MASG chapter 127

 

The seawater churned and surged in front of them as if no longer calm. The seagulls following the boat were not as enthusiastic either. They landed on the deck now and then, but seemed uninterested.

Zhang Mingqiao’s boat was an ordinary family fishing boat, white all over and equipped with a kitchen. Since childhood, Xia Yu’s favorite outdoor activity had been going out to sea with his family. Even if he did nothing, he could feel freedom and happiness on the sea. The sunlight was the same as always, shining on his face without being particularly gentle.

“I’ve noticed that you’ve been spacing out a lot lately,” Xia Xiaoxiao said. “Help me put on some sunscreen.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll do it.” Xia Yu took the small brown bottle and skillfully applied the sunscreen to his sister’s back. “After the holiday, are you planning to compete?”

“I will. Yeah, I want to.” Xia Xiaoxiao’s skin tone was darker than before. It glowed with healthy vitality, and her face was full of collagen and youthfulness. Because she was exposed to the sun for long periods of time, her hair was not as smooth as before, and its color had lightened slightly. Still, she was unwilling to give up cycling and the freedom of chasing the wind.

Of course, Xia Yu supported her, though he was also a little worried. “Mom and Dad…”

“I’ll talk to them properly. Don’t worry; it won’t turn into a fight.” Xia Xiaoxiao was no longer a little girl who only knew how to act cute and be stubborn. She was seriously planning her future. “I want to turn my hobby into a career.”

“That’s great! Brother will always support and be proud of you.” Xia Yu flicked her nose. Maybe the family would really produce a cyclist after all. But there was already a swimming celebrity… Xia Yu thought of Mo An. Over the past few days, many people had been looking for him: the swimming team from Penghu Island, coaches from other cities, and even the most famous sports center in Qingyao City.

Where would Mo An’s future go? Xia Yu was very worried.

It was strange—why was he worried? It was clearly a better path, a brighter future. But Xia Yu just couldn’t help worrying, even more than about his own sister. Xiaoxiao had grown up with her parents’ love, as well as his care and support. She did everything with ease and confidence. But Mo An… he always seemed full of concerns.

And he was also frightening.

Yes, that feeling was unusually strong. Mo An’s dangerousness was always faintly visible and never went away. It was as if seawater had seeped into his body, leaving traces behind when it receded.

And he wasn’t even human. Humans couldn’t possibly achieve that kind of result in swimming. Xia Yu didn’t understand swimming events, but he wasn’t stupid. He had his own judgment. No matter how much others praised “the birth of a new generation of swimming genius,” he never believed that Mo An had completed the entire course with human strength alone.

“Xia Yu, hurry and check if we caught any fish. We’ll need to get ready to barbecue in a bit!” Zhang Mingqiao stood at the bow wearing big floral shorts, a shirt, and an exaggerated sun hat.

Xia Li wore a matching outfit with him; her face showed a healthy, rosy color from the wind and sun. “Let’s grill more. We’ll bring some back for Mo An to eat, too.”

“If it’s been grilled and brought back, it won’t taste good anymore. Let’s bring fresh ones back. I brought an ice bucket.” Zhang Mingqiao had everything planned out. “Catch more little silver fish to take back. The kids like them.”

Xia Xiaoxiao stood up from the deck and ran over barefoot to help. Xia Yu didn’t lag behind, either, walking alone toward the stern. The fishing rods were already set up. At first glance, there were more than ten of them, and each line had more than one hook. Based on past experience, there should already be at least a few fish caught by now. If the bite was good, catching over ten wouldn’t be a problem.

But today was especially strange. Xia Yu checked the rods one by one. There were actually zero fish?

There’s no way. How could it be zero? He thought he must have counted wrong and checked again from the start. But the result didn’t change despite his doubts. Every rod was empty, without a single fish on the hook.

“What’s going on?” Xia Yu reeled in the lines, trying to solve the mystery. One possible reason for this situation was that they had encountered an especially smart school of fish. Some fish are indeed like this. After getting used to the bait on the hooks, they had mastered the skill of avoiding them, so after reeling in, there would be no catch and you would see bare hooks.

A silver hook with nothing on it—that would be truly ironic.

But now, looking at hooks full of bait, Xia Yu still couldn’t figure out the answer. So much bait, yet no fish.

“Could it be that the nearby fish didn’t come over?” That must be it. Xia Yu simply brought the bait bowl over. The filling inside was fresh fish paste that he had helped his mom make. He bent down, pinched the paste into meatball-sized lumps, and threw them into the deep blue sea.

The bait didn’t linger on the surface; it swayed as it sank. A few seconds later, a bubble formed and burst on the surface of the sea.

“That’s it… so the chumming wasn’t done properly.” Xia Yu identified the problem. There must not have been enough bait. There must have been fish under the stationary boat watching. The only way to make them surface was to feed them first. When it came to fishing, the fish that humans fed were always more than the ones they caught. You can’t just take endlessly.

Xia Yu didn’t hesitate, throwing fish balls down one after another. Bubbles rose one after another. It looked like the fish below were eating happily.

They were indeed eating happily—only there was no school of fish, just a single mermaid, Mo An, who had rushed over.

Lao Gui drove the family’s speedboat at idle speed and stopped far away, out of sight. Mo An went into the sea and transformed. He took off his holey clogs and regained the feeling of being a mermaid. The cold seawater cleared his head. Each time seawater entered his gills, he experienced a new sensation. The seawater in the virtual world was no different, yet he was about to change.

He was reluctant. He was reluctant to leave these people, this home, this fake Penghu Island, this high school, and this playground that would not wait for him to take the college entrance exam.

The black mermaid quietly followed beneath the boat, staying close like a shadow, like a sea monster that could swallow people whole. In the sea, he really was a monster. For example, he had only wanted to carefully turn a corner, but his sharp dorsal fin left a mark on the bottom of Zhang Mingqiao’s boat.

Luckily, Mo An reacted quickly. The scratch wasn’t deep; otherwise, it would have pierced through the metal. However, Mo An could control his direction and strength, but he couldn’t control the fear that fish felt toward him. The small boat was empty in all directions because the schools of fish had already been frightened away by him.

Sigh. Dad’s fishing plan was destined to fail today. Mo An took the fish food one bite at a time. This counted as Xia Yu proposing to him once again, right?

It must be so. Since childhood, he and Xia Yu had agreed that they would marry each other, and no one could change this vow.

Soon, Mo An swam back to Lao Gui’s side because he couldn’t bear to see Zhang Mingqiao and Xia Li unable to catch any fish. By the time he reached the yacht, Lao Gui was still on board, weaving flower baskets and cherishing them as if they were priceless treasures.

“Why are you back?” Lao Gui asked without lifting his head.

“I came back to rest for a bit. Otherwise, they won’t have anything to eat at noon.” Mo An paused deliberately. “Xia Yu just unknowingly proposed to me again. We’re a destined pair.”

“Haha, you brat.” Lao Gui tapped Mo An on the head. Mo An rested his arms on the edge of the yacht, which was rising and falling heavily with the waves. “No matter how many times you two propose, we still have to hurry back. Do you have any plans?”

Mo An shook his ear fins. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to spread them. “I’m preparing to… expose myself proactively.”

“Expose what? Your body?” Lao Gui suddenly raised his head. “Don’t scare Xia Yu.”

“No, no, no. I can’t expose my body directly. I have to take it slowly. The current situation no longer allows me to keep disguising myself. This semester is almost over, and we don’t have much time.” Mo An took a mouthful of seawater. “Xia Yu is already suspicious of my identity. Sometimes he stares at the family photo in a daze. I guess he’s already sensed that something is wrong. He’ll be the first to wake up and question everything.”

Lao Gui nodded heavily. “Fake is fake. People must be able to tell the difference.”

“But what is his anchor point? It’s not actually me.” Mo An admitted that he had been upset about this for a long time. “But it’s okay. I won’t back down. I’m preparing to tell him first that I’m not human and then that I’m a mermaid. Maybe when he sees my fishtail, he’ll remember.”

“What about Xia Xiaoxiao? How will you wake her up?” Lao Gui asked.

“This… I haven’t thought it through yet. But I’ll wake one first. Mo An was still very confident. “What kind of opportunity should I look for?”

As soon as he finished speaking, there was suddenly a splash from the shore. Lao Gui and Mo An looked over at the same time and saw a middle-aged man throwing trash into the sea. Now, his face was full of terror. Seeing a living mermaid for the first time replaced his initial surprise with fear. His hands trembled rapidly, and his knees went weak.

Clearly, he wanted to run away, but he only stumbled back a few steps before sitting down on the ground. Mo An was already irritated, and when he saw the trash the man was dumping, he became angry. He sprinted to the shore and swung his tail, slapping the man loudly and hard.

After the loud slap, the middle-aged man was knocked unconscious. Mo An dove back into the sea and looked at Lao Gui, whose face was full of worry. “I knocked him out for you. If he wakes up, you explain that he just had a hallucination.”

“You really know how to give me trouble.” Lao Gui smiled bitterly.

“But I know you can handle it.” Mo An plunged back into the water and swam toward Zhang Mingqiao’s boat.

This last round of fishing ended with a full haul, but Zhang Mingqiao and Xia Li didn’t catch the fish. It was Mo An who went back and forth to find fish for them. He used whatever he could catch. One by one, he hung the fish on the hooks and tugged the fishing lines. Mission accomplished.

However, this only deepened Xia Yu’s suspicions, especially when he saw a deep-sea fish that only appeared at depths of around 1,000 meters on the hook. The seawater before his eyes made him shiver instantly, hiding secrets he couldn’t understand.

In the following days, they returned to school and started classes. The next weekend was Penghu Island’s famous Goldfish Festival. Goldfish would be hung up all over the streets and alleys. At dusk, during the most beautiful hour of sunset, there would be a street on the island dedicated to selling small goldfish. People said that buying goldfish at that time would bring happiness.

“Dad, Mom, my brother, Mo An, and I are going to Goldfish Street!” As the sunset looked like fireworks, Xia Xiaoxiao changed into a dress and shouted from the doorway.

“Go ahead. Buy whatever you like and bring it back.” Xia Li waved to them at the door.

Xia Yu led Mo An out of the house. He had a premonition that something was about to happen. His heart beat loudly. He had attended the Goldfish Festival before, but he had never felt as panicked as today.

“Let’s go. There should definitely be fewer people at this time.” Xia Xiaoxiao ran ahead of them.

“Slow down!” Xia Yu called out a few times, afraid she would fall. Then she stopped speaking. His younger brother, much taller than him, walked alongside him. They hadn’t talked much these past few days, and now there was nothing to say, only the sound of each other’s breathing.

What’s wrong with me? Xia Yu clenched his fist; his palm was sweaty.

“Are you very hot?” Mo An turned his head and asked.

“Huh? No, not hot.” Xia Yu forced a smile. “Haha, are you hot?”

“I’m not hot. I’m used to very cold places,” said Mo An.

Xia Yu followed up, “Is Qingyao City always very cold? That can’t be right. I’ve seen the weather forecast. It’s supposed to be very hot in Qingyao City in the summer.”

“No, not just Qingyao City. What I mean is, I’m used to colder places.” Mo An began to test the waters. He couldn’t wait any longer.

“Oh, colder… then I really don’t know.” Xia Yu shifted to the side and quickly changed the subject. “If you see any little goldfish you like later, just buy them and take them home. They say you can make wishes with them, and they’re very effective.”

“Little goldfish… I might not be able to buy any.” Mo An shook his head. He had already seen the entrance to Goldfish Street. Xia Xiaoxiao was already paying.

Xia Yu wiped his sweaty forehead, still holding onto a bit of luck. “Why?”

“Because the little goldfish might not like me.” Mo An finally said it.

They stopped right at the street entrance, but the plop-plop sounds were obvious, as if someone’s water were boiling. At first, Xia Yu looked around for the source of the sound until he saw the goldfish for sale and suddenly realized.

By the time they reached the street, all the goldfish in the plastic bags were frantically crashing into them. They sensed a huge danger and were desperately trying to escape.

Xia Yu slowly looked at Mo An. Was this Mo An’s doing?

“Brother.” Mo An said only one word, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Don’t be afraid of me.”

The next second, Xia Yu was so frightened that he turned around and ran.