Shu Tang continued to walk forward.
Sure enough, at the end of the hallway, around the corner, she saw that tall monster.
In the dim twilight, “he” looked down at her and called out:
“Tang.”
As if he was waiting for her answer.
Her lips began to rise crazily.
“Sure.”
So no one asked what that nonchalant “Sure” meant.
It just felt very natural.
One bent down.
One tiptoed.
And they embraced.
The rain behind them blurred their fondness.
But their heartbeats gradually became clearer.
Actually, the scene at this moment was a bit eerie, especially since the script slowly sliding down the grey windows seemed filled with resentment.
Paired with the unlit, empty school building, it was like a scene from a horror movie.
But Shu Tang was oblivious; she ran up to the glass window and wrote “Shu Tang” and “Zhu Yan”, then under the gaze of the mermaid, she drew a big heart around both names.
Encircling them both.
The mermaid paused, lowered his head, and called her “Tang”, asking her what this meant.
Shu Tang said, “It means ‘like’.”
Thus, as Shu Tang walked forward, more and more hearts began to slowly appear on the window.
Shu Tang: Kind of childish.
Shu Tang: Feels like a primary schooler.
But she couldn’t control the rising arc of her lips.
They sat side by side in the empty classroom, drinking milk, and sharing their hearts.
Shu Tang suggested, “Next time, don’t use rainwater because if there’s no dust on the windows, the writing won’t be clear. You could use red ink, blue ink, or something like that.”
She paused and then reminded, “We should be mindful of public morals. Make sure to clean the ink off afterward.”
The mermaid hissed in agreement.
While drinking milk, Shu Tang suddenly said, “It seems we’re about to start dating.”
The monster was quiet for a moment, wanting to ask her what dating meant.
But Shu Tang had already moved on with him.
In fact, the mermaid still wasn’t quite clear on what “dating” involved. This monster was merely acting on instinct, developing fondness and feelings of jealousy and possessiveness.
Fortunately, this deep-sea creature was no longer as volatile as before but had gained sufficient reason and patience.
So, the monster thought:
As long as she teaches, “he” can learn.
…
Just as they were preparing to leave.
A scream came from not too far away.
On a rainy day, an unfortunate male student wandered into the deserted school building and saw the writing on the windows.
A male student fainted from fright when he heard a voice:
“What happened to him?”
Then, a very strange and hoarse “hiss” followed.
Another voice responded: “Definitely hypoglycemia, just like you.”
The male student was even more terrified.
Two people watched for a while, then Shu Tang dialed 110 to call for an ambulance.
When the ambulance arrived, she and the mermaid left hand in hand.
Shu Tang didn’t know that soon, a bizarre tale appeared on the university forum—it described a gloomy rainy afternoon where the word “like” mysteriously appeared on the glass windows, filled with resentment.
…
After a simple lunch, they returned to the dormitory.
Shu Tang was packing her things.
Her junior year ended after the qualification exam. In her senior year, she would tidy up, submit an internship certificate, and cobble together a thesis to graduate smoothly. She wouldn’t need to return to school for classes during her entire senior year.
Her roommates had already started packing and leaving, but Shu Tang, having not returned to school, hadn’t started packing yet.
She sat on the bed, tidying up bits and pieces, and instructed the mermaid to help her pack her suitcase.
Shu Tang said, “Little Rose, I’m going to get the clothes outside.”
The mermaid looked at the clothes hanging on the line above and naturally lifted Shu Tang up.
Shu Tang: “…”
Muttering something, she still sat on his shoulders to reach for things.
She was immersed in an inexplicable joy.
Shu Tang had always thought the mermaid was good-looking, but he seemed even more attractive today, as if marked all over with a “cat-exclusive” stamp, even his thin lips looked incredibly kissable.
The mermaid felt her gaze and naturally let her look while tilting his head, as if asking what she was looking at.
So, Shu Tang leaned down, moved closer, and kissed the mermaid.
Then the mermaid naturally supported her waist.
Shu Tang’s lips curved into a smile as she continued collecting the clothes.
But when Shu Tang looked down from the fifth-floor balcony, she suddenly saw a somewhat familiar car. Looking closer, she saw someone standing by the car, talking to another person—it was Old Wu.
Shu Tang wasn’t surprised to see them.
Soon, they had packed their suitcases.
Originally, after finishing today’s exam, Shu Tang planned to pack up and return to the sanatorium. However, when she was zipping up her suitcase, Shu Tang hesitated.
—All the interns participating in the exam at the sanatorium had a week off as they waited for the results of the qualification exam to come out, which would then be certified by the school before they officially received their certificates.
But Shu Tang’s situation had been special, so she had planned to return to the sanatorium immediately after finishing.
Now that the mermaid was by her side, Shu Tang suddenly didn’t feel like going back right away.
…
Shu Tang knew that the mermaid might have been locked up in the Forbidden Area for four or five years, or even longer.
She actually discovered this the last time she was rummaging through furniture in a warehouse.
She even found a coffee machine, but some things were already broken.
At that moment, Shu Tang had thought about searching online for parts, and when she searched for the brand, she found that these models had been discontinued six years ago.
That day, Shu Tang stared at the discontinued page for a long time.
Some secrets were beyond her reach, and the amnesiac mermaid obviously couldn’t tell her. But the ubiquitous details told Shu Tang that the Bastille was a prison that had been sealed for many years.
Shu Tang thought, if she were locked in the Bastille with no communicator or network, and no one to talk to, she might handle a day or two, but after at most six months, she would go mad, talking to every crab that passed by.
But Little Rose had already been in the Forbidden Area for five or six years.
When Shu Tang first knew about it, she grabbed the mermaid and talked to her all day long.
In the end, the mermaid hung her on a tree branch before she finally stopped.
But today, Shu Tang remembered this and couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity for the fish that had seldom come out.
As for how to explain to Chen Sheng.
Shu Tang very single-mindedly planned: as long as they don’t ask her, she won’t take the initiative.
Shu Tang then looked at the mermaid opposite her:
“Little Rose, how about we go back after a week?”
—Shu Tang thought it had been four or five years, but in reality, Zhu Yan had spent a lonely ten years in the Forbidden Area.
This self-imprisoned prisoner, over the long years, had forgotten his own name, forgotten how to speak, and amid continuous mental turbulence, had finally completely lost his memory.
Nowadays, this solitary, eccentric monster, having no interest in the outside world, views it with a detached and indifferent attitude, as if inspecting its bizarre and varied nature.
Just like a mermaid learning to write: “his” handwriting is unique, in print style;
And like a mermaid learning to vocalize, “he” uses a method similar to animal mimicry;
This monster is, in fact, no longer human at all.
However, these terrifying details were all ignored by Shu Tang.
The monster lowered its head, looking at the kitten on the bed, and approached her.
The mermaid left the forbidden area, crossed half the city to find his kitten, wanting to take her back to his lair.
In the past, this monster would have shown its sharp side, scrutinizing her, believing that the kitten would abandon him again.
But perhaps the affection she gave had smoothed some of the monster’s sharp edges, as he merely called out “Tang,” asking her reason.
This nearly peaceful demeanor was even surprising to the monster himself.
But soon, the kitten gave a lot of love again, further smoothing the monster’s sharp edges a bit more.
Because Shu Tang came closer.
Her eyes sparkled as she whispered quietly to the creature:
“Shall we go on a secret date?”
—It was like eloping.