He's on par with Zhou Xiaohai.

Zhou Xiaohai was not happy.

I worked hard for decades to get to this position.

Why should a newcomer get two years?

Zhou Xiaohai was targeting Bai Feng at every turn.

The more he targeted Bai Feng, the more popular he became.

With power in hand, he even planted many of his own people in the research institute, all in preparation for rescuing the mermaid.

The system also said that it was almost time.

The male lead will likely take action.

Having been pampered by Qin Ye, it's now very clingy and reluctant to leave its keeper when it thinks about how it's about to leave.

As soon as Qin Ye returned, Xiao Yu reached out for a hug, kissing and biting him, her little face constantly rubbing against his neck, her soft little tongue igniting a fire everywhere.

Qin Ye pinched her cheek, lowered his head and kissed her, his eyes smiling, and asked:

"Why are you being so proactive today?"

Xiaoyu turned her head away and continued to kiss him. Qin Ye thought that he wanted it, so he held Xiaoyu and made love to her for a long time, until she was so tired that she was panting like a puppy with her tongue hanging out.

Just as I was about to kiss her lips, her small mouth opened and closed, and she asked in a daze:

"Would you be sad if I disappeared?"

Qin Ye paused, his keen senses picking up on Nan Yu's unusual behavior. His voice deepened as he pulled the fish into his arms: "What?"

The fish's eyes are glazed over; how can it even ask questions like that?

"If I turn into foam one day, will you look for other fish?"

Qin Ye was wary. He grabbed a few sheets of paper, tidied up quickly, carried the fish to the sofa, let him lean against him, and asked, looking down, "Why did it turn into bubbles? Why are you suddenly saying all this?"

"You can use me for research now."

Qin Ye's temples throbbed. "Who said anything to you? Why would I use you for research? Blood tests are to check your health."

"No, you really are good enough. Nobody said anything to me. You just wanted to use me for research in the first place."

Qin Ye was speechless. At first, he did want to gain Nan Yu's trust to facilitate research, but later he gave up the idea and focused on raising the animal. Why did he bring it up himself?

And he said so many nonsensical things.

"Yes, I had ulterior motives at first, but now I don't want to use you for research anymore, Little Fish. Don't scare me. What's wrong? Are you bored here and want to go out for a walk?"

Nan Yu: "You really can study me."

He didn't know when they would meet again after he returned to the sea. Although he was certain he would come back, the timing was uncertain. He was willing to give Qin Ye a few days to study the situation.

To fulfill his initial purpose.

"Alright, let's not talk about these things anymore." He bent down and opened the drawer, which was full of egg yolk pies. He picked up a bag with his index and middle fingers and handed it to the little mermaid.

The little fish tore itself open and happily began to eat.

Qin Ye held him like a child, gently patting his side arm.

When there's food, happiness, the tail fin will flap. Qin Ye looked down at the little mermaid, his right eye twitching slightly. After saying those words, he always felt that something was about to happen.

I coaxed Xiaoyu into eating a few pies, and then watched a show with him.

Night fell in the blink of an eye, and the little fish got sleepy. It rubbed its eyes and looked up. "I want to sleep. I'm not going back to the water today. I want to sleep with you."

The initiative was too unusual.

Qin Ye had to be on guard. He took the fish to the resting room, washed its face and hands with warm water, wiped its body, and cleaned its scales thoroughly.

After tidying up herself, she came back, holding his fish, her heart pounding and unable to sleep. She gripped his hand tightly, their fingers intertwined, so tightly that Nan Yu's hand ached. She hissed in pain, pouted, and whispered her complaint:

"You're hurting my hand."

"I'm sorry." Qin Ye apologized, loosening his grip considerably as he pulled his hand away and instead hugged her waist.

There was a few seconds of silence.

Qin Ye finally spoke up, "Is Xiaoyu homesick?"

Aside from homesickness, Qin Ye couldn't understand what was wrong with him. No matter how large the experimental base was, it still had an end, unlike the freedom of the ocean.

"Um?"

The little fish has no home in the sea, nor does it follow its own kind; it swims aimlessly.

In just two years, he had come to regard this place as his home, and Qin Ye was his family.

"If you really want to go, I'll take you. You have to swim around and come back, okay?"

Qin Ye's throat tightened, and he regretted it as soon as he finished speaking. What if the little fish swam away and never came back?

"Forget it, let's just wander around on land and not go back."

He said he would find her little mouth to kiss; only by touching her could he feel at ease.

Fish: "Why are you studying mermaids? Did you build this place?"

Qin Ye rested his head against Xiao Yu's shoulder and mumbled:

"I didn't build it. The research institute has existed since the 1990s. I entered the institute by accident and didn't intend to stay. But if you know about this kind of secret research, you won't survive more than a few years after you leave. Humans always like to explore the unknown. Mermaid tears are used in medicine, and organ transplants can prolong life and keep you young forever. When people have money, they will pursue these things. The purpose of the research institute is just to provide them with convenience."

Nan Yu, holding Qin Ye, frowned: "So you don't have the final say here?"

Qin Ye sighed, "It depends on what you're saying."

Fish: "Release my kind, and stop studying us. Can this be considered a reward?"

Qin Ye remained silent for a long time.

The little fish probably understood too.

Then silence followed.

After a long while, Qin Ye moved, touching the face of the little fish, his fingers tracing the little fish's lips, "You want me to let them go?"

The little mermaid's eyes gleamed with anticipation:

"I'll investigate for you, can you let them go in return?"

It involves too many aspects and many things, and it touches on the interests of those people. Everyone in the research institute is in danger.

The mermaid and the researcher, one of them has to die.

All Qin Ye could do was:

"Release two of them and have them tell the mermaids not to approach the coastal waters again. If they can't be detected, the fishing may stop in two to five years. I'm sorry, we can't release all the mermaids from the research institute."

"Can we pretend we were rescued?"

Qin Ye smiled. His little fish was so cute and clumsy, always wearing its heart on its sleeve. He managed to get her to reveal her thoughts in just a few words.

"That depends on who does the rescue. I'm willing to cooperate."

Little Fish blinked and said, "I said you can find someone to pretend."

Qin Ye: "They are all beyond my control, and the research institute is a classified unit, so it will probably be very difficult. Who do you think can help, baby?"

Fish: "Are you trying to trick me?"

Qin Ye thought Nan Yu was naive and easy to fool. After spending two years together, Qin Ye spoke with such emphasis that he knew her inside and out. He was clearly trying to trick her into revealing the spy, which angered Deng Xin.

Qin Ye: "..."

It's been discovered.

"We mermaids are few in number and are being hunted to extinction. You used to ask me who was more important, you or the egg yolk pie. Now I want to ask you, am I less important than the research institute?"

Qin Ye hugged the little fish. He was angry and wouldn't let him hug it. He placed his large hand on the fish's belly and moved it down slightly to touch the scales. After a while, he got used to it and didn't find it hard anymore.

He nudged his head closer to the little fish and said, "You're important."

Even when the fish hit him, he endured it.

With a sudden movement, he rolled over and pinned Xiaoyu beneath him, turned on the bedside lamp, and saw that face he could look at a thousand times without getting tired of it. He couldn't help but lower his head, wanting to kiss her.

Nan Yu turned her head away.

I kissed her on the cheek.

Qin Ye continued kissing, but missed again, his lips lingering in mid-air. The man's eyes darkened, and his voice trembled as he asked, "Don't you want me anymore?"