Are All You Straight Guys Like This Chapter 118

The next afternoon.

The weather by the sea was cool, a gentle breeze blowing.

Class One’s students had played through the night at the bonfire party yesterday and were all catching up on sleep today. Only Shen Shi and Yu Ting had the energy to go together to visit the museum.

There was no line outside the museum. Recently, the number of visitors was neither many nor few. Shen Shi and Yu Ting handed their pre-booked tickets to the administrator for verification. After confirming everything was correct, they entered through the main door.

As soon as they stepped inside, a gust of cold air greeted them head-on.

The air-conditioning was set very low; the lighting inside the museum was dim and not bright. Inside the display cases were long-preserved cultural relics, such as garments, porcelain, manuscripts, and so on.

Yu Ting examined them one by one with great interest. When he turned back, Shen Shi was already nowhere to be seen.

At this very moment, outside the “Bones of Exotic Beasts” exhibition area.

The “Bones of Exotic Beasts” exhibition area was considered the most crowded place in the entire museum; there was even a line dozens of people long. Each person could stay for at most five minutes. Whether outside or inside the exhibition hall, there were at least two staff members supervising.

The visitors did not feel dissatisfied; instead, they were even more expectant.

The line moved forward slowly. Finally, Shen Shi entered through the side door of the exhibition hall.

As soon as he entered the “Exotic Beasts” exhibition area, the air-conditioning temperature was five or six degrees lower than outside. The lighting was dim, and the entire hall was decorated in a mysterious, resplendent style. Black drapes were spread across the ceiling, twinkling with galaxy-like starlight.

In the very center, inside a display case isolated by a protective cover, the lighting was extremely bright. Shen Shi heard the two young lovers in front of him whispering.

“Wow… it really is a bone… such a short piece.”

“Yeah, looks like a phalange.”

Shen Shi’s expression was blank, his brows lowered, his eyes gloomy.

What appeared as a phalange in others’ eyes was, in his, a silver-shimmering mermaid scale stained with blood.

The silver scale had already lost its luster; the base was mottled with blood, faintly melding into the scale itself.

The managers who built the exhibition area even used a shell as a stand for the scale. That listless scale, seemingly having lost all vitality, lay there dryly. Shen Shi seemed to see that timid, well-behaved silver little mermaid, once crying in the seawater while hugging his own fishtail.

An invisible aura of violence overflowed from his body.

He slowly lowered his gaze, his eyes dark, and glanced at the highly “righteous” explanatory text polished for display in front of the case.

—【Thirty years ago, an unprecedented storm arose over the Bibo Sea. The sky looked as though ink had been splashed across it; the sea surface surged violently, waves soaring dozens of meters high. A cargo ship laden with porcelain goods sailed steadily across the sea, the crew preparing to dock. At this moment, the captain saw “it.”】

—【It was a dim, strange shadow, twisting and swaying with the heaving seawater. Vast stretches of seaweed drifted beneath the pitch-black sea surface, as if it might break the water in the next second and launch an attack.】

—【At the critical moment, the captain turned the ship around and, facing the raging wind and rain, cast down a fishing net. The net, forged of cast iron, bore sharp “fangs.” It tore large chunks of flesh from the sea monster, blood splattering everywhere. The sea monster was driven away by the brave and fearless captain. This piece of bone was the trophy the captain obtained.】

—【At that time, the captain’s youngest son, only seven years old, was also on board. Ten years later, after the captain passed away, the bone was selflessly donated to the Tannan City Museum by the youngest son.】

—【We should remember these two selfless donors.】

—【Qiu Guocheng, Qiu Mingan.】

On all explanatory plaques for non-excavated exhibits in the Tannan City Museum, the donors’ names were written.

Only for the Qiu father and son were their related deeds included in addition to their names.

Quite grand and righteous indeed.

Shen Shi coldly tugged at the corner of his lips.

He did not think there was anything wrong with unconditionally believing that little mermaid.

A foolish little mermaid who couldn’t even pry open oysters, who couldn’t even take care of himself, how could he possibly attack humans.

Behind him came the sound of taking photos. The staff member standing quietly by the exhibition area stepped forward and gently reminded them, “Gentlemen, photography is not allowed here.”

“Oh, oh, sorry, sorry… we’ll delete it right away.”

The man smiled. “Thank you for your support.”

An inexplicable intuition prompted Shen Shi to turn around.

His gaze was exceptionally cold. At the same time, the man also looked up. Their eyes met briefly. Separated by the half-lit, half-shadowed exhibition lighting, one distant, one gentle. The staff member froze for a moment, seemingly stunned by Shen Shi’s strikingly handsome features. After a few seconds, he politely nodded.

Shen Shi lowered his gaze, naturally sweeping past the man’s name badge on his chest.

—Qiu Mingan

—27 years old

—“Exotic Beasts Hall” staff member

……

After the “No Photography” notice was erected at the exhibition entrance, the pressure on the internal staff suddenly eased.

As closing time approached, fewer and fewer people remained. Nana came out of the hall to get some air. She had deliberately put on an extra jacket today, yet was still shivering from the cold.

Qiu Mingan stood at the entrance, taking off his blue work vest. Nana asked in surprise, “Brother Qiu, you’re leaving already?”

Qiu Mingan wasn’t a formal staff member of the museum. Because of his special status, he could come to help at the “Exotic Beasts Hall” at any time.

“Yeah, something came up today. I need to head home.” Qiu Mingan smiled. His looks weren’t outstanding, but because he was well-read, his temperament surpassed that of ordinary people.

Nana felt her ears grow warm under his gaze and couldn’t help asking, “What is it?”

Qiu Mingan chuckled softly. “The fish at home is a bit restless. I need to go back and take a look.”

“Fish?” Nana was puzzled. How could a fish be restless or not?

Qiu Mingan had no intention of explaining, only casually saying, “Summer’s almost over. It’s time for it to get anxious.”

After saying this, Qiu Mingan left directly.

Leaving Nana standing there, confused. She thought about it for a while, but still didn’t understand.

Unlike Qiu Mingan, who could change his vest in public, the girls had a dedicated changing room. Closing time was approaching, and the “Exotic Beasts Hall” was no longer accepting visitors. She left along with her colleagues.

The corridor returned to silence.

After a long while, from behind the lush green plants at the corner, a figure slowly emerged.

Shen Shi stood tall and straight, half of his body concealed in the dim shadows. He lowered his gaze, expressionless, as if thinking about something. In his eyes lay a deep, cold chill.

That night, Shen Shi skillfully climbed over the railing and entered the beach within Da Yu Cape.

Moonlight gently enveloped the sea surface.

Water mist spread, drifting and hazy, forming large swathes of dense black fog.

Not long after he appeared, a reef also seemed to rise out of the sea out of nowhere. The silver-tailed mermaid hid behind the reef, quietly revealing a pair of beautiful, soft violet eyes.

Moist and clear, innocent and bewildered.

Watching the human in the dark.

Shen Shi glanced at him and walked forward. Tonight, he had changed clothes: black T-shirt, black shorts, flip-flops. The shorts reached his knees, suitable for entering the water.

“Come here.” After washing his hands by the shore, Shen Shi didn’t even lift his eyes as he said to the little mermaid, “I’ll pry oysters open for you.”

Water rippled behind the reef.

A moment later, the sound of water breaking came from the sea. Ripples spread layer by layer as the mermaid, cautiously hiding his little tail, swam over, holding up his hands as if offering treasure. His fingers were slender and pale; between his fingertips were transparent webs, shimmering with watery light like a thin membrane, not deformed or eerie. On the contrary, they possessed a unique beauty that made one want to touch them.

The little mermaid’s harvest today was meager; he had only found two handfuls of oysters.

Counting roughly, there were about thirteen or fourteen. The oyster shells were thickly coated with mud. Shen Shi lifted his eyes and saw that mud also clung to the webs on the little mermaid’s hands.

His expression was calm as he said to the obedient mermaid lying by the shore on the reef, flicking his silver little tail while waiting to be fed, “Give me your hand.”

The little mermaid tilted his head.

Inky-black long hair tilted with the motion. His hair was overly thick and curly, making his face look small. The pointed fish fins peeking out from his hair trembled adorably yet warily before he hesitantly swam toward Shen Shi and extended his webbed fingers.

Shen Shi stopped what he was doing and held his hand, not lightly, not heavily.

As he had expected, the little mermaid’s webbing was soft and cold, feeling like a jellyfish, very sensitive. When he rubbed off the mud near the tail end with slightly more force, the little mermaid immediately struggled to pull away. His silver fishtail appeared and disappeared as it slapped the sea surface.

By the time the mud was washed clean from the webbing, the little mermaid had retreated far away, hiding again behind the reef with two pools of tears in his eyes. He looked at Shen Shi timidly, confusion still lingering in his gaze, as if he didn’t understand why the human had suddenly bullied him.

Just yesterday, he had been friendly, feeding him oysters.

Today, he had made him hurt.

The cool sensation in his palm vanished. Shen Shi unconsciously rubbed his fingertips. Looking at Ye Ran hiding behind the reef, the mood he had suppressed all night inexplicably improved. He patiently explained, “You have to wash your hands clean before eating, understand?”

The little mermaid didn’t respond.

Shen Shi raised his brows, deftly pried open the oyster shells, removed the inedible parts, and laid the clean oysters back into the shells. This time, he didn’t throw them to Ye Ran; instead, he neatly arranged them in front of himself, signaling for the little mermaid to come eat on his own.

Ye Ran had been waiting eagerly, his little tail flicking again and again. Only after confirming that the human wouldn’t feed him today did he cautiously swim closer.

He tentatively reached out his hand. Under the moonlight, the webbing seemed veiled in gauze, water droplets sliding down and diffusing into a pearly translucence. Seeing that Shen Shi had no intention of bullying him further, he finally pinched the oyster meat and ate it with satisfaction.

He seemed to hear a soft chuckle.

His pointed fish fins twitched. He looked up and saw the human prying open a second oyster.

This time, he didn’t hide. Ye Ran lay by the shore. Shen Shi opened one, and he ate one. The tender oyster meat was full of juices. When dinner ended, Ye Ran happily flicked his tail, feeling that he was the happiest little mermaid in the world.

He looked at the human washing his hands by the shore and lightly swam closer.

Hearing the sound of water, Shen Shi lifted his eyelids. “What is it? Not full?”

The little mermaid quietly looked at him, stretched out his webbed hand, and tugged at his pant leg.

A gesture asking Shen Shi to follow him.

Shen Shi paused, then slightly rose, following Ye Ran toward the depths of the sea. The water spread from his calves to his knees, then gradually rose to his thighs.

The impact of the waves was immense. Fortunately, there were no undercurrents in this area. With Shen Shi’s physical condition, he could still keep his footing.

The little mermaid, who didn’t understand humans, didn’t realize how dangerous this was. Seeing Shen Shi follow him toward the reef in the sea, he grew even happier, his little tail unconsciously reaching toward Shen Shi.

He wanted the human to touch his fishtail.

This was the highest form of expressing affection among the merfolk.

Shen Shi seemed to sense something and lowered his head to glance at the sea surface.

The pitch-black sea revealed no scenery at all.

The little mermaid who was in the midst of showing affection to the human froze for a moment, then swished his tail again, striving to present the prettiest tip of his tail. Shen Shi lifted his head and looked straight at him, his dark pupils reflecting the mermaid’s puzzled expression.

“I can’t see it.” the human said, he did not have night vision.

The little mermaid suddenly understood.

He lightly swam to Shen Shi’s front, his figure under the moonlight beautiful to the point of near haziness. The pure moonlight was like gauze, outlining his holy yet supple body. He looked at the human, and with a “splash,” a silver fishtail stirred the water, flinging out crystal-clear droplets.

Shen Shi finally, in the truest sense, saw the mermaid’s fishtail.

Elegant, mysterious, magnificent.

The silver scales shimmered with luster, densely adorning the tail like extraordinarily precious jewels and crystals. Jet-black raven hair and a silver-white fishtail, two exquisitely beautiful colors gathered in one place. The little mermaid, unversed in the ways of the world, happily looked at Shen Shi and carefully offered his fishtail to him.

Hurry and touch it

This is Ranran’s most most precious little tail

The black-haired human stood in the sea, motionless.

He had a pair of ink-black eyes, like the sea abyss Ye Ran had once encountered, immensely absorbing, deep and terrifying. Before Ye Ran could uneasily withdraw his fishtail, the human moved.

He bent down and very lightly touched Ye Ran’s cherished little tail, using the softest pads of his fingers to trace over the mermaid’s cold-glinting scales. His eyelids were lowered as he gently said, “Very beautiful.”

The little mermaid was extremely shy, and eagerly pushed his tail a little further into the human’s hands.

As an ostracized existence among the merfolk, no mermaid or human had ever praised Ye Ran before. This was the first time he had heard praise from someone else. The love-starved little mermaid immediately looked at Shen Shi with expectation, hoping this kind human could give more feedback.

A faint smile appeared in Shen Shi’s eyes. He held the mermaid’s supple, icy tail even more gently. The silver fishtail was dyed into a translucent pearl-white by the moonlight. This posture made Ye Ran feel threatened and uncomfortable; he subconsciously struggled a little. The next second, he heard the human’s sincere praise: “This is the most beautiful tail I’ve ever seen.”

“How can there be such a pretty little tail?”

Ye Ran：“！”

Ye Ran immediately stopped moving and attentively pushed his little tail into the human’s arms. The two elegant, light petal-like fins even swayed proudly back and forth, like pearl gauze forged from moonlight, exquisitely beautiful.

…This little fish.

Shen Shi’s heart softened into a puddle. The petal tail was not covered in scales and was even more delicate. He reduced his strength to the lightest possible, fearing that the little mermaid’s treasured tail might hurt from his touch. After touching it very lightly once, Shen Shi appropriately stopped.

Ye Ran, however, paused and tilted his head in confusion.

It was very strange, when the human touched his tail, there was a tingly sensation. He grew bashful, feeling that the scales in his most hidden place were faintly heating up, as if they were about to sink inward into a slippery interior.

Ye Ran had learned about this kind of reaction from Uncle Turtle.

His breeding season was approaching.

Little mermaids in breeding season were usually irritable and troublesome. If they couldn’t encounter a suitable breeding partner, they would start slaughtering indiscriminately in the sea. More merfolk would frequently appear on the sea’s surface, emitting bewitching sounds to lure those handsome, fertile sailors.

Ye Ran had only just come of age this year.

He was a bit slow-headed and didn’t like the clan’s ways of forcefully taking and seizing, so he greatly admired his beautiful mermaid cousin far away in the Atlantic. It was said that she had found a human prince and made the prince pregnant twice in three years. Ye Ran shyly felt that he could do it too.

Although he wasn’t as capable as his cousin, but… but he had a pretty little tail, which he could let his human touch, and then have babies together with his human

In order to find his own prince, Ye Ran had been lurking in the Pacific for a long time. He had finally set his sights on a handsome prince, but ended up missing the prince’s cargo ship because he slept in, this made him very dejected.

But where there was loss, there was gain. Now he had a human friend. He could ask his human friend to help him catch the prince!

Thinking of this, the little mermaid’s spirits lifted, and his pretty silver tail naturally slipped down, winding around the human’s lean waist and abdomen.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Shi’s Adam’s apple rolled as he felt the icy touch at his waist and abdomen, indulgently continuing forward along with the little mermaid.

The seawater was about to submerge his waist, and his breathing gradually became labored. Only then did Ye Ran notice something was wrong. He hurriedly looked at the human, and his fishtail guiltily loosened as well, not daring to keep tangling around Shen Shi.

“It’s okay,” Shen Shi raised his hand and gently stroked the fishtail beneath his palm. A shallow smile rippled in his dark eyes as he softly coaxed him: “What did you call me over here for?”

Ye Ran didn’t dare let him go any deeper and simply used his ability, letting the reef swim over by itself.

From the depths of the sea mist, a black reef floated over. The stone surface was flat and smooth. Shen Shi flipped himself up to sit on it, drenched all over, the heavy, stifling pressure from the water simultaneously disappearing.

He casually brushed back the wet hair on his forehead, revealing deep-set, handsome brows and eyes, patiently looking at the little mermaid.

Ye Ran took out his little treasures accumulated over the years from inside the reef.

He spread them all out on the reef for Shen Shi to see.

His so-called treasures were actually more like “marine trash.”

A lady’s makeup storage box, a colorful children’s little net pouch, several small colorful balls, and a book whose cover surface had been soaked beyond recognition.

Shen Shi opened the storage box, and in an instant it gleamed brightly.

Inside were diamond rings, bracelets, necklaces, gemstones, and the like. Some humans loved to toss garbage into the sea or lakes whenever they argued. After Ye Ran was hit once, he fell deeply in love with this kind of bling-bling thing.

Whenever a cruise ship passed by, he would chase after it for ten days to half a month.

The treasures were well protected by the little mermaid, their brilliance still intact.

A smile lifted at Shen Shi’s lips. Skipping over the balls and the net pouch, he picked up the book. Ye Ran, lying by the reef, blinked, and even his light-blue fins were tinged with a shy red as he looked at the human expectantly.

Shen Shi flipped open the first page. After seeing the book’s title, he paused slightly, his tone ambiguous: “…The Little Mermaid?”

The little mermaid swished his tail, feeling those two scales heat up again, becoming even softer inside.

“Do you want me to tell you a story?” Shen Shi looked at Ye Ran.

Ye Ran shook his head repeatedly. The merfolk could understand human language, but Ye Ran was born developing very slowly and had no guidance from elder members of his clan. Thus, even after all these years, his speech was still halting, soft, and muddled.

“…No… I want,” the little mermaid organized his words, looking at the human with excitement: “Prince…”

Shen Shi pondered for a moment, lowered his gaze, and looked at him neither lightly nor heavily: “Oh, you want to find a prince.”

Ye Ran：“！”

Yes yes yes!

Humans really were intelligent creatures!

He couldn’t hide his joy and happily swished his tail. The silver-white fishtail shimmered with fine specks of light, so innocent it was almost childish. After reading a fairy tale, he didn’t learn anything good and followed the mermaid in it to look for a prince.

Didn’t this silly little fish know the mermaid’s ending in the story?

Turning into foam and disappearing.

Shen Shi suppressed the faintly rising malice in his heart and tried his best to soften his emotions, gently saying to Ye Ran: “Have you finished reading this story?”

Ye Ran obediently nodded.

Finished it, and had read it many times.

Shen Shi: “The little mermaid turned into foam and disappeared at the end. Aren’t you afraid?”

Ye Ran blinked. Of course he wasn’t afraid. Turning into foam was just something told to fool three-year-old little mermaids. He had lived for decades already, there was no way he would believe such rumors.

Besides, looking for a prince was a bloodline inheritance among merfolk. The reason Ye Ran loved reading The Little Mermaid was because it was the only fairy tale related to mermaids. Although he would cry golden beans every time he read it, that didn’t stop him from finding a prince and having babies.

Having babies was the mission of the merfolk from birth to death.

Ye Ran was a little mermaid without great ambition. Unlike other members of his clan who were full of grand aspirations and wanted to have litter after litter, he wasn’t like that.

The ocean was too lonely. As long as he had one baby to accompany him, that was enough.

He wasn’t greedy.

…But the way the human was looking at him was a bit frightening.

Ye Ran pursed his lips and timidly sank a little deeper into the sea, only revealing his bewildered, uneasy purple eyes to meet the human’s gaze.

He felt that sometimes the human’s gaze was even scarier than a whale’s. Whales wanted to eat him, but humans didn’t eat mermaids. So Ye Ran couldn’t understand such a gaze and only instinctively wanted to avoid it.

His scales heated up again.

Warm, soft liquid seeped out, making that soft patch of scales even more transparent, about to sink inward and shed, becoming even softer and lighter, contracting freely.

This was the sign of maturity.

He couldn’t delay any longer. Ye Ran mustered his courage, poked his little head out of the water, his voice soft and slow, still clumsily stuttering as he timidly said: “…C-can you h-help me?”

The human quietly looked at him. The sea breeze lifted the slightly messy hair at his temples and forehead. He slowly curved his lips into a smile, but the smile made the little mermaid feel afraid.

“You want me to help you… find a prince?” the human asked.

Ye Ran hesitantly nodded.

The human didn’t say yes or no, only lazily propped himself up with both arms, lowering his eyes to size him up.

Ye Ran swallowed, thought for a moment, then swam into the reef’s interior. When he came back out again, he lay beside the reef and looked up at the black-haired human. His fair, soft hands came together and extended toward the human, offering him a precious, beautiful little scale.

The silver-white scale was even more tender, like a juvenile scale, thin and delicate. Although its silvery tone was visible, it leaned more toward transparency. Even when placed in one’s palm, it made one worry about whether it might break.

“…For you,” the little mermaid clumsily said: “…This is, is Jenny…”

During shedding periods, every time a scale fell off, little Ye Ran would hug his chubby little tail and cry, then with reddened eyes crawl around in the dirt to look for the scale, giving each one a name.

Now, giving away the cutest Jenny, Ye Ran hoped the human would be a little happier… and if he was willing to help him, that would be even better.

He schemed a little in his heart, looking at the human with trepidation, afraid that he might not accept his scale.

Unexpectedly, the human fell silent for a moment, then straightened his posture and, very solemnly and carefully, accepted the scale from his palm. He lifted his eyelids, looked at Ye Ran, and asked, “It’s called Jenny?”

Clearly, he had not received the human’s promise.

Yet Ye Ran, looking at the human, inexplicably felt happy. His tail swished unconsciously, and he said, “Mm… Jenny… the cutest…”

The soft tone carried a beginner’s clumsiness, without distinguishing tones and very indistinct, yet Shen Shi’s eyes softened. He chuckled lightly as he looked at him. “You gave me the cutest Jenny?”

Ye Ran nodded.

The human’s smile grew even more handsome, his gaze deepening and lightening as he watched him. The dark shade that once made Ye Ran afraid was gone, yet Ye Ran’s body heated up again.

“Thank you. And you? What’s your name?” Shen Shi asked casually. Originally, he had thought this silly little fish wouldn’t know how to name things, but now it seemed he not only could name them, he named them quite nicely.

The little mermaid took a while to understand his meaning, then softly said, “…I—I’m called Ye, Ye Ran…”

“Ye Ran?” A Chinese-style name. Shen Shi silently repeated it several times between his lips and teeth, his eyes gentle, his heart so soft it was about to melt into a puddle. “It sounds very nice. My name is Shen Shi.”

His palm had grown a little stiff, having maintained a relaxed posture the whole time to protect the tender scale. It left him somewhat strained, yet possessing the scale at the same time gave him a certain sense of fulfillment, as though, from this moment on, he would be bound to the mermaid.

He looked at the mermaid gazing up at him expectantly and called very softly, “Ranran.”

Ye Ran：“！”

His light-blue fins flushed red again, and he looked at the human, unable to hide his happiness.

…He wanted to give Andy, Julie, Cyril, and Caesar all to the human in front of him!

Shen Shi had no idea that he was about to take over a whole pile of juvenile scales and was still asking Ye Ran, “Have you ever given scales to anyone else?”

Ye Ran snapped back to his senses and hurriedly shook his head.

Of course not!

He was a very stingy little mermaid. He only had so little to begin with, and aside from this human, he wasn’t willing to give anything to anyone else.

Shen Shi smiled again. This time, the smile was casual and contented, making it impossible to look away.

But before the smile lasted a few seconds, he thought of something. His mood sank slightly, and he gently asked Ye Ran, “I saw a scale in the museum by the shore. There was blood at the tip… was it yours?”

Even though he had spoken this sentence in the gentlest, most soothing tone, the little mermaid in the sea still became agitated.

His long lashes instantly beaded with pitiful tears. His pretty little face scrunched up, his lips pressed together in grievance. Fear and fright flickered in his eyes as, with a sobbing voice, he stammered yet earnestly said, “I… mine…”

He shrank back toward the seabed, as if trying to protect himself, letting out a pitiful whimper: “It… it’s mine, Ariel…”

He would never forget that day.

He had only just woken up when a gigantic cruise ship appeared before him. Before he could lazily swim away, the men on the ship cast down a huge steel-spiked net forged from molten iron, saying things like “caught it,” “can’t let it get away,” “research,” and the like to the people around them.

That was the first time Ye Ran had been that afraid. He struggled fiercely and, in despair, awakened his ability. Reefs appeared, sheltering him inside. Black sea mist spread, the cruise ship rocked violently from side to side, and only then did those people finally let him go, after viciously scraping away a large area of juvenile scales from his body.

Later, Ye Ran returned to that sorrowful place again. He rummaged in the soil for a long time before finally finding his bloodstained scales.

One of them had still been taken away by humans.

He had heard the humans by the shore say that his Ariel was placed in a display case, for all humans to view.

That was his treasure… yet in the end it became a human trophy.

The more he thought about it, the sadder he became. His tears turned into pearls, pattering onto the reef. Gloomy emotions shrouded the little mermaid who was usually always cheerful; he drooped so much that even his fins sagged.

Amid the sorrow, Ye Ran’s head was gently patted.

The human’s palm was warm and broad. He leaned in closer, brushing aside Ye Ran’s long hair. Those jet-black, profound pupils were close at hand, filled with soothing, patient affection. “Don’t cry.”

“I’ll help you get Ariel back.”

Effortlessly lifting the little mermaid onto the reef, Shen Shi gently gathered him close. Looking at his magnificent and elegant fishtail, he softly asked, “Which part of the scales?”

He did not notice how ambiguous the current posture was.

Leaning against the human’s chest, Ye Ran tearfully hugged his large tail. From among the dense scales, he found one that looked slightly dull, having lost much of its luster.

“Here…”

Carefully placing the big tail into Shen Shi’s arms, the little mermaid, eyes brimming with tears, rubbed against the human and softly said, “You… you touch it… it hurts, hurts.”

Shen Shi froze, yet still held his big tail steadily. Looking at the mermaid who had clearly suffered at human hands yet trusted him unconditionally, he felt deeply helpless, yet his gaze was gentler than could be imagined.

Following the delicate little mermaid’s lead, he lowered his eyes to look at that scale that had suffered so much damage. A surge of intense anger and malice rose in his heart, but more than that was pity and tenderness for this silly little fish.

Lowering his head, he gently kissed that scale with the softest of lips, as if, across a long span of time, he were kissing the little mermaid from long ago who cried while searching for lost scales on the seabed.

Silly, lazy, and very weak.

Couldn’t pry open oysters, couldn’t speak, always alone, and had been thoroughly deceived by fairy tales.

But he wanted to keep him.

Wanted to keep him for a lifetime.

To quietly, soundlessly raise him with the freshest food from the human world, blingbling jewels, and comfortable, warm seawater.

The scale grew warm; the human had indeed comforted him for a long time.

Ye Ran gradually stopped crying and looked at the human with curiosity. His gaze was pure and clean. Those purple eyes that should have been full of allure were instead well-behaved, quietly sensing the warmth transmitted through the scale.

The two soft scales covered by hard scales seeped warm liquid again.

The little mermaid shyly pressed his lips together. After the human lifted his head, he obediently nestled into the human’s embrace. He liked the feeling of being held by the human, the human’s arms were very warm, like the light, buoyant seabed of spring, accommodating everything about him.

It was just that the human was too small. If he were a bit bigger, he could hold him—and hold his tail as well.

Ye Ran felt troubled. He was naked, his raven-black long hair draped loosely over his shoulders. His figure was slender and supple; his flesh warm and soft, fine and smooth. With seawater covering him, his scent leaned toward salty dampness, yet was pleasant.

Because he had just cried, his reddened eyelids drooped listlessly, making him especially obedient.

Shen Shi held his waist, his large palm stroking his back, gently coaxing him in a soft voice.

Despite being someone who had always scorned matters of love and affection, he was now willingly performing actions he once looked down upon the most, he was even prepared, for the sake of the little mermaid’s smile, to inherit the Shen Group tonight and buy the entire sea.

Ye Ran of course had no idea what the muddle-headed human was thinking.

His body was growing hotter and hotter, his scales rolling with heat as well, so hot that his cheeks felt warm, making him frown uncomfortably. He pushed the human away, then offered his big tail to the human again.

“Touch, touch…” He looked at the human, hoping the human would keep kissing him.

A soft chuckle overflowed from Shen Shi’s throat. He bent down, his lips brushing against that dull patch of scales. Just as he was about to kiss, the little merman grew restless and flicked his tail. In his beautiful, clear eyes gathered a misty moisture, hazy and blurred, his body emitting an extraordinarily enticing anomaly.

Sticky, fishy-sweet.

Like the thick, cloying floral scent Shen Shi had once smelled, bloomed to the extreme, on the verge of rot.

“What’s wrong with you?” Sensing that something was off, Shen Shi suddenly frowned, his expression changing as he moved to set down the tail and go embrace Ye Ran.

Ye Ran dodged him, his lips flushed red, exhaling scorching breath. His lashes were soaked with moisture, messily clumping together. The pampered little merman was so uncomfortable he was about to cry.

He felt those two increasingly fragile, opening-and-closing scales. With reddened eyes, he stuffed his big tail back into Shen Shi’s arms, grabbed his hand, and spoke to him in a simple, confused, coquettish tone.

“Here… kiss here.”

“What’s wrong? Does it hurt, or—” The tightly furrowed brows froze instantly when the large hand touched a pool of soft, warm liquid.

Shen Shi’s mind went blank with a “buzz.” He saw the little merman’s dependent, sticky gaze, like he was looking at a lover, a partner, innocent and docile, urging him on: “Kiss… kiss…”

It was a wondrous trail of moisture, drip-drip sliding down his palm.

Exuding an extremely bewitching fishy fragrance, Shen Shi’s eyes slowly darkened, more terrifying than any abyss Ye Ran had ever seen, faintly scorching with suppressed, restrained emotion.

He lowered his head, his spine gradually drawing into a bow ready to spring, like a beast calmly observing on the eve of a hunt, meticulously preparing for what came next.

What lay in his palm could not be wasted.

Quietly, under the little merman’s puzzled gaze, he lowered his eyelids and licked away the moisture.

The little merman, who was always willful and instinctively sought benefit while avoiding harm, inexplicably felt a trace of unease.

The overheated, burning brain cleared somewhat. With a hoarse little voice, he timidly called his human: “…Shen, Shen Shi…”

The two words “Shen Shi” were too difficult for him; he preferred to address the other with a human nickname.

But once he uttered those two words, it was as if some restraint had been broken. His heart filled with a brimming warmth, his limbs like they were soaking in the deep sea, so comfortable he couldn’t lift them.

The human braced himself against his tail and looked up at him with a smile.

A very handsome smile, tousled black hair spilling over his face, outlining the deep, sculpted lines of his features.

Between youth and manhood, exuding the gentle yet steady aura unique to a male animal before claiming a mate.

The little merman unconsciously smiled as well.

Then the human gazed at him deeply, his eyes dark and gentle, lowered his head, and kissed him.

In that instant.

Ye Ran felt the numbing, sour sensation of being taken into a predator’s mouth, about to be swallowed.

His gaze scattered into blankness, his lips trembling violently. The fish tail that could usually fling a human away now had no strength at all, sprawled limply on the reef, every scale flushing with a cherry-blossom-like, pitiful pale pink.

A thick, dark room enveloped this small world, like an uninhabited realm.

Occasionally there were sounds of waves, sounds of whimpering.

But none could pass to the outside world; in the end, together with the wind, they dissipated into the air.

……

……

At half past eleven at night, in the distant center of the sea.

A cruise ship blazed with lights. Striking a pose, Qiu Mingan, dressed in knightly attire, stood on the deck, reciting poetry to the wind, his eyes carefully searching every corner of the sea’s surface.

That figure glimpsed in a fleeting instant truly seemed like a dream of his.

But this dream had lasted so many years, and he had persisted for so many years, he would never let it fail at this moment.

Especially that college student who had come here to travel.

Excessively handsome features and appearance, it was hard not to feel a sense of crisis.

He had to speed things up.

Qiu Mingan thought darkly.

The next second, the ringtone of the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

Glancing at the caller ID, Qiu Mingan’s impatient expression changed, and he answered gently: “Hello? Mayor Liu?”

The person on the other end said something unknown, and Qiu Mingan suddenly cried out: “What did you say?!”

“Oh dear, Mingan, I know that bone is very important to you, but this is an extraordinary time. Junting is willing to invest in our Tiannan City’s infrastructure construction for the entire next year. As our honorary citizen, you’ll certainly support the government’s work, right?”

“Mayor Liu! As the owner of the scale… no, the bone, I—”

“Mingan, in terms of vision you’re still not as good as that young master of the Shen family. It’s just an ordinary bone. Whether there are exotic beasts in the sea, we all know it in our hearts. You’re a new-era youth raised in modern times; you’ve studied Marxism and materialism, so I won’t say more. And since the bone has already been donated by you, you no longer have disposal rights. You understand, right?”

Qiu Mingan’s eyes split wide as he let out a beast-like low roar: “I don’t agr—”

“Alright, the bone was taken by my people ten minutes ago and sent by plane to Shen Group headquarters. Mingan, I’ll compensate you. That’s it, I’m old now, won’t chat anymore.”

“Hello? Hello? Mayor Liu? Mayor Liu?!”

Qiu Mingan furiously smashed his phone. That scale… or what outsiders called a bone, was his fishing tool. He didn’t believe that merman wouldn’t come to retrieve his own scale but he never imagined that the scale wouldn’t be stolen by the merman, and would instead be gifted away by the government through perfectly legitimate means!

Now, even if he wanted to take the scale back, it was utterly impossible.

After more than twenty years of smooth sailing, Qiu Mingan tasted failure, regret, and rage thoroughly for the first time tonight.

And what he tasted was far from comparable to the pain Ye Ran had suffered back then when his scale was scraped off.

Qiu Mingan thought this was the end of the matter, but the ferocious beast that guarded the merman had already bared its grim fangs at him from the shadows.

……

The next day.

Yu Ting finally got through to the missing person’s phone.

“D*mn it, Shen Shi, did you lock yourself in a museum? No news for a whole day!”

“What? You’re not leaving?”

“No, everything was fine, why aren’t you leaving now? Broke your leg?”

“…Huh?” Hearing the inexplicably hoarse male voice on the other end, Yu Ting was completely stunned. “What the h*ll are you talking about?”

“—You’re joining the local ‘Marine Animal Protection Association’???”

“That’s right.”

At this very moment, in the distant center of the sea.

The sea surface stretched boundlessly, water and sky the same color.

Pitch-black mist still coiled and spread.

A reef slowly drifted along.

Shen Shi lounged lazily against the rock wall, holding Ye Ran whose lower abdomen was swollen in his arms. His fingertips, unhurried and unrestrained, pinched over the two scales of the little merman that were especially sore and weak.

The little merman buried in his arms whimpered, softly lifting his head, the corners of his eyes stained red. Very obediently, he burrowed into Shen Shi’s neck, rubbing against him sleepily.

His gaze was gentle as he held his little merman.

He said casually, “Yeah, not going back.”

“Going to raise little fish and little-little fish.”

— The Adventures of Shen Binxun on a Deserted Island · The End

Protagonists: Shen Binxun, Xingqi Ran, Xingqi Little-Little Ran

Supporting cast: Reef Island

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