Chapter 15 Modification

With her touch, Chi Mei bit his lip, his muscles tensed and aching throughout his body. The mermaid’s silk floated in the ripples, swaying like a vast misty sea.

Jiang Yang was focused on looking down, her delicate hands following the lines of his scales all the way up, feeling that his scales were the most perfect work of art in the world.

Chi Mei’s lower lip was almost bitten through, a trembling sensation he had never experienced before stimulating his nerves.

He looked at Jiang Yang in a dazed state. She was looking down, her eyes intently focused on his scales, a focus as if gazing at a treasure. Being cherished and protected, the extreme satisfaction of being held in the palm of her hand made his whole body hot.

Jiang Yang was intently studying the physiological structure of the merfolk. It was rare for him to finally agree to have physical contact with her, so she had to seize the opportunity.

“A Yang… A Yang…”

Jiang Yang felt the merman calling her name in a strange voice. She looked up, her other hand gently held by him. The merman’s eyes were hazy, brimming with moving watery colors, the blush at the corners of his eyes adding even more enchantment under the intertwining of lamplight and moonlight.

Jiang Yang’s body stiffened. What… what’s going on?

She stiffly watched as the merman interlocked his fingers tightly with hers. In the moonlight, he smiled like the wind, snuggling up to her chest with a thousand charms.

Jiang Yang: Damn, this fish seems a bit off.

“You…” Jiang Yang was about to get up and push him away, but Chi Mei had already taken her other hand and slowly moved it down.

Jiang Yang’s gaze involuntarily followed downward, all the way to the area between his waist and abdomen, where the scales were slightly more dense than the others but otherwise no different. Her palm, led by him, covered that spot, and under her gentle palm she saw Chi Mei tremble and shudder.

Jiang Yang looked down, removed her hand, and a huge Jinjiang rose from the ground.

“Ahhhhhhhh, you, you, your *beep*——, you %&%￥& %##%& ##, you’re not upholding fish ethics.” Jiang Yang instantly sprang up, cursing profusely.

The merman’s eyes were misty. Seeing Jiang Yang’s intense reaction, he wanted her hand, but unable to reach it, he grabbed a corner of her skirt instead: “A Yang, I haven’t violated any fish ethics. I’ve accepted your courtship, we can be together now.”

Jiang Yang’s eyes widened in shock: “Damn you, don’t talk nonsense. When did I ever court you?!”

She was trying to pull her skirt away, but Chi Mei held it tightly and she couldn’t pull it free at all. The two were at an impasse.

He said, “You’ve always been good to me, saved me, fed me delicious food, and even gave me a bracelet. My brother said that when humans court, they give jade bracelets, and you even touched my tail…”

His face flushed red and soft: “Merfolk’s tails can’t be touched. Touching means a lifelong commitment.”

Jiang Yang was completely stunned.

You didn’t say that earlier! If she had known that touching the tail once would lead to *beep*——, she wouldn’t have touched it at all.

“Let me tell you, that bracelet, poof——” Jiang Yang hurriedly wanted to explain that giving a bracelet doesn’t always mean a love token. But as luck would have it, that damn lamppost tripped her hard. Before she could finish her words, her forehead hit the edge of the water barrel with a heavy thud, and with a splash, she fell into the barrel.

When Jiang Yang woke up, she was leaning in the arms of the foolish fish.

The foolish fish bit his lip, coy and flushed, with a spring-like expression.

Jiang Yang was so shocked that she kept backing away, falling into the water, flailing around in the water, swallowing a big mouthful of water. With no other choice in the limited space of the water barrel, she had to press against the merman’s waist to emerge from the water’s surface. Wiping the water from her face, her chin still dripping, she hurriedly asked, “How long was I unconscious?”

“Not long, less than fifteen minutes,” the foolish fish said.

Jiang Yang breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s good then.” The foolish fish’s *beep*—— shouldn’t be so fast.

“A Yang.” The foolish fish excitedly hugged Jiang Yang’s waist, his watery eyes glistening, affectionate and shy: “I know you like me a lot, but you didn’t have to faint from excitement.”

“……” Jiang Yang’s head was throbbing. Pointing to her head: “Which eye of yours saw me fainting from excitement? Do you see the bump on my forehead? Do you see this huge bump? I passed out from hitting my head.”

“Oh.” The foolish fish couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“And let me tell you, for humans, giving a bracelet has many layers of meaning, not just for…”

Jiang Yang suddenly shut her mouth, her limbs stiff. There was something standing firm under the water’s surface.

“Fuck!” She only now realized that she was straddling the fish’s waist. No wonder he looked like he was in heat.

She dodged the foolish fish, preparing to climb out of the water barrel, but the foolish fish grabbed her belt. With a splash, she tumbled back in.

“A Yang, don’t go.” The foolish fish frantically pulled her back.

He’s an idiot, can’t argue with an idiot. Jiang Yang took a deep breath: “I won’t go, but first put that thing away. Do you know it’s poking my eyes?”
Things from the sea are truly not to be underestimated, it’s huge.

The foolish fish seemed not to hear, pulling her hand and pouring out a heartfelt confession: “A Yang, I like you too, every day when I open my eyes I look forward to your arrival. Humans are all bad people but you’re different. I like you so much, more than anything. Although we’re different species, don’t worry A Yang, based on the experience of my brother and sister-in-law, we can also have healthy babies.”

“No, you?” Jiang Yang marveled at the foolish fish’s thought process. How did he jump to babies? And, Jiang Yang’s attitude was extremely firm: “Put it away, damn it!”

Chi Mei frowned his brows, aggrieved but obedient, letting out an “oh” sound, and then he really did retract it. Retracted it.

Jiang Yang: This thing can contract at will! Fucking awesome!

But it was good that there was no longer a huge thing shocking her eyeballs. She had touched the merman’s scales and seen the merman’s *beep*——, the big bump on her head was worth it.

Jiang Yang slowly crawled out.

Chi Mei held her hand: “A Yang…”

Jiang Yang said, “Let me out, I don’t want to soak in the water.” The situation was so awkward. If someone saw, they would think she was so desperate that she went to harass a fish. Because in the female-dominated world, there was no such thing as a man seducing a woman.

Chi Mei hesitated for a moment and let go of Jiang Yang’s hand, allowing her to crawl out of the water barrel.

Jiang Yang wrung the water out of her clothes, just about to explain everything to him from beginning to end. She really didn’t want this foolish fish to fall into the wrong river of love.

But the foolish fish spoke first, suddenly saying, “A Yang, it’s okay if you don’t like the water. We merfolk have a secret technique to sever our tails and transform into human legs. A Yang, I can go ashore with you, live with you on land.”

Jiang Yang’s expression froze for a moment. The foolish fish’s eyes were fervently hot, wrapped in sincere and violent love. She seemed to be scalded for a moment and ran away in a panic.

Jiang Yang walked back to her room, her body soaking wet, Chi Mei’s gaze constantly flashing in her mind – pure, fervent, without any impurities.

“Second Miss, you…” Lan Qian, who had been waiting in the room, was extremely surprised to see Jiang Yang coming out of the merman’s room completely drenched.

Recalling what that despicable fish had said during the day about how they were now inseparable and affectionate. Many years ago, before it was known that mermaid flesh could be refined into an ever-burning lamp, merfolk had briefly been used by humans as tools for sexual release.

Lan Qian’s face changed. While busy helping Jiang Yang change out of her wet clothes and drying her hair, she whispered a reminder, “Um… Second Miss, the Emperor’s pet, you should be careful about the impact, don’t play around like this.”

“……” Jiang Yang had always thought Lan Qian was stupid, but she didn’t expect her to be this absurdly stupid.

She closed her eyes, covering her murderous gaze, and said softly, “Come here.”

Lan Qian stupidly leaned in close. Jiang Yang pressed down on her head and gave her a fierce beating: “Do you have no brain? Idiot, would I ever touch a fish?!”

Lan Qian miserably covered her head. That’s true, with countless men by the Second Miss’s side, what pleasures hadn’t she experienced? Why would she bother with a fish? She half-believingly took it as truth.

But this notion was completely overturned later on.

No one knew what exactly happened between Chi Mei and Jiang Yang that night. But the crew members were surprised to find that, contrary to her usual behavior, Jiang Yang didn’t go to see the merman for two whole days.

The crew members who went to change the water daily were also surprised to find that the merman, who never spoke to them before, unexpectedly asked them questions. There was only one topic: why didn’t Jiang Yang come? Where did she go?

Where did she go? The crew all knew that the Second Miss was just in her room. As for why she didn’t go to see him, the crew already had the answer in their hearts – he had fallen out of favor.

But they didn’t tell the merman. They just watched this usually flamboyant merman gradually dim and become lonely, listless like a sick fish.

Sailing was lonely, and even the smallest things could be talked about in various ways. Naturally, the merman’s fall from favor became the hottest topic, and the crew members discussed it.

The crew member who had been injured by Chi Mei in the past also became complacent. He deliberately stood at the door of the merman’s room and chatted with the guard.

“The Second Miss hasn’t come to train the merman these past few days.”

“Yeah, maybe she’s tired of it. After all, he’s just a pet.”

“Our Second Miss is already very merciful. If the Second Miss hadn’t insisted on stopping us from killing him back then, saying she wanted to train him into a pet to present to the Emperor, he would have already been refined into a jar of ever-burning lamp oil by now, hahaha!”

The mocking, grating laughter entered Chi Mei’s ears. His face instantly turned deathly pale, his lips moving but unable to speak. It was like a sharp knife ruthlessly carving into his heart. It turned out that his love was just a joke, that he had been deluding himself all along, that A Yang had never liked him. Pain seized his nerves, every faint breath feeling like it was being torn by a saw, so painful that he almost fainted.

On the third day, Jiang Yang finally sorted out her emotions and went to see Chi Mei. Although telling him the truth was cruel for this simple fish, it was better to suffer a short pain than a long one.

Lan Qian followed behind her. As soon as Jiang Yang pushed the door open and entered, she saw Chi Mei’s red, swollen eyes and his nearly shattered gaze.

Lan Qian wanted to say something but stopped herself. Hmph, and you still say you didn’t do anything. Look how miserable you’ve made him.