Shu Tang is a kitten that loves to deceive. She always has a myriad of bizarre reasons to bamboozle the mermaid.
But when it comes to keeping him company, the kitten always kept her word. She often felt intimidated by certain things, just as the mermaid understood—she wasn’t very brave, but no matter how scared, the kitten never left his side.
Zhu Yan thought ten years would be a long time. But the kitten’s words were like magic; indeed, upon opening his eyes again, ten years had passed in the span of one sleep.
Waking up to a beautiful dawn, he heard the bubbling sound of the kitten cooking porridge, along with the clatter of her frantically adding water.
The temperature of autumn began to drop, and the wind turned gentler.
The date on the calendar flipped to ten years later.
The withering blue rose also welcomed a new life.
This towering creature entered the kitchen, the dazzling sunlight falling perfectly on the kitten.
Unattainable happiness and love finally reached their destination.
The tumultuous first half of life all settled into the tranquility of mundane daily life.
It became the kitten’s porridge, bubbling merrily into the air.
However, on this morning, the monster who woke up and returned to normal did not voluntarily tell the kitten about it.
He acted no differently from the Zhu Yan of yesterday.
Shu Tang naturally called him “Mr. Zhu,” sitting by his side for breakfast just like yesterday, unaware that today’s Zhu Yan was different.
But the kitten was also a bit confused: the old scholar had said the time had come, but when exactly would things return to normal?
She kept looking at Zhu Yan, feeling that something was off.
However, Mr. Zhu calmly invited her to go out to sea on a boat and enjoy the breeze together.
Shu Tang was a bit puzzled, but she happily agreed.
When she saw Zhu Yan skillfully operating the ship’s steering system, Shu Tang dismissed her doubts and her eyes shone with admiration.
Mr. Zhu’s fingers paused, and he glanced at the kitten, uttering a soft snort in his mind.
—Because this monster had long discovered that when facing “Zhu Yan,” the kitten showed a strong desire to explore and curiosity.
Shu Tang discovered the truth while they were drinking juice together on the ship.
Today, Mr. Zhu liked asking her questions, casually inquiring:
“Do you prefer him ten years later a bit more, or ten years earlier a bit more?”
Shu Tang instinctively thought to get some water, saying she liked both, very satisfied.
But suddenly, she felt a bit suspicious.
She had a strange intuition, turning her head to look at the profound “Mr. Zhu” beside her.
Suddenly she said:
“I like Zhu Yan a bit more.”
She counted on her fingers:
“Zhu Yan is more reasonable, and he cooks better…”
Shu Tang noticed that the “Mr. Zhu” beside her paused for a moment.
She said, “And Mr. Zhu wouldn’t childishly pretend to have amnesia.”
The mermaid turned his head and said in Zhu Yan’s calm tone, “He would.”
Shu Tang exclaimed, “I knew it was you, Little Rose, you were pretending!”
Shu Tang grabbed a water gun from the deck and squirted the mermaid, who lazily flicked his silver long hair in the sunlight, unconcerned, and with a stretch of his long arms, he pulled her into his embrace, smearing all the water from his hair onto her clothes.
Shu Tang dodged around, and the two frolicked for a while until Zhen Zhen nearby heard the noise, appeared spouting water, and then they stopped.
Shu Tang curiously watched the mermaid now lazily washing his fishtail in the seawater.
Shu Tang wondered: After completely regaining his memory, would Little Rose change a bit?
Ten years had certainly changed many things, just as Shu Tang and the mermaid both knew, he could no longer return to being the greatly beloved leader of ten years ago.
Too many irreversible changes had occurred to Zhu Yan.
At least, his very high moral baseline no longer existed.
Because for the current Zhu Yan, he no longer considered himself human, and the moral shackles of human society would naturally shatter.
But now, the mermaid had gained a bit more “humanity.”
Previously, the mermaid’s empathy was almost non-existent, and he found it hard to understand many emotions described by Shu Tang. He knew tears meant discomfort, but he couldn’t distinguish between pain and sorrow.
Once upon a time, when Shu Tang watched TV dramas and cried her eyes out, the mermaid believed for a while that the television’s radio waves were attacking the cat’s tear glands, so he often hissed at the television.
But now, the mermaid could at least understand why she cried at the images on the TV screen.
After knowing this, Shu Tang found it absurd, because they were watching a TV drama about parting in life and death, yet the mermaid looked expressionless, as if he lacked empathy.
She asked the mermaid, “Why don’t you cry at such heart-wrenching scenes?”
The mermaid flicked his tail: “Because the blood of the pollutants is fake; I’ve stabbed them myself, it doesn’t look like that.”
Shu Tang: “…”
Shu Tang suggested he try to put himself in their shoes, saying if the vomiting heroine was her, he would cry.
The mermaid tilted his head to consider this, and then slowly said: “I wouldn’t cry; I’d kill off all the characters in the TV.”
Shu Tang: “…”
He had some empathy, but it didn’t seem to be much.
…
Whether it was ten years ago or ten years later, Zhu Yan rarely spoke; silence was a trait of his that wouldn’t change. Even speaking long sentences was extremely rare.
But the benefits of regaining memory were also clear—
The two could play idiomatic solitaire all day without stopping.
They could also read books together and share opinions.
Under the afternoon sun, the two of them would read books or discuss how to decorate the Bastille.
In fact, if they hadn’t found the past memories, this monster might really have completely lost its “humanity” one day. And the differences in their values would have been exposed over days of living together.
But now, this monster had a more complete cognition and a sounder set of values.
He still didn’t care about the outside world, nor was he very good at loving someone, but after finding his past self, he found he had more experience and patience to learn how to love her.
The past Zhu Yan had also believed that fate had made a fool of him, but ten years later, he no longer hated the misfortunes wrought by fate.
Even now, Zhu Yan thought that mutation might be a gift.
Because without mutation, they might have been like two parallel lines, one in the north and the other in the south, never intersecting.
Shu Tang asked, “Little Rose, what are you looking at?”
The mermaid said, “Shadows.”
Their two shadows stretched under the setting sun, meeting together.
—
That night, Shu Tang sat across from the mermaid.
“Next, we need to discuss marriage.”
Like Zhu Yan, who ten years ago never imagined he’d marry and lead a simple, happy life; twenty-year-old Shu Tang also never expected to marry so young.
Both were incredulous about their impending marriage.
But it felt like the start of a new life, filled with novelty and eagerness.
They discussed how to decorate their wedding home (the Bastille), how to organize the wedding, when to try on wedding dresses, how to convince Shu Tang’s parents, and whom to send invitations to.
These trivial topics carried on into the late night, yet neither of them found it tedious.
Even the once human-shaped nuclear weapon, the great leader, was requested by Shu Tang to wear a wedding dress.
Zhu Yan, of course, refused.
He decisively dismissed it as “daydreaming.”
However, after a while, the mermaid told her that if she took the initiative for a month, the matter could be reconsidered.
Shu Tang, of course, refused.
She felt she might not be able to get out of bed.
She decisively dismissed it as “wildly imaginative.”
—
The morning they were to meet the parents was a bit chaotic.
Shu Tang didn’t plan to reveal Zhu Yan’s identity right away because her parents were very ordinary townspeople. She wanted to gradually introduce them after they got to know “Little Rose,” then reveal his mermaid identity.
Thus, she only mentioned she was dating someone called “Little Rose,” a quiet, taciturn individual.
So Shu Tang took the mermaid home for a meal and to meet her parents.
Before entering, Shu Tang was surprised to find the mermaid looking a bit nervous.
The creature had every button neatly done up today, and frowning, it looked at its own fins through the window, feeling a bit out of place for the first time.
Upon entering and seeing her much shorter parents, about the height of a small cat, the tall creature had to duck to get through the door and felt somewhat at a loss.
For the mermaid, his memories did not include experiences with family or relatives; but fortunately, recalling the past, he was no longer as ignorant as before and completely unable to interact with people.
The creature awkwardly and clumsily mimicked his past memories, trying to make a good impression on the cat mom and dad.
Shu Tang certainly noticed this. She silently held the mermaid’s cold, large hand.
Gradually, the tall creature’s tense back began to relax.
Although the cat’s parents were indeed quite surprised by the mermaid’s appearance at first.
But classmate Shu Tang had given her parents a heads-up in advance.
She had messaged her mom briefly about her partner’s situation.
She described him as her “little rose”—
Intellectually and morally commendable, yet somewhat sensitive in character.
He didn’t quite look human, but his fishtail and ears were quite adorable.
In Shu Tang’s description, her parents thought of “little rose” as a frail, helpless, sickly soul. They did not discriminate against Shu Tang’s partner based on appearance, but rather grew fond of him after hearing about their process of meeting and falling in love.
But when the door opened—
Shu’s mom thought: How is he frail? Isn’t he almost two meters tall!
Shu’s dad thought: He looks like he could squash ten pollutants with ease!
However, overall, because of Shu Tang’s effective forewarning, the first meeting went very well.
Except that “little rose” looked nothing like Shu Tang’s description, nor did he resemble anything “little” or “rose-like.”
But in a way, Zhu Yan was the perfect son-in-law by conventional standards: composed, with a stable job, and no parents.
And he could even cook and fish.
Of course, aside from the fact that his spirit was as big as a city and he was probably no longer human.
But based on today’s meeting, Shu’s parents thought:
He’s a quiet but reliable person, very tolerant and well-suited to Shu Tang.
Although he was a bit tall, Shu Tang standing next to him looked like a kettle;
Although his demeanor was gloomy, he had a mysterious air somewhere between a leader and a ghost story protagonist;
Although he almost crushed Shu’s dad’s metal table with one hand;
Although his appearance was questionable, so pale his veins turned blue, and the fins behind his ears scraped a gap in their front door;
But Shu’s mom thought: Just needs more blood to look a bit more normal.
Shu’s dad thought: It’s all from playing with the communicator too much, just needs to use it less.
Despite some quirks and not looking quite human, hearing that he could cook and fish, with excellent fishing skills, they were sure he wouldn’t let their little cat starve.
The cat’s parents unanimously thought: Overall, this is a very positive, stable, and reliable young man!