ICTEUWMN Chapter 184 Extra Three

Meanwhile, during this limited-time trip back to Earth, Yu Mian flipped through a thick stack of newly arrived data books after temporarily handling the serialization of his novel.

Aside from reuniting with his parents again, Yu Mian felt that the best part of this unexpectedly smooth time-travel was that it allowed him to collect a vast amount of firsthand data on Earth’s literature, history, and philosophy.

Previously, he had promised Principal Charles that he would go to Waltz Academy to offer an elective course on Ancient Blue Star. With the next semester about to start, his first lecture was fast approaching.

As someone who had never taught a class before, Yu Mian felt a little nervous.

If students went through great efforts to secure a spot in his elective course, only to find his lectures a complete mess, wouldn’t that be a huge letdown for them?

He would also feel incredibly guilty.

More importantly, Yu Mian genuinely wanted to introduce the people of the interstellar era to the vast and magnificent charm of Huaxia culture.

And while collecting data and preparing lessons, Yu Mian suddenly had a new idea.

Why not write a novel?

By telling a story, he could showcase China’s brilliant and star-studded history, evoking deep resonance and awe.

However, such a work could easily turn into a serious, formal history textbook. Writing it as an engaging and captivating novel was much harder.

Watching her son isolating himself in the study, racking his brains and writing furiously, Madam Yu Hui couldn’t help but sigh. Her son was truly an unusual mermaid.

Theoretically, mermaids loved nothing more than swimming freely around the world, yet Yu Mian could stay indoors all day without stepping outside.

“But at least he has found his own unique talent. Now, you don’t have to worry about him feeling sad about being different.”

Yu Dahai patted his wife on the shoulder, looking at Yu Mian in the study with equal contentment.

Back then, he and Yu Hui had struggled with guilt, wondering if their unconventional choice to settle on Earth had resulted in Yu Mian being so different from normal mermaids.

But when Yu Mian was born, all the doctors and nurses at the hospital cried and said they’d never seen such a cute baby.

In terms of looks, their child was outstanding even among mermaids!

And now, he was such an accomplished writer. As parents, they were naturally proud.

However, just as Yu Mian thought he could travel freely between the interstellar and Earth, one night, after setting down his pen in satisfaction, he suddenly felt an indescribable sense of mental exhaustion.

Since his work had skyrocketed in popularity, bringing a constant influx of mental power, he hadn’t experienced this feeling in a long, long time.

Barely managing to grab his manuscript, he lunged toward Huo Ting, who was still reading nearby.

In the next second, the two of them vanished into the conch shell.

A flash of deep blue light followed, and Madam Yu Hui, who had just arrived with a plate of fruit for Yu Mian, blinked at the now-empty study.

“Looks like we need to track them down.”

Her son’s “mysterious system” didn’t seem to have the most stable teleportation function.

Meanwhile, the moment Yu Mian reappeared in his study, Secretary Hals, who had seen the two disappearing, rushed in with the whole family in tow.

“This is where it happened! Boss Huo Ting and Young Master Yu Mian both vanished! Uh…”

Secretary Hals, who was originally in a panic, froze mid-sentence when he saw the two lying on the sofa.

“This, this… Ahem, aren’t they perfectly fine?”

Huo Yuejiang, who had been so anxious that an accident had happened, found himself staring at the unexpected scene.

Just as the family was about to ask what happened, Huo Ting signalled them to be quiet.

Because in his arms, Yu Mian had already reverted to his mermaid form and fallen asleep.

His long lashes drooped, his breath steady and light. The soft chestnut hair at his temples fell gently, and his light golden tail spread out like a flowing gown, shimmering faintly on the floor.

“He’s just asleep.”

Sensing Yu Mian’s completely depleted mental power, Huo Ting immediately recalled the time when Yu Mian first revealed his tail.

Whenever his mental power exceeded its limits, he would instinctively revert to his mermaid form and rest in the water.

Gazing at the conch shell Yu Mian still clutched in his hands, Huo Ting fell into deep thought.

Clearly, this miraculous time-traveling ability wasn’t without restrictions.

The mental power required was increasing.

And the time flow between the two worlds was indeed uneven, what had felt like a long stay on Earth had been mere minutes in the interstellar.

“Should we put Brother Yu Mian to bed?”

Huo Yan lowered his voice, whispering the question to Huo Ting. His eyes, however, were full of admiration and awe.

No matter how many times he saw Yu Mian’s golden tail, he could never get enough of it and his gaze was completely captivated.

It was like a divine creation straight out of myth.

Even in slumber, Yu Mian exuded a serene beauty, like a cool summer night dream by the sea.

“Yes.”

Huo Ting nodded and gently placed Yu Mian back in the water.

However, in the next second, the sleeping Yu Mian instinctively wrapped his arms around Huo Ting’s neck, clearly enjoying the comfort of mental power and unwilling to let go. Even his tail clung to Huo Ting’s arm, trailing against his leg.

Huo Ting’s expression became slightly subtle and he turned to look behind him.

By then, Huo Yuejiang and the others had already started coughing and looking at the sky, tactfully slipping away from the scene.

Ah, to be young~

Meanwhile, Huo Yan, who had not yet reacted and was eager to steal another glance, was forcibly dragged away by Qiao Ni, who covered his eyes.

As for the mysterious ability of the conch shell to cross space, Huo Ting ultimately said nothing about it.

When he finally left the room, he simply gave a brief explanation, stating that a minor, harmless accident had occurred.

And that this matter was extremely confidential and should not be leaked.

“Of course! We have never leaked even the slightest bit of information about Young Master Yu Mian!” In fact, Qiao Ni and the others attached great importance to keeping confidentiality of various things related to Yu Mian even more than Yu Mian himself.

To be honest, ever since Young Master Yu Mian’s identity was exposed, countless people had tried to probe for information.

Although they couldn’t get close to Huo Ting or Huo Yan, they still had a chance to reach out to ordinary staff members like Qiao Ni through various channels. But those who tried quickly found themselves utterly disappointed.

Because even a tiny slip of paper in Yu Mian’s study had to be carefully collected and stored by Qiao Ni and the others, lest it fall into the wrong hands.

After all, in their eyes, any word written by Young Master Yu Mian, the genius behind so many legendary works, was invaluable.

Trying to obtain inside information from them was as difficult as reaching the heavens.

Yu Mian slept for a full three days before finally regaining enough “startup energy”. His eyelashes fluttered slightly as he slowly opened his eyes.

“My manuscript…”

The moment he woke up, he frantically groped around for the manuscript he’d spent so much time writing.

“This one?”

In the next second, a stack of manuscript pages was placed in his hands.

“Yes! Perfect, thank goodness it’s back.”

Yu Mian, now fully awake, hugged his manuscript with a look of immense relief.

Not only was this the draft of his new book, but it was also his preparation material for the elective course.

If the conch shell had malfunctioned during teleportation and failed to bring it back, he really would have cried himself to death.

That would have been no different from losing an entire thesis due to a computer crash, leaving nothing behind.

It was only after Yu Mian had settled down that he suddenly realized his current position was a bit… off.

He was practically sprawled over Huo Ting like an octopus. After sleeping so deeply, he was full of energy, whereas Huo Ting seemed a bit weary.

Yu Mian: !?

“You slept for three days.”

Before Yu Mian could even ask, Huo Ting chuckled and answered his unspoken question.

“Here…Qiao Ni and the others will be bringing food over soon.”

Huo Ting handed him a small snack, knowing that after going so long without eating, a light meal would be the fastest way to recover.

After a brief moment of embarrassment, Yu Mian shamelessly latched onto Huo Ting again. He munched on the milk tea-flavored snack while lazily basking in the gradual replenishment of his mental power.

“It really does take a lot out of me to send things through the conch shell.”

Now the question was, at this rate of recovery, how much power would he need to accumulate for his next trip back to Earth?

But since his parents now knew about his situation, would they have a chance to come find him instead?

Anyway, now that the transmission pathway was established, in the worst case, he could just return to Earth next time to look for them.

The next moment, Yu Mian cupped Huo Ting’s face and kissed him.

“Vacation’s over! Time to get to work.”

Yu Mian was still excited about his new book.

“But it looks like you also brought that book back with you. Since it’s something Huo Yan would enjoy, can he borrow it?”

While helping Yu Mian organize his manuscript, Huo Ting unexpectedly found a familiar book tucked among the pages. It seemed that Yu Mian had accidentally carried it back with him.

A book that a certain fish had once dismissed as “too childish” and “not suitable for adults”.

“Ah? Huo Yan read it?!”

Yu Mian felt a full-body chill, as if his soul had just left his body.

If Huo Yan had read that ABO novel, he would have to offer his sincerest apologies to Aunt Inas.

“Not yet. He wants to, but he said he’d wait until you woke up to ask.”

Huo Ting replied with a smile.

Yu Mian: “…”

Hearing that, Yu Mian finally collapsed back down in relief, feeling his heart start beating again.

Huo Ting did that on purpose, didn’t he?!

He definitely had an idea of what kind of book it was.

But Yu Mian had never intended to hide it in the first place. Instead, he decided to feign complete ignorance.

His strategy: If Huo Ting didn’t ask, the fish wouldn’t tell; if Huo Ting asked, the fish would act surprised.

Anyway, in the interstellar era, no one could look up the meaning of ABO literature.

Still, as Yu Mian stared at the book in his hands, a book that could shake the entire universe, he found himself torn. In the end, he decided to lock it away in a safe and bring it back to Earth next time.

Technically, the safest option would be to burn it and destroy the evidence, but Yu Mian… just couldn’t bear to.

The price was a small issue. More importantly, it was a treasured gift from a friend who had connections with the manga artist.

After returning this time, amidst the anticipation of interstellar fish fans, Yu Mian accepted an invitation to teach an elective course on ancient Blue Star’s Huaxia literature at Waltz Academy in the new semester.

The moment this news broke, it sparked another wave of heated discussions.

Ever since Yu Mian had made a public appearance at that official press conference, officially revealing his identity as a mermaid and drawing the attention of the entire interstellar community to the Federation, every move of “A Bowl of Fish Soup Noodles” was watched by countless eyes.

But to many, this one-of-a-kind mermaid was indeed extraordinary.

Rather than exploiting his newfound universal fame for personal gain, he had instead announced at the press conference that he would donate a portion of his royalties to establish a literary foundation aimed at promoting literature across the universe.

This immediately won the hearts of countless literary enthusiasts across the universe.

Even those who had initially eyed this phenomenon-level popularity with jealousy were left speechless. After all, if they were in Yu Mian’s position, would they have been able to show such generosity?

Meanwhile, that one-of-a-kind IP crossover theme park was lavishly handing out free entrance tickets all year round, making it feel like an official invitation for all interstellar fish fans to party on the Federation Star.

No one had expected that after a period of seclusion, during which he never accepted any media interviews or commercial collaborations, Fish Soup Noodles would be successfully invited by Principal Charles to teach an elective course.

[So is it still possible to reapply for admission to Waltz Academy now? I’m crying to death. Who understands the gold content of this?! Seeing Teacher Fish Soup Noodles every week, jealousy is driving me mad.]

[Help, I can already foresee how insanely competitive the quotas for next semester’s interstellar exchange students at Waltz Academy will be. Strongly urging Principal Charles to increase this year’s quota for exchange students!]

[Can outsiders apply to audit the class? I want to buy the full set of books and get Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ autograph… (Too exhausted from envy.jpg)]

Aside from wailing in jealousy all over the star network, people also flooded the official accounts of prestigious academies across their respective star systems, frantically tagging them.

How come Waltz Academy managed to invite Fish Soup Noodles, but you all couldn’t?

Are you saying you’re not capable?! Outrageous.

This wave of hype indeed stirred up many academies in major star systems.

Previously, they all assumed the invitation had been unsuccessful . Who would have thought Waltz actually succeeded? If they could do it, why couldn’t we?

Many of these renowned academies had extremely strong financial resources.

As a result, a frenzy of Sky high teaching fee offers started circulating on the star network.

Among them, rumors said that the highest bid so far came from the Imperial Star Royal Academy, attempting to lure Fish Soup Noodles to teach at Imperial Star with sheer wealth.

The faculty and students of Waltz Academy, who had just been celebrating moments ago, were understandably stunned by this unexpected development.

[Wait, are you openly conspiring to steal our teacher right in front of us??? (Shocked to the point of speechlessness)]

[Teacher Fish Soup Noodles hasn’t even started teaching yet, and you’re already bidding to snatch him away? @Principal Charles, we absolutely cannot lose! Max out the budget! (Heartbroken.jpg)]

Are you treating us like we don’t exist?!

Just as the star network bidding war for teaching fees was about to spiral out of control, Fish Soup Noodles personally stepped in to defuse the situation, announcing that the teaching would be entirely for public welfare.

[A Bowl of Fish Soup Noodles V: I hope everyone stops bidding, or Principal Charles is really going to panic. “^-^” Also, this time, it’s a public welfare class, I’m not accepting any fees. And even if you can’t attend the offline class, you’ll still be able to read the related content when the new book is released~]

Principal Charles and the Waltz Academy official account quickly wiped their cold sweat and reposted Fish Soup Noodles latest StarBlog.

When they first invited Fish Soup Noodles, the popularity was already high, but they never imagined it would explode to this level.

The entire universe was now fighting to snatch him.

With that, Waltz Academy was officially crowned the luckiest institution in the entire interstellar space, to the point of making others envious beyond recognition.

[Hahaha, thank you, Principal, for investing wisely! Seizing the opportunity first was the winning move. I now declare us the happiest students in the entire universe!]

[Honestly, is there any chance Teacher Fish Soup Noodles could also teach a swimming elective? Learning to swim from a real mermaid… I can’t even imagine how incredible that would be.TwT]

[Fuck, the person above might actually be a genius?]

While the students of Waltz Academy were stirring up hatred across the star network, their proposal for a swimming class instantly amazed everyone.

However, this idea was quickly shot down by the collective:

[We disagree! A swimming class can’t be taken online. If we can’t have it, then no one else can either!]

It was the classic case of “not fearing scarcity, but fearing inequality.” They absolutely refused to let anyone else get the chance to be personally taught to swim by Teacher Fish Soup Noodles. T^T

[Wait, why is everyone only talking about offline classes? Isn’t the release of the new book the real highlight?! Teacher Fish Soup Noodles is finally publishing a new book, another blessing for all Fish fans!]

With the upcoming release of Fish Soup Noodles’ new book, the anticipation skyrocketed.

What would the new book be about?

Was “The Vast Immortal Path” not already enough to ignite enthusiasm for ancient Blue Star’s Huaxia culture?