Seeing the sardonic smile on the face of the sea cucumber next to her, Jun Beibei was silent for a moment, lowered her eyes, and said:
"I'm not joking, I'm serious."
Seriously, wanting to take you away from this world with me.
The smile on Wen Nan's lips receded a little.
He naturally knew that she was serious. This was her exclusive space. She was deeply immersed in it, and all her actions were inevitably driven by the obsessions within her heart.
The teasing words Wen Nan said just now were not just to lighten the current atmosphere; there was another reason—
He was hiding the flutter in his heart.
When the other said words about "leaving this world with him," Wen Nan felt as if his heart were gripped by invisible hands.
The feeling was strange. He tried hard to discern the cause of the flutter, only to find himself in a half-dream, half-awake state due to the effect of this space, the more he tried to see his heart clearly, the less he could see.
At this moment, seeing that white shell silently staring at the cracked fissure in front, with the trim of the dress hem draping the armrest, looking somewhat forlorn, Wen Nan put away his playful expression.
He quietly shifted closer toward the shell, stood shoulder to shoulder with her at the railing on the rooftop, stretched out a hand, and gently covered her hand.
"I know," Wen Nan said softly into her ear, "I believe you."
The shell turned her head, staring blankly at the side of his face for a while, as the white skin gradually blushed.
The black spine and white skirt hem, sticking together firmly, didn't separate for a long time.
A sea cucumber and a shell just stood silently on the abandoned rooftop, through a fissure, gazing at the mist-covered water surface.
At that moment, Arctic Clam thought, even if in this world, no one can understand her, it's enough if the people beside her can understand and believe her...
"Beibei!"
A sharp woman's voice came from downstairs.
The soft flesh that had been snugly against Wen Nan's "palm" suddenly withdrew from his hand, and the white shell hurriedly moved two steps away from Wen Nan.
Wen Nan first turned his head to look at the guilty-looking Arctic Clam beside him, then lowered his head to look at the woman standing at the bottom floor—
Also an Arctic Clam, but far less beautiful than Jun Beibei, just an ordinary, algae and grime-covered, brown-black shell.
"Mom."
Jun Beibei carefully called downwards.
"...Mom?!"
Wen Nan shouted incredulously along.
The woman at the bottom looked suspiciously at the sea cucumber, then back at the white Arctic Clam, angrily ordering: "You come down here now!"
Jun Beibei slowly turned from the railing, her skirt hem trailing as she moved downstairs, Wen Nan following closely behind her.
Her mother stood at the entrance of the stairs, glaring angrily at Jun Beibei approaching, ready to explode at any moment.
But glancing at the sea cucumber following behind, she ultimately restrained her urge to lose temper in front of outsiders, only suppressing her fury to ask, "Why aren't you at evening study? Who is he? What were you two doing on that rooftop so close together?"
If it were before, Jun Beibei might have felt flustered facing her mother's questioning and tried hard to explain, but now, seeing this campus already in dire straits, she was too exhausted to deal with these trivialities at home, without explaining another word, she simply asked back:
"Why did you suddenly come over?"
"What's with your attitude?" Jun Beibei's mother lifted a small box she was holding, shaking it forcefully, making a clattering sound, "I saw the temperature rising and was worried that the medicine you left in the dorm would deteriorate, so I came over at night to bring you a cooler box, and you? You actually learned to skip class?"
Seeing the medicine box in her mother's hand, Jun Beibei's eyes flashed with a trace of guilt, but she quickly said softly: "I'm not sick, it's you all who are sick..."
"What did you say?" Mother's voice turned sharp again.
Jun Beibei looked at the water droplets condensing outside the medicine box, suddenly lifted her head and grasped the skirt hem of her mother holding the box, "Mom, you felt it too, didn't you, the temperature here is very abnormal, something's wrong with this world."
Mother was rendered speechless by the question.
She stared blankly at Jun Beibei, her eyes surprisingly reddening, tears shimmering within.
Without directly answering Jun Beibei's question, the mother asked her, "Beibei, have you been listening to mom, taking your medicine well while alone in the dorm?"
This time, it was Jun Beibei who was stunned.
After a brief pause, Jun Beibei said: "Yes, I have been taking it."
Mother stared straight into her eyes, for a moment, saying no more.
Under her mother's scrutinizing gaze, Jun Beibei tried hard to straighten her back, not dodging, and looked back at her.
Mother and daughter stood silently confronting each other.
After an unknown period, it was the mother who conceded first; she slowly nodded, saying, "Good, it's good if you're taking it, it's good if you're taking it."
She stuffed the cooler box into Jun Beibei's hands, taking hold of Jun Beibei's hand, leading towards the playground, "Come, Beibei, go finish your evening study."
The cooler box, with a metal shell, was about the size of a small suitcase, appearing very heavy, Jun Beibei's small body struggled to carry it.