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he glared fiercely at him.

Tsk, what a fiery temper.

Lu Xie took a step forward. “Be careful, don’t drop the tank. It’ll break.”

Hearing that, Hai San’er quickly pulled the tank to his chest, following Lu Xie and complaining that he wanted to try the new bathtub. Lu Xie could only grab the hose to fill the tub with water. Once it reached the right level, Hai San’er eagerly jumped in, splashing water everywhere and soaking a large area.

The sun had not yet set, and the sunlight was scorching. Lu Xie opened the parasol and carried the snacks from downstairs up to the roof.

The sweet snacks were for Hai San’er, while the beer and smoked fish were for Lu Xie himself. The little mermaid looked up at Lu Xie as he handed out the food, but when it was his turn, Lu Xie paused. If it were his mermaid dad teasing him, he would have rushed over to snuggle and seek favor. But in front of Lu Xie, he wanted to eat but stubbornly refused to show it.

Like Hai San’er, his thoughts were written all over his face.

Lu Xie originally wanted to tease him, but seeing how pitifully greedy he looked, he couldn’t bring himself to. He opened a bag of fresh shrimp and held one out in front of him.

The salty, savory aroma hit the air. The little merman wanted to maintain his pride, but his hands instinctively reached out to take the shrimp. He didn’t have any teeth, so eating the shrimp was difficult. The juices dripped down his face as he ate, making a mess.

“Ha!” Lu Xie couldn’t hold back his laughter.

At the sound of Lu Xie’s light laughter, the little merman immediately turned bright red, embarrassed, and turned his back on Lu Xie, almost as if he wanted to write “I hate you” on his back.

Still angry? Much harder to coax than Hai San’er.

Lu Xie wasn’t in a hurry. He pulled out a dagger and a small wooden stick from his pocket and sat down on a nearby chair, calmly starting to carve.

“What’s this?” Hai San’er leaned over the edge of the bathtub, holding a glass of juice in his hand.

Lu Xie didn’t look up, but he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the little merman was also curious. His small body couldn’t reach the edge of the bathtub, but his eating stopped as he stretched his neck toward Lu Xie’s direction, his eyes full of curiosity.

“Hey! You’re spying on me!” Lu Xie caught the little merman in the act.

The little merman jumped in surprise and quickly stuffed more shrimp into his mouth. He bit the shrimp and tugged at it hard, but in a sudden flip, his entire body leaned back and fell straight into the water. Hai San’er had to pull him out, and his beautiful curly hair was plastered to his face, looking quite a mess.

“Ugh, how embarrassing!”