Li Leyou’s first reaction was, “You’re coming too?”
Lao Um replied, “If you don’t want me to go, of course I can stay behind.”
He still had that gentle, almost unnervingly calm tone, but Li Leyou somehow sensed something ominous underneath it.
If she had to describe it, it was like being in a calm sea. The waters around her looked perfectly safe, but there was actually a shark following about a hundred meters behind her.
“Of course, come with me. Let’s go together. Haha, you really should get out for a while and enjoy some fresh air.”
“You don’t have to address me so formally like everyone else.”
The shark behind her made no sound, but it had quietly swum a little closer.
Li Leyou secretly wiped the sweat from her back. This must have been from all the fuss of trying on clothes earlier.
She surrendered. “Okay, my mistake. If you don’t like it, I won’t call you that anymore.”
Lao Um smiled and nodded. “You’re still very good at admitting your mistakes and apologizing.”
Li Leyou actually apologized quite often. “Sorry” was practically always on the tip of her tongue, though her apologies were usually nothing more than a way of begging for mercy. There was rarely any sincerity behind them.
She had always been like that.
She would accidentally let the tuna he had swum far out to catch for her escape. She would secretly pick at his scales while he was asleep. She once promised to catch squid for him to eat, only to end up spraying squid ink all over his face instead…
And every time, she would pitifully call out:
“Lao Um? Lao Um? I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. You won’t be mad at me, right?”
“I like you so much. Just forgive me, okay?”
She had been like one of those remora fish that constantly clung to sharks, sticking to his side every day. Even while swimming, she was always reaching out to grab his hair or tail, or insisting on holding his hand.
But now…
She was keeping her distance, maintaining what she considered a safe space between them.
Lao Um could even sense the uneasiness and nervousness radiating from her.
His lover, once the person closest to him, had finally returned to his side—but at the cost of no longer loving him with the same intensity.
Seeing how uneasy she was, he desperately wanted to comfort her.
But at the same time, he wanted to bite into her flesh, drink her blood, tell her about all the pain he had suffered, and make her suffer just as much.
They were lovers. They were supposed to share the same emotions.
Fortunately, the long years and everything he had experienced had taught him how to disguise his true feelings. He could still walk beside her calmly and converse with her naturally.
He didn’t have to reveal the cruel, bloodthirsty side of a predator from the depths of the sea.
Li Leyou was relieved that going out to buy clothes wasn’t nearly as extravagant as she had imagined.
The scene she had pictured—two lines of people standing beside a red carpet and bowing in unison—never happened.
Instead, they simply rode in a car for a while before arriving at a huge, brightly lit shopping complex that barely looked like a shopping mall.
The building had more than thirty floors and carried everything a woman could possibly want: clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, and more. Each floor had only one young and beautiful sales assistant, waiting by the elevator to serve them.
The fact that she had to ride a vehicle inside the shopping complex was already a novel experience for Li Leyou.
Faced with the friendly, enthusiastic sales assistant, Li Leyou secretly felt her way around the clothes, searching for price tags.
She couldn’t find a single one.
“Miss, how much is this dress?”
The sales assistant’s smile stiffened slightly.
“Well… Mr. Lao Um doesn’t need to pay for anything here.”
After all, the shopping complex was part of his business empire.
Lao Um sat outside in the waiting area, his hands resting on his knees as he looked at a white dress.
Hezhen stood beside him, speaking quietly.
When Li Leyou came out, Lao Um asked, “Did you find anything you like? If you like them, have her write them down. We’ll have everything sent back.”
“I picked three outfits.”
She didn’t dare choose too many. She already felt guilty enough.
Back when she read those ridiculous romance novels about replacement lovers, she had always laughed at the heroines and thought, If it were me, I’d take full advantage of it. I’d eat whatever I wanted and shop until I dropped.
But now that she was actually in such a situation, she discovered that her moral standards were surprisingly high.
Apparently, all those childhood lessons about good behavior had worked too well.
Lao Um nodded. “You don’t like the others? Then let’s go somewhere else and look.”
“There’s really no need. Three outfits are enough…”
“Did you find any shoes you like? What about coats? Why didn’t you pick a coat? It’s windy at night in the castle.”
For a moment, Li Leyou felt as though he were a parent taking a child shopping for clothes, determined to buy her everything she might possibly need.
Despite her repeated protests—
“No, no, really, it’s fine.”
“This is enough, really.”
“I don’t need anything else.”
—in the end, they still bought a huge pile of things.
She was happy, of course, but she couldn’t help wondering whether she would eventually be expected to work off the cost of everything.
She really felt like she didn’t deserve all this…
Li Leyou picked up a piece of beef and chewed happily and painfully at the same time.
They spent almost the entire day outside, and they had dinner at a restaurant as well.
Only she and Lao Um were there. Hezhen had disappeared after arranging everything, but he was truly excellent at his job. The restaurant was quiet, and most importantly, the food was delicious.
For a while, Li Leyou completely forgot that there was someone sitting across from her.
In fact, Lao Um hadn’t been very conspicuous throughout the entire day.
Most of the time, he simply waited patiently for her, quietly watched her, and asked whether she liked something or whether she was comfortable with it.
Elegant and patient. Gentle and considerate. Always perfectly restrained.
He was nothing like the merman from the previous night.
His strange behavior last night must have been because seeing a familiar face after so many years had overwhelmed him. Given the circumstances, his unusual behavior was understandable.
Li Leyou even began making excuses for him.
After shopping and enjoying a lavish dinner, they returned to the castle.
Li Leyou fell asleep peacefully.
But she had no idea how much time had passed before she suddenly woke up again.
A dark figure was sitting beside her bed.
Exactly like the previous night.
Li Leyou: “…”
She was numb to it now.
Her hand was being held in his.
All of his daytime restraint had completely disappeared.
“…Mr. Lao Um?”
He didn’t answer. He simply continued gently squeezing her fingers.
“You seemed relaxed during the day. Why are you nervous again now? Do you prefer the way I look during the day? Do you like the version of me I pretend to be in human society?”
Pretend? Li Leyou thought.
I’d say you have split personalities.
“Someone once said that night allows people to shed their disguises and reveal their true selves.”
She didn’t even know why that thought had suddenly occurred to her.
But Lao Um asked, “Who said that? You don’t remember me, yet you remember his words so clearly.”
Li Leyou: “…?”
Some random philosopher on the internet, she thought.
Are you seriously jealous?
Considering your age, that must be century-old jealousy.
“It was something I said myself,” she lied, taking credit for the quote.
“Mm. You always did like talking nonsense.”
Li Leyou almost laughed.
The nighttime Lao Um had a sharp edge to his words.
Wasn’t he like an angel during the day—polite, quiet, and melancholic?
“I suddenly wanted to come see you. You were sleeping very soundly.”
As he spoke, Li Leyou felt something brush against her cheek.
She had probably been sleeping with her face oily and messy, but he didn’t seem to care.
Instead, he continued speaking as though lost in his memories.
“I remembered how you used to sleep in the sea. You were different from the rest of us. Once you fell asleep, you had no idea what was happening around you. The waves would often carry you away. When you woke up, you would have drifted so far that you couldn’t find your way back.”
“And then you would swim around the sea calling my name until I appeared in front of you.”
“Later, I had no choice but to hold your hand whenever you slept.”
Li Leyou suddenly understood.
Oh! So that’s the personality I’m supposed to play?
No problem. I can do that naturally. My sense of direction is terrible too.
“You have such a good memory!” she exclaimed. “You still remember all of that so clearly after so long.”
“You left me with too few memories. I can only replay every single one of them over and over.”
That sounded rather tragic.
“Actually, shouldn’t we think about happier things?” Li Leyou suggested. “If you remember more happy memories, maybe there’ll be less room for the sad ones.”
“When you aren’t here, even the happiest memories only make me sad when I remember them.”
“But I’m here now.”
By this point, Li Leyou had gradually gotten into character and was able to respond naturally.
“Mm. That’s the only thing that makes me happy now.”
Lao Um smiled.
The smile was so devastatingly attractive that Li Leyou felt as though an electric current had run through her scalp.
She resisted the urge to scratch her head.
“Can I ask you something? Don’t you sleep at night, Mr. Lao Um?”
“You really have forgotten a lot. Merfolk sleep only for short periods. You, however, are still the same as before. You sleep for a long time, and your sleeping schedule is very regular.”
Li Leyou thought about it.
Fish really did seem to sleep whenever and wherever they wanted. They didn’t have long, uninterrupted periods of sleep like humans did.
So she could only suppress her drowsiness and lie perfectly straight, accompanying him in conversation.
“I saw a white dress at the mall today. I thought it would suit you, so I had someone send it back with the others. You can try it sometime.”
“Okay, okay! I’ll definitely wear it when I get the chance. Thank you, thank you!”
“Li Leyou, you’re being too polite with me. I’m not used to it.”
“Ahaha, I’m just slow to warm up to people. Once we get to know each other better, it’ll be fine.”
You’re the one who’s being way too familiar with me, she thought. I’m not used to that either!
“Slow to warm up? No. When I first met you, you weren’t polite to me at all.”
Li Leyou stammered.
Am I breaking character?
But she wasn’t really acting that seriously in the first place. She had no reference for how the original Li Leyou had behaved.
“You aren’t as enthusiastic toward me anymore because I’m old now, and I’ve become much more haggard. I don’t look as good as I used to, do I? Yes… even my hair has already faded to this dull color…”
The question marks in Li Leyou’s mind nearly burst through her skull.
What is this merman talking about?
Even knowing that he was over five hundred years old, she still couldn’t help being fooled by that face. How could someone who looked like a mature, irresistibly handsome god possibly be complaining about his looks?
“It’s not that. I think you still have plenty of charm…”
Li Leyou lightly slapped herself on the mouth.
Stupid mouth. What kind of phrase was that?
Lao Um pulled her hand away.
“Really? Do you still like the way I look now?”
“With a face and presence like yours, it’s impossible for anyone not to like you!”
“I only asked whether you like me. I want you to answer me. Say that you like me.”
Li Leyou held her breath, suddenly feeling inexplicably embarrassed.
After a long pause, she finally muttered,
“…I like you.”
Lao Um seemed satisfied.
He pressed his face against her palm again, his voice soft as the flesh inside a seashell.
“Then touch me.”
Li Leyou curled her fingers in agony.
Stop being so seductive! Seriously, stop!
Young people’s willpower isn’t that strong, you know?!
They continued their intermittent conversation late into the night.
Li Leyou didn’t even remember when she finally fell asleep. She had tried her best to stay awake until Lao Um left, but eventually, her body won.
In their battle of staying up late, she had suffered a crushing defeat.
When she woke the next morning, all she remembered was Lao Um sitting beside her bed, talking softly about something while she was too sleepy to keep her eyes open.
All she could do was mumble, “Mm… mm-hmm…”
She had no idea when he had left.
On the fifth day since she crossed into this world, the sun was shining brightly once again.
Outside, the endless sea shimmered beneath the sunlight, its surface sparkling like scattered gold.
And Mr. Lao Um—who mysteriously returned to his normal self as soon as daylight came—was in the garden, entertaining a guest he had invited over.