The Sunglasses-Wearing Little Mermaid

In a vast sea, there lived a beautiful and cute little mermaid.

She often swam up to the surface, sunbathed, and sang songs.

She would also swim to the beach, weaving through the crowds—unlike other mermaids, she had magic, and her tail could turn into legs, allowing her to walk like a human.

This was a famous resort area, where people of all skin colors came and went.

The little mermaid always wore sunglasses. She thought that by doing so, no one would recognize her, because her grandmother had warned her never to let humans find out who she was.

But the truth was, everyone recognized her. For instance, someone might ask,

“Such a beautiful song! Who’s singing?”

“Who else could sing like that? Of course, it’s the little mermaid—the one with the sunglasses!”

Or another time,

“A child fell into the sea earlier, but luckily, a girl wearing sunglasses saved her! She swam so fast, almost as fast as lightning! Who was she?”

“Who else could swim that fast? It was the little mermaid!”

…
But no one ever revealed her secret, so the little mermaid still believed that no one recognized her.

Some children would ask, “Little mermaid, can you sing a song?”

She would reply seriously, “I can sing, but I’m not a mermaid!”

“Little mermaid, can you teach me how to swim?”

“I can teach you, but don’t call me a mermaid, because I’m not one!”

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh.

Everyone liked this beautiful, cute, somewhat mischievous, and helpful little mermaid.

One day, while the little mermaid was half-lying on the surface of the sea, drifting along with the waves, a man suddenly fell from a boat into the water. He was thrashing around wildly, clearly unable to swim.

The little mermaid quickly swam over, grabbed him, and struggled with all her strength to pull him to shore.

She used the first aid skills she had learned to save him, and eventually, the man woke up.

At this moment, the little mermaid realized that he was very handsome.

The man, weakly, looked at the little mermaid and said,
“Was… was it you who saved me?”

Just as the little mermaid was about to speak, a woman suddenly rushed over and said,

“It was me who saved him!”

“Really?”

“Of course, it was me!”

The little mermaid was shocked. She thought to herself, What a nasty woman, pretending to be me! And what a foolish man to believe her.

She stood up and walked away.

What the little mermaid didn’t know was that the woman liked the handsome and wealthy man, so she had jumped in to claim the rescue as her own.

Later that evening, when the little mermaid was about to return to the sea, she saw the man waiting for her on the shore.

He smiled and handed her the sunglasses.

Only then did the little mermaid realize that her sunglasses had fallen off.

“I knew it was you who saved me.”

The little mermaid, surprised, asked,

“You knew?”

“Of course I knew. I’m not foolish, you know—the sunglasses-wearing little mermaid.”

“You even know I am a mermaid?”

…

In the end, the little mermaid discovered that he was a kind-hearted person, and they married and lived happily ever after.