The Supporting Male Characters Who Died Alone All Those Years Later

An Liuguang was petrified by An Yanshang’s tail. Who hasn’t seen a few mermaid movies? In an instant, An Liuguang’s mind was filled with a series of conspiracies, and he trembled, his face pale.

Don’t come over!

An Yanshang was unable to bear the sight of such cowardice. He handed the robot in his hand to the mermen and temporarily ignored An Liuguang.

The mermen found a lot of equipment on An Liuguang’s yacht. The robot’s camera had uploaded everything to the cloud, and there were likely numerous backups.

The situation became tricky. The only consolation was that An Yanshang had turned off the camera as soon as he got the robot, so it only captured him in his underwater mermaid form.

He Dongchen, far away in H City, frowned upon receiving the report. He tapped his fingers on the desk twice and said, “In that case, don’t hide it.”

“Clan Leader??” The merfolk were shocked. Had their Mermaid Clan become so powerful? So fearless?

“I mean, release the footage proactively and say it’s a promotional video filmed on Pearl Island,” He Dongchen explained. Some things become more intriguing the more mysterious they are. It’s better to lay them out in the open.

“Additionally, prepare for relocation. I plan to open Pearl Island to the public.” The An family was drawn here by the cultivation secret recipe and stumbled upon the Mermaid Clan’s secret. Since that’s the case, it’s better to open Pearl Island directly to avoid continual interest.

“Understood!” The merman comprehended, hung up the phone, and gave An Yanshang a few instructions. Finally, he patted his shoulder and said, “You did well this time. Good job.”

An Yanshang instinctively puffed out his chest, then self-deprecatingly realized how soon he had taken pride in the Mermaid Clan.

The merfolk brought over fish tail scales, one that had just been shed by a silver-tail earlier. It was a good fit for An Yanshang and was noticeably brighter than his own tail.

“Alright, it’s too dark to see clearly. Later, we’ll add more light to make it passable.”

An Yanshang touched the tail and returned to An Liuguang.

***

It took less than 10 minutes.

An Liuguang felt like time had slowed to a crawl. Unable to discern the passage of time, he saw An Yanshang return, pointing in terror at his tail, swallowing hard, “Y-your tail…”

Seeing his frightened look, An Yanshang suddenly smirked wickedly, “That’s right. My mother was a mermaid. Back then, she was deceived by that scumbag when she came ashore! Now I have returned to my roots! Heh, none of you in the An family can escape!”

As An Yanshang laughed sinisterly, his huge shadow was cast on the ground, enveloping An Liuguang, who trembled and felt small and helpless.

An Yanshang, feeling secretly pleased, was about to speak.

An Liuguang, who had already envisioned a war between humans and merfolk, was scared out of his wits. He crawled over, clutching An Yanshang’s thigh and begging for mercy, tears and snot flowing; “Yanshang, my mother was also a pitiful person. We are both pitiful. Do whatever you want! I will help you as your brother, go through fire and water, and do my duty without question!”

“Let go!” An Yanshang’s forehead twitched. His tail was about to fall off!

“Not letting go!” An Liuguang held onto the tail tightly, stubbornly clinging.

With a tearing sound, the tail came off, revealing An Yanshang’s two legs.

An Liuguang, thrown to the ground by the inertia, still clung to the tail, stunned for a moment, unable to comprehend what was happening.

Seeing this, An Yanshang decided to stop pretending. With his hands in his pockets and a mocking tone, he said, “An Liuguang, haven’t you always been so proud of your intelligence? You were fooled by me so thoroughly. I’ve already recorded your tearful pleas for mercy.”

An Liuguang, coming to his senses, threw the tail away and angrily lunged at An Yanshang. “You bastard, you’re messing with me!”

An Yanshang dodged him and continued to taunt, “You were the one who overthought everything. It was just a promotional video, and you thought it was some grand conspiracy. Hilarious!”

As he spoke, the mermaid with the long legs entered, and seriously told An Liuguang, “You filmed the content of our promotional video. To prevent leaks, we need to sign an agreement. If the video gets out, you’ll be responsible for all damages!”

“Why should I!?” An Liuguang shouted, worried that they might deliberately leak the video to force him to pay compensation.

The mermaid smiled. “Then tomorrow’s headline will be that An’s Jewelry is involved in unfair competition and has infiltrated Ocean Jewelry’s cultivation base.”

An Liuguang froze.

“Some people who infiltrated were unfortunate enough to encounter a storm and met their end at the bottom of the sea,” the mermaid added slowly.

“I’ll sign!!!” An Liuguang said seriously, then cast a sinister glance at An Yanshang. That guy must have deliberately tricked me into this! Despicable!

An Yanshang shrugged, then suddenly thought of something and spoke with ill intentions, “How about making a cameo as a merman?”

Before An Liuguang could refuse, the mermaid’s eyes lit up. This is a good idea! If An Liuguang played the merman, they would never expect that this island was filled with real merfolk.

***

That night, when even night owls could no longer stay awake, a video suddenly exploded online. The video was very short, showing a camera falling into the water and accidentally capturing a person with a fish tail—a merman! The merman, seemingly having noticed the camera, swam over and seriously turned it off.

[Merfolk spotted!]

The title was blunt and eye-catching, and the merman’s handsomeness was simply stunning! The close-up shot at the end was spectacular!

Sleepy-eyed netizens immediately perked up and began analyzing the authenticity of the video, wondering if it was staged.

By the next morning, the topic had become a hot trend. However, due to its shocking nature, no one took it seriously. Some truth-seekers predicted it was yet another premeditated hype.

A netizen commented, [Just wait, this merman will definitely debut! Haha, so many people want to be famous, just seeking attention.]

After much fuss, Ocean Jewelry finally came forward with a statement. They said they were filming a promotional video, and someone had accidentally leaked the footage. The company was investigating the responsibility of certain people.

Some people, including An Liuguang, were dumbfounded. “That’s not me!”

The mermaid snorted coldly, “If it’s not you, then who? Our Ocean Jewelry is wealthy and doesn’t need your small compensation.”

An Liuguang scratched his head, and then his eyes lit up suddenly. “It must have been those people who leaked it! By the way, what about the people who came with me?”

“Oh, you mean those mercenaries? We handed them over to the international police. Each one of them had a criminal record. They could kill and set fires for money, with no humanity at all. Tsk tsk tsk. By the way, were you very familiar with them?”

An Liuguang quickly replied, “No, we weren’t familiar. We just happened to be on the same boat.”

An Yanshang, watching from the side, rolled his eyes. Afterward, he couldn’t help but ponder. Mercenaries weren’t as easily fooled as An Liuguang, and there was no way the merfolk would trust them with the international police. The most likely scenario was…

An Yanshang gazed out at the boundless sea and closed his eyes.

***

At noon, He Dongchen and Xi Ya arrived at the island by boat. Since they were filming a promotional video, they made sure to do it thoroughly. Xi Ya naturally took on the leading role, while An Yanshang and An Liuguang became mere background characters, flashing by briefly in the shots.

They filmed leisurely for half a month, but due to the approaching storm, they had to pause production.

An Liuguang, who had been suffering in the sea for half a month, lamented, “Brother, you’ve endured a lot.”

An Liuguang had automatically assumed that An Yanshang was also being tortured on the island.

An Yanshang brushed off his hand and remained silent.

Meanwhile, the An family saw in the clips released by Ocean Jewelry that two illegitimate sons had participated in the promotional video, without any lines, just background characters!

This infuriated them.

How could they go to a competitor to film a promotional video?! The An family was enraged, but they couldn’t reach the two, so they sent another illegitimate son to the island to get to the bottom of it.

(TN: Who the hell has so many “disposable” illegitimate children?! Who is their father? A rabbit?)

In the promotional video, a new background character appeared.

The three brothers from the An family.

The An family was furious. Before they could take action, the internet exploded with news about the An family jewelry’s chief designer being accused of plagiarism and jewelry fraud, among other serious issues.

The An family was overwhelmed and couldn’t focus on anything else.

An Yanshang, hearing about the An family’s plight from the merfolk, felt somewhat vindicated. Since he couldn’t have the An family, it was good that they were ruined.

The promotional video, which had been intermittently filmed for 2 months, left viewers puzzled. It had been over 4 months in total. A TV drama could have been produced with fifty episodes in that time! What kind of promotional video could take so long? A special effects blockbuster?

Indeed, it was a special effects blockbuster.

He Dongchen was considering expanding into other industries, as the relationship between pearls and merfolk was sensitive. The promotional video was a great opportunity, and he designed a special effects software that was easy to use and produced realistic results, preparing to leverage the current hype for its launch.

Xi Ya, with nothing to do, made a short video using the special effects software. After seeing the finished product, she marveled, “After 10 years on land, how can you be so exceptional?”

He Dongchen replied, “If you had those 10 years, you’d be just as good.”

Merfolk were inherently intelligent, quickly absorbing and applying knowledge that humans needed to learn from a young age. If they weren’t so scarce and had fewer reproduction difficulties, they might even rule the earth.

A thought flashed through He Dongchen’s mind, but he continued refining the special effects software. After a while, he suddenly felt the surroundings had become quiet. He turned his head and saw that Xi Ya, who had been sitting nearby, had vanished, leaving only a black dress adorned with scattered diamonds on the chair.

In the small fish tank on the desk, there was a golden-pink figure, looking dejected and hugging its tail, with its back turned to him.

He Dongchen paused, stood up, and moved to the back of the fish tank. He knelt in front of Xi Ya and said gently, “What’s wrong? Why so suddenly sad?”

Xi Ya continued to turn around, and after a moment, a soft, childish voice came through, “My 10 years was stolen from me.”

Xi Ya’s delicate brows showed a hint of sadness. “During these 10 years, someone else took my place, enjoyed your care, and I could do nothing but lament my fate.”

He Dongchen sighed lightly and moved aside, looking at Xi Ya seriously. “Although losing those 10 years is regrettable, we still have many more decades to make up for it. Xi Ya, holding onto grudges won’t make you happy. If you really can’t let go, should I lock Hua Xue in a sea shell for 10 years?”

Xi Ya, through the fish tank, looked at the magnified He Dongchen. The reflection in the round tank made his handsome face look distorted.

After a moment, she whispered, “From this angle, you look so ugly.”

Whoosh—thud, He Dongchen felt as if he had been struck by an arrow.

So, once when he turned into a little merman in the fish tank, he said to the outside Xi Ya, “From this angle, you look so ugly.”

Xi Ya narrowed her eyes slightly and, with a finger, stirred furiously in the fish tank.

He Dongchen was defeated.

***

Half a year later, when people were starting to forget about merfolk, the promotional video burst onto the scene. Large sections of the video spread online, with its exquisite visuals and realistic, detailed special effects outshining so-called special effects blockbusters.

The online reaction was overwhelming.

[Look at this, a promotional video from a jewelry company, the special effects are amazing! Some film crews can’t stop whining about technical limitations! It’s clearly a case of money being spent elsewhere! Bah!]

The film crews, feeling wronged, came to consult. He Dongchen generously shared the special effects software and his fee structure with them.

The promotional video was a great success, and Xi Ya’s value skyrocketed.

Meanwhile, An Yanshang, who was the first to be exposed, was barely noticeable due to the intentional blurring of his presence, along with An Liuguang and the other unfortunate companions who were detained later.

After this ordeal, the three brothers, who had previously been so insufferable, suddenly seemed much more bearable.

By the time they regained their freedom, the An family had already fallen apart. The once-mighty family had scattered, with some going abroad and others ending up in prison.

Although they had nothing left, the stigma of being illegitimate children that had been imposed on them since childhood had also vanished.

An Liuguang and his brothers left, shedding their burdens, while An Yanshang continued to stay on the island.

In fact, after calming down, An Yanshang found that life on the island wasn’t too bad. There was no scheming or deceit, and he didn’t have to struggle for a living.

The only downside was that Hua Xue persistently bothered him about having children.

After countless rejections, Hua Xue would leave in a huff.

An Yanshang sighed deeply.

***

2 months later, An Yanshang looked at Hua Xue’s belly and hesitated, “Have you gained weight?”

“You’re the one gaining weight,” Hua Xue replied with a pout, stroking her belly with a gentle smile. “I’m pregnant.”

“W-what?” An Yanshang’s lips began to tremble.

“I said, I’m pregnant. Aren’t you happy? You’re going to be a father! I specifically had a baby with a golden tail! Aren’t you worried about our child’s potential? Now you don’t have to worry. Our child will definitely be smart and beautiful!”

An Yanshang almost choked on his breath. He cared about whether the child was smart, but he cared more about whether the child was his own bloodline! It didn’t matter how smart the child was if it wasn’t his.

“You’re making me wear a green hat! How can you say it so casually?!” He yelled at Hua Xue.

Hua Xue looked innocent. “If you can’t do it, then let someone else do it. Regardless of whose baby it is, it’s our baby.”

An Yanshang looked at Hua Xue’s sincere face, which seemed completely genuine, not like she was deliberately trying to disgust him.

He found it absurd. Previously, when he learned that He Dongchen had once been engaged to Hua Xue, he had felt proud that Hua Xue had chosen him over He Dongchen.

Now, with the green hat suddenly falling on him, An Yanshang felt like he was suffocating, dizzy, and disoriented.

“Yanshang! Yanshang! Are you so happy that you fainted?” Hua Xue’s innocent voice came through.

The world went completely dark.

Later, when He Dongchen learned of the situation, the vegetables in his hand almost fell to the ground.

Xi Ya, noticing He Dongchen’s dazed expression, urged him, “Hurry up, finish buying the groceries and go home. I’m hungry.”

He Dongchen glanced at the green vegetables in his hand, decisively put them back on the shelf, and instead picked up a bunch of bright red tomatoes, feeling festive.

***

The following year, after wrapping up his affairs, He Dongchen took Xi Ya back to the seabed.

The world had changed drastically; after earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the once-thriving Xitu Clan had disappeared. Xi Ya, relying on her memory, arrived at an empty expanse of sea, feeling lost and bewildered.

He Dongchen swam forward, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and offered silent comfort.

After returning from the seabed, He Dongchen proposed to Xi Ya. Their wedding was small but exquisite, attended only by members of the Mermaid Clan. An Yanshang, now a member of the clan, also attended the wedding, though he was visibly sulky.

After the wedding, there was a commotion when he got into a fight with a golden-tailed mermaid, leading to a chaotic scene.

Merfolk had an average lifespan 50 years longer than humans. He Dongchen had already established a retirement base for merfolk who had reached the end of their lives. When his own time came, he planned to take Xi Ya to the base and spend their remaining years there, eventually resting in the depths of the sea.