Ch33 - Paper Gold

Despite the mental shock, Li Yinhang’s money-saving radar didn’t go on strike. They left the neon-bright flashy casino and walked all the way to the edge of the outer city that wrapped around the prosperous Paper Gold.

The Hong Kong-style town with a hint of cyberpunk was a hotbed of life for debtors, fugitives and the poor. The price of accommodation here was extremely cheap. Amidst the babies’ cries in the night, they asked several hostels with red lights for ‘accommodation’ before finally finding one with good hygiene that was relatively well-decorated. 

All three people expressed satisfaction. The young man who took them to see the rooms yawned and knocked on the door of the landlady. Nan Zhou knew they needed to trade points with the boss.

There were three knocks before an old lady with a pair of pale yellow cat eyes came out. Li Yinhang almost died on the spot when she saw the other person’s face. Nan Zhou stepped forward as if to protect Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang behind him. “We’re here to book a room.”

The dense folds on the old lady’s face moved. Her voice was full of vicissitudes and her eyes were empty. It wasn’t known if she was dying or dead. “How long are you staying? How many people?”

Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang. Jiang Fang glanced at Li Yinhang. Li Yinhang raised her courage and showed her head from behind Nan Zhou. “Three people and one night. How much is it?” 

The old lady raised three trembling fingers. “300 points.”

Li Yinhang followed by raising five fingers. She said, “50 points.”

Nan Zhou who never bargained with anyone, “?”

Jiang Fang who was used to spending money, “?”

It wasn’t just them. The old lady NPC was dumbfounded on the spot. Li Yinhang was now using her powerful connections to intimidate people. If she was alone then she wouldn’t have the courage to fight with such a cat-eyed old woman late at night.

Li Yinhang sighed with relief and started to play freely. “All of us are young people and can find any place to sleep. It is more of a waste for you if your room is empty. It is better to let us sleep.”

“Then go and sleep in the park,” the old woman said. “250 points is fine. Any less and you can go wherever you want to go.”

“250 isn’t a good number either.” Li Yinhang gradually entered the swing of things. “50 points.” 

The old lady was about to close the door. Li Yinhang directly squeezed forward while hooking a small wooden stool to the side of the corridor with her feet. She stood blocking the door with the wooden stool. She blocked the door and put on a posture that was familiar at a market. “We asked several other places around here. They are 100 or 50 points.”

The old lady answered, “Then you stay with them. How can the conditions be comparable?”

Li Yinhang told her, “The surroundings are almost the same and the place with 50 points is next to a breakfast store.”

After a tug-of-war that lasted nearly half an hour, Li Yinhang nagged the old lady out of her lifelessness. The voice no longer contained vicissitudes and the eyes weren’t blank. Her spirit was full and anger rushed to her head. The old lady stared fiercely, her pupils almost shrunk into a black line, “100 points. It can’t be less.” 

Li Yinhang sighed and stood up from the stool. “Forget it, let’s go see that place for 50 points again.”

The old lady, “……”

She was angered and rushed to grab the arm of Li Yinhang who was about to leave. Her nails were black and catlike.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Rjc Itbe gbiifv eq tlr riffnfr jcv kjr gfjvs ab xcbmx atf biv ijvs ecmbcrmlber. Ktfc tf tfjgv atf biv ijvs uglaalcu tfg affat jcv vfmijglcu mbivis, “Gfji!” 

Rjc Itbe, “……” Ct, la kjr olcf.

Ol Tlctjcu kjrc’a gfijzfv ja jii. Vtf lwwfvljafis rflhfv atf bqqbgaeclas ab rfa atf qglmf. “Rfza alwf, kf wluta tjnf ab rajs tfgf obg j ofk vjsr. Efwfwyfg atlr qglmf jcv vbc’a lcmgfjrf la.”

The old lady, “………”

In the end, they spent 50 points and moved into a fairly clean double room. That night, her spirit had always been in a tense state. The moment Li Yinhang entered the room, she threw herself on a bed and couldn’t get out. She watched in a daze as Nan Zhou took some toiletries provided in the room and walked out. Aimless thoughts flashed in her mind. Nan Zhou’s clothes… why weren’t they dirty? Then this completely disappeared the next second. 

Nan Zhou went to the public baths to take a short shower. The bathroom was empty at 3 o’clock in the morning. Nan Zhou was used to wrapping himself up tightly so it took some time to take off his clothes one by one. He wasn’t in a hurry to take a shower. He stood naked by the window with the anti-theft barrier.

The moonlight of the walled city was clear and bright without the hustle and bustle of the neon lights. He stared at the moon for a while before opening the tap in the moonlight. Moonlight mixed with the flowing warm water and covered each corner of his body. The thin water covered the butterfly tattoo on his wrist and washed over the countless deep and shallow scars on his body.

His shoulders, collarbone, waist and calves all had strange scars. Nan Zhou was used to these scars and didn’t feel any self-pity. It was just that as he was washing his hair, his expression changed slightly when he touched the back of his neck.

…He felt another scar. Nan Zhou’s hair was long and he usually left it down at random. Combined with his shirt collar covering it and he often forgot the existence of this scar. He only noticed it when he inadvertently touched it. The thing that made it different from his other scars was that Nan Zhou didn’t remember how he got it. 

Nan Zhou was helpless. He had no way to turn his head 180 degrees to check the situation. Nan Zhou lowered his hand and didn’t think about it.

Once his shower finished, he raised his hand and let Nanji Star fly onto it from where Nanji Star was resting on the warm water pipe. He held Nanji Star on his palm, pinching the film on both sides and washing Nanji Star clean.

After wrapping Nanji Star with a small towel, Nan Zhou put on his clothes layer by layer. He re-dressed himself in his tight and elegant appearance but he didn’t put on his coat. He held it casually on his arms. If one looked closely, they could see that the white shirt fit his body but the lower part was a bit longer than his figure.

He walked out of the bathroom and found that Jiang Fang was standing outside. Jiang Fang smiled at him. “I’m going to wash up as well.” 

“Why didn’t you go in just now?” Nan Zhou wondered. “It’s fine to wash together.”

Jiang Fang nodded gently, the wildness in the casino completely gone. “I was afraid you weren’t used to it.”

He put his hand naturally on his thigh and added, “I was afraid I would scare you.”

Jiang Fang’s attitude was too gentlemanly and his eyes too sincere so Nan Zhou didn’t understand what he was referring to. He hummed. “I’ll go back to the room and wait for you.” 

Jiang Fang watched Nan Zhou disappear into the narrow and dark corridor before stepping into the bathroom alone. For the first time, he removed the choker and placed it together with his clothes.

Jiang Fang stood under the shower that Nan Zhou had just used. The moonlight shown on him and the mark on his neck was reflected very clearly. Near the artery, two letters were imprinted.

“k&m.”

At first glance, it looked like a tattoo. Then on closer examination, the rough marks of a knife cut could clearly be seen! The scar was obviously carefully modified with a tattoo afterward. However, the stroke of the ‘m’ was only half an inch away from his slightly raised artery. 

Jiang Fang’s finger swiped over the raised scar and he smiled. This was a secret that couldn’t be shown to Nan Zhou. It was too imperfect.

By the time Nan Zhou returned to his room, Li Yinhang was already asleep. He got into the empty bed by the window. Not long after, Jiang Fang also came back. There was the refreshing smell of water vapor around him as he walked to the side of Nan Zhou’s bed and naturally lifted a corner of the quilt.

Nan Zhou looked up at him. Jiang Fang explained the problem in a low voice. “There are two beds. One is for Yinhang so we both have to…”

Nan Zhou didn’t mind. Once he understood the reason, he hummed to show he understood and took the initiative to make room for Jiang Fang. As it turned out, Li Yinhang had a good eye for picking rooms. 

This was far away from the hustle and bustle of Paper Gold. The walled city carried a sense of tranquility that filled their hearts. The mattress was soft and comfortable. It was different from the other beds in the walled city where noisy springs were heard the moment you sat on the bed.

However, the softness also had side effects. The moment Jiang Fang lay down, Nan Zhou’s body couldn’t help sliding toward him. Nan Zhou moved back while looking at Jiang Fang at the same time.

He was a bit confused and pointed to Jiang Fang’s collar. Why didn’t he take it off? In the mission world, it was understandable if he didn’t want to take off his belongings out of fear of losing them. Now this was clearly an environment where they could relax. Jiang Fang touched the side of his neck and smiled mysteriously. “This is a secret that can’t be revealed.”

Jiang Fang didn’t show it. Nan Zhou might be curious but he wasn’t planning to ask again. Jiang Fang added, “Still, secrets can be exchanged for secrets.” 

Nan Zhou immediately listened carefully.

Jiang Fang wondered, “What is the butterfly on your wrist?”

Nan Zhou shook his head.

Jiang Fang wondered, “You can’t say it?” 

“No.” Nan Zhou added, “I mean, it isn’t a big deal. I did it myself.”

Jiang Fang raised his eyebrow when he heard the words.

“A tattoo hurts and you actually pierced a place like this…” Since he was afraid of waking Li Yinhang, Jiang Fang was whispering and there was an ambiguous meaning to his words that made a person’s ears hot. “…Why?”

“There is no reason,” Nan Zhou answered. “I just wanted to draw it so I did it.” 

Jiang Fang was silent for a long time.

“Ah, yes.” He smiled and made an excuse for Nan Zhou. “You are an art teacher.”

“Yes, I’m an art teacher but which one are you?”

“Huh?” 

“A person who came back to visit relatives, a music student, a person who is good at gambling…” Nan Zhou asked, “Which one are you?”

Jiang Fang nodded lightly, his voice filled with sharp confidence. “They are all me.”

Nan Zhou inquired, “What else are you?”

“Many things.” Jiang Fang didn’t care about his reaction and explained, “I did a year of apprenticeship at an underground casino and worked there as a dealer for four years.” 

“I helped students attend class at the Kiev Conservatory of Music and I’m good at the accordion, the piano and a bit of the bagpipes.”

“I was an enforcer for the Kiev State Cavalry Hockey Team and we won the state championship.”

“I was a long-distance freight driver for three months and played longboard for two months. I like to go everywhere and take a look. Once I run out of money, I will go to local casinos to play a few games or do odd jobs I haven’t done before. Right now, I’m an unemployed person who went to my hometown to visit relatives.”

Nan Zhou’s eyes slightly widened. “You…” 

“Yes, they are all me.” Jiang Fang promptly cut off the other person’s desire to ask questions. “I told you my secret. Now can I make a request?”

“Say it.”

“Go to sleep.”

Nan Zhou blinked and obediently closed his eyes. “Then good night.” 

Jiang Fang watched his face. “Good night.”

Nan Zhou earnestly carried out Jiang Fang’s request. Before long, his breathing became even. The soft mattress caused Nan Zhou’s sleeping body to uncontrollably move closer to Jiang Fang. Jiang Fang didn’t move and Nan Zhou naturally fell into his arms.

Nan Zhou’s forehead lightly pressed against Jiang Fang’s shoulder and he rubbed against it instinctively like a cat. Jiang Fang watched Nan Zhou’s peacefully sleeping face and raised his hand.

His fingers flexibly moved the soft and slightly curly black hair and the shirt collar. He slid two fingers down a few inches and accurately found the scar that had confused Nan Zhou for a long time. 

It was a ring of teeth marks. Jiang Fang’s slender thumb that was slightly warm from his body temperature stroked the oval tooth marks one by one. The bite was deep and heavy. Jiang Fang still remembered blood dripping from the wound, winding along Nan Zhou’s spine.

He counted the marks of the teeth one by one, moving slowly and lightly with just the right strength so that Nan Zhou didn’t wake up and become aware of his offenses.

One, two, three…

Jiang Fang counted it again and again. At the low numbers, his red lips opened to reveal white teeth that corresponded perfectly with the teeth marks on the back of Nan Zhou’s neck.