MASG chapter 185: Extra 25 (END)

◎ “I don’t want to behave. I want to reproduce.” Mo An’s eyes darkened as he gazed deeply at his lover. “How about I take you into the sea?” ◎

A fish tail rose and fell in the seawater.

Xia Yu pressed a hand against Mo An’s dorsal fin and reminded him softly, “Don’t splash so loudly. It wouldn’t be good if you woke Mom and Dad.”

“They won’t. They’re happy today and drank some alcohol,” Mo An said, though he still unconsciously slowed down. A sea breeze blew by, and Mo An’s tail fin spread out across the surface like a small fan, standing behind Xia Yu. Xia Yu stroked the wound on the translucent tail fin and still couldn’t help feeling sad. His expression immediately darkened.

“It would be nice if it could grow back…” Xia Yu poked the fish bone at the tip of the fin.

“Don’t touch my fin rays so casually. They’re very sensitive there.” Mo An quickly pulled his tail back and curled it skillfully in front of his chest. “Sigh, I’ll just hug my poor self.”

Xia Yu laughed. “Poor? When have I ever made you pitiful?”

“I was pitiful whenever you were holding A’Manqi. All I could do was sadly hug my chubby fish tail.” Mo An said it on purpose. Those were all things A’Manqi had said before, and now he was using them to act pitiful. Of course Xia Yu could tell he was pretending. No tiny detail could escape Xia Yu’s eyes.

The fragrance grew richer, as if an invisible fish tail gently soothing Xia Yu’s skin. He dove into the water and swam toward Mo An through the quiet bubbles, then simply sat astride Mo An’s fish tail.

“Hm?” Mo An immediately smiled.

In the past, Xia Yu usually sat on his waist or lay on his back. Rarely had he straddled the most sensitive section of his tail like this. After turning over, Mo An floated on his back facing the sky. The powerful tip of his tail flicked up from behind like a third hand, teasingly patting Xia Yu’s butt and lower back.

“Hey, behave yourself.” Xia Yu kissed his chest and skillfully left a bite mark.

“I don’t want to behave. I want to reproduce.” Mo An’s eyes darkened as he gazed deeply at his lover. “How about I take you into the sea?”

Xia Yu knowingly asked, “Into the sea for what?”

“To reproduce,” Mo An answered bluntly. “Don’t underestimate a merman during breeding season. We can turn fish eggs into fertilized eggs.”

“Not today…” Xia Yu still shook his head. “Mom and Dad are still on the boat. If they wake up and discover two people are missing, they’ll definitely call the police. That would be troublesome. I don’t want them to be frightened. And besides… we’re in a virtual world right now. You don’t want Nuwa to watch the whole thing either, do you?”

Nuwa: [Yes, I know exactly what you’re doing.]

Only then did Mo An notice that Xia Yu’s wristband had been running the entire time. “Oh my god…”

Nuwa: [I don’t want to either, but the entire virtual world is under my surveillance. Although my database currently contains no information about humans and mermaids reproducing together, as someone thirsty for knowledge, this is one thing I really don’t want to know for now. Please, I’m begging you two, get back on shore already. I don’t want to have to censor you into mosaics…]

“Alright, we’ll go back up now.” Mo An reluctantly agreed, but before truly returning to shore, there was still one more thing he needed to do.

The next morning, Zhang Mingqiao and Xia Li discovered that all the crab traps they had lowered the night before were completely full.

“See? What did I tell you? My bait formula is absolutely flawless!” Zhang Mingqiao straightened his back, finally winning a round.

Xia Li struggled to lift a cage she could barely carry. “I can’t even count how many there are… Looks like all that fishing knowledge you’ve been studying wasn’t wasted. Even though you didn’t catch anything yesterday, today you’ve come back loaded!”

“Of course. And what does this prove?” Zhang Mingqiao was already started taking photos. A catch like this had to be shown to everyone he knew. “Knowledge is power!”

“Then I want crab soup this morning. We can’t waste these ingredients.” Xia Xiaoxiao first praised her father’s skills, then winked at Xia Yu and Mo An.

The two could only nod. That’s right—it was them. They had spent the whole previous night catching little crabs in the shallow sea and carrying them back one by one. It had exhausted them.

With so many crabs, the family of five made them their staple food aboard the boat. From morning till night, it was one crab feast after another. Sea crabs were a common food for mermaids. In his mermaid form, Mo An ate them shell and all. After becoming human, he had to learn how to pick out the meat.

Fortunately, Xia Yu was dexterous and always managed to peel out perfectly intact crab legs for him.

Zhang Mingqiao peeled several crabs for Xia Li as well. Watching the children of the two families get along so well, the last trace of worry in his heart finally disappeared.

At first, he had worried that Mo An would never truly become family with Xia Yu and Xiaoxiao. Looking at them now, they had already become the most important people in each other’s lives.

When the family outing at sea finally ended, Xia Yu selected many fresh sea crabs, cleaned them, and packed them into plastic bags.

“Mo An, Xiaoxiao, are you ready?”

“Ready, ready!” Mo An and Xia Xiaoxiao came running downstairs after dressing up. The two of them were actually wearing their senior-year high school uniforms.

Their parents had kept the uniforms in a closet, and the backs were covered in signatures from their classmates. Xia Yu wore the same uniform as well. Together, the three of them went to the backyard to get their bicycles.

This time, Mo An could ride very well. Instead of a schoolbag, the basket on his bicycle held a bag full of crabs.

“Let’s go! Off to school!” Xia Xiaoxiao happily let go of her handlebars.

“Xiaoxiao, slow down!” Xia Yu immediately chased after her. Just as they were about to reach the next intersection, they saw familiar figures.

“Du Meng!” Mo An also let go of his handlebars and waved with both hands.

Du Meng and Chen Minghao had parked their bicycles beside the traffic light. After experiencing the college entrance exams and university life, everyone had tacitly agreed to put on their high school uniforms today.

Du Meng was still the same as before. He had successfully gotten into the university on the island and could go home every day. In the future, all he had to do was take life easy and become a happy supermarket heir.

Chen Minghao, however, was not nearly as relaxed. He had gotten into a prestigious university, and the moment they met he shook his head and sighed.

“Sigh, I used to think senior year was hard. Turns out if you choose the right major, every day feels like the college entrance exam.”

“Why are you so down? That’s not like you!” Mo An first patted Chen Minghao, then wrapped an arm around Du Meng’s broad shoulders and said sincerely, “Bro, I really missed you…”

Du Meng was emotional by nature. The sour feeling in his nose immediately overwhelmed him, and he choked up.

“Boss, what are you doing?! Getting all sentimental the moment we meet! We haven’t even been apart for more than half a year!”

“Yeah, only half a year…” Mo An rubbed his nose as well. “How come you still haven’t lost weight?”

“I can’t! My family owns a supermarket. Let’s stop being so emotional. I seriously can’t handle it. At graduation and on the day after the college entrance exam… I cried more than anyone in the class.”

Just remembering that day made Du Meng’s eyes redden.

“Let’s go, let’s go. First we’ll visit our homeroom teachers, then come to my house! I’ve already told my parents. Some classmates are coming over tonight to play games all night long!”

“Let’s go to school first, then stay up all night!” Xia Yu joined their sentimental group.

School should have been on break, but there was actually a tutoring class running, and the security guards at the gate were still on duty. As Xia Xiaoxiao rode to the entrance, she remembered exactly how she had felt on her first day here.

Just as the group was about to enter, they were stopped.

“You lot! What are you doing?” the security guard asked.

Xia Yu’s mind worked quickly. “We’re students here. We’re going back to class.”

“What class? One look and I can tell you’re not current students. Graduates, right?” The guard’s eyes were sharp. “A bunch of you have been coming back to see your teachers lately. I’ve already caught several groups. Don’t think wearing uniforms will fool me.”

“Yes, yes, we’re here to see our teachers.” Mo An quickly apologized. “May we go in?”

“Go ahead. But don’t try this during regular class sessions.” The guard waved them through. He was actually quite happy that these children wanted to revisit their alma mater.

The five immediately dashed toward the sports field and rushed into the teaching building like a whirlwind.

Since they had been in different classes, they split up to find their own teachers. Mo An and Du Meng headed straight for Chen Ailu’s class in the first-year section. Before they even reached the classroom, they heard her familiar high-pitched voice.

“You are the worst class I’ve ever taught!”

“Listen to that, listen to that. Same line as always.” Du Meng stuck out his tongue. “She used to scold us exactly like that.”

“And she was right to scold us. Only our homeroom teacher worked so hard to keep scolding us.” Mo An leaned against the wall and obediently waited for class to end.

When the bell rang, he suddenly remembered the first time he had heard that bell. He had actually jumped off a building while holding Xia Yu!

Chen Ailu walked out carrying her lesson plans. Before she could clearly see who was there, she first smelled a strong… seafood scent.

“Mo An? Du Meng?” Chen Ailu adjusted her glasses.

“Hello, Teacher!” Mo An and Du Meng bowed simultaneously.

“Good, good, very good. University is on break now, right?” Chen Ailu stood by the wall talking with them, delighted. “How’s university life? Have you gotten used to it? No one chases you for homework anymore. Doesn’t that feel wonderful?”

“Not really…” Mo An lowered his head. “I’ve actually had a hard time adjusting to nobody reminding me to do my homework. During the time I was away… I missed you a lot. Sometimes I regret not doing my homework properly back then. Compared to university, I think I preferred having someone constantly pushing me.”

Du Meng stared at Mo An with wide eyes.

Boss, did you secretly take some advanced sentimentality course? Talking like this makes me seem completely clueless about social etiquette.

At first Chen Ailu was simply happy, but the more she listened, the more emotional she became.

“Alright, alright. Teacher appreciates the thought. Whether it’s high school or university, they’re only stages in your lives. Cherish your time and make the journey worthwhile.”

“Mm, don’t worry. I’ve learned how to cherish things now.” After speaking, Mo An handed over the plastic bag he was carrying. “This is a gift for you. Please accept it. It’s really delicious.”

Once the gift was handed over, he worried Chen Ailu might return it. If that happened, his good intentions would go to waste.

So Mo An came up with a brilliant plan. After giving the gift, he immediately grabbed Du Meng and ran downstairs. Teacher Chen wore high heels during class—there was no way she could catch them.

As they ran, they heard Chen Ailu roaring from upstairs.

“The crabs are still alive! They’re escaping!”

Things were much the same on Xia Yu and Xia Xiaoxiao’s side. After meeting the teacher who had guided them through three years of high school, they felt there was still so much left unsaid.

After everyone had visited their teachers, they gathered once more at the entrance.

Chen Minghao laughed so hard he nearly doubled over.

“Xia Yu, you’re too adorable. You actually gave your teacher a whole bag of crabs?”

“I caught them myself.” Xia Yu thought to himself, No one dislikes crabs. No one.

Mo An immediately threw an arm around Chen Minghao’s shoulders, nearly forgetting this was still his secret romantic rival.

“I gave my teacher a bag of crabs too. Why don’t you call me adorable?”

“You’re adorable too. Your whole family is adorable.” Chen Minghao absentmindedly praised them.

Du Meng joined in. “What about me, brother?”

“You’re the most adorable of all, alright?” Chen Minghao shoved him lightly. “Come on, let’s get to Du Meng’s house. I can’t wait to play games all night!”

“Hold on, I still have more.” Mo An opened his backpack and pulled out another bag. “We’re eating crabs tonight. Tell Du Meng’s parents not to cook.”

Xia Yu also took out another bag from his backpack.

“I still have several more here. If I’d known… I would’ve caught fewer last night.”

The next second, Xia Xiaoxiao cried out in alarm.

“What did you use to carry them? Don’t you know the crabs have chewed holes through the plastic bags?”

No sooner had she spoken than both bags ripped open with a loud tear.

Two bags full of live crabs spilled onto the road and immediately began their great escape in every direction.

The five of them had no choice but to lower their heads and start catching them. There were screams, laughter, and endless commotion, making the entire street lively.

The security guard happened to walk out of the school gate and shook his head helplessly.

These graduates… how come they still haven’t grown up?

The orange sunset cast a gentle filter over Penghu City.

This was their Penglai Paradise.

——-The End ——-

Acargoreng: And that’s the end of the story 💕

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