Chapter 44
Xia Yi didn’t dare to look in Ouyang’s direction. He was afraid to meet the man’s dark, deep eyes; he would think of Ouyang’s kindness to him.
But this was wrong.
Ouyang had sold him. If he knew there was his cub in Xia Yi’s belly, he would definitely sell it too!
He couldn’t let Ouyang know!
Ouyang Xiaoli’s gaze had been fixed tightly on Xia Yi the whole time. Seeing Xia Yi’s evasive eyes, his chest ached so much he couldn’t breathe.
But he quickly calmed down.
As far as he knew, Tang Si and Xiao Mo had also come to the Silver Sea Empire today. So, Ouyang Xiaoli had sent them a message earlier, saying a few words.
They had responded that they understood.
Xia Yi was so anxious he almost cried. He gripped the Guard Officer’s sleeve tightly. “There are bad people! I saw the bad person who sold me!”
The Guard Officer immediately scanned the surroundings vigilantly.
He led Xia Yi towards a crowded area while quickly starting to send a signal using his optical computer. Suddenly, the crowd surged, and he stumbled!
By the time he reacted.
Xia Yi was no longer behind him!
The Guard Officer calmed down quickly and reported the situation to the General. People were being dispatched from there. He hung up the signal and immediately started searching!
It was all his fault for being careless.
The ones who bumped into him were precisely Xiao Mo and Tang Si. They had disguised themselves as ordinary nobles of the Silver Sea Empire and bumped into him following the boss’s orders. Everything went very smoothly. Following that, they quickly evaded the search of the Silver Sea Empire soldiers and returned to the Underground City. During this time, Xia Yi had not been very cooperative.
He even bit Ouyang’s wrist!
Inside the Underground City, Xia Yi was back in the familiar place. It was the same room, the same living room, and the same familiar people.
He sat quietly on the sofa, protecting his slightly protruding belly. It was just a slight bump, not very obvious yet.
He looked timidly at the few people around him.
Hearing the news about Xia Yi, Ke Da rushed over without stopping. At this moment, four people stood in the living room, their gazes all falling on the mermaid’s belly.
Ouyang Xiaoli slowly walked forward.
Xia Yi subconsciously shrank back, closing his eyes nervously. He seemed very afraid of the man, and his body even started to tremble slightly. Every part of him screamed resistance.
Ouyang Xiaoli stopped in his tracks.
The others were also stunned, looking unexpectedly in the boss’s direction. What was going on? Why did Xia Yi look very afraid of the boss?
Was the boss some ferocious beast?
Ouyang Xiaoli’s eyes turned red. He slowly squatted down and carefully extended his palm, covering the little mermaid’s belly.
Xia Yi opened his eyes in panic.
He covered his belly, glaring at the man, and said fiercely, “N-No, it’s not yours.”
The moment his voice fell, the atmosphere in the living room changed instantly. Everyone held their breath, silently looking at the silent boss.
Ke Da’s eyes were moist.
He brought over a bowl of potato soup.
Xia Yi swallowed. He very boldly knocked the bowl over. The steaming hot soup spilled all over the floor, still emitting white mist!
Ke Da looked at Xia Yi blankly.
Xia Yi said angrily, “I won’t eat this!”
“Xia Yi wants to eat chocolate and braised pork ribs. And lots of apples and bananas! Nutrient solution tastes terrible, and potato soup tastes terrible too!”
Actually, Xia Yi was very nervous inside. He said this on purpose. He deliberately threw a tantrum and wasted food to anger them, just so they would send him back. Before, he wouldn’t dare do this because he knew people in the Underground City cherished food very much.
“Xia Yi doesn’t want to stay here. Send me back quickly. Bro… Brother Song Chengbing will be very worried if he doesn’t see me.”
Xia Yi continued to say loudly.
Ouyang Xiaoli blinked his sore eyes. He took a deep breath, and when he looked up, his expression had returned to normal. He turned to Xiao Mo and the others.
“You guys go back first. I’ll handle things here.”
“No!”
Xia Yi refused loudly.
“I don’t want to be with you, big bad guy. I want to go back to Brother Song Chengbing!” Xia Yi started throwing a tantrum, throwing whatever he could reach at Ouyang Xiaoli!
He cried, “I don’t want to stay here. I want to go back…”
“Boohoo, Brother…”
Ke Da’s eyes also turned red. He walked up to Xia Yi and hugged him. “…Xia Yi, don’t you like Boss Ouyang anymore?”
“Boohoo, Brother…”
Xia Yi choked intermittently.
Ke Da felt terrible. He released Xia Yi and looked at the boss again. The boss was expressionless, but Ke Da knew his heart was cutting like a knife.
He had witnessed how hard the boss had searched for Xia Yi in these two months.
This result was fatal to the boss.
“You all go out,” Ouyang Xiaoli said hoarsely.
Tang Si and the others knew it was useless to stay here. This was a matter between the boss and Xia Yi; they had to solve it themselves.
The group felt complicated.
When everyone left, the living room became quiet again. Xia Yi stopped making a scene. Ouyang Xiaoli looked at Xia Yi quietly.
Xia Yi looked away.
“Are you hungry?” Ouyang Xiaoli tried to keep his voice soft, afraid of scaring Xia Yi.
Xia Yi pursed his lips and didn’t speak.
He didn’t understand. Why did no one condemn him when he was being so unreasonable and wasting food?
At this time, Ouyang should have said ruthlessly to him like before, “There’s only potato soup. If you spill it, you go hungry. Who spoiled you to be so squeamish?”
It should be like that.
But why was Ouyang so cautious?
Xia Yi didn’t want to think deeply about it, or rather, he felt the possibility he was thinking of was absolutely impossible. How could Ouyang care about him?
Back then, he tried so hard to please Ouyang. Ouyang saw him crying so sadly but remained cold and indifferent.
He wouldn’t be fooled again.
His brother said he was silly. Yes, he was indeed silly. But after being silly, he also understood a lot and saw through the essence of many things.
For example, Ouyang didn’t like him.
He didn’t want to stay in this room either. Thinking that the red-tailed little mermaid had lived in this room made him uncomfortable. Anyway, he found his brother. After giving birth to the cub later, the cub could play with his brother’s cub. He and his brother could live a happy life, and everything would be wonderful.
Ouyang Xiaoli saw Xia Yi avoiding him like a snake or scorpion, and felt terrible. The old Xia Yi only trusted him and only had eyes for him.
It was he who didn’t know how to cherish him.
Watching the man walk silently into the kitchen, Xia Yi looked back, his eyes red. He didn’t want to admit that he still liked Ouyang in his heart.
This was wrong.
Ouyang would sell his cub too.
Soon, Ouyang Xiaoli came out with steaming potato soup and placed it gently on the table. For the first time, there was apprehension and unease in his eyes.
Xia Yi’s voice choked, “I don’t want to eat this, don’t want to eat this…”
Ouyang Xiaoli clenched his fists tightly.
His gaze fell on Xia Yi’s belly. His heart suddenly hurt so much he couldn’t breathe. It hurt so much. So he could feel this way too.
What should he do…
In the living room, Xia Yi kept sobbing softly. Pearls were scattered on the floor. Ouyang Xiaoli stood silently.
Time passed bit by bit.
Crying and crying, Xia Yi got a little hungry. He could only succumb to reality, holding the bowl of potato soup and eating while shedding tears…
Ouyang Xiaoli felt a lump in his throat.
After Xia Yi finished eating.
He carefully glanced at the man.
“Not full?”
He hesitated.
Xia Yi nodded.
Ouyang Xiaoli stepped forward to silently clear the bowl and chopsticks, intending to go into the kitchen to cook another bowl. When he reached the door, his steps involuntarily paused.
“Does that person treat you well?” he asked very softly, without turning his head.
Xia Yi gave a soft “Mm.”
He knew who Ouyang was asking about. He had also seen the news on the Star Network not long ago. Everyone thought he and Song Chengbing were together. His brother didn’t care, so he didn’t have it taken down.
Ouyang obviously thought so too.
His brother said he couldn’t let Ouyang know the cub was his, or it would be sold.
Xia Yi believed it firmly. Before, he often talked about giving birth to a cub for Ouyang, but Ouyang wasn’t very willing. He even said it probably wouldn’t be easy to conceive in mermaid form for the first time and to try doing it in human form in the future.
Ouyang didn’t want him to conceive his cub.
Xia Yi understood.
At bedtime in the evening, Xia Yi was restless in the living room. He had a cub in his belly now; it wasn’t suitable to sleep with Ouyang.
Better to sleep on the sofa.
After secretly deciding in his heart, a man’s voice suddenly came from behind, “You go sleep in the room.”
Xia Yi hurriedly shook his head.
Ouyang Xiaoli smiled bitterly. “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you.”
Pausing, he added, “…Sorry, I didn’t protect you well before.”
Xia Yi was stunned.
He was silent for a long time without speaking.
A moment later, he shouted at the man with red eyes, “Liar!”
Ouyang Xiaoli was taken aback. The next second, he heard Xia Yi continue shouting, “Clearly you wanted to sell me. I know it all! From the day you fished me up, you guys planned to sell me!”
Ouyang Xiaoli frowned.
“You are all big bad guys!”
Xia Yi hadn’t intended to cry. He should have been angry. But as he said these words, tears fell disobediently. The corners of his eyes were red, looking very aggrieved.
Ouyang was a big bad guy. Since he sold him, why pretend!
Ouyang Xiaoli waited for Xia Yi to vent all his emotions angrily before saying, “Whether you believe it or not, I never planned to sell you.”
“You said it yourself!” Xia Yi said.
Ouyang Xiaoli paused. “When?”
“After Xia Yi was kissed on the face by that big bad guy, Ouyang kept disliking Xia Yi for being dirty and said you wanted to send Xia Yi away. You said it yourself!”
“Xia Yi has a very good memory!”
Ouyang Xiaoli remembered that time and knew Xia Yi had misunderstood. “Sending you away wasn’t to sell you, but to send you back to the sea.”
Xia Yi looked at the man blankly.
“Why send me back to the sea?”
Ouyang Xiaoli felt extremely bitter. “At that time, I thought you didn’t like me.”
“Back then, you said sleeping with me was just because you wanted me to protect you. I was very sad. Being cold and distant to you afterwards was also for this reason.”
Xia Yi turned his head away and didn’t speak.
His voice gradually choked up. “Xia Yi clearly said many times that I like Ouyang.”
Ouyang Xiaoli smiled bitterly. “I thought Ke Da taught you that.”
Neither spoke anymore. The living room returned to silence. Xia Yi refused to sleep on the bed and stubbornly wanted to sleep on the sofa.
Ouyang Xiaoli could only comply.
That night, the Underground City was calm, but the Silver Sea Empire was in an uproar. Song Chengbing comforted Xia Ni while arranging people to search for Xia Yi secretly.
Actually, they roughly guessed who took Xia Yi away. The Guard Officer said Xia Yi mentioned seeing the bad person who sold him.
So there was a high probability it was that person.
Xia Ni said in a deep voice, “Xia Yi mentioned that person to me. He’s the Boss of the East District in the Underground City.”
Song Chengbing had never been to the Underground City, but he had heard some things and knew Xia Ni used to stay there.
“I have to go find Xia Yi,” Xia Ni said.
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