The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 32

Lin Feng’s anger vanished in an instant with a quiet “pfft.”

She blinked, looking at the door that had been closed to keep her in. It really wasn’t locked. After hesitating for a moment, she reached out and pulled—and the door opened easily.

Outside was a long hallway. Lin Feng’s room was at the very end. She peeked around cautiously, then after five minutes of psyching herself up, she finally decided to go out and take a look.

Maybe Zhao Shuqing had forgotten to close the door properly when she left?

Or maybe the door was just broken?

Anyway, Lin Feng came out.

She swam down the corridor, checking the tanks behind the gates along the way. She saw many marine creatures locked inside, and most of them seemed to be resting. Even those who weren’t resting didn’t react much to Lin Feng—at most, they spat water at her.

Lin Feng didn’t mind. She remembered every creature that spat on her. Once she got the gate open and was free, she planned to teach each one a lesson.

At the end of the hallway was a metal door. Lin Feng tried pulling it—and to her surprise, it opened too.

Her eyes instantly lit up.

This was a door Zhao Shuqing had left open for her!

Lin Feng happily opened the door and went out. On this side was the office area. She saw one office still had its light on, which meant someone was inside, so she quietly sneaked over.

Zhao Shuqing was busy packing up. It was late, and she had to go back to the dorm. She closed her laptop, took out the trash, and then left the office.

As she locked the door, Zhao Shuqing instinctively glanced toward the aquarium area. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt like something was watching her. She looked around carefully but saw nothing. Shrugging off the strange feeling, she pushed it out of her mind.

Zhao Shuqing was probably the last person to leave. She exited through the staff passage—a small door with no security guard. The path was lined with large clusters of bamboo, which made it quite cool in the hot summer night.

After walking along the path for a while, she’d reach the dorm. Zhao Shuqing strolled slowly, and since it was late, there was hardly anyone else on the road.

“Rustle, rustle—”

Zhao Shuqing stopped and looked back at the bamboo forest behind her, narrowing her eyes.

Why did it feel like something was following her?

She waited for a moment, but there was no movement in the bamboo—just the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves.

“Maybe I heard it wrong?” Zhao Shuqing wondered and turned around suspiciously.

Then she left.

Familiar with the route, she returned to her dorm. Once inside, she turned on the air conditioner, ready to take a shower and then sleep.

The dorm was small, so the bathroom was naturally cramped.

The restroom was barely bigger than a palm, with a thin waterproof curtain barely separating the wet and dry areas. Pulling the curtain created a tiny space that was hard to move around in, but for a dorm, it was barely acceptable.

After showering, she came out to find the air conditioner had already cooled the room down. Zhao Shuqing comfortably blew dry her hair while reading some documents. Soon she grew sleepy, tidied up, and prepared to go to bed.

She thought about how she had upset Lin Feng today and decided to bring some tasty food to cheer her up tomorrow.

Just before falling asleep, she thought quietly to herself.

Late at night, the only sound was the gentle hum of the air conditioner. Zhao Shuqing lay on her side, the blanket pulled up to her waist, sleeping soundly, not even noticing someone entering.

Lin Feng stood by Zhao Shuqing’s bed, watching her sleep peacefully. Crossing her arms, she thought for a moment, then decided to tease her a bit.

Lin Feng sat down, then rubbed against her, slipping under Zhao Shuqing’s blanket.

The air conditioner was quiet and gentle. Once under the covers, Lin Feng mimicked Zhao Shuqing’s position, resting her head on the pillow. Her arms wrapped around Zhao Shuqing’s waist, pulling close.

In her sleep, Zhao Shuqing frowned slightly and hummed softly. Lin Feng was startled and shivered but watched curiously with her blue eyes. Seeing Zhao Shuqing didn’t wake up, she relaxed and then wrapped her tail around her.

“Don’t mess around…”

Zhao Shuqing still didn’t wake, though she vaguely felt something wrapped around her. She sleepily reached out and touched Lin Feng’s fish tail. The cold touch made her think she was still dreaming.

Lin Feng blushed deeply when Zhao Shuqing touched her. Nervously, she buried her face in Zhao Shuqing’s back and wrapped her tail tighter. The two were pressed closely together, with no gap between them.

Maybe because their movements were so intimate, Lin Feng—who had only wanted to get back at Zhao Shuqing for locking her up without asking—felt her tail wrapping uncontrollably around Zhao Shuqing, brushing against her scales.

Before Lin Feng could react, she felt the person she was holding stir slightly and then open her eyes. Their eyes met in confusion.

Lin Feng panicked and instinctively loosened her grip.

“Zhao…”

Before Lin Feng could call her name, Zhao Shuqing rolled over, taking control, and hugged Lin Feng’s waist, pulling her close.

Lin Feng caught the faint scent of Zhao Shuqing’s body wash—light and sweet, with a lemony smell, just like the fruity candy she loved.

Zhao Shuqing held Lin Feng’s waist, gently stroking her smooth back and whispered softly, “Why are you so naughty…”

Lin Feng’s face flushed bright red. She glanced up and realized Zhao Shuqing had already fallen asleep again.

Lin Feng: “…”

She was angry.

She wanted to kick her off the bed.

But… the feeling of being held by Zhao Shuqing was really comfortable.

Lin Feng buried her face in Zhao Shuqing’s shoulder, breathing in the scent. Being tightly wrapped felt like being held in a warm, lemon-flavored candy embrace.

Sweet, fragrant, and warm.

After this little scare, Lin Feng was no longer angry. She looked at Zhao Shuqing sleeping peacefully with her blue eyes.

Sigh.

She couldn’t entirely blame the human—after all, she was the one who made the first move.

Lin Feng closed her eyes, hugging Zhao Shuqing, thinking that tomorrow, after they both woke up, she would forgive her.
Early the next morning, Zhao Shuqing was woken up by the phone ringing.

It was just barely dawn. She glanced at her phone—it was only 4:30 a.m. The call was from a colleague at the aquarium. Her eyes were barely open, exhausted from days of rushing to finish her paper. She had gone straight to sleep after showering last night, so being woken up like this felt like torture.

“Hello…” Zhao Shuqing answered weakly, wondering why they were calling so early. Even breakfast vendors didn’t open at this hour.

“Zhao Bo, sorry to bother you, but the mermaid is missing. You need to come to the aquarium right away.”

The voice on the other end spoke quickly, even trembling slightly. Zhao Shuqing frowned, “What? The mermaid’s missing again?”

She tried to sit up but felt something heavy on her chest. Looking down, she saw Lin Feng’s sleeping face.

The colleague kept talking about checking the security cameras, but Zhao Shuqing was stunned for a moment before she calmly said, “No need.”

“Huh?”

Sighing, she repeated, “I said no need to look. She’s here with me.”

After hanging up, Zhao Shuqing looked down at Lin Feng, who was still sleeping soundly. She wondered how Lin Feng had gotten out of the aquarium, found her dorm, and crawled under the covers.

Lin Feng was sleeping peacefully, resting her head on Zhao Shuqing’s pillow, one hand draped around her waist, and her tail wrapped tightly around Zhao Shuqing’s calf. Her usually cold fins were warm now from the contact.

Zhao Shuqing pinched Lin Feng’s nose and without any mercy, woke her up. Lin Feng let out a couple of soft whimpers before slowly opening her eyes.

Zhao Shuqing turned on the light, and the sudden brightness made Lin Feng squint and quickly bury her head in the pillow. Worried she might suffocate, Zhao Shuqing raised her hand and gently gave Lin Feng’s butt a light slap.

“Tell me, how did you get out?” Zhao Shuqing sat on the bed, arms crossed.

Lin Feng adjusted to the light, glanced at her, then stayed silent, hugging the pillow and trying to go back to sleep. Zhao Shuqing didn’t let her and slapped her butt twice more.

“Zhao Shuqing!”

Lin Feng sat up and threw the pillow at her. “Mean!”

Zhao Shuqing caught the pillow and put it aside, amused by Lin Feng’s pout. She’d been worried when she heard Lin Feng was missing, but luckily she hadn’t actually gotten lost.

“How many times have you snuck into my room now?” Zhao Shuqing asked. “That time at the service area, you came to the guest room late at night looking for me. And now you sneaked into my dorm. How did you even get in?”

Lin Feng sat in front of her, still a bit unhappy.

She frowned and said, “You’re so mean.”

Zhao Shuqing was surprised. “Am I mean?”

Lin Feng said nothing, just glared fiercely.

Zhao Shuqing softened her expression and smiled at her. “Okay, I won’t be so mean to you from now on. But can you tell me how you got out last time?”

Lin Feng felt a little better seeing her smile, but to avoid being locked up again, she only told half the story.

But Zhao Shuqing knew her well. Seeing Lin Feng’s shy expression and clumsy manner, she guessed Lin Feng probably followed her back home yesterday.

“This was my fault,” Zhao Shuqing said, reaching out to touch her head. Lin Feng thought she was going to hug her and quickly snuggled into her arms, wrapping her waist and resting her head on her shoulder.

Zhao Shuqing froze, her hand hanging in the air before softly settling on Lin Feng’s waist.

“Tired,” Lin Feng said softly.

It was still before five, so it was indeed early.

“Then… should we sleep a bit more?” Zhao Shuqing asked.

“Mm,” Lin Feng closed her eyes and leaned over to fall back onto the bed with Zhao Shuqing.

“Wait, I’m getting up to turn off the light.”

Before Zhao Shuqing finished, Lin Feng flicked her tail and snapped the light off with a ‘pop.’

Zhao Shuqing: “…”

Having a long tail is pretty handy.

Lin Feng quickly fell back asleep in Zhao Shuqing’s arms, but Zhao Shuqing couldn’t fall asleep. She held Lin Feng’s waist, feeling the softness of her skin but too afraid to move. She just stared up at the ceiling until the sun came up.

Zhao Shuqing knew Lin Feng was simple-minded, but sneaking into her room all the time wasn’t good.

She wished Lin Feng was just a fish.

One of those ugly, clumsy goldfish.

Zhao Shuqing sighed deeply.

By the time Lin Feng had slept enough, it was already late morning. Zhao Shuqing pulled her to the bathroom for a wash. Lin Feng sat in the foldable bath tub Zhao Shuqing had bought for winter baths—perfect for Lin Feng now.

Her big tail draped over the side as she obediently let Zhao Shuqing wash her hair. Once clean and smelling nice, she was dried off and put on the bed.

The warm hairdryer blew gently on her head. Lin Feng yawned big and looked up at Zhao Shuqing, who was drying her hair.

“What’s for breakfast?”

Zhao Shuqing glanced at her, about to answer when the dorm door opened.

Gu Yao came in, shouting, “I saw you’re home. If you’re resting today, can you take the cat back…?”

All three were stunned.

Gu Yao blinked, looking at the beautiful Lin Feng, then at Zhao Shuqing who was half-dressed, drying her hair, and asked confused, “Did I… come at a bad time?”