Chapter 1 Hao Ren's Understanding

This was the first time Hao Ren had such a direct understanding of how wondrous racial differences could be.

After repeated confirmation, the few half-baked guardians finally affirmed that the little mermaid was treating the chopsticks as food, not just biting on them like a child. That little thing, only half a foot long, had an astonishing bite force. The bamboo chopsticks were being crunched in her mouth like chocolate bars, scattering crumbs all over the table. At first, Hao Ren was indeed taken aback, but after he saw the drool on the little mermaid's lips, he completely gave up on snatching the chopsticks away.

Half a chopstick quickly went down, and only then did the little mermaid's belly bulge slightly. She patted her belly contentedly, burped with a bamboo-flavored belch, and then jumped into the washbasin with a splash to drink water. Her agility and skill at eating made it hard to believe that this was a little thing that had just hatched a few hours ago. Lily watched all this in amazement, and after a long while, she thought of something: "Hey, according to this, she should be able to bite my teething stick too, right... Landlord, what do you say?"

Well, you have to admit the husky had a broad line of thinking. At this juncture, she was probably the only one who would marvel at this.

"She eats bamboo?" Vivian's expression was as strange as it could be. "I've lived for so long... this is the first time I've heard that mermaids can eat bamboo, especially this kind of fry that's just been born."

"No, she should be eating coarse plant fiber," Nangong Wuyue was somewhat of an aquatic product herself, and her analysis was much more reliable than others. "There's no bamboo in the sea, and it's unlikely that such things would grow even in the seas of other worlds... This kind of mermaid should survive by eating coarse, hard plant fiber. And it's probably because their living environment is harsh that this little thing has such a strong ability to live independently. She can probably survive on her own in the sea—no wonder Goddess-jie said that this egg would definitely hatch into fry. This vitality is too strong."

"But she didn't expect that this egg would need to be boiled in boiling water to hatch it. She even told me to be careful not to cook the egg before," Hao Ren said, pursing his lips. He didn't really care about the independent survival ability of this "fry." He just felt that this otherworldly mermaid race must be a very fierce species. Look at the teeth and mobility she had just after hatching. If you threw a dozen or so eggs into the Pacific Ocean, they would probably eat even the fishing boats clean in a few years. It was just a pity that this race only had this one seedling left.

While everyone was surrounding the washbasin and interacting with the little mermaid, a rough voice suddenly came from the direction of the door: "Yo, I'm back... what are you guys studying?"

Lily turned her head and saw that it was Izhaks who had returned. She immediately waved her hand and shouted, "Big guy, come and see! The landlord's egg hatched! I helped hatch it!"

In that instant, Hao Ren really wanted to throw this husky with a brain full of mush out the window! Unfortunately, he couldn't beat her...

"What nonsense..." Izhaks was also stunned by what Lily said, and he came over in a daze. When he saw the fry soaking in the basin, he was immediately taken aback, "Miss Nangong, were you pregnant before?"

Hao Ren: "..."

"Oh, right, I remember!" Izhaks realized that the atmosphere around him was not right, so he quickly woke up and patted his forehead awkwardly, "It's the egg we brought back. I didn't expect it to hatch so quickly. Sorry, sorry, I'm just a blunt person."

This should not just be a matter of being blunt. Hao Ren looked at the great demon suspiciously, feeling that Izhaks seemed to have something on his mind. He was obviously not focused just now, but the great demon quickly diverted the attention of everyone present: "What's this little one called?"

"That's right, we haven't named her yet!" Vivian clapped her hands. "We can't just keep calling her fry, right?"

So everyone started busily chattering and researching names for the little fish baby again. This little thing that had just hatched was really promising. Look, it had only opened its eyes for a short time and had already become the core figure in the family. "Roll" circled around the group of people for a long time, but no one paid any attention to it. The former beloved pet of the family had instantly lost its position, which made it very depressed.

Hao Ren teased the little mermaid's tail with the pad of his finger, and while poking it, he suggested, "How about calling her Baby as a nickname? Let's just use a nickname for now, anyway, we don't need to register her, and we can think of a proper name when she grows up a little."

"No, too cliché," Nangong Wuyue waved her hand vigorously, "Change it."

"This was brought back by the landlord, and she's also the most attached to the landlord, so why not just have her surname Hao," Vivian thought for a while, "And since she's a mermaid, why not call her Hao Duoyu?" (多鱼 sounds like 'lots of fish' in Chinese)

Lily immediately became happy: "Eh, I agree, I agree..."

"Change it!" Hao Ren was getting a headache, "Can't you guys be serious?"

Lily started to use her brain: "How about this, I hatched this egg, so let's just call her Gou Dan..." (狗蛋 means 'dog egg', a common, often derogatory, nickname)

Everyone roared in unison: "Change it!"

"I think there should be a gorgeous, noble name," Izhaks said in a low voice, "We have to think about this child's identity: She is the only surviving mermaid in a world, and she was entrusted to us by the goddess herself. And her guardian—that is, you, Landlord, you are also on the side of the gods, which in my world would be like a chosen pope-level figure, to whom even the king would have to kneel, so this mermaid raised by you should at least have a princess-like name..."

Hao Ren was a little dizzy from what Izhaks said, and he asked dizzily, "Then what do you think would be a good name?"

"Elizabeth François Velasquez Furiere... Wait, I haven't finished yet..."

Hao Ren pushed Izhaks away with all his might (which was not easy): "Your naming ability is not as good as mine!"

It seemed that this great demon was a naming failure in another sense. He was definitely just reciting from the dictionary!

So everyone was chattering again, but no one could come up with a reliable suggestion. In the end, Vivian crossed her arms and said in a calm tone, "Actually, what the big guy said also makes sense. Fish Baby should have a resounding name, but the names he suggested are too long. We can make it shorter—how about just Elizabeth?"

Hao Ren felt that the name Elizabeth was not bad, but it seemed that there were many people with this name, which was more or less lacking in personal characteristics. But Vivian had already made a decision: "If no one has any objections, let's settle on this. The earliest mermaid legends on Earth also came from the West, and I feel that this name fits the little one's temperament. Landlord, what do you think?"

Hao Ren wanted to say that a fish that was only half a foot long could have a temperament, but when he looked at the unreliable guys in his house, he could only nod in the end: Elizabeth was still more reliable. What if they really ended up naming her Gou Dan? Look at the husky's ability to act, it wasn't impossible!

"I'll provide another nickname," Nangong Wuyue raised her hand, "Elizabeth feels too formal, let's have another nickname, how about Dou Dou? (豆豆 means 'little bean') Look how small she is..."

This time, before others could express their opinions, the little mermaid was already happily flapping her tail and jumping around in the basin. Although she might have been excited for other reasons, everyone was still overjoyed. Hao Ren clapped his hands: "Let's call her Dou Dou! The little one agrees!"

So, from this moment on, the little mermaid acquired the name that would accompany her for the rest of her life: Elizabeth as her formal name, and Dou Dou as her nickname.

Hao Ren felt that this name would become a legend sooner or later, not to mention anything else, look at the contrast...

Everyone had been fussing over a mermaid for a long time. At this time, Lily was so hungry that she was about to bite someone, so everyone dispersed to attend to their own business. Vivian went to cook, and Izhaks and Nangong Wuyue went to pack their luggage. But just as Hao Ren was about to return to his room, he discovered a troublesome matter: The little mermaid was sticking to him again!

Noticing that everyone had left, and even Hao Ren was about to leave, the mermaid Dou Dou started to thrash violently in the washbasin, and she made a very sharp, heart-wrenching cry. Hao Ren saw that the little thing almost rolled and crawled out of the washbasin, jumped off the coffee table, and then jumped towards him on the floor with all her might, which startled him!

Dou Dou grabbed Hao Ren's trouser leg and only then did she calm down slightly, but the latter was already on the verge of tears: He suddenly realized that he still had to solve the problem of this fish treating him as her mother!