My Marriage Partner is a Crazy Mermaid - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Negotiation

After hanging up the phone, Luo Miao stared at her. “There’s no way your stepmother is looking for you for anything good. What did she say?”

“Nothing specific, just told me to come home. Most likely, she still wants me to take her place in the marriage alliance.”

“So what do do now? Should we contact Xie Yuhan? She never explicitly rejected the alliance before, maybe she’s willing.” Luo Miao’s voice weakened as she spoke, clearly feeling guilty. “We only… sped things up a little.”

“Given her personality, she won’t believe that.”

“I’ll head back to the Meng family first and see.”

The fact that the Meng family could act as if nothing had happened and showed no urgency regarding the alliance suggested they held a significant bargaining chip—one valuable enough to leverage against her.

Meng Ke was curious. What exactly did they have that could force someone like her, who had nothing, to compromise?

Xie Yuhan’s personality was known for being vengeful. Looking for her now wouldn’t be a confession; it would be a suicide mission. Luo Miao thought for a moment. “I guess that’s the only way for now. If they make things difficult for you, call me.”

Early the next morning, Meng Ke arrived at the Meng residence.

It was a three-story detached villa with a common off-white exterior. There was a garden on the second floor, and since it was summer, the flowers spilled over the walls, casting a fragrant scent into the air. The Meng family’s ancestral home had never changed location—it was in the villa district in the west of the city. It had been there over a decade ago. While the district had been renovated during the year she went abroad, the location remained the same, though it looked nothing like the past.

Meng Ke walked to the door. Before she could knock, the door opened from the inside. Both women were startled to see each other.

“Miss?!”

“Auntie Cheng?”

Compared to before, Auntie Cheng looked a bit older, with a few more white hairs at her temples. Before Meng Yingxue’s return, the Meng couple rarely came home; Auntie Cheng was the one who raised her. After the real-and-fake-heiress storm, Auntie Cheng was the only person whose attitude toward her never changed.

Unfortunately, a nanny had no power to keep her there. That year, she was still sent abroad, lonely and helpless. At the beginning, Auntie Cheng had called to check on her, but later, whether she was caught by the Mengs, ran out of time, or found it too much trouble, she never contacted her again.

Meng Ke wasn’t the original host, but she had inherited all her memories. Seeing Auntie Cheng now made her feel a spark of genuine emotion.

Auntie Cheng glanced back, took Meng Ke’s hand, and walked a few steps to the side of the main entrance—a blind spot hidden from the upstairs windows. “Eldest Miss, are you alright? How have you been all these years? Last year, the Madam caught me secretly calling you and threw my phone away. I didn’t save your number, and I didn’t know how you were doing overseas.”

Meng Ke wanted to tell her the truth—that the original host didn’t live well at all. She suffered and eventually died abroad, the day before she was supposed to board her flight home. But telling her now would serve no purpose other than to cause unnecessary worry.

“I’ve been okay,” Meng Ke said. “Auntie Cheng, what about you?”

Auntie Cheng didn’t say much about herself. “You should leave as soon as possible. I heard yesterday that they want to marry you off to that disabled person from the Xie family.”

“I know. Auntie Cheng, I have a plan.”

Auntie Cheng hesitated, but she truly had no way to help; her own life here wasn’t great. “Alright then, I have to go buy groceries, or I’ll be late.”

“Go ahead, Auntie Cheng.”

After Auntie Cheng left, Meng Ke walked to the door and rang the bell. Meng Yingxue opened the door shortly after, spared her a cold glance, and said, “Come in.”

Her eyes were full of disdain and her attitude was extremely perfunctory, but she still hadn’t completely dropped the facade and started a fight.

Meng Ke followed her inside. In the first-floor living room, Ruan Yalan was half-reclining on the sofa, covered with a thin blanket in a display of high-society poise. Seeing Meng Ke enter, she sat up straight. The blanket slid down, piling in the corner of the sofa, and her fair, smooth shoulder peeked out from under her shawl.

Every gesture seemed meticulously designed. Ruan Yalan did indeed have a stunning face; with a bit of effort, she could make people obsessed with her.

Meng Ke sat as far away from her as possible, looking disgusted. “Is there a reason you called me back?”

Ruan Yalan steadied herself, crossed her legs, and adjusted the silk shawl that was threatening to slip from her shoulder. “While the Meng family hasn’t treated you well these past few years, we still kept you alive. Even when we sent you abroad, we gave you 100,000 in pocket money every year. Even for an ordinary person, 100,000 a year is not a small sum.”

However, as far as Meng Ke knew, Meng Yingxue’s monthly allowance was in the millions. Furthermore, she had never received that 100,000.

“How was that 100,000 given to me?”

“What? You think 100,000 is too little and don’t want to acknowledge it?” Ruan Yalan looked angry. That 100,000 had come out of her own pocket. “I had Uncle Chen wire it to you. To that card I opened for you.”

Meng Ke searched her memories. She truly had never received that money; otherwise, the original host wouldn’t have been unable to finish university.

Meng Ke thought it through. After the real-and-fake-heiress reveal, her status in the house dwindled daily. By the time she turned eighteen, everyone kept her in the dark and shipped her off to Germany. Uncle Chen wasn’t like Auntie Cheng. Uncle Chen’s family was poor. He had a decent job when he was younger, but an accident later in life injured his leg, leaving him with a permanent disability. Given her status in the family, it was highly likely he had kept the money for himself.

“Where is Uncle Chen? I don’t see him.”

“What, are you going to confront him? Would we lie to you over a mere 100,000 yuan?”

A mere 100,000? On one hand, she thought 100,000 was a pittance, but on the other, she expected Meng Ke to be eternally grateful for it. Meng Ke wanted to poke at the logic—wasn’t that a contradiction? “I’m just asking. Why are you so worked up?”

Ruan Yalan was meticulous and shrewd, but she loved to perform. If she hadn’t done something, she’d act it out with a level of ten; if she had, she’d act it out to a twenty. The 100,000 had likely been sent, but through a twist of fate, it never reached her. But was that okay? Just so her biological daughter wouldn’t be compared to her, she sent Meng Ke abroad against her will. In all that time, did she ever ask once how she was doing, if the money arrived, or if it was enough? Not once!

Meng Ke’s personality was extreme; she still hated them. She hated this entire family.

“So, what did you want me back for?”

“You know about the recent marriage alliance with the Xie family, right?”

Finally, they reached the main point. Meng Ke leaned back against the sofa. “I know. What does it have to do with me? That’s the Xie family—shouldn’t you be happy? The number one family in Tan City?”

Her tone was thick with mockery, ridiculing their disgusting eagerness to fawn over others for profit and status.

Ruan Yalan remained calm. She never minded when people spoke of her like that; being able to marry into high status was one of her methods. Meng Yingxue wanted to snap back, but Ruan Yalan stopped her. “Since the day we found Xiaoxue, we have known the pain of being separated from our own flesh and blood. These past few years, we have been helping you find your family. Heaven rewards the diligent—we finally found them this year.”

Meng Ke froze. Luo Miao had mentioned this, asking if she wanted to find her biological parents. The Meng family’s status wasn’t low; whether her biological family were commoners or wealthy merchants, they couldn’t surpass the Mengs. Finding them would just mean more people to be manipulated.

Hearing Ruan Yalan’s words, Meng Ke’s heart sank. Judging by the reaction, her biological parents’ family was likely very ordinary, which was why they were so confident. But Meng Ke was never one to wait for death.

“Why should I believe you?”

Ruan Yalan leaned over and pulled a DNA test document and a box from under the coffee table. “This is the DNA report. If you don’t believe it, there are hair samples in here; you can go do the test yourself to see if it matches.”

Meng Ke took the document. The information was redacted, but the conclusion did show a biological relationship. It looked no different from what she had seen on TV or in novels. Since she had lived with the Mengs for over a decade, it wasn’t strange that they could get her hair.

“So? So what if they’re my biological parents? They threw me here; why should I care about them?”

“If someone raised for over ten years can be treated with such cold-heartedness, how much less for people I’ve never met?”

“You should know this better than anyone. I don’t care about bloodlines at all.”

“You can choose not to care about anything,” Ruan Yalan said, crossing her arms. “But you wouldn’t know—you have a cute younger sister. She looks very much like you. I heard they might even be twins.”

This truly wasn’t enough to sway her into taking Meng Yingxue’s place. The Xie and Meng families were both dens of dragons and tigers; there was no difference. She wasn’t the original host, so she had no psychological burden in refusing.

From the moment she brought out the document, Ruan Yalan had been observing her micro-expressions. She found that Meng Ke was steadier than expected. Left with no choice, she had to play her cards one by one. Sure enough, the moment the word “twins” was mentioned, Meng Ke’s expression changed.

“If the Meng family has a problem, I might not have the means to do much, but I guarantee that that family—and that sister of yours—will end up far worse than my Meng family.”

“Her job, her romance, her life.”

“The day Xiaoxue gets married, I guarantee your sister will also be married to someone in a wheelchair.”

Meng Ke knew she wasn’t just talking. To maintain her status in the Meng family, she would do anything! Meng Ke didn’t want to care—what did it have to do with her? They were just NPCs in a novel. But if someone really lost their legs because of her…

In this scene, at this time, in this atmosphere, an image of Xie Yuhan unseasonably appeared in Meng Ke’s mind. She was in the bathroom, her legs dripping with water, hanging there limply without strength.

Meng Ke: “…”

This family was truly despicable.

“Are you confused? Is the marriage alliance something I can just ‘substitute’ for whenever I want?” Meng Ke spread her hands and began to act like a dead fish. “Don’t tell me you forgot the scene when you brought her back. Every dog passing by in Tan City knows I’m not biological. If you marry me off, aren’t you just trying to piss off the Xie family for no reason?”

“Don’t you know the temper of the head of the Xie family? We’ll all go down together!”

“As long as you agree to the marriage, you don’t need to worry about that. We will prepare everything.”

“If I agree, how do I know you won’t continue to use this to threaten me?”

“Once you marry into the Xie family, what reason would we have to make things hard for you?” Ruan Yalan said. “If the Xie family helps you, wouldn’t we be inviting fire upon ourselves?”

“I can agree to marry in her place, but I want you to sever all ties with me.”

“No, everyone knows you are representing the Meng family…”

“You don’t have to make it public. That request isn’t excessive, is it?”

Ruan Yalan began to consider. Given the Xie family’s style, she didn’t expect this marriage to bring much profit anyway. Severing ties wasn’t impossible.

“Fine, I agree,” Ruan Yalan said, then added: “But you can never go public with it.”

“Fine. Then you go convince the Xie family.” Meng Ke spread her hands. “Handing the number one family in Tan City over to me—that’s the Xie family! Don’t you regret it!”