She was worried that her newly born baby fish would be eaten one by one by the small fish swimming over.
He quickly took a big shell and covered all the little fish in it.
But what next?
What should she do?
Ying Xixi was just at a loss when the mermaid chief knocked on the glass door of her house, pushed it open and swam in.
"Oh, you gave birth? Where's the little fish?"
"Here."
Ying Xixi shook the big shell in her arms.
“I was worried that these little fish would eat my young, so I kept them in shells.
Chief, what should we do next?"
The chief nodded approvingly and said, "You are right. When these ugly fish smell the scent of fresh fish, they will follow the smell and come to eat them.
One of the reasons why the number of mermaids in our tribe is declining is because these fish will secretly eat the small fish, and it is difficult to guard against.
Don't worry, I will have my tribesmen come to help you look after the little fish. They will definitely not be eaten by these ugly fish this time."
As the tribe leader was speaking, a strange-looking fish happened to swim over. She grabbed the ugly fish and stuffed it into her mouth, devouring it with a crunch as if to vent her anger.
Ying Xixi, who watched the whole process, said: “…”
The clan leader asked the tribesmen to come and help throw out all the fish that had gotten into Ying Xixi Liuli's house, and at the same time reinforce her house.
The patriarch brought over a transparent, square pool from somewhere, which was made of glass or some other material.
"Xixi, put all the little fish in here. This thing is used by humans to raise fish, it's called a fish tank.
I thought it would be handy for raising baby fish, so I brought one down from the shore, and it's now coming in handy."
Ying Xixi was speechless for a moment, but still put the little fish in the shell into the fish tank.
After all the little fish entered the water in the fish tank, the patriarch sprinkled some shrimps in and covered the mouth of the fish tank with a shell as a lid.
"Okay, that's enough. These little shrimps are enough for the little fish to eat for two days.
Wait two days and when the shrimps are gone, just put some more in.
Well, I counted the little fish, one, two, three... thirty, that's quite a lot."
Ying Xixi's head was buzzing.
"Thirty? Thirty little fish pups? I gave birth to thirty?"
"Yes, it's good. Look, the little fish are very lively. I'm sure they will all survive."
The clan leader said with a smile, his eyes falling on Ying Xixi's lower abdomen.
"Let me touch it."
The patriarch gently touched Ying Xixi's still bulging belly.
"There should be children inside. When mermaids and humans mate, they will give birth to fish cubs according to the mermaid gestation period, and they will also give birth to human cubs according to the human gestation period.
In a few months you'll be able to give birth to a human cub."
The patriarch’s words made Ying Xixi even more confused.
"Is this even possible?! Can giving birth be done in two stages?!"
"Yes, don't worry, it's okay, we also have mermaids in our tribe who can deliver human babies.
Just let them deliver your baby when the time comes."
The clan leader looked at Ying Xixi, who looked so shocked that she was doubting her life, and smiled even more brightly.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
Ying Xixi nodded blankly.
"I also find it amazing that the little fish born from the union of a human and a mermaid don't need to drink witches' potions. When they come ashore and leave the sea, their fish tails automatically transform into human legs.
When the cubs grow up a little, you can take them to see the human world."
The patriarch said with a smile, his beautiful blue eyes looking into the distance, as if he was missing something.
"What about the human cubs that are born? Will they grow fish tails in the deep sea?"
Ying Xixi asked curiously.
The chief shook his head, “No, human cubs born are humans, they don’t have fish tails in the deep sea.
Moreover, they cannot live in the deep sea for a long time and have to live on shore.
But they do have mermaid genes, so compared to normal humans, they can breathe normally in the deep sea."
Having said this, the patriarch paused.
"Xixi, I never asked you before what's going on between you and your human boyfriend.
But after you give birth to a human cub, you have to think about the future.
Human cubs need to live on land and grow up like normal humans.
We are mermaids and we don’t even have a legal identity in the human world, let alone a legal identity for our children.
This is when their human fathers come to help.”
Ying Xixi nodded, "Well, thank you for your concern, Chief. I will think about it carefully."
"Don't worry, take your time. It will take four or five months for you to give birth to a human cub.
Human cubs can live in the sea until they are three years old, and it is not too late to go ashore after they are three years old."
After the patriarch said this, he waved his red fish tail and prepared to leave.
Seeing this, Ying Xixi quickly grabbed her and asked her about something she didn't understand.
"Chief, how do we raise these little fish?
Is it okay to just feed them small shrimps? Do I need to change the water in the fish tank?"
Ying Xixi felt that she was not raising the little fish as her own children, but as fish.
Whose child is kept in a fish tank...
"Here, let me show you this booklet, 'A Guide to Raising Baby Mermaids'. Just take a look at it and you'll understand how to raise baby mermaids.
If you still don’t understand something, just ask me. I’ll come to see you every day.”
The clan leader patted Ying Xixi's shoulder and swam away with her red fish tail.
The other tribesmen also said goodbye to Ying Xixi and left.
Ying Xixi looked at the booklet in her hand, then looked at the little fish in the fish tank, and was silent for a moment.
She put the booklet into the space and looked at the little fish first.
After counting carefully, there were indeed thirty.
Each little fish is very small, only as long as your index finger.
Maybe because they were born not long ago, their tails are somewhat transparent and have not yet grown into their respective colors.
[Wow! Host! Thirty! It's not a hundred and eight, but it's still a lot!]
The system was so surprised that even its baby voice made an unstable crackling sound of electricity.
Ying Xixi felt a little worried as she watched the little fish swimming around in the fish tank.
"System, you said, thirty little fish cubs, does that mean I have to give them thirty names?"
The system knows that its host is bad at naming, and must be very worried right now.
[Maybe? If the host doesn't know what to name it, why not give this difficult task to the male protagonist?]
When you, the host, give birth to a human cub, you will meet the male protagonist again sooner or later...]
"We may not meet again."
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