The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 5

The mermaid lifted her head, her deep blue eyes calmly looking at Zhao Shuqing, seemingly unaware that this was the name she had given her.

“Lin Feng.”

Zhao Shuqing lowered her head, smiling softly as she repeated, “Lin Feng.”

The mermaid was slightly stunned. She seemed to realize something and pushed herself closer to Zhao Shuqing. When she saw Zhao Shuqing reaching out a hand to tap Lin Feng’s nose and saying the name again—“Lin Feng”—she looked puzzled.

Lin… Feng?

A confused look appeared in the mermaid’s eyes as she looked at Zhao Shuqing and tried to imitate her: “lin…”

Zhao Shuqing’s eyes lit up, her smile widening. She nodded approvingly and gently patted the mermaid’s head. “Lin Feng.” Then she pointed to her own nose and said, “Zhao Shuqing.”

“Qing…”

The mermaid seemed to have a special reaction to Zhao Shuqing’s name. When she heard “Zhao Shuqing,” she responded, though she still struggled a bit with pronouncing the last character, “Qing.”

“shu… qing…”

“Yeah, my name is Zhao Shuqing, and yours is Lin Feng,” Zhao Shuqing said with a smile. “Do you like the name I gave you?”

The mermaid didn’t fully understand, but she roughly guessed the meaning and clearly said, “Lin… Feng…”

And just like that, the mermaid’s name was temporarily decided: Lin Feng.

Though Lin Feng was a mermaid, her learning ability was very strong. She took only one day to react to her new name and could even say Zhao Shuqing’s name. Her intelligence was impressive.

At the regular team meeting, Zhao Shuqing introduced the new name she had given the mermaid.

“She’s adapting well to the new name,” Zhao Shuqing said standing before the group. “Currently, Lin Feng can eat once every six hours. Each meal is about four to five small fish, and her appetite is good.”

Xu Tang nodded with satisfaction, flipping through Lin Feng’s records from the past two days. She told the group, “Based on our route, we should be back in our home country in about 13 days. The news of capturing the mermaid has been kept under strict control. The research institute decided to only announce it when we get close to the coast to prevent other countries from coming to steal her.”

After saying this, Xu Tang looked at Zhao Shuqing: “Right now, Shuqing’s main task is to continue taking good care of Lin Feng. The others should focus on their own projects. This expedition isn’t just about studying the mermaid; we also need to keep collecting samples from the deep-sea environment.”

Sun Chengzhou, sitting cross-armed in the corner, rolled his eyes in dissatisfaction.

The meeting ended, and Zhao Shuqing was the first to leave. It was lunchtime, and she planned to get something for Lin Feng from the kitchen. Eating only fish all the time wasn’t good; she wanted to add some vitamins.

She wondered if Lin Feng liked cherry tomatoes.

“Shuqing, wait.”

Zhao Shuqing had barely taken a few steps out when someone called her. She turned and saw Xu Tang hurrying over with a folder in hand. Surprised, Zhao Shuqing asked, “Senior sister, is there something?”

“You’re going to the tank to see the mermaid, right?” Xu Tang said. “I want to see her too.”

“Sure.” Zhao Shuqing smiled. “But you’ll have to wait for me; I’m going to the kitchen first to get her some food.”

Xu Tang smiled too. “No problem, I’ll come with you.”

Right now, two people took turns watching Lin Feng in the research room 24/7, recording her eating, sleeping, and daily habits. But Lin Feng didn’t like people getting too close, so feeding and close observation were tasks Zhao Shuqing handled.

Xu Tang watched Zhao Shuqing skillfully ask the kitchen staff for some small fish and wash a handful of bright red cherry tomatoes. She laughed and said, “You really care about that mermaid.”

Zhao Shuqing laughed too. “Of course. After all the trouble I went through, this is my first time getting close to her. I have to do a good job.”

Xu Tang looked at the food Zhao Shuqing carried but said nothing else and followed her back to the research room.

Today, Lin Feng seemed to be in a good mood. When the door opened, she was swimming around in the tank. The researchers greeted Zhao Shuqing and Xu Tang, and Xu Tang nodded toward Lin Feng’s graceful figure in the water.

“How’s she doing today?” Xu Tang asked.

“Much better than the first two days,” a researcher answered. “She’s not as scared anymore. Except for not wanting anyone close, she’s swimming around on her own.”

Though the tank was large, it was still small for a mermaid over two meters long. She could swim to the end quickly and then turn back.

Perhaps sensing Zhao Shuqing’s presence, Lin Feng suddenly popped her head out of the water with a splash and pressed her face against the glass, staring at Zhao Shuqing with moist eyes.

Zhao Shuqing told Xu Tang, “I’ll bring her some fish.”

Xu Tang nodded, “I’ll come with you.”

Zhao Shuqing went ahead and crouched by the edge of the platform, gently tapping the water. Lin Feng immediately swam over and lay in front of her.

Zhao Shuqing thought she was really well-behaved.

“How about five fish today?” Zhao Shuqing patted Lin Feng’s head, then took out a shiny cherry tomato and gently touched Lin Feng’s pale pink lips with it. “You need some fruit too, to get some vitamins.”

Lin Feng looked at her with beautiful eyes. She didn’t understand the words but could faintly smell a fresh scent on Zhao Shuqing’s lips.

Is that food?

After hesitating for two seconds, Lin Feng slowly opened her mouth and swallowed the cherry tomato.

When she bit into it, the juicy red juice burst in her mouth. Lin Feng was startled and quickly covered her mouth. The juice ran down her chin and even dripped onto her fair neck.

Blinking in surprise and curiosity, Lin Feng turned and splashed back into the water, swimming around twice before coming back.

Zhao Shuqing laughed at her reaction and tapped the water, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Lin Feng. The red stuff isn’t bl00d, it’s juice. It’s sweet—try it.”

Hearing her name, Lin Feng swam over again but spat out the tomato and shook her head, clearly not liking it.

“Don’t like it?” Zhao Shuqing sighed and stuffed one in her own mouth, chewing happily. “There aren’t many fruits at sea, but when we get back on land, I’ll buy you lots of delicious fruits.”

Lin Feng carefully looked at Zhao Shuqing’s puffed cheeks, but before she could look any longer, she noticed Xu Tang standing in the corner.

The two locked eyes, and Lin Feng froze.

“Hi, we meet again,” Xu Tang said, stepping forward with a big smile. “Do you remember me? I’m the one who helped pull you out of the sea.”

Lin Feng looked at her for a long moment, then turned and dived into the water without even eating the fish from Zhao Shuqing’s hand.

Zhao Shuqing was stunned and only after a moment did she react, laughing bitterly and saying to Xu Tang, “She must be holding a grudge.”

Xu Tang smiled and squatted by the water too.

Lin Feng didn’t swim far. Through the rippling water, they could see her beautiful hair flowing, and her wary eyes watching Xu Tang as she silently backed away.

“Looks like she’s really holding a grudge,” Xu Tang said with a helpless smile. “She’s smart enough to remember it was me who ordered her capture.”

Zhao Shuqing put the fish bowl aside and tapped the water. “It’s okay, Lin Feng. This is my senior sister. She’s not a bad person.”

Lin Feng resisted and refused to swim up.

“If she doesn’t want to, that’s fine,” Xu Tang said kindly to Zhao Shuqing. “I just wanted to check how she’s adapting.”

“She’s doing well,” Zhao Shuqing said, looking at Lin Feng. “Once she fully trusts us, she won’t be so resistant.”

“Yeah,” Xu Tang nodded. “Luckily, she still likes you a little. Otherwise, we’d be completely stuck.”

After looking around the research room and flipping through some files, Xu Tang left.

As soon as she left, Lin Feng quickly popped her head out of the water and slowly swam to Zhao Shuqing’s feet.

“You…” Zhao Shuqing smiled helplessly, patted Lin Feng’s head, and asked, “Are you hungry? Want some fish?”

Lin Feng pushed herself up and sat on the platform, curling her long blue tail beside her. The splashing water left the platform wet all around. She picked up the small bowl of fish Zhao Shuqing put nearby and started eating.

She leisurely flicked the water with her tail as she ate.

At that moment, Zhao Shuqing suddenly noticed a very obvious wound on Lin Feng’s beautiful blue tail.

It was a triangular-shaped injury, cutting off a large piece of flesh from the side near the tail’s base. White mucus covered the wound, and the flesh was turning pale, looking like it was already decaying. She could even faintly see white bones underneath.

“You’re hurt?” Zhao Shuqing was shocked. She thought Lin Feng had been injured during capture but, looking closer, she saw many white scars scattered around the end of Lin Feng’s tail—some fresh, some old.

The deepest one was the triangle-shaped wound, where a whole piece of flesh was cut off.

Lin Feng finished her lunch quickly. Noticing Zhao Shuqing staring at her tail, she quickly put it back into the water, hiding it.

Zhao Shuqing frowned, looking at the mermaid who seemed a bit guilty, and asked, “How did you get these wounds? Why are they so serious? Do you need us to treat them?”

Lin Feng stared at Zhao Shuqing, blinked slowly, then turned and hurriedly swam away in the tank.