Picked Up an Amnesiac Little Mermaid - Chapter 4

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire reception room fell into silence.

Yu Huai carefully tugged at Gu Yunyue’s sleeve. “I can pay you to sleep with me.”

Gu Yunyue said, “.”

The doctor and the chief assistant exchanged bewildered glances, the latter quickly dragging the former out of the room.

The boss’s private affairs were not to be pried into.

This was too explosive!

Paying to sleep with President Gu—true love indeed!

The chief assistant could barely maintain his usual composed, elite expression, repeatedly adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

All to disguise his inner gossip-mongering.

Gu Yunyue pinched the bridge of her nose, “Yu Huai, don’t say things that can be misunderstood.”

Little Fish didn’t understand these subtleties. Little Fish just wanted to be close to the cool, soothing human.

Little Fish couldn’t return to the sea and didn’t know anyone else, so she could only rely on the human she had rescued.

Little Fish pulled out a handful of exquisitely lustrous pearls from her pocket, sniffled, and stuffed them all into Gu Yunyue’s hand.

Yu Huai gazed at Gu Yunyue with those bright almond eyes, pleading, “This is all the money I have. Can I… keep you?”

The chief assistant, who hadn’t yet stepped out of the reception room, stumbled and nearly tumbled down the stairs.

Gu Yunyue’s hand holding the coffee cup trembled slightly. “I wouldn’t mind replacing my assistant with someone more sure-footed.”

The chief assistant replied, “…My apologies, President Gu.”

What a bombshell!

A penniless, undocumented person offering to keep a billionaire CEO of an entertainment company.

Gu Yunyue held the cool pearls in her hand—each one perfectly round, full, and radiant, nearly a centimeter in diameter, shimmering in soft gold or creamy hues. There were at least fifty or sixty pearls in that handful, more than enough to make a necklace.

Gu Yunyue returned all the pearls to Yu Huai, stuffing them back into the girl’s pocket.

“I don’t want your things.”

Yu Huai’s pocket instantly bulged, and her eyes welled up with tears of grievance, “Is it not enough?”

She clutched the mermaid tears that had fallen, “I’ll work harder to make more.”

The girl tugged at Gu Yunyue’s sleeve, “I’ll do my best to take care of you.”

Seeing the girl before her with red-rimmed eyes, her gaze bright and full of hope—and a barely perceptible plea—Gu Yunyue’s hardened heart melted into tenderness.

“I don’t know where you got these pearls but keep them safe.”

“I don’t take money from children.”

Yu Huai looked at her blankly, “Don’t you want anything from me?”

She no longer had her beautiful tail, her singing was halting, and her ugly legs couldn’t walk.

Little Fish tugged at her skirt in self-doubt. If Gu Yunyue didn’t want anything from her, did that mean she could abandon Little Fish at any time?

Gu Yunyue said, “No.”

…

For the entire day, Yu Huai remained sullen.

Either staring gloomily at the sea outside or biting her nails.

The whole fish was unhappy. Gu Yunyue worked in the study, reviewing statistical charts.

Without looking up, Gu Yunyue said, “Yu Huai, tell the assistant what you’d like for lunch.”

Yu Huai shook her head, “I don’t want anything. I’m not hungry. Thank you for your kindness, Miss Gu.”

Yu Huai sat in her wheelchair, melancholy, gazing longingly and resentfully at Miss Gu, who was absorbed in her work. Golden sunlight spilled over her sleek, satin-like hair, her gold-rimmed glasses adorned with delicate diamond-studded chains.

What a wonderful person, someone who could even turn into a beautiful mermaid in the sea.

Yet such a lovely person refused to accept the fish’s kindness.

Yu Huai lowered her eyes and murmured to herself, “You haven’t touched my tail, and you don’t want my pearls… Do you not want me by your side?”

Hearing the girl’s soft whisper, Gu Yunyue looked up in confusion. “There’s fresh bluefin tuna and sea eel for lunch. Don’t you want any?”

Yu Huai shook her head, her eyes reddening. “No, I’m not hungry.”

The fragile girl in the wheelchair hung her head silently, her disappointment palpable, like a child who didn’t get her favorite candy.

Gu Yunyue texted her assistant, Send over some easy-to-eat seafood.

Without further acknowledging Yu Huai’s sulking, Gu Yunyue refocused on her work.

The more she reviewed the reports, the more the pain at the back of her head intensified. She massaged her temples and forced down a gulp of coffee.

After working for who knows how long, a soft, lilting hum suddenly reached her ears.

The ethereal singing was like silken threads unraveling the knots in her mind, or warm spring water soothing her aching nerves.

The pain vanished completely, replaced by a lazy comfort.

Gu Yunyue snapped back to awareness and looked up at Yu Huai, who was humming an unfamiliar melody.

Yu Huai quietly sang an undersea tune, recalling the stormy night when she had lulled this human to sleep with the same song.

She cautiously lifted her gaze to Gu Yunyue, only to meet a pair of smiling eyes.

Yu Huai’s face instantly flushed red. Clutching her skirt tightly, she turned into a blushing Little Fish. “D-did you like it?” Her voice grew even softer. “Did I disturb your work, Miss Gu…?”

Gu Yunyue chuckled. “You did, actually.”

Yu Huai fidgeted nervously. “…Sorry.”

Gu Yunyue tossed a handful of candies from her drawer to the girl in the wheelchair. “Your singing was too beautiful—I couldn’t concentrate.”

Yu Huai caught the fruit hard candies in both hands. The cellophane-wrapped sweets glittered brilliantly in the sunlight.

The sweet fruity scent wafted into her nose, making her mouth water.

Gu Yunyue asked, “Could you sing a little more?”

Yu Huai’s heart pounded wildly, her ears burning. “Okay.”

If Little Fish had a tail right now, it would definitely be wagging.

…

Under the care of several maids, Yu Huai happily feasted on an all-fish banquet.

Gu Yunyue rarely returned to the seaside villa—maybe once every few years—but it was regularly cleaned and maintained.

As the servants cleared the dishes from Yu Huai’s table, the girl noticed a wooden cabinet placed by the vanity.

One maid explained, “Miss, those are the jewelry pieces Madam Gu acquired at auctions. No one is allowed to touch them without her permission.”

Gu Yunyue hadn’t been back to the villa in five years, and she hardly remembered what accessories she had bought back then.

Yu Huai pulled open a drawer and was immediately greeted by an emerald the size of a knuckle.

Mermaids adored shiny things—no fish could resist glowing gemstones, and Yu Huai was no exception. She eagerly picked up the emerald ring and cradled it in her palm.

Yu Huai gasped in delight. “So pretty! Miss Gu’s taste is just like mine.”

The maid frowned deeply. “Miss, please put Madam Gu’s jewelry back. If anything gets damaged, none of us can explain it.”

Yu Huai blinked at the younger maid behind her. “I can’t even look at it?”

Yu Huai whispered, “I even showed Miss Gu my pearls…”

The entire drawer was filled with crystal gems, necklaces, and earrings, the whole cabinet glittering with jewels, not at all inferiors to the little treasures Yu Huai had buried deep under the sea.

Yu Huai picked up a pigeon-egg-sized sapphire and clicked her tongue in admiration. “No wonder Miss Gu didn’t want my pearls—she really isn’t lacking in money.”

“My Mermaid tears are far more valuable than these.”

The maid stood there for a few minutes before slowly retreating from the room and hurriedly knocking on Gu Yunyue’s study door.

Gu Yunyue: “What is it?”

The maid relayed Yu Huai’s actions to the CEO, embellishing the details. “I tried to stop her, but I couldn’t. This young lady is just too brazen. What if she drops or damages your treasures? What then?”

Gu Yunyue lazily raised an eyebrow. “If she wants them, let her have them. They’re not worth much anyway.”

The maid’s words caught in her throat, and she could only murmur, “Yes, CEO.”

If not for the maid’s reminder, Gu Yunyue would have forgotten she had stored these items in the villa.

Gu Yunyue smiled faintly as she flipped through her documents. If these old trinkets could win Yu Huai’s favor, then they still had some value.

Seeing that no one was stopping her, Yu Huai draped herself with all the necklaces, rings, and earrings from Gu Yunyue’s cabinet, looking like a dazzling Christmas tree.

Under the windowsill, she faintly heard a few people whispering.

Yu Huai pricked up her ears and maneuvered her wheelchair to the balcony.

“Oh my, CEO Gu is so indulgent with Miss Yu Huai.”

“Rich people’s love stories are so sweet. Is this the trendy ‘golden canary’ trope nowadays?”

“I’ve heard some people specifically like disabled people in wheelchairs. Who would’ve thought CEO Gu, who seems so upright and proper, would have such wild tastes behind closed doors.”

“A single ring from that cabinet could buy an apartment in the city center. Ugh, I’m so jealous!”

“I heard CEO Gu is taking Miss Yu Huai back to City C to keep her by her side. It’s so romantic, I could die.”

“I love the ‘domineering CEO’s delicate wife’ trope so much QAQ”

Yu Huai craned her neck and saw the maids huddled together, some envious, some blushing.

Little Fish couldn’t stand such talk. Their Mermaid lineage had always been noble—how could they be reduced to human playthings?

Yu Huai propped herself up on the balcony railing with her wheelchair and shouted, “I’m not CEO Gu’s golden canary!”

All the maids looked up in terror, their faces drained of color.

They were terrified this little troublemaker might whisper in the CEO’s ear and cost them their jobs.

Yu Huai gripped the railing with her slender fingers, indignant.

“I have money. I can be the one keeping CEO Gu.”

“That CEO you’re talking about is my golden canary. Last night, she even hugged a pillow and slept with me.”

“Your CEO can’t sleep without me. Your CEO works so hard to earn money outside just so I can have fish for every meal!”

“What do you know? Even if we’re talking about a ‘delicate wife,’ CEO Gu should be mine.”

Yu Huai huffed angrily. Though she had no tail now and was poor except for her pearls, Mermaids were dignified creatures.

How could a Mermaid be kept by a human?

This little useless fish would restore honor to the Mermaid race.

The assistant stood at the door with a suitcase. “…Miss, the car to City C is ready.”

Every day at work was just too thrilling.

Gu Yunyue stood in the courtyard, watching Yu Huai—who was adorned with so many accessories she resembled a Christmas tree—argue loudly.

“…”

Getting you to sing a few songs is truly difficult.