"Did you two come to school together?" Zhang Hu had a lollipop in his mouth. He had been watching Shang Nan and Yu Zhibai ever since they walked into the classroom one after another. He waited until they sat down before approaching them with a gossipy look to talk, casually sharing a few packs of dried beef his grandmother made.

Yu Zhibai frowned slightly. "No thanks, I don't eat that."

"Give them all to me, I'll eat them." Shang Nan guessed that Yu Zhibai probably wasn't good at, nor did he like, interacting with others. Although it didn't show on his face, Shang Nan could get hints from 14. Actually, even without 14's hints, Shang Nan could see it and guess it.

A loner monster; besides disliking others getting close, he also felt uncomfortable.

So far, Yu Zhibai only accepted Shang Nan getting close to him.

Zhang Hu didn't take Yu Zhibai's aloofness to heart. Yu Zhibai's personality had always been this introverted and shy, not close with anyone. He used to like Yu Zhibai more because no matter what you said, Yu Zhibai would listen quietly. However, Zhang Hu liked Shang Nan more now; the current Shang Nan felt very human.

"Oh, Shang Nan, it's my birthday this Sunday. I'm inviting some friends for a meal, are you coming?" Zhang Hu pulled out an apple from somewhere and asked Shang Nan while gnawing on it.

Shang Nan glanced at Yu Zhibai. Zhang Hu wasn't stupid and understood immediately. He then asked Yu Zhibai, "Yu Zhibai, are you going?"

Yu Zhibai was doing his homework. Hearing Zhang Hu call his name, he looked up, but his gaze went to Shang Nan. After only looking for a few seconds, he lowered his head again.

"If Nannan goes, I'll go."

Nannan?

Wait.

To express his shock, Zhang Hu took a vicious bite of the apple, juice splashing everywhere. His eyes went wide, and he swallowed it raw without chewing much.

"How did your relationship progress so fast? You're already using nicknames?"

Shang Nan almost didn't react in time. Meeting Zhang Hu's shocked gaze, he nearly choked on his own saliva.

Zhang Hu's gaze went back and forth between Shang Nan and Yu Zhibai several times, then he let out an endless "Oh~~" as if suddenly realizing something. "I get it, I get it, I know, friends these days are all like you two. Remember to come to my birthday party together." After speaking, he didn't intend to listen to any explanation, turning his head away and laughing uncontrollably.

Shang Nan put all the dried beef into his desk and asked Yu Zhibai, "Why did you suddenly call me by my nickname?"

Yu Zhibai looked up. "We are friends, you said so."

Shang Nan suddenly felt curious. "Yu Zhibai, what does a friend mean to you?"

"Uniqueness, exclusivity, possessiveness." Since last night, Yu Zhibai's attitude and tone when speaking to Shang Nan had changed, distinctly different from how he treated others.

Hearing Yu Zhibai's answer, Shang Nan lowered his head, leaned closer to Yu Zhibai, and asked in a low voice, "Do you have some misunderstanding about the relationship of friends?"

Yu Zhibai turned a page of his homework. "No misunderstanding."

[14: A monster's thought pattern is different from a human's. Perhaps the friendship it understands is just like this: unique, exclusive, possessive. It's a good thing for you; at least you now have the pass to get close to him.]

That said, Shang Nan still felt it was weird.

In the afternoon class, Zhang Xueli announced that next week they would be going to the Jinzi Lake villa complex in Huinanfang for a picnic, leaving that day and returning the next.

At other high schools, extracurricular activities were almost completely halted by the third year. However, for Shang Nan's third year, they were only nominally reduced by a third. On one hand, the school was very confident in its teaching and the students' grades. On the other hand, one-third of the students in the class had already decided on the countries they would study abroad in, and the remaining students never scored particularly poorly on exams.

Comprehensive development, striking a balance between work and rest—this was the teaching philosophy of Changyu High School. It refused to put excessive pressure on students, granting them the greatest degree of freedom under reasonable conditions that did not affect their grades.

Jinzi Lake was far from the city center, and the villa complex wasn't dense. Its strength lay in the beautiful scenery and the clear lake. Taking advantage of the fact that it hadn't snowed yet and New Year's Day was approaching, they were taking the students to relax.

......

When school ended in the evening, Shang Nan hesitated and asked Yu Zhibai, "Shall I walk you back?"

Lu Yang's group, seven or eight of them, were gathered in a dark corner at the school gate. With cigarettes in their hands or dangling from their mouths, the scarlet embers flickered in the gloom.

They appeared not to be looking this way, but staying after school dismissed... Shang Nan didn't need to think to know they were lying in wait for Yu Zhibai.

Li Houde poked his head out of the car window. "Young Master, Madam asked you to return earlier today."

Yu Zhibai glanced behind Shang Nan and smiled like a clear breeze under a bright moon. "Nannan, go back early. I'm fine."

His figure wasn't frail; he was even taller than Lu Yang, but there were seven or eight people on the other side.

More importantly, Yu Zhibai wouldn't fight back, but that didn't stop his blackening value from rising. Shang Nan treasured that 0.5 he had managed to lower with such difficulty.

Shang Nan stood undecided between his family's car and Yu Zhibai, who was walking further away.

[14: Follow him?]

"Follow."

Upon learning that Shang Nan would return late tonight, Li Houde was stunned. He rubbed his head, looking worried. "Madam isn't in a good mood. Young Master, I'm afraid she'll lose her temper later."

"Let her lose it then, it's not the first time." Shang Nan waved his hand and ran to catch up with Yu Zhibai, carrying his schoolbag.

Li Houde watched helplessly as his young master chased after that boy. Recalling Madam's gloomy face when he left to pick up the Young Master today, he couldn't help but shiver.

He didn't know what was wrong with the Shang Family. They could clearly live a good life, but ever since the master passed away, leaving behind the mistress and a minor son, things had changed. Generally speaking, in a normal family, the remaining two would rely on each other and have a deep bond. But this mother and son were the opposite, like enemies. The mother beat the son to within an inch of his life, and the son didn't show a shred of the respect a junior should have for his mother.

Turns out, even with money, rich people can still live a messy life.

Yu Zhibai walked ahead, the streetlights casting vague shadows.

Shang Nan caught up and seized the opportunity to grab Yu Zhibai's sleeve from behind. "Lu Yang and the others are waiting for you to be alone. I'll walk you back."

Yu Zhibai turned around, and Shang Nan immediately let go of his fingers gripping Yu Zhibai's sleeve.

Yu Zhibai was one step ahead, catching Shang Nan's right hand just as it was about to fall back to his side. His index finger hooked around Shang Nan's pinky. He saw the surprised expression on Shang Nan's face at this action, his peach blossom eyes wide and beautiful. The first time Yu Zhibai felt a human was beautiful was from Shang Nan.

"Why are you surprised?" Yu Zhibai gently pulled Shang Nan towards him. "We are friends."

Shang Nan was easily pulled to Yu Zhibai's side. Yu Zhibai's fingers were very cool, icy. Except for the temperature, everything else was no different from a human.

Shang Nan didn't know how to start, how to tell this Paper Person that friends were different from what he thought.

"Can't we hold hands?" seeing Shang Nan still looking at him with astonishment, Yu Zhibai asked in confusion.

"No... it's not that, we can." Shang Nan gave up struggling.

[14: Blackening value dropped by 2.5, currently at 48. Nannan, good job!]

'It's fine, just let him hold my hand,' Shang Nan thought, looking at his hand held by Yu Zhibai. He inexplicably felt that the Paper Person was quite easy to coax.

The ginkgo trees planted on both sides of North-South Straight Street had long shed all their leaves by the end of autumn. The fallen leaves on the ground had been swept clean, and the bare branches, illuminated by the lights, cast winding, twisted black shadows on the ground.

Today, because of Shang Nan, Lu Yang and his group's plan fell through.

Fortunately, Happiness Community wasn't particularly far from Changyu High School. When they reached the community entrance, Shang Nan pulled his hand free from Yu Zhibai's grip and looked behind him. "We're here, you go in."

Happiness Community was very dilapidated. The four characters for "Happiness Community" on the arched gate had lost their paint due to constant sun and rain. The rusty iron gates were wide open on both sides. There were no lights inside the community; it was even darker than outside, looking eerie.

Yu Zhibai's complexion was fine, not the snow-white color of a Paper Person. The streetlight hit him from the side, and his narrow, straight nose bridge cast a hazy shadow on the other half of his face. When he looked at people, he stared, but they weren't human eyes or a human gaze, making one's heart turn cold.

"Bye-bye."

Shang Nan said goodbye and turned to leave.

Yu Zhibai stood at the gate for a long time. Only when Shang Nan's figure disappeared did he take out a small piece of paper from his schoolbag. At the same time, he took a pen, dotted facial features onto the paper, wrote a few words on the back, and then threw it onto the ground.

The Little Paper Person hurriedly chased after Shang Nan. It had to follow the master's decree: escort the master's friend home safely!!!

Granny Yu had a red and black pilled blanket draped over her shoulders. She stood on the sixth-floor balcony, bloated and worn, like a dusty porcelain statue of an old person. The wrinkles on her face were clear and deep. She kept watching that boy walk away until his figure disappeared behind the old locust tree.

Hearing the living room door open, she wrapped the blanket tighter. Being old, her legs weren't very agile, and she walked somewhat clumsily. Yu Xiaoyu, who had just come in, hurriedly ran over to support her: "Grandma, why are you standing here? If you catch a cold at your age, you'll die. You're so old, even Xiao Bai can't make you into a Paper Person."

Granny Yu gave her a fierce glare but returned to sit on the sofa. The old sofa let out a long groan. It took a good while for the room to quiet down.

Yu Zhibai was still walking around the room. He came out holding a stack of pearlescent white paper that shimmered faintly but brilliantly. After he placed it on the coffee table, Yu Xiaoyu's crimson lips slowly opened wide. "Don't you treasure this paper?"

Unlike the pearlescent paper on the market, the things Yu Zhibai used all carried some function or effect, large or small. However, this paper was actually not as useful as the paper used to cut Little Paper People. It was just beautiful. It looked stiff, but in reality, it was as soft as human skin and carried warmth.

Yu Zhibai never used this kind of paper for them. Even the Gougou that looked very much like him was made of ordinary white paper that cost fifty cents a large sheet. So stingy.

Yu Zhibai pulled up a photo on his phone. The person in the photo was Shang Nan; it was the registration photo Zhang Xueli had sent to the group chat.

There was no need to widen one's eyes and search one by one; Shang Nan was very conspicuous.

His bone structure was soft and beautiful, his contours clear. There was not a bit of excess skin or flesh on his face, not even pores could be seen. The corners of his mouth were raised just right, and his pupils carried a faint brown, like expensive, uncut gems.

Granny Yu had said that making Paper People was simple. Use a standard mold, make it according to how you imagine it, don't dot the eyes, make sure everything else is there, and that's it.

But she also said that making a beautiful Paper Person was difficult. Paper People are made of paper and are hollow inside, whereas a true beauty must have a bone structure that far surpasses their skin.

The first time Yu Zhibai saw Shang Nan, he knew the other possessed the most perfect bone structure in the world.

Whether it was the skull, the phalanges, the tibia...

Yu Xiaoyu looked at Yu Zhibai's phone screen lying flat on the coffee table and exclaimed, "Wow, oh my god, he's so good-looking! Is he a Paper Person?"

"He is a human, he is my friend."

"Xiao Bai, you have a friend?" Yu Xiaoyu cupped her face. "Then are you preparing to make him into a Paper Person now?"

Yu Xiaoyu didn't have eyelids, just two dots of ink where the eyes should be. She let out a 'ho ho ho' laugh. "Make him into a Paper Person, and you and he can be friends forever!"

The author has something to say:

Paper Person: A little tempted