Bei waited and waited for the two mothers to return, but she unexpectedly found herself to be the superfluous one.
The two mothers were in the throes of new love, spending their days in sweet affection and having little time to play with her.
Bei felt this couldn't continue. She used to receive the favor of one mother, and there was no reason why she should become the excess one after another mother appeared.
After much deliberation, Bei's small head finally conceived a brilliant plan: feigning illness.
She was a child! It was perfectly normal for children to fall ill occasionally!
Bei lay "weakly" in bed, her face pale, the entire mermaid too weak to even move her tail.
Xingyuan, with her knowledge of merfolk physiology, was skeptical about Bei's illness. However, Mingyue was unaware! She treated the merfolk child with the same attitude she would a human infant, believing illness to be of utmost importance.
"Is there any medicine?" Mingyue's beautiful brows furrowed deeply, her expression flustered.
Xingyuan watched Bei's closed eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly as if secretly observing their reactions. She understood, but did not expose her, merely saying, "Yes!"
Merfolk had strong immune systems, and even young ones rarely needed medication, though there were always exceptions.
There was a special medicine among the merfolk, which they called Sea Flower.
Regardless of what illness they suffered from, except for the natural cycle of life and death, Sea Flower was generally effective.
This was the conclusion drawn from countless merfolk through experience.
Although the medicine was bitter and cold in nature, it had no side effects. Healthy merfolk who consumed it merely became more energetic. Therefore, it was suitable for a certain merfolk child who was trying hard to win affection.
Hearing their words, Bei shivered, recalling the Sea Flower she had accidentally eaten before. However, she stubbornly kept her eyes closed, pretending to be ill.
This continued until the merfolk's special medicine was brewed into a soup and fed to her spoonful by spoonful.
She grimaced from the bitterness, sneezing incessantly, her complexion becoming a little more rosy.
Mingyue took all of this as proof that the medicine was effective. When Bei whined that she didn't want to eat anymore, Mingyue played the role of a strict mother perfectly.
"No! You must take the medicine, or Bei will never get better."
Just as Bei was contemplating whether to declare herself cured, Mingyue, for reasons unknown, began to accompany Bei to sleep every night, telling her bedtime fairy tales.
Among these, the story of The Little Mermaid was told most often.
At first, Bei listened to the merfolk's story with great interest. When she heard how the mermaid princess, in order to be with the prince, did not hesitate to make a deal with the witch, losing her voice, and even facing the possibility of death at any moment, she couldn't help but shed tears of sadness.
Perhaps because they were both merfolk, Bei empathized with the princess's plight. She wiped her tears, her small fists clenched, and exclaimed from the bottom of her heart, "The little mermaid princess is so pitiful!"
"Yes! That's why she eventually turned into bubbles. Our dear Bei must not learn from the Little Mermaid's actions!" Mingyue guided patiently.
Bei nodded gently and asked innocently, "But there are no witches in our sea! And Mother can have legs too, why is that?"
Mingyue was stumped. Following Bei's line of thought, she pondered for a moment. It seemed there really were no witches. Should she develop one?
No! She was almost led astray.
Mingyue said gently, "This is due to the special nature of this world. But that's not the point of the story. The point is that Bei must never be consumed by love in the future, and never fall into despair over a man."
"Oh~ Then, is Mother a love-struck person?" Bei continued, according to her own understanding.
"Hmm? Why would my darling think that?" Mingyue was confused. Did she seem like someone who was consumed by love?
"Not Mother, but Niangqin!" Bei sighed like a little adult. "Never mind! To prevent you from not knowing who I'm calling in the future, I'll call the human mother 'Mother' and the merfolk mother 'Niangqin' from now on."
"Mother, do you think I'm right? Niangqin traveled a long distance from the sea, then met Mother, and then I was born. Niangqin went out to find you again, neglecting even me. It seems a little like the mermaid princess in the fairy tale," Bei analyzed logically.
Mingyue followed Bei's words and found herself thinking: It's damn logical!
But she certainly couldn't say that, no matter the reason.
"How could that be? Your Niangqin loves you the most. She just hasn't seen such a cute merfolk baby like Bei for a long time, and she became a little shy, not daring to come over. It's okay, our Bei is a big kid now and will understand Niangqin, right?"
Feeling encouraged by her mother, Bei proudly declared, "Of course! Bei is so good!"
As she wished, Mingyue successfully diverted Bei's attention and then naturally changed the subject, "Well, Mother has finished telling the story of the mermaid princess. Now Mother will tell you the story of Sleeping Beauty. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess..."
Even though Bei appeared mature in front of others, she was still just a child. In her mother's warm embrace, listening to her tell wonderful stories in a gentle voice, Bei fell asleep peacefully.
Listening to the child's even breathing, Mingyue gently kissed Bei's forehead, her face seemingly radiating maternal love, and whispered softly, "Goodnight!"
Mingyue slept with Bei in her arms. The next morning, she was awakened by Bei in her embrace.
Mingyue moved her slightly stiff limbs, but felt a sense of accomplishment. This was the first time in many years that she had been so close to a child, and this was her own biological child.
Bei was also very happy. It seemed her feigned illness was not in vain, and the bitter medicine was somewhat worth it. She thought her mother might secretly leave while she slept. She hadn't expected her to stay with her all night.
However, when she had to drink medicine after breakfast, she began to regret it again. The medicine was so bitter and unpleasant to drink, so pretending to be sick seemed not worth it after all.
Mingyue produced a piece of candy from somewhere. As Bei's brows furrowed from the bitterness of the medicine, she gently placed the candy into Bei's mouth.
"Delicious!" Bei's eyes lit up, and she began to rummage through Mingyue's pockets, trying to find more of this delicious treat.