After Raising a Beautiful Merman - Chapter 1

Me: ?

I opened my eyes impatiently.

Tsk.

It had been a month.

I still couldn’t bring myself to get angry at that beautiful face.

Even so, I asked expressionlessly, “What did you say?”

Lu Zhuo stiffened.

Even his silver-white fishtail trembled.

But he clenched his fists and repeated himself. “W-why… why should I listen to you…”

His voice grew quieter and quieter.

By the end, it was barely more than breath.

But it was just the two of us in the room, and the room was too quiet.

I still heard every word clearly.

The air froze for several seconds.

I slowly sat up.

Had this dim-witted merman finally developed some intelligence?

But I had forgotten that I naturally had a sour-looking face.

Whenever I stared at someone without expression, I looked thoroughly unapproachable.

In a corner I wasn’t watching, Lu Zhuo shuddered violently.

Before I even had time to test him, he reverted to his usual timid, submissive self.

His pretty tail went slap, slap, slap as he hopped toward the bathroom.

“I’ll do it… I’ll run the bath.”

Me: “…”

A little backbone, but not much.

I closed my eyes again and lay back on the sofa for a nap.

I had no idea what was happening in the bathroom.

Nor did I know that, as Lu Zhuo meekly ran the water, he was staring without blinking at the comments:

[I can’t with this. Male lead, can you grow a spine?]

[She’s just an ordinary human. Why should you listen to her? You’re a merman, not a dog!]

[Don’t be too hard on him. He has amnesia, and that random extra has been emotionally manipulating him for so long that he’s developed psychological issues.]

Only when the sound of running water stopped completely did I open my eyes at a leisurely pace.

When I reached the bathroom, I found Lu Zhuo sitting dazed in his little red plastic basin.

I had bought it at a two-yuan shop.

It was neither too big nor too small.

Just large enough to hold a little over half his tail.

The rest of his body couldn’t fit, so he had to sit on the floor, leaning against the corner.

Whatever Lu Zhuo was staring at in midair, he was so absorbed that he didn’t even notice me come in.

I raised my eyes and gave his basin a light kick.

“Go. Put dinner on the table.”

Only then did Lu Zhuo seem to wake from a dream and slowly rise.

But once he was upright, he stopped moving again.

He merely stared straight at me.

Me: “…”

What was going on?

He wasn’t very bright to begin with.

Why did he seem even stupider now?

Before I could speak, Lu Zhuo said slowly, “I don’t think you should treat me like this.”

Me: ?

Again?

Lu Zhuo took a deep breath.

“You may have found me and brought me home, but I wash your clothes, cook, and do the chores. And I don’t eat much. I’m an energy-efficient fish.”

I nodded in agreement and motioned for him to continue.

I had no idea what had gotten into him today.

But since he truly did work without complaint, I allowed him a few minutes of fish rights.

Lu Zhuo hesitated, then lifted his head to look at something in the air again.

If my hearing and eyesight hadn’t been so sharp, I might have thought something unclean had gotten into the apartment.

“Zhuang Nian, I think our relationship could be a little more equal, instead of… like a dog and its owner.”

Had Lu Zhuo said it with more conviction, I might truly have considered it.

But he was far too cautious.

He had weighed even the tone of every word over and over.

Ever since I was little, my mother had taught me that men were the best creatures in the world at taking a mile when given an inch.

Give one a little sunshine, and he’d dare to light up the whole earth.

So I smiled faintly.

Then I put on a hurt expression. “Lu Zhuo, I never imagined you would think of me that way.”

I deliberately paused for several seconds.

Only after dismay appeared on his face did I continue.

“Who pulled you out of the sea? Who keeps you in clean water? And who gave you this little basin so you wouldn’t dry into fish jerky on the beach?”

Those questions successfully crashed his fish brain.

Even his breathing quickened.

I pressed my advantage. “Go out and ask around. Who keeps a fish at home and waits on him like an emperor? I give you food and water. What’s wrong with asking you to do a few chores? How does that make us a dog and its owner?”

Lu Zhuo’s lashes trembled.

His lovely face made him look rather pitiable.

I had long since grown immune.

I cleared my throat a few times. “Sigh. I rarely talk about how hard I work because I don’t want it to affect your mood at home. I never thought… never thought you’d see me this way.”

Lu Zhuo fell completely silent and lowered his head to stare at his tail.

I crouched and lifted his chin with one hand.

As expected, his eyes were red.

I gently wiped away his tears with my thumb, then closed my palm around the teardrops as they hardened into pearls.

“Good boy,” I murmured. “Go bring out dinner. I forgive you.”

Lu Zhuo obediently dragged his tail toward the kitchen.

My smile vanished.

I gave a soft scoff.

Stupid little fish. Go evolve for a few hundred more years.