The two swam along the river for a while, estimating that they were far from the village, so they looked for a secure location to go ashore. They came upon another village after walking a short distance along the river. Nothing seemed out of place in this village. When they saw Qin Shen and Fang Miao drenched and with a child, they eagerly invited them to their home and gave them dry towels and a change of clothes.
Qin Shen asked for the name of the village before borrowing a phone to contact the police. He lost his phone after they jumped into the river, but he was able to call the police before that, so the police were already on their way, rushing over quickly.
The protocol required Qin Shen and Fang Miao to travel to the police station to record their statements. Qin Shen requested that the young police officer contact his superior. The young police officer was given the task of driving a police car to the village where the crew is located by his superior.
It was already six or seven o’clock by the time they arrived at the location. Fortunately, it was already June, and it wasn’t entirely dark at six or seven o’clock in the evening.
When Qiao Xin and Jiang Yu heard the news, they came out to pick them up. Before leaving, the young police officer who drove them in a police car happily requested for autographs.
Qiao Xin and Jiang Yu led them to the courtyard where they lived. Qin Shen recounted what happened on the road while Fang Miao remained dazedly staring at Jiang Naonao in Jiang Yu’s arms.
Jiang Naonao was naked, while Qin Shen and Fang Miao wore the clothes the villagers kindly lent to them because their clothes were soaked. To warm up the little one, they borrowed a small flower quilt from the villagers.
In addition to Qiao Xin and Jiang Yu, the crew also sent certain staff members ahead of time. Jiang Yu returned with Qin Shen and Jiang Naonao to his room after dinner, while Qiao Xin requested the staff to tidy up an empty room in the courtyard for Fang Miao.
In a trance, Fang Miao followed his mother in and out of the room. Qiao Xin saw him in this absent-minded state, caressed his head with understanding, and said, full of concern, “Were you scared? Have you regained your senses yet?”
Qiao Xin broke out in a cold sweat as she thought over what Qin Shen had just told her. Fortunately, they were lucky, and nothing bad occurred to her two sons.
“Mom…” Fang Miao pulled his mother’s sleeve pitifully, unable to express what was on his mind. “Naonao… Naonao, he has…has…”
Qiao Xin listened patiently for a long time, but Fang Miao didn’t say anything further. Remembering that they jumped into the river to escape, she probed, “Is there a small tail?”
“Yes, yes, there is a small tail! I was almost scared to death. He swims even faster than me and when he got out of the water, his tail turned into a leg! Brother looked so calm that I almost thought I was hallucinating…” Fang Miao nodded his head in excitement and talked without a pause. Suddenly, his eyes widened upon a realization. He stared at his mother and asked, stammering, “Mom…How did you know?”
“I knew it a long time ago. Xiao Yu’er is a mermaid from the sea, and Naonao is his and your brother’s child,” Qiao Xin calmly replied.
Fang Miao was completely petrified and remained motionless for a long time, digesting the news. “…you already knew?” he asked with great difficulty.
“I was the last to know?” Fang Miao burst into tears instantly, “You guys already knew and didn’t tell me?!”
Qiao Xin froze for a moment. “…Didn’t I tell you?”
“No!” exclaimed Fang Miao who was grievous and indignant.
Clearly forgetting her son, Qiao Xin pondered for a moment with guilt, then comfortingly patted him on the shoulder and said, “It’s not too late to find out now.”
“How is it not too late?” Fang Miao felt wronged and complained with tears in his eyes. “Would you have been willing to tell me if it hadn’t been for what happened today?”
“Isn’t that what happened? Boys shouldn’t cry. It’s getting late, and I have to go back and apply my mask.” Qiao Xin patted his head and ushered him into his room to rest, perfunctorily.
The next morning, Jiang Yu awoke to find that no matter where he went, Fang Miao would trail behind him, looking at him begrudgingly.
Jiang Yu had no choice but to pull him to sit under the grape trellis in the yard and asked him, “What’s wrong with you?”
Fang Miao’s clothes from yesterday were still drying in the courtyard and hadn’t dried yet, and the clothes he had requested to be sent hadn’t arrived. He was still wearing what the villagers had graciously lent him the day before, a half-used undershirt and flowery shorts, and on his feet was a pair of old slippers. His image is of one wearing a straw hat and going down to the fields to plant rice seedlings.
“Wait, since you look like this, let me take a photo to rub the heat.” Before Fang Miao could say anything, Jiang Yu had already taken out his phone and taken a photo of the two of them, posted it to Weibo, and then circled Fang Miao.
Fang Miao gave him an even more spiteful look. Even at this moment, he still used the photos of his misery to rub heat.
“What’s the matter? You look so lost. Is it because of what happened yesterday? Naonao wasn’t even affected.” As soon as the photo was posted, comments poured in. Jiang Yu looked at it contentedly for a moment before putting his phone away and brushing his hair aside.
Jiang Naonao was drawn to the puppy in the yard when he arrived yesterday, and Qiao Xin took him out early in the morning to play with the puppy.
“None of you told me,” huffed and grumbled Fang Miao. “Grandpa Qin and my mom both knew; they just didn’t tell me.”
Jiang Yu halted, and it was only then that he remembered him and Naonao. They only informed Qin Yunshan and Qiao Xin, but he and Qin Shen forgot about Fang Miao.
“Ahem. I planned to tell you after I got back when the filming of this movie is over.” Jiang Yu scratched his head guiltily and stared at him with trepidation. “Miao Miao, weren’t you shocked when you found out?”
Of course he was shocked, but this was nothing compared to the aggravation he felt from knowing that everyone else knew but him. It seemed like he became a pitiful little thing that no one cared about.
Fang Miao frowned at Jiang Yu and abruptly asked, “Can you change your tail in the water? Can I have a look?”
Jiang Yu agreed and walked into the bathroom with him since he felt sorry for Fang Miao. The village’s living conditions are quite affluent; a small space in the courtyard has been allocated to bathing, and there’s even a large wooden barrel that a person can soak in. Jiang Yu removed his clothing and entered after carrying the well water in. His straight and long legs soon morphed into fish tails.
With amazement and disbelief on his face, Fang Miao laid near the barrel, his eyes widened, as he reached in to touch his tail.
Jiang Yu was tickled by his touch and smiled as he evaded him, saying, “Hey, it’s so itchy, have you touched it enough? Take your hands away quickly.”
“No, let me touch again.” Fang Miao chased after him; the two of them were laughing and fooling around when a cough came from the doorway.
The two hurriedly looked at the door. Upon the entryway of the previously closed door stood Qin Shen with a dark face.
“The clothes have arrived, go get changed.” Qin Shen cocked his chin towards Fang Miao, his gaze falling on Fang Miao’s hand, which was touching Jiang Yu’s tail. After hearing that the change of clothes had arrived, Fang Miao retracted his hand and went out happily.
“Where did he touch you?” Qin Shen stood still, one hand leaning over the rim of the wooden barrel, the other reaching into the water, and softly stroked his tail inch by inch.
“…Just casually touched a few times,” Jiang Yu said as he lightly flicked his tail. Just now, he was only focused on playing with Fang Miao and didn’t notice where he had been touched at all.
“Here… or here…” Qin Shen pressed his palm against his tail and slowly descended down from his waist, as if he intended to touch his tail all the way down, not saying a word. Jiang Yu wanted to hide, but the wooden barrel was too small for him to escape, so he ended up getting trapped instead.
Jiang Yu frantically murmured a few random things, but Qin Shen turned a deaf ear to it and caressed him inch by inch. Only after he was satisfied did he withdraw his hand, saying, “Don’t let others touch you again.”
This is his wife’s leg, how can it be touched by other men so casually?
Jiang Yu was tickled from being touched and was still struggling to get away. He quickly nodded obediently, his face was flushed, and his eyes were wet.
Seeing him looking so obedient and soft, Qin Shen leaned over and kissed him on the lips. Pinching his soft earlobes with his fingers, he added, “You’re not allowed to casually show your tail to anyone in the future, otherwise…”
As he held Jiang Yu’s face, he lowered his head and took a bite of his lip, letting their lips rub together and mumbled, “I’ll punish you in bed once you show it to others.”
The two hadn’t seen each other for several days, and Jiang Yu was a little bit emotional after being teased like this by Qin Shen. He raised his arms and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, eager to serve him.
Qin Shen’s people not only sent a change of clothes but also prepared a new car as well. His previous car was pushed into the river in order to erase the evidence, but only after the villagers shattered the windows and stole the valuable things inside. The police went over and scoured every nook and cranny of the village but were unable to locate the abducted girl, who had clearly been hidden by the villagers.
Fortunately, the evidence that they wanted to harm Qin Shen and Fang Miao was conclusive. The police separated the villagers and utilized some interrogation techniques on them. Unable to withstand it, some of them confessed. The police were able to rescue five to six of the abducted girls hidden in an underground hole.
The police questioned these girls again, and this case turned out to be related to a large-scale trafficking ring that the police had been investigating.The clues provided by several girls were quite helpful. The police dispatched people from above to dig deep along the clues, hoping to eliminate the trafficking ring in one fell swoop.
This case made it to the news, Qin Shen requested that his name be withheld, so Fang Miao was the only one on the trending search. Because he came to visit the class, the movie that Jiang Yu and Qiao Xin were filming was also sent on the hot search.
~
Qin Shen and Jiang Yu lived together. The bed in the room was narrower compared to the one at their home. The two men had to stick close to each other so they could sleep, and with the addition of Jiang Naonao, there was absolutely no more room on the bed.
The bed is up against the wall. Jiang Naonao sleeps on the innermost side while Qin Shen is on the outer edge as Jiang Yu leans on his arms. Their summer robe pajamas are quite thin and flimsy, and they immediately become excited and want to do something whenever they hug and snuggle. However, the bed was too narrow, and when he moved a little bit, he would bump into the little cub on the inner side.The little boy was also annoying. He usually sleeps like a little pig at home and doesn’t wake up no matter how loud the noise is, but since coming here, he wakes up with the slightest touch, humming and arching into Jiang Yu’s arms.
This occurred for two consecutive nights, and Qin Shen was so angry that he wanted to give his son away very badly.
On the third night, Qin Shen requested the villagers for a quilt. He spread it on the table, and then carried Jiang Naonao over, who was sound asleep on the bed, planning to take the little boy back after he and Jiang Yu finished.
He hugged and kissed Jiang Yu on the bed, kneading the soft flesh of the person in his arms as he took off his clothes. The two were in the middle of making out when suddenly there was a “da” sound that came from the table. Jiang Yu woke up from his languidness and quickly looked up to see that the little boy had woken up and was crawling towards the edge of the table with his little buttocks sticking out.
He hastily pushed Qin Shen aside, whose head was buried in his neck. Qin Shen went to get the little boy from the table and back to the bed with a grim look. He watched the little boy crawl into Jiang Yu’s arms with ease and monopolize Jiang Yu’s embrace, babbling and laughing, exposing his cute dimples.
Qin Shen clenched his teeth, reached out his hand, and yanked the little boy from Jiang Yu’s arms, saying sternly, “You are no longer a two- or three-month-old baby. You can’t always pester your parents. It’s time you learned to be independent.”
After saying so, he carried the little cub and went out, walked to Qiao Xin’s room, and knocked on the door.
Qiao Xin was applying a face mask, and just as she opened the door, a little boy was stuffed in her arms. “Naonao will sleep with you tonight, and as his grandmother, you two should be intimate,” Qin Shen remarked.
Before Qiao Xin could speak, Qin Shen simply turned around and left.
She looked down, just in time to meet the boy’s aggrieved eyes.
