RAM Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Treasure coin

The sea was turbulent, while beneath the depths, the ocean remained calm. A weary deep-sea turtle was dragged back to the same spot for the thirteenth time by the mermaid, its patience exhausted. It bit down hard on the mermaid’s hand, making him snap out of his daze, finally feeling the pain as he cried quietly by the coral.

“Ouch.”

Before the mermaid could speak, an orange grouper, circling the coral, could no longer watch and spoke up, “You’re being too much. Do you have any idea how long it takes for it to catch up to the bale?”

The mermaid gently rubbed the bite mark on his hand and muttered an apology, finally letting go of the turtle. He turned away, sulking.

“Come on, tell me, what happened?”

The mermaid looked defeated, clearly in need of someone to talk to. “I’m with a human.”

This news was known by all the fish in the sea, but fish have a memory span of only seven seconds, so they forget immediately unless someone brings it up again, and when they hear it from another fish, they are always surprised.

“I know about that. So what? You should go find him. You even have a child together.”

The news of the mermaid’s pregnancy had already spread through the ocean, though again, because of their short memory, each mention seemed like brand new information.

“I tried to find him, but he doesn’t seem to like me and the baby.” The mermaid looked frustrated. He didn’t dare tell the grouper how bad the human’s attitude was. He was the fiercest human he had ever seen.

As a deep-sea fish with a long lifespan, the grouper had encountered many humans and had some understanding of them, though its memory was fuzzy and often confused, making it easy to get things wrong.

“Don’t you know? Humans value small gifts that carry big emotions. Did you give him anything?”

The mermaid shook his head vigorously. He went empty-handed, and now he realized how rude that must have seemed. It was their baby’s first meeting with the human father, and he had shown up unprepared, without thinking much. Not every human could accept a mermaid.

“But he’s so fierce.” The mermaid didn’t know what to give the human. After all, Lu Xie didn’t even care for the pearl he held.

“Well, you can’t let the baby grow up without a father. You know, single mermaids raising babies alone don’t have a good ending.”

The mermaid nodded repeatedly. Every mermaid dreamed of finding true love and becoming human, living freely on land without limits.

“I get it.”

The grouper nodded in approval, but then looked confused. “Wait, where were we? How did I get here?”

“You told me to give the father of the baby a gift, you said it’s part of human etiquette.”

The grouper circled the mermaid excitedly, wagging its tail. “You love a human? Congratulations!”

Sure enough, fishes only remembered for seven seconds.

The rain fell all night, and by morning, the sky finally cleared. Lu Xie had woken up early but was too lazy to get up. He noticed a sliver of light coming through the curtain, which was so captivating he couldn’t resist looking outside.

With a leap, Lu Xie jumped out of bed, quickly washed up, and rushed downstairs to open the door.

The sound of the roller door slamming open echoed loudly as the blinding sunlight broke through the large coconut leaves. The sea was calm again after the storm. The distant horizon was a clear blue, and the air was still thick with moisture. In just a few hours, the temperature had returned to how it was before the rain—humid and unbearably hot.

The small shop’s entrance was a mess. Lu Xie yawned and began tidying up. Ocean trash washed ashore by the waves, broken branches from the strong winds, and… a few salted fish.

He tossed the colorful fish and dead branches into the trash, grumbling, “Where did these rotten fish come from?”

Hiding under a coconut tree, the mermaid’s eyes were filled with tears. He bit down on a piece of seaweed, desperately trying not to cry out. It wasn’t rotten fish; these were deep-sea fish he usually didn’t dare to eat. He had gotten up early this morning to catch them especially for Lu Xie, only to have them unceremoniously tossed into the trash.

Wuwuwu.

After all, Lu Xie didn’t even care for their baby. A few deep-sea fish? Of course, he wouldn’t care. The mermaid scurried back into the sea to search for another gift for Lu Xie.

Finally, after cleaning up the front, Lu Xie realized he didn’t have enough supplies at home, so he went into town to restock. When he returned, dragging his sore legs with several bags of groceries, he found another strange creature outside his door. As he got closer, he realized it was an octopus.

That color—definitely toxic.

Lu Xie hurriedly dropped his bags, grabbed a shovel, and ran to push the octopus back into the sea.

“Damn it, who would do such a thing? Are they trying to get revenge or something?”

At least in the past, enemies took a direct approach. Was it really necessary to do something so disgusting?

The octopus was a failure. The mermaid leaned weakly against the coconut tree. Humans—what did they even like?

The mermaid sulked back to the sea, randomly grabbing a few passing fish to ask, but the fish were as clueless as a rock. After a long pause, one finally replied, “I just saw a couple picking shells and sea conchs on the shore.”

Armed with this information, the mermaid couldn’t wait to swim upwards, but the fish continued at their leisurely pace, “But that couple seems to be from somewhere far off. They’ve never seen the sea before.”

The mermaid didn’t hear any of that. He hurried to the shore, gathering a handful of seashells and conchs, and, taking advantage of Lu Xie’s bathroom break, scattered them all in front of his shop. Then he hid behind a coconut tree to spy.

Just after Lu Xie had finished dealing with the stinky fish and toxic octopus, in the blink of an eye, his doorstep was once again bombarded with ocean trash. Lu Xie, furious as ever, grabbed a tool and rushed outside.

“Damn! Who’s the jerk throwing trash at my doorstep? I swear to god, if I catch you…”

Lu Xie’s sharp eyes scanned the area, and not far behind a coconut tree, he spotted a sneaky figure. He shouted, “Come out!”

The figure not only didn’t come out but also moved further behind the tree. Unfortunately, the seaweed around his waist betrayed him. Of course, it was that familiar face—this guy again.

Fuming with rage, Lu Xie increased the intensity of his voice, “Get out here!”

The mermaid, convinced he was hidden well enough, thought Lu Xie wasn’t talking to him. But to confirm, he cautiously peered his head out—and there it was, their eyes met. Caught.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You go crazy and start dumping trash at my place?” Lu Xie thought the idiot had blown away in the storm the night before, but here he was, waiting for him.

The mermaid raised his hands to explain, “No, no! These aren’t trash! I gathered them to give them to you as a gift.”

Lu Xie’s face darkened, though he couldn’t help but be impressed by the crazy guy’s skills—how else would he have fished out all these things? But Lu Xie didn’t care about that. “I’m warning you, don’t dump anything at my doorstep again.”

The mermaid stayed silent, biting his lip, while Lu Xie walked off. The moment he left, the mermaid hurried to follow. Lu Xie suddenly turned around and glared at him.

“What do you want?”

“Tell me what you like, and I’ll get it for you.”

Here we go again. The guy’s wearing seaweed like some wild man, and now he’s offering gifts like he’s got a clue. Lu Xie looked him up and down, a smirk forming on his face. “Aren’t you a mermaid? There’s gotta be a ton of shipwrecks underwater, with treasure chests full of loot. Why don’t you haul one up for me to see?”

What’s so special about treasure chests? They’re basically just ocean garbage. Every time he found one, he’d struggle to drag it back to shore, only to dump it somewhere deserted. Lu Xie could like something more useful.

But the mermaid couldn’t argue. Who cares? Lu Xie liked it, so he’d get it for him. Maybe once he brought it up, Lu Xie would finally accept him and their baby.

“Okay, I’ll get it for you.”

Lu Xie didn’t even bother to respond, turning to go into the shop. As he walked, he heard the sound of splashing water. He whirled around, but the bare man was nowhere to be seen. All he saw was the calm sea rippling.

“What the hell?” Lu Xie ran forward. “Did that idiot really jump in?”

Only the gently rolling sea greeted him. He watched for a while but saw no sign of the mermaid resurfacing. Maybe he was just imagining things—he couldn’t have actually jumped in, right? He couldn’t possibly be a real mermaid.

Crazy idiot.

Lu Xie muttered to himself, heading back to the shop. Maybe it was the storm yesterday, but there was barely any business today. Even the local punks who played pool didn’t show up. He slouched on the couch, flipping through channels on the TV, only to find the signal was still terrible. He pressed the remote repeatedly, yawning. The shop was quiet and empty. He glanced outside, feeling relieved.

The afternoon sunlight filtered into the shop. Exhausted, Lu Xie slept in a sweaty mess. He vaguely felt someone enter, squinting his eyes to see who it was. There, standing beside him, was the mermaid, staring intently at the TV. When he noticed Lu Xie stir, the mermaid finally turned around.

“You’re awake.” The mermaid opened his hand, revealing a dirty coin. “I didn’t find the treasure chest, but I found this coin.”

Lu Xie stared at the coin, still caked in mud, its golden shine shining through. It was real—where the hell had this crazy guy gotten it?

The mermaid, feeling unsure under Lu Xie’s scrutiny, nervously fidgeted. It wasn’t a treasure chest—was Lu Xie going to be disappointed?