CH 90.1

TL: Hua

On Monday,

As if the heavens had grown impatient with sunny days and wanted to see some different decorations on the ground, the week-long good weather took a turn for the worse today.

Before going to bed last, the moon was obviously bright and the breeze was clear outside the window, but the next morning, before opening his eyes, Ji Mingjiang could already feel the cold air drilled in from the cracks of the unclosed window.

Turning around and looking out the window, he saw a world that had been torn apart by a violent storm and snow.

Even as Ji Mingjiang looked over, a branch loaded with snow hit the window facing him with a thud.

The snow on the branches still slid down the window crack into the house and then quickly turned into a puddle of water on the carpet in the warm environment.

When he walked over, the fine snow that was still floating outside was blown into the house by the wind.

And it seemed that a pile of snow was blown against the wall last night, but it all melted into water and baked dry.

“…”

As soon as he got close to the window, a biting chill hit his face, completely waking up Ji Mingjiang’s somewhat sleepy and depressed mind.

After yawning, he reached out and closed the open window, and then the temperature in the room slowly began to rise.

Ji Ming picked up the coat hanging on the hanger with one hand and threw it on his shoulder casually. Then he picked up his long hair, which was still very smooth after sleeping all night. He tilted his chin slightly to the left. After fixing the clothes on his shoulders, he roughly hooked the rubber band on his left wrist and tied it up.

His fingertips curled up and moved behind the hair. Two or three seconds later, the hair that had been bundled together was hanging on the mermaid’s tall back, and the tips of the hair at the end were swaying, indicating that the owner was in a happy mood at this time.

Of course he was in a good mood; after all, starting today, his fishing (pun intended) career will officially start. And after going to work, he can also see the new physical examination reports of those little guys and assign them new tasks.

It makes him feel happy just thinking about it!

“Good morning.”

When he opened the door, he happened to meet Clarice, who had just come out from the next door. Ji Mingjiang casually greeted him.

It’s also worth mentioning that because he needed to discuss fish-related matters in the past two days, not long after Ji Mingjiang moved out of Clarice’s bedroom, he packed up his belongings and moved them into the room next to Clarice’s, which Rowlett had prepared for him.

“Good morning.” After answering briefly, Leiden looked at Ji Mingjiang’s thin clothes and frowned involuntarily, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.

After all, no matter how cold it is now, it’s not as cold as when it was on the B437 planet. Ji Mingjiang didn’t even feel anything then, and it’s not like he’s some little kid who doesn’t know any better, so naturally, he doesn’t need to intervene.

“Has everything been packed?”

After ignoring the issue of clothes, Leiden asked on the way to the restaurant.

“No problem. In addition to some bedding and clothes, I also put a simple folding bed into the space button. By the way, is there any invisible material or something like that that you can give me? It doesn’t need to be too much. As long as people don’t notice at first glance.”

Ji Mingjiang rubbed the space button on his hand, recalling what he had prepared and what he might use, and asked on a whim.

“There is a jammer that blocks infrared detection, and there is also something equivalent to a stealth device. I will get it to you later.” After thinking for a while, Leiden gave his answer.

“There’s no need to worry too much.” Looking at the way Ji Mingjiang was still thinking hard, a hint of helplessness flashed in Leiden’s eyes. Being on such a tight standby really gives those who were scheming behind their backs too much credit. “According to the information we have collected, those who are looking for Greni everywhere have not received any special training. They are probably not even as good as Zhang Cheng. When the time comes, everything will go according to plan, and there will be no problems.”

“I know, but it’s better to be careful.”

Mingjiang waved his hand.

Even if he didn’t believe in himself, he still had to believe in that system, which far exceeded normal human perception.

During the conversation, the door of the dining room appeared in front of the two of them. Ji Mingjiang sniffed, and his eyes brightened. “It smells so good. I wonder what we’re having today.”

“Seafood porridge.” After casually responding, Leiden, who had given up the habit of drinking nutrient solution, followed Ji Mingjiang, who suddenly quickened his pace, and strolled into the bright dining room.

When he walked in, he could see the smiling chef, who had previously lamented to him that his craftsmanship had finally come in handy, handing Ji Mingjiang a bowl full of porridge, and with Leiden’s hearing, he was sure he hadn’t heard him wrong.

The chef repeated what he had said to him before to Ji Mingjiang.

“…”

I didn’t expect you, with your thick eyebrows, to be this kind of chef.jpg

After a simple breakfast, the two went to the room where Greni was. Because his physical condition could be said to have entered an uncomfortable state of not getting better or worse, Greni had been moved from the treatment room to a normal room after Lin Feng had re-examined him again two days ago.

“How are you feeling today? If you suddenly feel uncomfortable, we can postpone the plan for a while.”

Looking at Greni, who appeared a little pale, Ji Mingjiang asked worriedly.

“M…cough!” As soon as Greni uttered a syllable, he was startled by his hoarse voice, which sounded as if there was gravel in his throat. He cleared his throat and then said again, “It’s okay.”

When he said this sentence, his nasal pronunciation was still a bit strong, and the pronunciation between the words was a bit blurry.

“…”

It’s totally not okay at all!

Seeing Greni’s insistence, Ji Mingjiang hesitated for a moment and finally suppressed the words.

“I just caught a cold last night. It’s not a big deal. Just take some medicine, and I’ll be fine.”

Taking a look outside the window, where the gusty wind was still swirling the floating snow and flying recklessly, Ji Mingjiang drew the corners of his mouth and tentatively agreed with him.

Anyway, with the current level of medical science and technology, a common small cold is really just a matter of a pill, and there’s no chance of it being transmitted to other mermaids, so Ji Mingjiang silently handed Greni a cup of hot water.

While the other party was taking medicine, he picked up a wheelchair from the space button.

Facing Clarice’s look of “How many things did you put in it?” Ji Mingjiang appeared calm and composed. He patted the cushion of the wheelchair and said to Greni, who was also a little stupefied: “Turn into a human form and sit up here, so that it’s easier to send you there.”

“Ah…ok.”

Putting the water cup aside, it can be said that after taking the medicine, Greni’s body became much lighter immediately. With the help of Ji Mingjiang, Greni moved himself to the wheelchair.

“You change your clothes first. Just call me when you’re done. I can hear you.”

Greni, who was holding a sweater and fleece pants in his arms and a woolen coat on the back of his wheelchair, nodded.

***

“Is this the Mermaid Center you’re talking about?”

After the wheelchair landed on the ground, Greni released his hands, which were holding the armrests so hard that his joints were turning white, and looked around curiously.

Because he was surrounded by a scarf, his speaking voice was still a bit muffled, and when blown by the winter wind whistling by his side, only Ji Mingjiang, who was directly behind him, could hear what he was saying.

After nodding, Ji Mingjiang realized that Greni could not see his movements now, so he pushed the person forward and said, “Yes, I thought the information I gave you that day was quite complete?”

Greni laughed dryly and responded vaguely.

The fact is that, knowing that this was what Ji Mingjiang needed him to do, he didn’t take a closer look at where he would live in the future…

However, he still expressed what really surprised him: “I just didn’t expect that this place related to mermaids is not as strict as I imagined?”

“I mean in terms of management, or vigilance.” He added.

Although he could see the patrols that walked by and the guard towers at the corners after entering the door, …… it was indeed quite different from what he had imagined as a heavily and tightly guarded place. In addition, there were a few young keepers who came over, each with a relaxed smile on their face as they were talking among each other about something.

These words were heard by Oddo, who was following them and who apparently didn’t expect to hear someone else questioning the defense of the mermaid center in his lifetime. Although it wasn’t to the extent of “questioning,” it still left Oddo stunned for a moment before he said inexplicably, “Is this still not strict enough? Every year, new keepers complain that they can’t get used to such high-intensity patrol for the first two days.”

Ji Mingjiang glanced at Greni, who had his head lowered, and changed the topic.

“Did the results of yesterday’s second comprehensive physical examination come out?”

“It’s out! It was out just before bedtime!” At this point, Oddo became energetic. He quickly forgot about Greni and started talking to Ji Mingjiang happily. “Oh, I was almost going to bed last night, and then Xiao Lin called me and told me that the results were out. I thought there was something unexpected in his tone at the time, and it almost scared me to death. But guess what??!”

Before Ji Mingjiang could speak, Oddo continued talking without stopping for a second: “Although I can’t read those specific terms and data, the line of annotation that Xiao Lin wrote at the end of the report sheet clearly states that the mermaids in that nursery of yours grow much faster than other mermaids, and their physical qualities can be said to be several times that of other mermaids as well!”

Although he had expected this result, after hearing Oddo’s joyful words, Ji Mingjiang still had a smile in his eyes. He waited for Oddo to calm down before saying, “In this case, I will send a copy of the schedule from last week to several other nurseries and ask them to make arrangements according to it. When their physical fitness and strength improve, they can either follow my arrangement or think of something else for themselves.”

“I understand. I will explain it at the weekly meeting later.”

Oddo nodded, and after seeing his office building, he patted Ji Mingjiang’s shoulder again, stroking his beard, and left happily.

When he returned to Greni, he noticed the doubtful look he cast. After Ji Mingjiang grasped the handle of the wheelchair again, he explained: “Because the Empire’s previous misunderstanding and contempt for mermaids was a bit severe, we have spoiled those little guys too much. After the last physical examination, we found that almost all the mermaids’ health is not up to standard, so I asked them to change the schedule they’ve been putting together for the mermaids last week.”

Greni nodded in understanding and corrected the minor mistakes in Ji Mingjiang’s words very carefully.

“It’s not the Empire’s misunderstanding. In fact, it’s similar on the Federation side.”

Perhaps he was organizing his words. After more than ten seconds, Greni continued to speak slowly: “But it’s different from your approach of overindulging because of contempt.”

Speaking of this, Greni’s eyes darkened. He escaped from the auction and saved his life. He knew very well the attitude of the Federation towards mermaids.

Because of contempt, they looked at mermaids as a tool that they could use and control at will. If they need it, they can take it and use it. If they don’t need it, they can put it aside to feed it and prevent it from starving to death. If it’s worn out, discard it. When it’s useless, just “recycle” it at the auction to make some money…

“So, in fact, both sides are the same, but the Empire’s side is far better than that bunch of human-faced animals from the Federation.” Probably sensing that the atmosphere at this time was a bit heavy, Greni quickly changed to a relaxed tone and said it with a smile.

Ji Mingjiang didn’t want to mention his sadness anymore, so he responded and said, “We’re here.”

Because Greni needed to be settled in advance, Ji Mingjiang arrived at the Mermaid Center very early today. Just after eight o’clock, he opened the door of the nursery.

“Wow——”

The slight sound of the tail splashing water drowned out the chatter of conversation, but it was still keenly caught by Ji Mingjiang’s ears.

Thanks to the mermaid center’s previous special care of the door shafts so as not to disturb the sleeping mermaids, it could be said that the heavy door didn’t emit a single sound when it was pushed open.

Ji Mingjiang had the rare feeling that the things he had done before in this place were somewhat useful.

The sound of the wheelchair rollers was also drowned out by the noisy sounds of the mermaids in the pool.

The mermaids in the nursery yawned, chatted, and were focusing on their own exercises while looking at the waterway… For a moment, no mermaid noticed the arrival of Ji Mingjiang and the strange mermaid.

Tsk, this vigilance is not enough. In the background setting where the mermaid has mental power, which can be called a cheat, they’re quite slow to notice… It seems that there are still a lot of things to be trained.

Ji Mingjiang thought casually; his eyes swept over the unsuspecting mermaids and then settled on Chen Ning, who was swimming hard.

Probably because his gaze was too blatant, the mermaid, who had just sunk his head to the bottom of the water one second, suddenly poked his head out the next second. A pair of rounded amber eyes looked warily at the door where Ji Mingjiang was.

Then he froze on the spot.

He may look like the youngest, but his execution ability and keenness are far superior to those of other mermaids…

Ji Mingjiang touched his chin thoughtfully, then hurriedly knocked on the door beside him with his kunckles before Chen Ning could speak.

“Had enough relaxation?”

After switching to the mermaid language, the sound that seems to cleanse the soul and clear away the fatigue of the day to human ears is no different from the whispers of demons to the ears of these mermaids in the room.

“!!!”