Chapter 1 — Mermaid Rising Waves

My name is Giang Tieu Ngu, eighteen years old, female, species... this is a bit complicated. My father is a purebred mermaid, and my mother is a standard human without any modifications. Therefore, according to the old-fashioned old men of the mermaid tribe, I am a "mixed product", the type of existence that "when mentioned, everyone smiles politely, but secretly, no one wants to make friends". But honestly, I live very happily. Think about it, what's good about purebred mermaids? Whenever they cry, their tears turn into pearls. Sounds romantic to death, right? But the problem is, every time you're in a low mood and burst into tears, you have to squat down to pick up the beads. Halfway through crying, you have to stop and count how many beads you'll drop this time, how shiny they are, and whether they'll sell for a good price... Is that any different from having a mental illness? I am different. I cried, I cried, my tears flowed like crazy, both salty and thin, falling into the sea without making a sound. My mother said it was called "emotional freedom", my father said it was "useless people who are just like their mothers". And so the two of them divorced. Oh okay, actually it's not because of that. The real reason is: My father thought my mother married him just to make money from tears, and my mother thought he married her only because he wanted to find someone to handle the assets in the human world. The two of them were suspicious of each other for fifteen years. Finally, one stormy night, they had a fierce argument. My father threw back a sentence, "You're a money-hungry person," my mother added, "I'm a tool," and then... Boom. The marriage died, at the age of 15 years. On the day of the divorce, I had just turned eighteen, legally I was an adult, there was no need to worry about who to follow. But the judge still followed custom and asked one question: "Jiang Tieu Ngu, do you choose to live with your father or mother?" My father sat on the left, looking like a human handsome man, with broad shoulders and a slim waist, deep facial features, long hair like seaweed loosely tied with an elastic band at the back of his neck, looking like a Rock singer. My mother sat on the right, with short, neat hair, a straight western suit, an expressionless face scrolling through her phone, looking like she had come to discuss a company merger, not a divorce. I said: "I follow mom." My father's expression changed: "Why?!"

“Because my mother doesn't put sand in her cooking.”

My father choked. It's the truth. When cooking, mermaids have a habit of adding sea salt, seaweed, and sometimes adding a little coral powder. For humans, eating those things is like chewing plaster on a wall. The judge asked again: "So, about the family assets..." My mother raised her hand: "I didn't take anything, just his mother." The entire courtroom was silent for three seconds. My father: “…What did you say?” My mother's face did not change: "Your mother, belongs to me." My father's biological mother is a highly virtuous old fisherman. This year she is three hundred and seventy-two years old. Converted to human years, it is about... well, no need to convert, in short, she is very old. Grandma has an extremely high position in the mermaid clan, the type that just sits there and even the elders don't dare to breathe. But she was incredibly close to my mother. When my mother first married into the mermaid tribe, no one from top to bottom liked her, they thought humans were low-class, short-lived, full of bacteria. Only grandmother smiled kindly: "Daughter, don't pay attention to those idiots, come here, I'll teach you how to make steamed eggs with porcupines." sea." Therefore, at the time of divorce, grandmother proactively said: "I follow my daughter-in-law." That's the original text. My father's expression at that time, I will never forget for the rest of my life.

“Mom——!”

My father's voice was lost. The grandmother calmly caressed the pearl necklace on her neck, not even glancing at her precious son. Final verdict: I follow my mother, my grandmother follows my mother, my father creates and dies on his own. But speaking of self-creation and self-destruction, in fact my father did not go far. We bought a villa on a cliff close to the sea. When we opened the window we could see the ocean. We intended it to be a quiet place with few people. My father built a nest on a reef at the bottom of the sea less than two kilometers away from us. Every morning, he poked his head out of the water at the right time, shouted towards our window: "Wife, have you had breakfast yet?" My mother sat on the balcony drinking coffee, not even lifting her head: "Divorced."

“Oh.

So, ex-wife, have you had breakfast yet? Just like that. My grandmother lives in the room right next to mine, and every night at nine o'clock on time, she crawls from the bathtub to the living room to watch TV series. While watching, he commented: "This male lead is so poor, not as good as my son. Even though my son is a terrible cook, at least he's handsome." Me: “…Grandma, it's ten o'clock, the movie's over.”

“I know, I'm watching the rerun.”

“You saw it yesterday.”

“A good movie is worth watching a second time.”

“You also saw it last month.”

“So what?”

Okay. An old mermaid woman over three hundred years old, are you going to reason with her? I choose to keep my mouth shut. As for my childhood friend... His name is Lam Triet, a purebred mermaid, one year older than me, living on a coral reef in my home's waters before. We grew up together, the type that "bathed naked in the rain since childhood". The only difference is that he wears a braided skirt made of seaweed, and I wear waterproof diapers my mother bought on Taobao. Lam Triet looks... how should I put it, if the mermaid tribe had a beauty contest, he would definitely win the championship every year. The fish's tail is silvery blue, and in the sunlight it will reflect sparkling light like broken diamonds. The upper half of the body is smooth and muscular, with wide shoulders and a slim waist, and exquisite facial features as if created by AI from the keyword "Ocean Prince". The most fatal were his tears. Tears of purebred mermaids when they have strong emotions will turn into pearls, and Lam Triet's pearls, I'm not bragging, but they are of the highest quality. Round, high gloss, sometimes even pink pills, extremely expensive. When I was young, I didn't understand things. I once made him cry. I watched him drop pearls all over the ground. My eyes lit up as if I had caught gold: "Cry some more!" Cry some more! Enough to string a necklace!” He whimpered and glared at me: "Jiang Tieu Ngu, do you have a conscience?"

“Can conscience be sold for money?”

He cried even louder, the pearls fell clattering. Later, my mother found out about it and picked me up to beat me: "Don't bully people!" People cry to express their natural emotions! I think people are mineral mines!”