Shu Tang did not want to stay in the research institute.
Too many people here knew Zhu Yan. Just one evening of coming and going, asking about Director Su a few times, Shu Tang heard countless whispers along the way. Those eyes filled with fear and curiosity, and the voices of regret, made it hard for Shu Tang to fall asleep.
All night long, she stretched out her hand to cover the mermaid’s ears.
It was actually of little use; the mermaid in a coma could hear many sounds.
Ten years ago, and ten years later, there was no difference.
But Shu Tang’s hand stayed on the mermaid’s ears, and this slight difference, like a small anchor, allowed the mermaid to sleep deeply through what should have been a difficult night.
Chen Sheng had arrived in the middle of the previous night. He had guarded the door all night, and Shu Tang was startled to see him squatting at the door with big dark circles under his eyes early in the morning.
Shu Tang pulled Chen Sheng aside to ask why he had only just arrived. Chen Sheng lowered his voice and said, “Not to hide from you, I was under house arrest for the past few days. If it weren’t for the big commotion you made yesterday, I probably wouldn’t have been able to come out.”
Upon hearing this, Shu Tang asked, “What about now? Is everyone released? And Old Wu?”
Chen Sheng shrugged, “Everyone has been reinstated. Don’t worry.”
Shu Tang felt a mix of emotions. She and Chen Sheng went to buy breakfast, and not knowing how to express her gratitude, she stuffed several large buns into his hands. Chen Sheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Returning to the hospital building of the research institute.
Shu Tang asked, “Little Chen, do you know where Little Rose used to live? Treatment will take a long time, and we don’t want to stay in the hospital the whole time.”
Chen Sheng was momentarily stunned. The big boss naturally had property, including a building within the research institute. Having just been released, Chen Sheng hadn’t thought of this at the moment, so he quickly went to fetch the keys after telling Shu Tang.
By the time she returned with breakfast, the mermaid had already woken up.
Shu Tang casually shared the buns and soy milk with the mermaid without bringing up yesterday’s chaos. Instead, she asked, “How about we don’t stay here and go back to your old home?”
The mermaid didn’t mind where they stayed. If Shu Tang liked it, he didn’t mind living under a roof made for a mermaid.
So, the mermaid nibbling on buns in the hospital bed nodded, though frowning, clearly not fond of Yan City’s buns.
—Their breakfasts in the past were always fish slice porridge.
Shu Tang said, “When we get home, we’ll buy fish.”
…
The mermaid and Shu Tang left the research institute, following the map to find the manor.
As Zhu Yan’s condition worsened in his later years, therapists needed to check on his condition at all times, so their residence was just two streets away from the research institute.
After his condition worsened ten years ago, Zhu Yan had shut himself away. Consequently, tall warning lines and high iron fences were erected around the manor. Over many years, wild blue roses had grown all over those fences.
Shu Tang unlocked the door, pushed it open, and saw a garden overgrown with weeds.
Behind her, the tall mermaid paused for a moment.
After a decade, the mermaid revisited this “home” and saw the dirty French windows, the terrifying scratch marks on the walls, and the shattered mirror. Many images flashed back to him.
The mermaid saw a tall, pale monster, leaning in the corner of this old house, emitting a sharp hiss, painfully enduring the agony of mutation. He intensely disliked the fins and tail that had grown on him, but those mutated organs were incredibly tough and absolutely impossible to disappear.
The past Zhu Yan was like this, loathing his own changes. He could not accept himself turning into a monster, nearly overwhelmed by intense self-loathing.
The mermaid could feel that pain, but soon, those images disappeared—
Because Shu Tang appeared in the scene.
Like a vibrant little person jumping out of an old, yellowed movie.
She rolled up her sleeves, holding a rag and called out: “Little Rose, come help!”
Then, the world turned back into a colorful and lively place.
…
The estate was large, with two big gardens front and back, spanning three floors.
The workload was immense, so Shu Tang turned to the mermaid’s spirit for help.
Shu Tang:”Little Rose, your spirit is so powerful, you could definitely control three vacuum cleaners at the same time, right?”
And Shu Tang remembered the feature of writing on glass windows—definitely handy for cleaning them.
The mermaid pretended not to hear.
Immediately, Shu Tang said: “Oh, I’m so tired, if someone could help me with the vacuum cleaner, they would definitely be the most brilliant and powerful fish in the world.”
The mermaid didn’t speak, but lowered his head and moved closer.
At first, Shu Tang didn’t react, staring wide-eyed at the mermaid.
Then, a stroke of inspiration hit her.
She leaned in and kissed the mermaid on the face.
So, the mermaid finally satisfied, got up and was willing to move his spirit.
The mermaid’s spirit was very useful, taking care of at least 21 large windows and the entire estate’s vacuuming, even managing to pull out the weeds effortlessly.
A small cat was responsible for sitting on a sweeping mop machine, zipping around the estate’s ground like a bumper car, “wah-wah-wah” flying back and forth.
When it was about to hit a wall, the mermaid would quickly grab it and turn it around.
……
Chen Sheng was meticulous. He had someone repair the manor’s electrical appliances, and realizing that no one had lived there for ten years, he also bought new sheets and quilts.
However, when he wanted to go upstairs to find the Founder and Shu Tang,
Chen Sheng saw countless windows simultaneously involved in a bizarre, supernatural event. The massive entity that caused many people to panic was actually cleaning the windows.
Chen Sheng thought he was seeing ghosts.
However, looking up, he saw on the sunny balcony a tall mermaid looking down at Shu Tang.
Their shadows merged into one in the sunlight.
They seemed to be cleaning up together, speaking softly, and occasionally, when their gazes met, they would laugh together.
The dust in the sunlight looked like floating sprites.
So, Chen Sheng didn’t bring anyone upstairs to disturb them but instead quietly entered the first floor with his team, tidied up, and quickly left.
Chen Sheng still remembered the first time he met the great leader— a repressed and aloof man, who seemed very distant.
But today, Chen Sheng suddenly felt that the Founder had become more like a living person.
—Although it was ten years later, he was no longer a “human” in the biological sense.
……
Across the street from the research institute, there was a mysterious large courtyard.
Passersby from afar could only see the overgrown weeds inside the courtyard.
Over the past ten years, those in the know have remained silent about this old residence of the Founder; to those unaware, the courtyard always had high walls and armed guards, as if sealing away a secret.
However, on one afternoon in July.
The passersby saw the courtyard that had been sealed for ten years suddenly airing a balcony’s quilts in the sunlight, fluttering in the breeze.
On the tall fence, Shu Tang had placed a large windmill, which spun whooshing around whenever the wind blew.
Shu Tang was stuffing various sheets, pillowcases, and Zhu Yan’s old clothes into the washing machine. She would take each item and measure it against the mermaid, who she kept in place as a model, though he hissed at her somewhat discontentedly.
Shu Tang was shocked to discover: the mermaid had grown taller.
So much so that he could no longer fit into his custom-made clothes.
Thus, Shu Tang packed away the old clothes into the deepest part of the wardrobe, and took the tags off the new clothes Chen Sheng had bought and washed them.
With her face covered in suds, Shu Tang moved closer to reach for the clothes rack, but the mermaid thought she was seeking a kiss, so he obligingly kissed her on the tip of her nose.
Shu Tang was shocked: “Those are the bubbles from laundry detergent!”
The estate was quite large, with blue roses on the fences and in the flower beds. It appeared very unkempt, somewhat resembling a haunted house, but it looked completely renewed after being cleaned.
They slowly cleared away the dust of the past, sweeping clean the sealed memories along with it.
Once the cleanup was almost finished, Shu Tang ordered four servings of grilled fish for delivery—three for the mermaid, one for herself.
The two of them ate dinner on the second-floor terrace, surrounded by sheets hanging out to dry.
Overlooking this new territory, Shu Tang remarked, “It’s really beautiful here, I like it a lot.”
Shu Tang suggested, “We could plant some grapes in the front yard, and there’s a small pond in the backyard where we could swim after cleaning it up. There are two studies; we could each have one…”
Due to past memories, the mermaid didn’t like this place. But in her descriptions, every corner came alive.
Mao Mao declared, “This is our new home now!”
Thus, the mermaid decided to like it.
…
The two of them slept in the master bedroom on the second floor. The large bed allowed Shu Tang to roll three times and be caught by the mermaid.
That night, Shu Tang hung a handmade countdown calendar on the wall.
It had forty pages.
—The dean told her that the mermaid’s recovery would likely need four treatment sessions, roughly one and a half months if all went well.
So, Shu Tang decided to hang it across from her, turning a page for each day that passed.
After writing it, Shu Tang was carried back to bed by the mermaid. The mermaid encircled her with her tail as if in the Bastille, and they both lay back in an “LI” shape.
Miraculously, the mermaid didn’t have nightmares about returning here.
Probably because the mermaid didn’t despise her fins and tail like Zhu Yan did. The mermaid now saw her tail as a great weapon, and Shu Tang adored it, praising the mermaid’s glittering tail and touchable fins every day. The mermaid even often flicked his tail to catch the attention of the kitten.
Both slept well in their new home.
They ate breakfast in the yard, watched the weather forecast, and then went together to the nearby supermarket to buy groceries. In the afternoon, they went to the institute for treatment, and if it ended early, they watched a movie at home with the projector in the evening; but often, it was slow, and they might not return home until eleven or twelve at night.
Even so, they never stayed overnight at the institute, always insisting on returning to their own little home.
The treatments were monotonous, like the swinging of a pendulum day after day;
But life outside of treatment was far from tranquil.
When Shu Tang first settled in Yan City, she found it hard to adapt to the local climate. At night, she’d often wake up to drink water, resembling a fish out of water more than the mermaid did. She used her moisturizing spray as much on herself as on the mermaid, seizing every morning to hydrate vigorously. Conversely, the mermaid, perhaps evolved or accustomed from previous residence here, adapted quite well—except for needing to soak in the bathtub for long periods every night.
Yet, these were merely trivial parts of life, little interludes within it.
After learning that Little Chen had been placed under house arrest, Shu Tang realized that arriving in Yan City didn’t equate to safety. Thus, she hardly ever left the mermaid’s side when they went out during the day.
Shu Tang thought as long as they stayed together, there wouldn’t be much danger.
However, after a few days in Yan City, Shu Tang noticed the mermaid began to kiss her indiscriminately.
Initially, Shu Tang thought the dry air in Yan City was making the mermaid seek hydration through kissing.
Shu Tang wondered, “Why not just drink water? What kind of problem is this?”
But she tolerated the mermaid’s new quirk.
Then, during one kiss, Shu Tang opened her eyes and saw in the mirror someone sneaking up on her. She were then dragged by an unseen force into the stairwell, disappearing without making a sound.
The next second, her eyes were covered.
Shu Tang asked the mermaid what was happening.
The mermaid looked down and told her, “Kissing. Suffocation. Hallucination.”
Shu Tang retorted, “Are you. Not. Treating. Me. Like a fool.”
The mermaid pondered for a moment.
Then he kissed her for a minute and thirty seconds without breaking for air.
Afterward, the mermaid asked Shu Tang if it was a hallucination.
Shu Tang indeed saw a hallucination.
—She saw her granny.
…
If a few stalkers weren’t dangerous enough,
Shu Tang then found a bottle of medicine with a switched label among his medications.
Initially, Shu Tang thought it had expired, but the smell was off, so she immediately swapped it out and sent it to Chen Sheng for analysis.
On her way home, Shu Tang saw on her communicator the analysis report Chen Sheng sent.
—It was a highly addictive psychotropic drug.
At that moment, her heart raced, nearly jumping out of her throat.
In the bright sunshine of Yan City, she broke out in a cold sweat.
After that day, Shu Tang took away a bunch of materials from the research institute, and her bedtime reading became various papers. She would read every day until the mermaid reminded her to eat.
Even during her exams, she had never been so serious and focused. Back then, it was just about an exam, but now, it was about a fish’s life.
From then on, Shu Tang decided she must personally review every potion for the mermaid.