Chapter 122 A profound realization, a rebound from rock bottom, and a complete opening of the heart...
When Zhou Fangdong walked into Room 208, he felt as if he had returned to the ghost market paper offering shop.
The interior is almost a one-to-one replica of a paper craft shop layout, with the air filled with the smell of rotten wood and paper paste mixed together, and the floor covered with scattered paper scraps and broken bamboo strips.
Several old wooden shelves reached to the ceiling, filled with paper offerings, mostly small paper figures of boys and girls dressed in red and green paper clothes.
Almost all the space inside was occupied by various paper offerings, leaving only a narrow passage for people to pass through.
The further you go in, the less complete the paper offerings become. The ground is piled with all sorts of unfinished parts... a bent bamboo frame, a paper doll head without facial features, a half-folded gold ingot, and a middle-aged man lying in a pile of paper pretending to be dead.
The man looked very disheveled, with an unshaven beard and pale, bloodless skin, as white as paper, which made his dark circles under his eyes even more noticeable.
He was wearing the same black shroud as the funeral shop owner, his hands clasped together on his abdomen, his chest not rising or falling at all, looking just like a dead person... No, he was indeed dead, otherwise the system wouldn't have called him a ghost tenant.
Zhou Fangdong squatted down and gently patted the uncle's arm: "Hey, wake up, come with me to the ghost market paper craft shop. I want to make a paper figure, and I need your help to guide me."
The paper craftsman did not react at all, his eyes remaining tightly closed.
Zhou Fangdong was silent for a moment, then looked at the unfinished paper figure beside him: "I think this unfinished paper figure..."
Before he could finish speaking, the paper craftsman, who had just been pretending to be dead, pounced on him like a hungry tiger, pulling all the paper figures' heads into his arms: "No! Let's talk this out, don't hurt my paper figures."
Zhou Fangdong patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry, I'm going to make a paper figure from scratch by hand. That's how I show my sincerity. You don't have enough tools here, so let's go to the ghost market together."
The paper craftsman nodded, dejectedly following Zhou Fangdong to the ghost market.
The two entered the paper craft shop through a teleportation point in a hidden room on the second floor.
Forced to crawl into the toilet, and returning to his former shop in a room filled with a disgusting stench, the paper craftsman felt even more dejected.
Looking at this sorrowful place, the man let out a heavy sigh.
...He still can't understand how his shop became part of the Liwan Apartment complex.
Not only the shop, but he himself became the property of the Liwan Apartments.
He didn't even know how this bizarre thing happened, let alone resist it.
In the blink of an eye, the shop was gone, and so was he.
While becoming an apartment tenant is nice, something many people in the ghost market would kill for, this way of getting an apartment is just too disheartening.
The paper craftsman considered himself to be of above-average strength, having a shop in the ghost market, but he was utterly powerless to fight back. Therefore, even after many days, he still couldn't cheer up.
But after seeing Zhou Fangdong's actions, he could no longer remain dejected.
The strange landlord who signed the lease with him was like a husky ready to wreak havoc, ransacking the store.
The acting store manager, Hou San, acted as if he hadn't seen anything, wearing a mysterious smile, and allowed the landlord to demolish the store.
This little emotional supplier, being a half-ghost, actually became the acting manager of the paper craft shop. And as the acting manager, how could he not stop this behavior? The paper craftsman's blood pressure was rising, but with the landlord present, he couldn't show his anger no matter how much he was upset.
The paper craftsman stopped Zhou Fangdong, who was about to dismantle the shelves, and asked in a gentle voice, "Landlord, what are you looking for?"
Zhou Fangdong counted on his fingers and said, "Paper for making paper figures, paintbrushes, paint, water, a large iron bucket, and paste..."
The paper craftsman, being the former owner of the paper craft shop, quickly found these items for him.
Zhou Fangdong frowned slightly as he looked at the paints.
The paper craft shop didn't have a wide variety of paints; they only had five: red, green, yellow, blue, and black.
"Does the ghost market sell paint? These colors are all too monotonous."
The paper craftsman nodded: "Yes, please wait a moment, I'll go buy it right away."
"Buy as many as possible, the more colors the better." After a pause, Zhou Fangdong added, "The ghost coins used to buy things will be paid directly to the paper shop."
The paper craftsman's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything more and quickly walked out of the shop.
When he arrived at his usual shop, the paper craftsman didn't even bother to choose; he simply bought the set of paints with the most colors.
Even though he moved quickly, he still ran into an acquaintance when he was about to return to the paper offering shop.
"Old Zhou, long time no see! Why did you sell the paper craft shop? Did you completely give up on it? Isn't this your family business?"
The paper craftsman paused.
...He also wanted to know how he managed to sell the paper craft shop.
He silently carried the paint away, ignoring the person.
He hadn't walked far when another person greeted him: "Brother Zhuzhai! Why do I feel like you have the eerie aura of the Liwan Apartments? Now that you've made it big, why don't you bring your underlings along? How did you get to the apartments?"
The paper craftsman's face darkened further.
...He also wanted to know how he got to the Liwan Apartments.
To avoid being hurt again, the paper craftsman quickened his pace and returned to the paper craft shop as fast as he could.
With everything ready, Zhou Fangdong cleared a small area in the store, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work.
As Zhou Fangdong made paper figures, the paper craftsman's mouth gaped wider and wider, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
He was wondering why the landlord was asking him to bring so much water when he wasn't going to use a fire to heat bamboo strips for making the frame. He didn't think he needed that much water to rinse the brush.
It turns out the landlord was a pulp producer...
The paper craftsman watched in despair as Zhou Fangdong mixed the pulp and paste together like playing with mud, stirring it like kneading dough. Then, he pulled out a large plastic sheet from somewhere and poured the pulp directly into it.
At least make a skeleton. Who taught him to pour paper pulp into a plastic film and shape it directly? Is this really how you make a paper figure?
And who bought him the plastic sheeting...?
Then the paper craftsman saw Hou San standing to the side.
Hou San waited beside Zhou Fangdong, grinning as he pulled a rope out of his younger brother's mouth, and asked solicitously if there was enough plastic sheeting, saying he had more if not.
Okay, case solved, it was this guy who provided the plastic sheeting.
The paper craftsman vigorously wiped his face.
...Stop spoiling him. Does this half-ghost even know what he's doing for that landlord? He can already smell the nightmare coming.
After sealing the plastic sheet, Zhou Fangdong began to tie the plastic sheet filled with pulp with rope, shaping it as he tied it—very professionally, like an artist on the street making balloon dogs out of long balloons.
By the end, the paper craftsman could only utter one word, repeating it like a broken record: "The collapse of rites and music, the collapse of rites and music..."
Zhou Fangdong wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Times have changed, Uncle. We need to be more flexible when making paper figures." He proudly put his hands on his hips and looked at the half-person-high human figure on the ground, with limbs and torso that were roughly the same size cylinders. "Look how efficient I am. I made the paper figure's body in less than half an hour."
This inspiration came from the substitute dolls that Xiao Xiaoyu made.
The substitute doll made by Xiao Xiaoyu was a white cloth stuffed with cotton, with limbs and a head tied with rubber bands, resembling a deformed five-pointed star. The doll's face was simply drawn with the image of an old man named Ding.
His looks much more professional, at least the materials used are much more solid than Xiao Xiaoyu's.
As Zhou Fangdong was halfway through making his paper figurines, a desperate chirping of crickets echoed from the distant pile of paper figurines awaiting sale:
"Would you like to try your boss's cooking?"
"No, no, no, this is your boss. You haven't sold any in all these years. Why don't you try it yourself?"
"You haven't been able to sell anything for so many years either. Why don't you take over? Maybe you can sell it by changing your body. Look how creative your boss is."
"Don't be so polite with me, you should go."
Zhou Fangdong had a keen sense of hearing. Hearing the paper figures' conversation, he thought to himself that these paper figures were far too humble and polite. They were really sensible. As the boss, he couldn't let them feel disheartened.
He waved to the paper offerings over there: "No need to be modest, don't worry, I'll make more to ensure everyone's body can be renewed and replaced."
The paper shop fell silent instantly, each paper effigy wearing a mask of pain.
...What kind of monsters are these? Will they rot in the store and never be sold?
After it had completely set, Zhou Fangdong removed the plastic sheet, picked up the gold foil paper used for folding paper ingots in the shop, and used it to attach clothes and hair to the human-shaped object.
After finishing the clothes and hair, he continued to paint the paper figure's face.
He used all his knowledge and more than forty colors to create an incredibly three-dimensional face on the smooth surface of the paper figure.
After the paper figures were completed, the paper shop fell into a terrifying silence.
Hou San squinted, his thin face scrunched up. His usually eloquent mouth was momentarily speechless when faced with such 'high art'.
However, he couldn't let the atmosphere become awkward and embarrass the landlord. After only a few seconds of silence, his rapidly working brain had already prepared words of praise:
"Wow... No wonder he's the landlord! He effortlessly created a masterpiece! It has that liberating feel of modernist Fauvism! Look at the colors he used, so authentic! This unrestrained, highly saturated color combination, without even needing to inject emotion, makes the paper figure look like it's come alive! What have we done to deserve witnessing the birth of such a free and unrestrained work of art! With this paper figure in our shop, who needs to go to the Louvre? This place is the Louvre!"
By the end, Hou San's voice was choked with emotion.
He wiped away non-existent tears with his loose sleeve, allowing his eyes a moment's rest amidst the overwhelming intensity of the highly saturated colors.
The paper craftsman standing to the side was dumbfounded.
You can praise someone like that? No wonder you're now the acting manager of a paper craft shop.
Having received affirmation from his tenant, Zhou Fangdong patted Hou San on the shoulder, feeling as if they had known each other for a long time.
That's a true friend; he knows his aesthetic sense is sound! Eventually, someone will appreciate his art!
"It's alright, there's no need to inject emotions into the paper figure to make it move. I'm using this paper figure as a gift."
The paper craftsman and Hou San exchanged a glance, and the two of them had the same thought in their minds:
I wonder who was so unlucky to receive such an artistic paper figure.
Zhou Fangdong put the paper figure into his inventory and teleported back to room 303 in a very good mood.
Room 303 remains exactly as it was when he left, still a ghostly space resembling a pink and blue children's room.
Zhou Fangdong didn't waste any time and immediately took out the paper figure he had just painstakingly made.
The moment this ornate paper figure, gleaming with gold and multicolored faces, appeared, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.
The pink-pajamaed child and the blue-pajamaed child sitting on the bed stopped looking at the middle-aged man and woman who were being tortured to the point of near death. They both turned their heads, widened their eyes, and stared intently at the lump in Zhou Fangdong's hand.
"I noticed you really like dolls, so I made one for you by hand..."
Before Zhou Fangdong could finish speaking, the two children suddenly burst into tears, and the ghost realm collapsed instantly, revealing the original state of room 303 before his eyes.
For the ghost in room 303, seeing that terrifying paper figure was like a foreign child who was looking forward to Santa Claus one second, only to be told the next that Santa Claus didn't exist and that it was the child's father in disguise.
It's like a child obsessed with Ultraman who just made a wish to celebrate his birthday with Tiga and was about to blow out the candles when he was told the next second that Tiga was just a costume and Ultraman was all fake.
It's like when someone recommended watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica after you've just finished watching Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura and are completely engrossed in magical girls.
Like...
In short, the concept of the ghost in room 303 completely collapsed.
It doesn't understand, and it can't understand.
Having finally figured out some of the gender rules and roughly knew what form I would take and which direction I would go, someone suddenly appeared, pulled out such a terrifying thing, and said they wanted to give it to me.
I like these bizarre creations that are visually disturbing. Is that guy's aesthetic leaning towards masculinity or femininity...?
No, we should first address another question... Is he human?
Thinking of this, the ghost in room 303 suddenly fell into an eerie calm, and its distorted figure slowly emerged.
It did not create any more ghost realms. It simply stood in the room, and the body that looked like two melted wax figures pieced together began to change, eventually transforming into a child wearing a white robe, with long hair, thick eyebrows, big eyes, and an androgynous appearance, whose gender was indiscernible.
This new appearance bears no resemblance to its previous appearance, nor to its parents.
At this moment, the ghost in room 303 was completely enlightened.
There's absolutely no point in worrying about what constitutes a male or female, or what boys should like or what girls should like.
People who like those strange things live strong and cheerful lives, so why should it make things so difficult for itself?
It's ready to raise itself anew, wanting everything stereotypically considered desirable for boys or girls. Anything it never experienced in life, it wants to experience in death. Then, it will find a way of life it truly enjoys.
The child ghost floated in front of Zhou Fangdong, its gentle gaze carrying a hint of pity and sympathy.
Then it closed its eyes and calmly accepted the glittering paper figure from his hand.
...This person, like it before, is a confused ghost. But even in this state, he still tries to help it in his own way...and it receives his kindness.
Zhou Fangdong was also very pleased.
Just one glance at the paper figure he made was enough to restore the ghost's sanity, making it communicable and ultimately leading it to accept the paper figure...
Sure enough, he is quite artistically talented.
My aesthetic sense was repeatedly recognized by the tenants and even the ghosts in the room, and I suddenly felt a great sense of accomplishment.
Zhou Fangdong said to the child ghost, "I am the landlord of Liwan Apartment. I am now renting out room 303. What are your requirements for your future human roommate? I will give priority to your preferences."
The little ghost looked at Zhou Fangdong and gave him an all-encompassing smile: "Just like you, it's good that you're an artist who likes to make sculptures."
Zhou Fangdong really wanted to say that what he made wasn't a statue, but a paper figure.
However, this is not a big problem.
After determining the type of tenant the ghost in room 303 wanted, Zhou Fangdong prepared to find a tenant for the room.
He now has more than one channel to find tenants, and none of these channels require spending Ghost Coins.
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