Chapter 105 Shimmering Scales
Suddenly, a figure emerged from below, raising a pair of slender, fair hands high. With a muffled groan, the figure caught the child steadily, without wetting her clothes at all.
“You are her child, so much so.” Long, slender fingers gently touched Xie Mianmian’s eyebrows and eyes. “Its power is still too domineering. You are too small to withstand it.”
The person sighed inwardly, lifted the child, and swam to the other side of the boat. A beautiful silver-white fish tail emerged from the water as it swam, its jewel-like scales shimmering in the moonlight.
After an unknown amount of time, there was a hurried knock on Xie Mingyi and the others' door, waking them up from their deep sleep.
Xie Mingyi opened her eyes groggily, put on her coat, and after seeing that Wen Shuwan was also ready, she opened the door.
"Father, what's the matter that you're in such a hurry?"
"Quick, check if Mianmian is still there!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Mingyi's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly reached for her bed, while Wen Shuwan lit a candle.
Xie Mingyi threw off the covers. In the bright yellow candlelight, Xie Mianmian, dressed in her undergarments, was fast asleep, her face flushed and snoring softly.
Seeing this, everyone was relieved.
"Father, what exactly happened?"
“During the meal, Vice Envoy Zhang came to report that there might be thieves boarding the ship tonight, which is why I told you all not to go out. Indeed, a night attack has occurred.” Xie’s father frowned. “Those are not ordinary thieves; they are probably pirates.”
Xie Mingyi and Wen Shuwan stared in surprise. They had just driven those pirates back ten years ago, and now they were back again.
Father Xie continued, "Moreover, a thief just sneaked into my room during the chaos and was caught on the spot. He was behaving strangely and was somewhat insane. After being interrogated for a long time, he finally said one sentence: Mianmian jumped into the sea."
"How strange." Xie Mingyi suspected that the child had really gone out, but now she was sleeping soundly in bed, which was really puzzling.
"It's good that you're all alright. You can continue to rest."
After watching her father leave, Xie Mingyi closed the door. As she walked, she accidentally slipped and bumped into something. Looking down, she noticed tiny water stains on the floor, as if something had scratched across them.
It's really strange, what exactly happened tonight, but no one can answer her.
At dawn, just as the sky was beginning to lighten and the world was a pale gray, the Xu family's caravan knocked on the door. The person inside came out, panting, and it was the Xie family's manager in charge of receiving the goods at the dock.
"Your goods have arrived, go and check them quickly."
Manager Xie said, "You're already so late, what's the rush now?"
But he was still hurriedly pulled away by Steward Xu and taken to a cabin on one of the Xu family's ships.
Manager Xie rubbed his sleepy eyes and carefully inspected the disaster relief grain.
"We've cooperated so many times, don't you trust the Xu family anymore?" Manager Xu cursed. "Here's what we'll do: to compensate for this lateness, my men will move all these goods for you. Come on, sign here."
Manager Xie checked several bags of rice and found no problems, so he signed for them.
Seeing this, Steward Xu smiled sinisterly. The rice and grain outside were of course fine, but the grain inside was another matter. Who told your Xie family to offend a noble person? In order to become the number one imperial merchant in the Great Zhou, then I'm sorry, old friend.
The dazzling light of sunrise gradually enveloped the entire sea area, and a beam of golden sunlight shone on Xie Mianmian's face. She sat up groggily and stretched out a big yawn.
She belatedly realized something was wrong. Oh dear, wasn't she supposed to be on her way to do something important? Then she encountered the dusty mermaid, and what happened after that? She had no recollection of it.
Xie Mianmian shook her head, realizing she had no memory of how she got back. That matter... should be settled by now, right?
She hurriedly jumped out of bed, peered out the window at the sea, and saw only glittering gold, nothing unusual.
Wen Shuwan pulled Xie Mianmian over and gently helped her put on her coat. She felt something hard in the child's arms and curiously pulled it out.
It appeared to be a round piece of jade, thin and silvery-white. Xie Mianmian took it and examined it carefully. In the sunlight, it emitted a fine, pearly luster, and it was extremely beautiful.
Xie Mianmian had no memory of how it came to be, but she played with it repeatedly, reluctant to put it down. It felt warm and cool to the touch, somewhat like the scales of a giant python.
Around a large wooden table, everyone gathered to eat breakfast.
Father Xie said, "You should go back to the capital later. There are pirates around here now, so it's not safe. Luckily, the batch of rice we received this morning has arrived. You can go back together. It's safer with more people."
Xie Mianmian ate her porridge, mumbling and trying to recall what had happened last night, but her mind remained blank.
While the servants were still packing up, Xie Mianmian went alone to the deck where she had stayed the night before and looked at the reef, but she didn't see anything.
"Is Mianmian looking for me?" a voice rang out from below; it was a dugong.
Xie Mianmian looked at it with surprise. It still had that comical seaweed on its head. "You're here. What happened to Mianmian after you left last night?"
The dugong gazed at the depths of the sea, raised its flippers to cover its mouth, and said, "Last night I saw the ants exchange all the rice back, so Mianmian doesn't need to worry. As for the rest, I don't know."
It cannot be said.
“Okay.” Xie Mianmian took out the jade piece from her bosom. “Then how did this scale end up in my bosom?” Her intuition told her that this must be the scale.
Ah, the dugong looked back at the seabed. How... how should I answer that?
Suddenly, a melodious humming sound came from somewhere, long and beautiful, and it felt as if my whole soul was cleansed after listening to it.
This interrupted Xie Mianmian's thoughts, as she listened intently to the beautiful singing.
Just then, they heard someone calling for a child from nearby; they were leaving.
Xie Mianmian held the scales tightly in her palm, leaned down and whispered to the dugong, "Someone gave them to Mianmian, right? The one you've always imitated, and the first person to praise you, right?"
Upon hearing this, the dugong covered its mouth tightly with its flippers, but it nodded slowly with an almost imperceptible amplitude, and the seaweed swayed slightly.
"Okay, Mianmian understands. Please thank her for Mianmian!" The child bowed deeply to the sea.
After saying goodbye to the dugong, Xie Mianmian, who had already taken several steps forward, suddenly turned back and said sincerely to it, "Actually, you are beautiful in real life too. You don't have to be like anyone else. You are you. But as long as you like it, it doesn't matter. See you later!"
As Xie Mianmian walked away, the dugong waved its small flippers, then removed the shell that had been pinching it painfully against its chest, but still kept the seaweed on its head because it liked it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
