The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 24
In the middle of the night, Zhao Shuqing suddenly opened her eyes and saw a blurry figure leaning on the headboard beside her. The feeling was honestly terrifying.
Zhao Shuqing was just an ordinary person and scared easily. She screamed, “Ahhhhh!” as she scrambled out of bed, then quickly flipped on the light with a loud snap. Her back pressed tightly against the wall, she saw that the figure by her bed was actually Lin Feng.
Lin Feng seemed to be asleep, but hearing Zhao Shuqing’s scream and the harsh light, she rubbed her eyes and sat up.
Then, looking confused, she softly called out, “Zhao Shuqing?”
Zhao Shuqing’s heart was pounding so hard she thought it might jump out. She thought she was about to be caught again. Sweat covered her back as she looked at Lin Feng, puzzled. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in the car?”
Lin Feng sat on the carpet, nervously fiddling with her fingers and lowering her head, not saying a word.
Zhao Shuqing understood—she had sneaked out.
She stood for a moment, then slowly walked over and sat cross-legged on the bed, watching her. Lin Feng looked around like a kid who’d done something wrong, pretending to be busy. After noticing Zhao Shuqing’s stern gaze, she forced a silly smile and said, “Zhao Shuqing.”
“Don’t call me Zhao Shuqing,” Zhao Shuqing said. “From now on, just call me Shuqing, okay?”
Lin Feng didn’t understand and tilted her head.
Zhao Shuqing sighed. Lin Feng wasn’t staying in the water tank but had come to her room instead. That must have worried everyone back there. More importantly, Lin Feng didn’t have her room card—how did she get in?
Zhao Shuqing asked this out loud. Lin Feng blinked and pointed to Zhao Shuqing’s bathroom. Zhao Shuqing peeked in and saw the window was open.
“…”
Her room was on the second floor!
Zhao Shuqing covered her face and sighed. Just as she was thinking about quietly sending Lin Feng back before anyone noticed, she heard hurried knocking on the door.
Her colleagues were banging and shouting, “Bad news! The mermaid is missing!”
The missing mermaid looked up, met Zhao Shuqing’s eyes, then pulled at the corners of her mouth in a smile, as if thinking this would get her forgiven.
Zhao Shuqing: “…”
Little rascal.
When Zhao Shuqing opened the door, the whole place was chaotic. She cleared her throat softly and dragged Lin Feng, who was hiding in her room, outside. She explained, “She was probably scared to sleep alone in the car. It’s better if she stays with me from now on.”
Everyone exchanged glances, unsure what to say.
But at least, the fish wasn’t lost.
Xu Tang gave them both a long look, then told everyone to go back. After Zhao Shuqing apologized to Xu Tang, she waved her hand casually and returned to her room.
Zhao Shuqing looked at Lin Feng standing in her room and sighed helplessly.
“Water.”
Lin Feng leaned on the edge of the bed, babbling.
Zhao Shuqing felt a headache coming on and sat up, asking, “You want water?”
Lin Feng shook her head, pointed to the bathroom, and said again, “Water.”
Got it.
She wanted a bath.
Zhao Shuqing thought Lin Feng really was a fish—she truly loved water. These past couple of days on land must have been tough for her.
Water was running loudly in the bathroom. Lin Feng threw off her dirty orange pajamas and climbed into the bathtub. Seeing how quickly she got in, Zhao Shuqing reached out and patted her big tail. “The water’s not warm yet. Aren’t you cold?”
Lin Feng looked at where she had been patted, flicked her tail, and splashed water all over Zhao Shuqing.
Zhao Shuqing: “…”
She sighed, picked up the showerhead, and sprayed her back.
Lin Feng raised her hand to block the water, smiling with her eyes curved in a grin.
After the tub was full, Lin Feng got tired of playing, lazily resting her head on her arm on the tub’s edge. Her long hair floated in the water, shimmering like a fairy with rainbow-colored hair.
Zhao Shuqing reached out to touch her hair and asked curiously, “You never use shampoo, right? How do you keep your hair so nice? Is it natural?”
Lin Feng glanced at her and blinked slightly.
Zhao Shuqing smiled, “I’m the only one crazy enough to fill the tub for you at 3 a.m., huh?”
Though she complained a little, Zhao Shuqing still took the initiative to wash Lin Feng’s long hair. After all, since she wouldn’t be sleeping much that night and could rest in the van anyway, if Lin Feng wanted to soak in the bath, she’d keep her company.
Lin Feng liked it when Zhao Shuqing touched her hair. She flicked her tail and swam closer. The water in the bathtub rippled as Lin Feng buried her head in Zhao Shuqing’s arms, rubbing against her.
Zhao Shuqing squeezed some hotel shampoo, wet Lin Feng’s hair, and started washing it.
Lin Feng’s already beautiful long hair quickly looked clean, revealing its pretty colors. Zhao Shuqing then wet a towel and said to Lin Feng, “Give me your tail.”
Lin Feng hesitated, looking up at her carefully, then slowly stretched her tail out of the water.
Zhao Shuqing didn’t think much of it and grabbed Lin Feng’s beautiful tail to dry it with the towel. The warm water rinsed over and over, and Zhao Shuqing carefully rubbed every scale, picking out the mud stuck in between.
Each time she pried a scale, Lin Feng’s tail twitched painfully. At first, Zhao Shuqing thought she was hurting her and comforted her a bit. But when she finished cleaning the tail fin and started wiping upward, Zhao Shuqing noticed that a scale that was normally closed had opened a crack.
Lin Feng’s cheeks were flushed from the steam, and she lay weakly against the edge of the tub, her eyes tinged pink.
Zhao Shuqing froze with the towel in her hand.
Lin Feng looked very different soaking in warm water. Zhao Shuqing had seen many sides of her—resistant, relaxed, fierce, and even majestic when accepting the worship of fish by the river.
Every version was beautiful, but this one was different.
Lin Feng’s eyes were wet and misty, as if she was crying. Her lips parted slightly, showing white teeth and a pink tongue. She lay in the tub like a little animal being bullied.
If she were human, Zhao Shuqing would have thought she was trying to seduce her.
But Lin Feng was a fish.
Fish probably… don’t seduce people, right?
Even though she really looked like she was flirting…
“Are you okay?” Zhao Shuqing asked worriedly, afraid the warm water might be harming Lin Feng. It would be bad if anything went wrong.
Lin Feng shook her head. She knew her body was changing, though she didn’t want to admit it. But Zhao Shuqing’s touch on her tail felt so good.
So painfully good.
Lin Feng bit her lip and sank her whole body underwater, not daring to meet Zhao Shuqing’s eyes. She even wanted to swim away, to somewhere no one could find her, to stay alone for a while.
The water was too hot.
People were too hot.
Lin Feng wanted to escape.
Zhao Shuqing looked at her strangely. Worried Lin Feng might have a problem from staying in the water, she reached out, pulled her out, and helped her sit in her arms, whispering, “We’re halfway through washing. Do you want to continue?”
Lin Feng, breathing heavily, leaned against Zhao Shuqing and raised a hand to hug her shoulder, breathing low and uneven.
Zhao Shuqing ran her hand over Lin Feng’s smooth back and felt her burning body heat. She frowned deeply.
Oh no, she’s steaming the fish.
If only she’d used cold water.
Feeling guilty, Zhao Shuqing picked up a bathrobe and helped Lin Feng put it on. As she tied the belt, she caught a glimpse of the scales on Lin Feng’s lower belly—fully opened now, the long gap was deep.
Her eyes widened slightly, then quickly looked away. After closing the robe, she hurried out of the bathroom, carrying Lin Feng with her.
Lin Feng was dazed in her arms, her head resting on Zhao Shuqing’s shoulder, lips just a few centimeters from her neck.
It was itchy.
And very hot.
Lin Feng rubbed Zhao Shuqing’s shoulder and gently bit her neck.
Zhao Shuqing hissed in pain. Lin Feng immediately became more alert. Seeing the bl00d on Zhao Shuqing’s neck from her bite, she leaned in and carefully licked it all.
Zhao Shuqing almost felt tortured the whole way. Lin Feng bit and licked, making her body heat rise too. Fortunately, the van was nearby. As soon as they got in, Zhao Shuqing quickly put Lin Feng inside.
Splash—
Lin Feng drowsily sank to the bottom. As her body touched the cold seawater, she quickly cooled down. She glanced back at Zhao Shuqing, and after confirming she was still there, finally fell asleep.
The next day, Xu Tang learned Zhao Shuqing had gone back to the van. After greeting the staff on duty, she came to find her.
Zhao Shuqing hadn’t slept all night, staying with Lin Feng. Now she sat on a nearby chair, holding a notebook, writing and drawing. Seeing someone come in, she looked up and saw Xu Tang.
“Senior sister?” Zhao Shuqing closed her notebook and looked up. “Why are you here?”
“I came to check on you.” Xu Tang sat beside her and softly asked, “What are you writing?”
“Nothing much.” Zhao Shuqing said, “Just recording some details about Lin Feng. The warm bath yesterday seems to have thrown off her body temperature. I need to note it down as data.”
“Is that so?” Xu Tang glanced calmly at Lin Feng, still asleep in the water tank, and said, “She’s an important specimen for this project. It makes sense to keep records.”
Zhao Shuqing nodded.
Xu Tang looked at her again, affectionately patted her hand, and said, “Enough about work. We didn’t travel in the same van yesterday, so I didn’t get to ask you many things.”
Zhao Shuqing knew she wanted to ask about the events with Lin Feng over the past two days. She didn’t hide anything and told her everything. Xu Tang stroked her chin, thinking for a long time, then said, “Tell me, can mermaids tame fish schools?”
“Yes.” Zhao Shuqing answered firmly, “I saw it with my own eyes. I think I should include it in my thesis.”
Xu Tang smiled, “Good. Organize it however you like. When we get to the research institute tonight, we’ll celebrate properly.”
Zhao Shuqing smiled too, “No need for celebrations. Just let me have a good meal. I haven’t had a proper meal in so long.”
She wanted hot pot, barbecue, and spicy crayfish.
Xu Tang laughed and promised, “Once we reach the institute, I’ll give you a few days off to rest.”
Thinking about getting back to the institute that afternoon, Zhao Shuqing felt excited. She looked at Lin Feng in the water tank, believing Lin Feng would like her hometown too.