Chapter 312 The Fish in the Pot

Hao Ren and Vivian were both bewildered by the contents of the paper, the only certainty being that whatever was written was related to Doudou—including the part about heating her up. Now they were starting to understand why Doudou had been put in the rice cooker: because it could be timed and the temperature was stable...

If it had been any other species in that pot, Hao Ren would have immediately jumped up, his mind filled with gruesome, R-rated, and sensational stories of murder and cooking corpses, but since it was a little mermaid who liked to swim in boiling water, he couldn't think that way. He was just curious about what exactly had happened in the half-month he'd been away, and what in the world the sesame oil and Banlangen (a traditional Chinese medicine) were all about...

While he was pondering, Hao Ren heard a splash of water from the pot. He looked down and saw that Doudou had woken up from her nap (though it was a rather early one). The little one was stretching her tail and slowly waking up. As soon as she looked up and saw Hao Ren's big face, the whole fish perked up. She popped her upper body out of the water and gave a little, extremely excited cry, then splashed and bumped into Hao Ren's face, falling down the back of his collar...

You can imagine, it was the dead of winter with heavy snow outside, and the kitchen had no heating. Doudou was soaking wet...

Anyway, Hao Ren immediately felt a chill running straight to his *dantian* (energy center), a feeling that was both invigorating and torturous. He was still holding the rice cooker, so he couldn't free up a hand to stop the overly excited little one. By the time he put the pot down and pulled Doudou out of his clothes, the little one had already crawled around his chest and abdomen. She was fine; she'd gone in wet, and came out completely dry, without even catching a cold.

Hao Ren couldn't help but laugh as he picked up the little one and ran to the living room, placing her on the sofa for Lily to watch. He ran back to his room to change clothes. When he came out, he saw Lily chatting with Doudou, and though they couldn't communicate, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Hao Ren went over and rubbed Doudou's face against his own, finally getting a chance to properly greet his "daughter." The latter patted Hao Ren's face and gurgled a few words, the pronunciation unclear, but she seemed happy. Then she turned red and sneezed.

"Did she catch a cold?" Hao Ren looked at the little mermaid, who was rubbing her nose, in surprise. He never imagined a fish could catch a cold. The latter wagged her tail, pointed to her throat, and then sneezed again, proving that she did indeed have a cold.

Hao Ren was dumbfounded. He instinctively looked up at Lily: "How do you treat a fish with a cold?"

"Of course fish can catch colds; there's special medicine for it," Lily said, taking out a cotton swab from somewhere and helping Doudou wipe her nose. "But you have to remember, what you have there isn't a real fish. Have you ever seen a real fish eat wood?"

As she spoke, Doudou's stomach rumbled. She broke free from Hao Ren's grasp and jumped to the edge of the table, shouting towards the kitchen. A black and white figure came running out, with "Gungnir" (a cat) carrying a few pieces of cardboard in its mouth. It jumped onto the table and placed the cardboard in front of Doudou, meowing very respectfully, then retreated from the table with small steps. Doudou picked up a piece of cardboard, took a couple of bites, and patted her tail in approval: it was the little one's feeding time.

Hao Ren: "..."

What exactly had happened in the past half-month!

Clearly, after being beaten up by a fish last time, Gungnir's entire worldview had undergone a cataclysmic change. This unruly, rebellious cat had actually been educated by Doudou. It had actually become a fish's follower. He didn't know how it would survive in the stray cat world of the Southern Suburbs after this news spread. Vivian was also stunned. She looked at Doudou, then at Gungnir, finally focusing her gaze on Lily: "The ecosystem in this house is getting weirder and weirder. It's lowering the standards of cats and dogs on the whole street."

Just then, the sound of the door opening came from the hallway. Nangong Wuyue and Becky had finally returned home.

As soon as Nangong Wuyue appeared, she saw Hao Ren on the sofa and greeted him happily, "Oh, Landlord, you're home? Did you see the note in the kitchen?"

"I saw it," Hao Ren said, pointing to Doudou. "I was wondering why the little one was in the rice cooker, and what the early, middle, and late heating was all about. Also, does Doudou have a cold?"

Nangong Wuyue took off her coat and hung it on the coat rack by the door, saying like a string of firecrackers, "Oh, it's because she has a cold that we have to heat her up. It's a treatment plan given by the Goddess, and it works pretty well. Now she only sneezes occasionally."

Hao Ren quickly asked about the cause and effect. After listening to Nangong Wuyue's explanation, he understood what had happened: a couple of days ago, it had snowed here, and Doudou had broken a window and jumped out to play in the snow while Nangong Wuyue and Becky were out buying groceries. As everyone knew, she was a warm-water fish, and she had frozen stiff after jumping around in the snow for a while...

Nangong Wuyue had tried her best to thaw her out, but the little one had still caught a cold.

Although Nangong Wuyue was a siren, she had never been sick since she was a child, and she didn't know how to treat a mermaid's cold, so she had to ask for help from Raven 12345 (the latter had left a spiritual imprint in the minds of every tenant in Hao Ren's house for emergency contact). The Goddess-sister, with her world-shaking talent, had formulated the treatment plan listed on the note in the kitchen—although Hao Ren felt that those things were likely just a recipe that the female lunatic had come up with on a whim while making noodles, it was indeed effective for Doudou's cold.

Of course, it was also possible that this unprecedentedly strong little one was recovering quickly on her own. Anyway, she was the only one of her kind in the entire clan, and there was no control group. Raven 12345 said her plan was effective, so let it be effective.

Nangong Wuyue seemed a little apologetic for not taking good care of Doudou: "I'm sorry, I should have been more careful..."

Hao Ren was a reasonable person, and he waved his hand: "It's not your fault. This little one's been courting death for more than a day or two. With her level of activity, who knows what kind of situation she'll suddenly get into? It's better for you to take care of her. If I took care of her, the situation might be even worse—and she actually broke her own window. Who would have thought?"

Nangong Wuyue nodded: "The window has been repaired, and this time I've covered all the windows in the house with a water mist barrier, so even if no one's home, we don't have to worry about her running around."

Only then did Hao Ren understand why he had seen a thin layer of fog on the windows everywhere as soon as he entered the house. It turned out to be the magical effect left by Nangong Wuyue.

He looked down at the little mermaid, who was tearing up the last piece of cardboard and stuffing it into her mouth. He felt from the bottom of his heart that mischievous kids were really a tormenting species, especially when this mischievous kid had a physiological structure that was beyond human imagination: fortunately, there was still a fish in the house who knew how to take care of this mischievous kid...

Nangong Wuyue looked up at the clock on the wall and reached out to Doudou: "I won't say anymore, it's almost time. I'll take Doudou to cook for a while, and she should be completely healed in a couple of days."

The fish baby waved her arms and said goodbye to Hao Ren, then obediently jumped into Nangong Wuyue's hand. This tacit understanding really seemed like mother and daughter.

It was just that what they were going to do in the kitchen was really hard to describe...

While Nangong Wuyue went to the kitchen to cook the fish, a pretty girl in a red wool coat finally had the chance to jump out and greet everyone: "Yo! Everyone! Long time no see—what do you think of my look?"

Hao Ren had noticed Becky wandering around earlier, but he had been too busy focusing on his daughter to talk to her. At this time, he looked up at Becky and, to be honest, he almost didn't recognize her.

Becky was no longer wearing the old clothes that Nangong Wuyue had given her, but a brand-new wool coat. It was a new winter style, with a waist-cinching design, paired with black skinny pants and small leather boots. The whole person looked fashionable and glamorous. She also had a little light makeup on her face, and her hair had been carefully styled. The not-too-gaudy and just-right embellishments made her even more outstanding—in just over half a month, the somewhat unsophisticated otherworld mercenary girl had completely integrated into Earth life and looked almost completely like an Earthling.

It could only be said that it was indeed due to her profession: Becky's ability to adapt to unfamiliar environments was at least a five-plus.