Dating a Nonhuman Girlfriend

[Collection of stories / Complete] 1. Ye Zhuang was accidentally stung by a jellyfish at the beach. The wound neither itched nor hurt, but a red mark remained on her leg and would not fade. Whenever Ye Zhuang touched the mark, she felt that it was colder than the rest of her skin. While taking a bath, she was overcome by an irresistible drowsiness. In her dream, Ye Zhuang felt as though she were lying on the waves, drifting with the current, utterly relaxed. When she woke, she found an unusually enormous, translucent jellyfish squeezed into the bathtub with her. A woman's body rose above its bell. The woman opened her mouth as if to speak, but after struggling for a long while, all she managed to produce was a bubble. [Bright, out-and-proud celebrity X clingy translucent jellyfish] 2. Zhu Yu brought home a full-length mirror from an antiques market. From then on, she could always hear the lingering whispers of a woman by her ear, and sometimes a woman made of glass appeared in the reflection. She had loved strange and uncanny things since childhood, so she pretended not to notice and quietly watched the mirror spirit's daily muttering and rambling. One day, after what seemed to be a rough day at work, Zhu Yu came home and lay on her bed, sobbing. The voice drew closer, as if right beside her ear, asking, "What's wrong?" Zhu Yu caught the mirror spirit's icy glass wrist, a smile playing on her lips. "Caught you. Don't even think about escaping." [Sweet on the outside, dark within office worker X glass mirror spirit who loves to ramble] 3. Cong Shuang rescued a wolfdog that had been abused. It was gaunt and frail, its body covered in scars and its eyes full of hostility. She brought it home, nursed it back to health, trained it to behave, and found it a new owner. But no matter how far away she sent it, the dog always ran back. After finding the dog at her door yet again, Cong Shuang decided to keep it. But just after she ordered a dog tag, the dog disappeared on its own. Not long after, a woman moved into the house across from Cong Shuang's, a strange woman with a wild streak. [Gentle, composed dog trainer X proud, untamable attack dog] 4. Jun Ling was sketching in the countryside when she suddenly spotted a glint in the river. Following it upstream, among the thick water plants, she saw a stunning mermaid, shimmering in the light, timid and beautiful, damp and cold. Before Jun Ling could memorize her face, a piercing shriek knocked her unconscious. When she awoke, she searched the waters in a frenzy. At last, on a rainy night, she encountered the mermaid again. Her tail was crimson, and she was in heat. [Repressed, unhinged artist X innocent, guileless mermaid] 5. Sensual novelist X innocent succubus 6. Temple keeper of Zhen Ci Temple X divine black cat [Please note: 1. Modern urban setting, interconnected stories, one-on-one happy endings, sweet everyday romance, not horror. 2. Every couple is different, but they all share the same world and are connected to one another. 3. The nonhuman ladies are quite nonhuman, but can cook and take human form. 4. The story order may not match the list above. I've dropped the act: this is pure wish fulfillment. 5. The cover character design is a template, not the only possibility. [Coming soon: Brides of the Nonhumans, a post-apocalyptic collection of stories] A hundred years after global evolution, all things have begun to thrive again. The nonhuman ladies born in the apocalypse are gradually reaching their mating season. 1. They say that pure nuns return to God's embrace after death and enjoy eternal bliss, but Rosa saw one of her companions' rings on a brutally murdered headless corpse. She no longer believed there was a god. Under the cover of night, Rosa fled aimlessly along the sea and collapsed. She awoke to a cold breath. A scaly hand was pushing raw fish into her mouth. In that moment, Rosa saw her god. [Polluted sea monster X apostate nun] 2. If Wen Tianya had known the apocalypse was coming, she would have studied biological sciences. An artificial intelligence expert, rendered penniless overnight. After she developed a tumor, the thought haunted her even more. Wen Tianya began venturing alone into dangerous zones to scavenge electronic junk. She heard a broken electronic voice: "H-Hello... Master, long time no see. How... how have you been lately?" [Long-abandoned supercomputer X terminally ill scientist] 3. Ji Fang was lucky. In the early days of the apocalypse, she took over a kindergarten on the island, farmed, guarded the place, and lay low for a long time. But Ji Fang was also unlucky: three children were never picked up by their parents. She did not want to live, but she could not abandon them and die. One morning, Ji Fang woke up to find that she had another student. The newcomer was covered in a layer of mycelium and copied whatever the other students did. The little mushroom person sat silently at the dining table. Its pitch-black eyes gazed at Ji Fang, as if asking, "Teacher, where's my food?" [All-pervasive mother of fungi X kindergarten teacher who wants to die every day] Theme: Love transcends everything.