Paper Life 31 Part 2

Shang Nan held up the net, "Audacious."

He fished it up in the end. The auntie next to them helped them bag it and weigh it, "Do you want anything else?"

"No more, thank you, Auntie." Yu Zhibai broke precedent and actively responded to a stranger in a setting where Shang Nan was present, and even called her Auntie.

On the way home, Shang Nan held Yu Zhibai's hand, scratching the other's palm with his fingers, "Xiao Bai, you are becoming more and more like a human."

This was a good thing.

It was something worth celebrating.

Yu Zhibai paused, "I will work hard to earn money."

Shang Nan was stunned, "Is there any necessary connection between these two things?"

"To be a human, one needs to work hard to earn money."

Shang Nan smiled, "Doing it as a monster isn't needed?"

"As a monster, it's not needed."

As a monster, one can drink the northwest wind or the southwest wind, whatever wind. But he didn't want Shang Nan to be a monster with him and drink the northwest wind. He would study hard, earn money hard, buy beautiful clothes for Shang Nan, and buy more and more roses.

On the taxi ride back, a fire truck sped past the taxi they were riding in, blinding red lights flashing on the roof.

The taxi driver rolled down the window to take a look, then rolled it back up, sighing, "Every year during these few days of the New Year, the firefighters' workload doubles. Those secretly playing with fireworks, electric blankets leaking electricity and starting fires without knowing, electric heaters causing fires... there are so many. Wonder which family caught fire this time."

After finishing, he paused, "Hey, the direction this fire truck is going is Happiness Community. You are also going to Happiness Community, isn't this a coincidence?"

Thick smoke billowed, and the smell of burnt objects quickly dispersed in the air. The fire was already very large and out of control.

This was the second incident in Happiness Community this month.

As soon as the thick smoke rushed out of the window, the neighbors saw it. Without thinking too much, they quickly called the fire department. Knowing afterwards it was Granny Yu's home, no one blamed her. Although Granny Yu was unlucky, Happiness Community couldn't have more accidents. If there were more accidents, the big boss probably wouldn't be willing to demolish and develop their area. Unlucky.

Happiness Community consisted of old houses built many years ago, in disrepair for years. They were also reluctant to spend money and effort to repair them.

The electrical wiring connected to the light in Yu Changyue's room was exposed and hadn't been used for a long time. Sparks flashed during a short circuit, directly igniting the wallpaper. Behind the wallpaper were wooden boards, connected to a wooden wardrobe. The whole room was ignited in a very short time. Thick smoke instantly choked Yu Changyue's windpipe.

She ran to the kitchen, soaked a rag in water, and covered her nose and mouth. She was old to begin with and had just been discharged from the hospital. She stumbled out the door. Before going downstairs, she remembered she didn't take Yu She's photo. Holding the handrail, panting heavily, she walked back into the room. Just as she got Yu She's photo, the TV nearby exploded with a "bang". Yu Changyue was knocked down by the impact, and the fire before her eyes instantly grew larger.

In the taxi, from the car window, Shang Nan saw it. The place on fire was Yu Zhibai's home. Firefighters were extinguishing the fire; giant water columns had already launched an offensive against the fully burning house.

"Oh my god, why are you jumping out of the car, child?" the driver screamed.

Shang Nan looked to his side. The door had opened at some point. Groceries rolled all over the car floor. Yu Zhibai had jumped directly out of the car. He fell to the ground and scrambled up again without any pause.

At the entrance, a firefighter was yelling at an old woman, "There was clearly someone, why did you say there was no one?!"

"Do you know you are committing a crime?" Wearing a fire helmet, he shouted until his throat hurt.

The fire was too big. Even knowing there was someone in the house now, he couldn't let team members rashly break in. Several households downstairs had run out. They only heard a child say there was a grandma in the top floor room, and the grandson wasn't home.

The firefighter put his hands on his hips and paced a few steps. He snatched the walkie-talkie from a team member, "Someone come with me to go up."

Just as his voice fell, a figure brushed past him. The speed was so fast he didn't have time to grab it.

The child pointed at the entrance, "It's the grandma's grandson, he went up."

A violent explosion occurred upstairs again. Shattered glass smashed down with a crash. The firefighter hurriedly pounced over to protect the child, roaring, "Crowd do not gather, go to the safety zone!"

"Set up the isolation tape, what are you standing there for?!"

Shang Nan was stopped outside the isolation tape. No matter how he stated his identity, the person stopping him only said, "The fire is too big, the public is not allowed to approach. Please stay outside the safety line. Thank you for your cooperation."

Half the sky was reflected red. Today was New Year's Eve; red should have been the most festive color.

Shang Nan stood in place, his heart twisted into a ball of pain. He bent down. His breath was full of the smell of thick smoke, burnt furniture, and the scorching smell of nearby trees.

[14: Nannan, go to the rear gate of the community. It will jump out of the window.]

Hearing 14's prompt, Shang Nan stood up, pushed through the onlookers, and staggered towards the rear gate of the community.

Yu Zhibai saw Yu Changyue at the corner between the fourth and fifth floors. Yu Changyue held that colored eighteen-year-old portrait of Yu She in her arms. The old lady leaned against the scalding wall, eyes half-closed.

Hearing the rapid breathing, Yu Changyue opened her eyes with difficulty. Looking at the "person" in front of her, half the face had been destroyed, black and red all over. The eye was left as just a dark hole. The backs of his hands were completely burned.

Yu Zhibai grabbed Yu Changyue's wrist. Yu Changyue paused and struggled gently. She didn't want a monster to carry her.

Yu Zhibai moved forward and knelt on one knee in front of Yu Changyue, "Grandma, I am Little Yu."

Little Yu?

Tongues of fire rolled down from upstairs. Yu Zhibai blocked them with his back. He clasped Yu Changyue's wrist again, "Let's go."

Yu Changyue didn't refuse this time.

She lay on Yu Zhibai's back, her breathing already very weak. "Little Yu, after I die, bury me with your mother. The passbooks are all under your name, enough for you to go to college."

Walking in the stairwell, flames attacking from all directions, Yu Zhibai remembered that day it rained heavily. He was carried back from the hospital by his grandmother. His grandmother couldn't hold an umbrella. The rain soaked him and also soaked his grandmother.

His eyes hurt very much. His grandmother cursed the taxi driver who wouldn't take them, cursed his mother who died in a car accident, then cursed himself who was dying, cursed heaven for being unfair, and then, his grandmother started crying.

At that time, his hands couldn't hug his grandmother's neck tightly, dangling on both sides of her shoulders, swaying and swaying. Now, his grandmother also couldn't hug his neck tightly. Her two arms hung over his shoulders, also swaying and swaying.

Another explosion happened inside a door. Yu Zhibai blocked in front. His grandmother's consciousness cleared up a little. She said weakly:

"Little Yu has grown up."

"Little Yu must live well in the future. Grandma can only accompany you to here."

Yu Zhibai felt his eyes hurt very much.

......

Downstairs.

[14: Nannan, the blackening value has been cleared to zero.]

[14: Yu Changyue caused the birth of the Paper Person, interrupting Yu Zhibai's death. It is an act that violates biological survival principles. She is also one of those who suffered backlash. Sending her to the hospital is just useless effort. She won't live long, even without this accident.]

Shang Nan was silent for a while, murmuring, "At least we could have spent New Year together."

He continued looking upstairs. The glass was almost all shattered by the heat waves. Broken glass littered the ground. The scalding temperature made Shang Nan's face sting even though he was very far from the fire.

Yu Changyue was so old, how could she stand it? Her windpipe had problems to begin with. He shouldn't have gone out with Yu Zhibai.

Yu Zhibai is a Paper Person, he is afraid of fire. Such a big fire...

A "bang" came from beneath a window diagonally ahead. Shang Nan didn't hesitate. He took off his jacket, soaked it in the pool, covered his head with it, and ran over.

Yu Zhibai jumped down face first carrying Yu Changyue. He used his body as a cushion for Yu Changyue.

"Yu Zhibai!" Shang Nan reached out to help Yu Changyue up. Yu Changyue's eyes were closed, her body soft like mud. His brain buzzed.

Yu Zhibai's fingers moved. He slowly crawled up. Seeing his current face, Shang Nan was startled, but what he felt more was heartache.

Yu Zhibai carried Yu Changyue on his back again, holding Shang Nan with one hand, trotting towards the rear gate.

Beside the pool at the rear gate, Yu Zhibai put Yu Changyue down. Shang Nan pushed him away, "I'll do it."

14 didn't remind him; he seemed to naturally know how to perform first aid on humans and even animals. Sweat rolled down Shang Nan's forehead until Yu Changyue resumed breathing.

Shang Nan straightened his waist, "She's still breathing, send to hospital first."

Yu Zhibai's expression on half his face was numb. Hearing Shang Nan's words, he got up to carry Yu Changyue. Shang Nan held his hand down, "Let me do it. Your current appearance... Xiao Bai, find a place, at least repair your face first."

Half his face was gone. His back was also burned, leaving a scorched black patch, like wearing a half-mask.

The doctors from Xizhou Private Hospital received the news and immediately sent a car over, bringing two large trucks of emergency equipment. The director of the burn unit came directly.

Right in the open space outside, after a simple examination, the director inspected the old woman's body parts, especially the severely burned areas. The most serious part was the back. After looking, he raised his head, looking at the anxious Young Master of the Shang family, "The back is burned very severely. It's the highest level of burn severity. Plus, the old lady is advanced in years; her body's repair ability is far inferior to young people."

The director couldn't bear to watch the boy's blank expression, but the situation had to be stated clearly. His voice was heavy with grief: "But the hospital can make the old woman's last few days less painful."

"But the skin isn't even broken?" Shang Nan's voice was hoarse.

"If the skin was just broken, that would be manageable. The wound surface on the elderly's back is white; the flesh has been cooked. Generally in such cases, there is already a certain degree of internal damage." The director lowered his head. This situation was indeed unsalvageable.

Shang Nan understood the director's meaning. It took him a long time to find his own voice, "Then you treat her first, I'll go find her family."

Shang Nan didn't know how he walked to Yu Zhibai, who was squatting behind the corner of the wall. He slowly squatted down, looking at Yu Zhibai.

Yu Zhibai slowly raised his eyes, looking numbly at Shang Nan. Many tears accumulated in his remaining eye socket, mixed with ink, becoming black, like a pool of stagnant black water.

Before the tears fell, Shang Nan reached out to catch them, then covered Yu Zhibai's eyes, "Xiao Bai, don't cry. I'm here."