NEBM Chapter 40.1: Yuyu

One person and one fish stared at each other for a long time, both confused.

After a while, the little blue fish hopped on its tail, jumped a little longer, and once again said, “Play over there. Don’t come over and touch me again.”

The child looked around at a loss, only to find that the fish was talking to him. He yelled, “But, but fish will die without water.”

He remembered that, after returning from fishing, the uncle next door had thrown a few fishes on the beach with regret, saying, “Died too quickly without water. If they’re not fresh, they’re useless. ”

The fishes were beautiful so the child quietly sneaked over to see them after the uncle walked away. Their cold bodies lay on the sand and could no longer move or spit bubbles.

A wave came up and swallowed them forever under the sea.

“Go back to the water …” The child tried to catch the little blue fish with his hands, and the little blue fish rolled nimbly away, not allowing him to touch. The child was so anxious that his eyes became red. He cried, “You’re going to die without water…”

When his tears fell, the little blue fish stopped rolling. Even though the child’s eyes were blurred with tears, he actually caught the fish in his palm very accurately, holding it carefully.

So the tears fell on the little blue fish, very warm.

The little blue fish meekly let the child put him into the water. When a small wave came over, it swam forward and was not swept away, saying, “If you knew that fish will die without water, then you should know that people will drown when they fall into the water. Are you dead?”

The child crouched down. He actually liked this beautiful fish. The fish didn’t swim, and he stared at him with anxiety. Hearing the question, he thought hard, saying hesitantly, “I seem…to know …”

Not long ago, the neighborhood uncle and grandma had cried for a long time by the seaside, scaring the child so much that he dared not play and only hid away. But a few words still drifted into his ears.

“There are so many people, why must it be you who drowned…”

The large boy who’d stoned him countless times in the past was now soaked with water and covered with fine sand, lying cold and motionless on the beach. Like death. Like a fish out of water.

So, he understood another truth, which was that if a person fell into the water, he would drown.

And although he liked to stay at the beach, he dared not go too far into the water. He was a fool that nobody liked. If he fell into the water, no one would come to save him.

Seeing the child nodded, the little blue fish shook its tail and did something. Suddenly a big wave rolled up in the distance, and it landed on the shore in the blink of an eye, catching the child off guard and sweeping him into the water.

As soon as he entered the water, the child panicked. He’d never seen such a big wave and had never been in such deep water. He desperately thought that he was going to drown! He didn’t know if his grave would be on the seafloor or if his body would be sent ashore …

But the pain of his imagination did not appear. His eyes snapped open and he found himself sitting in a transparent ball. The sea was outside the ball, and within the ball, there was nothing but clean air.

The little blue fish swam beside him and saw him open his eyes. The fish shook his tail and said, “Don’t be afraid.”

The fish’s voice was very nice and gentle, instantly soothing the child. He carefully touched the large transparent ball that surrounded him, which was warm and soft, and his little finger would protrude outward when he poked at it with his finger.

He was afraid of piercing the ball and quickly retracted his hand. Then, he sat obediently with both hands on his knees and followed his little blue fish.

It wasn’t until the little blue fish stopped and called him to look around that he discovered he’d drifted unknowingly into the deep sea.

Many beautiful fishes were swimming around, and there are many small shrimps and crabs swimming leisurely in the water along the ocean floor. This was a scene he’d never seen before.

After a while, the child forgot to be afraid. He looked with wide, unblinking eyes at the scene before him, exclaiming, “Yuyu, Yuyu!”  [t/n: Yu = fish]

The little blue fish just thought that he was exclaiming about those schools of fish nearby and didn’t talk back. It just swished its tail, leisurely swimming alongside the child.

However, the child continued to shout, laughing excitedly. He called the little blue fish, “Yuyu! Yuyu! Yuyu is still the best!”

The blue fish stopped and swam around the child. It looked at him with a smirk, unexpectedly discovering that this was a little fun.

“Is it fun?”

“Mmn, it’s fun!”

“Are you happy?”

“Ha-happy!”

The stammer couldn’t stop the happiness from overflowing.

Shen Zhixian was outside the illusion, watching as a bystander. He watched the little blue fish took the child to the sea for a day trip, and then brought him back to the shore, and then asked, “Do you understand?”

The child had not yet settled back from his excitement and the fish’s question confused him.

The little blue fish patiently persuaded, “Look, you fell into the water. Did you drown?”

The child thought for a moment and said, “No.”

The little blue fish concluded, “If you fall into the water, you won’t drown. So when I go ashore to bask in the sun, I won’t die. ”

This confused the child. His fingers twisted together, tangling for a long time, as he thought over this reasoning.

After accepting this fallacy, he whispered, “Yuyu, today, today are you very happy?”

After the children finished playing together, they always asked each other this question. If everyone was happy, that meant that they could play together again.

The child stared at the little blue fish with eager eyes.

The little blue fish didn’t know so much. It patted the water with its tail, creating a lot of small splashes, and casually said, “Just OK.”

This was not the answer the child anticipated. He pursed his lips and was a little disappointed. He said with trepidation, “Then, will you come again tomorrow?”

His voice was both serious and nervous as he added, “You come tomorrow, I, I will make you happy.”

This is the first time the little blue fish heard such words. It was intrigued and asked, “Don’t you have any friends? Why do you want to play with a fish?”

“No, I, I’m a fool. I can’t, I can’t play with them.”

“Oh, you’re a fool. Only you will talk to a fish.”

The child giggled. When others called him a fool, he could detect their maliciousness. But when the little blue fish called him a fool, it felt more like a praise. He said, “You, you look good, like the sky, like the sea.”

The little blue fish had lived for a long time, had seen many things come and gone. And the fish had been flattered countless times, many of which were both elaborate and poetic. But, no one had used such simple and honest words to tell him that he was beautiful.

It laughed and said nothing, only tried to hurry the child back home. “Okay. It’s going to be dark soon. Go back home.”

The child went home obediently, and the little blue fish had a thought. Instead of going back to the sea, it performed a technique that hid its body and quietly followed the child home.

The child really did not have a good life. When he was born, he had a high fever, which burned his brain. At first, he was the only son in the family and he could be taken care of. But, as his brothers and sisters were born healthy and grew up, he gradually lost his status.

His original name had long been forgotten. Now, everyone, including his parents and siblings, all called him a fool. Over time, he also felt that he was indeed a fool.

The people in the fishing village did not like fools. Children of the same age were influenced by the adults and did not like him. They never took the initiative to play with him and would even tease him.

He was said to be a fool, but he was actually just a child with a sluggish stammer and his intelligence was not on par with the children his age. Of course, he could feel the maliciousness of others. Over time, he stopped looking for other children to play with and would always sit alone quietly by the sea, sitting day by day.

The little blue fish watched him as he curled up in a small corner and fell asleep. It sighed and silently went back to the sea.

Early the next morning, the little blue fish swam ashore. It came very early and thought that the child wouldn’t be there. It would go ashore and bask in the sea breeze under the sun and sleep for a while. But, there was already a person sitting there, waiting for it.

Little blue fish: “…”

It jumped with resignation in front of the child, and when the child saw it, his eyes brightened, and he said, “I, I want to make you happy today! I’ll play a game for, for you to watch.”

He took out the things held in his arms and said earnestly, “I and Mumu will play together! Play, play hide and seek! ”

Indeed, in the palm of his hand was a big wooden turtle. It was worn down with age and it’s condition was very shabby, lacking arms or legs. But, the child still cherished it.

The little blue fish wanted to laugh at how he and a piece of wood would play high and seek, but it thought of the scene it saw last night and became silent.

So the child happily hid the wooden turtle in a shallow sand pit then ran a few steps away. Facing away from the side, he squatted with his hands over his eyes, “Quickly hide, quickly hide…”

He’d learned how other children played hide and seek. After stuttering to ten, he turned around. “Mumu, I, I’m coming for you!”

He pretended to look around, as if he was in a hurry, and finally found the wooden turtle in the shallow pit.

“Yuyu, look!” The child raised the wooden turtle in his hand and giggled. “I, I found it!”

The little blue fish watched him entertaining himself silly, and it silently spit out a pitiful little bubble. The bubble floated up and popped against the child’s forehead, making him laugh.

Still smiling, the child held the wooden turtle and began to explain seriously, “I, I can only play hide and seek. I play this game with everyone, although, although everyone couldn’t find me.”

Really a poor little spirit, little blue fish thought. How could no one find him in such a place, with so many children, and with the silly strength of this fool.

They just hated him and didn’t want to play with him.

The child was still looking at him with anticipation: “Yuyu. Is Yuyu happy?”

The little blue fish smiled and softened his voice, “Happy.”

Listening to it, the child began to praise himself. He happily hugged the wooden turtle and whispered, “Look, I’m also useful. I, I can make Yuyu happy. Yuyu, can, can you be happy every day?”

This time, the little blue fish didn’t answer him and just said, “You’ve made me happy today. I want to take you to see more interesting things.”

The child was a fool, after all, and immediately forgetting his problems, nodded violently.

So one person and one fish went to the bottom of the sea for another lap. During their farewell, the child was given two beautiful large shells, and he was so happy.

He reluctantly bid farewell to the little blue fish, agreed to continue to play tomorrow, and then walked away step by step.

After watching him leave, the little blue fish shook his tail and dived back into the deep sea.

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Xixi: I just got back from the Emergency Room and am too exhausted to edit right now. Please ignore any major errors and/or typos.