Paper Life 16

Yu Zhibai's hands were very cold. When he was human, his body temperature wasn't this low; it was slightly lower, but not cold like the temperature of someone dead for a long time.

It hadn't forgotten to answer Shang Nan's question—about how it got in.

"Came in through the crack in the door," it replied.

The crack in the door?

Shang Nan was stunned.

How wide is a door crack? Light can barely pass through, yet it walked through the crack? While Shang Nan found it incredible, he also felt a shudder of fear.

His wrist was pinched in Yu Zhibai's hand. The other party showed no intention of letting go, but this posture really tested his core strength. Shang Nan's elbow supported all the weight of his upper body; eventually feeling sore, he pitched forward, and Yu Zhibai caught him.

Amidst the other party's dim gaze, Shang Nan said helplessly, "I don't hope for you to hurt her."

Yu Zhibai's eyes suddenly grew darker. "You like her?"

Shang Nan felt this was making trouble out of nothing, but given the other party's current non-human state, logic wouldn't work. It had no regard for etiquette, nor ethics or morals, so Shang Nan didn't haggle with him.

"I don't want you to hurt anyone." This was the truth.

Hearing the answer, Yu Zhibai lowered his head and whispered, "Everyone is more important than me."

"..."

Shang Nan quietly clenched his other hand resting on the quilt into a fist. He endured it, "You are more important than anyone."

If the Paper Person continued to be entangled, unreasonable, and pestering, Shang Nan was going to lose his temper.

Kick it out, then plug the door crack.

Yu Zhibai slowly curved up the corners of his lips. The color of his lips looked like it was painted on with paint, thick and bright red. When he smiled, it brought a heavy sense of weirdness and discomfort.

"Okay." Yu Zhibai looked up, his gaze landing on Shang Nan's strangled neck. Shang Nan's skin was very white, different from it, and different from those ugly humans too. It was white in a delicate and clean way, so the marks left behind were especially obvious.

Dai Lili had lost all reason at that time, controlled by resentment. Her strength was not something a human could shake. She was originally thin, and her fleshless fingers became like iron chains strangling Shang Nan's neck tight, constantly tightening, leaving a clearly visible semicircle of bruise on Shang Nan's neck. If anyone happened to see it, they would be scared into thinking Shang Nan had encountered an evil ghost on the road.

Yu Zhibai extended his arm, touching the place where Shang Nan had wrapped a layer of gauze. "If there is a next time, I will definitely snap her neck," it said softly.

A Paper Person is not human; it only knows how to treat Shang Nan well in its own way.

The two went to school together the next day.

The sky was just getting light. Shang Nan still needed to eat breakfast, so the taxi stopped at a breakfast shop not far from the school. It was Yu Zhibai who took Shang Nan there.

Shang Nan looked at the menu and went "Wow". "You know how to pick good food too?"

Yu Zhibai shook his head. "Grandma likes to eat here."

Granny Yu was old and couldn't walk far. She was the only one in the family who needed to eat, but also because of her age, she couldn't digest much. She liked the millet porridge and steamed flower rolls from this shop, so Yu Zhibai often bought them for her.

The steamers were stacked as high as a person. Once the lid was lifted, scorching white mist rose abruptly. The boss's face was blurred behind it. The customers included students from Changyu High School as well as office workers. A steamer of buns and flower rolls sold out very quickly.

But in Yu Zhibai's eyes, this wasn't even as tasty as the incense, candles, and paper money burned for the dead.

Shang Nan seemed to like it very much.

White porridge and small steamed buns, plus a small saucer of pickles. Shang Nan's beautiful fingers held the disposable chopsticks. When he bit open a small steamed bun, his neat teeth were revealed, offering a glimpse of his slightly curled tongue.

"Delicious!" Shang Nan's face was full of surprise.

Yu Zhibai smiled. "Good."

After making this comment, Shang Nan lowered his head and ate seriously.

He had a small appetite and ate politely, feeding his mouth small bite by small bite.

A burst of noise came from behind. Originally thought to be coming from afar, unexpectedly it got closer and closer. Suona horns cleared the way, gongs and drums shook the sky, and the chaotic human voices sounded like ghostly chanting.

Shang Nan was originally very focused on eating, but the commotion was too loud. He couldn't help putting down his spoon and looking behind him. With this look, Shang Nan was stunned.

Filling his eyes was a patch of damp, eerie red. Fiery red, bright red, dark red. Red mist, red clothing, red banners, and a luxurious sedan chair. The procession carried the momentum of sweeping away thousands of troops, with a tall and strong white horse clearing the way, followed by attendants carrying countless chests and cages, both men and women.

It was a wedding procession, either welcoming or sending off the bride, but they were definitely not humans. Their feet were off the ground, their faces dark and pale. Seemingly festive, yet looking even more bizarre than a funeral.

The procession passed by the breakfast shop, acting as if no one else was there, passing directly through the blocking customers and tables without looking sideways. When the massive sedan chair passed by Shang Nan, the curtain seemed to be blown by the wind and lifted up...

A sharp, dark green chin appeared in Shang Nan's field of vision. Shang Nan subconsciously tilted his head wanting to see clearly. As he tilted his head, his cheek rested against a patch of coolness. Immediately after, his face was turned back by Yu Zhibai. Shang Nan looked into Yu Zhibai's eyes. Yu Zhibai said, "It's a ghost marriage procession. If you see the bride's face, you become the bridegroom."

"Huh?" Shang Nan subconsciously wanted to look again, but Yu Zhibai held the side of his face and blocked him back. Seeing the sedan chair was already in front of him, and the procession had no visible end, Shang Nan sighed in relief only after a long time when it completely disappeared from view. He asked, "Why?"

Yu Zhibai reluctantly touched Shang Nan's face before retracting his hand. "I don't know. Maybe because you were chosen by her."

"Things like this happen every day. Only the chosen targets can see it. However, as long as you don't make eye contact with her, you won't be taken away."

Seeing Shang Nan hadn't recovered yet, Yu Zhibai thought for a moment, laid on the table, his expression suddenly becoming yearning. "You like it? If you like it, I can also..."

Shang Nan snapped back to reality. "What did you say?"

"I said," Yu Zhibai rested his chin on his hand, "I can make a sedan chair even more beautiful than that one, and a welcoming procession. Whatever scale of spectacle you want, I'll give you that scale. I can also make beautiful phoenix crowns and robes, ten miles of dowry..."

Shang Nan's expression slowly solidified. He used his chopsticks to pick up a small steamed bun and stuffed it into Yu Zhibai's mouth, stood up expressionlessly, picked up his schoolbag, and walked towards the school.

Yu Zhibai spat out the bun in his mouth onto the plate. Thinking that it was fed by Shang Nan, he picked it up again, stuffed it into his mouth, and swallowed it directly.

Yu Zhibai caught up with Shang Nan and walked side by side with him. This road was the one the ghost marriage procession had just taken. Yu Zhibai's smile widened, widening to a somewhat eerie appearance.

"Didn't you say you like me? Don't you want to bow to heaven and earth and get married with me?"

[14: It's at it again.]

[14: According to the Monster Behavior Analysis Theory in my database, it should currently be courting.]

'Courting?'

'What courting?'

'Courting who?'

'Does it know what kind of thing it is that it's courting?'

Shang Nan was so angry he wanted to laugh, but he was also truly soft-hearted.

If he wasn't soft-hearted, he wouldn't have been chosen to execute this task.

Even if Yu Zhibai was a Paper Person.

From the moment he prepared to step forward on the rooftop, his choice represented his choice when facing all similar situations in the future.

Shang Nan remained silent. The corners of Yu Zhibai's mouth slowly flattened, and he wasn't too happy anymore. The silence between the two lasted until class started.

......

Shang Nan passed a small piece of paper onto Yu Zhibai's desk, with a line of words written on it: Are you angry?

Yu Zhibai clearly saw it but didn't answer. After a while, he wrote on the paper, "No." He even tore the paper into the shape of a Little Paper Person and let the Little Paper Person run around in the middle.

Shang Nan: "..."

Seeing that Yu Zhibai obviously still minded that he didn't answer his question earlier, Shang Nan could only continue writing: Aren't we friends?

The Little Paper Person crawled into Yu Zhibai's hand on its own. After a while, it crawled back again.

—Then can I bite your mouth?

......

Shang Nan turned his head to glance at Yu Zhibai. Before he could reply to the other party, the teacher on the podium threw a piece of chalk over, hitting Shang Nan right on the forehead. "Get out."

He only asked Shang Nan to leave, not mentioning Yu Zhibai. Shang Nan couldn't have asked for more; he stood up directly and went out. His footsteps looked somewhat impatient, making the unknowing teacher so angry he had to take deep breaths quickly.

That Little Paper Person was still lying quietly on Shang Nan's desk, turning over every few seconds. Yu Zhibai stared at it for a while, reached out to pick up the Little Paper Person, and tore it up without a word.

It wasn't until class was over that Shang Nan returned to the classroom. He was frozen stiff from the wind outside, but he had also been blown sober and had thought things through.

As long as he can save the monster and the mission is successful, anything is fine.

Since the goal remains unchanged, there is no need to limit the path and method to reach the finish line.

It was relatively warm in the classroom. After sitting down, Shang Nan just wanted to speak to Yu Zhibai, who was burying his head writing homework, when he was interrupted by Zhang Hu. Zhang Hu placed a paper bag in front of Shang Nan. "Cake, I specially saved it for you."

"By the way..." Zhang Hu looked at Yu Zhibai mysteriously and deliberately raised his voice. "I brought you two love letters~ One is from my middle school classmate to you, and one is from my elementary school classmate to you. I said you have someone you like, but they didn't believe it and insisted I bring them to you. Just give me a word on whether it's a yes or no."

Two love letters, one pink envelope, one light blue envelope. Both were very exquisite and beautiful. To be able to prepare such a letter overnight was quite impressive.

Shang Nan glanced at Yu Zhibai, who was keeping his head down and staying silent without any reaction. He thought for a moment and took the two love letters from Zhang Hu's hand. "Then, I'll just take a look."

He deliberately asked, "How do they look?"

Zhang Hu was also quick on the uptake and hurriedly said, "They definitely look good. Looking at me, you should know my friends certainly won't be bad either." Zhang Hu, who had obviously gained weight and developed a double chin this winter, was very confident.

Shang Nan actually wasn't interested in love letters or anything. He didn't look closely after opening them either.

While he was still adjusting the front and back of the love letter, his wrist was suddenly grabbed by Yu Zhibai. He was dragged off the chair by Yu Zhibai and almost fell to the ground.

"Hey... Yu Zhibai..."

Zhang Hu was startled by the commotion. He clutched his chest, his heart beating wildly. "Holy crap, Yu Zhibai is so scary. Such a big reaction?!"

Shang Nan was pulled by Yu Zhibai to the large multimedia classroom on the same floor. Except for class events, it was generally unused.

"Angry?" Shang Nan tilted his head to observe Yu Zhibai. "Because of the love letters?" Shang Nan waved the envelopes, which had been squeezed out of shape, in front of Yu Zhibai's eyes. "They want to date me, not be friends. I only make friends with you."

Shang Nan was standing on the podium, positioned slightly higher than Yu Zhibai.

Yu Zhibai looked up, his eyes gloomy and unclear, pupils pitch black. He had switched back to the ink-black eyeballs, pitch black with no bottom visible, looking unfathomable.

It suddenly reached out and snatched the love letters from Shang Nan's hand.

Then, right in front of Shang Nan, it tore up the love letters, stuffed them into its mouth, chewed a few times, and spat them out in one mouthful. "Really tastes bad."

The author has something to say:

Paper that has been wiped with wife's saliva: Not bad

Love rival's love letter: Ptui, even dogs wouldn't eat it