My Marriage Partner is a Crazy Mermaid - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Mermaid

Xie Yuhan watched as Meng Ke walked right past her, pretending she wasn’t there. Xie Yuhan raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself that in human terms, this behavior was called “being angry.” Meng Ke was angry with her.

When Xiang Qinlan came out carrying the dishes, things were a bit awkward. She glanced at Xie Yuhan; the woman sat in her wheelchair, unbothered by being ignored, watching Meng Ke with calm interest.

“Will the Young Lady be joining us?”

“No, I’ve already eaten.”

Xiang Qinlan couldn’t just stand there holding the plates forever. She placed the final dish on the table. “Madam, this is charcoal-grilled crucian carp. It was caught fresh this morning; the flavor is incredibly sweet.”

Beside it, she placed a bowl of fish soup.

“The chef made this soup using the remaining parts of the fish.”

Meng Ke nodded and picked up a pair of chopsticks to begin. She didn’t really feel like eating fish; her spirits had been low these past few days, her appetite was poor, and the faint fishy smell made her feel slightly nauseous. She pushed the two fish dishes aside and began eating the green vegetables.

“Auntie Xiang, you can head out for now.”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

Xiang Qinlan stole a glance at the two of them before quickly retreating from the “battleground” of the dining area. In three years, no one had been allowed to live in Yihai Villa. She had thought this person would be different, but looking at the Young Lady’s behavior, it didn’t seem so. Xiang Qinlan sighed, wondering when the Young Lady would finally settle down and find a proper wife.

After she left, Meng Ke carried on as usual. This villa area was far from the city and close to nature; every meal featured ingredients freshly picked from the neighboring farm that morning, prepared with the chef’s unique skills. The food was delicious, which was especially “friendly” to Meng Ke’s bad habit of craving food whenever she was unhappy. Despite her poor mood lately, her weight had been steadily increasing.

Xie Yuhan maneuvered her wheelchair to sit opposite Meng Ke, watching her eat without saying a word.

Meng Ke finished one bowl of rice, sampled the potatoes, green beans, and tomatoes, then got up to fetch a second bowl. Deliberately ignoring Xie Yuhan while eating had unexpectedly backfired—the more she ate, the more her appetite grew. Her taste buds fully awakened, Meng Ke took two bites of the grilled fish.

Auntie Xiang hadn’t exaggerated; the grilled fish was excellent. The skin was golden and crispy, while the inside was tender and succulent. The meat was delicate and firm with a rich texture. Somehow, the chef had kept the fish’s shape intact while removing every single bone; there was no need to worry about choking, allowing her to savor the delicious meat freely.

After finishing half the fish, Meng Ke patted her stomach with satisfaction. She pulled a napkin to wipe her mouth, but when her peripheral vision caught the person sitting opposite her, her movements stiffened for two seconds. She then set the napkin down.

Preparing to head toward the elevator, she called out toward Auntie Xiang’s room, “Auntie Xiang, I’m finished.”

Normally at this time, she would help Auntie Xiang clear the table, and then the two of them would go for a stroll by the sea across the road. The sea breeze there was gentle and felt wonderful against the face. Auntie Xiang usually came out quickly, but this time she took a full five minutes. By the time she appeared, she found that Xie Yuhan had followed Meng Ke into the elevator.

Meng Ke: “…”

She had intended to carry her plan of ignoring Xie Yuhan to the very end, but as the elevator doors slowly began to close, Xie Yuhan unhurriedly started her wheelchair and moved inside. Looking at the distance and speed, it seemed insufficient; if Xie Yuhan insisted on entering, she would be caught by the doors. Seeing Xie Yuhan’s utterly unconcerned expression, Meng Ke panicked and frantically mashed the “Open” button.

The doors halted. Meng Ke’s eyes flared with anger. “What are you doing?”

“What if you had gotten stuck?”

The woman had zero safety awareness. Her legs didn’t work, and apparently, her brain didn’t either. She traveled with eight hundred bodyguards outside, yet she was about to have an accident in her own home elevator? People would die laughing if word got out.

Xie Yuhan spun her wheelchair around in the elevator to face the door, where she could also see Meng Ke.

“This elevator has automatic sensors. When my wheelchair approaches, it stops.”

Xie Yuhan didn’t exactly look at her as if she were a fool, but it was at least the expression one gives a slow-witted person.

Meng Ke felt a bit embarrassed. When the doors opened, she stepped out first. Xie Yuhan followed her into the bedroom, stopping her wheelchair in the middle of the room, facing the bed. Xie Yuhan spoke as if she were negotiating a billion-dollar contract—her face was cold, and her tone was stiff.

“We need to talk.”

With that attitude, Meng Ke wondered what there was to talk about. Was this a notification or a command? Meng Ke wasn’t naturally a pushover; if she hadn’t been mindful of the broken plot, she would have lost her temper long ago. She took a deep breath. “Talk about what?”

“This is the contract.”

Xie Yuhan never wasted words. She produced a document from somewhere on her wheelchair, nearly identical to the one the bodyguard had shown her before. The only difference was the address: it was no longer about going abroad, but staying in Tan City.

The benefits remained the same—she would receive enough money to live comfortably for the rest of her life. The only requirement was that on the first and fifteenth of every lunar month, she needed to sleep with Xie Yuhan.

Yes, sleep. In the literal sense of the word.

Meng Ke: “…”

Xie Yuhan didn’t know why Meng Ke had such an effect on her body, nor how long it would last. She wanted to keep the woman nearby using a logical justification. A marriage alliance was the best choice. It just so happened that when she was thirsty, someone offered water; Xie Yuhan simply went with the flow.

“I understand.” Meng Ke gripped the contract. “Only this one requirement and nothing else, right?”

“Regarding my affairs, you are not to speak of any information to anyone.”

Isn’t that exactly what the bodyguard-driver knows? It was the same requirement given to a subordinate. Meng Ke had truly seen it all now.

“I understand.”

The result of waiting a week was this. Meng Ke wanted to say something, then felt there was no point. But she was angry—though she didn’t know exactly what she was angry about.

The bedroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Seeing that Meng Ke remained silent, Xie Yuhan reminded her:

“Today is the fifteenth.”

Meng Ke: “…”

“Then do you want to rest now?” Meng Ke ground her teeth.

“No need.”

At nine o’clock that evening, Xie Yuhan went up to the fourth floor by herself. Meng Ke had lived in this villa for a week and explored everywhere except the fourth floor; Xiang Qinlan had said that no one was allowed there except Xie Yuhan.

The fourth floor of the villa was an entire level consisting of a man-made swimming pool. Azure ripples swayed gently. Xie Yuhan pushed her wheelchair to the side, gripped the safety handrail, and stood up by leaning against it.

In the next second, she leaped downward and dived into the water.

The moment she hit the water, those straight but powerless human legs vanished. In their place was a mermaid tail.

After her brief contact with Meng Ke at the Meng house last time, her mermaid transformation had improved, and she had immediately returned to the company to handle issues with two projects. Over the past six months, something had felt off at the company; projects would go missing for no reason. The most outrageous instance was the one involving Xie Jiaming, and her physical problems had started appearing right after that.

She vaguely sensed a conspiracy behind the scenes. Every time she tried to investigate, her body would mysteriously fail. Now, every month, she needed to return to the water to continue existing as “Xie Yuhan.”

The moon of the fifteenth was perfectly round. A mermaid leaped up and down in the pool. The moonlight hit the scales, making them shimmer and glow.