The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 48

When Zhao Shuqing heard Lin Feng say the word “want,” she couldn’t hold herself back any longer. She lowered her head, cupped Lin Feng’s face, and kissed her.

This kiss was more passionate than before. Zhao Shuqing used her tongue to pry open Lin Feng’s teeth. The mermaid’s teeth were a bit sharp, like tiger teeth, and Lin Feng’s tongue felt cool as it touched hers. The contrast between hot and cold felt like it was melting them both.

Lin Feng didn’t kiss back, not really. She had only kissed Zhao Shuqing a few times before, and now, overwhelmed and dizzy from the kiss, she found herself climbing onto Zhao Shuqing’s shoulders, sending her whole body into her arms.

Zhao Shuqing held her waist with one hand, while the other slipped past her tail and lifted her off the chair. Lin Feng was startled and gripped Zhao Shuqing’s shoulders tightly.

Their lips never parted. Zhao Shuqing laid her down on the bed and bent over to kiss her again.

Her hands stroked Lin Feng’s shoulders, waist, and then the area covered in shimmering scales on her hips and tail. Lin Feng’s tail was very sensitive; every touch made her body tremble. Her brows furrowed tightly, but she still held onto Zhao Shuqing’s shoulders, not wanting her to leave.

“Mm…”

Lin Feng’s eyes were red and watery. She felt like she was being boiled alive—burning hot all over.

Zhao Shuqing’s hands felt like they were on fire, each place she touched made Lin Feng hotter. Eventually, Lin Feng had to tilt her head back and breathe heavily, her chest rising and falling quickly, like a fish out of water.

Zhao Shuqing was also getting carried away, recklessly licking Lin Feng’s shoulders and collarbone with her tongue.

There was a faint smell of sea salt.

She really liked it.

Suddenly, Lin Feng’s tail twitched in Zhao Shuqing’s hands. Unable to hold back, Lin Feng grabbed the pillow tightly, her beautiful eyes filled with tears as she looked at her. Zhao Shuqing seemed to understand something and looked down, noticing the scales had started to part again.

The gap under the scales opened into a small curve, and through it, she could faintly see the pink flesh inside.

Zhao Shuqing’s head buzzed with confusion. She stared intently at the scales, her hand moving to cover the area without control.

“Ugh…”

Lin Feng’s tone changed, her whole body trembling as she buried her cheek into the pillow. Zhao Shuqing saw the redness on her neck.

“Does it hurt?” Zhao Shuqing asked softly. “If it hurts, we can stop for now.”

She tried to pull her hand away, but Lin Feng pressed it down with her own hand. Her tail gently brushed against Zhao Shuqing’s waist as she whispered,

“Don’t go…”

Lin Feng lifted her head and, summoning her courage, said to her, “Come in.”

Zhao Shuqing gasped inwardly.

Sometimes she wasn’t sure if Lin Feng was teasing her on purpose by saying things like this.

“Come in”… Did Lin Feng really understand what that meant?

“Lin Feng,” Zhao Shuqing’s voice trembled as she quietly asked, “Do you know…”

“I know.” Lin Feng had learned to answer quickly now. She held Zhao Shuqing’s hand, her tail wrapping around her calf and rubbing gently. “Come in. Only you.”

Lin Feng’s tail brushed against Zhao Shuqing, who was sweating from the heat between them. Their body temperatures kept rising. Lin Feng, cradled in her arms, felt soft and boneless like a fish. Zhao Shuqing couldn’t stand the constant tail rubbing any longer, so she grabbed Lin Feng’s chin and kissed her deeply.

They kissed on the bed. It was Lin Feng’s first time being touched like this. Although she tried to control herself, her tail instinctively curled around Zhao Shuqing’s waist, opening herself completely.

Zhao Shuqing bit her lips and stroked the clingy, huge blue tail. Finally, with Lin Feng gasping softly, her tail slipped weakly off Zhao Shuqing’s waist and crashed heavily onto the bed.

The tail hit the bed with a loud thud. Zhao Shuqing was startled and quickly pulled her hand back to check the tail’s wound.

Luckily, it hadn’t cracked open again.

Zhao Shuqing looked back at Lin Feng lying on the bed. Her chest rose and fell wildly after finishing, her eyes slightly unfocused, lost in a daze. Her pale hand hung over the edge of the bed, the moonlight just falling into her palm.

There was still a sticky, warm feeling on her hand. Zhao Shuqing wanted to wash it off in the bathroom but was stopped when Lin Feng grabbed the corner of her clothes.

“Don’t go…” Lin Feng looked at her with a pitiful expression that almost made Zhao Shuqing feel like she was a heartless person who would leave right after taking advantage of someone.

“I’m not leaving,” Zhao Shuqing whispered. “I’ll just take a shower and then come back to be with you.”

Only then did Lin Feng let go.

In the bathroom, Zhao Shuqing looked at her hands and felt her ears burn. Closing her eyes, all she could see were the scenes from before. She shook her head and turned on the shower, ready to wash away the haze.

It was all so absurd…

When Zhao Shuqing finished and came out, Lin Feng was already asleep.

She lay on her side, the tail tightly curled around the blanket she held, sleeping soundly.

Zhao Shuqing sat at the edge of the bed watching her for a while before carefully taking the blanket from Lin Feng’s arms and gently covering her.

Afterwards, Zhao Shuqing didn’t go to bed right away. Instead, she put on her jacket and sat at the desk, opening her computer. She created a new document, thought for a while, and finally named it: “Basic Structure of the Mermaid Reproductive Cavity.”

Zhao Shuqing rubbed her flushed face and decided to take a professional scholar’s attitude to seriously study this subject.

She believed that for now, no one knew more about the structure of the mermaid reproductive cavity than she did… hopefully.

Since that incident, Zhao Shuqing had been avoiding Lin Feng intentionally or unintentionally. Although she couldn’t really get away, she found all sorts of excuses to refuse Lin Feng’s constant requests for kisses and touches.

But there are times when you just can’t say no—especially when Lin Feng’s eyes crinkle, and she lies on the bed feeling upset, tears like little pearls falling. Zhao Shuqing can only grit her teeth and comfort her, holding her close, kissing and gently rubbing her.

Actually, Lin Feng’s request was simple: at least one kiss every day and some intimacy about once every three days.

Zhao Shuqing felt she could accept that.

If anything, it seemed a bit mild.

But whenever she thought about Lin Feng being a fish, Zhao Shuqing felt a strange, guilty thrill—partly resisting, yet unable to resist her temptation.

So complicated.

So frustrating.

One day, Zhao Shuqing was adjusting the water temperature in Lin Feng’s bathtub. The weather had started to cool down these days, with several heavy rains. She hadn’t let Lin Feng soak in the tub lately. But today the sun finally came out—it was a bright, sunny day. Though the air was still a bit chilly, a little sun and a bath wouldn’t be a problem.

Lin Feng lay expectantly by the tub, watching obediently as Zhao Shuqing filled it with water, occasionally asking, “Is it ready?” Zhao Shuqing said it wasn’t yet, so Lin Feng just kept lying there waiting.

She was so well-behaved.

Once the water was ready, Lin Feng scooped out the little clownfish and then carefully got into the tub.

Lately, the two “fish” had gotten along well. Every time Lin Feng took a bath, she had to bring the clownfish along. Lin Feng didn’t mind, so Zhao Shuqing naturally had no reason to complain.

After finishing up, Zhao Shuqing heard her phone ringing on the table.

“Phone!” Lin Feng called from the tub, holding Nemo.

“Got it,” Zhao Shuqing replied, picking up the phone and seeing it was Xu Tang.

It seemed like she hadn’t seen Xu Tang for a while, and she wondered why Xu Tang was suddenly calling.

Since returning to the research institute, Xu Tang had been taking the expedition team to the lab for research. Zhao Shuqing was supposed to go too, but now she had a new task—to take care of Lin Feng—so she hadn’t been involved much with the new marine samples.

It had been over a month now. Was Xu Tang calling to ask her to go back?

Puzzled, Zhao Shuqing decided to just answer so Xu Tang wouldn’t worry.

“Hello, senior sister,” Zhao Shuqing said quietly, moving to the kitchen to take the call, knowing Lin Feng didn’t like Xu Tang and might get upset hearing the conversation.

Xu Tang responded with a hum and asked, “I heard from Leader Ye that you recalculated the data recently. Why is that?”

Hearing this, Zhao Shuqing explained, “The professor got sick, and I visited him. He said this paper will be the world’s first on mermaids, and many people will use it as a standard for their projects. He wanted me to double-check the data.”

Xu Tang hummed again, “Really?”

Zhao Shuqing nodded, “I think the professor is right. I should verify more thoroughly, so I compared the data again.”

Xu Tang asked, “And the results?”

Zhao Shuqing said, “The difference from the first experiment wasn’t big.”

Xu Tang smiled, “Since the difference is small, publish it then. It’s been almost three months since Lin Feng was caught. We need some solid data.”

Zhao Shuqing nodded, “I understand. It should be published in the next few days.”

Xu Tang hummed again. Zhao Shuqing hesitated, then asked, “Senior sister, how is the professor’s health? I want to visit him soon, but Aunt Liu says he’s not well and won’t let me.”

Zhao Shuqing wasn’t complaining, just genuinely worried about Shen Qingming’s health.

Xu Tang paused for two seconds before answering, “The professor is old. He’s had severe asthma and other complications. Since he was hospitalized, the doctors kept him there. When he feels better, we’ll visit him together.”

Zhao Shuqing nodded, “Alright, I hope he’s okay.”

On the other end, Xu Tang’s lips curved slightly as she lightly fiddled with a small toy on the table. Suddenly, she said, “I wonder if Gu Yao told you about the genetics team’s Double Female project?”

Zhao Shuqing was surprised and nodded softly, “I was just going to ask you, senior sister. What’s the mermaid Double Female project? We can’t possibly catch another mermaid, right?”

“It took us a lot of effort to catch Lin Feng. It’s probably very hard to catch a second one,” Xu Tang said. “As for the mermaid Double Female project, the marine team and genetics team will hold a meeting in a few days. You should come then.”

Another team meeting?

Zhao Shuqing thought for a moment and asked, “Has the time been set?”

Xu Tang said, “Not yet, but it’ll be next week. Just bring all your data to the meeting. We’ll discuss the details there.”

“Is it confidential?” Zhao Shuqing asked.

“Yes.”

“Even I have to keep it secret?”

“Ha, everyone has to.”

“Alright then,” Zhao Shuqing said with a sigh, “I’ll get the paper published first, then wait for you to tell me the meeting time.”

Xu Tang smiled and nodded, “No problem.”