Xie Tao looked at the visitor and then gave the other people in the room a meaningful glance. Several of them, including Lin Yi, reacted after a second and understood the meaning behind that look.
At this time, they could not put on a sincere smile. Their eyes changed and they temporarily entered a state of silent observation.
Mermaid cubs stayed in water most of the time, when Curran entered the house his eyes therefore simply swept uninterested over the room.
The cub would either be in the indoor pool or at the branch's newly built ocean simulated area.
Seeing that the visitor did not pay attention to the rest of the room, but intentionally walked in the direction of the indoor pool, Xie Tao temporarily put down the fluffy cub hidden in his arms and rushed to catch up to the man before walking together with him over to the pool.
One set of familiar footsteps and another set of unfamiliar footsteps. Hearing this was enough for the mermaid cub, who was playfully chasing the Moye cub, to stop and curiously swim to the surface.
Moving towards the edge, the mermaid cub's eyes fixated on the human youth walking towards him. As they came closer, the cub noticed the other person who was with the youth, walking one step behind him..... An adult mermaid male.
In theory, seeing someone from his race should make the cub feel a sense of closeness.
But when the other's gaze fell on him, the mermaid cub instinctively flicked his tail, not wanting the other to come closer.
"Pa..." The little mermaid reflexively sought his parent for security and opened his mouth to call out to him as he swam up to the human youth. But seeing the youth discreetly put his finger over his lips, the cub at once obediently closed his mouth.
When he saw the mermaid cub who swam up to the pool's edge, Curran almost immediately went from being calm to astonished.
He could clearly see the golden mark on the cub's forehead. The mark had not been as distinct in the photo and it was first now that he could take in each detail of it. It was these details that made it hard for Curran to keep his calm.
The Houdie family's mark might seem like a simple pattern to outsiders. Only members of the family knew that there was actually a lot of information hidden in it.
If a cub successfully developed an ability for example, the golden mark on that cub's forehead would change slightly.
Due to their race, mermaid cubs under normal circumstances usually developed either water or spiritual abilities. What ability it was and if the cub had developed one or multiple could all be read in the pattern.
But this time the change to the small details in the mark on this cub's forehead did not signify any of them... What did this mean? For now, the only answer Curran could think of was the possibility of a variant ability.
Suddenly the way Curran looked at the cub changed. He did not know why the cub had managed to developed an ability without being able to sing, but the family mark was never wrong. The cub must have mastered an ability.
Moreover, it was most likely a valuable variant ability.
If that was the case, the family would not need to bother with hiding the cub's inability to speak once he brought him back.
Suppressing his amazement, Curran decisively followed the youth standing next after having confirmed his target. It was time to put his cards on the table.
"I am a member of the Houdie family. I believe that after knowing my identity, Sir, you should be somewhat aware of my intentions."
The speculations were on Xingyou, Curran was quite certain that the other was not ignorant about the matter.
As no one answered, Curran continued, "This little mermaid is a long lost cub of our family. I was sent by the old master of our family in order to bring the cub back. If you need any proof, I can provide it here. I hope you can help me get through the formalities as quickly as possible."
"And..." Curran paused and then deliberately kept his voice down as he said in a very serious tone, "I hope your distinguished self can ensure that you and everyone else in the club do not disclose anything about the cub. For this sake, our family is willing to provide a considerable amount of funding for Yunbao Branch."
Them keeping their mouths shut was nevertheless still important. He had used his family's status and hush money had also been hinted at. Curran never even considered the possibility that the other party would refuse.
But in the next second, he not only heard the youth refused without the slightest hesitation, but was also hit by an ice ball.
"Not gonna happen."
Xie Tao clearly said this one word at a time, his firm attitude shown by his tone.
But the ice ball that came flying from the pool after was unexpected even to Xie Tao. The ice ball, that was about the size of a palm, flew towards the well-dressed man next to him.
Although it had not yet reached its target, it still put the man in a difficult situation as he awkwardly dodged to the side, making him lose his perfect image.
_______________
Translator's note:
Go little Gale! Standing up for himself! *\(^o^)/*
We finally got to see little Gale and Ah Tao do some face slapping, I'm hoping for even more face slapping in the next chapter.
Many thanks to Jessie for the coffees~ ❤️❤️❤️