LM Chapter 87

“It’s not yet time,” Jiang Yu said, “the baby will come out by itself.”

When he saw Gu Yang holding the glass container and not letting go, he cautioned him, “Don’t let it fall.”

Gu Yang felt he was up against a formidable foe when he heard this, so he quickly placed the glass container beside Lin Cheng and nervously asked, “How will the baby come out by himself? The eggshell looks so hard; what if he can’t come out by himself? Would you like to help him by knocking open a small crack in the eggshell?”

Blah, blah, blah, he babbled so much that Lin Cheng was so annoyed with him that he drove him out, but Gu Yang lingered by the bathtub and refused to leave, not wanting to miss the first sight of his child coming out.

Generally speaking, baby mermaids will come out of their eggshell within two days after the fish egg is born. Jiang Yu and Qin Shen stayed until the evening, but since there was no movement from the fish egg, they took Jiang Naonao to leave and prepared to come back the next day.

After breakfast the next day, Jiang Yu and Qin Shen took Jiang Naonao for a visit again. Lin Cheng was in good spirits, but Gu Yang was sluggish. Compared with Lin Cheng, he looked like he was the one who had just given birth to the fish egg.

“He didn’t sleep last night; he kept staring at the fish egg, wanting to see the baby come out,” Lin Cheng explained speechlessly to Jiang Yu. Gu Yang had to check on the fish egg every few minutes because he was afraid the baby would come out of its shell in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, after spending the entire night observing it, the fish egg did not move, nor did it show the slightest signs of breaking free from its shell.

“Baby, let me take you out to bask in the sun,” Gu Yang muttered, drowsily massaging his eyes. The bathroom was too stuffy for him. He knelt to pick up Lin Cheng from the bathtub, then went to the swimming pool, and reminded Jiang Yu, “Take my child out to get some sunshine too.”

Jiang Yu followed them, carrying the glass container with the fish egg and setting it on the ground near the swimming pool. Lin Cheng folded his arms and perched on the pool’s edge, leisurely looking at the fish egg. Gu Yang sat next to him, yawning sleepily, his body swaying as though he would fall into the pool at any moment.

“Go take a nap.” Lin Cheng extended his arm out and pushed him, seeing how hard he was trying to stay awake.

Sleep was out of the question, Gu Yang thought. He wanted to witness his child emerge from its shell with his own eyes. Gu Yang yawned again and glanced at the fish egg that was still motionless in the glass container. Thinking that leaving for a while shouldn’t be too much of a problem, he said, “I’ll go make a cup of coffee to refresh myself.”

He got up and went downstairs to the kitchen after saying that.

Qin Shen and Jiang Yu were sitting on chairs by the swimming pool, and Jiang Naonao was playing with a ball in Jiang Yu’s arms. Naonao inadvertently let go of the ball, which fell to the ground and rolled towards the swimming pool. It collided into the glass container and came to a halt.

When Qin Shen went to get it for him, *crack* a sudden cracking sound was heard. A small crack formed on the surface of the fish egg in the glass container, which grew bigger until a wrinkled little hand emerged from the cracked eggshell. A few moments later, another small hand appeared, followed by black and velvety hair. The fish egg wiggled slightly a few times before the eggshell broke completely. A tiny and cute face popped up, holding the cracked eggshell on top of its head with caution.

 

~

 

The newly born baby mermaid was still very dazed. When its pair of big black eyes met with Qin Shen’s, it opened its little mouth and a small bubble rose from his mouth to the water’s surface. *gulugulu*

Lin Cheng carefully retrieved the broken eggshells in the glass container as the baby mermaid gently flapped its small fish tail against the water.

Jiang Yu approached, hugging Jiang Naonao. Naonao grabbed the glass container, and his eyes widened in amazement when he saw the baby fish cub that was smaller than him.

Gu Yang came back with coffee in hand and saw them gathered in front of the glass container. The coffee cup landed on the ground with a *bang* as he took large strides over to look at the baby in the glass container. “Son!” he exclaimed, his voice trembling.

The baby mermaid was startled by his shout and timidly shrank back into the eggshell. Lin Cheng reached in and patted his little head gently. It was probably very comfortable to be touched as the baby mermaid reached out and hugged Lin Cheng’s fingers, pressing its soft little face against it.

Jiang Yu carefully took out the baby mermaid in the container and delivered him to Lin Cheng. The little baby mermaid nestled peacefully in Ling Cheng’s arms, closing its eyes and falling into slumber.

Newborn mermaid babies cannot survive without water, and they must spend several days in the water before they can transform their tails into short legs.

 

~

 

After a night, Jiang Yu and Qin Shen went over again. Lin Cheng had recovered well and was now able to come out of the water. Jiang Naonao looked at the little fish baby in the water, who was a head smaller than him. He was very eager to get into the water and play with this little baby.

He excitedly swam to the little fish baby after Qin Shen placed him in the water. He poked the baby fish’s arm with his pudgy fingers, and then he poked the baby fish’s face. The little fish baby gave him a silly look before turning around and swimming away clumsily. Jiang Naonao followed behind, poking the little fish baby with his fingers and giggling happily, just like a little bully.

“Mind your son,” Gu Yang said in dissatisfaction to Qin Shen, unable to bear the sight of his child being harassed.

Qin Shen clapped his hands and called out to his little cub, “Naonao, come here.”

Jiang Naonao turned around when he heard his father’s voice. After dawdling for a bit, he snorted and swam towards his father. Seeing him swim away, the little baby fish followed Jiang Naonao and swam with great effort towards Qin Shen.

Jiang Naonao swam to the pool’s edge and spread his arms for his father to hug. Little baby fish followed in his footsteps and opened his arms. Gu Yang quickly leaned over. “Baby is so good! Let Daddy hold you,” he said, chuckling.

Little baby fish on the other hand, ignored him. When it saw Qin Shen take up Jiang Naonao and was about to go, it floundered around, flapping its small tail and splashing the water. Qin Shen was stunned, while Gu Yang was dumbfounded. “Baby, I am your father,” he said.

Little baby fish ignored him and continued to stare intently at Qin Shen. Qin Shen was dazed as he glanced at Jiang Yu. “When a baby mermaid is just born, it will naturally be affectionate to the first person it sees once it comes out of its eggshell,” Jiang Yu said trying to comfort Gu Yang. “This is only temporary, and it will be fine once it has scented you in a few days,” he continued.

Gu Yang clenched his teeth in grief and frustration. He kept vigil all night long so that he would be the first person the baby would see. As a result, he was gone for such a short period of time, and the baby’s first encounter was stolen by someone else.

“Just hold him,” Jiang Yu said smiling as he took Naonao from Qin Shen’s arm. Baby fish was still eagerly raising his little arms towards Qin Shen.

Qin Shen glanced at Gu Yang, who nodded sadly. Qin Shen couldn’t keep the gloating smile on his lips from spreading and bent down to take up the little baby fish, whose eyes had turned crescent from smiling pleasantly.

Gu Yang was sobbing mess beside him; his own child was so close to another father, yet he won’t even pay attention to him, his real father.

He is bitter, depressed, and envious.

That night, he drove Qin Shen away and refused to let him into his house until his child was close to him.

Qin Shen didn’t mind it at all since he doesn’t even have enough time to spend with his wife and son when he gets home from work every day, so how could he have time to accompany someone else’s child?

 

~

 

The Patriarch is now the chairman of the company. He is very ambitious and is busy every day. He leaves early and comes back late. Perhaps because of watching too many mother-in-law and daughter-in-law dramas, he became quite concerned that the Qin and Gu families might one day treat Jiang Yu and Lin Cheng terribly, so he wanted to make a lot of money. So if the time comes that Jiang Yu and Lin Cheng are bullied, they will have his backing.

On this day, Qin Yunshan came to see Jiang Naonao, and when he spoke the boy’s name, the Patriarch overheard him and was unhappy: “Why does Naonao have to follow your surname ‘Qin’? He should be using Xiao Yuer’s surname ‘Jiang’.”

“Naonao has Qin family blood and will inherit Qin family properties in the future; of course, his surname should be Qin,” Qin Yunshan responded.

“Just because the Qin family has properties? We also have that,” The Patriarch stated. “Naonao is to inherit the company once he grows up.”

Qin Yunshan sighed and rolled his eyes. “The company has only just opened up, and besides, half of that is also ours, not to mention that there are so many of your clansmen; would you divide it up? Naonao doesn’t have to take a part of it from you guys.”

“You old man, don’t look down on people..,” The Patriarch said, glaring. Jiang Yu and Qin Shen quickly separated the two when they realized they were about to argue again.

Qin Shen drove his grandfather back to the old mansion. Qin Yunshan was still grumbling in the car so Qin Shen hurriedly changed the topic, “Mom will be back in two days, I will go back with her for dinner then.”

Qin Yunshan nodded and said, “Bring Xiao Yu and Naonao with you.” He paused and added, “You can’t keep hiding the matters about Xiao Yu and Naonao from your mother; you should let her know when you have a chance.”

Qin Shen pursed his lips in agreement.

 

~

 

Qiao Xin went out of town to shoot a commercial, and when she arrived at the airport, Qin Shen went to pick her up.

“Has Naonao grown taller? I bought him a lot of clothes. I haven’t seen the little guy in so long. I miss him so much,” Qiao Xin asked Qin Shen once they were in the car.

After much deliberation, Qin Shen said as he held the steering wheel, “Mom, there’s actually something I’m hiding from you.”

“There are still some things you’re hiding from me,” Qiao Xin said nonchalantly. “What do you want to say?”

Qin Shen: “….it’s about Naonao’s birth.”

Qiao Xin pondered for a moment. “Did Naonao’s biological mother look for you?” she asked, her voice rising. 

Qin Shen: “No… but you know who gave birth to him.”

“I know?” Qiao Xin said, frowning. “Is Naonao’s mother an artist in this circle?”

“…Yes, Naonao and his mother are completely different from what you imagined; when you see them in a while, you must stay calm and don’t faint from fright.” Qin Shen felt the need to remind Qiao Xin after remembering Qin Yunshan’s reaction when he saw Jiang Naonao the last time.

“Is Naonao’s mother really looking for you? Is she here to ask for money or resources? Does Xiao Yuer know?” Qiao Xin asked hastily.

“… no, you’ll understand when you see it. Remember to stay calm; no matter what you see, Naonao is your good and lovely grandson,” Qin Shen emphasized again.

“So mysterious. What exactly do you want me to see?” Qiao Xin looked at him strangely.

 

~

 

Jiang Yu was waiting for them in the living room when they arrived at the villa. “Auntie!” he exclaimed as soon as he saw them walk in.

“So good,” Qiao Xin said, smiling as she pulled his hand over to examine him. “You seem to have lost weight; has Ah Shen not been taking good care of you?” she asked, casting a disapproving gaze at Qin Shen.

“…… No, he takes care of me quite well,” Jiang Yu responded, glancing uneasily at Qin Shen, who gave him a comforting look and then said, “Mom, I’ll take you upstairs to see Naonao.”

He led Qiao Xin upstairs, while Jiang Yu followed behind anxiously. Qiao Xin peered around the swimming pool when she arrived, but there was no trace of the little boy. She was surprised by the swimming pool and exclaimed, “Why did you turn the swimming pool into a fish tank? Who raises fish like this?”

Just then, a little head popped in the rock cave; it was her adorable grandson. She was about to exclaim joyfully when she noticed the little one swimming towards her. In the clear water, the small tail was particularly conspicuous.

 

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The baby fish cub is out now! ʚ(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )ɞ I can totally understand Gu Yang’s dismay. He was too excited and now he missed the crucial part (>ლ)

So you may have notice that I’m using ‘it’ to refer to our little baby fish, since the gender is still unknown. I hope you guys don’t mind that.

 

Update 2/2