The Love-Hate and Grudges Between Me and the Mermaid - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

In the days without Bu Yan’s conscious company, Ian completed many “firsts” since arriving in the human world.

These included: the first time speaking to others alone, the first time paying hospital fees, the first time eating alone, the first time browsing a supermarket alone, and the first time walking alone on roads strewn with trash…

During this period, although she encountered many difficulties, she also met many kind-hearted people. Yao Shu, who patiently explained the home insurance, was one. Conversely, she also encountered many stern and cold people. Tang Xingran was one of those.

For some reason, she was very afraid of Tang Xingran, starting from the very first moment they met…

The doctor spoke little, but every word exerted an invisible pressure.

Yet, for the sake of Bu Yan’s injuries, she had to endure her fear to interact with her, forced to accept ointments that felt like “malicious” charity. Ian had thought that moving to a general ward would mean she wouldn’t see the doctor anymore, but she hadn’t expected to meet her again.

Could this be destiny?

Who said life was as easy as “flipping one’s palm”? It was clearly full of pits!

Alien God protects me, Ian prayed silently in her heart, hoping Dr. Tang wouldn’t scold her this time.

Simultaneously, she nudged herself toward the corner of the wall, leaving a large space by the bedside, and murmured: “Dr. Tang, my wife’s wounds hurt, so I called for you to come…”

Tang Xingran glanced at Bu Yan with a contemptuous, indifferent, and cold gaze. “She was burned that badly; if she didn’t get hurt, who would?”

Ian shrunk her neck. It was exactly as she thought. In all these days at the hospital, there wasn’t a single patient who hadn’t been subjected to the doctor’s sarcasm.

Bu Yan, on the bed: “???”

What kind of doctor dares to speak like this? Aren’t they afraid the patient will turn around and file a report that ends their career?

Before she could speak up to question it, she saw Tang Xingran’s gaze sweep toward Ian, a cold sneer escaping her lips. “Heh, you too. If you don’t apply your medicine properly, if you don’t get hurt, who would?”

Ian: “…”

Bu Yan: “??!”

Indiscriminate attacks?

Why is she scolding my wife after scolding me?!

Was there some kind of misunderstanding between this doctor and them as a couple?

Could it be because Ian’s street-cleaning incident a while ago had caused public outrage, and now the whole world was making things difficult for them on purpose?

If that were the case, during the days she was unconscious, Ian must have suffered so much grievance…

But Yan’s mind automatically filled with images of Ian being chased by bugs, and being spat on, cursed at, and beaten by thousands of people…

At this thought, Bu Yan nearly lost her breath. It was only thanks to an injection from Tang Xingran that she stabilized.

“You’ve worked hard,” Bu Yan said toward Ian the moment her consciousness returned to focus.

The instant she heard those words, tears burst from Ian’s eyes. She sobbed uncontrollably: “It wasn’t hard, Sister… It’s enough that you’re awake.”

She stepped forward quickly and hugged her tightly.

In the eyes of anyone else, such a heartwarming scene would surely draw praise for their love, but to Tang Xingran, it was merely an eyesore.

This couple each was better at “acting” than the other. Their performances were more realistic than the next. If she hadn’t studied micro-expression psychology, she might have almost believed them.

“Alright, stop crying.” Tang Xingran tapped the table, frowning slightly.

After the routine wound inspection and prescribing medication, she wrote a log entry in the medical record and gave her standard instructions: “Apply the ointment regularly, and you’ll heal soon. Barring any accidents, you can be discharged in two weeks.”

With that, Tang Xingran gave a cold snort and slammed the door as she left.

The ward returned to silence.

The medication took effect quickly; Bu Yan’s wounds no longer produced new pain. She lay flat on the bed, silently digesting the lingering ache.

Knowing her wife was timid, lacked a sense of security, and feared being abandoned, yelled at, or scolded, Bu Yan took a deep breath. Looking at the other’s guilt-ridden eyes, she softened her voice to comfort her: “It’s okay…”

Just as the words left her mouth, Ian suddenly buried her head in Bu Yan’s chest and wailed, “I’m sorry, I’ve failed you…”

“There’s no such thing as ‘sorry’ or ‘failed,'” Bu Yan raised her hand with difficulty and rubbed Ian’s head. “You being safe is the greatest fortune for me.”

“Mm.” Ian took the opportunity to press her face into Bu Yan’s palm, acting even more obediently, like a tamed kitten. She nuzzled affectionately against her fingers, her tone soft and sweet.

“Then you must promise me to live well. Don’t do dangerous things anymore. I was really scared I would never see you again…”

As she spoke, her bouncy, pink lips pressed against Bu Yan’s wrist, and she couldn’t help but leave a light kiss.

It should have been warm and hot, but in reality, it was incredibly cold.

The moment the kiss landed, the blood in Bu Yan’s entire body seemed to freeze. Her heart jolted as if she had remembered something. She silently withdrew her hand and, forcing herself to stay calm, said tonelessly, “Okay.”

Ian noticed Bu Yan’s abnormality. Her eyes drooped as she secretly calculated which step she had gotten wrong.

Comparing the reaction to a normal human kissing a finger and the post-kiss skin state on her phone, she turned her back to Bu Yan and kissed her own wrist. After trying N times, she finally found the discrepancy.

Her body temperature was low; when she kissed Bu Yan, it felt cold, and she left no mark. She had forgotten these details, failed to hide them, and had been found out.

This low body temperature wasn’t the kind of low temperature a normal person would associate with a mild fever or a temporary chill from the wind; it was like zero-degree ice water.

This condition hadn’t existed before; it happened after the house explosion. The ability to manipulate and explore Bu Yan’s memories and thoughts was the same.

At first, Ian thought it was an accident, but as time passed, more and more humans remarked on her low temperature. The duration and depth of her ability to probe Bu Yan’s thoughts grew. She knew she might have changed that she wasn’t a “normal” human.

When she asked online, some said it was a mutation caused by environmental pollution; others said it was a genetic mutation. Their theories were varied, but they all demanded secrecy. They said she mustn’t be discovered by the Empire, or she would be taken away for craniotomy research and would die.

Thus, the death-fearing Ian used various tricks to hide her temperature. Not only did she dodge routine hospital check-ups, but she also gave up her favorite dresses to wear long jackets and trousers regardless of the weather.

She could ignore others, but she couldn’t ignore Bu Yan.

In that case…

Ian raised her eyes casually and unexpectedly met Bu Yan’s panicked gaze. She thought to herself: Let’s try a small part of another ability…

Memory alteration. Or rather, Cognitive modification.

“Sister,” Ian ignored Bu Yan’s fear and slowly caressed her hand, suddenly gripping it tight to force her to meet her eyes.

“What are you doing!” Bu Yan couldn’t dodge in time; her hand was pinned. She couldn’t break free.

The moment their skin touched, she couldn’t help but shiver, further confirming her suspicion.

The real “Ian” was dead. This one was a fake!

She vaguely remembered the original novel mentioning that when the apocalypse was about to begin, some high-level mutant species would disguise themselves as normal humans to enter cities.

Although it was still one month and thirteen days away from the apocalypse not yet within the “about to begin” range she couldn’t let her guard down. What if? What if Ian had already been replaced by a disguised variant?

“I…”

Fearing the “fake” Ian would spout some unconventional nonsense, she hurriedly waved her hand to call a halt. “Let me speak first!”

Ian blinked her light blue eyes. She thought for a while, seemingly weighing the pros and cons before conceding: “Mhm, Sister, you speak first.”

“Ahem!” Bu Yan suppressed the terror of death, covering her mouth with a light cough to bolster her courage. She spoke her words precisely and seriously: “I don’t care what kind of creature you are, I only have one requirement”

“I don’t want to be the first to die.”

Ian raised an eyebrow, unexpectedly remaining silent.

Bu Yan froze for a moment. “Because I am not a person of this world. I traveled here from elsewhere, do you understand? This world is a novel, and in over a month, it will enter the apocalypse. Many people will die, but there are so many people in this world—I’m not willing to be the first one to die.”

“So… can you not kill me first?”

Ian: “?”

She didn’t understand, but she could comply.

Feeling the unprecedented panic emanating from the human, Ian—adhering to her role as a good wife, leisurely raised her hand and touched Bu Yan’s face. Her fingertips rubbed against the delicate skin, and soon, a layer of crimson bloomed there.

But Yan endured the chill on her face, her whole body trembling as she threw out her final bargaining chip: “After all, Ian and I are still a married couple…”

Once she said it, the tears of fear could no longer be restrained and burst forth.

The ward fell even more silent. The windows were tightly shut, yet a wind seemed to enter, interweaving their hair together.

Uh-oh, even the previous thought of killing her was discovered.

Ian’s eyes moved along with the hair blown messy by the “wind.” She felt a bit troubled, but she continued to play dumb, remaining motionless. Her fingertips touched the teardrops and continued to knead the face.

“Eh, Sister, you…” Finally, after an unknown amount of time, her expression changed. Her tone was full of helplessness as if the “fake” Ian’s actions had been caught, or as if the “real” Ian was bewildered by Bu Yan’s nonsensical remarks. Her voice became much more steady and slow:

“I am your wife, how could I kill you? Just as you told me before, we are married; we will never betray each other and will always be together.”

“But…”

“There are no ‘buts,'” Ian looked down with half-closed eyes, her expression dark and ambiguous. She kneaded Bu Yan’s palm with moderate pressure.

When an object is frozen for too long, it begins to feel hot. Bu Yan endured the heart-burning tingle, desperately waiting for a final judgment, but even as her face felt frozen stiff, nothing came.

After an unknown time, she heard a low laugh vibrating from her chest. Looking up, she saw Ian’s usual bright and simple smile. “Sister, you’re tired. You should rest. We’ll talk about everything tomorrow, okay~?”

“Hmm?” Ian covered Bu Yan’s half-open mouth, asking suspiciously as if nothing had happened: “How could I kill you? Sister, why would you suspect me like this? I’m really so sad…”

“I am Ian. I am the same as before, the Ian you knew. I haven’t changed, and I’m certainly not a fake.”

“Alright, alright, let’s go to sleep quickly. I’m sleepy too…”

She pressed Bu Yan’s head with both hands, forcing her to look into her eyes.

With a gust of strong wind, the scent of seawater permeated the surroundings. Ian’s blue eyes were now stained with a layer of deep blue, glowing faintly. The blue tips of her hair floated in the air, dancing with the wind.

“I am your wife, your partner, your spouse, the most important person in your life,” she brainwashed Bu Yan word by word, using the rhetoric she had just learned from her phone. “We must always be together; no one can separate us.”

“I am Ian, the real Ian. I have always been Ian. From beginning to end, the only Ian you have seen is me.”

“I am a normal human, not a ‘thing.’ You can trust me completely. We were childhood playmates; we met once when we were small, and the marriage contract was set then.”

“I came to seek refuge with you because my family suffered a disaster. You can never abandon me.”

These were all things she had learned by probing Bu Yan’s childhood memories. In truth, she didn’t know who she was either, or if she was Ian.

At this point, Ian paused for a few seconds and added the concept of the [Alien God]. She didn’t know much, and not much was circulating online. She only knew the Alien God could protect people from harm; if He heard your prayers, you could even obtain eternal life.

Since her wife didn’t trust the Alien God, she would make her believe in this way. What if the Alien God really was useful?

She didn’t want Bu Yan to be hurt and unconscious again.

She did want her to die, but not right now.