Chapter 7: Family Learning Heritage

“How is the Second Young Miss? Did that little beast listen to you?” Seeing Jiang Yang come out, Lan Qian immediately ran over to ask.

Jiang Yang gave her a look.

Lan Qian immediately understood and went in to take a look. That little beast was floating on the surface of the water, playing happily and freely. Seeing her come in, he didn’t oppose her as before, but just gave her an indifferent look and continued playing with the handkerchief in his hand.

As expected of the Second Young Miss, she tamed the fierce merman in such a short time. Amazing!

At noon, the crew changed the water for the merman as instructed. Originally, due to his fierce reputation, the crew members all wore protective gear, afraid of having their throats cut by his tail. They went in trembling, prepared for the worst. However, the allegedly vicious merman surprisingly didn’t hurt anyone and seemed quite approachable, just not talkative. It was much better than before.

Word spread quickly, and soon everyone on the ship knew that Jiang Yang had tamed the ferocious merman in just half a day. They immediately became filled with admiration!

Jiang Yang, who was eating and drinking heartily in her room, had no idea that her image in the crew members’ hearts had suddenly changed from an incompetent, pampered young lady to a world-class talent in taming mermen.

In the evening, she went to the deck for a walk to aid digestion. Countless eager, admiring, and respectful gazes shot at her like machine gun fire. Jiang Yang felt uneasy under their stares, like a habitual poor student who suddenly scored first place, feeling quite uncomfortable.

She made an excuse to go check on the merman, escaping the overly enthusiastic gazes of her subordinates.

“You’re here!” Chi Mei was very happy to see Jiang Yang enter. Half of his body was propped on the edge of the water barrel, seawater splashing down, making the entire floor wet and soaking her high-quality Shu brocade embroidered shoes.

“Is the newly changed seawater comfortable?” Jiang Yang asked.

“It’s comfortable, thank you, Jiang Yang!” Chi Mei happily rolled in the water barrel, his fish tail splashing huge water droplets onto her. Jiang Yang wiped the water off her face; now not only were her shoes wet, but her clothes too.

“Ah, I’m sorry…” Chi Mei retracted his fish tail, looking timid.

“It’s alright.” She was going to change for bed anyway. Jiang Yang casually patted the water droplets on her clothes. “By the way, I’ve always been curious, how do you speak the human language?”

“My brother taught me,” Chi Mei said, resting his delicate chin on the back of his hand, his slender fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the water barrel.

“Your brother? Who is your brother?”

Chi Mei said, “My brother is called Fu Yue.”

Jiang Yang said, “You’re a merman, so your brother should be a merman too, right? Why does he know how to speak the human language?”

Chi Mei’s clear eyes looked somewhat sad: “Because he fell in love with a human.”

Wow, a human-mermaid forbidden love.

She thought so, with merfolk being such beautiful creatures, handsome males and beautiful females, under various strange human fetishes, how could they simply be harvested for their flesh and oil? It would be a waste of their beauty not to make dozens of idol dramas about them.

Jiang Yang became interested: “How did they meet?”

Chi Mei said, “That year, a sudden mad wave surged in the sea. My brother happened to be playing on the surface and was swept to the shore by the big wave. He was found by that woman, and after some interactions, my brother fell for her.”

Jiang Yang: Indeed, the heroine saving the beauty is an eternal trope.

As he spoke, Chi Mei suddenly became angry, his hand clenched into a fist and slammed heavily on the water surface, splashing Jiang Yang’s face again.

Jiang Yang was confused: What happened? Weren’t we just talking about a love story?

“But that woman…” Chi Mei’s eyes were filled with resentment: “Humans are all cunning creatures. That woman played with my brother’s body. At that time, my brother was already pregnant, but she didn’t want to take responsibility and ran away. After being abandoned, my brother had nowhere to go and had to return to the sea. But when our people learned he was carrying a human child, they expelled him from the tribe. My brother, with his big belly, homeless, had to hide in the dark sea trench to give birth to the little mermaid.”

Damn, what a beast!

Jiang Yang’s sense of justice exploded: “Which bastard is so scummy, actually abandoning a fish and fish eggs? When I get ashore, I’ll find her and avenge your brother!”

Chi Mei gratefully looked at Jiang Yang, who was as indignant as himself. She was indeed different from those human females outside, not only gentle, attentive, strong, and reliable, but also very righteous.

Chi Mei lamented daily: Why isn’t she a merman?

“Her name is Jiang Qingzhou,” Chi Mei said.

Jiang Yang: … Sister, I didn’t expect you to be so wild, actually going after a fish.

“Uh… what’s that person’s status?” To avoid mistaking someone with the same name, Jiang Yang asked for some details. It would be awkward if she got it wrong.

Chi Mei recalled: “I remember my brother saying she was a noble among humans, commanding many soldiers.”

Jiang Yang: Alright, it’s confirmed, case solved, it was Jiang Qingzhou who committed this sin.

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely help you find this scumbag woman.” Jiang Yang solemnly patted Chi Mei’s shoulder, appearing calm on the surface but nearly bursting into laughter internally.

Hahaha, she really didn’t expect to have such an unexpected harvest on this sea trip! This Jiang Qingzhou, who usually looked rigid and serious like an old scholar, was actually a beast who slept and ran!

“Thank you.” Chi Mei held onto her sleeve, looking at her with watery eyes and said: “A Yang, you’re really a good person.”

Jiang Yang: Why am I suddenly being friend-zoned?! And why is he calling me A Yang, bro, we’re not that close.

Chi Mei seemed to sense her thoughts and said: “My brother told me to use intimate nicknames for people you trust.”

It seems your brother didn’t learn human language that well either. No, wait, sister, how did you teach him?

But looking at those watery eyes and that top-tier handsome face, Jiang Yang didn’t refute. How could one bear to refuse a great handsome guy? Fine, let him call her that. After all, she was a woman, she wouldn’t lose out. It’s good to be in a matriarchal society.

“So your brother has been living in the sea trench all this time?” The poor abandoned husband, raising a child alone in the deep sea, that scene… tsk tsk.

Chi Mei shook his head: “No, my brother went ashore.”

Jiang Yang: “Huh?”

“He said he didn’t believe that bad woman abandoned him. He wanted to go ashore to find her. After giving birth, he secretly used a forbidden technique to transform his tail into human legs and took the child to find that bad woman. I tried to dissuade him, but he wouldn’t listen at all, stubbornly believing that the bad woman didn’t abandon him and left him for some unavoidable reason.”

There was no unavoidable reason, she’s living comfortably at home, having a great time.

“He’s a fish who has never lived among humans before, and he’s carrying a child. How could he possibly find her?” The Jiang family’s influence was great, but it was quite far from the seaside. It would take at least a month or two to reach the main house.

Chi Mei said dejectedly: “I had no way to stop him. My brother wouldn’t listen to me at all. He even told me that he originally didn’t want to come back but go ashore directly to find her. It was only because of the pregnancy and childbirth that he had to retreat to the sea. Just a few days after giving birth, when he could barely walk steadily, he went ashore.”

Jiang Yang: Love-struck brains are really deadly.

“So stupid.” Jiang Yang unconsciously spoke her mind, then looked at Chi Mei in horror.

Chi Mei frowned, angry yet helpless: “You think it’s too stupid too, right?”

“Uh…” Should she say yes or no now?

Before she could answer, Chi Mei continued angrily: “The tribe members all mocked him, saying his brain must have been eaten by a sunfish, to become so foolish as to be easily deceived by a cunning human, losing both his body and heart.”

His mother, the Merman Queen, had passed away years ago. She only had these two sons. His brother went ashore, and now only he was left of the Merman Queen’s bloodline.

Upon learning that his brother had resolutely gone ashore, the elders were utterly heartbroken. They came to his palace overnight for a long talk, which was actually to urge him not to be as foolish as his brother, easily deceived by human women. He was now the sole heir related to the Merman royal bloodline, of noble blood and bearing a heavy responsibility. He must mate with the most excellent female of the merman tribe to give birth to the strongest next generation Merman King.

Thinking of this, Chi Mei looked deeply at Jiang Yang, his regret turning into painful regret. Why wasn’t she a fish!!!

“What’s done is done. There’s no use complaining now. Let’s hope he finds that woman soon.” Jiang Yang didn’t dare tell him yet that she was the sister of the woman who had deceived his brother. It was too embarrassing.

But suddenly, the handsome fish who had no relation to her became her ‘brother-in-law’s’ brother, making them somewhat related. Jiang Yang, who originally didn’t want to kill or tame him, now even more didn’t want to send him to the dog emperor’s side as a pet.

If she really did that, both brothers would have been ruined by their Jiang family. The sin would be too great.

She needed to find a way to let this fish escape reasonably without implicating the Jiang family.

But Jiang Yang racked her brains for a long time and couldn’t think of a way. It was too difficult to release a fish under the watchful eyes of so many people.

Giving up for now, Jiang Yang turned to look at Chi Mei.

Since this handsome fish was now her brother-in-law’s brother, his living standard should be improved a bit.

Looking at Chi Mei, who was still immersed in his disappointment with his brother, his brows furrowed tightly, this guy looked quite intimidating when not smiling. With lowered brow tails and cool eyes, his long black wet hair spread out, if he covered his face with his long hair, he’d probably be on par with Sadako, the difference being he was more handsome than Sadako.

Perhaps this appearance of his could intimidate other crew members from approaching, but Jiang Yang had thoroughly figured out this fish’s nature over these days. He was just an ignorant, foolish fish, easy to handle.

“Chi Mei, the lighting here isn’t good. How about I move you to a new room?” Jiang Yang said, rubbing his wet fish head. She had to admit, the beautiful male fish had pretty good hair quality, soft and smooth.

Chi Mei’s gaze instantly changed from low spirits to confusion, from confusion to bewilderment, and from bewilderment to embarrassment, his expression changes rivaling a Sichuan opera face-changing performance.

He looked at Jiang Yang still playing with a strand of his long hair, his expression both shy and embarrassed. Under the water, his hand gripping the white jade bracelet tightened again and again. Finally, he nodded and responded softly: “…Okay.”

Author’s Note:

Chi Mei: My brother is really love-struck (disdainful)