“So, Huo Yan, you little brat, did you falsify military intelligence back then? Isn’t the aquarium perfectly fine?”
When Huo Yuejiang returned home, he had already prepared himself for the possibility that the aquarium in the study might have been thrown out by his grandson, Huo Ting.
After all, thinking back to that promise he made years ago, Huo Yuejiang now couldn’t help but start doubting himself. Could it really be that his memory was getting muddled with age?
If there truly were such a mermaid couple who saved his life, why was it that even after the entire secretariat combed through the records of all sea voyages from that time, there wasn’t a single matching entry?
Was owing the Huo family a favor something people would avoid like the plague?
But every time he looked at the beautiful conch shell he had brought back with his own hands, Huo Yuejiang couldn’t bring himself to throw it away.
It felt as if throwing away the conch shell would sever the last connection with that young mermaid couple.
“Ah? I didn’t report false information! It was my cousin who wanted to throw it away in the first place!”
Faced with his grandfather’s accusation, Huo Yan immediately protested.
At that time, his cousin had been so unreasonable!
“But isn’t it being kept so well now? Look, all the little fish inside are lively and energetic.”
Huo Yuejiang looked at Huo Ting in confusion.
‘Had this kid suddenly changed his mind?’
“I just wanted to keep it. No other reason.”
Huo Ting avoided his grandfather’s gaze nonchalantly.
“…?”
Knowing his grandson’s temperament, Huo Yuejiang immediately sensed something unusual.
But after a while, he just sighed.
“Well, I’m just an old man now, and I’ve become muddled about many things…”
Hearing this, Huo Yan, who was eating, couldn’t help but look at his grandfather.
“So, Grandpa, where did that conch shell come from?”
Every time he asked Secretary Hals or Qiao Ni about the story behind it, they always hesitated and refused to tell him.
Now that he was asking his grandfather directly, surely he would get an answer this time!
“Uh… it was from a pair of benefactors who saved your grandpa.”
Huo Yuejiang glanced at Huo Yan, then at Huo Ting, whose movements paused momentarily. Choosing his words carefully, he provided a selective explanation.
After all, Huo Yan was still young.
“Benefactors? There were actually people who saved Grandpa? Then they must be super powerful…”
Huo Yan was astonished.
In his eyes, although his grandfather might often joke and play around with him, on the battlefield, he was an invincible hero!
“Back then, I accidentally ventured into an unfamiliar deep-sea area while fishing…”
Under Huo Yan’s eager gaze, Huo Yuejiang couldn’t help but start reminiscing habitually.
After all, every time he told this story to Huo Ting, the guy always kept a poker face, offering no emotional feedback whatsoever to his grandfather!
But when Huo Yuejiang reached the part about the mermaid couple, the atmosphere at the dining table suddenly shifted.
“At the time, I thought the ship was definitely going to sink, and my only regret was not dying on the battlefield! But when I woke up, I saw a pair of mermaids…”
“Mer-mermaids ..”
Not only did Huo Yan stare at his grandfather in amazement, but even Huo Ting paused and looked up to meet his grandfather’s gaze.
To Huo Yuejiang, however, this reaction signaled another round of collective disbelief.
After all, every time he recounted this story, people always questioned whether mermaids even existed in this world!
“Ah, forget it! Let’s drop the subject. None of you believe me anyway…”
“No way! I want to hear it! What were they like? Were they good-looking? What were their personalities like? And where did they go afterward?!”
Just as Huo Yuejiang was about to give up the topic in frustration, Huo Yan suddenly bolted over to his grandfather like a cannonball.
Huo Yuejiang: ?
It was the first time he had been so enthusiastically invited to finish this story, and he was a bit taken aback.
“Of course, they were very good-looking… And that young couple, their character was exceptionally pure and kind.”
Huo Yuejiang prided himself on his ability to judge people.
Having weathered so many storms in his life, he had seen all kinds of people come and go.
But that couple, even after learning about his identity, had treated him with genuine kindness. It was a rare, pure friendship across generations.
In fact, even if the younger generations of the two families didn’t have that intention, wouldn’t it be nice to be just friends?
Thinking of this, Huo Yuejiang couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
It was a pity that no one believed his memories.
Even the deep-sea area he had accidentally ventured into seemed like a dream that didn’t exist.
What Huo Yuejiang didn’t notice when he sighed was that Huo Ting beside him suddenly started stroking the pearl in his palm.
Aquatic race…
Shedding scales.
And seemed to enjoy staying inside that conch shell.
“Cousin? Cousin!”
Huo Yan called out to Huo Ting several times, but his cousin remained silent and lost in thought.
When everyone turned their eyes to him, Huo Ting finally looked up.
“Then why did you want to throw away the aquarium in the first place, Cousin?! That conch shell was a gift from Grandpa’s benefactors!”
Although their grandfather had deliberately left out part of the story, Huo Yan immediately accused Huo Ting with righteous indignation.
Did his cousin even realize how frightened Yu Mian had been at the time?
By this logic, wasn’t it possible that Yu Mian was closely connected to the mermaid couple who had saved their grandfather?
Huo Yan’s accusation seemed aimed at Huo Ting, but it made Huo Yuejiang look rather embarrassed as well.
The reason Huo Ting wanted to throw it away… wasn’t it because of his constant talk about the arranged marriage tied to that conch shell?
“Please, keep it down, young master. You haven’t even finished your homework yet…”
Unable to stand it any longer, Qiao Ni tried to intervene, fearing that Huo Yan might step on Huo Ting’s sore spot and cause an explosion.
After all, arranged marriages weren’t exactly something people expected to exist in the interstellar era.
Back then, the mermaid couple had joked about it, but the old man had taken it seriously…
“Ahem…”
Caught in the embarrassment, Huo Yuejiang glanced at Huo Ting, only to find his grandson quietly avoiding his gaze and looking away for the first time.
“I’m done eating.”
Even the figure disappearing up the stairs seemed unusually hurried for the first time.
“Sigh…”
Huo Yuejiang looked at the sight of both grandsons running off with grievance. Even at his age, he had no status in his own home!
That night, Huo Ting stood on the bedroom balcony, staring for a long time at the new small note in his hand.
—It was really scary… Could you please give me a heads-up next time? ( ≧Д≦)
The night breeze made the note sway gently.
The crying face drawn in a simple doodle seemed almost animated, as if capturing the other person’s still-shaken expression after being frightened by his grandfather.
Meanwhile, Yu Mian in the study had just finished posting the latest update of “Reborn”. Leaning on the desk, he let out a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, today’s update hadn’t been delayed.
Huo Ting’s grandfather had actually returned?
And why did he keep staring at his conch shell?
Yu Mian moved to the aquarium and examined the conch shell that had accompanied him in this vast interstellar world. The tiny flecks of golden light on it were indeed stunning.
No matter what, just looking at this familiar conch shell always brought him peace of mind.
It was as if his parents were still working in some corner of the ocean in this world.
But as Yu Mian kept staring at the aquarium, his eyes suddenly widened slightly. Reaching into the water and fumbling around for a while, he finally found a new little pearl.
“The second one!”
It must have been when he hurriedly jumped into the aquarium earlier and accidentally bumped his fish tail again. The pain must have caused him to tear up.
The tear pearl slid in the water and quietly rested beside the conch shell, which was why he had only just discovered it now.
Looking at the pearl in his palm, Yu Mian noticed how beautiful the tear-pearl’s color was.
In fact, he had no particular use for it. After all, according to the little system, the purity of his mental power was almost the highest in the universe.
“I’ll just save this one to give to Huo Ting before I leave…”
If that guy’s mental sea got sick again in the future, this pearl might help a little, right?
After all, it was thanks to his help that he had been able to smoothly start a business in this otherworld.
Staring at the moon outside the window, Yu Mian hesitated again.
In fact, if it weren’t for fear of embarrassment, it might be better to thank him in person.
But what if he scared Huo Ting?
Better to leave quietly.
Meanwhile, “Reborn” was still in its fiery serialization period.
Especially in the latest major plotline, where the protagonist, Pei Yan, chose a different turning point in life for his school’s anniversary performance, which turned out to feature the crossover content of “Eternal Night Rose”. This left countless fans of Eternal Night Rose delighted.
They never expected that even after “Eternal Night Rose” had ended for so long, they’d find Easter eggs in Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ new book!
Was this the benefit of having the same author?
In the book, Pei Yan played the role of Ariel, a beautiful and extremely arrogant young noble of the Bart clan. Ariel’s father, Grand Duke Brixen, had been one of the biggest opponents of the Blood Moon Reforms in history.
The five-act play used the life of this only son of the duke, who fell from the pinnacle of wealth and luxury, as a microcosm of the tumultuous process of the Blood Moon Revolution.
Particularly in the scene where Ariel’s father was assassinated, the once-glorious Blood Moon regime teetered on the brink of collapse. On stage, Pei Yan perfectly captured the young Ariel’s despair, panic, and crumbling faith.
Accompanied by perfectly timed lighting and music, the audience below was completely immersed, watching the proud rose of the Bartians choose to commit suicide in the end
When the play ended and Pei Yan, with blood on his lips, bowed to the roaring applause, he didn’t notice Pei Shen in the audience clutching his chest in confusion.
It was the first time Pei Shen had seen his older brother Pei Yan perform formally, yet his heart ached as though he had witnessed all of it firsthand before.
After the performance, Pei Shen threw himself into his brother Pei Yan’s arms.
Pei Yan, however, merely absentmindedly patted his younger brother’s head, preoccupied with whether his performance this time had been good enough to catch Director Welch’s attention again!
Sure enough, after this performance went viral on the star network, Director Welch noticed the sensitivity and sharpness in Pei Yan’s portrayal of Ariel in the trending video.
Readers of “Reborn” were equally exhilarated as they reached this major school celebration plotline.
[Honestly, I feel like Pei Yan is so perfect for this role. Did he really draw on his emotions from the end of his last life to play Ariel? And when you think about it, doesn’t this role resonate strangely with Pei Yan’s ending in his previous life?]
[But isn’t Pei Shen’s reaction even more shocking? His heart actually reacted to Pei Yan’s performance…could Teacher Fish Soup Noodles be hinting that the younger brother will regain memories of his past life?! QAQ]
[If the younger brother, who’s still a little puppy now, recalls the end of the last life, I can’t even imagine how exciting the plot will get. Will he lock his brother down tightly?]
Especially since this lifetime’s Pei Shen, due to various misunderstandings caused by Pei Yan’s various actions after his rebirth, relied and trusted his older brother unconditionally.
But the reborn Pei Yan was calmly planning how to rechart his life, even deciding that once the time was right, he would leave the Pei family without hesitation, never wanting to fight with Pei Shen over the family inheritance again.
This obvious dissonance had readers following updates on the edge of their seats!
[This sour and refreshing feeling reminds me of my feelings when chasing updates of “Contract Marriage”. Before the divorce, I couldn’t wait for it. Once they divorced, I cried for them to remarry! (shivering)]
[Exactly! Right now, I’m madly looking forward to Pei Shen’s reaction after Pei Yan voluntarily gives up the family property and leaves. But once he really leaves, I’ll cry asking Teacher Fish Soup Noodles when he’s coming back… QAQ]
