My Marriage Partner is a Crazy Mermaid - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: The Kiss

Lu Jingchuan. The second son of Lu Chengjiang. Before Xie Yuhan inherited the Xie family estate, he was the most famous man in Tan City—not only was he handsome, but he was exceptionally capable, the undisputed choice to lead the Lu family.

The others in the private room had never met Lu Jingchuan. They were filled with curiosity about this man who had appeared out of thin air, and even more curious about the relationship between the two, as Lu Jingchuan’s “long time no see” carried very little goodwill.

Unlike the others, Xie Yuhan wasn’t the least bit surprised. In Tan City, those who wanted to oppose her and those who dared to oppose her began and ended with the Lu family.

However, Xie Yuhan was curious about how the Lu family had developed so quickly that they dared to challenge her openly. She suspected that someone was collaborating with him—someone who knew her secret as a mermaid.

“Let’s go,” Xie Yuhan said, standing up.

“Miss Xie, are we not talking about the partnership anymore?” Lu Jingchuan sat languidly in his chair, leaning back with an air of complete comfort.

Xie Yuhan glanced at him, knowing he was intentionally stalling. Not wanting to waste words, she pulled back her chair and prepared to walk out.

“If we aren’t talking business, why not stay a while and catch up on old times?”

They had no old times worth reminiscing over. Xie Yuhan didn’t even give him a glance, leading her people straight out.

Inside the room, Lu Jingchuan silently lit a cigarette. He took a deep drag and exhaled slowly. Through the swirling smoke, he glanced at Cheng Xingguo and said flatly, “Useless.”

Cheng Xingguo didn’t dare breathe too loudly, letting the insult slide. After all, this was a man he couldn’t afford to provoke.

“Then now…” Cheng Xingguo stammered, “W-what should… we do? Should we take this opportunity to snatch the company back directly?”

The cigarette burned out. Lu Jingchuan stood up. He had heard the news of Xie Yuhan’s upcoming grand wedding these past few days, and the corners of his mouth curled up. “No rush. It’s only interesting if we take it slow.”

Back then, she had made him leave Tan City in such a humiliating fashion. Now that he held her greatest secret in his hands, how could he let her off so easily?

Getting married? How could he not send a “grand gift” to congratulate her!

Outside the restaurant, Xie Yuhan transferred to another wheelchair. Before getting into the car, Xie Jiaming stepped forward to support her wrist, looking her up and down. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “How are you? Was there something wrong with that wine?”

Xie Yuhan nodded slightly.

“If you knew the wine was problematic, why did you drink it!”

It was one thing for the Lu family to seek revenge, want her dead, or want the Xie family bankrupt—that was understandable. But why did they know she was a mermaid? They had pinpointed the exact way to restrain her kind.

Mermaids had existed for thousands of years with almost no weaknesses, except for the mating season and the Tide Night. During these two special periods, a mermaid would briefly lose their energy. Once that energy was exhausted, they would revert to their most primitive form, and their rationality would regress to that of a three-year-old child.

But this secret was known only to their kin. It was absolutely impossible for humans to know. The substance in that wine didn’t seem like something from the human world.

It was impossible to explain in a short time. Lu Jingchuan had schemed to make her drink it, he likely had a follow-up move. Xie Yuhan gritted her teeth and asked, “Has Meng Ke arrived?”

“She’s on her way, almost there.” Xie Jiaming checked his phone for messages. “Let’s get you in the car first.”

The car sped along the road. Xie Yuhan leaned against the pillows Xie Jiaming had prepared, her eyes closed in a light doze.

Xie Jiaming was worried, stealing several glances at her, but there was nothing he could do. This sister of his wasn’t like she used to be. She used to be a chatterbox who would tell him everything. Now, if it weren’t for family or company matters, she could go half a month without saying a word. Since getting in the car, she had asked about Meng Ke and then fell silent again.

Xie Jiaming’s gaze wandered and eventually landed on Xie Yuhan’s legs. They rested naturally together, and her slender hand lay atop them. It looked perfectly normal, yet she couldn’t walk. Guilt rose in his heart again—over the last three years, this guilt had woven into a silk thread that threatened to suffocate him.

Those hands suddenly clenched. Xie Jiaming looked up to see Xie Yuhan opening her eyes, her gaze somewhat unfocused as she looked at him.

“What is it?” Xie Jiaming was confused.

Beneath Xie Yuhan’s hand, hard scales were pressing against her palm, slowly emerging. Before long, they would appear on her waist and face. If she didn’t get back into the water soon, she would grow weak until she became like an ordinary mermaid.

“Where is Meng Ke?” Xie Yuhan asked. “How much longer?”

“I told her to go straight to the hotel.” Xie Jiaming looked out the window. “Ten more minutes.”

“If there are problems at the office, suppress them for now. I’ll stay at the hotel for three days, then return to Yihai Villa. I might need ten days,” Xie Yuhan’s mind raced. “The excuse… use the wedding preparations.”

If she was gone for half a month, Lu Jingchuan couldn’t cause too much trouble. Everyone thought the power behind the Xie family was Xie Yuhan—but it wasn’t true. She was the decision-maker, while Xie Jiaming was the executor. His abilities were not weak.

Meng Ke sat on the sofa of the hotel room, looking around the five-star luxury presidential suite. Two bodyguards stood at the door, and the waiter had come by twice to check on her.

Wasn’t something a bit off? She had been summoned to wait at a hotel with a single phone call. Was she even doing a legitimate job? Even if Xie Yuhan’s business deal failed, there was no need to come to a hotel, right?!

The sofa was made of some unknown material—soft and bouncy, very comfortable. After a long day, Meng Ke sank into it, leaning back to play on her phone.

Suddenly, a notification popped up at the top of her screen: a long new message from Boss Liang Xiao. Liang Xiao rarely sent WeChat messages; usually, she just called. Meng Ke was surprised.

Opening the chat, Meng Ke’s pupils dilated. she even read it twice.

Boss Liang Xiao: “The funds are a bit short. Borrow some from Xie Yuhan.”

She was supposed to borrow money from Xie Yuhan? Although the marriage alliance was set in stone, they didn’t have much affection for each other. She didn’t even know why Xie Yuhan was so insistent on marrying her. They might divorce one day, or the villain might get into a bad mood and make her disappear. Personally, Meng Ke didn’t want to have too many financial entanglements with her.

“How much?”

If it was a small amount, she had some savings she could take out first.

“One hundred million.”

Meng Ke: “…”

KK: If Minggang needs one hundred million, I suggest we just don’t open yet.

She had toured the place yesterday. Based on Shao Rou and the others’ introductions, Minggang didn’t seem to be lacking anything. They had taken in three new members yesterday, and everything was running normally. It didn’t look like it needed a hundred million.

“Oh, it’s just a hundred million. Just act a little cute and you’ll get it.”

Meng Ke: “…”

Act cute to that face of Xie Yuhan’s? Act cute? Me?

Meng Ke sent several more messages to see if there was another way, but Liang Xiao didn’t even reply. She felt Liang Xiao probably hadn’t even looked; she strongly recommended that WeChat add a “read” receipt feature.

KK: What is the money for? There has to be a reason, right?

Liang Xiao didn’t reply.

Meng Ke tossed her phone aside and stared at the ceiling, spacing out. She thought about how to approach Xie Yuhan to borrow… borrow a hundred million. Imagining Xie Yuhan’s ice-cold face, she felt that instead of money, she’d just be thrown out.

Let the world end.

Ten minutes later, WeChat chimed. Meng Ke rolled over and brought the phone to her face.

Xie Jiaming: We’re almost there.

Boss Liang Xiao: Don’t worry about what it’s for. Just borrow it and use it to play around.”

Boss Liang Xiao: “Someone will come looking for you tomorrow. Have Rou Rou and her wife take a look.”

Rou Rou and her wife? Are they a couple?

Having rested enough, Meng Ke pulled herself out of the soft sofa, straightened her clothes, and looked toward the hotel door. She was still in a bit of a daze.

Suddenly, there was a clatter at the door. Meng Ke’s sleepiness vanished instantly. She scrambled up and walked toward the entrance.

Just as she reached the foyer, the door opened. Xie Jiaming was carrying Xie Yuhan inside. They almost collided.

“What’s wrong with her?” Meng Ke glanced at the person in his arms but couldn’t see anything.

“She had a bit to drink.” Xie Jiaming didn’t explain further. Regardless, he had delivered her. “She said she needed to see you.”

Meng Ke followed them into the bedroom, helped pull back the quilt, and skillfully placed a bolster for Xie Yuhan to lean against. After doing this, Meng Ke and Xie Jiaming stood on either side of the bed. Meng Ke was full of questions. Drinking? Xie Yuhan didn’t look like she had drunk too much.

Xie Jiaming also didn’t know what to do now. The two of them were a bit at a loss until Xie Yuhan spoke.

“Brother, you go out first.”

Xie Jiaming looked at Xie Yuhan, then at Meng Ke. “Do you need me to call Assistant Ye over?”

Xie Yuhan thought for a moment. “Tell her to come tomorrow.”

Xie Jiaming hummed in agreement and left.

Only the two of them remained in the bedroom. Meng Ke stood at the foot of the bed. Xie Yuhan had her eyes closed, her cheeks flushed a deep red. She looked a bit wilted, likely due to the alcohol. In this state, Meng Ke felt awkward asking about the Meng family, and even more awkward about borrowing money.

“Do you want to rest?”

Perhaps because of the looming awkwardness of borrowing money, Meng Ke couldn’t find a topic. After pondering for a long time, she blurted out a conversation-ending line.

Xie Yuhan didn’t answer her directly. She looked at her with a complex gaze and then spat out two words like a command.

“Come here.”

Her voice was slightly raspy, like an old record covered in a layer of gauze. It wasn’t clear like usual, but possessed a slightly exhausted texture.

Meng Ke felt a bit annoyed that Xie Yuhan always spoke to her from such a high horse. But then she remembered that Xie Yuhan was the villain—she couldn’t expect her to have a “perfectly kind” personality. Thinking that she still needed a favor, Meng Ke slowly walked toward her. “What is it?”

“The Meng family situation is a bit complicated. I didn’t get the shares.”

On the way back, Meng Ke had anticipated this result, so hearing it now wasn’t a surprise. She was just curious: who was the final buyer that dared to oppose Xie Yuhan?

“The Meng family business actually has nothing to do with me. You’ve known for a long time that I’m not a member of that family.”

“Then who bought them?” Meng Ke was curious.

“It was…” Xie Yuhan’s eyes darkened for a moment. “It was the Lu family.”

The Lu family! Based on the news from Luo Miao, the Lu family was the Xie family’s arch-nemesis. Dealing with the Meng family was clearly because of the marriage alliance, it was a public provocation. It seemed the Lu family had come prepared. Whether it was a coincidence or something else, the Lu family had been appearing quite frequently lately.

Xie Yuhan seemed to be struggling for breath, stopping after every few words. Meng Ke sensed something was wrong and leaned in to ask, “Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

In the next second, a shadow loomed over her. Xie Yuhan braced the back of her neck with an irresistible force, and her lips pressed down fiercely.

The air went silent in an instant. Meng Ke froze in place.

The signals received by her senses were cut off, leaving only that strange and soft touch on her lips, like a searing brand that eclipsed all other thoughts. Her eyes were still open, she even forgot to blink. Her slender lashes were frozen in mid-air, and her pupils reflected the blurry, close-up outline of the person in front of her.

“What… what are you doing?”

The panicked, low, raspy voice—hardly sounding like her own, escaped from between her slightly parted lips, where that strange touch still lingered.

“Human, don’t you know how to kiss?”