Paper Life 27 Part 2

He accompanied Shang Nan to stand in front of a small stall of a restaurant. Small octopuses were put into molds one by one. The size of each one was just right. The clerk moved deftly, with a full-score smile, "Hello, you can look at the menu for whatever flavor you need, or you can order a set meal directly."

The other party seemed to want to invite the two into the store even more, because their temperament was too outstanding, and they were more than half a head taller than the passersby. The boy in the black suit, in particular, looked like he came from an extraordinary family background.

"The store has salmon and sweet shrimp that just arrived this afternoon, and our eel rice is a signature dish." The clerk's smile this time could score a thousand points.

"No need, thank you." Shang Nan only ordered one portion. A portion of six cost sixty-two. Shang Nan subconsciously felt it was expensive.

Yu Zhibai's attention, however, was on a couple walking toward them. To be precise, it was on the roses in the girl's hand. The number of flowers wasn't large, but the packaging and design were unique.

The girl looked like she liked the flowers in her hand very much, holding up her phone to take pictures as she walked. When they passed by Yu Zhibai and Shang Nan, the girl stood on tiptoes and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

Yu Zhibai saw it, and his eyes flickered.

"Xiao Bai?" Shang Nan held the small octopus balls and bumped the dazed Yu Zhibai. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Let's go, let's go upstairs and look around," Shang Nan took small bites of the food. "Since we still need some time before meeting up, how about I buy you a few sets of clothes and have them delivered to where we live?"

"Okay."

No matter what Shang Nan said, he thought it was good and agreed immediately.

The mall didn't lack luxury goods. Shang Nan looked at the styles of various shops, from mature gentleman to youthful sports, before finally picking a brand that was somewhere in between.

When they arrived at the store, Shang Nan also finished his food.

He wasn't dressed ordinarily. As soon as he entered the door, two shop assistants came forward to serve them. Shang Nan pointed at Yu Zhibai, "Pick for him, I don't need anything."

It had to be said that professionals were different. They quickly pushed out a rack of clothes. The lead shop assistant first praised Yu Zhibai from head to toe, "With your height, you're like a clothes hanger; everything looks good on you. Your skin is fair and your temperament is good."

Only then did she promote the clothes, "These are all our new arrivals. The designer is domestic, and young people really like his designs..." She took down a grass-green chunky knit pullover. "Don't look at how bright this color is; people with fair skin will definitely look good in it. It's fresh, bright, and enhances the complexion."

"Puffer jacket, light blue."

"Academy style navy blue sweater vest."

Shang Nan felt that Yu Zhibai didn't need to try them all on. He could imagine how these clothes would look on Yu Zhibai. Although Yu Zhibai rarely wore light-colored clothes—his clothes were mostly black, or his school uniform; his world seemed to have no color.

"Wrap them all up."

Shang Nan got up to pay the bill. Yu Zhibai didn't follow. He stroked the rows of clothes with his hand. An intern came over to push the rack away for packing and casually mentioned, "Your boyfriend treats you really well. Buying all these clothes is nearly six figures." She smiled, without malice, just envy.

Six figures?

Nearly a hundred thousand?

Then he had to give Nannan a gift too, but he had no money and couldn't afford expensive things. Roses should be no problem though.

There shouldn't be much money left at home; it was all with Yu Changyue. Yu Changyue gave him a few hundred yuan a month for living expenses, not for him to eat or drink, but mostly to bring meals to Yu Changyue.

Yu Zhibai didn't have many places where he needed to spend money. He usually only had a few hundred yuan in cash on him.

Last month, Yu Changyue had just given him some, and then Yu Changyue was sent to the hospital by Shang Nan. Now, these few hundred yuan were still in his schoolbag without a cent missing.

He thought that only eating and buying books required a lot of money. He felt that a few hundred yuan was a lot. The most money he knew of was Yu She's compensation, only there was very little left by now.

He wanted to use the money in his schoolbag to buy a bouquet of roses for Shang Nan.

"Deliver to this address, thank you." Shang Nan wrote the address in the notebook handed over by the clerk and pushed it back. After giving instructions, Shang Nan turned around, ready to go to the top floor thriller exhibition with Yu Zhibai, but when he looked back, he didn't see Yu Zhibai.

The sofa area was empty, and Yu Zhibai was nowhere to be found in other parts of the store either.

Shang Nan's heart skipped a beat.

The intern observed Shang Nan's expression, came over holding the clothes, and said, "He was still there when I went to push the rack. Maybe he went to the restroom."

[14: Not the restroom. He is on the negative first floor of the mall.]

Shang Nan immediately ran toward the elevator.

......

The young couple was startled by the boy who suddenly walked over. The girl clutched her chest, opened her mouth, but couldn't make a sound. Seeing this, her boyfriend was about to lose his temper, but the girl quickly pulled him back. "N-no, nothing, it's just that he's too handsome. So handsome I couldn't speak."

Boyfriend: "..."

"Something up?" The boyfriend didn't think this pretty-faced boy could pose any threat to him. Besides, he really was good-looking.

Yu Zhibai looked at the roses the girl had placed on the seat next to her, said "Sorry to disturb you," and then asked, "May I ask where you bought your roses?"

Apart from buying meals and daily necessities for Yu Changyue and buying various materials and books for himself, Yu Zhibai had almost never bought anything else because there was no need; his paper craft skills were enough for him to live very comfortably.

Including roses. He could make even more beautiful ones. He could make as many as he wanted.

The girl smiled, "Sending them to a partner? Asking me is the right move. You can't just give roses randomly. Sending one rose means 'you are my only one'. Sending two roses means 'a pair'. Three means 'I love you'..."

"Why so much nonsense," the boyfriend interrupted her, looking up at Yu Zhibai. "Just go out the door and turn right, keep walking. The shop is called 'Spring Has Come'. You'll see it at a glance."

"Okay, thank you." Yu Zhibai turned and walked out of the restaurant.

When Shang Nan ran out of the elevator, Yu Zhibai's figure just disappeared around a corner.

The negative first floor was the busiest. Shang Nan looked at the passing pedestrians and stopped. Only then did he remember to call Yu Zhibai. It rang for a long time before being picked up.

Shang Nan held his breath, "Why didn't you say anything before suddenly walking away?"

Yu Zhibai answered softly, "I wanted to give you a gift. I'll be back right away."

Hearing that Yu Zhibai wanted to give him a gift again, Shang Nan's goosebumps jumped up. Just as he wanted to say no need, the other party hung up the phone.

No manners at all!

Yu Zhibai found that flower shop. Pure white decoration, relying entirely on the flowers inside for embellishment, making it look less lifeless.

The owner was a lady approaching thirty. Seeing a customer, she immediately stood up to welcome him, asking, "Buying flowers?"

"Mn, buying flowers." Yu Zhibai looked at the room full of fresh flowers, the wide variety of roses. There were over a dozen kinds of red roses alone. Although they had left the nourishment of the earth, with the nutrient solution, their spirits were still full.

"Who are you sending them to?" the owner asked.

"I want to buy a bouquet of roses for my boyfriend.

"I want red ones."

The owner looked at the other party. Although he answered nonchalantly, from the moment he entered the shop, his gaze hadn't moved from that row of roses. Like someone so much, huh? A rare young man.

"The best quality in our shop is this variety called 'Spring Story'. The petals have a velvet texture, and the opening degree is very good. Although it can't compare to the Austin flower shape, it is considered a very competitive variety among red roses."

"Another reason I recommend it to you is that the teacher who cultivated the 'Spring Story' variety did it originally to pursue a boy. Later they got together, and they were each other's first love. I think this one should suit you very well."

Yu Zhibai nodded, "Okay."

"I'll wrap them up for you. If you don't need a particularly large bouquet, six stems are enough," the owner said thoughtfully.

Yu Zhibai paused, remembering what the girl in the restaurant said just now, and asked, "What is the flower language of six roses?"

The owner laughed directly, "No matter what you send, it's because you like the person that you send it. The amount doesn't matter."

The owner took fresh red roses from the back room, picked a pearlescent white wrapping paper, and chose a matte black ribbon for binding. Even before wrapping, the texture was already evident.

Yu Zhibai stood aside quietly watching the owner's movements. From trimming the flower stems to the final product, the owner's movements were very smooth and deft. It was wrapped in fifteen minutes.

"Alright, inspect it." The owner handed the bouquet to Yu Zhibai.

After confirming it was the bouquet he wanted, Yu Zhibai took out cash from his schoolbag to pay. Not many people used cash nowadays, so the owner was slightly surprised.

"Two hundred and forty-six," the owner said.

Yu Zhibai gave the owner exactly two hundred and forty-six; no change needed.

"Thank you." After Yu Zhibai finished speaking, he walked out of the flower shop holding the flowers.

While Yu Zhibai was busy, Shang Nan returned to the clothing store, but sat in the rest area at the store entrance. He drank the latte brought by the clerk and ate small desserts. He didn't even know when Yu Zhibai appeared behind him.

"Nannan." Yu Zhibai called out to him.

Shang Nan still had a fork in his mouth. Hearing Yu Zhibai's voice unexpectedly, he immediately turned his head. He looked at Yu Zhibai, his gaze moving from Yu Zhibai's face to the roses in his arms, his eyes slowly widening.

He took the fork out of his mouth, licked the cream off his lip, and dazedly accepted the roses, "You, where did you get these?"

Paper craft?

So fast?

Shang Nan lowered his head and pinched the petals with his fingers. There was a thin layer of powder on his fingers. Not paper; they were real roses.

Where did the roses come from?

Shang Nan thought of the search terms he had seen on the hospital computer before.

Yu Zhibai lowered his eyes to look at Shang Nan. He had run over, and was dressed thickly for winter. He panted for a while before softly telling Shang Nan, "I like you for real, so the roses must be real too."