My Marriage Partner is a Crazy Mermaid - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Work

After washing up, Meng Ke sat on the closed toilet lid in the bathroom, her legs curled up as she played on her phone. It was a single-player combat game; she needed to eliminate all the NPCs to win. She tapped the screen with such force it looked like she wanted to shatter it.

Half an hour passed. Having vented most of her frustration, Meng Ke closed the game and stood up. After all, she still had to “accompany” Xie Yuhan today.

Stepping out of the bedroom, Meng Ke looked around but found no sign of Xie Yuhan. She happened to run into Xiang Qinlan, who was carrying a glass of a beverage that looked very much like milk.

“Madam, this is prepared for the Young Lady.” Xiang Qinlan held it out. “Would you like to take it to her?”

Facing Xie Yuhan, the usually talkative Auntie Xiang became terse and withdrawn, which Meng Ke wasn’t quite used to. Seeing that the woman didn’t seem to want to face Xie Yuhan herself, Meng Ke took the glass. “I’ll give it to her.”

Meng Ke didn’t want to wait for the elevator, so she took the spiral staircase. As she reached the second floor, the numbers on the elevator display moved, descending from 4 to 2.

The doors slid open. Xie Yuhan sat in her wheelchair, preparing to exit. It was unclear where she had been, but her hair was soaking wet—her large waves clumped together in damp strands. Even the blue of her hair looked darker and muted.

“How did you—?”

“Took a shower.”

Before the question was finished, Xie Yuhan cut her off with an answer, then maneuvered her wheelchair toward the master bedroom.

The temperature wasn’t low, but leaving her hair dripping wet carried the risk of getting sick. Meng Ke set the milk on the cabinet and went to the bathroom to fetch a towel.

“You should… dry your hair.” Meng Ke handed her the towel.

Xie Yuhan reached out to take it and draped it over her head, but made no further move. As her mermaid form became more prominent, more mermaid habits surfaced. Mermaids spent every day soaking in seawater; their hair floated naturally and never needed drying.

Seeing her lack of action, Meng Ke handed her the milk. “Drink this first. Auntie Xiang prepared it.”

Xie Yuhan’s sense of smell was sensitive; the cup wasn’t actually milk, but something specially formulated for her to raise her body temperature.

Meng Ke stepped behind her, took the towel back, and grasped the wet hair, drying it with gentle motions. Despite the dampness, she could feel the excellent texture of the strands. Once it was half-dry, Meng Ke put the towel away and asked, “Are you sleeping now?”

“Mm.”

Xie Yuhan had just finished her “exercise” and lacked strength; the gentle rubbing of her hair was making her drowsy. She prepared to get into bed but felt a sudden dizzy spell—only to find Meng Ke picking her up.

Suddenly becoming weightless, Xie Yuhan felt a momentary sense of loss. She instinctively wrapped her arms around Meng Ke’s neck. Meng Ke felt the person in her arms; she was light as a feather. For some reason, her body temperature was low, lacking the cozy warmth of a typical human.

Meng Ke placed her on the bed and pulled the quilt over her. Xie Yuhan lay there on the verge of bristling, staring at her with wide eyes. “You can’t just pick me up whenever you want from now on.”

Meng Ke paused. “You said you were ready to sleep. How were you going to get into bed if I didn’t carry you?”

Xie Yuhan opened her mouth but found no rebuttal. The hair-rubbing had made her so lightheaded she’d forgotten the most important rule. “I can get into bed myself. You! From now on! Cannot touch me.”

Meng Ke: “…” Well, aren’t you a difficult young lady. “Understood.”

Meng Ke walked to the other side of the bed. Just as she was about to climb in, Xie Yuhan stopped her. “Wait. You sleep over there.”

Only then did Meng Ke notice a set of bedding on the floor. Auntie Xiang must have prepared it while she was in the shower.

“Xie Yuhan! What do you mean? If you don’t want to sleep with me, I can go to the guest room. Why do I have to sleep on the floor?”

“The contract.”

Xie Yuhan didn’t explain. she spat out two words with concise finality and ignored whatever Meng Ke was thinking, watching her with a wary gaze.

Meng Ke: “…” What am I even getting out of this?

Meng Ke turned around, snatched the pillow from the bed, and went to the floor mat on the other side. Before transmigrating into the book, she had always dealt with animals and plants; she had never seriously tried to get along with a person. It turned out the “job” of human interaction was incredibly complex. She was truly experiencing the old saying: Hard money is hard to earn.

Meng Ke used a voice command to turn off the lights. She lay with her back to Xie Yuhan, both women occupied with their own thoughts.

Xie Yuhan closed her eyes, breathing in the scent in the air to suppress the primitive mermaid cravings in her bones. She had rushed here specifically for the fifteenth. Having identified a problem, she had conducted a secret investigation and locked onto a target: the Cheng family of Tan City.

The Chengs weren’t the most ambitious, nor were they the ones who hated her most. They were quiet, staying in an inconspicuous corner. Xie Yuhan hadn’t noticed them at all, which had allowed them to find a loophole. She had used Xie Jiaming to set a trap; the results would be clear by the end of the month. Until then, the only variable was herself. She had to remain rational and not transform into a fish.

Meng Ke tossed and turned, unable to sleep with someone else in the room. After an hour of restlessness, Xie Yuhan’s voice drifted eerily from the bed. “What are you doing?”

Meng Ke sat up, her lack of sleep making her irritable. “I can’t sleep.”

Xie Yuhan thought: Troublesome human.

Xie Yuhan stared at the ceiling. In the darkness, her eyes turned a grayish-blue, and a flash of blue light shimmered at the corners of her eyes. Meng Ke let out a small “huh?” but before her brain could react, she heard an ethereal, ancient song that seemed to come from far away. A moment later, she fell fast asleep.

The next day, Auntie Xiang gently shook her shoulder. “Madam, it’s time to wake up.”

Meng Ke rubbed her eyes, seeing Xiang Qinlan’s face, and mumbled dizzily, “Auntie Xiang, you called me?”

“You were so deep asleep, I shouldn’t have disturbed you, but you’ve slept for too long.”

Meng Ke sat up, her memories of falling asleep completely blank. “Where is Xie Yuhan?”

“The Young Lady left yesterday.”

“Yesterday?!”

“You’ve been asleep for a day and a night. Have you been too tired lately?”

“????”

She had never felt so well-rested, yet it felt like only the blink of an eye. Meng Ke stretched. Her body didn’t feel the usual numbness of lying down for too long, but she couldn’t remember how she had fallen asleep.

“Madam, are you hungry?”

“A little.”

“Lunch is just ready. Come down and eat.”

Meng Ke washed up and carried her laptop downstairs, feeling like a fully charged battery. As Auntie Xiang set the food on the table, Meng Ke opened her laptop. While waiting for it to boot, she asked, “Auntie Xiang, did Xie Yuhan say anything before she left?”

“She told me to tell you: remember to come back on the first of next month. For the rest of the time, you can go wherever you want and do whatever you like.”

“Oh.”

Meng Ke opened her email; there was a reply to her resume. She scanned it quickly. They hadn’t hired her directly, but they hadn’t rejected her either. They wanted her to work for three days as a combined interview and trial period. If she passed, she was in; if not, she was out.

Meng Ke checked the flights and high-speed rail tickets between Tan City and Qingcheng. Comparing times and prices, she decided on the train for the trip there and a flight for the return. She picked her times and replied to the coordinator.

“Auntie Xiang, you don’t need to cook for me tomorrow. I’m going on a business trip.”

“Got it.” Young people are busy with work; Xiang Qinlan understood.

“Early to Bed, Early to Rise Healthy Mutual Aid Group”

“Good morning, princesses.”

“Morning.”

Meng Ke looked at the messages sent at 2:00 AM and the “Good Morning” greetings at 2:00 PM. She felt the group name was a total lie.

“Keke, how is the cohabitation going? Have you been conquered by her beauty yet? Are you in love?”

“Love? I feel like going out and committing murder right now, let alone love.”

“The fact that she hasn’t killed you yet is the first step in a beautiful development.”

“Thank you.”

“By the way, I’m going on a business trip.”

“Image: High-speed rail ticket.”

“You’re going without me? What do you mean? You spend time with your new wife and suddenly it’s a ‘business trip’. Sarcastic.jpg“

Is Xie Yuhan also in Qingcheng for business?

“Does anyone have her contact info?” She had fallen asleep too fast and too deeply to ask.

“You’re her wife, thank you.”

“I have Xie Jiaming’s number, you want it?”

“Give it to me.”

Luo Miao sent a string of digits. After saving it, Meng Ke sent him a message.

Hello, I am Meng Ke. I apologize for the intrusion, but could you give me Xie Yuhan’s contact information?

Unknown numbers can’t reach her. After the meeting is over, I’ll have her save yours.

Thank you for the trouble.

Two hours later, the train pulled into Qingcheng. Meng Ke checked her phone; still no reply. The climate in Qingcheng was much more humid than Tan City; it seemed to have rained recently, and the air was damp.

“I’m almost there.”

“Someone in blue clothes is coming to pick you up.”

Meng Ke looked around the roadside. The area was a bit remote, near a wildlife park. The signal was poor, and having not received a message for a while, she didn’t dare wander. Seeing blue clothes approaching, Meng Ke waved vigorously. “Hello! I’m here for the interview!”

The man was wearing blue work coveralls, spotted with stains. In his left hand, he carried a bird. Even from a distance, Meng Ke recognized it—it was a small Collared Scops Owl.

“You’ve come at a good time,” the man in blue said, shaking the bird in his hand. “I just picked up this Scops Owl. This one is your responsibility now.”

“Okay.” Meng Ke’s gaze landed on the owl. Its round eyes stared back at her, incredibly cute. Lacking protective gear, she didn’t dare touch it yet.

They walked inside together as he introduced the place. The work was straightforward: rescuing protected animals sent by people and organizing regular mountain patrols. It wasn’t as formal as the rescue operations in her original world, but it was already taking shape.

Meng Ke heard her phone buzz. She pulled it out; a string of digits was waiting in her SMS inbox. Instinct told her it was Xie Yuhan. She saved the name, then copied the number to search on WeChat. No results. She doesn’t even link her phone to WeChat?

Calling Xie Yuhan felt too formal, and texting was a bit of a hassle. Meng Ke felt slightly disappointed. Just as she was about to exit WeChat, a red “1” appeared on her “Add Friends” tab.

H requested to add you as a friend. The profile picture was a deep blue oil painting, very similar to the cover of the “gift” book from the merchant.

Meng Ke tapped “Accept.”