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Li Yu sighed as his nets came up empty yet again. He'd been out on the water every day for well over a week now, and yet no matter what he tried he just never seemed to catch any thing. If his run continued on for much longer, not only would he run out of money, but he'd also run out of food entirely.
For a moment he eyed the wet suit he'd bought when he'd been optimistic about his chances of having enough time and money left over in order to have some leasure time for diving. Li Yu shook his head and went through the motions of casting his net once more.
"Fuck!" Li Yu cursed as he landed on his ass after attempting to pull his net in. After a moment of pitying himself, he picked himself up and rushed over to the net praying, "Please don't be torn! I can't afford to get you fixed and I don't know how to tie these knots myself. Please don't be torn!"
Thankfully, the net was still in one piece. Surprisingly, it was also full. "What the fuuuuuck?" Li Yu breathed as he looked at the fish. It was completely unbelievable. He even felt around on the back of his head, just in case it was a concussion and he was hallucinating.
But no. The fish were real. Real enough that he'd nearly brained himself pulling in the unexpected weight!
Li Yu laughed, "Alright then." he looked out towards the water, "Thank you!"
Just under Li Yu's boat, where there was no chance of being seen, Mu Tianchi smiled to himself.
The boat started to move, Mu Tianchi made his way deeper into the depths, wondering how he could possibly introduce himself to the human.
Days passed like that. Li Yu sailing out early to fish and Mu Tianchi discreetly filling the nets.
It took Li Yu longer than he'd like to admit for him to notice, not in the least because Mu Tianchi was very good at being sneaky.
Li Yu pouted as he watched the storm rage. There would be no water today, especially no swimming. He'd finally caught enough that he wouldn't have to worry for a week or so, and he'd been planning to actually enjoy the water for once, and maybe actually talk to that person who kept watching him from under the waves.
It was just his luck that he'd finish just in time for the biggest storm of the year to hit and beach his dreams until further notice.
He resolutely turned away from the window and sipped on his tea, idly hoping the weather would clear up soon, so that he could actually relax for once.
Deep beneath the waves Mu Tianchi bowed to his father respectively and repeated his request.
The Emperor trembled with barely concealed rage, completely uncaring that his wrath was being taken out on the surface world in the form of a storm, "You expect me to allow a human into our domain?! You would court a human?!" Mu Tianchi merely nodded his head once, completely undaunted by the anger. The Emperor laughed incredulously, "If you truly wish for my blessing, you'll have to fight a Xuanwu and win!"
Though the Emperor had likely meant this to be a ridiculous line that no one sane would have try and cross, he had completely forgoten who exactly it was he was talking to for a moment, as such, he was completely blindsided by his son's nod of understanding and subsequent swimming off to research.