The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 26

Zhao Shuqing had a cat—an orange one. When it was little, someone had apparently abandoned it next to a trash bin, and Zhao Shuqing took it in.

Little Orange was lively and active. Zhao Shuqing named it “Guazi” (meaning “Sunflower Seed”). It was brave and had a huge appetite, eating about twenty pounds of cat food a month. If it ate less, it would howl all over the dormitory building from hunger. Now, at three years old, it had basically turned into an orange tank.

When Guazi saw its real owner, it didn’t move at first, only narrowing its eyes to size up Zhao Shuqing. Then it took a small cat step over and sniffed her. Only after confirming it was Zhao Shuqing did it “meow” once, as if to show some respect.

“Has it gotten fatter again?” Zhao Shuqing asked, holding her cat.

Gu Yao blinked and said with a hint of complaint, “I just can’t control it. Every night before bed, the cat bowl has to be filled, or else it climbs onto my chest in the middle of the night to make me get up and feed it. Several times I thought I was having sleep paralysis.”

Gu Yao’s story was so vivid that Zhao Shuqing couldn’t help but laugh. “My cat’s got a big temper but a small heart.”

After saying that, Zhao Shuqing couldn’t help but think of another big-tempered but small-hearted mermaid and smiled even more.

Since Guazi was temporarily staying at Gu Yao’s dorm, Zhao Shuqing planned to pick her up after getting things sorted the next day. Gu Yao didn’t mind. The two of them agreed to go eat hot pot at a nearby restaurant. This area was near the university town, so there were plenty of snacks around.

Gu Yao was very talkative, chattering about what had been going on at the research institute lately. She also asked Zhao Shuqing to tell her about what happened at sea. Zhao Shuqing shared the story about her and Lin Feng, which made Gu Yao’s eyes light up.

“That mermaid is really amazing,” Gu Yao said in awe. “If we can make breakthroughs with her, maybe there’ll be a whole new reform in medicine.”

Zhao Shuqing nodded and took a sip of her cooling herbal tea.

The two talked until around eight or nine o’clock before heading back.

Before Gu Yao went to her room, she said to Zhao Shuqing, “Our team just started some new gene project. I don’t know what it’s about yet, but it looks like we’ll be busy for a while.”

Zhao Shuqing nodded. Gu Yao was in charge of gene engineering at the research institute, working on a different floor than Zhao Shuqing’s marine science research. Both were busy people.

“I’ll pick up Guazi after I finish sorting things out tomorrow.”

“Sounds good~”

That night, as Zhao Shuqing lay in her familiar bed, she felt like she had forgotten something. But she quickly fell asleep and left everything behind.

The next day, Zhao Shuqing bought a new phone and computer and replaced the lost SIM card. She was busy all day. In the afternoon, a colleague waiting at the dorm entrance told her to go to the lab.

Zhao Shuqing slapped her forehead.

Finally, she remembered what she had forgotten yesterday.

She forgot to check on her little mermaid.

Lin Feng wasn’t cooperating well with the tests, and no one else could manage. They had to call Zhao Shuqing in. Luckily, Zhao Shuqing was more cooperative than Lin Feng, so she quickly arrived at the lab.

When her colleagues saw Zhao Shuqing, they relaxed and gathered around her. “None of the basic checks have been done. No biological samples collected. The mermaid won’t let us get close. We really need your help, Dr. Zhao.”

Zhao Shuqing nodded, gathered the bl00d-drawing and sampling equipment, and crouched by the ecological pool, tapping the water surface.

A black shadow flickered underwater. Lin Feng then popped her head out and sat beside Zhao Shuqing, propping herself up with her hands. Her water-soaked face was still beautiful, but she looked unhappy.

“Zhao… Shu… Qing,” Lin Feng said her name clearly and slowly, frowning and clearly upset, as if scolding her for leaving her alone all day without a visit.

Zhao Shuqing smiled and pulled something from her pocket. Holding it out, she said, “Hold out your hand. I’ve got something good for you.”

Lin Feng looked at her suspiciously but stretched out her hand. Something light dropped into her palm. She looked down and saw a brightly wrapped candy.

“This is fruit candy, peach flavor,” Zhao Shuqing said, then pulled out another, tore open the colorful wrapper, popped it in her mouth, and smiled. “This one in my mouth is orange flavor.”

Lin Feng looked at the candy, forgetting to be angry. She used her sharp nails to open the wrapper and reveal a translucent pink candy inside, then mimicked Zhao Shuqing by putting it in her mouth.

It was sweet.

The sweet peach flavor filled her mouth. Lin Feng had eaten candy before, but the candy on the ship was simple—mostly mint or lychee flavor. This was the first time she had tried peach-flavored candy.

Seeing her enjoy it, Zhao Shuqing pulled out a bunch more candies from her pocket like magic and placed them in Lin Feng’s lap. “All yours.”

Lin Feng happily picked out another peach candy and gently put it into Zhao Shuqing’s hand. Softly, she said, “For you.”

Zhao Shuqing didn’t refuse and tucked the candy into her pocket. Then she said, “You’ve eaten candy. Now let’s do some tests, okay?”

Lin Feng lifted her eyelids and looked at her, then popped another candy into her mouth.

Zhao Shuqing saw she was ignoring her, but she smiled warmly and touched her chubby cheek. “Be good. Just a few basic tests, alright?”

Lin Feng hesitated for a moment looking at Zhao Shuqing’s face, then nodded in agreement.

Seeing her agree, the colleagues watching from behind sighed in relief. Zhao Shuqing gestured for them to stay back and personally began the tests on Lin Feng.

They drew several tubes of bl00d, measured bl00d pressure and heart rate, and for tests needing equipment, Zhao Shuqing asked Lin Feng for permission. Since Lin Feng didn’t refuse, she lifted her off the ground and put her into the scanner.

After more than an hour of tests and fuss, everything was finally checked.

Zhao Shuqing was holding Lin Feng, who was feeling a little unwell after the tests and dizzy. This was normal, so Zhao Shuqing comforted her and waited for the reports.

Besides the lab’s tests, some bl00d samples had to be sent to other research departments. Maybe because of the large amount of bl00d taken, Lin Feng was looking tired.

“Do you want to eat some fish?” Zhao Shuqing asked softly.

Lin Feng squinted her eyes slightly and rested her head on Zhao Shuqing’s shoulder, softly making a humming sound. Then she added, “Grilled.”

“Not grilling today,” Zhao Shuqing said gently. “How about steamed today? Since you’re not feeling well, steamed food might be easier to eat.”

Lin Feng couldn’t really tell the difference between steaming and grilling, but since Zhao Shuqing said so, she didn’t argue.

When the lab staff heard Lin Feng wanted steamed fish, they immediately went to the cafeteria to buy her a portion. Worried she might be picky, they even bought all the seafood dishes they had, including a sushi platter.

A small table was filled with food. Zhao Shuqing used chopsticks to feed Lin Feng bite by bite, while the others around quietly gathered to watch.

“Wow, feeding someone like this—what’s the difference from dating?”

“Nonsense, I’m not that considerate to my girlfriend.”

“This mermaid doesn’t let anyone except Zhao Shuqing get close. It’s obvious she likes her.”

“But do mermaids even like humans?”

Hearing this, everyone fell into thought. Meanwhile, Zhao Shuqing kept feeding the girl in front of her, softly asking if the food tasted good.

Lin Feng really enjoyed these flavorful human foods, especially the small pieces with raw fish. Every now and then, she pointed at the sushi and indicated she wanted to eat it.

Zhao Shuqing raised an eyebrow, picked up a piece of sushi, and brought it to Lin Feng’s lips, muttering, “You’re a picky fish.”

Lin Feng opened her mouth and bit the sushi. Her lips brushed faintly against Zhao Shuqing’s fingertips. Seeing there was some sauce left on Zhao’s fingers, Lin Feng didn’t hesitate—she opened her mouth wider and gently took them in.

Compared to body temperature, Lin Feng’s mouth was warm. Her tongue softly licked Zhao Shuqing’s finger, making it wet.

Zhao Shuqing’s eyes widened. She wanted to pull her hand back but was surprised by the warmth in Lin Feng’s mouth and couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Lin Feng licked Zhao Shuqing’s finger clean. Her hands were always clean from experiments and writing reports—fair-skinned, slender, and when her pink tongue licked them, it looked especially striking.

Zhao Shuqing’s heart raced wildly. After a few stunned seconds, she hurriedly pulled her hand back, blushing and annoyed. “You fish, don’t you know what ‘propriety and shame’ means?”

Lin Feng looked at her blankly.

Four-character idioms were still hard for her to understand.

Zhao Shuqing glanced sideways and saw her colleagues whispering curiously nearby. She sighed and said, “What I mean is, you can’t just lick other people’s fingers randomly, got it?”

Lin Feng hesitated a moment, then carefully said, “You, not.”

You, not others.

So, allowed to lick.

Zhao Shuqing’s mind automatically translated Lin Feng’s words, and her face turned bright red. She was about to seriously teach this fish about human social rules, but Lin Feng didn’t seem interested. Instead, she picked up a piece of sushi and held it up to Zhao Shuqing’s lips.

“Eat.”

Zhao Shuqing felt like she’d been hit by a fluffy pillow, and helplessly opened her mouth to eat the sushi Lin Feng gave her.

They sat at the table, feeding each other bite by bite, leaving their colleagues speechless.

“Do caretakers always have to feed their fish like this?”

“No idea, never seen this before. I don’t even feed killer whales like this.”

“Honestly, aside from that tail, what’s different between Lin Feng and a human? She can even talk and chat with Zhao Bo.”

The colleagues exchanged looks, wondering if this was some unique behavior of a new species that required being hand-fed all the time.

Of course, that wasn’t true. After Lin Feng finished eating, Zhao Shuqing started cleaning up, throwing disposable tableware into the trash. Seeing Lin Feng still wearing the swimsuit Zhao Shuqing bought for her in the service area, she felt pretty good.

¤

“I’m heading home today. I’ll come see you again tomorrow, okay?” Zhao Shuqing quietly made a plan with Lin Feng. “I have lots of things to do, so I won’t stay with you today. I also need to pick up my cat.”

Lin Feng blinked, hearing a new word, and tilted her head. “Cat?”

Zhao Shuqing nodded. “Yeah, so you rest today. Tomorrow morning, I’ll bring you something tasty, alright?”

Lin Feng thought for a moment. She actually quite liked the ecological pool. Though smaller than the Pacific Ocean, it was much bigger than the water tank. She could swim freely in it and felt comfortable.

Since Zhao Shuqing was busy, she didn’t want to bother her. But she was curious about this new species Zhao mentioned and leaned closer, asking, “Cat?”

She wanted to see.

Zhao Shuqing raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are you sure you want to see a cat?”