Chapter 1

Father had gone out to sea two days before and still hadn’t come back.

The village aunties all said a storm had taken him and we would never see him again.

But Father did come back—and he dragged a strange fish home with him!

It had a woman’s body and a fish’s tail.

Her face was so exquisite, so beautiful, that even I could only stare.

“Laixiao, is your father back?”

Grandfather hurried in from outside.

“A mermaid!”

The words burst out of him the moment he saw the unconscious creature dumped on the bed.

Father nodded smugly.

“That’s right, a mermaid! Our luck’s finally turned!”

His gaze fixed on her bare upper body.

His throat worked as he took in her slender waist and her breasts.

I quickly pulled a quilt over her.

Father’s face darkened at once.

“Wretched girl. Bad luck, just like your mother! Get out of my way!”

He raised a hand and slapped me.

I didn’t dare dodge. The blow landed squarely, sending me stumbling, almost to the floor.

“Careful. Mark her up and Old Guan the Seventh will knock the price down again.”

Grandfather shook his head.

I was twelve, but they had already promised me to a man.

The Old Guan the Seventh he meant was a widower in our fishing village, only two years younger than Grandfather himself.

Mother had fought hard to stop it, but after giving birth to my ninth sister, she had grown weak, hemorrhaged, and died.

There was no one left in this house to protect me.

“Pull out her guardian scale. Three inches below the navel—that’s where it is. She’ll lose her magic then.”

Grandfather knew a great deal. He said he’d heard people talk about this when he was young.

There were three ways to control a mermaid.

First, remove her guardian scale, and she would lose her magical powers.

Second, never let her touch seawater. It would restore her strength, and then she could easily escape.

Third, give her a bowl of fish-poison vine broth every day.

To fish, that vine was like an anesthetic.

Once they drank it, they became dazed and senseless.

Father nodded eagerly.

He pulled out the guardian scale, then told me to make the broth.

“Move! Don’t spoil my fun!”

He shouted at me.

I hurried out to the kitchen next door to boil the herbs.

“Two whole years I’ve gone without. Those snobs all turn their noses up at me and won’t marry me. Well, today I’m finally getting my fill!”

There was something almost deranged in Father’s laughter.

The village women didn’t refuse him just because he was poor.

He beat his wife worse than any man in the village.

The other uncles beat theirs too, but rarely so badly they couldn’t get out of bed.

Father was different. After every birth, Mother suffered another savage beating. He had broken her bones several times.

Still, she endured it. She wanted to give him a son.

Once there was a son, she said, everything would be all right. It was her fault for being useless.

“Mind you go easy. She’s a treasure. Don’t get carried away!”

Grandfather sounded as though he was swallowing his own saliva as he spoke.

“Father, she’s my wife now!”

Father raised his voice.

“Mm.”

Grandfather’s answer was flat, and full of resentment.