Application for open a.s.sessment
Not at all prepared to hear this question, Xie Tao was a little stunned. The expression on his face revealed a trace of astonishment.
Adopt the little mermaid…? Unable to respond, Xie Tao silently stood in place for a while. He was suddenly not sure what to think about it.
It goes without saying that because he was a caretaker, he had nursed the cubs in the club every day. However, Xie Tao had never thought about adopting a cub.
Now that someone asked him this question, Xie Tao naturally sunk into contemplation.
“I…” Xie Tao opened his mouth to speak, but as he still had not thought about what to say, his voice faded without him uttering another word.
She did not know what the youth was worrying about, but Xia Qi’s face still kept a serious expression. Her voice also showed her sincerity, “I think that if someone should adopt little Gale, then you are the most suitable one.”
Xia Qi was certain that she was not alone, ask any of the others in the club and surely they would feel the same as her.
There was nothing to be done about it, ok? The first thing their club’s mermaid cub did once he could speak, was to call out to the youth with “Papa”.
When he learned to control his ability, the first word he had written had been that as well. Not to mention how this little mermaid had given his first dropped scale to the youth for safekeeping.
“And, besides, I don’t think little Gale would accept being adopted by anyone else. ” Xia Qi added another sentence.
This mermaid cub had long regarded the youth as his parent. The difference between Xie Tao adopting or not adopting was only whether he and the cub had officially established a parent-child relations.h.i.+p.
Hearing this statement, Xie Tao couldn’t help but turn his eyes to the indoor pool.
He had been asked to adopt the mermaid cub… According to his own wishes, Xie Tao was willing.
However, Xie Tao could not nod his head yet, he still had some concern, such as whether he could really be a good parent.
It was very difficult to be a good parent, Xie Tao had always thought so. If he adopted this mermaid cub, would he truly be able to let the cub grow up happily? And compared to him, would the cub be happier if he was adopted by another family? These were the things Xie Tao was still hesitating over.
“Let me think about it.”
It wasn’t a definite answer, but the expression on Xie Tao’s face made it clear that he was seriously considering it.
Although Xia Qi had just said that he was most suitable, Xie Tao did not have as much confidence in himself. Adopting a baby was no small matter, it was not a decision that could be made recklessly. He had to think it through carefully.
Seeing that the youth was actually quite willing to adopt the mermaid cub, Xia Qi did not say much more. In the end, whether to adopt or not, this was not a decision she could make for him.
Xie Tao thought about it for a long time. There were two voices arguing with each other in his head.
At last, it got so noisy that he couldn’t even hear his own thoughts… Xie Tao clenched his right hand into a fist and hit his forehead vigorously.
After knocking out the cluttered thoughts, Xie Tao turned around and walked in the direction of the indoor pool.
Because he had heard the footsteps, the mermaid cub had already swum up to the pool’s edge and was waiting for the youth to come over. The closer the youth got, the more the ice-blue tail swayed under the surface. The cub’s blue eyes were fixated at the youth.
“Papa~” The mermaid cub grabbed the youth’s left trouser leg and called out with two clear syllables. The emotionless delicate little face also seemed to show some happiness.
It was a very instinctive reaction for cubs to be happy when they saw their parents.
Once Xie Tao walked over, he took a towel and bent down to pick up the little mermaid from the pool. Wiping the water-soaked mermaid, he then wrapped the towel around him and brought the cub into his arms.
He took the little mermaid and sat down in the rattan chair not far away. Xie Tao lowered his head and gently dried the cub’s hair with the towel while pondering on the words he wanted to say to the cub.
The youth didn’t speak, the mermaid cub was also very quiet. There was something different about the youth’s expression this time. Blue eyes continued to silently look up at his parent.
“Papa.”
Meeting the bright eyes of the cub, Xie Tao pointed at himself. He paused for a long time, then said the second half of the sentence, “For me to be the official papa of Gale, does Gale want it?” As soon as he spoke, Xie Tao immediately felt that how he said it was not right and that the cub might not understand what he meant by “official”.
Xie Tao wanted to correct himself and opened his mouth slightly. But before he could say anything, a soft touch on his cheek stopped him.
The mermaid cub tried hard to rub his cheek against the youth’s face. Because there was still some distance between the two, the little mermaid had to put in great effort to raise his head higher.
The little tail fin shook, the ice blue tail of the mermaid cub had now begun to move up and down just like a small fan.
Although Xie Tao had not yet had time to respond, seeing the little mermaid in his arms struggle to get close and rub his cheek, he lowered his head reflectively.
As a result, as soon as he lowered his head, the soft touch to his cheek disappeared. Xie Tao blinked and looked down. The next second he felt a small featherlight touch to his cheek, followed by a smacking sound.
“Papa~ Papa~” Continuously uttering this word, the little mermaid looked at Xie Tao without blinking. According to his instincts as one of the mermaid race, the mermaid cub began to sing a very pure and sweet song.
The mermaid cub’s song was very captivating. For the other staff members as well as the cubs of the Yunbao Branch, this was the first time they had heard the little mermaid’s singing.
Just like the audience in the city of Sailou, several adults in the hall stopped what they were doing and listened to the beautiful song together.
This was the second time the mermaid cub had sung to him. Listening to the song, Xie Tao came close to kissing the mermaid cub on the forehead.
To adopt a cub, one had to go through the procedures. Even if Xie Tao was now practically the president of Yunbao Branch, he still had to follow the rules.
The problem of his ident.i.ty had since long been solved with money. He had already acquired Gaia citizens.h.i.+p. Contrary to what one might expect, he did not have to worry about this part.
The rest of the certificates took some time to prepare. Several days later, Xie Tao went to Gaia’s adoption registration agency again and handed in the doc.u.ments.
Having completed the adoption procedures, Xie Tao and this club’s mermaid cub were now truly parent and child.
After adopting the mermaid cub, Xie Tao’s life and work-life went back to normal and did not change much. However, after a while, all nursing clubs in the interstellar faced an event they regarded as very important.
Two months later, the Star Alliance would open applications for a.s.sessment of nursing clubs. This was an opportunity that only came once every two years. The clubs who submitted an application would later welcome personnel sent by the Star Alliance which would perform a field a.s.sessment.
The score from the a.s.sessment determined whether a club could be included in the official list of the Star Alliance, that is, the list of outstanding nursing clubs rankings. When parents talked about the “Top 3000 Nursing Clubs”, it was this list they were referring to.
It was a highly well known and authoritative list. Naturally, every nursing club wanted to occupy a good spot on it, became it would give them the corresponding fame.
The top 500 were basically stable and the changes in their rankings were relatively small with each a.s.sessment, but at the rear 2500, however, the compet.i.tion was fierce.
Each a.s.sessment of these clubs could be said to be strenuous. Ambitious clubs strived their hardest to climb up and in years of slower development, clubs would still make every effort to keep their ranking.
In the past years, Xia Qi did not pay much attention to this matter. Because, if she wanted to apply for the examination, the hardware facilities and other conditions of the club needed to meet the minimum application requirements, which Yunbao Branch obviously had not.
But now that their club met the requirements, they could finally apply for it!
Looking at some of the related discussions that had already started on the starnet, Xia Qi couldn’t hold back her expectations.
_______________
Translator’s note:
Officially adopted! *(^o^)/*
How many died at the cheek kiss? (had to take a squeal pause while translating >
Actually, despite all the cuteness in this chapter, I’ve had a hard time with procrastination this week, however, it yielded results! I have both started a twitter account and leveled up my drawing skill! My twitter username is and here is the drawing. (btw, sorry about the pun in the pic, that is the one skill that never levels up, haha..)
![]()