The landlord has multiple personalities and wants everyone to pay him.

Holding a cup of Fanta Blue Sparkling Water worth fifty yuan in one hand and Xiao Nuan's hand in the other, Ye Shu walked towards the entrance of the aquarium.

Although it's called an aquarium, the building isn't completely enclosed.

As soon as Ye Shu reached the ticket gate, he looked up at the gate and couldn't help but twitch his lips.

The gate is indeed quite artistically designed. It's a rather large archway with white wave patterns inlaid on it. The top archway is a slightly abstract but clearly shaped like a large whale.

Ye Shuneng understood the designer's idea: to imitate the scene of a giant whale leaping out of the sea and then crashing back into the sea belly up.

However, perhaps due to the angle of construction, or perhaps due to Ye Shu's personal reasons, no matter how he looked at it, he felt that the whale's posture was somewhat subtle.

It doesn't feel like a vibrant leap; it's more like it's turned upside down, giving off a somewhat "dead fish" vibe.

Especially with the decorative wisps of white foam next to it, perhaps intended to simulate waves, but to Ye Shu it looked more like whale spit.

This designer... has quite a concept; the design is rather... serene. The fish didn't seem to suffer when it left...

While Ye Shu was ruining art, it was time for them to check tickets. Ye Shu then gave up mourning for the beluga whale and led Xiao Nuan inside.

As soon as you enter, you can hear a group of children chattering.

I don't know which school or activity organized the tour group, but at a glance there were about twenty elementary school students, wearing the same clothes, with two people next to them who should be teachers. Led by a staff member, they stood in front of a rather large specimen and listened to the explanation.

The staff member was clearly an expert at handling these kinds of situations. He had a megaphone that was barely audible on his waist, and he didn't care whether the children below were listening or not. He just talked and then went home.

Ye Shu originally wanted to bring Xiao Nuan along to audit the lecture and learn something, so that the trip wouldn't be in vain.

But just as he lifted his foot to walk in that direction, Xiao Nuan grabbed his hand and pulled him into the aquarium.

"Huh?"

Ye Shu was a little confused by her hurried departure.

The surrounding scenery is actually quite well done, simulating ecological environments such as coastlines, reefs, and mangroves; it's clear that a lot of money was spent on it.

Xiao Nuan seemed completely uninterested in any of this, keeping her eyes straight ahead and not even glancing at them. She pulled Ye Shu along and walked inside, getting faster and faster as they went.

Ye Shu followed behind her, jogging to keep up, and subconsciously looked back to see if anyone was chasing her.

Xiao Nuan didn't seem to be here for the first time; she seemed quite familiar with the area. After making a few turns, she and Ye Shu took an escalator leading to the underground.

"Xiao Nuan, why are you in such a hurry? Where are you going?"

Once on the escalator, Ye Shu finally couldn't help but look down and ask Xiao Nuan, who was sitting right next to him.

As the escalator slowly descended, a huge panoramic curved glass dome stretched overhead, behind which lay blue seawater. Various fish swam overhead, and the shimmering light and shadow made it feel like being in an underwater world. Other tourists all took out their phones to take pictures.

Xiao Nuan didn't look at it at all. She wasn't interested in the seabed above her head and just looked down at the end of the escalator.

Xiao Nuan only looked up at Ye Shu after hearing his question.

Just then, a beam of light shone through the seawater and the glass dome, like a spotlight on a stage, onto her face.

The light rippled gently with the water, casting shimmering patterns on her face and making her already clear eyes appear like two pearls on the seabed.

At this moment, Xiao Nuan, enhanced by the light and shadow, looked almost unreal. Ye Shu was immediately reminded of the mermaid he watched on TV when he was a child.

Ye Shu's hair stood on end, not from fright, but from excitement. She unconsciously lowered her head to check if Xiao Nuan's legs had turned into fish tails.

"Don't move."

Ye Shu also took out her phone, but while everyone else was taking pictures from above, Ye Shu was taking pictures from below.

The girl in the photo has her head slightly raised in the flowing light and shadow, her eyes clear and focused, with fish swimming back and forth in the background.

Indeed, it was too beautiful, and Ye Shu finally put her phone away with satisfaction.

When the escalator reached the bottom, Xiao Nuan remained in the same position, staring at Ye Shu without moving.

Ye Shu then remembered and quickly said:

"Okay, you can move now."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Nuan turned around and continued pulling Ye Shu forward, also answering Ye Shu's earlier question in the process:

"I want to go see Xiaonuan."

"Look...look at what?"

Ye Shu, standing beside him, wondered if she had misheard. "Look at Xiao Nuan? What do you mean?"

Xiao Nuan didn't answer him, but just pulled him forward. They walked for quite a while and came to a relatively open park.

This is a semi-open park that simulates a coastal environment, with artificial reef surfaces underfoot.

Xiao Nuan pulled Ye Shu to stand outside a glass wall. Behind the glass was a sizable artificial beach and pool. Several round, grayish-brown creatures, looking glossy and smooth, were sunbathing on the beach, while a few others floated in the pool.

Xiao Nuan released Ye Shu's hand, walked to the glass, scanned the inside with her eyes, and then pointed to one of them.

"That's Xiao Nuan."

Ye Shu followed her hand and looked at the animals. They all looked the same, with round heads and small eyes. Most of them were moving. Some were turning over, some were digging in the sand with their little arms, and some were pretending to be floating corpses in the water, occasionally twitching their tails.

Only the one Xiao Nuan was pointing to was different from the others.

It lay alone on a rock in the corner of the beach, its posture perfectly spread out, as if someone had slammed a lump of dough on it.

He lay there motionless, facing the sunlight, exuding an air of detachment that said, "The world's troubles are none of my concern," as if he had entered a meditative state.

You know what, you really shouldn't say...

Ye Shu looked at Xiao Nuan inside the glass, then turned to look at Xiao Nuan outside the glass.

It's true that heroes cherish heroes, and Xiao Nuan cherishes Xiao Nuan. Their temperament and composure are so similar.

One is a static girl who automatically shuts out everything in a crowd, and the other is a static animal that can remain peacefully alone even among its own kind.

Ye Shu couldn't help but chuckle twice. He patted Xiao Nuan on the shoulder:

"You came to the aquarium just to see this seal?"

"manatee."

Xiao Nuan didn't turn her head; her eyes remained fixed on the little girl inside, and she even pointed downwards with her hand.

Ye Shu bent down slightly to look at the small metal plaque:

Florida manatee

【Alternative names: Mermaid, Sea Pig】

[Habits: Herbivorous, gentle in nature, slow-moving, prefers quiet environments, and often inhabits shallow seas or estuaries...]

It really is a manatee.

Ye Shu has grown up but has hardly ever been to an aquarium. His knowledge of animals comes from watching nature documentaries when he was a child. However, distinguishing between these marine mammals is still a bit difficult for him.

In his eyes, seals, sea lions, fur seals, manatees... they all look pretty much the same, all round and plump.

At this moment, Xiao Nuan raised her glass of blue sparkling water again, held the lid up to Ye Shu's face, and pointed to the plastic model on the lid:

"That's a manatee on the lid."

"Isn't that a dolphin?"

Ye Shu looked at the somewhat abstract outline on the lid, streamlined, with a bent body, and it would definitely resemble a dolphin no matter how you looked at it.

Xiao Nuan shook her head and pointed to the lid to explain to Ye Shu:

"They are different. Manatees have round tails, while dolphins have forked tails, so the one on the lid is a manatee."

After saying that, Xiao Nuan, who was sunbathing inside the glass, seemed to be cooperating with the lesson and flicked her tail.

Ye Shu looked at it and saw that it really was round, as were the ones on the lid.

But who can tell the difference? The design on the lid is so abstract, it looks like a bunch of fish.

Even the little girl buying drinks probably thought it was a dolphin; only Xiao Nuan could tell what was on the lid.