I'm a Mermaid Who Fishes with a Spirit Spring

As a half-blood mermaid, Xie Yanzhou often got so frustrated by his failed fishing trips that he'd shut himself away.

Unable to make a living in mermaid society, he decided to come ashore and try his luck among humans.

He hadn't expected human society to have no place for a lazy fish, or even a salty mermaid.

Working like a drudge was hard.

After much soul-searching, Xie Yanzhou decided to make his living from the sea after all.

So he became a freelance boat angler, heading out to fish for half a day and coming home once he had enough.

To his surprise, while fishing in a legendary stretch of sea, he happened upon a spring of spiritual water.

It produced just thirty milliliters a day, enough for one sip.

Dilute it, and it didn't work well either.

The spiritual water was only so-so for everything he tried.

Then one day, Xie Yanzhou used it to make bait and landed a boatload of fish.

It finally dawned on him: he'd figured out how to use the spiritual water.

From then on, every trip was a huge success, and his boat was full every day. His needs were satisfied in every way, from his body to his bank account.

·

One day, Xie Yanzhou went fishing with bait made from the spiritual water and hooked a male mermaid.

A three-meter-tall mermaid with stunning looks, who was on a secret mission for the Special Administration Bureau.

He was also Xie Yanzhou's lifelong nemesis, the most competitive mermaid in their clan.

They glared at each other for a moment. His nemesis nodded, then went to the other side of the river.

Half an hour later, Xie Yanzhou reeled him in again.

Xie Yanzhou: ...

His nemesis: ...

What a fateful entanglement.

As two mermaids making their way in human society,

Xie Yanzhou and Xin Cang gradually grew close and became mealtime buddies.

Xie Yanzhou cooked, while Xin Cang helped out.

Boiled fish, grilled fish, smoked fish, sashimi...

With bait boosted by spiritual water, Xie Yanzhou, whose fishing skills had always been mediocre, got to sample every kind of delicious fish.

Xie Yanzhou always thought Xin Cang came over so often because he couldn't get mermaid food in human society.

Until one day, they woke up in the same bed, and Xie Yanzhou stared blankly.

He'd let his guard down and lost his bottom!

When Xin Cang said he wanted to invest in fish farming, was this the kind of investment he meant?!!

[An unconventional fishing-and-farming story. It will start after The Amazing Beast-Cooking Chef?! I've been deeply into Western fantasy lately, so I'll write that one first. This one will probably start in April or May 2027. Thanks so much for waiting, everyone!]

[Note: The title and blurb were updated to the current version on 2026.07.12.]

[Note: The title was rolled back on 2026.07.15.]

Theme: Protecting the ecosystem and cooperating for mutual benefit.