Under the moonlight, they looked at each other across the shallow sea.
She looked down at the fish on the ground, her heart suddenly feeling a bit full and sour.
She suddenly understood why the mermaid had disappeared so suddenly, why he had always been so silent.
Shu Tang was supposed to have immediately taken the mermaid to find a plane for rescue, but she suddenly couldn’t bear to do so.
She even felt reluctant to expose his insincere plea to stay.
She looked up in the direction of the plane.
The helicopter did not land directly in the restricted area; for reasons unknown, it touched down somewhere else within the sanatorium.
The elevator power wouldn’t be restored that quickly. Even if they rushed now, there would be no way to leave.
Shu Tang guessed that pleading to the camera might have worked: since the main forces remembered them, there was no need to worry about being left behind. All they had to do was wait for the power to be restored.
Thus, Shu Tang successfully convinced herself.
She did not run towards the direction of the plane but walked forward, stepping on the tide to face the mermaid.
The mermaid lowered its head, staring at Shu Tang.
She pretended not to see the mermaid’s gaze and casually said, “Little Rose, where did you run off to?”
“I’ve been looking for you for so long, I thought something had happened to you in the sea.”
The mermaid knew she understood, but this little liar pretended not to.
Yet the little liar had returned, answering that question.
At least for today, she was not going anywhere.
She even continued to pretend as if nothing was amiss, “Little Rose, how did you catch so many fish? We definitely can’t eat them all…”
The mermaid was silent for a moment, then followed her.
…
That night, Shu Tang did not sleep on one side as usual with the mermaid.
Instead, she took the initiative to lie down in the middle of the mermaid’s tail, close to the mermaid.
Several times under the blanket, Shu Tang wanted to talk to the mermaid, but the mermaid had already closed its eyes, seemingly asleep.
The curtains blocked the moonlight, she sighed and fell into sleep as well.
However, after she closed her eyes, the mermaid then opened its eyes.
The morning of the fifth day.
They did as they had in the previous days, waking up naturally and then brushing their teeth and washing up together, before lighting a fire by the campfire to prepare breakfast.
It wasn’t until there was a disturbance on the horizon that many helicopters flew overhead.
—It seemed like a large number of troops had returned.
In fact, the mermaid could hear more noises than Shu Tang could; “he” calmly listened to the sounds of countless helicopters landing and people talking, as if the once eerily silent sanatorium had come back to life.
“He” lowered his eyes and silently added more wood to the fire.
At that time, Shu Tang was rummaging through a shopping bag.
The supply of medicine she had brought was running low, having only taken one box of each kind on a temporary basis—but the medication for relieving neuralgia could not be discontinued.
She had to go back for more medicine.
Shu Tang looked up at the airplanes in the sky, knowing in her heart that, one way or another, she had to leave for a while.
She needed to go back to reassure her family, bring back medicine for him, and handle many other matters.
So, she moved over to sit next to the mermaid.
The mermaid’s hand paused as he added wood to the fire.
His lips tightly pressed together.
Shu Tang fiddled with her fingers, “Little Rose, I have a day and a half off each week. I work half day shifts and half night shifts. If I don’t work overtime, I can spare…”
Shu Tang stopped talking.
Because she suddenly realized a sad reality: interns seem never to have a time without overtime.
So Shu Tang changed her wording: “Then, if I work night shifts later, I won’t go back to the dorm during the day. I’ll come to see you whenever I have time.”
The mermaid, pinching the wood, remained motionless for a long time.
His pale lips were a bit dry.
She said: She needs to go back to get medicine, go to work, and also to reassure her parents.
She said: She will definitely come back to find him.
The mermaid actually didn’t understand many of the words, nor could he grasp the full meaning, but he understood this promise, albeit under reluctant circumstances.
The mermaid lowered his eyes, thinking: Little liar.
…
After they finished breakfast and returned, entering “Bastille,” Shu Tang again noticed that the mermaid was gone.
It wasn’t like last night when he disappeared for just half an hour, but rather he hadn’t appeared all morning.
She knew the mermaid was in this fortress, just unwilling to show himself.
And this “Bastille,” being vast with many rooms, made it very difficult for Shu Tang to find where “he” was unless the mermaid made a sound or showed himself voluntarily.
She sat on the stone stairs of Bastille, holding her face and staring blankly downstairs.
Though curtains were now hung, making it look less empty, it still didn’t feel like a place for living; without sunlight, it was truly like a cold prison.
Suddenly, Shu Tang realized that the mermaid probably thought she would not come back this time.
So when “he” heard all her reasons for having difficulties and needing to leave, he probably really thought she would not return.
She suddenly felt a bit uneasy.
If Little Rose thought she would never come back, then “his” disappearance was understandable.
In fact, between the two of them, it seemed Shu Tang knew more and was always teaching the mermaid many things. However, in reality, Shu Tang could feel the mermaid’s tolerance, even indulgence. But thinking about how the tolerant Little Rose might feel uneasy and down because he thought she would never return made Shu Tang also feel a bit gloomy.
She sat on the stairs beginning to think of ways to make amends:
“Little Rose, in a few days, I’ll find an electrician to help restore the signal. Then I’ll bring over a TV. If it rains the next time I come, we can snuggle in the living room and watch TV.”
“I can still dodge the security guards and bring in some tasty food from outside. Little Rose, have you ever eaten popcorn?”
However, there was no response in the air, only her voice echoing.
But Shu Tang knew that “he” could definitely hear her.
She began to talk about the things she prepared to do with “him” in the future, as if trying to soothe the monster’s restlessness in this way.
Would this be effective?
Shu Tang didn’t know.
In the cold Bastille, her voice gradually became very melancholic:
“Little Rose, do you know? Before I met you, I hadn’t eaten fish for many years.”
She began to dig deep, describing her miserable and impoverished life.
“Do you remember that plastic bag? That’s all I could eat every day, and I couldn’t even afford a piece of meat.”
In fact, it was almost the same because most of the time they were eating nutritional supplements, which were even worse than instant noodles.
In the dark attic, the mermaid remained silent, but his pale lips moved slightly.
Because in the eyes of the mermaid, that was indeed what Shu Tang looked like.
“Fish is too expensive, I can’t afford it.”
“My salary is only two thousand yuan, which is probably only enough to buy half a fish.”
—So you see, Little Rose, without you, she would go hungry again this month.
Why would she just walk away?
—But you have lots and lots of fish.
For this greedy and lazy little cat, you are indeed a very rich fish.
In the dark attic, there was silence.
This monster, ready to tear others apart and hurt itself, had a cold heart filled with suspicion and unease, covered in sharp and cold spikes.
Until she said: she needed “him.”
In the darkness, a fish flew out.
It slapped down in front of Shu Tang.
…
The mermaid’s attitude softened—at least, the constant pitiful talk about not having enough to eat for a long time and surviving by gnawing on plastic bags wasn’t in vain.
The tuna was proof of that, but it still didn’t show up.
Because of a quarrel, naturally, no one made Shu Tang’s lunch, and the sea breeze outside was too strong, the morning fire had gone out, so she sat cross-legged by the fire, starting to make a fire.
These days, Shu Tang just needed to sit next to the mermaid and wait to eat, she never had to do anything herself, so even being forgotten by the group and surviving in the wilderness was very comfortable.
However, when she actually started doing it herself, Shu Tang realized how difficult it was to survive in this place without the mermaid.
She was quite clever, though. She found some dry wood and started a fire by friction, and even though she ended up dirty and sooty, she at least managed to get a fire going.
But then, an accident happened quickly.
This time it wasn’t Shu Tang’s fault, as she was struggling to cut a tuna and didn’t pay attention to the fire.
Fire safety warnings have told us countless times: outdoor fires and stray sparks are accident-prone, especially in windy areas, which can easily cause wildfires.
So, with her face and head covered in dirt, Shu Tang blinked, and suddenly felt a warmth on her leg.
Shu Tang thought to herself: There’s no sun today, why is it so hot?
She looked down.
And saw that her pant leg had caught fire from a spark blown by the sea breeze.
Shu Tang: “……”
“Little Rose! Little Rose!”
“Help! Help!”
In the end, the mermaid did appear—
But only to pick her up and dunk her in the sea to put out the fire.
Even with the timely rescue, Shu Tang’s leg still got scalded and turned red over a large area, fortunately without breaking the skin.
The mermaid picked her up to put out the fire, hissing at her while doing so.
Initially, the mermaid was very angry, but Shu Tang looked like a little cat that had fallen into a fire and got its fur singed.
The mermaid placed her on a rock and turned to the sea to find a type of seaweed.
When he came back, Shu Tang was rolling up her work pants, trying to roll up the fabric on her calf to avoid touching the burned area, gasping in pain.
The mermaid’s face was expressionless, his look so cold it was frightening, silently grabbing her leg.
He didn’t use much force, but Shu Tang couldn’t move.
Shu Tang didn’t know why, but she suddenly felt that the mermaid seemed “fierce”.
The mermaid’s hands were long and wide, almost completely enveloping her calf, with blue-green veins visible on his pale, almost translucent skin. He stared silently at the swollen redness on her leg, without saying a word.
Shu Tang felt a bit embarrassed under “his” gaze:
“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt, it’s just a bit red and hasn’t blistered, it’ll be fine in a while.”
The mermaid didn’t speak.
Then, after Shu Tang had been rolling the fabric for a while, “rip”, a section of the fabric at her calf was torn apart.
She instinctively wanted to retract her leg, but the mermaid silently looked up at her with his dark, emotionless eyes.
A look, a moment, and she dared not move.
She quietly looked at the mermaid’s icy demeanor, feeling a bit uneasy.
She had no choice but to maintain her position with her leg extended as the mermaid applied medicine to her calf.
Soon, the burning pain gradually subsided. The mermaid’s body temperature was very low, and holding her leg even felt like a cold compress.
Shu Tang gradually relaxed.
She looked at “his” pale, tightly pursed lips:
“Little Rose, I really will come back.”
The mermaid did not respond.
After the medication was applied, he released her leg and disappeared.
It was only when Shu Tang was about to leave that she noticed the fire had gone out.
The residual heat of the fire was cooking a tuna.
…
At dusk that day, Shu Tang heard a “beep.”
The elevator was powered again.
Shu Tang was about to leave.
She had met the mermaid in this “Bastille.”
Shu Tang did not pack up.
Because packing might make the fish even angrier.
She put on the protective suit she had worn on arrival. Her shoes had been ruined by water on the first day, so she simply wore a pair of oversized slippers.
As she was getting ready to leave, the temperature slowly dropped. She walked a few circles inside the Bastille, hesitated for a moment, and asked the air:
“Little Rose, do you want to come with me?”
She received no response.
The mermaid was no longer in the fortress.
The mermaid was sitting on the rock Shu Tang had sat on that afternoon, looking towards the fortress in the darkness, blending into the sea.
Watching Shu Tang leave the fortress and walk towards the building, the figure slowly emerged from the water.
Shu Tang thought the mermaid would follow, but he did not.
She walked, constantly turning back, hoping to see that figure appear.
She asked the air, “Little Rose, aren’t you coming to see me off?”
Shu Tang thought “he” really hadn’t come and sighed deeply.
Building trust was incredibly difficult.
She was dressed in the protective suit she had worn on her way here, walking forward.
For some reason, she felt a bit suffocated inside.
However, she thought: No matter what, she would come back tomorrow to see Little Rose, and once she returned, “he” would know she wasn’t deceiving “him.”
In this way, after many times, “he” would know that she would always return and wasn’t abandoning “him.”
She thought the mermaid probably really didn’t want to come to send her off anymore, so she quickened her pace towards the elevator.
However, it wasn’t until Shu Tang inadvertently glanced at a decrepit glass window that she suddenly noticed the reflection in the glass—
A tall figure in the distance, silently watching her.
Because he was hidden in an inconspicuous corner, she didn’t even notice “his” presence when she walked by.
That tall figure, hidden in the dark, his hair still dripping with water, was just like the night Shu Tang had brought “him” to the duty room.
Without making any sound, just quietly following behind her, neither too far nor too close.
Her heart suddenly felt like a sour orange.
The sudden drop in temperature made the sea breeze a bit icy.
The mermaid saw Shu Tang walking towards the elevator and heard her talking to the air, but “he” did not show himself, only quietly watching her retreating figure from the darkness.
“He” made no sound, not even trying to hold her back like yesterday.
“He” saw the elevator light up and also saw her quickening her pace, running towards the elevator.
The mermaid indifferently lowered his eyes, turned around, and quietly prepared to step into the boundless night.
Returning to the world that belonged to him.
Suddenly, rapid footsteps came from behind “him.”
The mermaid paused slightly.
Instinctively wanting to retreat into the darkness, but before he could move—
In the next second, the tall mermaid was embraced.
She rushed over and hugged him quickly.
The mermaid stiffened all over.
His body, soaked in seawater, was very cold, with a very low temperature.
His muscles were tense, like a big block of ice.
So Shu Tang’s body temperature was even more noticeable.
He was hard and cold.
She was soft and warm.
This embrace actually didn’t last long, perhaps only two or three seconds.
Yet, the mermaid stood frozen in place, stunnedly lowering his head.
Shu Tang slowly released her grip and turned to walk toward the elevator.
It was as if she had run back just for that simple embrace.
She knew that the mermaid could not speak and might not fully understand her intentions. Mermen were indeed intelligent, but the four or five days they had spent together were too short for complete empathetic communication and to resolve all misunderstandings.
But it didn’t matter, “he” couldn’t understand.
Yet, he could feel her body warmth.