Chapter 87: The Center of the Fish Pond (22)
Su Mingxiu had originally intended to keep the fish close after retrieving her, but now she had a bonus package deal with a bunch of unknown little merfolk.
So, despite her bewildered expression, her movements were gentle as she helped Suhui sit up, even instinctively placing a soft pillow behind her back.
Although she had no experience caring for a pregnant mermaid, Su Mingxiu knew how human pregnant women were generally treated. So, her movements and voice became softer:
“Are you more comfortable sitting like this?”
Suhui’s stomach had been aching from Su Mingxiu’s earlier actions and embrace. Now, feeling the care in Su Mingxiu’s cautious movements, she felt a sense of being cherished. Whether it was the sitting position or the psychological effect, her mood improved considerably.
The black-haired woman didn’t dare to squeeze onto the small sofa with her. She stood barefoot on the floor, half-squatting before the sofa, staring at the mermaid’s flat stomach, showing no signs of pregnancy. Her mind was still replaying the scene in the underwater cave, placing the pearl against that soft spot between Suhui’s scales—
Could she really get pregnant just like that?
Were merfolk… too magical? With such a high pregnancy rate, wouldn’t there be overpopulation issues?
Strange thoughts filled her mind. She remained in her half-squatting position, frozen. Suhui leaned back slowly, feeling the comfortable support of the pillow behind her back. Then, she looked at the kettle on the side, steam rising from its spout and fogging the tiles:
“The water’s boiling.”
Reminded by her words, Su Mingxiu instinctively glanced at the kettle but didn’t move. She only said casually: “Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
She had boiled the water to make instant noodles.
But how could she let a pregnant woman eat instant noodles with her?
The person who usually remained calm even in the face of a collapsing mountain was now at a loss. She even licked her lips nervously, maintaining her squatting position as she looked up at Suhui and asked: “What kind of supplements do merfolk usually eat during pregnancy?”
Supplements?
Suhui searched her inherited memories, now complete. But she couldn’t find any specific dietary recommendations for pregnant merfolk.
After all, merfolk were strong and robust, and they didn’t experience severe pregnancy symptoms. Pregnancy didn’t affect their ability to hunt.
So she shook her head.
Su Mingxiu reached for her phone, wanting to search for pregnancy-related diets.
But the first result she saw was to avoid cold and raw foods, such as crab and seafood. She frowned.
Uh oh…
She glanced at the search results, then at Suhui, finally realizing that the pregnant woman before her was indeed very different from a human.
Su Mingxiu gently stroked Suhui’s hair and asked patiently: “How about noodles for dinner? I’ll add an extra egg for you, is that okay?”
Suhui, however, looked at the two packs of instant noodles on the table, pointing at the “Shrimp and Fish Cake Noodles” and asking: “Why not this one?”
At least it had seafood.
“It’s not healthy,” Su Mingxiu said, pushing the noodles away.
Suhui looked at her blankly, not understanding why humans would invent such unhealthy food, buy it, and then not eat it.
“Grumble, grumble—”
Su Mingxiu walked into the kitchen and boiled another pot of water. While waiting, she checked the ingredients in the refrigerator. Unfortunately, apart from eggs and a few wilting vegetables, there wasn’t anything nutritious.
Suhui, bored and sitting alone on the sofa, still thinking about Su Mingxiu’s cooking, wandered into the kitchen. Seeing Su Mingxiu under the warm light, she was unconsciously drawn to the scene and stood there for a while.
When Su Mingxiu turned to look at her, the silver-haired mermaid realized she had been spacing out. So she casually brought up a topic: “That… gift you bought today… who is it for?”
Su Mingxiu lowered her eyelashes, adding thin noodles to the boiling water, and replied slowly: “For you, of course. Didn’t Pao Tong ask earlier? But there were too many people around, so I didn’t answer, but she should have understood.”
What?
Was that what she meant?
Suhui’s eyes widened in surprise. After a moment, she suddenly said: “Then… you can buy me another one.”
Since it was a gift for her, and she was right here before Su Mingxiu, if the first one didn’t work out, Su Mingxiu could certainly give her another one.
But hearing her words, Su Mingxiu, who was about to stir the noodles, paused. Her eyes, tinged orange by the kitchen light, fixed on Suhui’s abdomen:
“Now?”
But pregnant women shouldn’t use perfume, right?
Su Mingxiu’s expression became troubled again, wondering if the synthetic musk in the perfume would affect the mermaid’s pregnancy.
Perhaps because she hesitated for too long, Suhui immediately questioned: “You don’t want to give it to me?”
“No,” Su Mingxiu finally put the chopsticks into the pot, stirring the noodles to separate them. She sighed and said, “I’m not sure if the perfume will affect your pregnancy. How about I give it to you after you’ve recovered, okay?”
What?
Even gifts were dangerous?
Suhui was once again shocked by the human world.
One was immersed in the shock of new knowledge about the human world, the other was still wondering where to find more information about mermaid pregnancies.
In the brief silence, only the sound of noodles boiling in the pot could be heard, a faint aroma filling the air. Su Mingxiu’s instincts were awakened by the scent. She turned off the heat and took out the fried eggs from another pot.
Soon, under the bright living room lights, two bowls of noodles with vegetables were placed on the table, one of them topped with a golden fried egg.
Suhui sat on the sofa, holding her bowl. Su Mingxiu’s gaze followed her. After a while, she finally asked: “So you can’t return to Produce 101 and continue filming now?”
“Yes,” the silver-haired mermaid nodded.
Su Mingxiu had noticed the change in her hair color, but seeing that this color seemed more natural on her, she knew that the silver must have been fake, and this was Suhui’s true hair color.
It was good that she had returned to her original form. After all, constantly dyeing her hair would definitely affect her health.
Thinking of this, she said: “Do you need to talk to Neptune Entertainment? I can go with you.”
Suhui originally wanted to shake her head and say no, but thinking about the CEO’s identity, she hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yes… Uncle Li said that if I find a suitable partner, I need to inform him.”
Su Mingxiu, having been immersed in the program’s environment, had also learned a bit about the entertainment companies in this world.
Even though she knew that the CEO of Neptune Entertainment was indeed surnamed Li, she still asked: “Uncle Li?”
“The… CEO of Neptune Entertainment…” Suhui wasn’t quite sure about the complicated human job titles, so she decided to introduce him according to the merfolk’s customs. “He’s my mother’s partner…”
After a pause, she added subtly: “Current partner.”
“Hmm?” Su Mingxiu’s gaze also became peculiar.
Suhui seemed to sense a “You merfolk are also so fickle” vibe from her and quickly explained: “My mother is quite long-lived and has always preferred humans, so she has many partners. But she only finds a new one after the previous one passes away.”
Oh.
Impressive.
Su Mingxiu understood their merfolk clan’s unique method of accumulating wealth on land. With Suhui’s mother’s approach, she could achieve primitive capital accumulation in just a few centuries—
“What’s with that expression?” Suhui asked, never hesitating to voice her doubts.
“Just pure admiration for my future mother-in-law.” Su Mingxiu composed herself and asked, following up on the topic: “So, what’s the average lifespan of a mermaid?”
Suhui answered quickly: “At least three hundred years, the longest is probably a thousand.”
After saying this, she suddenly looked at Su Mingxiu, her expression changing. “You humans rarely live past a hundred, so you’ll be dead in a few decades?”
“Uh…” Such a sharp tongue.
Su Mingxiu picked up a fried egg from her bowl, placed it near Suhui’s lips, and said with a playful smile: “Don’t worry, I won’t leave you with a massive inheritance and the opportunity to find another partner.”
Suhui took a large bite of the egg. Although her confused expression suggested she still wanted to say something, the delicious food distracted her, and she quickly forgot what she wanted to say, focusing on finishing her noodles.
After their meal, it was almost ten o’clock.
Seeing that Suhui had no intention of returning to the sea, Su Mingxiu prepared to clean the bathroom. As she turned to leave, she asked Suhui: “When are you due? Would it be safer to use the shower? Do you need help bathing later?”
Suhui was comfortably leaning against the sofa, watching TV, completely engrossed in an idol drama.
Hearing Su Mingxiu’s question, she replied without turning her head: “One month. I want to use the bathtub, and I don’t need your help.”
Only one month?
Su Mingxiu was stunned for two seconds, then quickly came back to her senses. She still went to the bathroom and meticulously cleaned the bathtub. Thankfully, Suhui hadn’t requested seawater in the tub. Otherwise, Su Mingxiu wouldn’t know where to get it for her at this hour.
After Su Mingxiu left, during a commercial break, Suhui touched her belly and thought, It’s just laying ordinary eggs, not hatching baby merfolk, of course it only takes a month. Why does this human seem so shocked?
This question lingered in her mind. Even as she transformed into her true form and splashed around happily in the bathtub, she couldn’t figure out the answer.
Ten minutes later, a knock came on the bathroom door: “Are you done?”
“No!” Suhui quickly retracted her tail and transformed back into her human form. “Don’t come in!”
“Be careful, don’t catch a cold. I’ll be right outside, call me if you need anything.” Su Mingxiu’s voice and her faint shadow on the bathroom door were both a comforting presence.
Suhui had originally wanted to play with the bath bubbles. After all, there wasn’t such a large and comfortable bathroom in the Produce 101 base, and she had never had the opportunity to enjoy a long bath. Now that she could finally soak in the water, she didn’t want to leave anytime soon.
But Su Mingxiu kept knocking on the door every now and then, so Suhui could only reluctantly get out of the bathtub after more than an hour. After changing into a soft, loose bathrobe, she opened the door, intending to complain about Su Mingxiu’s interruptions, but a phone was thrust in front of her: “If you’re due in a month, shouldn’t we start buying baby supplies now?”
Huh?
Suhui blinked, swallowing her complaint, wondering how to explain that the eggs she would lay in a month wouldn’t hatch into baby merfolk.
But the human standing at the door was already staring at her loosely tied bathrobe, her gaze fixed on the exposed skin at her collarbone. Su Mingxiu placed the phone in Suhui’s hand, then carefully adjusted her bathrobe, making sure it wouldn’t be blown open by the wind. Then, she half-squatted down and retied the sash around Suhui’s waist,
Making sure it was neither too tight nor too loose, and wouldn’t cause any discomfort to her belly.
The slow-witted fish finally sensed something different in Su Mingxiu’s unusually gentle treatment. She didn’t look at the phone. Instead, she looked down at the top of Su Mingxiu’s head, pondering for a moment, then said slowly: “Are you being so nice to me now because of the baby merfolk in my belly?”
“Not really.”
Su Mingxiu stood up, even reaching out to touch Suhui’s hair, confirming that it had already been dried by her strange ability. Then, she took Suhui’s hand and led her towards the bedroom.
Suhui breathed a sigh of relief, preparing to tell her everything—
Then, she heard the rest of Su Mingxiu’s sentence: “But if you weren’t pregnant, I wouldn’t let you off so easily.”
“Uh…” Suhui swallowed her words.
She changed her question: “Let me off easily? What do you mean?”
Su Mingxiu, unable to act on her desires with the mermaid pregnant, could only indulge in words. “Of course I’m referring to what happened when you tricked me into the sea.”
They happened to reach the bedroom door. As they stopped to open the door, Su Mingxiu turned around, a playful smile on her lips. The colorful lights in the hallway reflected in her dark eyes, making them sparkle like black glass.
Unfortunately, her words weren’t as beautiful as her appearance:
“Don’t worry, as long as you’re not trying to trick me again, I’ll be very gentle, I promise.”
“Uh…” Suhui froze.
She couldn’t imagine how Su Mingxiu’s wicked behavior in the underwater coral maze could be considered “letting her off easily.”
No matter how gentle Su Mingxiu claimed to be, she wouldn’t believe a single word from this human—
Wait.
That wasn’t the point.
Su Mingxiu’s pleasant voice echoed in the mermaid’s ears, replaying in her mind, repeating Su Mingxiu’s words again and again, especially the phrase “as long as you’re not trying to trick me again,” emphasized and amplified, the Chinese characters scrolling through her mind.
Suhui instinctively wondered if this human had discovered the truth about her “artistic embellishment” to keep Su Mingxiu by her side.
Su Mingxiu, feeling Suhui’s hand turning colder, covered it with her own, gently caressing it as she asked: “Why is your body temperature dropping again?”
Although she didn’t know the ideal temperature for a mermaid’s pregnancy, she knew that being too cold wasn’t good for the development of any creature.
Suhui let her warm her hand, lost in thought for a long time, then, as if coming back to her senses, she said slowly: “I’m sleepy.”
Su Mingxiu, hearing her cold tone, thought she had scared the fish. Remembering how sensitive and unpredictable pregnant women could be, she reminded herself not to reveal her mischievous side too soon, lest she scare Suhui away again.
So she immediately adjusted her demeanor and gently led Suhui into the room. “Is there anything you don’t like about this room? If the bedsheets or pillows are uncomfortable, I’ll buy new ones tomorrow.”
“No.”
The fish, who had wanted to take advantage of Su Mingxiu’s affection, instinctively touched her belly. Even though she couldn’t feel anything, this action gave her a sense of security.
Su Mingxiu had originally planned to check the stock market, taking advantage of the time difference. But when Suhui hugged her waist and nuzzled against her, she couldn’t help but close her laptop and put it aside.
“Do you want me to sleep with you?”
Suhui told herself to behave, hoping to have a chance to save herself a month later. But she couldn’t resist Su Mingxiu’s doting and indulgent behavior. A hoarse sound escaped her throat: “Yes.”
The lights in the bedroom were quickly turned off.
Su Mingxiu felt a chill from the fish’s low body temperature, but she didn’t move away. Instead, she pulled Suhui closer, careful not to put her arm around her, afraid of accidentally pressing on her belly. As she was about to fall asleep, she felt that faint fragrance against her neck.
It seemed like the fish in her arms was still feeling insecure.
So, even though her neck was being nibbled and sucked on, Su Mingxiu didn’t stop her. Instead, she gently stroked Suhui’s smooth, cool hair, her breathing calm and even.
At some point, they both fell asleep in each other’s arms.
When the morning sunlight streamed in, a breeze slipped through the gap in the window, making the curtains flutter like waves.
Just as the phone’s alarm started vibrating, before it could even ring, Su Mingxiu reached out and turned it off. After washing up, she made a simple breakfast. Suhui woke up naturally and came out of the bedroom, her face seemingly bathed in a soft, glowing filter, her beauty reaching new heights.
They had already discussed going to Neptune Entertainment’s headquarters today to discuss Suhui’s withdrawal from Produce 101.
Everything went smoothly, from entering the building to taking the elevator straight to the CEO’s office, as if the CEO had already informed everyone. They were led into the office by the secretary.
“Uncle Li.”
The person sitting behind the desk capped his pen, looked up at them, his eyes showing no surprise. He gestured towards the lounge area and walked over from behind his desk.
It seemed that CEOs all over the world had a permanent attachment to suits. But this CEO Li had a good figure and handsome features, his presence commanding. Even his first words controlled the situation: “I’ve heard from your manager that you want to withdraw from Produce 101? Even though your popularity is currently the highest?”
“Yes,” Suhui replied directly.
“Give me a reason.”
“Idols in a group can’t be in relationships, I want to try a different path.”
“Alright, go record a song, and I’ll hand it over to some industry experts, see who’s available to collaborate with you on an album. As long as you can be in a relationship, it’s fine.”
“Okay.”
Their conversation was so direct and efficient that Su Mingxiu was amazed.
She felt that matters in the entertainment industry were always complicated. Being able to resolve things so quickly and efficiently was truly a blessing.
Finally, CEO Li turned his gaze to Su Mingxiu and asked: “What about her?”
Suhui also looked at her with her blue eyes.
Su Mingxiu smiled and replied: “I only want to be a chef, I have no intention of entering the entertainment industry. Thank you for your offer, CEO Li.”
The man nodded and asked Suhui to go discuss the recording with her manager. He briefly explained that she would need to spend a lot of time in the recording studio and asked her to be prepared.
Su Mingxiu, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke up: “Is it very busy? Will it affect your health?”
“Hmm?”
Su Mingxiu looked at Suhui with a smile. “You shouldn’t overwork yourself recently, right?”
“Ah…” Suhui blinked, originally wanting to say it was fine, but she changed her words on a whim. “Yes, I can’t overwork myself—”
She said to CEO Li seriously: “Because I’m pregnant!”
“Cough.” The man, who had just raised a cup of tea to his lips, choked.
He had guessed the relationship between Su Mingxiu and Suhui, but he had investigated Su Mingxiu’s background and hadn’t found anything special, so he hadn’t intended to interfere in their relationship. But… pregnant?
Weren’t merfolk only able to conceive with the opposite sex?
CEO Li was momentarily stunned, as if doubting his own memory and the knowledge about different races he had learned from his partner.
He asked instinctively, “Do you need me to inform your mother?”
“No!”
Suhui replied swiftly, not mentioning that she had just learned this knowledge from her mother, who had already known about her condition.
“Wouldn’t it be better to inform her?”
Su Mingxiu suggested, her expression serious: “After all, I don’t have any experience caring for merfolk, I don’t know what precautions to take during pregnancy. Shouldn’t we meet with your mother?”
CEO Li: “Hmm.”
Suhui: “…”
Meet? Meet who?
Wouldn’t meeting her mother expose her lie?
She panicked inwardly, but her expression remained calm. “There are no precautions, we merfolk are strong and robust, we don’t need special care.”
Hearing this, CEO Li suddenly remembered something. He vaguely recalled his partner mentioning that female merfolk could experience a false pregnancy after… certain activities.
After all, cheating and cuckoldry weren’t common among merfolk—
He glanced at Suhui, cleared his throat, and tried to remind her: “Are you sure you’re really pregnant?”
He emphasized the word “really,” after all, both Suhui and Su Mingxiu were female, he couldn’t be too direct.
But Suhui understood his implication. She immediately replied without hesitation, like a startled rabbit: “Yes!”
CEO Li let out an “Oh,” his gaze sweeping over Suhui, then Su Mingxiu, a faint smile appearing in his eyes. “If you’re truly pregnant, the merfolk clan has always had a low birth rate, so this is great news. I suggest you still inform your mother. As the clan leader, she must be very happy for you.”
Low birth rate?
Su Mingxiu’s expression turned strange.
With Suhui seemingly able to get pregnant from just a touch, how could the merfolk clan have a low birth rate? Could it be that they were very fertile, but it was difficult to raise their offspring?
She would have to ask her mother-in-law about this. After all, if Suhui laid eggs, they were both novices and might accidentally raise them incorrectly, resulting in the death of their offspring. That wouldn’t do!
So she agreed firmly: “Yes, you must tell your mother.”
Suhui: “…”
She was now filled with regret.
Immense regret.
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