The two of them maintained this position, blowing in the sea breeze on the rocks for a long time.
The atmosphere was very serene.
—Until Shu Tang quite disruptively sneezed twice, exclaiming “Achoo, achoo.”
The mermaid behind her, cold as ice and statue-like, finally moved.
Having never seen a human sneeze before, the mermaid raised his icy fingers and pinched Shu Tang’s nose.
“…”
“Achoo!”
Shu Tang felt the chest behind her tremble as the mermaid let out a pleasing, husky laugh.
She, annoyed and embarrassed, saw her previous compassion dissolve into bubbles, and turned to glare at the mermaid.
But the mermaid had already stood up, scooped up Shu Tang, and started walking towards the sea.
Shu Tang remembered she had left her things on the rocks, and before heading home, she asked the mermaid to take a detour.
However, as she climbed the rocks to gather her belongings, she spotted a communicator wedged in the crevice.
Her hand paused, memories of earlier events flooding back as she looked at the mermaid.
Worried about startling “him,” Shu Tang did not immediately pick it up.
—Before Shu Tang spoke those words, “he” would have unquestionably destroyed the device.
But now, the mermaid only glanced at the communicator before shifting his gaze away.
So, Shu Tang put the communicator, notebook, and blanket back into the waterproof bag.
Her mood seemed to clear up, and she even began to hum a tune.
The mermaid lowered his eyes to capture her expression, pausing in his steps. As if all his sharp edges were being smoothed over, he appeared exceptionally soft and buoyant.
As he took her back home, he imperceptibly pulled her tighter into his embrace.
Along the way, she kept saying “Achoo, achoo,” prompting the mermaid to frequently lower his head to look at her.
Shu Tang thought mermaids had never seen humans sneeze.
Actually, the mermaid realized that she was catching a cold.
Vulnerable Shu Tang, a creature that needs to maintain body temperature, prompted the mermaid to relight the fire upon returning and dried her by the fire.
Because a longstanding misunderstanding was resolved, the odd atmosphere between them disappeared.
Both became comfortable again, lazily lounging by the fire, one making fish soup, the other admiring pearls.
By the firelight, Shu Tang examined the pearls given to her by the mermaid, larger and perfectly round compared to usual, with a lovely pink hue.
Before sleep, Shu Tang told the mermaid a few stories about idioms, suddenly recalling a legend.
She asked the mermaid, “Little Rose, are these pearls tears you’ve cried?”
The mermaid looked down at Shu Tang, merely tucking her into the covers with his tail, without objection.
Shu Tang thought the mermaid was an ignorant fish, taking ages to understand a sneeze;
But she didn’t realize that in the eyes of this ignorant mermaid, she was equally naive.
…
Reconciliation day one.
The fortress’s master didn’t go hunting as usual but planned to show the ignorant Shu Tang the world.
In the morning, the reluctant-to-rise Shu Tang was carried downstairs by the mermaid.
Shu Tang struggled aimlessly on “his” shoulder, screaming for help.
She ended up being carried to the beach by the mermaid.
The mermaid initially wanted to take her diving, but since Shu Tang could easily perish, she was left onshore instead.
However, Shu Tang thought the mermaid was going to catch fish.
She thought: Reconciled, and it’s different now, even watching a fish being caught.
Shu Tang waited by the sea for a while until suddenly, something flew to her feet.
Rushing over, Shu Tang discovered it wasn’t food—
But a large sea clam.
Clam after clam flew over, quickly piling into a small mountain at Shu Tang’s feet.
Shu Tang fetched a dagger from the kitchen and started opening the clamshells.
Shu Tang found pearls larger than a thumb, exclaiming, “Wow!”
She found purple pearls, exclaiming, “Wow!”
She found black pearls, exclaiming with an even louder “Wow!”
Having opened a large sack of large pearls, Shu Tang turned around and saw the mermaid leaning against the rocks, his silver hair shimmering in the sunlight, lazily flicking his tail.
She ran to the mermaid, showing off pearls while flattering exuberantly.
The mermaid, with reserved grace, occasionally flicked its tail.
He recalled the two idioms she had told “him” yesterday:
Uninformed and unlearned.
Making a fuss over nothing.
On his usually expressionless face, the corners of his lips curled into a barely noticeable smile.
…
In the afternoon, Shu Tang began unpacking the items she had brought back from her shopping trip.
Having managed to leave the sanatorium for once, she found herself near a commercial street next to the vegetable market. Initially, she wanted to check out TVs with Old Wu, but due to power issues, she settled for a radio instead.
The meeting earlier that day had upset Shu Tang; she disliked the tone everyone used when discussing the mermaid and felt powerless to object, merely listening sullenly.
She didn’t want Little Rose to be treated like a freak, a complete monster. She hoped that one day “he” would appear among people without being surrounded by screams and fearful stares.
Was this simple wish achievable by merely telling bedtime stories and teaching “him” a few words daily? Shu Tang felt it wasn’t enough.
Thus, she bought the radio. She knew the mermaid was smart, having picked up most of the everyday vocabulary just from their time together.
Would exposing “him” more to the outside world help him integrate faster?
Thinking of the communicator, Shu Tang set up the batteries, turned on the radio, and set the volume to its lowest, placing it on the beach.
Pretending to go back to playing with sand, she kept a stealthy watch on the mermaid.
As expected, the mermaid turned its head as soon as it heard the sound, its dark eyes fixated on the radio.
However, after a while, realizing that Shu Tang wasn’t interacting with the radio, its hostility faded, and it soon diverted its gaze.
Shu Tang thought: Plan successful!
But she quickly realized the mermaid’s interest in the radio was even less than in playing with her hair.
She kept changing the channels, trying to capture the mermaid’s attention.
She switched through a dozen channels until—
“Today is April 13th, sunny to cloudy in South Island City, the next three days…”
The mermaid turned its head.
Shu Tang observed for a while and realized the mermaid was really listening.
She then explained to the mermaid what South Island City, cloudy, and sunny meant.
The mermaid listened attentively, occasionally tilting its head inquisitively.
Looking between the radio and the mermaid, Shu Tang suddenly felt somewhat gratified.
She didn’t know that the mermaid didn’t quite like the hissing sound of the radio’s static.
Just like the chicken Shu Tang brought back.
Deep-sea apex predators are unlikely to favor such dry prey with lots of bones.
But it was a gift from her, so the mermaid cherished it as much as the small blue umbrella and the apple, even pretending to enjoy it as he swallowed it down.
The same was true for the radio.
It was originally just to cheer up the eager little cat.
But the ferocious monster listened attentively for a while—
And found it quite pleasing to the ears.
…
While the mermaid listened to the radio, Shu Tang turned to open the communicator and began to consult with Director Qiu.
During her last interrogation, Director Qiu had seemed very stern. But after adding him as a friend, Shu Tang tried asking a couple of questions and found that Director Qiu was responsive and easy to talk to. Thus, Shu Tang’s nervousness gradually faded, and she began to earnestly seek advice.
She didn’t notice what the mermaid was doing.
At dinner, Shu Tang found the mermaid listening to the weather forecast in the kitchen.
After taking a bath, Shu Tang returned to find the mermaid still listening to the weather forecast.
Shu Tang casually changed the channel and turned off the device.
The next morning, she woke up to hear the forecast again.
“Today is April 14th, South Island City will be cloudy turning to rain…”
It turns out that after seeing her use it once, the mermaid had learned how to change channels and turn on the device all by himself.
Shu Tang: “…”
Knowing that it would rain the next few days, the mermaid wisely gathered some firewood early in the morning to avoid running out when the rain soaked Shu Tang and dampened the firewood needed to dry clothes.
Shu Tang watched the mermaid over and over and finally accepted “his” new hobby.
Thus, their entertainment on the beach now included one more activity: listening to the radio.
Sometimes Shu Tang also wanted to listen to a music station. To avoid conflicts over the radio, Shu Tang and the mermaid agreed: weather forecasts in the morning and music stations in the afternoon.
The mermaid flicked his tail, indicating his agreement.
Shu Tang loved to sing, but she was tone-deaf.
At home, whenever she sang, her delicate omega mother would complain of a headache; in the dormitory, Shu Tang was too embarrassed to disturb others. She never had the chance to truly express herself.
But now things are different; there is only the ocean and a single fish here.
After the rain stopped in the afternoon, she turned on the radio and, using a mineral water bottle as a microphone, began to sing loudly on the rocks.
The mermaid listened for a while.
This monster decided to stay in the sea for the time being.
— The seawater provided good sound insulation.
The mermaid hunted in the sea, aimlessly wandering to pass the time, causing great panic among the marine life in the area. Feeling it was enough, he caught two fish and went ashore.
He ended up right under the rock where Shu Tang was staying.
Shu Tang continued to sing along with the radio:
“The wolf falls in love with the sheep, oh—madly in love.”
Thanks to Shu Tang’s teachings, the mermaid had already learned about many animals.
— And here, there were neither wolves nor sheep.
So, after listening for a while, the mermaid came out of the water, approached Shu Tang, and hissed to correct her mistake.
Shu Tang miraculously matched the mermaid’s complex train of thought.
So she corrected herself: “The cat falls in love with the fish, oh—madly in love.”
Huh?
Something seemed off.
But the mermaid had already dragged away two big sweetfish.
The weather forecast said it would rain tomorrow.
So, she stored twice the usual amount of food.
…
On April 15th, as expected, it rained.
Lazy Shu Tang slept in.
Hardworking mermaid had already listened to the weather report for the thirtieth time.
Because of the rain, after eating, both returned to bed to nest.
The mermaid listened to the radio, while Shu Tang continued writing her report.
Shu Tang asked Director Qiu: “Director, my spirit is very small, would spirit guidance be effective for him?”
In fact, on the day the mermaid’s spiritual power erupted, Shu Tang did not know if her guidance had any effect, given the mermaid’s gigantic spiritual form compared to her own.
She briefly recounted the day’s events.
Director Qiu replied half an hour later.
Yet, he answered decisively:
“I suspect that your spirit and Subject 001 have a very high compatibility,” it read.
“Even if your spirit is smaller, the effect might be much greater than others.”
Shu Tang suddenly froze.
Compatibility?
She turned to look at the mermaid who was listening to the weather forecast.
Since she couldn’t come up with any ideas at the moment, she temporarily set the issue aside.
She continued to listen to the morning weather forecast with the mermaid.
Perhaps it was the phrase “very high compatibility” that reminded Shu Tang. Right before lunch, she suddenly remembered something very important.
In the afternoon, she made a phone call to her mother.
Shu Tang was a bit hesitant.
Mom cut to the chase: “Are you out of money?”
Shu Tang: “…”
Shu Tang and her mother discussed canceling the genetic match, feeling nervous:
“What’s the process if we cancel the match? Is it complicated?”
She was afraid to bring it up for fear of getting scolded, but to her surprise, her mom immediately agreed.
Shu Tang: ?
She didn’t know that her mom had been struggling during this time.
Although she and Shu Tang’s dad hadn’t revisited the Zhu family, they had heard plenty of rumors and had a premonition that the Zhu family would soon cancel the genetic match.
She just didn’t know how to tell Shu Tang.
—Little did she know, as if by divine intervention, this unfortunate child had finally come to her senses.
Her mom agreed quite happily, though not without lecturing Shu Tang a bit:
“Weren’t you dragging your feet at first, unwilling to cancel the match?”
“Why are you willing now?”
“If you had spoken up sooner, would your father and I have needed to go… Ah, never mind.”
Shu Tang wanted to explain, but when she opened her mouth, she didn’t know how to respond.
Why was she hesitant before?
And why was she willing now?
She hung up the phone, a bit distracted.
The music station began to play songs.
The mermaid waited a while, noticing that today’s Shu Tang did not start singing along.
The mermaid looked out at the heavy rain.
He thought today was nice weather.
…
April 16th, it continued to rain.
Shu Tang tried to tempt the mermaid to switch channels to a soap opera, but to no avail.
At nine o’clock, she received a message from Su Yin.
The majority of the emergency department was the last to return to the sanatorium. Probably because the last mermaid’s psychic disturbance was so shocking, the sanatorium had to undergo restructuring, now only admitting high-risk patients, even halving the emergency department, significantly reducing its operations, turning it from the busiest department into a care unit for the elderly.
Su Yin and Shu Tang chatted a lot, obviously very happy. Then, Su Yin asked Shu Tang when she would return to pack up and handle the handover procedures.
Shu Tang replied to Su Yin and looked up at the mermaid across from her.
Soon, the communicator beeped again: the work group started mentioning everyone, preparing for the second seminar.
Because of the poor experience at the last meeting, she childishly retreated to this secluded utopia, even preferring to stay in the forbidden area with Little Rose.
But Shu Tang couldn’t really hide in the forbidden area forever.
She couldn’t put off the seminar, and packing up, moving, and handling procedures were urgent.
But with the misunderstanding before, Shu Tang didn’t know how to start the conversation with Little Rose.
Her hesitant appearance caught the eye of the mermaid.
Thinking she was troubled all morning just because she wanted to listen to that noisy channel.
So, the mermaid looked at her.
And changed the channel from the weather forecast to the soap opera.
Shu Tang: “…”
Now that she was listening to the soap opera, it became even harder for Shu Tang to speak up.
After much contemplation, she made a decision—
She wanted to try taking the mermaid out with her.
It would be even better if she could bring “him” to the meeting.
That night, instead of telling the mermaid a bedtime story, Shu Tang prepared to bathe and change clothes with the mermaid.
The fortress’s filtration water system was operational, but bathing in this weather was very cold.
So, she prepared a large bucket of hot water for the mermaid, following her own bathing standards.
Shu Tang had brushed the mermaid’s tail before, but bathing was entirely different.
She started gesturing to the mermaid, explaining how to do this and that.
In the mermaid’s ears: “@#￥%@! Wash the fishtail @#￥.”
Shu Tang felt she was teaching well.
After the lesson, she asked the student, “Did you get it?”
The mermaid was silent for a while.
Just about to shake his head, but Shu Tang in front of him had already pushed “him” into the shower room.
The tall mermaid looked at the bucket and then at the shower gel.
Shu Tang: “@#￥%@! Wash the fishtail @#￥.”
The mermaid hesitated for a moment.
Grabbed the bucket and poured.
“Whoosh——”
…
After pushing the mermaid in, Shu Tang rummaged through the closet and pulled out the whole set of clothes she bought last time at the supermarket. She had used Old Wu as a reference when buying them and hadn’t thought they were small, but looking at them now…
Shu Tang gestured in front of her own head, realizing she might have bought too small,
But there were no other clothes available, so she made do.
By the time they went downstairs, the mermaid had already finished bathing.
Shu Tang thought: How was that so quick?
Shu Tang started to teach the mermaid how to wear clothes, how to button up. She asked the mermaid to try turning his fishtail into legs to try on the pants, then pushed him into the bathroom again.
She commanded from outside:
“First put it on, then button it up, it’s simple.”
“The button must align with the hole…”
But after a while, there was still no sound from the bathroom.
She thought the mermaid hadn’t learned yet, so she knocked on the door.
The next second, the shower door opened.
Shu Tang saw a cold and handsome young man.
The mermaid’s hair was very long, usually from the waist down was a fishtail, and the non-human aura on his body was very strong. Especially those fins behind his ears, even just looking at the upper body, there was a fundamental difference from humans.
But now “he” was all dressed up, his inherent aggression conspicuously displayed. The animalistic wildness was hidden, but it gave off a sense of repressed abstemiousness.
The mermaid was looking down at her.
The air seemed to become oppressive.
She was stunned, staring blankly at “him.”
Despite the cold, monster-like breathing of the other, when their eyes met, it felt as though the temperature had risen, becoming scorching and intense.
It was like pouring a few milliliters of fierce vodka into icy water, rapidly bringing a dizzying intoxication.
The night was very quiet, as if only the rapid beating of each other’s hearts could be heard.
Suddenly, she became acutely aware: in the world of the 21st century, she was a woman, and he was a man; in the world of abo, they were also distinctly different sexes.
Due to this unprecedented realization, she was so taken aback that she couldn’t return to her senses while looking at the mermaid.
But soon.
The non-human feeling on the mermaid returned.
“He” retracted that aggressively invasive gaze, as if unable to bear the intense restraint, frowned slightly, and reached out somewhat irritably to undo the button.
But his movements were a bit clumsy.
He looked like a cat wearing an Elizabethan collar.
Halfway through, the mermaid stopped.
The button was too small, and not handling it properly could ruin the garment.
So, naturally, the mermaid lowered his head, moved closer to her, and hissed as usual, signaling her to help.
But for some reason, when the mermaid drew near, she came to her senses, as if the heat made her uncomfortably shift her gaze away, instinctively trying to move backward.
The mermaid thought it was because Shu Tang was not tall enough, so he looked down at her.
He effortlessly lifted her and placed her on the vanity.
Shu Tang’s breathing slowed by half a beat.
She doesn’t know why, but subconsciously she felt an urge to just jump down and run away.
But it was already too late.
At this moment, the mermaid had leaned over and was closing in on her.
She was trapped in the narrow space between the mermaid and the washstand.
She almost forgot to breathe.
All she could do was look up helplessly at ‘him’.
His slightly furrowed brows made this deep-sea tyrant seem somewhat irritable, as if he was trapped in a tiny cage that was far too small for his size.
The mermaid caught her hand and placed it on his collar.
A hoarse, unclear voice came from his throat.
He motioned for her to help undo the bindings.