Chapter 8: Reputation Damaged

Chi Mei felt a bit embarrassed, his dense long eyelashes fluttering timidly. A man’s long hair was not to be casually touched.

But thinking about how he had hurt Jiang Yang’s feelings by rejecting her courtship before, he felt he owed her. Now she was just gently stroking his hair, so he would indulge her. Besides, he didn’t mind it, it actually felt quite nice.

The original mermaid training room was dark and poorly ventilated. Chi Mei also liked to splash his tail around, getting water from the bucket everywhere. As soon as you walked in, you could feel the heavy humidity.

Ignoring Lan Qian’s advice, Jiang Yang moved Chi Mei to the conference hall on the second floor of the helm tower, which had windows on both north and south sides, making it bright and airy.

Chi Mei came to the brand new environment, looking around curiously. There was a huge nautical chart on the wall of the conference hall. Although Chi Mei could speak human language, he couldn’t read, so he found it uninteresting.

The original conference table below the nautical chart had been moved away, leaving only a lonely small stool in the corner. On the stool sat a celadon-glazed phoenix-headed vase with a peacock feather casually inserted for decoration.

“I want that!” Chi Mei pointed at the colorful peacock feather.

The few crew members who had just moved Chi Mei up to the helm tower looked at each other. Although the peacock feather wasn’t an expensive item, it still belonged to the mistress. With Jiang Yang not around, they couldn’t make that decision.

Seeing that none of the crew members moved, Chi Mei slightly furrowed his brows. If they wouldn’t give it to him, never mind. He would ask Yang later, Yang would definitely give it to him.

But…

“Remove that folding screen.” Chi Mei said with dark eyes, displeased, pointing at the eight-panel folding screen used as a partition.

“This—” a crew member asked, “Is there something wrong with this screen?”

Chi Mei kept silent with a sullen voice. The screen was indeed beautiful, but it was painted with eight handsome men. One had long, graceful eyes, gentle and refined; one had slightly upturned eyes, like spring water and autumn waves; one had wide-open apricot eyes, vivid and lively… In short, they were all handsome men with different styles but particularly good-looking.

Putting these men in his room was really annoying.

“Uh, wait a moment while we ask the Second Young Miss.” The crew members retreated, leaving Chi Mei alone staring at the eight beauties on the screen, a shadow cast on his face by the window.

Several crew members came together to Jiang Yang’s door. Lan Qian was guarding outside and stopped them: “The Second Young Miss is busy, what do you all want?”

The crew members reported truthfully. Lan Qian, who already had a bad impression of Chi Mei, snorted: “Just causing trouble.”

“Exactly, you tell me, the Second Young Miss doing this and that for this merman, isn’t it troublesome? And I see this little beast has been so pampered by the Second Young Miss that he’s almost forgotten his own status, actually ordering us around like servants. He’s picky about food and drink too. At noon when we fed him, he wouldn’t eat the large lobster, insisting on eating bluefin tuna, and said he would only eat the belly meat, nothing else,” a crew member complained.

Lan Qian sneered: “A little beast, relying on the master’s indulgence, has forgotten his own place. I’ll go see him myself, come on!”

Lan Qian kicked open the door. Today the sun was blazing, its light shining through the window onto the scales of Chi Mei’s fish tail, each scale seeming to emit a glass-like radiance.

Chi Mei smelled Lan Qian’s scent from far away, but couldn’t even be bothered to give her a glance. He hadn’t seen sunlight for a long time, and was comfortably squinting his eyes, enjoying basking in the sunlight.

“These eight folding screens have always been in the council hall, they can’t be moved just because you say you don’t like them. Someone come and move those things away.” Lan Qian snorted, ordering people to remove the celadon-glazed phoenix-headed vase and the peacock feather inside. What he liked, she wouldn’t give him; what he didn’t like, she would keep, to crush this little beast’s sharp edges and let him know this wasn’t his home.

Chi Mei continued to ignore her, turning over to change his position and continue sunbathing.

Lan Qian narrowed her eyes, pacing to Chi Mei’s front, blocking the intense sunlight: “Aren’t you angry?”

This cheap fish was extremely temperamental when he first came, how come he had no reaction today?

Chi Mei lazily glanced at her: “Not angry.”

“Why?”

Chi Mei raised an eyebrow, charmingly alluring: “I’ll tell Yang later, and she’ll give me the peacock feather, and will have the screen taken out and thrown away.”

Lan Qian: This cheap fish, sure enough going to tattle.

Tattling was fine, she wasn’t afraid. She had served by Jiang Yang’s side since childhood, she was the closest to Jiang Yang on this ship. Their friendship couldn’t be disrupted by a cheap fish.

“Fine, then go tell the Second Young Miss, let’s see if she listens to you or to me.” Lan Qian gritted her teeth, her tone somehow like that of men fighting for favor in the back courtyard.

Chi Mei shrugged indifferently, his fish tail leisurely and comfortable: “I don’t even need to guess, Yang will definitely listen to me.”

Lan Qian’s eyes narrowed dangerously: “What do you mean? Why do you think the Second Young Miss will definitely listen to you?”

Chi Mei met Lan Qian’s aggressive gaze fearlessly, instead giving off the feeling of a favored, seductive, and cheap consort provoking: “Because Yang likes me.”

Lan Qian’s expression changed, instantly stunned!!

What did she just hear? Her master fell for a fish? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

“You’re deceiving me, you’re courting death!” Lan Qian angrily drew her sword.

Chi Mei was fearless: “Why would I deceive you? Yang does like me, and it was love at first sight. She rescued me on the deck, told those crew members not to abuse me, made delicious food for me, and now has given me a big room. She hasn’t said she likes me in words, but everything she does shows that she likes me.”

Reasonable and logical, Lan Qian’s sword clattered to the ground.

“No, impossible, these are all just your one-sided words.” Lan Qian still held onto hope, stuttering to find reasons.

Until Chi Mei smugly took out the white jade bracelet Jiang Yang had rewarded him: “Look, this is the token of love she gave me.”

Lan Qian collapsed to the ground, completely convinced!

No wonder she didn’t see the bracelet Jiang Yang usually wore on her hand that morning, she thought she had put it away because it was troublesome, but it turned out she had given it to this cheap fish.

“Only the three of us know about this, but don’t tell Yang.”

“Huh?”

Chi Mei lowered his gaze, his eyes as bright as stars dimmed a bit: “I rejected her.”

“…Huh??”

“After all, humans and merfolk are different, we can never be together. Because I rejected Yang, she’s already very sad. Although she still treats me as well as before, I know the pain in her heart. You shouldn’t go reopening her wounds, just take good care of her.”

“……Huh???”

Lan Qian was stunned three times, her worldview collapsed!

Her master had condescended to fancy a fish, and this cheap fish, instead of being grateful and moved to tears, actually rejected Jiang Yang!

She felt awful. No wonder Jiang Yang had been locking herself in her room since coming out of the mermaid training room, and specifically instructed not to be disturbed. She was nursing a broken heart, licking her wounds alone.

Lan Qian felt terribly sorry for her and rushed out.

Back at Jiang Yang’s tightly closed door, Lan Qian paced back and forth, not knowing how to console Jiang Yang after much thought.

After careful consideration, she decided to seek out the experienced first mate on the ship.

“I have a friend who was dumped by a man. Before I set sail, she was constantly tormented by heartbreak, unable to eat or drink, thinking about that man. How do you think I should comfort and enlighten my friend?”

The first mate was a rough woman who had been at sea for years, with extensive experience in relationships. Hearing this, she first laughed loudly: “Is this friend you’re talking about actually yourself?”

Lan Qian: I’m not, I don’t have, don’t make things up.

But for the sake of Jiang Yang’s reputation, she endured it.

Lan Qian righteously said: “…That’s right, it’s me.”

The first mate put an arm around Lan Qian, patting her shoulder heavily: “It’s just a man, what’s the big deal? Don’t hang yourself on one tree. Let me tell you, sis, the best way to forget a man is to find a bunch of men. We’re about to reach Nalong Country, right? Let me tell you, the men in Nalong are all extremely handsome. Their skin may not be as fair as the men in our country, but dark-skinned beauties are still beauties. They’re soft and delicate, with huge pecs, the feeling is amazing. To be honest, I even kept a little lover there.”

Lan Qian suddenly saw the light. Yes, there are plenty of fish in the sea.

Her Second Young Miss had been a romantic since childhood, always lingering in brothels, charming those flower boy courtesans to lose their hearts and souls, wanting to be her little attendants. But the Second Young Miss had always kept herself aloof, never taking any of them into the household.

This time falling for that fish must be because… there were no men on the ship, being pent up for so long, even a turtle could look handsome.

Yes! It must be so! When they reach Nalong Country, she’ll definitely get a dozen beauties for the Second Young Miss. Black skin or white skin doesn’t matter, as long as they can serve the Second Young Miss happily and make her forget that fish.

By then, when the Second Young Miss recovers from her heartbreak, she will definitely persuade the Second Young Miss to kill that fish and help her get rid of this black history.

Lan Qian returned confidently, continuing to guard outside Jiang Yang’s door. Hearing the low, suppressed sounds coming from inside, Lan Qian shook her head and sighed, truly a romantic.

Jiang Yang, who had been inexplicably slandered and was now in a state of social death as the “Great Romantic”, knew nothing of the outside world.

She was happily writing at her desk, preparing to write a letter to Jiang Qingzhou to mock this beast in human clothing. The more she wrote, the more she wanted to laugh, but she couldn’t laugh too loudly, so she lay on the table laughing until she convulsed.

Angry Bird’s eyes were cold, as if looking at an idiot.

Jiang Yang wrote several letters with trembling hands, but realized it wouldn’t do. What if this letter fell into someone else’s hands? Forget it, she’d mock her in person when she got back.

Jiang Yang tore up the letter, soaked the fragments in water until they dissolved, then lay sprawled on the bed hugging Angry Bird. Her suppressed laughter was almost like crying: “Angry Bird, your master is a scumbag. Hahaha, do you know how she used to teach me? To be upright, damn upright, so upright that now there’s a bunch of fish roe waiting to find their mother, a nest of fish fry, hahahahaha I’m dying of laughter.”

Lan Qian, pressed against the door, shook her head listening to the sounds from inside: Second Young Miss, you’ve fallen so deep.

Author’s note:

Jiang Yang: She’s slandering me, she’s slandering me!