The Love-Hate and Grudges Between Me and the Mermaid - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

She couldn’t remember exactly what happened that night; she only knew there was fire everywhere.

Flames spewed from the kitchen, and following a series of explosions, the house was burned to a cinder within minutes, black smoke piercing the sky.

She seemed to have escaped, yet seemed not to have.

Before losing consciousness completely, she remembered tucking Ian into her arms and sprawling on the ground in a frog-like position. She seemed to have protected Ian, yet seemed not to have.

All five senses were lost amidst the fire and thick smoke. Thunder roared as torrential rain crashed down. In her blurred state, she only vaguely recalled the searing pain of burning flesh and a voice complaining through sobs: “Why don’t you believe in the Alien God!”

Bu Yan: “?”

No, seriously, you really can’t believe in that stuff!

…

A-City Imperial First Hospital: Outside the ICU

Ian rubbed her hands nervously, hoping to hear that her wife was recovering well enough to be moved to a general ward so she could visit.

But it wasn’t a doctor who arrived; it was a young woman in a black suit wearing black-rimmed glasses. Her hair was combed back impeccably, likely styled with some special product, as Ian clearly saw a fly land on it and practically do the splits.

“Excuse me, are you Ms. Bu Yan’s wife?”

“Yes…” Sensing the other woman’s scrutinizing gaze, Ian hurriedly looked away and cleared her throat in an attempt to hide her unease. “Yes, I am Bu Yan’s wife.”

She reached out and engaged in a friendly handshake. The atmosphere suddenly grew tense.

“Good.” The woman’s demeanor was elegant. Noticing Ian’s discomfort, she offered a gentle smile. “I am Yao Shu from the Property Insurance Company. Your wife previously signed a home insurance policy with us. I’m here today to discuss the compensation matters. According to our calculations, your total losses in this fire…”

Ian couldn’t understand the rest, only catching the words “compensation matters.”

In her limited knowledge of the human world, “compensation” meant having to spend money. She had already spent a lot of Bu Yan’s money over the past few days and didn’t dare spend any more recklessly.

Ian clenched her fingers, panicked and lost. “This… you should wait until Bu Yan wakes up to talk about it. I don’t really understand… and I don’t have any money…”

Yao Shu froze for a moment, seemingly realizing the misunderstanding. She explained patiently, “Ms. Ian, I think you’ve misunderstood. It’s not you paying us; it’s us paying you.”

Seeing that the confusion on Ian’s face hadn’t faded, she calmly pulled a stack of documents from her bag, her tone becoming even softer. “Don’t worry, we are here to give you money. This is just a preliminary discussion. The specific details regarding the amount will have to wait until your wife wakes up to be finalized.”

Since it was put that way, Ian understood a bit better and forced herself to focus on the documents. There were many words and technical terms she didn’t quite grasp, but fortunately, with Yao Shu’s explanations and guidance, she gradually began to understand. The content of the contract became clearer.

So it wasn’t about her spending money…

As long as it’s not spending money, it’s fine.

She had been so worried that when Bu Yan woke up, she would say Ian was a spendthrift and abandon her.

Ian felt anxious. Turning to the last page, she saw the cause of compensation listed as a “natural disaster.”

But back then, she had clearly seen a tentacle. If she guessed correctly, it was an octopus. How could that be called a natural disaster?

After reading the contents clearly, Ian’s eyelids flickered. A flash of surprise crossed her eyes as she asked incredulously, “You mean…”

The fire was caused by dry, hot weather and lightning?

She didn’t say the rest out loud because it was too strange it contradicted her memory. She couldn’t tell if it was true or false.

“Correct.” Yao Shu raised a hand to adjust her glasses, wearing a standard smile. “You can fully trust us on this. We have confirmed this with the local police; this was indeed the cause.”

Well then…

Ian stared blankly at Yao Shu. Do humans lie even when they aren’t certain?

But she quickly let it go. The essence of humans was hypocrisy and selfishness. If they dared to say this, it must be because it benefited their interests more. In that case, it was understandable. Animals were naturally self-interested, after all.

Yao Shu noticed Ian’s distrust and confusion. To maintain the company’s image of integrity, she nodded firmly and said decisively:

“Since your wife used our services, she must believe in us. We certainly won’t let her down. You can rest easy; the compensation won’t be small. Furthermore, we will cover the hospital fees, treatment costs, and future expenses for rehabilitation, plastic surgery, and so on.”

This sounded like… quite a lot. Some of these things weren’t even in the contract.

Is this for real? Do humans have such a conscience? No, no, no, it must be a conspiracy!

However, seeing Yao Shu’s determined and confident face, Ian felt these things might be believable.

Just as she was agonizing over it, a crisp voice rang out nearby: “Where is the family for Room 3042?”

After nearly ten days of hospital accompaniment, Ian had developed a reflex. Hearing that number, she immediately ran to the doctor, shouted “Present!” and then asked cautiously: “How is my wife?”

“She’s recovering well.” The doctor was scribbling in a notebook, glancing at Ian briefly amidst her busy schedule. Her tone was cold. “If she wakes up today, she can be moved to a regular ward.”

Ian breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Dr. Tang.”

Tang Xingran looked Ian up and down, her gaze finally landing on Ian’s thin arm. “Does it still hurt?”

“Oh, no, it doesn’t hurt.” Hearing this, Ian hurriedly hid her arm behind her back.

“If it doesn’t hurt, then don’t cry,” Tang Xingran rolled her eyes.

Two patients had been brought in by ambulance that night, both burn victims. One was quite serious; almost every inch of her back was scorched, though fortunately no vital organs were hit. She could barely survive with treatment. The other only had some burn marks on her arm, no big deal, she would definitely live.

According to procedure, since both came from an explosion, both should have been examined. But one of them absolutely refused, insisting on staying by her wife’s side.

She remembered the girl saying: “Something can happen to me, but not to her…” “She ended up like this to save me. Without her, I would have died…” “You must save her…”

At the time, Tang Xingran had immediately labeled Ian as “love-brained” and “crazy,” and judged her for it. To be fair, she also labeled the patient in 3042 as a “wife-protecting demon” and “romance-supremacist,” judging her severely too.

One ignored her own health for her partner; the other would rather die to protect her partner. These days, these types of people weren’t common—they were rare. This pair was even more peculiar.

“I… I’m not in pain… I’m just happy. She… she’s waking up… I can finally hug her…”

The intermittent, thin sobs pulled Tang Xingran back from her thoughts. She snapped out of it and habitually tossed a tube of ointment to Ian, her voice full of disdain. “Keep applying this, or it will leave a scar. An ugly arm looks terrible.”

“Okay, thank you, Dr. Tang…” Ian caught it and bowed in thanks. As her arm moved, the hideous scar on her delicate skin was revealed. At a glance, it looked terrifying.

Tang Xingran was in a hurry to check the next ward and said no more, giving Ian a deep look before leaving.

Yao Shu wasn’t far away and had overheard most of it. Looking at the slender girl who barely reached her shoulder, she silently tucked away the documents, secretly planning to fight for even more compensation for this miserable couple.

Nowadays, houses are made of concrete and steel, wires have heat-resistant layers, and gas stoves have strict safety standards. How could cooking lead to the house blowing up entirely?

There was definitely a hidden story, but the superiors weren’t talking, so they didn’t know. However, according to the grapevine, this was all caused by a mutant creature. The authorities were keeping a tight lid on it, suppressing the news. Whatever it was, she didn’t want it happening to her.

At this thought, Yao Shu pressed her palms together and murmured in her heart: “May the Alien God grant me eternal life… Alien God protect me…” As long as the Alien God was there, she didn’t fear any monsters or ghosts.

“Ms. Yao.” As she was leaving, Ian called out to her.

She turned back, her tone softer than ever due to pity. “Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

“It’s just…” Ian didn’t know if she should ask. While exploring Bu Yan’s consciousness earlier, she had accidentally heard Bu Yan wondering how much the compensation would be and if it would reach six figures.

As a qualified and lovable wife, she definitely had to follow up to ease Bu Yan’s worries. “I want to know roughly how much the compensation will be.”

Yao Shu understood and gave a reassured smile. She did a quick mental count and held up her fingers in front of Ian’s eyes. “Roughly this many.”

Ei… eight figures?

It was a full two digits more than what Bu Yan had imagined!

Ian stood there dumbfounded as Yao Shu departed, heart filled with compassion and ideals. Ian was clearly shocked by the number. She stood frozen for a while before remembering to use her consciousness to “dream-send” this news to Bu Yan.

Two different brainwaves connected; information was exchanged.

In the sealed, sterile ward, Bu Yan’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly. Escaping death to wake up, she was jolted awake by a beautiful dream and suddenly snapped her eyes open.

“Ian, the dream said the house compensation is eight figures.”

By now, it was nearly dusk, three hours since Bu Yan had woken up. Her parched throat could barely produce speech. Lying on the bed, back toward the hard mattress and face toward the ceiling, she asked over and over in a broken, incredulous, yet strangely calm voice: “Really… will there really be… eight figures?”

“There will be!” Ian looked gentle on the surface, sharing the joy with Bu Yan, but in reality, she still didn’t understand what “eight figures” meant. Was it numbers or paper?

Also, why would a human wake up just from hearing that? She had tried so many ways to wake Bu Yan up to no avail, yet she woke up immediately upon hearing about eight-figure compensation.

So annoying!

Where Bu Yan couldn’t see, Ian glared at her a dozen times.

At the same time, Bu Yan’s nose felt itchy. She sneezed a dozen times in a row. The heaving of her chest pulled at the wounds on her back, causing another wave of sharp pain.

Strange, I’m lying down, so why does my back feel chilly? She stole a glance at Ian but didn’t see anything unusual.

Following that were a few more sneezes. Bu Yan grimaced in pain, sweating profusely.

Out of a sense of petty revenge, Ian deliberately waited a full second before pressing the call bell.

A few seconds later, the ward door was pushed open. An extremely cold face entered. “What happened?”

Ian looked up and thought: Oh no.

Why is it Dr. Tang again!