The atmosphere fermented into dampness; the heavy rain seemed to soak the small room as well.
She tried to dodge once she realized—
But the mermaid didn’t let her go; instead, he held her in place, making sure each kiss landed where it had originally.
Thus, the last kiss fell on her earlobe.
When she kissed “him”, it was like a chick pecking grains, slightly angry and resentful, with a reckless impulse; yet “his” response was utterly different—calm and resolute.
Even slow and meticulous.
She could feel his restraint and patience, as if she were some delicate object.
In the darkness, only their rapid breathing could be heard.
Shu Tang felt as if she were drowning, surrounded and enveloped by blue seawater, plummeting into the endless ocean.
The kisses of the rainy season were moist.
Their breathing was also rapid.
She unconsciously grabbed “his” hand, and then the mermaid paused for a moment, lifting her slightly and pressing her against the wall.
Even at the end, “he” kissed her earlobe.
She covered her earlobe, hearing her own heartbeat growing louder.
She had to admit, the despondency and gloom of the past few days had vanished with those kisses, as if she had gone from a drowned puppy back to a pampered kitten.
Finally, the mermaid stopped, bowing his head and making a hoarse growl towards her.
When he looked at her like that, he resembled a big dog that had been abandoned.
The mermaid asked: Do you still want me?
The monster’s heart wavered, even his probing seemed to lack confidence.
Her eyes were red, her face was red, trapped by the monster in a corner cabinet, unable to even hide; yet the culprit looked at her like an abandoned big dog.
He looked fierce, yet pitiable.
Suddenly, Shu Tang wasn’t angry anymore.
During this time, their cold war was actually because she thought she was rejected by the mermaid, having suffered a tragic heartbreak.
But at this moment, she realized—
It’s like using a refrigerator, she taught “him” how to use it;
It’s like kissing, she had to teach little Rose, then “he” knew how to;
When “he” still didn’t know what love was, she felt down because of his non-responsiveness, which was actually quite foolish.
They looked at each other for a while.
During this period of cold war, Shu Tang watched the mermaid’s back, and what she most wanted to do was to embrace “him.”
So at that moment, she decided to follow her own wish and hugged the mermaid.
She felt the mermaid’s body cold and stiff.
It was only when he touched her that he relaxed.
At that instant, Shu Tang thought: she would never quarrel with “him” again.
She lay on the tall mermaid’s shoulder for a long while.
She mumbled as she turned her head, “I won’t quarrel with you anymore.”
She whispered softly, “You don’t understand, why should I be angry with you?”
Upon hearing this, the mermaid wanted to argue. But in the end, he only let out a hoarse rasp.
The monster seemed a bit angry, “he” wanted to express that he understood—
She sensed the monster’s anger, but she didn’t want to continue discussing this matter with “him.”
She knew the mermaid kissed her as a response.
But if “he” didn’t even know what a kiss was, maybe now wasn’t a good time to talk about it.
She feared his dependence and affection were only due to a fledgling complex.
So, like a coward who likes to evade, she lay on “his” shoulder and said, “Little Rose, I’m so hungry, let’s go eat.”
The monster, unable to rebut, paused on the spot.
Silently, he let her go.
They left the room.
Yet the atmosphere seemed not to have been dispersed by the outside night wind.
She wanted to say something to the mermaid, but felt a bit lost, so when she saw the umbrella, she smoothly found a topic and went to open the umbrella.
She taught the mermaid how to hold the umbrella:
“Little Rose, if we stand closer together, we won’t get wet. Don’t just hold the umbrella for me.”
“Look, the umbrella is so big, the rain comes from the front, it should be tilted a little…”
The monster behind her remained silent.
The monster thought to himself: She must think “he” is foolish.
She did not notice that the mermaid was expressionless at the time, not taking in a word she said.
Not hearing a response, she turned to the mermaid and demonstrated, “You see…”
However, just as she started speaking, the mermaid swept her up in a sideways carry.
“He” stuffed the umbrella handle into her hands.
Silently, they stepped into the pouring rain.
Shu Tang instinctively wrapped her arms around “his” neck, looking up to see “his” tense jawline.
She paused for a moment.
The scent on the mermaid was particularly pleasant, and his jawline was clear and handsome.
But Shu Tang always felt that the mermaid was still angry.
He seemed a bit fierce.
Thus, Shu Tang earnestly clung to the mermaid’s neck without moving.
After a while, she said:
“It’s late to go home and cook, and the canteen is closed now, let’s go to the supermarket for some stir-fried noodles.”
“He” paused in his steps, silently carrying her towards the supermarket.
…
However, the monster’s moodiness did not dissipate quickly.
Especially when they entered the supermarket and the mermaid quietly sat in the resting area waiting, seeing her chatting with the cashier seemed to exacerbate it.
“He” silently gazed at the reflection in the glass window, his whole body exuding coldness, even his expressionless face appeared rigid.
The entire supermarket seemed as if it had been muted, becoming very quiet.
Only the voices of Shu Tang and the cashier remained.
The cashier in the supermarket was the same one as before.
When Shu Tang bought two boxes of stir-fried noodles and asked the young man to heat them in the microwave, she chatted with him briefly.
Initially, the young man was quite intimidated by the imposing figure in the corner.
But Shu Tang acted very naturally, so he gradually relaxed.
The two of them chatted happily.
Shu Tang was going to leave the forbidden area for a few days and was worried about running out of food in the fridge, so she paid the young man in advance, asking him to deliver some items to Zone 01 in the meantime.
The monster sat quietly in the corner.
Sharply and spitefully thinking:
She must think “he” doesn’t even know how to shop.
Thus, no sooner had Shu Tang finished speaking, than a tall mermaid passed by.
“He” calmly approached the vending machine, inserted two coins, and a can of Coke fell out.
The mermaid, who was “not very good at shopping,” took the Coke and passed by Shu Tang and the young man, expressionless.
Shu Tang: “…”
When Shu Tang wanted to say a few more words to the young man, the mermaid doubled back.
As if he had forgotten to take something.
He picked her up along with the can without any expression and carried them away.
Shu Tang muttered, “You get angry even when I talk to someone else.”
The mermaid looked at her calmly.
Then he paused his steps.
Turned around and walked towards the cash register.
He placed her in front of the cashier desk, right back where she had been speaking.
—Even the footprints were neatly aligned.
Then he calmly bowed his head.
Signaling that she could speak now.
Shu Tang: “…”
Shu Tang glanced at the cashier next to her, who was quite frightened, grabbed the tall mermaid’s arm, and tried to drag “him” back.
The mermaid looked down at her hand.
Didn’t move for a long time.
Seeing that everyone in the supermarket was sneaking glances their way.
The young man slowly came to from his shocked state and propped himself on the cashier counter, peering over with a gossip-hungry gaze.
Shu Tang looked left and right, feeling that the current mermaid was like a silent volcano.
She had no choice but to say, “Let’s continue discussing that matter, I’ll talk to you.”
Only then did the mermaid finally withdraw his gaze and carried her away.
The two of them sat in a corner of the rest area, blocked from view by a vending machine.
Shu Tang opened a packet of stir-fried noodles, sharing one bowl with the mermaid each.
Shu Tang felt that the mermaid’s expression when drinking Coke resembled someone who had just consumed a poisoned drink. While eating fried noodles, the mermaid looked very serious. Shu Tang sneaked glances at the mermaid’s frowning reflection in the glass window and wondered: Do mermaids not eat vegetables at all?
Curious, she observed for a while and noticed that the mermaid was also looking at their reflections in the window, calmly watching her.
Shu Tang wasn’t truly clueless about what was upsetting the mermaid.
Thus, she thought for a moment and wrote two names on the window:
Zhu Yan, Shu Tang.
She said, “This is how my name is written. ‘Tang’ as in begonia, have you seen it?”
“There are weeping begonias and Xifu begonias, both are beautiful.”
Unfortunately, the places where begonias once bloomed have all turned into polluted areas. Many people have never seen a real begonia flower; they can only glimpse the scenery of begonias restless at night through past movies and TV shows.
She began to write ‘Zhu Yan’: “This is your name.”
In fact, everyone referred to the mermaid as 001. Initially, Shu Tang couldn’t find any name in the medical records, but later, she stumbled upon it in a document sent by Chen Sheng—thus she learned that the little rose’s name was “Zhu Yan.”
Shu Tang said, “‘Yan’ means continuous, a very vibrant name.”
Suddenly, Shu Tang felt that these two names matched well: the radiant begonias and the unending continuum.
As Shu Tang carefully wrote down the name ‘Zhu Yan’, she thought: Starting a relationship might not be a good idea when “he” doesn’t even know what liking or love is, nor even who he is.
The mermaid watched her serious profile as she wrote, and for some reason, “he” sensed her slight sadness while writing.
In fact, “he” was much sharper and smarter than Shu Tang imagined.
In a mysterious way, the monster understood her intentions.
After she finished writing the two names, she began teaching him how to pronounce them:
“Zhu, Yan.”
“Zhu——Yan——”
The mermaid then looked towards the window, trying hard to produce the sounds, silently repeating the two words.
However, Shu Tang didn’t know that the monster was repeatedly murmuring “Shu Tang.”
In the end, it only managed to emit a faint breath.
The raspy voice still couldn’t produce any sound.
Both of them quieted down.
Only the sound of rain remained around them.
— Little Rose, is your affection for me just a fledgling attachment, or is it admiration?
When you were still hazy about the world, I couldn’t be sure whether this was love.
At least, not until the day you can say your own name.
Only then can we fairly discuss love.
On the glass window, the names Zhu Yan and Shu Tang quickly got blurred by the rain, shrouded once more in a thin mist.
The pale-lipped monster pressed his lips tightly, looking at the kitten beside him.
The monster wanted to say:
Although “he” didn’t understand the meaning of that kiss or what to do next, she could teach “him,” and “he” would surely learn very quickly and well.
As quickly as one learns to use a refrigerator or a TV.
But so many words, when finally spoken, all turned into a hiss.
The monster, almost stubbornly, stared at the watermarks left above, trying to make the sound “Shu Tang,” telling her, “he” wasn’t completely ignorant.
With a body cold as ice, the monster’s heart was fiercely hot, and in facing her, he would try his hardest to respond to her.
But after countless attempts, the world remained utterly silent.
The monster couldn’t make any sound.
Shu Tang came to her senses, comforting the mermaid beside her: “Take your time, Little Rose, we still have plenty of time.”
But the monster beside her was silent for a while.
Suddenly, he bowed his head and moved closer to Shu Tang.
The sound of rain on the glass window, the dense water vapor blurred the letters on the glass.
This was a narrow corner, with a vending machine right behind Shu Tang, and she instinctively stepped back, bumping her head on the machine.
Since he couldn’t make a sound, the monster wanted to respond to her with those kisses, with his chilly body temperature.
Shu Tang had already thought about what happened in the storeroom; she looked around cautiously for a while, stretched out her hand, covered her face, leaving only her eyes visible, and carefully said: “What are you trying to do? Little Rose, you can’t just kiss randomly.”
She realized that the mermaid’s mimicking ability was terrifying; she didn’t really want to appear in the sanatorium’s forum tomorrow under the headline “Young Couple Madly Kissing in Supermarket Corner.”
The mermaid stared at her for a while.
The slight stuffiness of the change between spring and summer made it seem like they were constantly enveloped by the moist, dense water vapor.
After a while, the monster straightened up.
However, it seemed that rather than being appeased by the conversation, he became even angrier. When mermaids get angry, they do so silently.
When they’re angry, they appear very fierce.
Shu Tang was somewhat nervous as she approached to take a closer look.
Suddenly, the creature bowed its head and rubbed her head with its hand.
Its palm was broad.
She felt as though she had suddenly turned into a little kitten.
The gloominess that had lasted all day seemed to be soothed away in an instant.
Then, Shu Tang saw a chicken coop hairstyle reflected on the glass.
Shu Tang turned around, “Don’t mess up my hair.”
The mermaid thought expressionlessly:
—This is not allowed, that’s not allowed either.
“He” lowered his eyes, simply picked up the little cat, stood up, left the supermarket, and strode towards the forbidden area.
Throughout the journey, the mermaid did not speak to her again.
Not until the two returned to the Bastille, entering the elevator.
Shu Tang looked at the expressionless mermaid nervously and asked softly:
“Little Rose, are you still angry?”
They say fortunes turn like a wheel; just a few days ago she was angry, ignoring “him” by leaving the mermaid behind, and today it was the mermaid’s turn to be angry. Shu Tang thought the mermaid might stare at her coldly or simply close the door, leaving her outside in the cold wind, or even just suddenly disappear.
However, just when Shu Tang was anxious, the mermaid suddenly stopped in the corner.
He bowed his head.
His handsome face approached hers, stopping just at her nose, not getting any closer.
The breath was ice cold.
The sounds around seemed to disappear.
She smelled a pleasant pheromone scent, which made her heart flutter and her brain dizzy, as if she was back in that small, damp room surrounded by steam.
As if bewitched, she instinctively moved closer and kissed the mermaid.
When she realized what she had done, it was already too late.
The mermaid had straightened up.
And let out a cold laugh.
Wasn’t it said that this and that were not allowed?
Shu Tang: “…”
Don’t rush, start talking soon.