Chapter 22: The Scale-Stripped Mermaid (2) Part 2

Minutes later, the trio—caught red-handed harassing a woman in broad daylight—were crammed into the back of a squad car.

With that sorted, there was no reason to linger.

Bai Qian glanced back. The girl’s softening expression hardened into stubborn defiance the moment their eyes met.

Sighing inwardly, Bai Qian softened her tone. “Didn’t the Sea Master ever tell you a mermaid’s tears turn into pearls?”

Yu Shaoling’s voice hitched with a sob. “No one’s ever made me cry! I didn’t cry!”

Casually, the woman drew the rare pink pearl from her pocket and dangled it before the girl’s face, a smile playing on her lips. “Then what’s this? I saw it drop straight from your eye.”

The prideful mermaid huffed and whipped her head away. “How do I know you didn’t just pick it up off the ground to frame me? We’re done—you can beg all you want, but I’m not going back!”

She paused, expecting a retort, but silence greeted her. A sidelong glance revealed Bai Qian’s spot empty. Heart lurching, she jerked her head around. The woman had already strode well ahead.

“Bai Qian!”

Bai Qian turned. In the night, the girl’s eyes blazed with captivating ire.

Yu Shaoling gnawed her lower lip, glowering for an age before mumbling, “Beg me once, and I’ll go with you.”

Bai Qian stood motionless, watching her quietly.

Stung by the cool detachment, the girl’s voice grew misty. “I want you to beg me! Beg, and I’ll go back!”

Stubborn and wronged, she resembled nothing so much as a pitiful kitten—tail accidentally trod by its owner, scrambling into its lap for a soothing pet, equal parts peeved and pining.

Bai Qian sighed. “You gonna run off again?”

Yu Shaoling sniffed. “I want beef! Get me beef, and I won’t bolt.”

“Got it. Come on. Let’s go home.”

Those final words wrapped around her like silk, turning the girl’s ears to mush. In a daze, she drifted over of her own accord.

By the time sense returned, they’d passed through the gates of the complex.

Fury reignited in the now-rational mermaid. “You sneaky human! You didn’t even beg!”

“One more word, and there’s no beef tonight.”

Yu Shaoling’s eyes lit up. “Beef?!!”

“The supermarket downstairs should still be open. Since we’re already heading down, we might as well check it out.”

“Okay!”

Bai Qian remembered something. “Were you trying to use telekinesis just now?”

Yu Shaoling’s expression turned fierce in an instant. “Those filthy-minded lowly humans deserve a good thrashing!”

The woman paused and said to her, “Lower your head.”

The mermaid girl, puzzled, tilted her head down, only for her forehead to be gently flicked.

Bai Qian withdrew her hand. “From now on, no using telekinesis in front of others, and no crying. Got it?”

Yu Shaoling clutched the spot that had been flicked, fuming with indignation. “Why?! I can do it in front of you, so why not in front of others? Aren’t we all people?!”

“Do you want to end up locked in a cage for experiments?” Bai Qian calmly recounted the scene from her memories. “Once your secret as a mermaid gets out, they’ll shove you into a cramped iron cage so narrow you can barely curl up inside. When they find out your tears turn into pearls, they’ll force a drug on you that makes you cry nonstop. Even when your eyes bleed from the pain, you won’t be able to stop. He’ll come in to bring you food, see you tormented to the point of shedding blood tears, and instead of panicking, he’ll get even more excited. Do you know why?”

Bai Qian’s smile was icy cold. “Because pearls laced with blood threads are worth even more. And not just that—your scales—”

“I get it! Don’t say any more. That’s terrifying.”

The girl was genuinely frightened, her body trembling, her fair face drained of color, pale as a sheet of paper.

Bai Qian stopped pressing her. “So keep your true identity hidden. Don’t let anyone besides you and me find out. Understand?”

“But the Black Octopus knows too.”

Bai Qian: “…”

“Is he human?”

Yu Shaoling hesitated, then obediently shook her head.

“There you go, then.”

“Fine, I got it.” Yu Shaoling gazed at the person just a step ahead of her. “But Bai Qian, why don’t you do that to me?”

The woman turned her head, the light from behind casting a soft glow around her, making her look like a saintly angel.

“Because it’s you. No reason needed.”

The girl’s cheeks suddenly flushed hot. She averted her gaze awkwardly and fell silent for a couple of seconds before saying, “My name is Yu Shaoling. In the Mermaid Kingdom, only my father the king and my mother the queen can address me that way.”

Bai Qian smiled. “Alright, got it.”

~~~

Yu Shaoling’s sleeping arrangements became a temporary issue.

The original host had been a loner, and when she bought this place, she had converted the secondary bedroom into a studio.

The master bedroom was spacious, with sparse furniture that made the room feel even emptier.

Bai Qian’s initial plan had been to have Yu Shaoling share the king-sized bed in the master bedroom with her.

But the moment the girl lay down, she shot back up as if stung by something on her back.

Her palm-sized face twisted in disgust. “I don’t like this thing. I want to sleep in water.”

“How about the bathtub?”

“Sure! I like that one!”

The mermaid girl obediently slipped into the bathtub filled with cold water, but her compliant demeanor lasted less than half a minute before it crumbled.

“Bai Qian, this bathtub is so cramped. Don’t you have a bigger one at home?”

“Nope.”

“What about a swimming pool? Don’t all human houses come with one?”

Bai Qian had already reached the door. She turned back at the question. “What on earth did the Sea Master teach you? There is a pool, but it hasn’t been used since we bought the place. If you want to use it, go clean it yourself.”

Yu Shaoling poked her head out of the water, resting her chin on the edge of the tub, striking a perfectly alluring pose like a beauty emerging from her bath.

“I want you to wash me!”

“Good night. See you tomorrow.”

Bai Qian shut the door without a second thought, ignoring the mermaid’s furious roar from behind. “Bai Qian, I’ll turn you into a sea pig tomorrow!”

Yu Shaoling flopped back into the water in a huff and was asleep within ten minutes.

The next morning, she woke to sounds in the house. Lifting her head, she saw Bai Qian standing at the sink brushing her teeth.

For a moment, Yu Shaoling forgot she was still mad at Bai Qian and said condescendingly, “Good morning. You humans really have no manners—making me greet you first instead of saying hello yourselves.”

Bai Qian rinsed her mouth with water a few times until it ran clear, then turned to glance at her.

She turned back, wiping the water from her lips with a disposable face towel as she replied, “You were still asleep when I came in. Good morning. Happy now?”

Yu Shaoling let out a barely satisfied snort and stepped out of the bathtub, sidling up to the woman. She curiously picked up the electric toothbrush she had set back in its cup. “What’s this?”

Bai Qian wiped her face. They were standing very close, close enough for her to see that the other’s face was flawlessly smooth—not a single pore in sight.

“You mermaids never brush your teeth?”

Yu Shaoling recoiled a step, her gaze turning accusatory. “You promised yesterday that you wouldn’t do any of those scary things to me. Are you going back on your word already? You awful human!”

Bai Qian: ?

The little mermaid clapped a hand over her mouth in panic, mumbling through her fingers. “You can’t have designs on my teeth! If you pull them all out while I’m asleep, I’ll turn you into a pig!”

She blinked in bewilderment, then a spark of amusement lit her mind. “Is that what you think brushing your teeth means? Pulling them out one by one, scrubbing them clean, and sticking them back in?”

Those lovely tea-colored eyes narrowed at her, utterly lacking menace. “What else could it be? I’ve seen through your plot! Don’t try to fool me—mermaids are way smarter than you humans, several times over! I’m not falling for it!”

“…”

The fragile trust between them teetered on the brink, undone by the mermaid’s wildly unconventional logic.

Bai Qian hadn’t planned to explain herself further, but even after she headed into the kitchen, the mermaid kept watching her with that wary stare.

Anyone would crack under such relentless scrutiny—even Bai Qian, unflappable as she was.

With a sigh, she led the girl back to the bathroom and gave a thorough demonstration of proper toothbrushing right in front of her.

The suspicion on the little mermaid’s face slowly dissolved, giving way once more to wide-eyed curiosity.

“Is this fun?”

“Fun?” Bai Qian considered it, then shook her head. “Not really. It’s just for keeping your mouth clean.”

Yu Shaoling edged closer and bared her teeth, prodding Bai Qian’s hand on the toothbrush handle. “Then you do it for me. I want to try.”

Bai Qian, unwilling to spoil her, thrust the brush into the mermaid’s hand. “Do it yourself. I already showed you how.”

“I can’t! You do it!”

“Who was bragging just now about mermaids being several times smarter than humans? Time to prove that superior mermaid intellect.”

Yu Shaoling flushed, her bravado wilting. “I don’t care! You do it this time. I’ll get it next time!”

Bai Qian, who made motherhood look effortless, relented. “Fine. Let me swap out the head.”

Plop.

The electric toothbrush slipped from Yu Shaoling’s slack fingers and hit the floor. She stumbled back several steps, eyes wide with terror, voice quavering. “Y-you’re swapping heads too?!”

Bai Qian bent down in silence, retrieved it, pulled a fresh brush head from the drawer, and swapped it out right there in front of her. Only then did she speak. “After breakfast, I’ll teach you some basic human lingo.”

Realizing her blunder, Yu Shaoling blushed but straightened up proudly. “You humans are so weird!”

“Come on over. Still want your teeth brushed?”

Yu Shaoling hopped obediently onto the little stool Bai Qian had dragged over, tilting her head back like a child on her first toothbrushing adventure—equal parts nervous and eager.

She started to open her mouth, but her eyes flicked to the discarded brush head on the counter, and she bristled again.

“Why swap heads? Bai Qian, how dare you be grossed out by me! I haven’t even said anything about you yet!”

Bai Qian knew a full explanation would unleash a torrent of new questions from this human-world newbie. So she tossed out a white lie. “In the human world, people only share toothbrush heads if they like each other.”

“Like?”

“You know, like your father king and mother queen. Got it now?”

Yu Shaoling nodded sagely and finally settled down, parting her lips in patient expectation.

…

As Yu Shaoling had boasted, mermaids really did have sharp minds.

Bai Qian started by clarifying the trickiest terms, making sure she had them straight. Then she quizzed her at random—and was surprised when, after just one round, the mermaid nailed every one.

Delighted by Bai Qian’s astonishment, the little show-off puffed up with pride. “Like I said, us mermaids are leagues above you low-IQ humans.”

Bai Qian had stopped bothering to correct her reflexive human-bashing. “All right, vocab lesson’s done. Anything else? If not, I need to get to work.”

“You mentioned yesterday—who’s Tong Shaoqing? Is he human? Why do I have to stay away from him?”

Bai Qian countered with a question of her own. “Do you remember what I told you last night in front of the supermarket?”

Yu Shaoling’s nape tightened, and her voice trembled despite herself. “You mean the things about me being locked in a cage?”

“That’s right. Tong Shaoqing is exactly the kind of person who’d do that to you. So stay away from him, understand?”

The little girl looked puzzled. “But I don’t even know him, and he doesn’t know me. How can you be so sure he’d do something like that?”