CH 59

Late at night, Jiang Chen’s family found a secluded place in the forest and rested in a tent. Zheng Zhilai placed the two children in the middle. Seeing them sleeping soundly, holding hands and leaning against each other, he couldn’t help but smile. He gently patted the human child buttocks, pinched his little feet, and helped cover him with a blanket.

Jiang Qingyue’s little skirt had been taken off and hidden away long before. Before going to sleep, Ren Shuhan got a new sleeping gown for him. It had cartoon patterns on it. Seeing the children happy, Zheng Zhilai didn’t say anything. Now, he frowned and touched the fabric on Jiang Qingyue’s shoulder, lost in thought.

Jiang Chen slept on the outer side. After patrolling the surroundings, she returned and expressed her concern, “These things would be trouble if discovered. Get Shuhan to hide them early in the morning. We’ll rebuild the house. I won’t go fishing tomorrow.”

Although she said she wouldn’t go fishing, in reality, Jiang Chen hadn’t decided where to fish. The southern beach was mostly occupied by the Jiang Tribe, and Jiang Chen was considered competent among them. But since she had been expelled, she would have to compete with the strong Hu Tribe on the northern coast. Being new, she might face a show of strength.

Instead of that, it might be better to catch river fish in the woods for a while. When merfolk were by the sea, they used their fish tails, but in the woods, they had to transform and grow a pair of legs. After reaching adulthood, they didn’t use their legs much, as it was lacking proficiency compared to using fish tails. So, the results of fishing that way might not be too good.

Looking at her attitude, Zheng Zhilai asked with concern as he massaged her legs and feet, “With your attitude, you aren’t wary of Shuhan? Is it okay for him to suffer like this?”

“What else can we do?”

Jiang Chen was outwardly cold but inwardly warm. Looking at the two children sleeping in the soft blanket, she liked them a lot. Bending down, she kissed their little faces one by one and whispered, “Shuhan doesn’t seem like a bad person. When his parents come soon, we’ll leave him on another island for them to pick up. We’ll see how the situation goes. If things go wrong, we’ll inform everyone to escape. In the sea, humans should not be able to catch up with us.”

Jiang Chen was cautious because she knew many things that others in the Hu and Jiang tribes didn’t know.

As it turned out, Zheng Zhilai’s ancestors indeed had human lineage. To conceal their identity, they passed down the knowledge of human affairs to the next generation.

A long time ago, six or seven generations ago, some humans accidentally landed on this planet. They were a military force from an interstellar alliance, chasing after a group of star pirates. A few ships fell into this place, and among the hundreds of people, only three or four dozen soldiers and one star pirate survived.

These people were saved by Zheng Zhilai’s ancestor’s tribe.

At that time, merfolk didn’t understand what humans were. They only saw that humans couldn’t breathe underwater, so they considered them very fragile. They allowed the humans to stay on the shore, hoping they could work for them.

But by chance, the humans learned about the merfolk’s living habits after a short time. They secretly used advanced weapons to capture a tribe of merfolk.

The leader was a general who wanted to lead his subordinates to continue expanding the territory and occupy this planet. After repairing the spaceship, he would return to the alliance to claim rewards. After all, merfolk, an unheard-of species, would surely bring great profits in the future. Moreover, merfolk, regardless of gender or race, were all exceptionally beautiful, with melodious voices. For these men who lost surveillance from the alliance, merfolk became an invaluable treasure, subject to much torment.

However, there was one person among the humans who was different. She did not torment the merfolk. She was the only surviving woman among the humans.

Initially, she was also distrusted and suffered humiliations, and her range of activities was very limited. However, as time passed, humans, after all, trusted humans more. In the different circumstances of different species, the previous camp issues seemed less important. Moreover, she was just a woman, not an important figure. Seeing her just doing menial work like cooking or cleaning, the soldiers relaxed their vigilance against her, allowing her to participate in night watch and guard the merfolk.

Once they had the merfolk, the military people didn’t bother with her much anymore. However, she had personally witnessed how these merfolk were humiliated. Both men and women, even very young children, suffered tortures. Unable to bear it, she secretly planned and, one day, opened the device that held these merfolk captive.

As it turned out, she was not a logistics personnel but a renowned hacker in the star pirate group.

The merfolk, by nature, were different from humans. After gaining freedom, they didn’t try to escape. Instead, they rose up in revenge against the humans. A fierce battle ensued, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Eventually, only a few merfolk survived, while most humans perished. The woman named Zheng managed to hide for a while but was eventually captured by the merfolk. They discussed how to deal with her.

Most merfolk harbored intense hatred towards humans and couldn’t tolerate her presence. However, witnessing how she treated the merfolk and how they treated her, some merfolk believed that human males and females were different species. In the end, they chose not to kill her but instead expelled her to a small island, leaving her to fend for herself.

This resourceful woman managed to survive on her own. Later, out of curiosity, some merfolk approached her, gradually learning many things from her. Some even wanted to form families with her. Together, they undertook a long journey, leaving the sorrowful tribe behind and arriving at the Jiang Tribe.

As for how humans couldn’t stay underwater for long and where they came from, these details gradually blurred with the passage of time. Zheng Zhilai only knew that humans were dangerous, with both good and bad individuals, and he shared all of this information with Jiang Chen.

In the future, they would also inform Jiang Qingyue. However, in the current situation, whether there was a future or not remained uncertain.

Early the next morning, Jiang Chen started moving things while Zheng Zhilai cooked for the two children. Although they couldn’t go back to the tribe to fetch fire, Zheng Zhilai cooked a fresh fish soup for them using the lighter. Learning that they mostly ate fish with very little grain, Ren Shuhan took out a bag of cereal fruit flakes.

“My mom said children should eat more grains for balanced nutrition.”

Ren Shuhan made large cups of soy milk for everyone. Zheng Zhilai, overwhelmed, suspected that his child didn’t rescue an oil barrel but a treasure chest1Meaning that he’s very useful instead.

When Jiang Chen returned, she was greeted with a large cup of cereal mixed with milk and a bag of jam-filled bread, a nutritious meal provided by the system.

“Hmm,” Jiang Chen was surprised. It was her first time tasting something so delicious. “What is all this?”

Thinking for a moment, Ren Shuhan explained one by one according to the system’s responses, appearing quite knowledgeable. He even took out a bunch of seeds.

“These are soybeans, these are corn, and these are…”

Jiang Chen had heard from Jiang Qingyue before. She knew that Ren Shuhan’s parents were interstellar adventurers. Now, seeing that he carried so many seeds, he must have come for exchange or trade. His parents should not have any ill intentions, and Jiang Chen felt relieved.

Zheng Zhilai decisively accepted these seeds and decided to cultivate a vegetable garden with Jiang Chen the next day.

The merfolk had experience in growing rice, and the Jiang Tribe had exchanged wheat with other large tribes before. However, land area was limited, and there was no more variety. Fruits included only bananas and coconuts. Now, Ren Shuhan brought out a bunch, and Zheng Zhilai, no longer teaching, naturally wanted to try planting them.

In the afternoon, Jiang Chen had to move her belongings. Zheng Zhilai took the two children to explore in the woods, searching for fertile land.

Although the island of the Jiang Tribe was not large, the most abundant land for cultivation was available. As Zheng Zhilai carried one child and held the other, he put Jiang Qingyue in the stream and went to other places to scout. He selected a few spots with good concealment yet that received ample sunlight and briefly cleared away the weeds.

“The water here is so clear!”

Ren Shuhan stood barefoot in the forest stream, splashing water onto Jiang Qingyue’s mermaid tail. Jiang Qingyue had been laughing all along.

In the evening, Jiang Chen completely moved their home into the mountains.

The wooden shelf, though simple, became quite comfortable with the addition of the mattress and blanket brought by Ren Shuhan. In this beautiful and secluded place, Ren Shuhan felt as if he was on vacation.

Sitting on the bed, he absentmindedly played with Jiang Qingyue, weaving a handkerchief. Feeling like something was missing, he suddenly remembered.

“Let’s have a barbecue tonight!”

He took out a barbecue grill with seasonings from the system.

At noon, he had brought out many seasonings, and Zheng Zhilai had cooked steamed fish for them. Although merfolk usually ate only two meals a day, Ren Shuhan was always hungry. Zheng Zhilai added an extra meal for him. He had been worried about what to eat for dinner, but now the problem was solved.

Merfolk often ate like this, but they didn’t have such a professional setup. They only used salt, lacking cumin, chili powder, and garlic paste, so grilled seafood lacked flavor.

“Mmm, it’s so delicious!”

Jiang Qingyue blew on the food, eating quickly. Ren Shuhan helped pick out fish bones, wiped the corners of his mouth, occasionally handed coconut juice, and acted like a little adult, advising him to “eat slowly, don’t eat too much.”

The adult merfolk initially weren’t accustomed to these new seasonings, but they soon grew fond of them. Jiang Chen ate a lot, despite not being able to do so since her childhood, as she always had to take care of others. She always had a sense of danger, only eating half-full each meal. She rarely had such a relaxed time, and Zheng Zhilai felt pleased, adding more dishes for her while watching Ren Shuhan serve Jiang Qingyue. He couldn’t help but smile.

This day started well, and Jiang Chen decided to stay on land for a while, accompanying Zheng Zhilai in cultivating and planting, as well as catching river fish.

Ren Shuhan helped for a while, and Zheng Zhilai coaxed him into taking Jiang Qingyue to play.

“You spoil the child too much,” Jiang Chen didn’t quite agree, “Since humans have a paternal lineage, Shuhan should be trained from a young age.”

She did spoil Jiang Qingyue, but the reason for not spoiling Ren Shuhan was that she wanted him to be as demanding on himself as she was.

However, Zheng Zhilai was an outwardly warm and inwardly cold person. He said to her, “You see, he eats and dresses well. Maybe his family doesn’t need him to work as hard as you do. Let’s not ask too much of someone else’s child.”

Jiang Chen also understood his point. However, Ren Shuhan was very considerate of adults. Originally, he said he would only play with Jiang Qingyue for a while and then come back. Jiang Chen felt he shouldn’t be too unfamiliar with him.

“At least, he must build up strength,” Jiang Chen, finishing up a piece of cultivated land, rinsed herself in the lake, shook her robust fish tail, and said, “Otherwise, how will he form a family in the future?”

Soon after, she was shocked to see Ren Shuhan running back with Jiang Qingyue in his arms.

“We encountered other little merfolk,” the young Ren Shuhan said anxiously, “They saw the smoke from our side yesterday and asked how we made fire. I said we found flintstones in the mountains. I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?”

Ren Shuhan had too little life experience, growing up in space, and he had no idea what flintstones were. The system had told him to say it that way.

“No, you didn’t,” Jiang Chen said, “First, put Qingqing down. Isn’t he heavy?”

“No, he’s not,” Ren Shuhan said, still swinging the little fish in his arms, “Qingqing is very light.”

Since when is cereal and bread filled with jam a nutritious breakfast x’D (I mean it’s delicious but still lol)