The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 40

The last time Lin Feng came to Zhao Shuqing’s place, it was the middle of the night. She had snuck in and scared Zhao Shuqing half to death. But today, she could finally walk in through the front door fair and square.

Before they arrived, Zhao Shuqing had already tidied up her dorm. Wen Xiaoying pushed Lin Feng’s wheelchair inside and looked around Zhao Shuqing’s single-person dorm room with envy in her eyes.

“Wow, your dorm looks really nice,” Wen Xiaoying said with admiration. “Our dorms have metal bunk beds, four or five people in one room. If we don’t want to live in shared dorms, we have to rent our own place outside.”

Zhao Shuqing smiled and opened the sliding door. She pointed at a newly bought bathtub and turned to Lin Feng, saying, “Come have a look. Do you like it?”

Lin Feng’s eyes lit up the moment she saw the tub. She quickly waved Zhao Shuqing over to take her closer.

As soon as Zhao Shuqing carried her to the tub, Lin Feng eagerly climbed in. But when she realized there was no water, she frowned and looked up. “Where’s the water?”

“I haven’t filled it yet,” Zhao Shuqing said, laughing at the way Lin Feng looked sitting inside the empty tub. She picked her up again and said, “No bath for now. We’ll do it in the afternoon.”

Lin Feng looked longingly at the bathtub as they left.

Wen Xiaoying had to go to work, so after dropping Lin Feng off, she said goodbye and left. Zhao Shuqing politely walked her downstairs, and when she came back, she found Lin Feng missing. After a quick search, she found her already back in the bathtub, eyes fixed on her, clearly waiting for water.

Zhao Shuqing: “……”

Alright, alright, you’re my little princess.

She connected the hose and started filling the tub. Lin Feng, who hadn’t seen water in days, looked incredibly happy. Zhao Shuqing didn’t want her to catch a cold, so she mixed in some hot water, adjusting the temperature to around thirty degrees Celsius.

Lin Feng lay in the tub, warm and cozy under the sun.

The doctor had warned that her injury couldn’t get wet, so Zhao Shuqing didn’t fill the tub completely—just enough to cover her waist. She even wrapped Lin Feng’s tail in plastic wrap. It made her look a bit like a fish about to be roasted.

Lin Feng stared at her tail in a daze. After a while, her eyes reddened, and she hugged her tail tightly, whispering, “Ugly.”

Zhao Shuqing was caught off guard. “What’s ugly?”

“My tail,” Lin Feng mumbled.

Zhao Shuqing glanced at her tail. The scar was heavy, and many of the scales were missing. It looked patchy like an animal with mange. The once-beautiful tail, which had shimmered like stained glass, was now half-ruined.

Yeah… it really did look a bit ugly.

But Zhao Shuqing didn’t mind.

“It’s not ugly,” she said, gently rubbing Lin Feng’s tail. “Not at all.”

But Lin Feng insisted, “It is.”

How could she attract a mate in the future with such an ugly tail?

Just imagining another mermaid seeing her broken, scarred tail and turning away made her eyes fill with tears again. Her nose was red, and she looked so pitiful.

Zhao Shuqing stared into her eyes, and before she knew it, she leaned down and gently kissed Lin Feng’s injured tail.

Lin Feng’s eyes widened in shock.

Did she just… kiss her tail?

A mermaid’s tail was something only a mate could touch. If two people were really close, maybe they could pet it a little. Lin Feng didn’t mind when Zhao Shuqing touched her tail—she figured the human just didn’t know the rules. Whatever, it’s not like it would cost her anything.

But now Zhao Shuqing had kissed her tail.

That was something only a mate did during courtship.

Lin Feng’s heart was all over the place. She quickly pulled her tail away, hugged it tightly to her chest, and didn’t dare look at Zhao Shuqing.

Zhao Shuqing froze for a second too, realizing what she had just done. After a while, she said softly, “See? I don’t think your tail is ugly, so don’t be sad, okay?”

Lin Feng gave her a long, resentful look. That’s not the point!

“You can’t kiss a tail,” Lin Feng said, blushing.

“Okay.” Zhao Shuqing looked away, her voice low. “I won’t kiss it next time.”

Next time?

She was planning a next time?

Lin Feng peeked at her, then quickly looked away. She tapped the surface of the water and said in a small voice, “Too little water.”

Zhao Shuqing gave a quiet “mm” and silently added more water to the tub.

She also added some sea salt to the bathwater. Lin Feng loved the smell of sea salt. Sitting in the tub, she looked as happy as could be. The sadness from earlier completely vanished, and she started playing with a little yellow rubber duck Zhao Shuqing had bought for her. She even stayed in the tub through lunch.

But no matter how much she loved it, she couldn’t stay in there forever—especially since the doctor had warned her not to get the injury wet. Even though it was wrapped in plastic, it wasn’t ideal. So in the late afternoon, as the sun began to set, Zhao Shuqing took her out of the tub, dried her off, and laid her on the bed.

Zhao Shuqing taught Lin Feng how to dry her hair, and also showed her how to use a hairdryer. Lin Feng had never seen one before. When Zhao Shuqing turned it on, she was so startled she threw it across the room, making Zhao Shuqing laugh nonstop.

In the evening, Zhao Shuqing cooked dinner herself.

She wasn’t an amazing cook, but she could handle a simple meal. She planned to make Lin Feng’s favorites: fish porridge and steamed fish. For herself, she stir-fried some shredded potatoes with vinegar and chili.

Lin Feng was super curious. She wanted to get off the bed and see what Zhao Shuqing was doing in that little kitchen. One moment there was a sizzling noise, the next, bubbling sounds…

But because of the injury on her tail, she couldn’t get down by herself just yet.

Once Zhao Shuqing finished cooking, she brought out a folding table and set it up by the bed, carefully bringing out each dish one by one.

Lin Feng looked at the food and gasped, “Wow.”

Zhao Shuqing was amused by her expression and happily pulled over a chair to sit down. She said to Lin Feng, “You drink your porridge, I’ll eat my rice.”

Lin Feng nodded and reached out to pick up the bowl, but accidentally burned herself on it. She hissed in pain.

“Burned yourself?” Zhao Shuqing quickly took her hand to check. There was no sign of injury, so she figured the bowl was just too hot and Lin Feng’s body temperature was low, making her more sensitive to heat. She let out a breath of relief. “That’s my fault—I forgot the porridge just came off the stove. Hold on, I’ll get you a towel.”

She returned from the kitchen with a clean towel and also brought a ceramic spoon.

Zhao Shuqing sat beside her and stirred the still-warm porridge with the spoon. She blew on it gently and tasted it herself—it was flavorful and the temperature was just right. She wasn’t sure if Lin Feng would still find it too hot, though.

“Here, try a bite.” Zhao Shuqing blew on a spoonful of porridge and gently touched it to Lin Feng’s lips.

Lin Feng looked at her, then glanced down at the spoon.

It was a small ceramic spoon Zhao Shuqing had casually bought online, a soft yellow one with a little bear on it—very cute. Lin Feng stared at it for a while before finally opening her mouth and taking a bite.

“Is it too hot?” Zhao Shuqing asked.

Lin Feng shook her head.

Zhao Shuqing smiled, handed her the bowl and spoon, and returned to her seat across the table. Picking up her chopsticks, she said, “Then let’s eat.”

Lin Feng had used a spoon to eat before; chopsticks were still a bit difficult for her. When she wanted something, she’d point to it with the spoon, and Zhao Shuqing would place it in her spoon for her to eat.

The meal went by slowly, but both of them had a good appetite today. Lin Feng finished off an entire fish, and Zhao Shuqing polished off a plate of shredded potatoes.

While Zhao Shuqing was cleaning up the dishes, they heard the door in the neighboring apartment open. She guessed Gu Yao had returned.

Sure enough, a couple of seconds later came the sound of knocking, and Gu Yao’s loud voice called from outside, “I saw the lights on—Shuqing, are you back?”

Lin Feng heard it too and called out from the kitchen, where Zhao Shuqing was busy, “Someone’s here.”

Zhao Shuqing responded with a hum, wiped her hands dry, and walked over to open the door—revealing Gu Yao’s face.

“Oh wow, you really are back?” Gu Yao looked surprised. “But if you’re here, what about Lin Feng? Is she okay alone at the hospital?”

Zhao Shuqing stepped aside so Gu Yao could see Lin Feng sitting on the bed.

Gu Yao’s eyes went wide. “Whoa, you actually brought Lin Feng home?”

Without hesitation, she brushed past Zhao Shuqing and walked in like she owned the place. Plopping down on the chair by the bed, her eyes lit up when she saw Lin Feng.

“Hello,” Lin Feng greeted her first.

“Hi there~” Gu Yao’s eyes sparkled. “You’re speaking more smoothly now! I remember at first you could barely talk. Can you understand what I’m saying now?”

Lin Feng nodded, smiling so much her eyes curved into crescents. “Gu Yao.”

Gu Yao froze.

Oh my god. The mermaid just said my name.

Her hands trembling with excitement, Gu Yao quickly pulled out her phone, opened the camera, and started recording. “Can you say my name again? I want to show my whole family group chat. You’re a real mermaid!”

Lin Feng tilted her head. “Gu Yao?”

Gu Yao nearly fainted from joy. Zhao Shuqing couldn’t take it anymore and gave her a shove. “Take your video, but don’t go posting it around. If you do, I’ll sue you for violating the mermaid’s image rights.”

Gu Yao rolled her eyes. “Lin Feng isn’t yours alone. What gives you the right to sue me?”

Zhao Shuqing snorted coldly. “She is mine.”

Gu Yao gave her a look full of disdain.

“Since you’re already here, come help me clean up the balcony,” Zhao Shuqing said, seizing the chance to use Gu Yao for labor. “You’re not leaving empty-handed.”

Even though Gu Yao was clearly reluctant, she followed Zhao Shuqing to the balcony. When she saw a large white bathtub out there, she frowned. “What’s this? Where did you get such a huge tub?”

Zhao Shuqing rolled up her sleeves. “Lin Feng’s going to be staying here for a while, so I bought it just for her. Your balcony was pretty empty—help me move all this stuff to your place.”

Grumbling under her breath, Gu Yao complained while doing the work anyway.

While the two of them were busy cleaning up the balcony, Lin Feng leaned over the edge of the bed, craning her neck to see what they were doing. She was worried they might break the bathtub—then she wouldn’t be able to soak in it anymore.

Just as she was curiously peeking in that direction, something yellow caught the corner of her eye, slowly walking across the floor toward the room.

She turned her head and made eye contact with a fat cat that had just reached the doorway.

Guazi narrowed its eyes slightly, sniffed the air toward the person sitting on the bed, and then, suddenly, its tiny eyes flew wide open with excitement as it locked onto Lin Feng.

The moment Lin Feng saw it, her whole body stiffened. It scared her more than seeing Xu Tang.

She watched, frozen, as the fat cat silently padded into the room, tail swaying behind it, and with a quiet thump, it jumped up onto the bed.

Lin Feng clutched the blanket to her chest and screamed, “Aaaahhhh!!”