The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 58

Lin Feng looked at Zhao Shuqing, who was sitting calmly beside the bed, and couldn’t help but bury her head in her arms, smelling the scent on her.

Sob, she was feeling so miserable, so why did Zhao Shuqing show no reaction at all?

But Zhao Shuqing wasn’t completely unresponsive. She gently comforted Lin Feng, saying, “The heat is just a normal side effect. Do you want me to get you a glass of water? Maybe it will make you feel better.”

Lin Feng shook her head roughly. What good would water do right now?

She wanted Zhao Shuqing to touch her…

The fish scales below her abdomen had fully opened, and the area was wet, giving off a strong scent that made Zhao Shuqing uncomfortable. She turned her face away slightly, her hand resting weakly on Lin Feng’s waist. She cleared her throat awkwardly and said, “How about I take you for a bath?”

Lin Feng didn’t want a bath. She was feeling terrible, and seeing that Zhao Shuqing didn’t plan to help her, she pushed her away in silence, rolled over, curled up on the bed, and tightly wrapped her tail around herself.

Zhao Shuqing knew she had upset Lin Feng. Sitting behind her, she whispered softly, “It’ll be over soon, the heat will only last about two hours.”

Lin Feng refused to listen.

Two hours? That would last until dawn at this rate.

Her breathing was burning hot, and her tail brushed against the sheets filled with their scent. Seeing how uncomfortable Lin Feng was, Zhao Shuqing got up, went to the kitchen, and poured her a glass of cold water, hoping it might cool her down.

But when Zhao Shuqing came back, she nearly dropped the glass in shock.

Lin Feng, unable to get Zhao Shuqing to help and feeling unbearably hot, had started to take care of herself, parting her fish scales.

The temperature in the room suddenly rose a lot. Zhao Shuqing watched Lin Feng lying on the bed. One hand was gripping the sheets tightly, while the other had slipped into the gap between her open scales. Her tail was raised high, the large, beautiful fin shimmering like colored glass, glowing softly in the dim light.

Not only the fin, but the scales on her body also emitted a faint colorful glow. Lin Feng squinted her eyes slightly, her whole body glowing pink.

Zhao Shuqing stood by the bed, watching for a few seconds before setting down the glass and kneeling on one knee beside her.

Lin Feng felt Zhao Shuqing’s gaze. Her eyes, filled with relief, reddened at the corners. She loosened her grip on the sheets and placed her hand on Zhao Shuqing’s shoulder, wrapping her tail around her. In a hoarse voice, she said, “You’re so mean…”

Just watching and doing nothing—this woman’s heart was truly wicked.

Zhao Shuqing didn’t answer the insult. Instead, she lowered her head and gently kissed Lin Feng’s lips.

They kissed on the bed. Lin Feng curled her tail, rubbing it against Zhao Shuqing’s calf. The moist scales scraped lightly against her skin, as if coated with a thin layer of mucus.

It was wet and slippery.

Lin Feng felt dizzy from the kiss. She sensed Zhao Shuqing’s hand on her tail, slowly moving up from the bottom, finally stopping in the gap of her open scales.

“Ah…”

Lin Feng let out a low moan. Zhao Shuqing’s hand moved inside as their fingers intertwined. Lin Feng bit her lip tightly.

Afraid she would bite too hard, Zhao Shuqing gently held her chin and deepened the kiss. Lin Feng didn’t dare to bite, trembling all over, her hands weakening, letting Zhao Shuqing guide her.

Soon, Lin Feng’s whole body stiffened. Her tail arched high, supporting her waist, then after a few seconds, she collapsed weakly onto the bed.

She was drenched in fluid, like a fish that had been tossed about and broken. Her tail had no strength, hanging limply off the bed.

Zhao Shuqing pressed her waist and playfully bit her chest, making Lin Feng’s eyes water instantly. When Zhao Shuqing looked up, she saw the mark she left on Lin Feng’s chest and smiled in satisfaction as she leaned down again.

The next day, Zhao Shuqing directly asked Xu Tang about the side effects of the medicine.

The heat lasted over an hour the previous night. Aside from Lin Feng rubbing herself uncontrollably at first, she felt much better afterward. Zhao Shuqing fed her some warmed cold water and helped her take a shower. By the time they returned to bed, Lin Feng was so sleepy she leaned right against the pillow.

Without going into too much detail, Zhao Shuqing asked Xu Tang whether Lin Feng could continue taking the medicine.

After a moment, Xu Tang replied, “Keep using it as usual. If the reaction happens again the second time, then we’ll switch medications.”

Zhao Shuqing looked at the message with some helplessness and glanced at Lin Feng, sighing softly.

Maybe the first reaction was unexpected. After the second dose, Lin Feng felt much better. Except she still got very hot and needed air conditioning, fans, and an ice pop to cool down, but the earlier symptoms didn’t return.

That made Zhao Shuqing feel much more at ease.

During the free days, Zhao Shuqing also went to the hospital for a check-up. The doctor prescribed a pile of medicines to take three times a day, each dose different. Lin Feng watched anxiously as she took the pills, her pretty face full of worry.

“Don’t worry.” After swallowing the medicine, Zhao Shuqing leaned back in her chair, smiled, and patted Lin Feng’s head as she met her worried gaze. “You take medicine, I take medicine. We’re in this together, right?”

Lin Feng stared at Zhao Shuqing, her blue eyes filled with sadness. She felt terrible even after one pill. How could Zhao Shuqing take so many at once and still have the heart to smile at her?

“Zhao Shuqing.” Lin Feng rested her head on Zhao Shuqing’s shoulder, her voice full of concern, “If you don’t feel well, don’t take them. I can’t bear to see you suffer.”

Zhao Shuqing chuckled softly and gently held Lin Feng, saying, “I’m doing this willingly.”

She had thought it through clearly. Since she couldn’t let Lin Feng go, and Lin Feng had to go through the experiment, if she could be the other test subject herself, maybe she’d feel a little better inside.

Taking medicine was painful, but compared to Lin Feng, she was willing to endure it.

Lin Feng still worried about her, so Zhao Shuqing patted her tail and said, “I think your injuries are almost healed. Don’t you want to go back to the aquarium? Why not set a date? A lot of people are eager to see you.”

“See me for what?” Lin Feng asked, puzzled.

“To like you, of course,” Zhao Shuqing replied with a smile.

Lin Feng didn’t care about anyone else liking her—just Zhao Shuqing was enough.

“No,” Lin Feng said seriously, looking straight at Zhao Shuqing. “Mermaids only have one partner for life. I only want you.”

Zhao Shuqing was a bit stunned by Lin Feng’s straightforward confession. After a moment, she asked curiously, “If you only have one partner for life, what if something happens to them? Or if they go missing? You can’t remarry?”

Lin Feng tilted her head. “Remarry?”

Zhao Shuqing explained, “You know, find someone else.”

The person in her arms shook her head and rested on Zhao Shuqing’s shoulder. “No remarrying. If we can’t die together, then we’ll live alone—mermaids only have one partner for life.”

Maybe that’s why the number of mermaids was getting smaller.

If one mermaid died or disappeared, the other would guard their home alone until the end of their life.

Hearing this, Zhao Shuqing’s heart skipped a beat.

She clenched her fists and looked down at Lin Feng resting on her shoulder. Suddenly, she started worrying about her own lifespan.

Zhao Shuqing was human and could live at most about a hundred years. If she died, how would Lin Feng live the remaining four hundred years?

Would she really end up, as Lin Feng said, growing old alone?

Zhao Shuqing asked herself honestly—had she made a mistake from the very beginning?

Lin Feng’s health gradually improved. After the last medicinal bath, the doctor told Zhao Shuqing that Lin Feng could stop taking medicine.

Zhao Shuqing was naturally happy, but even happier was the aquarium director.

The director was a middle-aged woman who had accompanied Lin Feng during these medicinal baths. Although she still couldn’t get close, she could observe from a distance.

Hearing the doctor’s words, she turned to Zhao Shuqing and said, “Dr. Zhao, since Lin Feng’s injuries are healed, can we let her return to the aquarium? Many visitors and fans are waiting for her.”

Lin Feng’s injury had caused a big stir online. People criticized the aquarium for not taking good care of her and letting her get so badly hurt.

They had to spend money on PR to calm things down, but visitor numbers clearly dropped a lot. Many people were asking when Lin Feng could return—they all wanted to see her.

“Wen Xiaoying said last time that Lin Feng is still very excited to go back to the aquarium,” the director smiled and told Zhao Shuqing, “We arranged a private room just for her. The orca has been trained, too. To ensure Lin Feng’s safety, the orca will be locked away whenever she’s active. They won’t see each other.”

Zhao Shuqing hesitated for a moment, then looked toward Lin Feng, who was still in the bath. She said to the director, “Lin Feng does want to go back, and I respect her choice. But we can arrange the exact timing later. What do you think?”

“Of course,” the director said happily. “You decide the timing. Just inform Wen Xiaoying in advance. We’ll do a bit of publicity then—lots of visitors are looking forward to that day.”

Zhao Shuqing smiled and nodded.

After Lin Feng finished bathing, she saw the director leave and asked curiously, “She’s gone?”

She had been watching her all morning—it was finally over.

“Yeah,” Zhao Shuqing came over, moved a small stool beside her, and squeezed some shampoo into Lin Feng’s hands to rub through her smooth long hair. “She wants you to come back to the aquarium. If you agree, they’ll arrange a private room for you. When you’re out, the orca will be locked up so you two won’t meet.”

Lin Feng enjoyed having her hair washed and thought for a moment before asking, “That’s not necessary. The orca can’t beat me anyway.”

Zhao Shuqing glanced at her. “Then what do you think? You don’t belong to the aquarium. If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. If you want to, you can make requests. I think they’ll meet them.”

“Requests?”

Zhao Shuqing’s words sparked an idea in Lin Feng. She looked up and asked, “If I go, can they give me money?”

Zhao Shuqing was surprised. “You don’t go outside—what do you need money for?”

Lin Feng said, “Even if I don’t go outside, money is still useful.”

Recently, Lin Feng had learned from Gu Yao and TV dramas that humans use something called ‘money’ to buy the things they want.

Lin Feng was simple and had few desires—being able to eat and drink well was already great. Besides, Zhao Shuqing lived alone, and the research institute paid her a good salary. After paying off her student loans, she had saved quite a bit.

Zhao Shuqing looked at Lin Feng and asked, “How much money do you want?”

Lin Feng thought seriously for a moment and held up two fingers.

Zhao Shuqing raised an eyebrow.

Twenty thousand?

This fish really knew how to bargain. She wondered if the aquarium would agree.

But before Zhao Shuqing could say anything, Lin Feng shyly put down one finger and said slowly, “If twenty thousand won’t do, then two hundred. Really can’t go lower than that.”

Any less, and she wouldn’t be able to buy gifts.