Chapter 4: Third Brother
As a merman, Fei Zhiyan naturally knew there was only one way to turn a fishtail into legs: the awakening of spiritual power.
The merman race was a species born with spiritual power. However, they were extremely rare, and since they seemed to have a natural preference for life in the deep sea, they existed only in human legends.
Unfortunately, this reclusive lifestyle still couldn’t save them from being hunted and slaughtered by profit-driven humans.
As the sole surviving merman, Fei Zhiyan felt no grief for the deaths of his kin. He simply buried those humans at the bottom of the sea when he came ashore.
Most mermen awaken their spiritual power before the age of three or four. The earlier it was activated, the more outstanding their talent. Fei Zhiyan, on the other hand, had awakened his spiritual power at the moment of his birth.
So, upon seeing Nuonuo’s chubby little feet, Fei Zhiyan raised an eyebrow.
He actually awakened his spiritual power?
But when Fei Zhiyan scanned him with his own spiritual power, he found that Nuonuo’s spiritual sea was a barren wasteland… In short, he couldn’t detect any trace of spiritual power at all.
Fei Zhiyan watched as Nuonuo hugged his feet and giggled. His expression cooled slightly, but he didn’t say anything more.
It seems this has nothing to do with spiritual power. Perhaps it’s just an incomplete experiment, and the fishtail simply disappeared.
Fei Zhiyan had never considered that Nuonuo, like himself, was a genuine merman. After all, no one knew better than him how rare the birth of a natural merman was. He even felt that, even without the human massacre, the mermen’s inherent difficulty in procreation would have led them to extinction on their own.
Unaware of Fei Zhiyan’s thoughts, Nuonuo hugged one of his little legs to his chest, just as he used to do with his fishtail, and tilted his head to stare at it curiously.
His legs were chubby, and his little feet were round and smooth, looking like well-risen white dough. As Nuonuo’s gaze fell upon them, his five little toes wiggled uncontrollably, making his hands itch to pinch them.
Unfortunately, his foot was like a separate creature. Before Nuonuo’s little hand could grab it, the foot lifted from one side and moved to the other.
“Ya?”
Lying on the bed, Nuonuo stared in confusion at his little foot, which was now waving in the air, out of his reach.
He reached for his little foot again. But this foot was even more nimble than his fishtail. It swung back and forth until Nuonuo, in a fit of pique, took a bite of his own foot.
The pain instantly shot to Nuonuo’s brain. He let out a whimper and his lips puckered in grievance.
“Pa, ooh-ya…”
Fei Zhiyan had just put on his glasses when he turned to see the little one’s foolish act of chewing on his own foot and hurting himself. He closed his usually cold eyes for a long moment before finally reaching out and picking the child up.
“Stop crying. Let’s go down and eat.”
Fei Zhiyan, who had absolutely no experience with kids, sounded unusually cold even when comforting a child, and he very stiffly changed the subject.
Fortunately, Nuonuo was a silly little cub. He gave a big-hearted “ya” and his little body immediately wiggled with excitement.
“Mi’k, ya!”
Nuonuo, who was already able to imitate speech, lifted his little face, his eyes sparkling with anticipation as he looked at Fei Zhiyan.
Papa, can we drink that sweet milk from yesterday!
Seeing how easily he had been sidetracked, completely forgetting the pain in his foot, Fei Zhiyan let out a soft scoff.
He had never met anyone, human or merman, as silly as this little one.
Downstairs.
Large swathes of sunlight had already eagerly filled the room. The gray-and-black-toned, slightly empty villa now had a touch of warmth.
At the dining table, a little boy with chestnut-colored, slightly curly hair sat there. He was dressed in neat and clean overalls, his pupils unfocused as he stared at his plate, eating quietly by himself.
The chubby chef came out of the kitchen and placed a bowl of dessert soup next to the little boy. “Today’s soup is golden corn chowder. I added extra sugar, just how you like it.”
The little boy’s expression remained unchanged. He nodded and politely said, “Thank you.”
The chef said it was nothing, adjusted his hat, and turned back to the kitchen.
The chef had been working here for almost a year. The Fei family not only paid generously but also treated people with unfailing politeness, making the chef, who had often been mistreated by previous employers, frequently marvel at the difference between people.
It was no wonder Mr. Fei had become the President of the Yunzhou Council at such a young age. Just look at the family’s upbringing, the chef thought, clicking his tongue.
However, if there was one drawback, it was that the house felt a bit too empty. Once, when the chef came to make a late-night snack, he was nearly scared to death by the sound of the wind whistling past the windows upstairs. Luckily, young master Luo had come down in his pajamas and explained it to him, which put the chef’s mind at ease.
The chef was just about to tidy up the kitchen when he heard a slightly magnetic voice from behind him. “Please prepare a bottle of formula and a steak.”
The chef nodded in agreement, washed his hands, and got to work.
In the living room.
Nuonuo was placed on a chair, but the chair was too low for him, and only the top half of his round little head was visible above the table. It was his first time coming downstairs with his papa, and the spacious living room immediately piqued his curiosity. His bright black eyes darted around, taking everything in.
Soon, his eyes met those of the only other little boy at the table.
Although Nuonuo had a poor memory, the moment he saw the boy, he recognized him at once. It was his third brother!
“Ya, Bwo-da, ya!”
Nuonuo’s eyes lit up. He stared intently at his third brother, wanting to get closer to him.
Nuonuo’s newly formed little feet kicked vigorously as he tried to climb down from the high chair to sit and eat with his brother.
Unfortunately, his legs were too short. After trying for a long time, he still couldn’t reach the ground.
Giving up, Nuonuo could only continue to babble at his third brother.
Opposite Nuonuo, Fei Luo ate his meal quietly. He seemed completely unfazed by the presence of a new child in the house; even his gaze was as placid as ever.
Nuonuo paid no mind to Fei Luo’s indifference. He just assumed he was too short and his head was blocked by the table, so his third brother couldn’t see him.
“Bwo-da, ya!”
Nuonuo tried to project his little milky voice, hoping it would travel through the table and reach his brother.
“What’s all the noise about so early in the morning?”
Fei Zhiyan returned from the kitchen and walked into the dining room, his brow slightly furrowed.
The little cub was so tiny, but his voice was not small at all. The entire dining room was filled with his babbling. Fei Zhiyan had been forced to listen to him for quite a while before he even got close, though he couldn’t understand a word.
Seeing his papa approach, Nuonuo happily flashed his little teeth and eagerly wiggled in his chair.
“Pa—Bwo-bwo, ya!”
This was the first time Fei Zhiyan had heard the child say two syllables so clearly. But what he shouted was “brother.”
A touch of coldness entered Fei Zhiyan’s eyes. He curled his lips into a sneer and reached out to pick Nuonuo up.
Having been carried around by Fei Zhiyan like this before, Nuonuo was already used to it. He even happily swung his little feet in mid-air, completely oblivious to the coldness in Fei Zhiyan’s eyes.
“So happy?” Fei Zhiyan watched the child’s joyful wiggling, his tone laced with a faint chill.
Although Fei Zhiyan was only raising this child for amusement and even planned to use him to lure out the mastermind from Baizhou… that didn’t mean he couldn’t get angry.
Especially when, just last night, the child had clung to him, grabbing his clothes and crying, refusing to let him go. And now, the very next day, he was shaking his little head and looking for his brother.
Even someone as cold-hearted as Fei Zhiyan felt that he had held him for a night for nothing.
The little heartless thing.
“Baya?”
Nuonuo looked at the somber eyes behind Fei Zhiyan’s gold-rimmed glasses and tilted his head in confusion, as if he didn’t understand what was wrong with his papa.
Across the table, Fei Luo, who was holding a spoon and drinking his soup, finally showed a flicker of emotion in his vacant eyes. He looked up at the child dangling in mid-air and blinked his large, slightly empty eyes.
Did this child make Father angry?
But Fei Luo didn’t dwell on it. After all, it had little to do with him. He quickly lowered his head again and continued to drink his overly sweet corn chowder.
There was no warmth in Fei Zhiyan’s eyes. He wondered if he had been too nice to this child, to the point where the little cub didn’t even know what fear was.
Just as the atmosphere was growing colder, the chef walked in with a tray, holding the prepared bottle of formula.
“Mr. Fei, your steak is ready, and here’s the formula…”
The chef was mid-sentence when he saw the child being held by Fei Zhiyan. The child looked to be about one or two years old, with a chubby, tender little face and eyes like black grapes. He looked at the chef with an innocent and pure gaze, appearing well-behaved and endearing.
The chef’s heart warmed at the sight of the child, especially such a beautiful one. He quickly put down the tray and stepped forward.
“Mr. Fei, a child’s skin is delicate. You can’t hold him like that. It would be troublesome if he got hurt.”
Hearing this, Fei Zhiyan shot him a cold glare, sending a chill straight down the chef’s spine.
Swallowing hard, the chef thought to himself that he had really overstepped his bounds. The man before him was the highest official in Yunzhou, a council president who had risen to a high position at a young age. Who was he to say anything?
Remembering the butler’s frequent reminders not to meddle in things that weren’t his business, the chef was filled with regret. He quickly said, “I’m so sorry, Mr. Fei. I just have a quick tongue.”
Fei Zhiyan’s brow was furrowed, but he didn’t say anything more. He simply placed Nuonuo back on the chair.
Straightening his cuffs, Fei Zhiyan’s voice was somewhat flat. “It’s fine. It was my fault for not controlling my temper.”
The chubby chef was a big-hearted person. Hearing Fei Zhiyan being so polite, he immediately waved his hands and said with a smile that it was nothing. He turned and went back to the kitchen. After a moment’s thought, he decided to heat up some buns.
Nuonuo sat on the chair, swinging his short little legs and drinking from his bottle with gurgling sounds. However, every few sips, the little one would sneak a peek at Fei Zhiyan.
Nuonuo’s big, round eyes seemed full of confusion. He tilted his head and stared at Fei Zhiyan, almost forgetting to drink his milk.
Under Nuonuo’s innocent gaze, Fei Zhiyan ate his meal with a cold expression, lost in thought.
In the quiet, the scraping sound of a chair against the floor drew the little one’s attention.
Fei Luo stood up and said softly to Fei Zhiyan with his head lowered, “Father, I’m going to school now.”
Fei Zhiyan gave a slight nod.
Fei Luo picked up his small backpack from the side and walked out the main door in silence.
Nuonuo watched his third brother leave. Not understanding, he pointed a little finger at him for his papa to see. “Bwo-da, ya, gone!”
Third brother is gone!
Nuonuo looked outside with a worried expression on his little face.
Seeing the little thing so concerned about this brother he had only just met, Fei Zhiyan put down his utensils without any expression and tossed the napkin he had used to wipe his mouth into the trash.
Seeing that his papa had stopped eating, Nuonuo let out a little “ya” and blinked.
He looked down at his own bottle, then reached out his little hand and offered it to his papa.
“Pa, eat ya!”
This is Nuonuo’s food, for Papa to eat!
