Ch 5: Transmigrated to become a Koi Husband

Jing Li moved swiftly, and one slap wasn’t enough to vent his anger. He quickly swung his tail again, delivering several more slaps to Chen Yanan.

The splashes of water landed on Chen Yanan’s face, making it impossible for him to open his eyes or see what was hitting him. He heard a loud splash, and by the time he gathered his wits, the water had returned to its calm state, with no trace of what had attacked him.

“Did… did you see that? What was that just now—?!”

The spots where he had been hit were still stinging, and Chen Yanan was terrified, trembling with fear. Qin Zhao sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead, and extended his hand to Chen Yanan: “Come on, get up.”

Chen Yanan, not daring to stay in the water any longer, quickly grabbed Qin Zhao’s hand and scrambled ashore, trying his best to hide his short and stout body behind Qin Zhao. “Did you see what it was? What kind of ghostly thing was that?!”

“No.” Qin Zhao glanced at the flash of a red fish tail near the rocks, lying with a straight face, “I was scared too, I didn’t see anything.”

Chen Yanan looked at him as if he had seen a ghost.

Does this guy look scared at all???

But he didn’t have time to think about that. Still shivering, Chen Yanan stammered, “C-could it be a water ghost? I heard there’s a type of water ghost that can transform into a beautiful woman to lure people into the water, never to return. What if I’m being targeted by one?”

Qin Zhao: “…”

Chen Yanan didn’t notice the sudden change in Qin Zhao’s expression, as he panicked, “You’ve copied Buddhist scriptures before, tell me what to do now!”

“…Go home, fast for seven days, and recite scriptures for an hour each morning. That should help.”

“Will that really work?” Chen Yanan asked, doubtful but seeing the determined look on Qin Zhao’s face, he said, “I’ll trust you this time, but don’t you dare fool me. If I get taken by a water ghost, you’ll be the first I haunt!”

With that, he hurriedly ran off, still shaking.

Qin Zhao stood by the water in silence for a moment before saying, “He’s gone. Aren’t you coming out?”

The little koi swam out from behind the rocks.

He floated on the water’s surface, his tail held high, and looked up at Qin Zhao.

A smile tugged at the corner of Qin Zhao’s mouth. “What’s this? Are you waiting for praise?”

Jing Li wagged his tail proudly.

He hadn’t intended to act out, but the way that guy was talking was so irritating. Qin Zhao was too good-natured, not even getting angry, which was why people like that dared to bully him.

Qin Zhao might be willing to endure it, but Jing Li certainly wasn’t.

Qin Zhao bent down, placing his hand in the water, and the little koi obediently rubbed against his fingers.

“You’re small, but you’ve got quite a temper,” Qin Zhao said, gently stroking his head. He added softly, “Thank you.”

No need to thank me.

Jing Li wiggled his fins at him.

“But…” Qin Zhao paused, seeming to hesitate for a moment before continuing, “It’s fine to scare him a little, but maybe it’s better not to mess with him again.”

Jing Li stopped moving, feeling a bit displeased.

If he didn’t fight back, was he supposed to just let that guy bully him?

Qin Zhao didn’t offer any further explanation. He placed the bucket in the water, allowing the little koi to swim inside.

He carried the little koi as he walked back home.

“Chen Yanan isn’t inherently a bad person. There’s just a bit of a misunderstanding between us,” Qin Zhao said slowly as they walked.

Jing Li huffed inwardly, turning his back to Qin Zhao as he sank to the bottom of the bucket, his tail flicking in displeasure.

“Let me finish,” Qin Zhao continued. “Three years ago, when I was stranded here, it was Chen Yanan who pulled me out of the river. That young man saved my life.”

Jing Li paused, surprised.

“At that time, I was gravely ill and bedridden, and it was thanks to the Chen family’s care and shelter that I recovered. Later, they even rented their old house to me, allowing me to stay in the village.”

So that’s how it was.

But now, why…

“The fact that they took in a stranger with no known background was already a great act of kindness,” Qin Zhao said. “A good deed can be done once, but it’s unreasonable to expect it to continue indefinitely. Ultimately, this situation is my fault.”

The Chen family was relatively well-off in Linxi Village, but they were not as wealthy as the prominent families in town. By renting the old house to Qin Zhao at a price far below the market rate, they were helping him but also, in a way, sacrificing their own interests.

But in these difficult times, life is hard for everyone. Each person has their own struggles, and who would want to endlessly support a stranger with an unknown background?

Understanding the underlying meaning of Qin Zhao’s words, Jing Li quieted down at the bottom of the bucket.

Qin Zhao, sensing the little koi’s gaze, smiled softly. “Life doesn’t always go smoothly. I don’t see anything shameful in asking for help. If someone is willing to treat me kindly, I’m grateful and will repay them in the future. But if they’re not willing, that’s perfectly understandable, and I won’t force it.”

“I can’t take someone else’s kindness for granted.”

As he spoke, his tone was calm, and through the water, Jing Li could see his pale face, devoid of any color in the sunlight.

Jing Li had never imagined that Qin Zhao’s thoughts could be so clear and insightful.

He had once thought that Qin Zhao was naturally indifferent and didn’t care about what others thought, but the truth was quite the opposite.

He understood everything better than anyone.

How many people in this world can truly remain unperturbed in the face of adversity? If Jing Li were in such a situation, he would certainly harbor some resentment.

But Qin Zhao managed it.

His forbearance wasn’t about avoiding trouble or being timid; within this frail and sickly body was a mind far stronger and more composed than most could imagine.

“As for Chen Yanan…” A trace of helplessness appeared on Qin Zhao’s face as he said gently, “I only recently found out that the house I’m living in was originally intended by Chen Yanan’s grandmother as a place for him to study.”

The little koi suddenly understood.

After all, Chen Yanan was still a teenager, with his emotions plain to see.

Three years ago, he saved Qin Zhao out of genuine kindness, but then this person ended up occupying the house that was meant for him, and stayed for three years. Anyone would be upset in his place.

Yet he didn’t express his feelings openly, bottling everything up, which only deepened his resentment toward Qin Zhao.

This… this really was a misunderstanding.

Qin Zhao said, “I only found out about this recently, but at that time, I was too ill to move out of the house immediately, even if I had known. And if I were to explain all this to Chen Yanan now, it would seem a bit like…”

Like taking advantage and then pretending to be humble.

Jing Li thought about it for a moment. If he were in Qin Zhao’s place, he might be even more upset.

Qin Zhao continued, “I know you understand. That boy isn’t bad at heart, he just speaks without thinking sometimes. In the future, if you can tolerate it, try to be more patient with him.”

Jing Li blew some bubbles at the bottom of the bucket, still feeling somewhat unwilling.

Even if Chen Yanan and his family had helped Qin Zhao, that didn’t give him the right to speak rudely and insult him.

He was just a fish now, so why was he thinking so deeply about everything?

No one should be bullying Qin Zhao. That little chubby guy deserved to be smacked.

Qin Zhao, of course, had no idea what Jing Li was thinking. He carried the little koi back home, glanced around the room, and sighed softly.

“Now… what should I do next?”

In the following days, Qin Zhao became increasingly busy.

When the weather was good during the day, he went into the mountains to gather herbs. Fortunately, the herb collector had promised him a higher price for his herbs, so his income was decent. The rest of the time, he stayed home, continuing to work on the manuscripts he had on hand.

However, since Qin Zhao couldn’t go without his medicine, meeting their financial goals was still challenging.

One evening, Qin Zhao sat by the door, sorting and categorizing the herbs he had gathered over the past few days.

It was a meticulous task: first, the dirt had to be removed from the herbs, then any unusable or damaged parts needed to be discarded. Finally, the herbs were divided into categories—those that could be used directly as medicine in one group, and those that needed to be dried or roasted in another. He carefully bundled each group with twine.

Jing Li finally understood why the herb collector was willing to pay Qin Zhao a higher price.

Ordinary villagers wouldn’t go to such lengths to process their herbs so meticulously. For them, as long as they could identify the herbs needed by the doctor, that was enough. The task of sorting out which parts were usable and which weren’t would be left to the herb collector.

This person… really knows a lot.

The distant sunset painted the sky in fiery colors, casting a warm glow on Qin Zhao’s profile.

His hands were beautiful, with long, slender fingers and well-defined joints. They were clearly not the hands of someone who had done hard labor, yet they didn’t have the frailty typical of a scholar either.

But they were so pale, almost transparent, lacking any trace of color.

The small wooden bucket was placed by his feet, and Jing Li floated in the water, quietly watching him, feeling a bit worried.

This person hadn’t rested properly for several days—could his body handle it?

After tying the last bundle of herbs and placing it in his basket, Qin Zhao picked up Jing Li and brought him back into the house. “I’m going to deliver these herbs to the neighboring village. I’ll feed you when I get back. Be good and wait for me at home.”

The little koi gently flicked his tail in response.

In the neighboring village, the herbalist sent his apprentice to collect herbs every half month. Since it wasn’t time yet, Qin Zhao had to go there in person to sell the herbs.

He placed the small wooden bucket on the desk by the windowsill, shouldered his basket, and headed out.

No matter how much discomfort he was in, he still walked with his back straight. The breeze gently lifted the hem of his light green robe, making him look even more slender.

Jing Li watched his figure disappear from sight before withdrawing his gaze.

These past few days, Jing Li’s mood had been very conflicted.

From Qin Zhao’s perspective, even if the Chen family weren’t planning to split up, he would still find a way to return the property to them. But if not for this situation, Qin Zhao could have taken his time to regain his health, saved enough money, and then gone to thank the Chen family and clear up any misunderstandings.

Instead of exhausting himself by trying to find ways to make money and nearly collapsing from the strain.

All of this… was probably his fault, wasn’t it?

Qin Zhao had been so kind to him over the past few days that Jing Li had almost forgotten that he was inherently unlucky and only brought misfortune to those around him.

Otherwise, how else could it be that Qin Zhao had lived peacefully in Linxi Village for three years, but as soon as Jing Li arrived, Qin Zhao was facing the prospect of being kicked out?

He couldn’t believe this was just a coincidence.

Jing Li shook his head, trying to stop himself from overthinking.

Now wasn’t the time to dwell on such thoughts. What he needed to do was figure out a way to help Qin Zhao make some money.

And he already had an idea.

Knowing that Jing Li got bored easily, Qin Zhao usually placed him on the windowsill with the widest view whenever he had to go out, allowing Jing Li to see the outside world.

This made it easier for him to leave.

Jing Li took a deep breath of water, then leaped out of the bucket with a splash and jumped down from the windowsill.

Every household in Linxi Village had a drainage ditch beside it. Jing Li bounced along the ground for a bit before deftly leaping into the ditch and swimming downstream.

The ditch eventually connected to the small stream, a route Jing Li had taken several times over the past few days.

He knew that the bottoms of many streams, lakes, and rivers often hid valuable treasures. The constant flow of water would wash lost items dropped by passersby to the riverbed, and in places like this village, the chances of finding something valuable were higher.

For the past few days, Jing Li had been searching the stream, hoping to get lucky.

If he could find something valuable, Qin Zhao wouldn’t have to struggle so much anymore.

Although… he hadn’t found even a single coin after several days of searching.

Unlucky as ever.

Fortunately, the little koi was well aware of his own bad luck. If he couldn’t find anything nearby, he’d just search further away. With enough searching, he was bound to find something valuable eventually.

He couldn’t let Qin Zhao do all the hard work alone.

The little koi swam swiftly through the ditch, just about to exit into the stream.

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed before his eyes.

Jing Li hadn’t even seen what it was before his body instinctively sprang into the air, narrowly avoiding it.

The little koi fish landed back in the ditch and looked up.

A chubby, round orange cat was perched at the edge of the ditch, licking its wet front paw, its eyes locked intently on Jing Li.

Jing Li: “…”

Then, the orange cat arched its back and, with a “meow,” pounced forward.

“—Ahhhhh!”

Jing Li let out a cry, though no sound came out, and he quickly turned to swim toward the stream.

But no matter how fast a fish could swim, it was no match for a cat’s speed. The orange cat quickly closed in, its sharp claws swiping down toward the little koi.

Fortunately, Jing Li was far more agile than an ordinary fish, and he narrowly dodged the cat’s claws once again, suddenly finding his view expand as he tumbled into the stream with a splash.

…Was he safe now?

The little koi floated to the surface, looking around anxiously, but saw no sign of the cat.

That was close.

Jing Li let out a sigh of relief.

He had always been afraid of cats when he was human, and now as a fish, it was even worse—cats were his natural enemies!

He hadn’t found any money, but he had found a cat instead. It was just his luck.

As Jing Li helplessly thought this, he suddenly felt the water around him move. Before he could react, something tightened around his body, and he was abruptly lifted out of the water.

Dazed, he turned his head and found himself staring into a pair of round cat eyes.

He was being held in the orange cat’s mouth.

Ahhhhhhh—

As night began to fall, an orange cat, carrying a bright red koi fish, darted into the forest outside the village.

Jing Li, clamped in the cat’s mouth, was gripped tightly by its sharp teeth, leaving him unable to move.

His only free tail hung limply, trembling all over.

He had thought that the worst outcome would be finding nothing, but who would have guessed that someone in this small mountain village kept a cat!

Why did he have to be so reckless…

The orange cat continued deeper into the forest before finally setting the little fish down.

But Jing Li didn’t move.

The little koi fish lay quietly on the ground, even his gills had stopped moving, as if he had lost consciousness.

The orange cat pawed at the fish’s body and curiously sniffed it, seemingly puzzled as to why the little fish that had been struggling so desperately just moments ago had suddenly gone still.

Seizing the opportunity, Jing Li swung his tail forcefully, smacking the orange cat right in the eye.

The orange cat yowled in pain, and when it opened its eyes again, the fish had already disappeared.

Jing Li, trembling with fear, desperately flopped toward the depths of the forest.

But he had been out of the water for too long, and the fright had drained his strength. Soon, he didn’t even have the energy to move.

The bushes rustled behind him, and the little koi curled up under a leaf, his tail trembling with fear.

This is it, he thought. This time, I’m definitely going to die.

Qin Zhao, where are you…

Just then, the bushes were parted, and a familiar face appeared in his field of vision.

“So it was you,” Qin Zhao said.

He had been on his way back to the village when he saw an orange cat carrying a fish into the forest. He hadn’t gotten a clear look at the fish, but something told him to follow and check it out.

Sure enough, it was his silly little fish.

Qin Zhao crouched down and gently picked up the little koi, cradling him in his hand. “I told you to stay at home. What happened?”

Jing Li didn’t have the strength to respond; he simply nuzzled his head against Qin Zhao’s finger, curling up tightly in his palm and trembling all over.

He was terribly upset.

Qin Zhao understood that the little koi was starting to dry out, so he didn’t delay any longer and prepared to leave with him.

Before standing up, his gaze instinctively swept over the surrounding area, and he froze.

In the spot where Jing Li had been hiding, a few leaves with a unique shape were covered in dew, lying quietly among the grass.

“This is…”

Surprise flickered in Qin Zhao’s eyes.