The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 15

After spending two thousand yuan, Zhao Shuqing painfully gave the dark-skinned woman a 19% service fee, then handed 100 yuan to the convenience store clerk before watching the woman slowly pack her purchases into a crumpled plastic bag.

“Where are you from, little sister?” The dark-skinned woman leaned on the checkout counter, counting the money in her hand, then glanced curiously at Zhao Shuqing. “From the way you speak, you don’t sound local.”

Zhao Shuqing was puzzled. “How can you tell?”

Isn’t she speaking Mandarin?

The woman smiled, her eyes curved in a friendly way. “Because in our town, there aren’t girls who sound like you. Most of the elders here speak the local dialect; only outsiders speak Mandarin.”

Zhao Shuqing didn’t hide it and nodded. “I came from that provincial road up ahead. My car broke down, so I had to walk.”

The woman raised her eyebrows. “That road’s been abandoned for a long time. Usually, no one goes that way.”

“Really?” Zhao Shuqing said. “No wonder I didn’t see any cars all the way here. It took a long time to get here.”

“How long did you walk?”

“About four or five hours.”

The woman was surprised. “Why didn’t you just call for help?”

Zhao Shuqing sighed. “I accidentally fell into a river earlier, and my phone got soaked and broke.” She asked, “Is there anywhere nearby that sells phones?”

The woman shook her head. “No. You’d have to go to a bigger town to buy a phone. Small places like this don’t have any.”

Zhao Shuqing was surprised. In today’s world, almost everyone needs a phone, and some even have more than one. She couldn’t believe there were still places without phone shops. This place must be really remote.

The woman seemed to notice Zhao Shuqing’s surprise and smiled. “Since your phone got wet, why don’t I try to fix it? Maybe you can use it today.”

Zhao Shuqing was delighted. “Really?”

The woman nodded.

Zhao Shuqing hurriedly took out her phone and handed it to her. The woman examined it carefully and said, “I’ll need to open it up to see for sure. Come with me back to my shop.”

“Come with you to your shop?” Zhao Shuqing hesitated. “That might be inconvenient. I have other things to do. Why don’t you just tell me where your shop is, and I’ll come find you after I’m done?”

Yeah, right. Lin Feng was still waiting outside. There was no way she could just leave with this woman.

The dark-skinned woman shrugged, not pushing her. She stuffed Zhao Shuqing’s phone into the pocket of her shorts, so it stuck out halfway. Zhao Shuqing worried that the phone might bounce out while she rode her motorcycle.

“What’s your name?” the woman asked.

“Zhao Shuqing.” Zhao Shuqing politely asked back, “And yours?”

“Liang Yue.”

After that, she tore off a piece of paper from the counter, scribbled a quick map, and handed it to Zhao Shuqing. “Here’s the way. Come over after you’re done. I’ll head back now.”

Liang Yue left, and Zhao Shuqing looked at the simple map in her hand, feeling a little confused.

There was a black line twisting and turning like a snake, with an arrow and a little crown drawn at the end — presumably marking Liang Yue’s shop. But besides this winding line, there were no other landmarks.

How was anyone supposed to find it?

In the end, the store clerk gave her some simple directions, and after adding a few notes to the map, Zhao Shuqing finally left the convenience store.

After all that fuss, more than half an hour had passed. Worried Lin Feng was waiting too long, Zhao Shuqing quickened her pace toward the place. Passing by a hardware store, she spotted a wheelchair sitting outside and squinted.

When Zhao Shuqing reached the spot, she saw Lin Feng standing under the shade, holding her bag, just as she had left her, motionless.

Seeing her still waiting made Zhao Shuqing’s heart tighten.

Lin Feng obediently stood there, her pale hair gently blowing in the summer breeze. Her ocean-blue eyes looked both worried and pitiful. The dappled shadows from the trees fell across her, creating a scene as beautiful as a summer painting.

Zhao Shuqing quickly pushed the wheelchair over, gently touched Lin Feng’s face, and softly asked, “Have you been waiting long? Look what I brought — all tasty stuff you’ve never had before.”

She helped Lin Feng sit on the grass nearby and pulled all the food and water from the plastic bags, spreading everything out.

Lin Feng hugged her shoulder bag, a little confused. She looked at the many brightly packaged foods on the ground with a puzzled expression.

She thought humans were really too delicate.

Although Lin Feng could control big things, she got knocked out by the rushing water after falling in the river and couldn’t breathe underwater. She could only survive on land and refused to eat fish directly, instead needing hot, bright food that took a long time to prepare.

The grilled food smelled really good and tasted great but was definitely a hassle.

Now, this fragile, helpless human was pulling out all kinds of colorful foods, even opening some and encouraging Lin Feng to eat. Lin Feng felt humans were way too fragile, as if they’d die from just a little effort.

She needed to protect her properly.

After thinking for a long time, Lin Feng finally sat down and took a ham sausage from Zhao Shuqing. She stared at the pinkish snack, unsure what it was.

But it smelled pretty good.

Zhao Shuqing saw her hesitating, chuckled, took the sausage back, tore off a piece, and chewed it herself. Satisfied, she said, “This is called ham sausage. You can eat it directly. It tastes really good — try it.”

Lin Feng blinked, copied Zhao Shuqing, tore off a piece, and took a bite.

Her eyes immediately lit up.

It tasted way better than the grilled meat.

Seeing Lin Feng’s reaction, Zhao Shuqing knew she liked it. She handed her the rest of the sausage, held her wrist, and guided it to her lips, signaling that it was all hers.

Afterward, Zhao Shuqing opened a pack of spiced marinated eggs, a can of hairtail fish, some creamy bread rolls, and roasted meat-flavored instant noodles.

Lin Feng caught on quickly and happily munched away without needing Zhao Shuqing to show her how.

“Eat slower, no one’s stealing from you,” Zhao Shuqing teased with a smile, happy to see Lin Feng enjoying the food. She opened a bottle of sweet-and-sour plum drink and handed it to her, worried she might choke.

Did she choke? Not exactly, but with a sudden ‘oww’ cry, Lin Feng accidentally bit her tongue.

Zhao Shuqing’s heart tightened. She leaned in and asked, “Are you okay? Does it hurt?”

Lin Feng looked at her with teary eyes, both hurt and upset, sticking out her tongue. Zhao Shuqing saw a small bite mark on her soft pink tongue, with a thin trail of bl00d along the tip.