The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 38
Lin Feng didn’t expect to see Xu Tang at this moment. Her eyes widened, and her whole body was trembling.
She was really angry.
She wanted to bite someone.
Lin Feng would never forget how Xu Tang had hurt her. She had hated this woman from the very start. And now, she actually dared to show up in front of her?
Lin Feng almost crushed the bed frame with her grip, but because of her weak body, she didn’t have the strength to sit up. All she could do was lie there and glare daggers with her eyes.
Xu Tang didn’t care at all.
Zhao Shuqing didn’t catch Lin Feng’s glare and looked at Xu Tang in surprise. “What did you say? You’re going to ask Lin Feng directly?”
Yeah, why hadn’t she thought of that?
The victim fish could talk, after all. Asking the person involved was the fastest way to understand what happened.
Xu Tang stepped into the ward. Zhao Shuqing noticed that the few fish in the tank beside them, which had been fairly calm, suddenly became restless. They splashed and swirled, looking very scared.
At that moment, Xu Tang was already standing by Lin Feng’s bedside, looking down at her.
Lin Feng’s eyes burned with hatred—she looked like she wanted to bite Xu Tang to death. But Xu Tang silently smiled.
She calmly stared at Lin Feng and spoke in a language humans couldn’t hear: “You don’t want Shuqing to find out your secret, do you?”
Lin Feng froze for a moment and glanced toward Zhao Shuqing, who was standing behind Xu Tang.
Zhao Shuqing caught Lin Feng’s gaze and walked over to gently pat her mermaid tail to comfort her. “It’s okay, I’m here.”
Because you’re here, that’s exactly why this is a problem.
Lin Feng glared at Xu Tang with unwillingness, her eyelashes trembling as she lowered her eyes.
Xu Tang acted like an outsider and asked, “Was it the killer whale that hurt you?”
Lin Feng was so angry she wanted to hit someone.
Xu Tang smiled lightly and teasingly said to Zhao Shuqing behind her, “Looks like she really doesn’t like me.”
Zhao Shuqing gave them both a strange look. The atmosphere felt off. Although Lin Feng did hate all humans except for Zhao Shuqing, she somehow sensed something else — more like hatred than simple dislike.
It was like two similar creatures showing clear hostility while fighting over territory.
Weird.
Zhao Shuqing wondered why she was thinking of Lin Feng and Xu Tang as two rivals fighting for the same ground.
Before she could figure it out, Xu Tang suddenly bent down and reached out to touch Lin Feng’s cheek and the corner of her mouth. Both Zhao Shuqing and Lin Feng were stunned.
“Senior Sister, wait…” Zhao Shuqing wanted to warn Xu Tang not to touch Lin Feng, afraid it would trigger her, but Lin Feng didn’t seem aggressive. Instead, she looked shocked at the person in front of her.
Xu Tang gently rubbed Lin Feng’s lips with her thumb. Lin Feng was about to explode with anger and disgust, turning her head away, but Xu Tang used her thumb to slightly pull Lin Feng’s lips open, revealing her sharp teeth inside.
“Luckily, this time it was your tail that got hurt,” Xu Tang said with a meaning behind her words, “Next time if you’re not obedient, who knows where I’ll hurt you, right, Lin Feng?”
Lin Feng shook off her hand and turned her head, wanting to bite her. Zhao Shuqing quickly stepped forward and pressed her back onto the bed.
“Don’t get too worked up, don’t get too worked up,” Zhao Shuqing soothed her, blocking her view of Xu Tang and softly stroking Lin Feng’s cheek where Xu Tang had just touched. “I’m here, be good.”
Lin Feng was extremely upset, her eyes red as she cursed, “Disgusting.”
Behind Zhao Shuqing, Xu Tang sneered quietly.
Lin Feng was so mad she almost cried.
Zhao Shuqing felt a headache coming on. She hugged Lin Feng as the girl cried and buried her face in Zhao Shuqing’s chest, clearly deeply hurt.
“Senior Sister.” Zhao Shuqing frowned and glanced back at Xu Tang, who was standing casually behind her. She felt overwhelmed. She sighed and said, “Sorry, can you leave for now? I’ll come find you when I have time.”
Xu Tang raised an eyebrow. Since she had already achieved her purpose today, she glanced sideways at Lin Feng and laughed lightly, “Alright, I’ll leave first then.”
After Xu Tang left, Zhao Shuqing finally lifted Lin Feng’s face. Seeing her almost crying like a little kitten, she couldn’t help but smile bitterly and softly asked, “Is it really that painful just because Senior Sister touched you?”
Lin Feng was hurt.
Crying, she cursed, “Bad woman.”
No one knew whether she was cursing Zhao Shuqing or Xu Tang.
Lin Feng was so angry she ate four big steamed buns for breakfast—none left for Zhao Shuqing. Luckily, after eating so many buns, she couldn’t drink much soy milk. Zhao Shuqing managed to drink a cup just to fill her stomach.
Looking at Lin Feng lying on the bed, Zhao Shuqing sighed helplessly and went to call a doctor to check her wounds.
During the check-up, Zhao Shuqing stood nearby, holding Lin Feng’s hand and comforting her. Fortunately, Lin Feng had been recovering well these past few days, and her wounds were slowly healing.
“Shuqing~”
As soon as the doctor left, Gu Yao arrived.
She walked into the ward and saw Lin Feng, smiling warmly as she greeted her, “Good morning, Lin Feng~”
Lin Feng blinked. She recognized this person—she was Zhao Shuqing’s neighbor.
“Hello,” Lin Feng said with some effort.
Zhao Shuqing was peeling a peach. Lin Feng was picky—she wanted to eat the peach but not the skin, and she liked crisp peaches. So Zhao Shuqing resignedly peeled the peach, then cut it into small pieces.
She glanced at Gu Yao and asked, “Why did you come suddenly?”
“I heard Lin Feng got injured, so I came to check on her,” Gu Yao said, knowing Lin Feng didn’t like anyone except Zhao Shuqing. She carefully moved a chair to sit about a meter away from the bed.
The sound of the fruit knife scraping the plate was a bit sharp.
“You’re late,” Zhao Shuqing said calmly. “My senior just left.”
“Huh?” Gu Yao was stunned. “When did she leave? I didn’t see her at all.”
Zhao Shuqing glanced at the time and said, “Over an hour ago, I think.”
Gu Yao was shocked. “That’s just ‘just left’??”
Zhao Shuqing: “More or less.”
Gu Yao: “…”
She sighed helplessly, leaned on Zhao Shuqing’s shoulder, and said, “Shuqing, your senior is so hard to chase after. I wait downstairs at her dorm every day and never see her come back. I almost thought she had another place she stayed at.”
Zhao Shuqing, still bearing Gu Yao’s weight, easily kept cutting the peach. She placed the cut pieces into Lin Feng’s lap for her to eat and then turned to Gu Yao, “My senior stays in the office when she’s busy. It’s normal that you don’t see her in the dorm.”
“But I asked. She doesn’t have much work these days, yet still doesn’t come back to the dorm,” Gu Yao frowned. “Shuqing, did you ask her for me like I told you?”
She meant whether Xu Tang really liked someone or not.
Zhao Shuqing was caught off guard.
Gu Yao narrowed her eyes, “You didn’t forget to ask, did you???”
Zhao Shuqing smiled awkwardly. She had indeed forgotten.
“It’s not exactly that I forgot,” Zhao Shuqing said, watching Lin Feng poke at the peach with a toothpick. “Lin Feng went through this whole thing, so I didn’t have time to ask. How about this?” she suggested, “Next time I take my senior out for a meal alone, I’ll ask properly for you.”
Gu Yao was expected to be happy, but she was silent.
After a long pause, she sighed again.
“Shuqing, I think I might be out of luck,” Gu Yao said with lowered eyes, disappointed. “Whether it’s true or not, your senior just isn’t interested in me. You can’t force a melon to be sweet. I don’t want your senior to dislike me.”
Zhao Shuqing looked back at her, hesitated, then said, “If you really feel that way, should I introduce you to some other girls?”
Gu Yao shook her head. “Forget it. I don’t have the mood for dating these days. Work is killing me.”
Once she started talking about work, Gu Yao began complaining nonstop.
“This ‘double female’ project… I don’t even know what it’s for. We’ve done the experiment several times, but every time we’re close to success, they stop and restart. Now they’re even thinking about breaking reproductive isolation.” Gu Yao said helplessly, “Unless the two species are very close, how could pregnancy even happen?”
Zhao Shuqing just let the words go in one ear and out the other, occasionally responding with a “mm hmm.” She didn’t understand gene engineering or the details of Gu Yao’s complaints.
But that was okay, because Gu Yao was just venting and didn’t need Zhao Shuqing to understand.
The two of them chatted for more than half an hour by the bedside. Lin Feng had finished the peach and was bored, staring at Gu Yao’s moving mouth as she seemed to be trying hard to figure out what she was saying.
Zhao Shuqing took the chance while Gu Yao was catching her breath to pour her a glass of water, wondering, “Aren’t you thirsty? You’ve been talking for over half an hour.”
Gu Yao hugged the cup and started drinking. “How could I not be thirsty? But I hate our professor even more.”
Lin Feng’s eyes widened slightly. She looked at the water cup Gu Yao was holding, then turned her head to look at Zhao Shuqing.
There were only two cups in the ward—one for Lin Feng and one for Zhao Shuqing. Now Gu Yao was drinking from Zhao Shuqing’s cup, and neither of them seemed to mind. After finishing, Gu Yao put the cup aside.
Gu Yao stood up. “It’s getting late. I only rested half a day today. I still have to go to the supermarket to buy some things. I’ll come see you guys when I have time next.”
Zhao Shuqing got up to see her out and said, “I can’t leave these two days. Can you do me a favor?”
Gu Yao agreed quickly. “Just say it. What do you want me to do?”
Zhao Shuqing smiled and said, “Go to the library and borrow some picture books for me. I want to read to Lin Feng at night.”
Gu Yao snapped her fingers. “No problem. I’ll bring them before lunch.”
After watching Gu Yao leave, Zhao Shuqing smiled and returned to the ward.
Lin Feng leaned on the pillow, staring at her intently. Zhao Shuqing asked confused, “Why are you looking at me like that? Want to say something?”
Lin Feng turned her head, pointed to the cup Gu Yao had used, and said, “Yours.”
“Yeah, it’s mine,” Zhao Shuqing said, puzzled. She sat by the bed and asked, “What’s wrong? You want my cup?”
Lin Feng seemed to hesitate a long time, then nodded slightly. “I want it.”
Zhao Shuqing was surprised, but it was just a cup. If Lin Feng wanted it, she wouldn’t refuse. But she knew Lin Feng was picky about cleanliness. Since Gu Yao had just used it, Zhao Shuqing didn’t mind, but her little mermaid might not be used to it.
“How about I wash it and give it to you?” Zhao Shuqing suggested as a compromise. “Or I could buy you a new one?”
Lin Feng shook her head firmly, “I want this one.”
Although confused, Zhao Shuqing nodded and smiled softly, “Okay, then it’s yours.”