The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 27

Lin Feng wanting to see the cat really brought out the mischievous side of Zhao Shuqing.

Although she wasn’t sure if Lin Feng was afraid of cats, since the mermaid wanted to see it, Zhao Shuqing had no reason to refuse. That very night, she brought Guazi back, and early the next morning, she used a can of food to lure the cat into its carrier and took it to see Lin Feng.

In the past two days, Lin Feng had fully adapted to life in the ecological pool. She no longer resisted Zhao Shuqing’s colleagues like she did at first and had even learned to speak a little.

For example, she could say things like “What’s for lunch?”, “What’s for dinner?”, and “What’s for a midnight snack?”

Zhao Shuqing carried the carrier inside, and her colleagues greeted her one after another. She smiled and returned their greetings, then asked about Lin Feng’s condition in the evening.

“Everything’s fine,” a colleague told her. “But Lin Feng really seems to love our food. We’re not sure if it might cause any stomach problems.”

After all, Lin Feng used to eat fish in the sea, and while cooked food was fine, they worried if all the seasoning might cause issues.

But after spending some time together, Lin Feng seemed to be gradually adapting to the food. So far, there were no signs of discomfort.

“Let’s keep an eye on it,” Zhao Shuqing said, signing some documents. “In any case, less oil and less salt can’t hurt.”

Her colleague nodded, then eyed the carrier in her hand curiously. “What’s in there?”

Zhao Shuqing glanced at the carrier and smiled. “A cat.”

The colleagues looked surprised, and Zhao Shuqing took the cat over to the ecological pool. Sitting by the edge, she tapped the water surface. Lin Feng quickly appeared, her wet eyes looking at Zhao Shuqing as she smiled and greeted, “Zhao Shuqing.”

Zhao Shuqing smiled back and patted the carrier beside her. “Look what I brought.”

Lin Feng sat up, curious. She looked at the carrier, then at Zhao Shuqing, seeming to realize something. She exclaimed happily, “A cat?”

Zhao Shuqing nodded. “Yep, a cat.”

Then Zhao Shuqing opened the carrier and picked up her little chubby cat. Lin Feng peeked curiously over Zhao Shuqing’s shoulder. When Zhao Shuqing turned around, the cat and the mermaid locked eyes.

Guazi sniffed the fishy smell and narrowed its eyes at Lin Feng.

Lin Feng’s smile froze, and she stayed stunned for a long moment.

Zhao Shuqing stroked the fat cat’s head and said to Lin Feng, “This is a cat. Do you want to pet it?”

At that moment, Lin Feng didn’t know what danger meant. She looked at Zhao Shuqing blankly, then down at the cat, suddenly feeling an unexplained fear—like the fear she had when she saw Xu Tang.

Zhao Shuqing took Lin Feng’s hand and placed it on Guazi’s head. Lin Feng immediately screamed. Guazi leapt up and pounced—

Splash!

The ten-plus-pound fat cat crashed into the water with Lin Feng. Her scream was muffled underwater. Zhao Shuqing’s face went pale with shock. She quickly jumped in to pull the thrashing cat out of the water.

Guazi seemed to have found this fun and kept kicking its legs, jumping back into the pool. Lin Feng was screaming on the side, and the lab was in chaos.

It took a lot of effort to separate the cat and the mermaid. The colleagues carried out the fat cat, whose eyes were glowing green with anger. Guazi growled unhappily in the stranger’s arms, its eyes fixed on Lin Feng in the water like it was ready to pounce again at any moment.

Lin Feng—Ocean Overlord Lin · Wild Boar Slayer Haiyang · Wind—now had several scratches on her arm. Her eyes were red as she squatted in the water, wiping tears away. She looked pitiful.

Zhao Shuqing wanted to laugh but also felt sorry for her. She crouched beside Lin Feng and comforted her while Lin Feng’s little pearls of tears dropped one by one.

They fell into the water.

Then sank.

Zhao Shuqing reached out and saw that the tears in her hand had a slight gel-like texture. They shimmered in the water like real pearls. She immediately grabbed some nearby tools to take a sample, while Lin Feng stared at her dumbfounded.

She was crying, and this woman was still thinking about taking samples?

What a damn human.

Lin Feng flicked her tail and dove into the water, clearly angry.

Zhao Shuqing hurriedly handed the sample to a colleague to study and then looked back—Lin Feng was gone.

Really mad, huh?

Zhao Shuqing raised an eyebrow. Although it was Lin Feng who insisted on seeing the cat, deep down it was Zhao’s mischievous idea. Now that she had made Lin Feng upset, she naturally had to make it up to her. Zhao Shuqing spent the whole morning coaxing Lin Feng by the ecological pool, but it wasn’t as tempting as the steamed fish her colleagues brought at noon.

During lunch, a colleague handed her the report from yesterday.

“The mermaid’s bodily functions are about 80% similar to humans, especially the bl00d and genes. There’s almost no major difference,” Ye Xun, the team leader, told Zhao Shuqing, pointing to some data. “Here and here, the similarity is very high, almost identical.”

Zhao Shuqing looked over the comparison data, frowned slightly, and took a bite of her cucumber.

Ye Xun continued, “The rest of the genetic test report will come this afternoon. I’ll show it to you then. Also, there’s this.” She flipped to a page and said, “The wound on Lin Feng’s tail is very deep, almost cutting off about ten centimeters of tissue.”

Zhao Shuqing already knew this; she had seen the injury when Lin Feng was rescued.

“Mermaids should have strong self-healing abilities, but this wound hasn’t healed for a long time,” Ye Xun said after thinking. “It might be because the injury is too severe.”

“Will there be any after-effects?” Zhao Shuqing asked.

“So far, her condition looks normal, but since the wound is so deep, it still needs proper treatment,” Ye Xun said. “This afternoon, some specialists will come by. We’ll ask their opinion then.”

Zhao Shuqing nodded. After finishing lunch quickly, they prepared to examine the wound on Lin Feng’s tail together.

During the days on the shore, Lin Feng’s wound was always exposed, getting dirty with dust and soil. The flesh that was just starting to heal had decayed again. When the specialists arrived, they examined it and decided to apply some common veterinary medicine first to try and treat it.

Lin Feng sat by the shore, watching Zhao Shuqing hold her tail and apply the medicine. Her eyes stayed on Zhao’s fair, slender fingers as they dabbed the powdered medicine on the wound.

“Tell me if it hurts,” Zhao Shuqing said softly. “I don’t know if it will work, but it won’t hurt to apply it.”

Knowing Lin Feng didn’t want anyone else but Zhao Shuqing to touch her, the others only watched nearby and occasionally gave Zhao some tips. Fortunately, applying medicine was easy to learn, so it wasn’t a problem.

Lin Feng looked at her tail, now coated with ointment. She didn’t like the smell and was about to tell Zhao Shuqing when the latter stuffed an orange-flavored candy into her mouth. Lin Feng mumbled, “Zhao Shuqing.”

Zhao Shuqing glanced at her. “What is it, little queen?”

Lin Feng chewed the candy and said, “Peach.”

Great, now she was being picky.

After giving her another peach-flavored candy, Zhao Shuqing reminded Lin Feng not to go back into the water for now, then was called away.

“What’s going on?” Zhao Shuqing sat at the meeting table, looking puzzled at the experts before her.

Ye Xun, as the team leader, said, “The genetics report just came out. Since you’re here, we arranged for you to review it together.”

Zhao Shuqing nodded and started reading through the file. When she saw the age listed for Lin Feng, she froze slightly and whispered to Ye Xun, “Is this age a mistake?”

Ye Xun glanced and said, “No mistake. Based on calculations, Lin Feng is about 30 to 50 years old.”

Zhao Shuqing looked over at the mermaid lazily playing with the water by the shore and said in disbelief, “She looks like she’s 30??”

Everyone else laughed. Ye Xun smiled and explained, “Mermaids live about 500 years. By their standards, Lin Feng is still a minor.”

Zhao Shuqing choked on her words, realizing she’d asked a silly question—definitely unprofessional.

But somehow, she still felt surprised by Lin Feng’s age since the mermaid usually looked so cute.

She secretly glanced at Lin Feng.

Above the ecological pool was a skylight, and the sunlight was just right today, softly shining down and casting a platinum glow on Lin Feng’s fair skin, highlighting her handsome features.

Her light-colored long hair fell behind her, exposing round, slightly pink shoulders, a beautiful collarbone, and a slender neck.

If it weren’t for the big, beautiful fish tail, no one would guess Lin Feng was a mermaid.

Lin Feng seemed to notice Zhao Shuqing’s gaze and gently turned her head. Their eyes met across the moving crowd.

Zhao Shuqing felt her heart jump, quickly looked away, and stared hard at the file in front of her but couldn’t focus on a single word. After a while, she looked up and saw Lin Feng still calmly watching her.

Lin Feng smiled gently and silently mouthed: “Zhao Shuqing.”

After spending the whole day in the lab, Zhao Shuqing only returned to the dorm past eight in the evening.

She lay down to rest for a bit when a knock came at the door. Gu Yao stood outside calling, “Shuqing, I just heard you open the door. Hurry and let me in.”

Zhao Shuqing quickly got up and opened the door. She saw Gu Yao holding Guazi the cat, giving her a resentful glare. “How could you throw the cat into the water? Don’t you know cats hate water?”

Zhao Shuqing glanced at the fat cat in her arms, thinking the cat probably wouldn’t complain.

But not impossible.

“How did you know?” Zhao Shuqing asked, curious. Knowing Gu Yao was close to Guazi, she guessed Gu Yao would take the cat’s side. She quickly explained, “It jumped into the water by itself. I barely managed to save it. Counting this time, I’ve rescued it twice already. How can you blame me?”

Gu Yao pouted. “Move aside, I don’t want to argue.”

Zhao Shuqing stepped aside. Gu Yao swaggered in, put Guazi in the cat bed, and started stroking its fur while cooing, “Auntie will play with you tomorrow, okay? My cute little kitty~”

“You like it so much, why don’t you take care of it for a while?” Zhao Shuqing said. “I’ve been busy lately, going to the lab during the day to be with Lin Feng, and writing papers at night. I barely have time for the cat.”

“If you don’t have time, then I do,” Gu Yao sighed, stroking little Guazi’s head as she complained, “Our team just got a new project on ‘all-female breeding.’”