Shu Tang was penniless.
During the last incident, the emergency department collectively fell victim to an online scam, and Shu Tang was among those scammed—the eight cents in her credit card balance were wiped out.
The interns at the nursing home only made two thousand yuan a salary. They were fined for being late, for laziness, and even for dispensing the wrong medication, often finding themselves owing the emergency department hundreds of yuan when payday came.
It was not uncommon for interns to end up paying to work. Shu Tang took this as a cautionary tale, but often ended up with just over a thousand yuan in hand!
Due to the arrival of the pollution zone, food became scarce, and competition increased.
Shu Tang used to live in a world where a cup of milk tea could contain ten different ingredients. Now, she couldn’t even gather ten ingredients in a large shopping mall. She couldn’t stand eating nutrient solution every day—the texture was too awful. Every few days, she had to eat some fruit and occasionally buy some shrimp or chicken to cook up a little feast.
Thus, every month’s end saw Shu Tang plunging into a financial crisis, forcing her to dine in the cafeteria.
Su Yin was a standard case; just like her spirit companion, Little Wolf, she was fiercely ambitious but had low desires. She was a top performer, saving all her salary to eventually use it to grease connections and transfer to a hospital at the South Island Base.
She aimed for a promotion and to become the hospital director!
Little Wolf, full of ambition every day, could not understand the orange cat on the adjacent bed, who neither hustled nor struggled and spent any money she had on food. Asked about her life goals—
Cat: “To be the first to grab a chicken leg in the cafeteria!”
Shu Tang had just arrived in this world and was quite nervous upon hearing about the pollution zones, thinking she was about to endure a post-apocalyptic survival life. However, in reality, the federation consisted of eight major bases, continuously expanding to form eight large cities. As a powerful human alliance, ordinary people’s lives were also assured.
Life for Shu Tang wasn’t much different from the 21st century.
Because of the focus on psychic powers, most research had shifted towards this field, and most high-tech development was concentrated on exploring the pollution zones, causing technology in everyday life to stagnate.
Thus, waking up to a rainy world outside her window and listening to her roommate’s complaints, Shu Tang suddenly felt like she was still in the 21st century.
But one look at the balance in her communicator brought her back to reality.
Shu Tang pulled out a list she had made a few days earlier during a morning meeting—
There was nothing in Zone 01 where the mermaid lived. She planned to buy the items on the list at the supermarket and take them with her when she took a day off to visit him.
Shu Tang bought the daily necessities on the list, along with some spices and selected some instant foods.
At the checkout, Shu Tang remembered that mermaid had sensitive hearing, so she bought him a pair of earplugs.
Leaving the supermarket, it was already eleven at night.
Humming a tune, Shu Tang pocketed her hands and returned to her night shift in the emergency department. Even the big yellow dog at the door could tell Shu Tang was in a good mood and came over to wag its tail at her.
In the break room, she brewed a cup of coffee and listened to Su Yin and Nurse Tian chatting, occasionally glancing out the window.
Dull and tedious; life as an intern, constantly having money docked; daily endless shifts, making Shu Tang feel like a soul departed from her body, a walking zombie. She looked forward to only two things every day: a large chicken leg and holidays.
Only when these two things were mentioned did Shu Tang’s eyes shine with a hint of excitement.
Now, it seemed there was one more thing—
However, until the clock struck midnight and the interns entered their respective duty rooms, the mermaid had not appeared.
Shu Tang waited another half hour, but outside the window, everything was as empty as before.
She informed Nurse Xiao Tian and then left the emergency department with her umbrella.
It always rained at night; Shu Tang knew “he” liked to hide in the darkness, so she turned on her flashlight and looked around.
But in the darkness, there was no sign of the mermaid.
Shu Tang thought for a moment, then started walking towards the dormitory building.
She thought: It would be normal if the mermaid didn’t know the way and was waiting near the dormitory.
…
The dormitory was quiet deep into the night, illuminated only by a warm yellow streetlight.
Shu Tang’s dormitory door was securely locked, showing no signs of anyone having entered; she searched up and down three or four floors, but still found nothing.
—Could it really be because they had fought over the air conditioner remote yesterday?
—But when “he” left, he had even brought her a fish.
The next second, Shu Tang heard a slight noise from the utility room, just like yesterday.
Her ears perked up, she pushed the door open, and found a wet stray kitten in the corner.
She took the kitten to the next room and left the dormitory.
The night was cold, and the drizzling rain splashed onto Shu Tang’s calves, wetting her pants without her noticing.
Suddenly, Shu Tang realized, “he” really didn’t need to come find her every night, rain or shine.
Maybe it was because the rain was too heavy today, or maybe he just didn’t want to go out.
They hadn’t agreed to meet every night, so it wasn’t even a broken appointment.
Not long ago, Shu Tang had wanted to talk to the mermaid properly, asking him not to come find her in the rain at night anymore, especially since the weather in South Island City was terrible and the nights were unsafe.
The mermaid not coming was actually a good thing.
But still, Shu Tang couldn’t help feeling down, her steps heavy, returning to her zombie-like state overwhelmed by work, slowly making her way back to the emergency department.
However, halfway there, Shu Tang was suddenly jolted by a piercing air raid siren that split the quiet night sky, resonating throughout the entire sanatorium.
Shu Tang’s communicator beeped, a message from Su Yin: “Come back immediately!”
What was originally a quiet night turned chaotic in an instant due to the air raid siren that lasted for fifteen minutes. The whole sanatorium seemed to awaken suddenly, bustling with lights and movement.
All the staff from the emergency department who were on the night shift or sleeping rushed back into the building, hurriedly packing their things. Papers scattered on the floor were left unattended, and therapists hastily carried patients out on stretchers.
Upon seeing Shu Tang at the door, Su Yin pulled her towards the duty office:
“Hurry and pack your things, we need to leave here!”
Shu Tang quickly gathered her belongings and followed Su Yin, blending in behind Director Zhou and the interns as they rushed outside.
Shu Tang asked, “What’s actually going on?”
Su Yin whispered, “There’s been an incident in the restricted area.”
As an intern at the bottom of the workplace food chain, Shu Tang had never heard this term before: What restricted area? What is that?
Being part of the “interns are not considered people” faction, Su Yin had only found out about it recently too.
The two of them trailed at the very end of the group, whispering to each other:
“Our sanatorium used to be a prison, originally called Cape Prison. Gradually, the sanatorium was built around the prison, which was then turned into a restricted area.”
“The nearby sea is off-limits for fishing because it includes the area around the restricted zone. And in such a vast restricted area, only one person is detained.”
Shu Tang: Why does that sound familiar?
Director Zhou yelled from the front, “You two! You’ve evacuated, so hurry up and get on! What are you dawdling for?”
They immediately fell silent, climbed onto the truck, and squeezed in among a group of alphas.
Su Yin lowered her voice, “I heard that anyone entering or leaving the restricted area has to wear protective gear and sign a life and death agreement. Just recently, a military exploration vessel from the South Island base was scrapped after a trip to the restricted area!”
Su Yin, still shaken: “I can’t even imagine the level of psychic disturbance that would cause.”
Su Yin, anxiously: “No wonder they want the whole hospital evacuated as soon as something happens!”
Shu Tang, shocked: “Oh my God, that’s terrifying!”
This is probably something she is clueless about; cannon fodder Shu Tang is closest to the truth; once, after all, it feels so familiar; the plot, as if personally experienced; the scene, easily reminiscent of that day; experience.
But the reason why cannon fodder is cannon fodder is because of carelessness and thick nerves. Cannon fodder Tang was just surprised by this familiar plot. In her heart, what does this terrible situation and the very “harmonious” atmosphere have to do with blind dates? And it’s even less related to her. She’s just a passerby!
Listening to various terrifying legends about the forbidden area, Shu Tang kept saying how scary it was while leaning against the car window and looking outside.
Amidst the brightly lit chaos of evacuation, Shu Tang never found that tall figure.
The sound of rain gradually increased, and the surrounding noise became chaotic.
Shu Tang lowered her head and found that she had been holding the shopping bag for Zone 01 to be brought tomorrow.
—But she didn’t know where everyone was going to evacuate to, and she didn’t know if she could find Little Rose after the evacuation.
…
Everyone in the sanatorium has been trained, even interns have undergone training when they first joined. The retreat is naturally orderly.
The patients are taken care of by their respective therapists, and at this time, the seniors are counting their own patients.
Idle interns are gathering together to chat about the legends of the forbidden area, daydreaming among them. Shu Tang suddenly remembered something:
The medical record of Little Blue Rose is empty—which also means “he” is not responsible for any therapist.
Will anyone go to Zone 01 to pick up “him” for evacuation?
There is only Little Rose in the entire Zone 01. What if everyone leaves and forgets Zone 01? After all, there is no electricity inside.
The interns around her are still talking about how terrifying the existence in the forbidden area is, such as humanoid nuclear weapons, even more destructive than advanced pollutants. Shu Tang suddenly couldn’t sit still.
She thought to herself: Oh my god, this is too scary.
Turning her head, she whispered to Su Yin:
“Do you remember my match? He’s very introverted, doesn’t like to talk, and is timid. What if he hides and gets left behind?”
“I’ll go check on him and come back as soon as I confirm he’s on the bus.”
Su Yin knew Shu Tang’s match was in Zone 10, just two cars away, so she didn’t stop her, just told her to hurry up and come back.
Shu Tang got off the truck, holding a small red umbrella, and hurried into the drizzling rain.