The Merman I Picked Up Is Too Delicious - Chapter 44

After Xu Gaodi left, Luo Qingyan and the little merman’s life returned to its usual tranquility.

One day, Luo Qingyan went to her grandmother’s house early in the morning.

Although she had moved to Hefeng Pavilion, she often returned to her grandmother’s place to spend time with her. Sometimes they would go grocery shopping together, sometimes they would cook and eat together, and sometimes they would play with Lizi. She usually stayed for most of the day.

Today was no different. She accompanied her grandmother on a shopping trip, had lunch together, and took Lizi for a walk. It was almost dinnertime by the time she returned to Hefeng Pavilion.

Unexpectedly, something unusual happened after she got back.

As Luo Qingyan stepped out of the elevator, she heard a cat’s cry coming from the stairwell. The sound was unusually long and loud, completely different from the usual “meow,” as if it were calling for help.

She paused on her way home and waited in the elevator lobby. A few seconds later, the tabby cat emerged from the stairwell. Seeing someone there, it cried out as it approached, then began rubbing against her legs.

“You still haven’t given birth?” Luo Qingyan noticed the tabby cat’s belly was still large. She crouched down and asked, “Are you hungry?”

“Wait! are you about to give birth?” Luo Qingyan widened her eyes, dumbfounded, and gently patted the tabby cat’s head. “Right now?”

The cat nudged her hand in response, then ran toward the young couple’s door, crying and looking back as it went.

Luo Qingyan followed and saw the tabby cat lying in the nest the young couple had prepared for it. It began panting slowly, its breaths growing increasingly rapid, while its body writhed restlessly.

“Oh my god, you really are giving birth!” Luo Qingyan was stunned. She quickly grabbed her phone. Fortunately, during the National Day holiday, she had run into the female neighbor, who had given her a phone number in case of emergencies.

“Are you okay?”

The sound of the door opening was followed by the little merman’s anxious voice.

“I’m fine, but the cat isn’t, it’s giving birth!” Luo Qingyan replied to the little merman before dialing the number. “Hello! This is your neighbor from Hefeng Pavilion. The tabby cat is giving birth right now, and it’s in the nest by your door.”

“Right now?” The female neighbor’s voice was frantic. “Could you please keep an eye on it for now? I’m still on the high-speed train, but I’ll have my husband rush back as soon as possible. Could you please watch over it until he arrives?”

“I… I can keep an eye on it, but I don’t know what else to do. I’ve never assisted a cat during birth before. It looks like it’s in pain, but I don’t know how to help.” Luo Qingyan’s voice was full of worry.

“Don’t worry. Under normal circumstances, stray cats can give birth smoothly on their own,” the female neighbor quickly reassured her. “There’s a box next to the cat’s nest with pee pads and canned food inside. Could you please lay down a pee pad? The cat needs a clean environment during birth, and there will be quite a bit of bleeding. The canned food is for if it seems weak during labor, but it probably won’t be necessary. My husband will be back as soon as possible.”

“Alright, I’ll lay down the pee pad first.” Though frightened, Luo Qingyan took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.

“If the cat is giving birth too slowly and seems to be in too much pain, you can gently massage and stroke its belly.” Sensing Luo Qingyan’s nervousness, her female neighbor continued explaining the relevant details. “When the cat is giving birth, unless the mother cat is pressing down on a newborn kitten, you don’t need to intervene. She can lick off all the membranes and blood herself. Just keep an eye on her.”

“Okay.” Luo Qingyan had mostly calmed down.

“Thank you so much for your help.” The neighbor expressed her gratitude sincerely.

After hanging up, Luo Qingyan prepared to lay a pee pad in the cat’s nesting area. As she unfolded the pad, the little merman stopped her.

“Are you going to touch it? It might scratch you!” The little merman stood nearby, both worried and fearful.

“The cat needs a clean environment to give birth. I have to put this pad underneath her,” Luo Qingyan explained calmly. “She’s in too much discomfort right now to bother scratching me.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” the little merman blurted out, then realized Luo Qingyan was determined to proceed. He pressed his lips together and said, “How about I do it? I can lift her with water, at least then she can’t scratch me.”

“I’m not as afraid of cats as you are. I’ll handle it.” As she spoke, Luo Qingyan placed the pee pad into the cat’s nest. “I understand your fear of cats isn’t just because cats eat fish, after all, cats don’t eat humans, but some people are still afraid of them. Some are terrified just at the sight of cats and refuse to get close. Others are afraid of different animals, snakes, insects, rats, ants, some even feel uneasy just seeing the names of those creatures.”

The little merman didn’t try to stop her again, and while she was talking, Luo Qingyan finished laying the pad. The cat seemed to understand the human was helping and cooperated fully, even rubbing its head against Luo Qingyan’s hand.

“See? It’s fine. I’m not afraid of cats, and I can assess the situation.” Luo Qingyan turned and smiled at the little merman. “Could you bring me a low stool? I need to keep watch here. It might take a while, and squatting the whole time will be uncomfortable.”

“The fear I’m talking about isn’t just superficial,” the little merman said, his gaze drifting. “Are you really going to stay with her? It’s almost dinnertime, and I’ve mostly finished preparing the food.”

“Then you go ahead with dinner. I’ll stay out here and keep watch. The neighbor is on her way back, once she arrives, I’ll come home to eat.”

“Alright, I’ll get you the stool first.” With that, the little merman turned and went home to fetch it.

He soon returned with the stool for Luo Qingyan, then went back alone to continue cooking. However, he left the front door open, just in case he needed to rush out quickly if anything happened.

Luo Qingyan sat on the low stool, attentively watching the tabby cat.

The tabby kept panting, clearly in distress, sometimes curling up, sometimes rolling onto its side, occasionally kicking its legs. It was struggling to deliver the kittens, but it wasn’t going smoothly.

After about ten minutes with no progress, Luo Qingyan decided to help by massaging its belly. She had briefly looked up information online and followed the method shared by netizens who had assisted in cat births, gently stroking the tabby’s abdomen.

The tabby lay on its side, exposing its belly for her to massage, letting out occasional meows.

The little merman, having finished dinner preparations, came out carrying another low stool. Despite the lingering fear and concern on his face, he quietly sat down beside her to keep her company.

After rubbing for a while, Luo Qingyan stopped when she noticed the tabby cat beginning to move on its own. She turned her head to look at the little merman boy behind her and said, “You can wait at home. If you’re hungry, go ahead and eat. I’m not hungry yet, and I’m fine staying with the cat. She trusts me, and that makes me feel at ease.”

“I want to stay with you,” the little merman boy replied calmly.

Luo Qingyan was slightly taken aback, then smiled. “Alright, then stay with me. I like having you here too, it makes me feel secure.”

“It’s moving!” Although the little merman boy was looking at Luo Qingyan, he kept the tabby cat in his peripheral vision, so he noticed immediately when the cat showed signs of change.

Luo Qingyan turned her head and saw the tabby cat’s abdomen contracting intensely, with something dark appearing beneath its tail. Her heart raced in panic, and she exclaimed anxiously, “It… it’s starting to give birth… so… so soon…”

Watching the tabby cat give birth, Luo Qingyan felt inexplicably tense. Her heart pounded rapidly, her body broke out in a cold sweat, her hands and feet turned icy, and she even felt nauseous. She couldn’t help but clench her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms, causing sharp pain. Yet, the pain did nothing to ease her anxiety.

“Don’t be afraid, it’s going to be okay,” the little merman boy said as he rose from the low stool, knelt on one knee beside Luo Qingyan, and wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Creatures in nature have their own ways of survival. Life is heavy, but it is also resilient.”

“It looks like it’s in so much pain.” Luo Qingyan leaned closer into the little merman boy’s embrace and raised her right hand to grasp his. “Earlier, I looked up information online about cats giving birth and found out the mortality rate for newborn kittens isn’t low, especially when someone like me, with no experience at all, is here. All the knowledge I have is just what I looked up online.”

“If you weren’t here, it would have to give birth entirely on its own. With you here, you can provide clean pads, massage its belly, and keep an eye on it to prevent it from accidentally crushing the newborns.”

“I… actually, I’m really scared of watching this kind of scene. It makes me incredibly uncomfortable in a way I can’t describe.” Luo Qingyan lowered her gaze slightly. “I know life is miraculous, but, I’m also terrified of this raw, exposed process. It makes me feel awful, deeply sad.”

The little merman boy tightened his hold on Luo Qingyan slightly and said slowly, “Do you know that sea turtles must lay their eggs on the beach? To do so, some female turtles have to cross half the Pacific Ocean, and some even die along the way. And when they gather on the beach to lay their eggs, birds, their natural predators, come to prey on the freshly laid eggs. Once the female turtles finish laying their eggs, they return to the sea and don’t stay to guard them. Can you imagine? While the turtles are laying eggs, birds are already hunting them. Later, when the eggs hatch, the baby turtles are also preyed upon by birds. They might be eaten as soon as they’re born, and only a small fraction make it back to the ocean. Birth and death happen simultaneously.”

Luo Qingyan frowned slightly as she imagined the scene in her mind, her emotions tangled and complex.

The little merman continued, “There’s also the firefly squid, whose lifespan is typically around one year. For the first three hundred days, they grow naturally like any other creature. The remaining days are their bioluminescent courtship period, mating and spawning mark the end of their lives. Male firefly squids stop eating after mating due to damaged reproductive organs and gradually die. Females must travel to shallow waters to lay eggs, and once spawning is complete, they lack the strength to return to the deep sea, leaving them no choice but to perish.”

“From a human perspective, this might seem pitiful, but for them, this is simply the cycle of life, endlessly repeating, generation after generation. Survival and reproduction are indeed instincts, but beyond that, there is nothing more. They don’t overthink like humans do. Humans possess complex minds, gaining much but also bearing greater burdens.” The little merman’s voice remained calm, as if only inner peace could allow one to face everything so serenely.

Luo Qingyan still didn’t speak, but her hand tightened around the little merman’s.

Just then, the tabby cat gave birth to her first kitten, a tiny, messy lump barely recognizable as a cat.

Soon after, meowing sounds came from the neighbor’s house. Likely, the cat inside sensed what was happening outside and began calling out.

The tabby cat grunted a few times and continued laboring, the scene bloody and intense.

Luo Qingyan suddenly felt nauseous, retching several times in extreme discomfort.

“You should go back home. I’ll handle things here,” the little merman said, attempting to help Luo Qingyan to her feet.

“I’m fine…” Luo Qingyan insisted, though her body clearly disagreed.

“You don’t look fine,” the little merman’s tone turned firm. “You must go back. Someone just needs to stay and keep watch, I’ll remain here.”

“But you don’t like cats…”

“Even if I don’t, I can still keep watch!”

The male neighbor, perceptive enough to recognize the tension, quickly interjected, “Thank you both. I can take it from here. I appreciate your help.”

“Not a problem,” Luo Qingyan replied promptly. She truly wasn’t fit to stay any longer. “The cat is giving birth, too many people might disturb her. It’s better for someone familiar to accompany her. We’ll head back now.”

“Mm, thank you for your trouble,” the neighbor nodded, then turned his attention to the tabby cat in the nesting box.

The little merman immediately guided Luo Qingyan toward their home, chairs and other things could wait.

Luo Qingyan glanced back at the laboring tabby cat, her heart filled with a tumult of emotions.