Chapter 14: Slacking Off

Lan Qian, worrying excessively, began to sincerely hope that Jiang Yang’s interest would only last for three days. After all, no matter how beautiful, a fish was still a different species. She hoped Jiang Yang would quickly tire of it after satisfying her curiosity, just like with the male courtesans in the brothel before.

Although Jiang Yang was known for her romantic escapades, she was also famous for cherishing delicate flowers. With her good family background and extremely outstanding looks, she had instead enchanted many male courtesans, who actively pursued her, crying and begging her to take them in.

But Jiang Yang was, after all, the legitimate second daughter of a noble family. She had seen all kinds of men, indulging in romance yet remaining clear-headed. It was just play for her. Once she pulled up her skirt, she wouldn’t recognize them anymore. Those male courtesans were left weeping in front of their mirrors daily, hoping Jiang Yang would visit again, but she never returned.

Thinking of this, Lan Qian calmed down a bit and sneered, “Don’t be so smug. You’re just a fish after all. Our Second Miss is just playing with you. She might get bored of you before the ship even reaches the shore.”

“Shut up! Ah Yang would never treat me like that.” Chi Mei angrily wanted to slap her, but refrained due to her status as Jiang Yang’s personal maid. However, her words reminded Chi Mei.

Seeing how respectfully everyone on the ship treated Jiang Yang, her background must be excellent, probably from nobility. With her good looks, gentle personality, and no family attachments, even among merfolk in the sea, she would be pursued by countless male merfolk. There must be many men on land thinking about her too. That wouldn’t do!

Seeing his impotent rage, Lan Qian laughed out loud, “What if I shut up? It’s the truth. You don’t know how many men on land are waiting for our Miss to favor them. You’re just a plaything.”

“I’m not a plaything. Ah Yang truly cares for me,” Chi Mei said angrily.

Lan Qian sneered, “That’s what those male courtesans in the brothel said when they were competing for favor. Huh, you really don’t know your place.”

“You—” Chi Mei’s anger swelled. He had just chased away three flirtatious men, and there would surely be more seductive men trying to seduce Ah Yang in the future. Just thinking about the future, where many flirtatious men would embrace his Ah Yang in bed, making her pregnant and bearing children, the anger in his chest seemed to surge even more.

No, he couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

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Although Lan Qian disliked Chi Mei, she still followed Jiang Yang’s instructions and added new tables and chairs to the room. For better lighting, she specially bought a lamp post from Nalong country.

The post was ordinary wood, but the lampshade was made of extremely smooth sea moon shells. These shells only lived in the southeast coast, extremely thin and transparent, like deep-sea dragon scales. Craftsmen pieced them together in a lotus-like shape, with the center specially designed to hold candles. At night, when the candle’s warm orange light shone on the sea moon shells, it refracted like colorful glass, extremely gorgeous.

So when Jiang Yang brought Angry Bird to see the beautiful fish-man, her attention was immediately drawn: “Wow, what a glowing white lotus.”

Jiang Yang marveled at this ‘magnificent white lotus’, while Chi Mei’s eyes revealed a hint of loneliness. What was so special about a shell lamp? His underwater palace had countless such lamps. Moreover, they didn’t need fire for lighting, they used night pearls directly, which gave a soft, non-irritating glow, much better than this.

He tugged at Jiang Yang’s sleeve, “Ah Yang, what’s so interesting about the lamp? Look at me.”

But Jiang Yang was already immersed in it, not sparing him a glance.

Chi Mei pursed his lips, somewhat displeased. Suddenly, he felt a gaze staring straight at him. He looked up to see a strange bird with a pair of pitch-black eyes staring at him.

Chi Mei was startled, “Ah Yang, what is this?”

Hearing the panic in Chi Mei’s voice, Jiang Yang took Angry Bird off her shoulder and held it in her hands, “I don’t know what kind of bird it is either. My elder sister gave it to me. It’s called Hua Xiao.”

Ever since Jiang Yang accidentally discovered that Angry Bird liked deep-fried giant spiders, their intimacy level had increased exponentially. To eat deep-fried giant spiders, it no longer spat bird essence at Jiang Yang, but stuck to her side every day.

Now that Jiang Yang wanted to see the beautiful fish-man, this strange bird followed along. The world of a foodie is truly simple.

Chi Mei, having recovered, looked at Hua Xiao and said without hesitation, “It’s ugly.”

Angry Bird glared at him, almost breathing fire.

Jiang Yang quickly took out a deep-fried giant spider for it, “You shouldn’t speak such blunt truths. Angry Bird has a terrible temper, and being male, it cares most about its unparalleled beauty. It hates being called ugly. If you say that, it will peck you.”

Angry Bird ate the giant spider, its anger subsiding a bit, but it still looked at Chi Mei with unfriendly eyes.

Chi Mei sheepishly closed his mouth.

“Here,” Jiang Yang handed him a small pair of tweezers and a box of deep-fried giant spiders.

Chi Mei looked at Jiang Yang with a slightly surprised expression.

Jiang Yang winked at him and smiled, “It’s just a foodie. If you feed it a giant spider, it won’t be angry with you anymore.”

Chi Mei’s face inexplicably reddened, his earlobes also turning a delicate pink. Jiang Yang had just given him a flirtatious look, making his whole body tremble.

Trembling, he picked up the small tweezers, took a giant spider, and brought it to Angry Bird’s mouth. Angry Bird’s displeased expression instantly changed to intense desire for the giant spider. Its sharp beak pecked once, tilting its head back to swallow the entire giant spider. Its fluffy belly became round and full, and its anger towards Chi Mei instantly disappeared.

“Heh,” Chi Mei chuckled, watching Angry Bird’s silly appearance as it ate the giant spider.

“Ah Yang, it looks so soft,” Chi Mei said softly.

Although Angry Bird looked strange, its feathers were particularly full. Under the outer layer of large feathers was a thick layer of small down, making its entire body round and plump, like a sticky rice ball rolled in coconut shreds. Just looking at it made one’s hands itch, wanting to squeeze it.

“Can I touch it?” Chi Mei asked, unable to resist anymore.

Jiang Yang thought about the bird’s personality of having no inhibitions as long as it was given deep-fried giant spiders, and nodded, saying, “You can.”

Chi Mei happily fed it another deep-fried giant spider. As Angry Bird’s gluttony was satisfied, Chi Mei excitedly reached out his hand, carefully touching its small round head lightly.

Angry Bird frowned, turning its head 180 degrees to stare at Chi Mei, which was a bit creepy.

Chi Mei’s hand stopped in mid-air, holding his breath, thinking he had been too rough and made it uncomfortable, expecting it to peck him.

But Angry Bird just looked at him once and continued to eat the spider.

Chi Mei breathed a sigh of relief, becoming bolder. He took Angry Bird carefully from Jiang Yang’s hands and cradled it in his palms. His long, slender fingers gently pinched its round, plump little belly, feeling Angry Bird’s body temperature through the fluffy texture.

“It let me touch it, it let me touch it,” Chi Mei raised his eyebrows, smiling innocently. When he looked at Jiang Yang, his ink-black eyes were filled with clear, moving joy.

In his excitement, the beautiful fish-man fed Angry Bird three more giant spiders. Having no wariness towards its feeder and being full and content, Angry Bird actually lay down in the beautiful fish-man’s palm, nuzzled a bit, and then fell asleep. Its small, soft body curled into a ball, making the already round and plump little bird look even more like a sticky rice ball.

Chi Mei laughed softly, his dimples shallow, “Ah Yang, its feathers feel so nice, so soft and beautiful.”

Jiang Yang rested her chin on her hand and smiled, “Your scales are beautiful too.”

Chi Mei’s expression suddenly changed, a blush rapidly spreading from his neck to his face like a tide.

He bit his lip, lowered his eyes, and whispered, “Then… then Ah Yang can touch them too.”

Jiang Yang was a bit surprised, “Didn’t you not let me touch you before? You wouldn’t even let me poke your face.”

Chi Mei blushed, “It wasn’t allowed before, but now… Ah Yang can touch me.”

Before, although he knew Jiang Yang loved him deeply, he hadn’t yet fallen in love, so he couldn’t be a frivolous fish. But now it was different. He and Ah Yang were in love with each other, and he didn’t reject her touch at all. On the contrary, he was even a bit expectant.

Moreover, a merman’s tail was an extremely sensitive part. Touching the tail was a way of courtship and flirting among merfolk. Given such a rare opportunity when Ah Yang actively suggested it, he wouldn’t refuse on such a beautiful occasion.

With the lesson from those three flirtatious men earlier, Chi Mei couldn’t wait to seal the deal and become Ah Yang’s fish as soon as possible. This way, he could rightfully drive away those shameless flirtatious men in the future.

Chi Mei placed Angry Bird on a small table nearby. The sleeping Angry Bird, soft and innocent, rolled over, nestled its little ball-like body, and continued to sleep peacefully.

He took a deep breath, bit his lip, suppressing his heart that was about to jump out, and voluntarily raised his tail, gently resting it on the edge of the bucket, just an inch away from Jiang Yang, in a posture ready to be picked.

Jiang Yang raised an eyebrow. It seemed this fish had gradually changed from initially rejecting humans to slowly trusting them, no longer resisting physical contact with humans.

Jiang Yang felt proud in her heart. It seemed her fish-taming method was quite effective!

A beautiful fish-man offering himself, it would be a waste not to touch. Heaven knows how much she coveted the fish-man’s tail.

A merman! A beautiful fish-man that only appears in fairy tales! To touch a mermaid’s tail with her own hands, this trip through time wasn’t in vain.

Jiang Yang’s gaze lingered back and forth on his glass-like fish tail. It must be said that beauty under the lamp is hazy and indistinct, as if coated with flowing gold. The fish-man’s long hair swayed in the water, his skin as white and delicate as flawless jade, with a faint cherry blossom pink, the corners of his eyes spreading a hint of allure.

Jiang Yang reached out her hand, tentatively touching his fish tail lightly. The texture was delicate and cool, not as cold and temperatureless as imagined, more like a low-temperature beautiful jade, suitable for holding in one’s palm and playing with carefully.

The moment she touched the fish tail, Chi Mei clenched his fists tightly and lowered his head in shame and anticipation. His Adam’s apple bobbed, as if something was about to burst out but was forcibly suppressed.

Jiang Yang’s fingers wandered over the fish tail. With each area she glided over, she seemed to feel the tense muscles under the scales, but Jiang Yang didn’t mind, assuming it was just the natural sensitivity of a merman’s tail. But this sensation was too wonderful, the smooth and delicate scales like caressing jade in water, even the waves seemed to have temperature, making one reluctant to let go.