The Mermaid's Cat Fishing Plan - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: “Trying to Trick Me Into Repaying a Favor With Jewelry for That Woman?”

The next day, waking up from her dream, Qin Ran sat in bed with a vacant stare, running her hands through her messy hair.

How annoying…

Qin Ran truly thought the mermaid had come looking for her.

But it wasn’t so. Qin Ran angrily buried her face in the quilt. “It was just a dream…”

When she first woke up, she was still in that state between dreaming and wakefulness. Her first reaction was to wonder which word she had said wrong that caused the mermaid to keep her true form hidden at the end. It wasn’t until she heard a rustling sound from the kitchen outside that she was ruthlessly pulled back to reality.

It was indeed a dream.

It was a beautiful dream sparked by her years of obsession, triggered by Tang Yi’s mermaid story from the night before.

Oh, no—to be precise, it couldn’t even be called a beautiful dream, as she still hadn’t managed to see the mermaid’s face.

Qin Ran tossed and turned on the bed in frustration, giving her innocent pillow a flurry of punches.

Wait!

Qin Ran had a second thought: What if it wasn’t just a dream?

Hadn’t Tang Yi appeared before her quite suddenly? Why couldn’t she be the mermaid?

The more Qin Ran thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Thinking back, although Tang Yi had swindled her into signing some unequal contracts, she was actually very good to her. Her enthusiasm was almost extraordinary. She helped move things, cared about her not eating dinner, and most importantly, hadn’t she told a story about a mermaid repaying a favor last night?

At this thought, Qin Ran crept out of bed on tiptoe and peeked through a crack in the door. She carefully leaned down against the gap to look out. She figured that since the mermaid had drunk so much last night, she might accidentally reveal her true form in the morning—and then Qin Ran would catch her red-handed.

The next second: “Hello, Sister Qin! Good morning!”

Tang Yi’s face appeared directly in front of the door crack.

!!

Qin Ran jumped in fright.

Tang Yi, holding a pitcher of soy milk, stood at the door, poking her head in with equal curiosity. Hearing Qin Ran’s yelp, she also took a startled step back.

Qin Ran slammed her forehead against the doorknob, and tears nearly sprang from the impact.

“Ow! Ow, ow… Good morning~”

Qin Ran opened the door, rubbing her reddened forehead pitifully.

Tang Yi comforted her apologetically: “I’m so sorry! I saw you crouching there and on a whim wanted to tease you; I didn’t think I’d cause you to hit yourself.”

Qin Ran stood at the door looking awkward. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

She used her peripheral vision to scan the living room. Everything was normal; there wasn’t a trace of a mermaid transformation. On the dining table sat two bowls of steaming noodles.

“You even made breakfast?!” Qin Ran exclaimed in surprise. “How did you get up?”

This was the first time Qin Ran had seen someone drink until midnight and still manage to get up early the next morning to cook breakfast!!

Now she was even more convinced that Tang Yi must be the mermaid. No normal human would torture themselves like this.

Tang Yi was amused by Qin Ran’s tone. “I just got up when I felt like it. Want to have breakfast together, Sister Qin? I made an extra bowl while I was at it.”

There wasn’t a single trace of yesterday’s intoxication on her face.

Qin Ran walked over to the table in disbelief. Tang Yi hadn’t just “happened” to make an extra bowl of clear soup noodles; she had also steamed buns and corn, and freshly made… the soy milk in her hand. Every item smelled heavenly.

Qin Ran thought that if Tang Yi wasn’t a mermaid, she must be a Snail Girl (a folk helper deity).

Tang Yi placed the chopsticks in front of Qin Ran. “I didn’t know what you like to eat, Sister Qin, so I just made a few things. See if you like them?”

Qin Ran fell silent. Her stomach betrayed her with several loud growls, signaling a complete surrender. Tang Yi suppressed a smile and glanced at her, asking, “You don’t like any of it?”

“Of course not,” Qin Ran’s mouth gave an honest answer faster than her brain.

Qin Ran stared intently at the bowl of noodles garnished with chopped green onions and sighed: “I am completely conquered by Miss Tang Tang’s excellence.”

After saying that, she washed up at lightning speed and sat down to eat. Between bites, she gave a heartfelt thumbs-up: “Tang Yi, your skills are absolutely worth me paying you the highest price of an outside shop. You must accept it; it’s my respect for your craft.”

Tang Yi squinted her eyes and smiled. “Thank you, Sister Qin, but I can’t take the money. I was a bit tipsy and impolite last night, tee-hee. Consider this an apology.”

“It’s nothing,” Qin Ran stopped her chopsticks as a bold idea suddenly popped into her head.

She said out of the blue: “How could the mermaid I fell in love with at first sight be impolite?”

Hearing this, Tang Yi’s eyes lit up, and she walked quickly over to Qin Ran. “Did I tell you last night that the mermaid fell in love at first sight?”

Qin Ran: “…”

“No, I guessed,” Qin Ran furrowed her brows and said dejectedly.

But if Tang Yi wasn’t the mermaid she had saved, why would she be so good to someone she had only met once? Qin Ran felt inexplicably irritable. She had no magic right now; otherwise, she could have used it to see the girl’s true form directly. Currently, she had no choice but to wait for the mermaid to reveal herself.

Tang Yi, for her part, seemed not to notice Qin Ran’s unnatural expression at all, continuing her “immersive creation” on her own: “This mermaid really likes love at first sight…”

Tang Yi tilted Qin Ran’s chin up. “But right now, she is still seriously ‘fishing’ for Your Majesty…”

Tang Yi’s eyes were full of passion for creation and simple innocence.

Qin Ran shook her head, pushed her hand away, and managed a smile: “Your mermaid is very hardworking. Um… the noodles are also very delicious.”

After speaking, she checked the time. 8:40. Yikes!

She was going to be late.

Qin Ran quickly shoveled down the last few bites of noodles, grabbed her keys and bag, and started changing her shoes at the door. Usually, Qin Ran would just buy an egg shaomai on the road and eat while commuting. Today’s breakfast was indeed too luxurious, and naturally, time had run out.

“Anyway, you can leave the bowls for me to wash when I get back tonight. I’m heading to work now.”

Though Qin Ran felt unwilling and wanted to try a few more probing questions, as a working person, she had to remember that no matter what, work was the top priority. Ever since Qin Ran became human, she deeply understood that “men die for wealth as birds die for food.” For someone living a mundane life like her, work was the primary meaning of existence.

After Qin Ran left, Tang Yi stood at the door for over a minute. It wasn’t until she heard the sound of the elevator descending that her eyelids drooped, and she let out several yawns in a row.

“Trying to trick me into repaying a favor so you can take jewelry to give to that woman?”

“That’s a no-go, Sister.”

Tang Yi’s voice remained sweet, but it sounded chillingly ominous.

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