Her ears drooped.
Her tail curled around her own ankle.
She looked so small all of a sudden that Mu Qingyi's hand moved from the seat to her shoulder without him thinking, warm and steady. Hu Baiyu also leaned closer, his large hand hovering near her back in case she started crying. Feng Yiren, even while still being scolded, looked at her from the corner of his eye and felt his anger weaken slightly because he hated seeing her like that too.
Lin Huahua whispered, "I know I was wrong."
Bai Ruyue's eyes softened, and she reached over to hold her daughter's hand. "We are not saying this to scare you, Hua'er. We are scared because we love you. Merpeople almost never come close to the surface unless they want something. If that merman had taken you deeper, and if Baiyu had been slower, none of us would be eating here like this tonight."
The words made the whole cooking space grow quiet again.
