Spring sneered: “She just picked flowers to bring back, saying you like them. Heh, this way of pleasing you is exactly the same as San Niang back then. She said my name meant ‘Spring View’, so she searched mountains and fields to find spring flowers for me. And I, young and naive then, actually fell in love, thinking I would be truly cared for. But in the end, she deceived me for my body, took my mermaid pearl, and left. Indeed, all women are the same. They get what they want from your body and the mermaid pearl, then turn their backs on you. How long do you think it will be before she leaves you?”

Spring rambled on about past grievances, sounding exactly like those bitter husbands who, unhappy with their own lives, can’t bear to see others doing well.

Chi Mei finally couldn’t stand it anymore and said: “Don’t compare your wretched San Niang with my A’Yang. A’Yang is nothing like her, she doesn’t even want my body!”

Spring raised his eyebrows in shock: “So, are you proud of that?”

Chi Mei was speechless.

Spring looked Chi Mei up and down, saying contemptuously: “No brains, no charm, no wonder she doesn’t want your body.”

Chi Mei glared at him fiercely and retorted: “You have brains, weren’t you still deceived by San Niang? You have charm, weren’t you still abandoned by San Niang?”

“You—” Spring’s brows furrowed tightly as he angrily jumped into the water.

Chi Mei, being a fish after all, was much more agile in the water than Spring. Seeing him jump in, he immediately swam away. Why waste time with this crazy man? He wanted to go back to accompany A’Yang.

Spring, having been hit where it hurt by Chi Mei, jumped into the water and searched frantically, but couldn’t find Chi Mei. Instead, his hand was cut by a sea urchin clinging to the reef. Blood seeped out, and he collapsed weakly to his knees.

−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

“A’Yang, what are you doing?” The stupid fish leaned on the edge of the rock, curiously poking at the flat, iron-like stone in front of him. No, to be precise, it should be called a stone slab, slightly concave in the middle and higher around the edges.

“Today we’re having stone-grilled fish.” Jiang Yang had set up a simple stove with stones, placing the stone slab on top and starting a fire underneath. In no time, the stone slab was scorching hot.

“Then I’ll help you prepare the fish.” Chi Mei volunteered, easily gutting and scaling the fish. Soon, several fish were prepared and neatly arranged to the side. But Jiang Yang was busy with a coconut, showing no intention of touching the fish.

“A’Yang, what are you doing with that coconut? Aren’t we grilling fish?” Chi Mei asked, confused.

Jiang Yang nodded: “We are making grilled fish, but we need to get some oil first. That’s how we make the fish taste good.”

“But coconuts are fruits, how can they produce oil?”

“We can make coconut oil.” Drawing on her ancient memories from before her transmigration, Jiang Yang began making coconut oil. The method was actually quite simple: dig out all the coconut meat, mash it into a pulp, let it settle and solidify, then fry the coconut solids on the stone slab. In no time, coconut oil was extracted.

Chi Mei watched in amazement. While the oil in the stone slab was still hot, Jiang Yang threw in the prepared fish.

Actually, Jiang Yang wasn’t sure if coconut oil could be used to fry fish, but having lived on the island for so long without eating anything greasy or spicy, she was really craving it. She didn’t care whether it would work or not and just put the fish in.

Because the sea fish was so fresh, its nerves were still active even after being gutted. When thrown into the pan, it jumped a couple of times, splashing oil everywhere. Jiang Yang didn’t even have a lid to cover it, and oil droplets kept splattering on her face, neck, and hands. The stupid fish was right beside her, naturally getting splattered with oil as well.

The merman prince had never experienced the sting of hot oil splatters on his face in his life. He looked just like Jiang Yang when she first cooked in her previous life, startled and yelling.

“A’Yang, get away! The fish is coming back to life!” The stupid fish screamed, hugging her from behind, one hand covering her face, the other shielding her from the constantly splattering oil droplets. Though terrified of the oil, his hands were splattered countless times, his body flinching with each splash, yet he foolishly kept shielding her, hissing in pain but not letting go.

Jiang Yang had originally wanted to find something to shield herself, but this stupid fish hugged her from behind, his arms tightly wrapped around her, leaving her unable to move. She watched helplessly as the sea fish turned into burnt fish. The stupid fish was screeching in her ear, and Jiang Yang’s frustration gradually turned to calm acceptance. She was used to it, what else could she do?

The oil stopped splattering, and the sea fish was burnt black.

Jiang Yang sighed. This fish was ruined, time for a new one. She turned around to get a new fish, only to see the stupid fish holding a small stone, furiously smashing the dead fish’s body.

“What are you doing?”

The stupid fish looked up, holding up the fish whose head was nearly smashed to pieces: “Now they definitely won’t come back to life.”

Jiang Yang was speechless. She gently pressed on the hot oil burns on the back of his hand.

“Ah ah ah… it hurts, it hurts… A’Yang, it really hurts…” The stupid fish cried out in pain.

Jiang Yang withdrew her hand and said flatly: “Now you know it hurts. Next time, don’t shield me. It’s just a bit of oil splatter, I’m not afraid.”

The stupid fish covered his hand, looking at her with pitiful drooping puppy eyes: “…But I was worried about you.”

Jiang Yang’s lips moved, about to say something.

“Haha, I knew you guys were here.” Suddenly, a smiling face popped out from the tree hollow covered by banyan tree roots. It was Spring’s two little cubs.

“How did you know I was here?” Chi Mei asked.

The two little cubs climbed in through the tree hollow, laughing: “We were playing outside just now and heard an ugly goose screaming in pain from the tree hollow, so we came over.”

“Goose? Impossible, we don’t have any geese here. You must have the wrong place,” Chi Mei said.

Jiang Yang lowered her head, laughing, her shoulders shaking like she had Parkinson’s: “They’re talking about you, stupid fish.”

Chi Mei looked surprised, glaring at the two little cubs with wide eyes: “You’re the geese! I’m a merman, you know? Do you know what a merman is? The most beautiful voice in the world belongs to us mermen. How can you compare me to a goose?! Really, you’re just like your father, saying such unpleasant things!”

After speaking, the stupid fish leaned against Jiang Yang, pouting. If his upper body weren’t human, he’d probably have puffed up like a pufferfish by now.