Chapter 12
The location Lu Zeming sent wasn’t very far from Shang Che’s place—it would take only ten-plus minutes by bicycle. He lowered his eyes to look at his side, pressing his brows down in helplessness. Taking this little creature out, it was still safer to go on foot. Hopefully, nothing unexpected would happen.
Shang Che walked very steadily, his stride slightly smaller than usual, and his breathing just a hair faster. The crossbody bag rested against his back, making the sheet of muscle beneath it tense up involuntarily.
He suddenly felt a wave of guilt, as if he were a thief operating in broad daylight. Even though it was early autumn, a thin layer of sweat broke out uncontrollably. Crossing through the commercial street, this illusion reached its absolute peak.
…He really shouldn’t have let his heart soften, Shang Che couldn’t help but complain about himself in his mind.
The cotton doll inside the bag, however, had a completely different experience.
The honking of car horns, the noisy footsteps and conversations of pedestrians, and the shouting vendors at street stalls all flooded into the cotton doll’s ears at once. But the pitch-black bag had extremely low light permeability; only a few faint slivers of light seeped in through the gaps of the zipper. As a result, it could only hear sounds but couldn’t see a single thing, causing its curiosity about the outside world to swell continuously.
Yet it had promised the human that it would be good, quiet, and peaceful.
Cotton guaranteed it, and Cotton would do it.
To reach the commercial street where the location was, he still had to cross a central park. Most local residents took walks and exercised around here, not to mention it was a weekend today—the crowd was so thick it felt somewhat congested.
Whenever he brushed past pedestrians, Shang Che would shift the crossbody bag to the front side of his body, half-shielding it with his arm. This movement was almost instinctual. After finishing it, he even dazed for a second, then cleared his throat awkwardly.
…What the hell? Why was he being so overly cautious?
“Ahhhhhhh—” A child let out a piercing shriek. Shang Che couldn’t help furrowing his brow, his ears ringing slightly from the stimulation.
He didn’t just dislike fluffy things; he disliked children with complete equality—especially rude ones. He even cast a look of disdain at a parent nearby who wore a face that practically read “my child is so amazing.”
The crossbody bag moved restlessly. Just as Shang Che was about to raise a hand to pat the bag, signaling for the little thing inside not to move around, he suddenly noticed something.
The cotton doll didn’t seem to be moving around recklessly. Instead, it was pressing its soft cheek with extreme care against the inner side of the bag closest to his back, as if startled by the sudden noise and seeking something to lean on.
Shang Che’s footsteps paused for a second.
Lately, the cotton doll had stayed almost exclusively in his bedroom. The sounds it encountered were limited to him and whatever noises could be made inside his room. A noisy, vibrant outdoor environment full of uncontrollable factors like this was novel to it, yet entirely unknown. It was probably just that the little guy had brought its curiosity along to go out with him, only to be frightened for no reason.
There were too many people right now. He couldn’t make any weird movements, nor could he speak to the cotton doll. After a second of hesitation, he brought his palm down with a gentle force—like patting dust off his bag—seeming to comfort the trembling cotton doll inside the bag.
He needed to bypass this area as quickly as possible. Shang Che’s footsteps sped up involuntarily, protecting the crossbody bag on his body in a subtle posture.
Just as he passed the pet area, however, a large, joyfully running Golden Retriever suddenly broke free from its owner’s leash. Like a furry cannonball, it charged straight toward his lower leg.
Shang Che instinctively sidestepped to dodge, his movement accidentally swaying the crossbody bag. He clearly felt the cotton doll inside the bag make an extremely brief, faint sound due to the sudden jostle and impact.
It was as if it had been scared, yet remembered its agreement with him, forcefully suppressing the sound after it blurted out.
The cotton doll’s voice was very quiet, muffled inside the bag, and nearly swallowed up by the ambient noise around them. Only Shang Che could hear it, yet it made him feel immensely anxious. Meanwhile, that large Golden Retriever was still clinging tightly to his leg, lunging at his body while howling loudly.
Shang Che could feel the little creature pressed against his back trembling even harder. A surge of irritation flared up in his chest, his brow and eyes turning cold and impatient.
The owner, who came chasing over in a panic, couldn’t control the large dog that had somehow lost its mind. Shang Che reacted swiftly, pulling the leash tight and tying the Golden Retriever to a nearby tree in a couple of quick motions.
Gasping for breath, the Golden Retriever’s owner caught up and slapped the dog on the head, apologizing repeatedly: “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Did it bump into you? I’m really embarrassed—it was just too excited today.”
Shang Che raised his head, the chill on his face still lingering. He shielded his bag with a hand behind his back. Beneath the fabric under his palm, that soft little body was frozen stiff, without even the slightest tremble—as if it had truly turned back into the most ordinary lump of cotton.
“It’s fine.”
The dog owner: “Are you really fine? Let me add your contact info so you can reach me if anything comes up…”
“It’s fine,” Shang Che repeated once more, turning and leaving with an obvious rush in his steps.
The restroom in the park was relatively clean. Shang Che walked into the innermost stall and locked the door, only then realizing that a thin layer of sweat had actually seeped into his palm. He looked down at the seemingly calm bag, his heart still beating heavily in his chest.
Lowering his eyes, he looked at the crossbody bag and kept his voice extremely low—so low that only he and the thing inside the bag could hear: “…You can talk now.”
There was no immediate response; the bag remained quiet.
Shang Che waited for a few seconds, his brow furrowing slightly. He didn’t really want to open his bag in a place like this, so he reached out and gently poked the bulging section with his fingertip.
“Human…” After several seconds, a tiny, muffled voice with a faint tremor finally came out, calling him as if seeking comfort after a scare.
“You were scared, weren’t you? Are you… uncomfortable anywhere?” Shang Che asked, not quite sure how to describe a cotton doll’s “uncomfortableness.”
“N-No…” The cotton doll’s voice went quiet, seeming to hesitate before speaking with a heavy dose of lingering fear and grievance: “Earlier it was so, so loud… Cotton was startled…”
It paused, adding in an even quieter voice: “Cotton… Cotton didn’t mean to make a sound… I’m sorry…”
Listening to the cotton doll’s careful apology laced with grievance, a complex emotion suddenly rose in Shang Che’s heart—a bit of annoyance, a bit of helplessness, and a sliver of… subtle softness that he didn’t even want to look too closely into.
“It’s not your fault.” His tone softened, carrying even a trace of coaxing that he hadn’t noticed himself. “The thing barking earlier was a dog, a type of animal. It’s not dangerous, just overly energetic.”
The cotton doll still seemed to remember the very first shock it received: “Then what about before… the thing screaming… what was that?”
Shang Che: “…A human.”
“Human…” The cotton doll repeated mechanically, appearing confused.
Shang Che didn’t know how to explain it to a cotton doll, so he could only say: “A human different from me. A child. Just like how you come in different sizes, humans come big and small too.”
“Human is big, so an adult.” The cotton doll was somewhat bewildered. “Then a small one, is it called a little human?”
Without waiting for Shang Che’s answer, it asked again: “Human… can I… look at you?”
