Her Tentacles 51

Chapter 51: Home

By the time Shu Yao came back to her senses, that Young Master Ye had already had someone raise the auction price to fifty thousand.

Originally, there were other rich people at the auction who, seeing that this octopus was small and cute, and had a nice color, had intended to buy it home to keep as a pet. But seeing that Young Master Ye was also interested, some of them waved to him from downstairs and put down their paddles. Others had their assistants come to the auction, and after knowing who the competitor was through a real-time call, they also had their assistants give up.

And so.

The little octopus, whose value had soared a hundredfold, once again belonged to buyer number 1888 without a doubt.

And Young Master Ye gave Shu Yao a friendly smile and said, “Teacher Shu has been staring at it for a long time. This kind of cute little pet is quite a good match for a girl. Besides, I’m afraid no one in the whole venue is better at communicating with this kind of deep-sea creature than Teacher Shu—”

“Just take this as a personal gift from me.”

After a pause, he looked at Situ Jin again. “If you can, please put in a good word for me with Jin when you have time.”

Shu Yao was a little surprised.

But because the auction had already ended, Situ Jin was more eager than her to see that little octopus up close. After saying hello to the young man, she pulled her and walked out.

And just then, someone from another room came over to invite this young heir of the Ye family over for a cup of tea.

Shu Yao asked Situ Jin, “Why don’t… I go by myself?”

“No.”

Situ Jin shook her index finger. “Of course I’m going with you. Because if I stay there any longer, I won’t just be his recent ambiguous partner. In the eyes of those elders, I’ll become the Ye family’s fiancée.”

Still not understanding the signals released by every move of these circles, Shu Yao thought for a moment, and hesitantly added, “Then the money he just spent on me, do I need to—”

“Oh, no need,” Situ Jin waved her hand. “That’s the young master thinking you have investment value, so he’s trying to win your favor in advance. That little bit of money is just to leave a good impression on you. You can just take it.”

“If you insist on returning it, he’ll think you don’t want to have anything to do with their family at all.”

After saying that, she stopped, raised her hand and squeezed Shu Yao’s cheek, and sighed, “Oh, our Yaoyao has now become a princess that those second-generation rich kids are vying to please. That’s great!”

Shu Yao let her squeeze her face quietly.

Because she knew that the reason things had gone so smoothly tonight, and that she could receive gifts without having to worry about these troublesome interpersonal relationships, was all because of Situ Jin.

…

The two did not stay in the corridor for too long.

Even though the staff member in the exquisite cheongsam who was leading the way would always timely lower her presence, so as not to affect the conversation of the distinguished guests, Situ Jin was after all eager to see the octopus. She soon took Shu Yao’s arm again and walked toward the room where the small fish tank was stored.

As the two approached, they found that the fish tank was made of a special material that maintained breathability while ensuring that the octopus could not escape if the lid was not opened.

But also because this auction item was really cheap—

So the octopus could be taken away, but the fish tank had to be purchased for an additional price of five hundred thousand.

Shu Yao, who was experiencing the feeling of buying the box and returning the pearl, was a little speechless. Seeing that Situ Jin was really about to swipe her card, she quickly pulled her. “No need.”

Situ Jin bent down to look at the warm-colored little octopus, which had spread its tentacles that were coiled around its body, and was now blooming like an open flower in the water. She let out a sigh. “So cute. It’s so cute. What’s wrong with buying it a tank?”

Shu Yao leaned into her ear and whispered to her, “With me here, it’s fine to just buy a regular glass tank from the flower and bird market for five yuan.”

Situ Jin’s eyes lit up.

However, she soon remembered something and asked the person who had come over to handle the handover of this auction item, “Even if it’s just an ordinary octopus, being able to adapt to the pressure changes of deep and shallow water is special enough in itself. Why was the starting price only five hundred? Is there some kind of defect?”

Hearing her say this, the smile on the auction house staff’s face stiffened.

But these rich people, although they had a lot of money, were not stupid. Especially since this was the young master of the Ye family’s partner. They had just learned the truth about the first auction item, the mermaid, and because they needed to trace the source of the seller, they were already in a lot of trouble. They absolutely could not make another mistake now.

And so, in the end.

The staff member honestly gave the answer. “From the time it was salvaged until now, it has been on a hunger strike. According to the expert’s observation, female octopuses usually only do this after laying eggs, in order to protect the embryos.”

“Of course, there is another situation, which is that this octopus has fallen into a depression. Because this kind of creature’s intelligence is too high, it is also very easy to have psychological problems, leading to self-cannibalism.”

No matter which situation it was.

It was bound to die.

Because the former was a biological instinct caused by hormones, and the latter… there was probably no psychologist in the world who could counsel an octopus and make it think more openly.

After the staff member finished speaking, in Situ Jin’s speechless gaze, he racked his brains to add, “But, from just now, especially after the two of you arrived, it has become much more lively.”

Situ Jin replied with a blank expression, “So, you’re trying to tell me that it has entered the stage of a final burst of energy before death?”

“…”

Shu Yao listened to their conversation on the side. She hadn’t expected that because of her, Situ Jin and that Young Master Ye had experienced a “three hundred and sixty scams, all different” purchasing experience tonight.

Although this was also because the monster market had just emerged, and lacked many related regulations and sufficient testing methods, which made it easy for ordinary people to be deceived.

But hearing the staff member sentence this cute octopus to death, and seeing it try to extend its tentacles and climb up the glass wall several times, looking at her with hopeful eyes, only to slip each time, Shu Yao suddenly said:

“It’s okay. Open this fish tank.”

She thought, even if it was death, this octopus must also hope to escape this cage and return to that free and unrestrained sea.

The person who had been given the gift didn’t care at all, so Situ Jin couldn’t say anything. But after seeing the fish tank opened and Shu Yao putting her fingertip into the water, she still urgently grabbed her wrist:

“Wait, is this species poisonous?”

“She won’t bite me,” Shu Yao said with certainty.

Situ Jin didn’t quite believe her, but she thought of how Shu Yao had even been able to hard-control the actions of those [Martyrs] and the jellyfish swarm on the sea before. She could only suppress her nervousness and watch from the side.

And then.

She saw that the warm orange little octopus used the tip of one of its tentacles to tentatively touch the pad of Shu Yao’s finger, which had been put into the water. Then its eyes lit up, its big ears moved, and it extended its tentacles one by one along her finger, her combat glove, and slowly wrapped around it.

When several of its tentacles slipped out from the gaps between the fingers of that black combat glove, and the bright, warm orange covered the cold black, as if it were holding hands with the woman, Situ Jin let out a light gasp.

She tilted her head and asked Shu Yao, “Am I seeing things through a gay lens? Or is this creature’s action just that erotic?”

Shu Yao: “…”

Unexpectedly.

She thought of the past, when she had not yet known Lin Ran’s identity, and the heart-shaped sucker marks that would occasionally be left on the back of her hand and her wrist.

And later—

On the sofa in the VIP cabin of the cruise ship, when they were doing intimate things, the feeling of it also liking to slip into the gaps between her fingers, and even using its suckers to leave a deep mark on the thinnest part of her finger.

For a moment.

The octopus that was slowly climbing up the back of her hand seemed to carry a subtle electric current, making that tingling sensation spread from her fingertips along her nerves to her spine, and then explode in her mind.

Situ Jin, who saw her suddenly blush: “!”

Her friend suddenly paled. “Wait, could it be that this octopus is really poisonous!”

…

When she left the auction house, Shu Yao felt as if she had been gone for a while.

She didn’t even know how pathetic her expression had been when she had just explained to the staff that this octopus was not poisonous, with Situ Jin’s flustered look.

Especially now.

Her friend had found someone to go and buy a small fish tank nearby, filled it with some seawater, and handed it over, asking her to put the octopus on the back of her hand in…

Shu Yao put her fingertip in again, but that little octopus refused to enter the water again, as if it were going to grow on the back of her hand. It even wrapped its tentacles tighter around her fingertips. Situ Jin was still on the side, crossing her arms and teasing:

“Tsk tsk, does she like you very much?”

Shu Yao: “…”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m asking about Director Lin,” Situ Jin blinked and leaned closer, lowering her voice to ask again, “Did she make you feel particularly good before?”

Shu Yao: “!”

She covered Situ Jin’s mouth with her free hand. Unfortunately, whenever that mouth was covered, the emotions in her good friend’s eyes would be expressed even more clearly.

Clear and mischievous.

As if she had already found out ten thousand words of indescribable scenes and content from her.

At this moment, Shu Yao was thinking, Jin is such a good person. Why did she have to have a mouth?

Regretfully finding that she was tighter-lipped than before and even less tolerant of teasing, Situ Jin was sure that she would not hear any interesting stories about that aspect. She could only raise her hand again and again and swear with a sincere look that she would not mention the past again, before Shu Yao let go.

Situ Jin asked again, “Where are you planning to go next?”

“The seaside.”

Shu Yao looked at the little octopus coiled on her arm and replied.

“Are you sure?” Situ Jin pointed at the little octopus, which didn’t even want to touch the seawater and was clinging to Shu Yao. “The sea is now full of those monsters that are bent on killing octopuses. Aren’t you afraid that as soon as you put it in the water, it will be ganged up on and killed by the jellyfish from all directions?”

Sending it home, would it be too much to send it to the underworld?

After Situ Jin finished speaking, she still felt it wasn’t enough. “Besides, don’t you think that its appearance is more like expressing another meaning?”

“What meaning?” Shu Yao asked.

“It wants you to take it home.”

Shu Yao raised the back of her hand a little higher.

Her gaze met the round, bright orange little octopus that was clinging to her tactical glove, its ears drooping, its eyes round and obsidian-like.

From just now until now, she had not received any message from this little animal. She thought it should not be a mutated species from the sea.

But now, she still decided to ask it its own wishes:

【You.】

【Do you want to come home with me?】