CH 18

TL: Hua

According to the normal schedule, Qin Shasha and her group’s teaching video was from 10 o’clock to 11 o’clock, and after eating and resting, the lesson started again from 1 o’clock to 2 o’clock, then today’s learning task ended.

The keepers will spend the rest of the time accompanying the mermaids to play some simple games, such as throwing balls, although the mermaids usually get tired after ten attempts or so.

After that, the keepers will tell the little ones who have been kept in the mermaid center about the interesting things that happened outside or turn the screen on the wall to the entertainment mode and play some videos for them.

After two o’clock this afternoon, the four little mermaids who had been playing with toys at the bottom of the water resurfaced with great enthusiasm to see what kind of movie the keepers had prepared for them today. But what they saw was a boring history lesson.

O_O?

Why is it still on?

“Lance?” Carl looked at Ji Mingjiang, who was obviously enjoying it, and reminded him hesitantly, “Did the keeper forget the time? You can turn it off yourself.”

“No, I want to keep studying.” Ji Mingjiang looked at the several dumbfounded mermaids and explained, “There are very few classes on the history of the empire, only 60 in total, which I have to learn sooner or later. So I plan to learn more today and take the final exam tomorrow after class.You guys want to join me?”

“No, no, no!” Upon hearing this, Carl quickly shook his head like a rattle. Are you kidding? He didn’t want to watch these boring things. He might as well have used this time to take a nap. Sufficient sleep can make him look better, what’s the use of learning this thing?

The other two mermaids also echoed his statement, which was expected by Ji Mingjiang.

To his surprise, a little mermaid swam to his side after some hesitation. He remembered that the name of this mermaid seemed to be Coco.

Although the keeper probably didn’t think of this at all when they named him, the brown-skinned little mermaid in front of him really matched the name, and it reminded Ji Mingjiang of the hot cocoa he used to drink every winter.

“You guys go to bed first; I’m not very sleepy right now. I’m going to stay here for a while.” Coco whispered to Carl.

After turning back and seeing Ji Mingjiang looking at him, he couldn’t help but ask a little nervously, “What, what’s wrong? Do I look weird?”

Coco felt a little depressed. His friends and the mermaids he had seen before all had fair and smooth skin, as did he before, but…

“The keeper once took us to play at the sea. I accidentally fell asleep, and when I woke up, I got sunburned like this. My skin has never turned white again since then.” He explained why he became like this.

“So that’s how it is. It’s okay; you look good now, and it would be better if you were more confident.” Ji Mingjiang wasn’t speaking empty words. Coco’s facial features were indeed very distinctive. His spirited black eyes combined with his brown skin make this little mermaid look healthier.

Of course, it’s just a matter of appearance. Ji Mingjiang hasn’t forgotten the fact that the mermaid in front of him, who is less than half his size, is older than himself.

“Speaking of which, is this place close to the sea?” Ji Mingjiang asked. It can’t be that, just to go to the beach, the institute would ship several large fish tanks on a hover car, right?

“Yeah, it’s just behind this area. I heard that they especially selected a location near the sea to build the center. When the time comes, we can go to the shallow sea area by swimming along the pipeline.”

After Coco finished speaking, he saw Ji Mingjiang’s curiosity and added, “There are so many arrangements to go to the beach every year. It should be over in a few days, though. You can ask your keeper.”

Ji Mingjiang nodded. Seeing that the next class had already started, he stopped talking.

After watching two classes, Coco rubbed his eyes, said goodbye to Ji Mingjiang, and then ran to Carl’s place and fell asleep.

Just as Ji Mingjiang turned down the volume, he heard the sound of even breathing coming from the other side.

Their sleeping quality is too good…Ji Mingjiang reached out for a small dried fish and put it in his mouth. Seeing that he planned to continue listening to the class, Carrie found a plate and distributed today’s portion of small dried fish to him.

The previous class talked about the history of mermaids, and it can be seen that the person who wrote this course is already working hard to compile it. But for some reason, there are countless contradictions and inconsistencies before and after the entire course. Perhaps they think mermaids won’t actually pay attention to these things? In Ji Mingjiang’s opinion, it’s a story with many loopholes.

At the beginning, it was clearly stated that due to the weak survival abilities of mermaids, they’re unable to adapt to the ever-changing modern environment. Thus, the leader of the mermaids made an agreement with humans. Humans would help mermaids integrate into society, while mermaids would provide spiritual counseling to humans.

Later, it was mentioned that due to the mass death of mermaids in a certain period of time, human beings established a special rescue organization to take in and raise the remaining mermaids. And because a large number of young mermaids do not have the care of the elders, the rescue organization also plays the role of the elders and gradually evolved into today’s mermaid foster center.

The mermaids were also well taken care of in the process, and they gradually adopted the mermaid foster center as their real home. There are even two attached photos. One is a very dated photo, in which the mermaid in it has a sorrowful look and teardrops hanging at the corner of his eyes; the other one appeared to have been taken in recent years, showing a little mermaid half submerged in water raising a shy smile to the camera.

It’s all bullshit.

Ji Mingjiang thought about it expressionlessly, feeling a little irritable in his heart.

Based on the description that stated that the leader of the mermaid clan had a “discussion” with humans, he knew the original mermaids were definitely not what they are now. Even if they can’t be compared with him or his ancestors, it’s impossible to have this kind of weak physique that’s completely dependent on others.

Otherwise, there would be no “agreement or discussion.” Mermaids would be used as pets or live medicines, and they would be directly controlled and distributed to those in need.

Not to mention the so-called mass death of mermaids later, what would it take for a species to have a unilateral mass death, a genetic disease? What kind of genetic disease would it take to affect only the adult fish and ignore the weak, minor fish?

And the fact that humans posed as the mermaids elders is even more absurd. What kind of elder would spoil their juniors so much that they don’t even need to go to school?

As for the last two pictures used for comparison, watching this teaching video, Ji Mingjiang even doubted whether the person who recorded it was really arrogant enough to think that all mermaids were blind and couldn’t tell which of the two mermaids of the same size and age was healthier.

Even if the two photos show completely different emotions, Ji Mingjiang can also see that the sad-faced mermaid with round cheeks has very spirited eyes despite the tears, and although his body is not strong, there is a faint layer of muscle. His figure is lean but not skinny.

It was completely different from the mermaid he sees now.

So, what went wrong?

Ji Mingjiang looked at the screen that had automatically started the next class, and the conspiracy and calculations revealed in the video just now hit him directly.

Was it a massacre for better captivity? Or did conflict break out during captivity? He doesn’t know.

And what’s going on with the current education model for mermaids? Is it intentional laissez-faire or a stubborn habit? Is the mermaid foster center created to benefit mermaids, humans…or perhaps the bigwigs?

Ji Mingjiang’s eyes swept over Carrie and several other keepers who were chatting at the side and then looked at the mermaids behind them, who were sleeping soundly without knowing anything.

In the absence of clear evidence, he prefers to believe that the current arrangement is a continuation of history. In addition, the mermaids have been domesticated from generation to generation to develop their current personalities. Under “mutual benefits,” neither party has discovered the problem.

And in the final analysis, Carrie and the keepers, including director Oddo, all sincerely love and care for the mermaid. He can feel it.

It’s not unusual if these people don’t know the conspiracy behind this, but he doesn’t believe that the supreme ruler of a country doesn’t know about these old things either. If he knows but disregards it…

Ji Mingjiang stared at the screen in front of him, his eyes completely calm. It’s best not to let him have the opportunity to be in the same room with the emperor.

…

“Lance, it’s time for dinner. I’ll turn off the screen first.” At five o’clock in the afternoon, Carrie squatted in front of him with a plate of small whitebait, coaxing him.

She always felt that Lance was in a bad mood this afternoon. Looking at the mermaid busy deboning the fish, Carrie was in deep thought.

After dinner was finished and the plates were put away, Carrie didn’t rush to pack up her things and leave. Instead, she went to Song Li and discussed something with her before going back to Ji Mingjiang.

“?” Ji Mingjiang looked up at her, a little confused as to why Carrie didn’t go home. These days, apart from paid overtime, are there still people who don’t get off work on time?

“I asked Song Li to switch today’s evening shift.” Although she didn’t know if the translator could convey her meaning, Carrie still explained, “Seeing that you are not in a good mood this afternoon, I plan to spend more time with you. I also want to tell you about the beach trip tomorrow and the matching day next month.”

Ji Mingjiang’s eyes lit up after hearing the two key words. Put aside the matching day or whatever, can he finally go for a couple of laps in the sea? ! This half a month of only being able to move around in the pool is about to suffocate him to death!

“Well, there seems to be nothing that needs your attention on the match day.” Carrie slowed down her speech as much as possible and found a small blackboard from nowhere to try to combine pictures and words so that Lance could understand them better.

“You will be sent to a separate room at that time.” Carrie drew a house with a fish in it and continued, “The screen in the room will show the activities and personal introductions of those matches here; you just need to pick a few that look good to you.”

With that said, she drew a few more circles outside the house and marked some of them.

“Afterwards, there will be a period of time for you to meet alone. After this time, you need to choose the person you are most optimistic about and like the most!”

With a smile on her face, Carrie drew several lines, connected the circles and the small fish symbolizing Lance in turn, then drew a thinking expression on the head of the little fish, and finally used a red pen to put a check mark on one of the lines.

“Lance, do you understand?” She shook the sketch in her hand and asked.

Ji Mingjiang nodded. The translator didn’t translate many words, but with Carrie’s hand-drawn figures, he mostly figured out the process. It’s like he’s an interviewer! Or a chairman that served as the interviewer.

“Okay—there is only one thing to pay attention to when going to the beach the day after tomorrow. That is, your own safety is the main priority. You can’t stray too far from us.”

Carrie looked at the little mermaid in front of her, who had always played cards out of common sense, and gave serious instructions.

After all, even if the sea area was specially cleared, no one knows if a marine creature that hadn’t been cleaned up in time would suddenly appear that day. It would be bad if he’s injured.

But there should be no problem. She heard from Sister Song and the others that there are specialized safety officers at the seaside to supervise.

Carrie was relieved, but Ji Mingjiang didn’t take it too seriously.

At most, he would dive underwater and quickly swim a few times back and forth, then return to the original surface before he was noticed.