Paper Life 14

Shang Nan's lower lip was numb from the pain; he had lost sensation.

He looked at the Paper Person before him with pitch-black eyes and a candid expression, momentarily unsure whether to remind the other party that friends don't do this kind of thing even if they like each other.

Silence lingered between the two. Yu Zhibai asked softly, "Are you angry?"

Shang Nan shook his head, took a tissue out of his pocket, and wiped the blood off his mouth. Yu Zhibai's gaze followed Shang Nan's movements. Shang Nan looked up and glanced sideways at Yu Zhibai, "Do you really not understand?"

A Paper Person who has lived in human society for ten years, ranks among the top in the grade, and has won the favor of all subject teachers—how could he really be like a blank sheet of paper that understands nothing?

Yu Zhibai was about to answer when Zhang Hu appeared at the back door, unnoticed. He probably hadn't seen what just happened between the two. Holding a cake knife, he said, "Come on, time to cut the cake! It's cherry!"

After Zhang Hu left, Shang Nan squatted down and carefully wiped the fruit juice off Yu Zhibai's pant leg with a tissue. He skipped over the previous topic and said, "Yu Zhibai, no matter what, those things are in the past. You have to look forward."

Yu Zhibai lowered his eyes, looking at that section of Shang Nan's fair and fragile neck, and couldn't resist licking his lips. "I won't."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Shang Nan looked up; Yu Zhibai's eyes were pitch-black and thirsty.

'There's no way it doesn't understand,' Shang Nan thought.

Back in the living room, a four-layer cherry cake sat on a long table. Bright red cherry jam had been poured from the very top, instantly flowing over the entire cake. The jam was rich and crimson, and the fresh, sweet scent of fruit filled the living room.

Yu Zhibai's expression changed slightly, and he lowered his eyelids. He didn't want to spoil Shang Nan's mood at a time like this.

Seeing Yu Zhibai's face growing darker, Shang Nan walked around behind Zhang Hu and patted him. "Something came up at home. Yu Zhibai and I are leaving first; we won't stay for the cake."

Zhang Hu was only disappointed for a second. But on second thought, it was his birthday today, and Shang Nan had not only attended but also prepared a gift. Zhang Hu already felt very honored. So, when he heard Shang Nan say he had to leave now, he hurriedly asked the family's auntie to see them out, afraid of delaying Shang Nan.

After saying goodbye to the auntie at Zhang Hu's home, the two walked on the road.

The wound on Shang Nan's mouth was still throbbing faintly. Yu Zhibai had no sense of propriety and had bitten down hard. Shang Nan didn't want to keep agonizing over whether Yu Zhibai understood how to keep a distance; he was worried it would drag out even bigger results that he wouldn't be able to bear.

[14: But, the monster has already fallen in love with you.]

Shang Nan: "It didn't say so. I don't know. It doesn't count."

[14: It will say it sooner or later. Perhaps it's not as bad as you imagine?]

Shang Nan's home was less than a twenty-minute walk from the villa area where Zhang Hu lived. Yu Zhibai thought for a moment and stopped walking. "You go home."

Shang Nan said goodbye to Yu Zhibai. Yu Zhibai looked at Shang Nan for a while before turning to leave.

In the thick night, Shang Nan watched Yu Zhibai's retreating figure drift further away and asked 14, "Why did its blackening value suddenly rise?"

[14: Because of the car accident ten years ago, it hates red liquids.]

[14: Don't worry. The blackening value is just a datum we observe objectively. This doesn't mean it will lose control when the blackening value is full; it only represents the degree of unhealthiness of its mental state. In fact, most humans' mental states aren't exactly healthy either.]

[14: However, with that move it just made, I gained a bit more information—I don't know if you remember that student named Zhang Gou you met at the beginning?]

Shang Nan walked towards home. "I remember. What about him?"

[14: Later you asked me if there was only one Paper Person in this world. I said yes, and I was very certain. If you ask me now, I will still answer the same way. Because although Zhang Gou is not a Paper Person, he is a Paper Doll, a vessel made by Granny Yu to carry the Paper Person's resentment. Its thinking and behavioral patterns are all derived from Yu Zhibai. It possesses only resentment and hatred, all coming from Yu Zhibai. If not for this vessel, Yu Zhibai's bite just now might have bitten a chunk of your lip off.]

"..." Shang Nan kept his hands in his pockets, listening to the sound of his soles stepping on the asphalt road. "Then why would Zhang Gou like me? And steal my coat? Did Yu Zhibai order it?"

[14: No... Because you pursued him before, it disliked you a bit, so it let Zhang Gou use even more excessive methods to pursue you. He doesn't need to specifically order Zhang Gou; Zhang Gou is him. When it generates a thought, Zhang Gou will naturally execute it. I explain it this way, Nannan, do you understand?]

[14: The bite mark on your neck allows Yu Zhibai to know your tracks and where you are at any time and any place.]

Misty rain glazed the road surface with a layer of shimmering varnish.

Shang Nan opened his umbrella. He raised his hand, pressed down his collar, and touched the healed bite mark. Although the bite mark had healed, it left a scar. The remaining scar really looked just like a butterfly flapping its wings.

The texture of the scar under his fingertips wasn't very clear, but the pain transmitted from his fingertips to every part of Shang Nan's body felt as if he had returned to that night when he was pinned against the rough wall and bitten viciously by Zhang Gou. The other party always had the smell of paper pulp on him, but Shang Nan didn't pay attention at the time; he even thought Zhang Gou was Paper Person 2.0 of this world.

From start to finish, the Paper Person of this world was only Yu Zhibai. Only him.

......

Yu Zhibai held an umbrella and arrived at Red Stone Tunnel.

It was dead of night. Only after a long while would a car speed past, sending fallen leaves flying and puddles splashing. Yu Zhibai's eyes were soaked with water, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. It lowered its head, gouged out its eyeballs, and put them in the pocket of its cotton coat.

It hadn't been here for a long time; the last time was last year. Whenever it thought of the car accident from back then, it would come to see Yu She. At other times, it was just a simple monster.

The tunnel lights flickered on and off, and all was silent. Even those few broken lights lit up. The exit of the tunnel was blocked by a patch of thick white fog.

Yu She's long skirt dragged on the ground. Her pale face couldn't hide her beautiful features. Her long hair looked fluffy and warm, reaching her waist. She walked under Yu Zhibai's umbrella, her lips trembling, and raised her hands to gently cup Yu Zhibai's face.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"How is Grandma?"

"She is dying."

Yu Zhibai was a head taller than Yu She. His eyes were very similar to Yu She's eyes, only now that his eye sockets were two pitch-black holes, one couldn't tell if they looked alike anymore.

Ear-piercing horns pierced the eardrums. An electric scooter bought for a few hundred bucks smashed against the hard shell of a luxury car, instantly shattering into pieces as white smoke billowed. Yu She took the hardest hit; half her face was covered in blood, and her internal organs must have been displaced. Yet she was still so beautiful—so beautiful that people kept pointing cameras at her, at her face, at her legs, at the beautiful her.

Yu She died. They said Yu She had committed too many sins and was improper. But Yu She was already dead; she couldn't hear them. So they remembered Yu She had a son, and they transferred their viscous malice onto her son.

"I have someone I like. When I think of you again, I'll bring him to meet you."

"But he doesn't like me. Then, can I make him into a Paper Person?"

Yu She looked at Yu Zhibai's pitch-black eye sockets and pinched his face. "You cannot."

Yu Zhibai knew he couldn't. It didn't stay long and soon left the tunnel, walking on the road. There were many puddles on the sidewalk; it hated rainy days.

In the beginning, Shang Nan liked him and even confessed. He didn't know why, but now Shang Nan said it was a friend's like. Was it because he stuffed the love letter into Shang Nan's mouth? Humans are truly fickle.

......

When Shang Nan got home, Dai Lili hadn't returned yet. The auntie handed Shang Nan a dry towel to wipe his hair. "Your hair is a bit wet, wipe it quickly. Have you eaten? Do you want to eat something?"

Once the auntie asked, Shang Nan actually felt a bit hungry. "Please cook a bowl of noodles for me. I'll go up and take a shower first."

Before he could go upstairs, he was pulled back by the auntie. She looked astonished. "Young Master, what's wrong with your mouth? Is it internal heat? How did such a big piece of skin break off?"

"A friend was having a birthday. I accidentally bit it while eating cake," Shang Nan answered without changing his expression. Naturally, he couldn't say he was bitten by someone else.

"Oh my," the auntie hurriedly said. "How did you bite so hard? Really... I'll go look if there's any medicine..." Muttering, the auntie had already turned to rummage through chests and cupboards in the kitchen.

In the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror, Shang Nan finally understood why the auntie's expression was so exaggerated.

His lips were pale pink. Even if he bit them lightly himself, there would be a deep bite mark, let alone when Yu Zhibai had gnawed down so forcefully. A piece of skin was broken at the corner of his mouth. The bright red bite mark instantly added a sense of charming fragility to Shang Nan's gentle and unaggressive face.

[14: I have to say, it really knows how to bite.]

Shang Nan didn't pay attention to 14. He turned on the shower, and hot steam instantly rose in the bathroom.

Taking off his clothes and standing under the hot water, Shang Nan's frozen body slowly warmed up and became soft.

He usually washed his hair while showering. The stray hairs were soaked and brushed back. Shang Nan squeezed shampoo into his palm and was about to lather it up when he caught a glimpse of the door, which had been opened at some point—through a not-so-narrow crack, a Little Paper Person was squatting there, resting its chin in its hands, staring unblinkingly at Shang Nan.

"..."

Shang Nan didn't know if this was the Little Paper Person's own initiative or if it was ordered by Yu Zhibai. Without thinking too much, Shang Nan took down the showerhead, aimed it at the Little Paper Person, turned the water pressure to max, and blasted it. The Little Paper Person, unable to dodge in time, was immediately knocked to the ground by the water force, sticking to the floor tiles. The thin paper person gradually became transparent, turning into a completely ordinary piece of paper.

Room 603, Building 11, Happiness Community. Yu Zhibai rolled over in bed. His pitch-black pupils gazed at the Paper Doll beside him that looked very similar to Shang Nan, and he murmured, "Can't even take a look..."