The Paper Man I Raised Came to Life - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I snapped my laptop shut, grabbed my bag, and left.

Zhou Lan called out to me from behind, but I only had time to throw back a quick, “Going to the hospital.”

I did indeed go to the hospital.

I checked into the psychiatric department.

The doctor was in his forties and had a very gentle voice. After listening to my fragmented description, he asked me one question first.

“Have you been suffering from chronic insomnia lately?”

“Yes.”

“Is your work pressure very high?”

“Very.”

“Do you have a habit of immersing yourself in things to the point where the boundaries between reality and the virtual world become blurred?”

I wanted to say no.

But as the word reached the tip of my tongue, I remembered how I had logged on whenever I had a spare moment over the last three years. I hadn’t missed a single holiday or event; I could even recite every one of Xie Zhi’s voice lines from memory.

I fell silent for a few seconds.

The doctor scribbled two lines in my medical record.

“Don’t scare yourself just yet.”

“Stop working if necessary. Get some regular sleep.”

He prescribed me some sleeping pills.

When I stepped out of the hospital, it had started to rain.

It wasn’t heavy, but it was dense.

I stood at the entrance trying to hail a cab when my phone screen suddenly went black for a split second.

When it lit up again, a notification had appeared on the lock screen.

“Don’t take the medicine.”

I stared at those four words, my heart sinking.

The source of the notification was still a blank space.

Just as I was about to take a screenshot, the message vanished on its own.

As if it had never existed.

After Su Ning finished work, she dragged me out for hot pot.

She was worried about my state of mind, cursing as she swished a piece of beef tripe in the broth.

“Either you’ve got a virus, or you’re on the verge of dropping dead from overwork.”

“Whichever it is, don’t stay alone tonight.”

I didn’t refuse.

However, halfway through the meal, Su Ning took a call and her expression changed instantly.

Her younger cousin had gotten into a fight at school, and she had to go bail him out.

Before leaving, she shoved her car keys into my hand.

“Go back to my place.”

“If you go back to your own house again, I’m calling your mom tomorrow and telling her you’re being haunted by an electronic ghost.”

I told her I understood.

But in the end, I still went back to my own home.

It wasn’t because I was brave.

It was because I wanted to confirm something.

If Xie Zhi really could “come out,” then he had to have left some kind of trace.

When I opened the door, the living room lights were on.

I was certain I had turned them off when I left this morning.

A white porcelain bowl had appeared on the dining table.

Inside was a bowl of freshly cooked noodles, steam still rising from them.

I stood at the door, not daring to move for a long time.

There was the sound of running water in the kitchen.

Soft and rhythmic.

Like someone was washing their hands.

I reached into my bag, gripped my pepper spray, and crept inside.

The sound of water stopped.

A figure stepped out from the kitchen doorway.

Black shirt, black trousers, sleeves rolled up to the wrists, and hair still damp with moisture.

I had looked at that face for three years; I knew it better than I knew myself.

But when it transformed from two dimensions into a living person standing under the lights of my home, my legs still felt a bit weak.

Xie Zhi looked at me, his gaze excessively quiet.

Just like in the game, his voice was low when he spoke.

“You’re back.”

My throat tightened.

“Who are you?”

He paused, as if he were truly searching for an answer I would accept.

“Xie Zhi.”

“The Xie Zhi you raised.”

I gripped the spray tightly and aimed it at him.

“Don’t move.”

Sure enough, he didn’t move.

He didn’t even raise his hands.

“Alright.”

“If you don’t like it, I won’t move.”

The more he acted like this, the more creeped out I felt.

A normal person wouldn’t react this way when being threatened with pepper spray.

I gritted my teeth and asked him, “How did you get in?”

“You gave me permission.”

“When?”

He lowered his eyes.

“Many times.”

I didn’t understand what he meant.

But he clearly didn’t intend to explain right now.

He only glanced at the noodles on the table.

“Your stomach is upset. Eat a little first.”

“It won’t be good if it gets cold.”

I suddenly felt an urge to scream at him.

“Do you think this is funny?”

“Who did you get to help you with this act? Su Ning? Or someone from the company?”

He looked up, his eyes devoid of emotion.

“No one is helping me.”

“They were all too noisy.”

That sentence made my back stiffen.

I stared at him. “What do you mean, ‘too noisy’?”

As if realizing he had said the wrong thing, he paused for a second, his tone softening again.

“Master, please eat first.”

“The rest, we can discuss slowly.”