After Falling in Love with a 2D Character as a Socially Anxious Person - Chapter 19

Do you really like it that much?

 

An Jing heard Yan Qili’s voice and turned around, seeing the items in his hands first. That familiar packaging… An Jing compared them carefully and confirmed they were exactly the same as the ones he was holding.

 

“Why did you buy them too?”

 

Yan Qili answered with a question: “Only you are allowed to buy them?”

 

“…” An Jing didn’t mean it that way. He was just surprised. As a “paper person” who had just come to life, the 2D world should technically be Yan Qili’s happy home. But the “Living Yama” had shown nothing but disinterest along the way and hadn’t spent a single cent. Why did he think of buying Wu Yu Zi’s merchandise? And so much of it.

 

Having observed An Jing’s expression—how he couldn’t put down the autograph and kept taking pictures of it—Yan Qili spoke nonchalantly: “He likes Yannian.”

 

An Jing froze for a moment. “Who?”

 

Yan Qili tilted his chin toward Wu Yu Zi’s direction.

 

An Jing understood and gave an “Oh.” Seeing his reaction, Yan Qili was slightly surprised. “You knew?”

 

An Jing nodded. “Yeah, I knew.” Wu Yu Zi had drawn a lot of fan art for his novels, after all.

 

Yan Qili looked at him. “Then you’re not going to tell him?” And yet he still waited in line so eagerly.

 

An Jing blinked, a bit confused. “Tell him what for?”

 

Yan Qili was even more confused than Jing An. ? They like each other’s work, but they don’t say it? Why do people have mouths if they’re just going to beat around the bush?

 

An Jing didn’t want to reveal his identity in real life, not even to an artist he liked. With so many people around, he didn’t explain much to Yan Qili.

 

…

 

An Jing finally decided to line up for his friend’s signing. Since he was already here. Having seen so many people at once today, he was feeling a bit numb. A little more time wouldn’t hurt.

 

Baili was popular; An Jing spent over an hour just waiting in line. Yan Qili didn’t want to waste more time on such things and went to the rest area to wait for him.

 

Facing Baili, who chatted with him online almost every day, An Jing wasn’t as nervous as he had imagined. He even sneakily recorded a short video of Baili signing for him. With a mischievous thought, he planned to send the video to Baili later to let him know he had been there.

 

Baili indeed didn’t recognize who An Jing was and signed for him professionally. Seeing An Jing holding his phone, Baili asked casually: “Do you need a photo?”

 

“Yes, please.”

 

This time, An Jing wasn’t so nervous that his words contradicted his heart; the two took a photo together in the same frame.

 

Baili’s full pen name was Baili Changlu. It had many strokes, and every time a novel was published or reprinted, An Jing would hear Baili complain, regretting picking a four-character pen name. His hand would practically break from signing. He envied An Jing’s foresight in using a two-character pen name.

 

After signing for so long, Baili’s hand and brain were both tired. When he took the photo with An Jing, the smile on his face was polite but stiff. Looking at the photo in his album later, An Jing couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s awkward smile. It was way too forced.

 

Once he left the signing area, An Jing sent the photos and video to Baili.

 

Baili: [!!!]

 

[You actually spent money on me and didn’t even say hello!]

 

[Yannian, you’re finished.]

 

[You even had the nerve to film a video!]

 

Baili frantically tried to remember which fan might have been Yannian, but there were too many fans today—all sorts of shapes and sizes. He could barely keep up with the signing, let alone distinguish who was who. Thinking about Yannian pretending to be a fan to get his autograph and then leaving without a word, Baili was both angry and amused.

 

Baili: [Are you afraid I’ll eat you? ]

 

Yannian: [ehehe.jpg]

 

Baili: [One hit from my staff and you’ll die.jpg]

 

 

Near noon, there were many people eating and resting in the rest area. An Jing finally found Yan Qili outside the venue. This spot was somewhat remote, near the river but very quiet. In the distance, a ship’s horn sounded, and ripples spread across the river. It sparkled under the sun like a river of scattered jewels. The river breeze blew across his face, and An Jing narrowed his eyes comfortably.

 

“Yan Qili.” An Jing, returning with a full harvest, had a light step.

 

Under the shade of a tree, Yan Qili, who was admiring the river view, turned his head. A ray of sunlight passed through the leaves and landed exactly on his shoulder. The breeze, the sunlight, the “Living Yama”… Looking at the scene before him, An Jing paused.

 

In this moment, he found the reason why he had become a “paper-sexual.” Creators pour all their imagination into giving characters the most perfect appearance—no need to consider genes or heredity. Phoenix eyes or thin, cold lips; they can be shaped however one wishes. The beauty of a “paper person” is something a real person can never match.

 

Even after living with Yan Qili day and night for the past few days, An Jing still hadn’t become immune to his face. Under the spell of such beauty, he would still occasionally experience brief dizziness. The kind of dizziness that made him want to spend money on this face. The kind of lightheadedness that made him want to pay all the bills for this face.

 

While An Jing was still dazed, Yan Qili had already stood up.

 

“An Jing.” Yan Qili called him with that cold, aloof voice that could make any voice-lover feel faint for half a day. “Come here.”

 

An Jing walked over obediently. “How did you—”

 

Yan Qili raised his hand expressionlessly. “Shut up.” Stupid to the core.

 

His forehead was suddenly flicked. The pain instantly snapped the beauty-obsessed An Jing back to reality. His tea-colored eyes widened, and he covered his forehead, taking a step back. He looked at Yan Qili in shock: “Why did you hit me?”

 

Yan Qili: “…?”

 

An Jing’s choice of words also shocked the “Living Yama.” Yan Qili looked down at his own hand, doubting his hearing. This was called hitting? Wasn’t it just a light flick to the forehead? He hadn’t used any strength. If this level was called hitting, then getting hit with a military staff would be the equivalent of execution by torture?

 

An Jing rubbed his forehead and looked at the silent Yan Qili, his mouth pouting unhappily. “You called me over just to hit me?”

 

“…” Yan Qili looked at the fresh red mark on An Jing’s forehead and became even more silent. Just one flick, and his forehead turned red. Was this coward made of white flour dough? He was even more delicate than he had imagined.

 

Twitching his fingertips, the speechless Yan Qili lost all his irritation and told An Jing to look behind him. An Jing turned around as told and saw several familiar people.

 

Jiayang Shan stood at the front, smiling with ill intent. “What a coincidence, we meet again.”

 

An Jing: “…” What a terrible opening line. And a terrible person.

 

He didn’t even need to analyze the situation; Jiayang Shan was clearly unwilling to let things go and had specifically brought people to corner them. However, An Jing was also unexpectedly familiar with one of the people he brought—Sheng Li.

 

From the moment Yan Qili called out An Jing’s name, Sheng Li’s face couldn’t hide his surprise.

 

Sheng Li: “An Jing, why is it you?” What a coincidence to run into An Jing here again.

 

Jiayang Shan didn’t expect it to be someone Sheng Li knew and was stunned for a moment. “Brother Sheng, you guys know each other?”

 

Sheng Li felt it was a bit awkward and nodded. “We know each other.” He wasn’t even willing to say they were classmates. He found An Jing embarrassing. His public persona was that of an elite graduate from a prestigious school working at a listed company. One with a bright future.

 

Sheng Li and Jiayang Shan were friends who had known each other online for a long time; they had agreed to meet up at the anime convention today. Hearing that Jiayang Shan had been bullied, he followed along to see what was going on. At first, he just felt An Jing’s back looked familiar, but he wasn’t sure.

 

Jiayang Shan stood awkwardly for a long time before asking: “Are you guys… on good terms?” If Sheng Li was on good terms with the other party, he wouldn’t be able to settle this score.

 

Sheng Li answered without thinking: “We’re not close.”

 

Jiayang Shan was relieved. “That’s good.”

 

Listening to their back-and-forth, An Jing frowned. “What do you want to do?”

 

Jiayang Shan: “What do you think?”

 

Hearing this, An Jing knew they were looking for trouble and quickly thought of how to respond. Call the police? No, given Yan Qili’s situation, he couldn’t call the police. Try to be reasonable? If Jiayang Shan were reasonable, he wouldn’t have brought people like a thug to pick a fight.

 

The unreasonable Jiayang Shan let out a cold laugh: “You made me lose so much face; you think you can leave without an apology?”

 

Losing face was a small matter. Most importantly, all the contact information of the beauties he had finally scammed was gone! That dog who deleted his friends didn’t leave him a single one! Even the ones he had scammed before were all deleted! Thinking of this, Jiayang Shan felt both hatred and pain; he couldn’t swallow this insult. He called five of his friends, planning to teach An Jing and Yan Qili a lesson. Jiayang Shan wasn’t selfish; he often shared the business cards of the girls he scammed in their group, so when everyone heard the beauties were gone, they were all eager to come and back him up.

 

At the critical moment, An Jing was very calm. “The one in the wrong is you, not us.”

 

Jiayang Shan: “Who told you to mind your own business?”

 

An Jing: “Lying is wrong to begin with.” Especially since the person you were impersonating was my relative.

 

Jiayang Shan moved his neck. “Stop talking nonsense. By provoking me, you’ve kicked a steel plate.”

 

An Jing: “…”

 

An Jing glanced at Yan Qili. I don’t know if you’re a steel plate, but this terrifying god beside me is definitely a steel plate. The kind of steel plate that’s very hard in both temper and methods.

 

Hoping to avoid more trouble, An Jing looked at Sheng Li, hoping he would persuade Jiayang Shan. They were friends; surely Sheng Li wouldn’t want to see Jiayang Shan get beaten up by Yan Qili?

 

Opposite them, Sheng Li shrugged: “Sorry, I can’t help you.” Being former classmates, the only thing Sheng Li could do was not lay a hand on An Jing. It wasn’t that he couldn’t bring himself to do it because of their four years of thin friendship, but because they hadn’t officially graduated yet. He was currently in his internship period; if he got into a fight today and word reached the school or his company, the impact would be bad. Sheng Li never did anything that wasn’t in his own interest.

 

Yan Qili asked with interest: “What do you want?”

 

“Simple.” Two fists were no match for four hands; Jiayang Shan thought Yan Qili was scared and said triumphantly: “Call me ‘Daddy’ and say you were wrong.”

 

It’s over.

 

Hearing Jiayang Shan’s words, An Jing’s brow twitched, and he instinctively turned to look at Yan Qili. Sure enough, in the next second, he saw Yan Qili let out a faint laugh. “Interesting.”

 

An Jing felt panicked by Yan Qili’s laugh and instinctively grabbed his clothes. “Yan Qili, stay calm, don’t be impulsive.”

 

Before Yan Qili could speak, another person Jiayang Shan brought started shouting impatiently: “If he tells you to call him Daddy, then call him Daddy. What are you stalling for? Do we have to beat you until you’re kneeling and begging for mercy before you say it?”

 

“It’s just an apology; we’re going easy on you.”

 

How could people who were called over by Jiayang Shan with a few words be people who use their brains? An Jing’s heart sank.

 

Yan Qili was unhurried: “And if I don’t apologize?”

 

The opposite side: “No apology? Don’t you f-ing choose the hard way when the easy way is offered.”

 

Yan Qili’s expression darkened, and he shook off An Jing’s hand. The rest of An Jing’s heart also sank. Both halves. They were both sinking for Jiayang Shan and the others.

 

When that “f-ing” came out, An Jing knew it was impossible for him to hold Yan Qili back today. An Jing knew exactly what Yan Qili’s most untouchable spot was. Before the protagonist appeared, the one thing others could not mention around Yan Qili was his mother. It was just a pity that Jiayang Shan and the others were so good at hitting landmines.

 

…

 

Two fists are no match for four hands, but so what if Yan Qili looked hard to fight? Six against two—Jiayang Shan thought he was guaranteed to win. Later, Sheng Li said since An Jing was there, it was awkward for him to step in. Jiayang Shan thought, five against two, they still had the advantage.

 

Seeing Yan Qili push An Jing aside expressionlessly, Jiayang Shan almost laughed out loud: “You can’t blame us for ganging up on you.” Five against one—it was practically a lynching.

 

An Jing looked at Jiayang Shan, who still didn’t know what was about to happen, with a sympathetic gaze. He couldn’t bear to keep watching.

 

Yan Qili didn’t look back. “An Jing, close your eyes.”

 

An Jing obediently closed his eyes and said: “Go easy on them.”

 

Hearing this, Jiayang Shan let out a cold, mocking laugh: “Go easy? Sorry, I might go—”

 

The rest of Jiayang Shan’s words stopped abruptly and turned into a scream. Knowing An Jing’s courage was no bigger than a grain of rice, Yan Qili glanced back to confirm An Jing had his eyes closed, and at the same time, his body moved.

 

“Holy sh—!”

 

“Ow!”

 

Screams rang out one after another. When An Jing opened his eyes again, everyone on the opposite side except Sheng Li was on the ground. Looking at the several people rolling on the ground and wailing, An Jing: “…” That’s it? And you’re a ‘steel plate’? Did you even last one move?

 

Sheng Li stared at Yan Qili in horror, taking a few steps back to prove his innocence. “I didn’t lay a hand on anyone.” Yan Qili had moved too fast; Sheng Li hadn’t even seen how he did it. It felt like in the blink of an eye, Jiayang Shan and the others were all down. And it looked like they were seriously injured. His fighting skills are f-ing terrifying! This man is a professional!!

 

Yan Qili kicked the fallen Jiayang Shan and looked up at Sheng Li, the ferocity in his eyes not yet dissipated. “Are you and An Jing friends?” These five people were even weaker than Yan Qili had imagined. Dealing with them wasn’t even a warm-up for the “Living Yama.” He was annoyed because he hadn’t had enough of a fight.

 

Sheng Li, who had been eager to distance himself from An Jing earlier, was now afraid Yan Qili’s fist would land on him in the next second. He nodded frantically: “Yes, yes, we’re university classmates.”

 

Yan Qili: “University classmates?”

 

“That’s right.” Sheng Li felt that even Yan Qili’s head tilt was sinister. He quickly added: “We’ve known each other for years.”

 

“Aah—!” This was the heart-wrenching scream that followed as Yan Qili stepped on the hand of the person with the foul mouth. “It hurts, it hurts—Big Brother, sorry, I was wrong—”

 

Yan Qili didn’t even spare a glance for the person rolling and begging for mercy. He looked coldly at Sheng Li: “Weren’t you ‘not close’ to him?”

 

With his friend’s pig-like screams in his ears, Sheng Li looked toward An Jing as if for help, hoping he would say something. An Jing pretended not to see Sheng Li’s gaze. They weren’t close.

 

Only when Yan Qili’s anger had mostly subsided did An Jing carefully step forward and pull on him. “Yan Qili, that’s enough.” It wasn’t that An Jing sympathized with them, but he suspected that if Yan Qili kept stepping, that person’s hand would be ruined. A fight and a fight leading to permanent disability were on completely different levels. Their mouths were foul; a proper lesson was enough.

 

 

No matter how remote this place was, pedestrians passed by occasionally. The screams of Jiayang Shan and the others sounded too terrifying, so a helpful passerby finally called the police. The reason given was: “Officer, I see a person beating up a group of people.”

 

Dispatcher: “???” Do you even hear what you’re saying?

 

There was a large event nearby today, and with all sorts of people around, the area was already a focus for the local police station. Consequently, a police car arrived quickly and took everyone back to the station.

 

When the police got out of the car with an imposing manner, Yan Qili looked displeased. An Jing’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately whispered: “You can’t!” This was really not allowed!!!

 

This time, An Jing used both hands. Just pulling with both hands didn’t feel like enough; An Jing wished he could hang his entire body weight on him. He was afraid that this man might habitually add “assaulting a police officer” to his list of crimes. This was no joke.

 

Finally, An Jing dragged and pulled the sulky Yan Qili into the police car. On the way to the station, An Jing whispered instructions to Yan Qili to cooperate with the police later. Whatever the police asked, just answer honestly. As he said this, An Jing’s fair, slender fingers were still gripping Yan Qili’s sleeve.

 

An Jing whispered, not knowing if he was comforting Yan Qili or himself: “Don’t panic, it’ll be okay.”

 

Yan Qili looked at the An Jing who was forcing himself to stay calm, wondering which of the two of them was actually panicking. He was the one who hit them; if they wanted anyone, they could come for him.

 

The scenery outside the window zoomed by, but An Jing had no heart to admire it. This was the first time in over twenty years he had sat in a police car; it would be a lie to say he wasn’t panicking. But he knew he couldn’t panic. Things had already reached this point; he couldn’t just leave everything to Yan Qili, who knew little about this world. The “Living Yama” didn’t even have an ID card—what could he do? So he had to prepare for the worst and find a way…

 

Looking at An Jing, who was clearly scared to death yet still trying his best to comfort him, Yan Qili’s expression shifted slightly. Fine. In the end, Yan Qili didn’t pull his hand back. He generously allowed An Jing to keep gripping it.

 

…

 

Nancheng, East District Branch of the Police Bureau.

 

The man in the khaki trench coat walked up to An Jing and patted his shoulder. The wilted An Jing looked up and spoke weakly: “Baili…”

 

It was embarrassing to admit; An Jing didn’t know many people. When trouble hit, the first person he thought of was actually Baili. He remembered Baili saying his very capable friend worked in Nancheng, though he didn’t know which department. An Jing still tried messaging Baili.

 

The fight was easy to deal with. The tricky part was Yan Qili’s identity. Once they entered a police station, the fact that he was undocumented couldn’t be hidden. To avoid drawing more trouble, An Jing had to reach out to Baili from the police car.

 

And Baili was very loyal. After hearing the whole story from An Jing, his assistant rushed over immediately. As soon as the signing ended on his end, Baili also rushed to the police station. The person currently negotiating with the police inside was Baili’s assistant. It was also at this moment that An Jing learned Baili’s assistant was the “very capable friend” he had mentioned, named Yuzhou Meng. Yuzhou Meng was only working as Baili’s assistant part-time this time.

 

Baili handed An Jing a bottle of mineral water and coughed. “Call me Jiang Chen, don’t use my pen name.” Being called by a pen name in this setting felt weird.

 

An Jing gave an “Oh” and couldn’t help asking: “How is it? Will he be detained?”

 

“It’s not as serious as you think.” Jiang Chen sat down beside An Jing and comforted him: “It’s not a big deal; it should be fine after the statements are taken.”

 

Neither An Jing nor Sheng Li had fought; the police were just conducting routine questioning and didn’t make things difficult for them. Sheng Li couldn’t care less about his friends and had already left.

 

Jiang Chen couldn’t help but sigh: “Although I knew you were young, I didn’t expect you to be this young.” Baili and Yannian had known each other for years and could talk about anything. Jiang Chen knew An Jing wasn’t as old as people said online; he graduated from university this year and was a few years younger than himself. But when he saw An Jing just now, he was so shocked he didn’t dare recognize him for a long time. He truly couldn’t believe that the famous Teacher Yannian with millions of fans looked so youthful. People would believe it if you said he was eighteen.

 

Jiang Chen studied An Jing’s face carefully: “If you showed your face and held a signing or something, your Weibo would gain at least a hundred thousand more fans for your looks alone.”

 

An Jing first shook his head, then said: “I’m sorry, I’ve troubled you…” Having his first meeting with Jiang Chen in a police station made An Jing very embarrassed.

 

Jiang Chen laughed. “In just this short time, you’ve said ‘thank you’ at least five times.” Before An Jing could speak, Jiang Chen added half-jokingly and half-seriously: “Actually, I should thank your brother for this fight.”

 

An Jing: “Huh?”

 

Jiang Chen’s gaze was meaningful: “If it weren’t for this, how could I have met you so soon?”

 

An Jing instantly remembered those photos and videos he had intentionally sent to Jiang Chen. He lowered his head, apologizing for his childish behavior: “I’m sorry.”

 

“What are you doing?” Jiang Chen smiled and rubbed his head. “It’s either ‘thank you’ or ‘sorry,’ you’re making us sound so distant.”

 

An Jing didn’t know what to say again.

 

“Hey.” Jiang Chen nudged An Jing’s arm with his elbow, looking full of gossip. “Your brother is pretty handsome. What does he do? Has he considered a career as a model? Are your family’s genes just that good for both of you to look like this?”

 

“Currently unemployed,” An Jing said, then corrected himself: “He’s not my biological brother; we’re not blood-related.”

 

Not biological? Jiang Chen’s eyebrows shot up. “If he’s not your biological brother and there’s no blood relation, does that make him your ‘darling’ brother?”

 

An Jing: “???” Where did this leap in relationship status come from?

 

Jiang Chen was self-righteous: “With such a handsome guy hovering in front of you, don’t tell me you don’t have a single thought about him.”

 

An Jing was dazed. “Why should I have thoughts about him?”

 

Jiang Chen: “?” He was shocked. “You really don’t have thoughts?”

 

An Jing shook his head honestly. “No.”

 

Jiang Chen looked at him with a gaze that said “So your standards are that high,” finding it unbelievable. “You don’t even like someone like that?”

 

An Jing: “It’s not a matter of liking or not!”

 

Jiang Chen: “Then what’s the issue?”

 

“…” An Jing was silent for two seconds, then asked Jiang Chen with a complex look: “Do you have some misunderstanding about me?” He wasn’t gay; wouldn’t it be strange for him to have thoughts about Yan Qili?

 

After understanding An Jing’s meaning, Jiang Chen also fell silent. After a long while, Jiang Chen asked with difficulty: “Jing, do you have some misunderstanding about yourself?”

 

In this world, there might be pure straight men who read Danmei and ship male-male pairings, but there are absolutely, definitely no pure straight men who think about creating content and writing Danmei novels. Especially mpreg Danmei! So for all these years, Jiang Chen had always believed that even if An Jing wasn’t completely gay, he was bi.

 

Their eyes met. Speechless.

 

It took An Jing a long time to find his voice: “I told you, I’m ‘paper-sexual’…” How could he be gay?

 

Jiang Chen’s eyebrows almost overlapped. “That’s what you say, but have you seen anyone actually dating a paper person?” Having many husbands and wives in the 2D world doesn’t stop someone from dating in real life. “Besides,” Jiang Chen recalled Yan Qili’s appearance, “your brother’s god-tier face isn’t any less than a paper person’s.”

 

True. An Jing couldn’t refute that. After all, Yan Qili was literally carved out of a book.

 

An Jing explained seriously: “But I write Danmei to practice my romantic scenes.”

 

Jiang Chen was sharp: “There are so many genres to practice, why did you have to write mpreg Danmei?”

 

An Jing was logical: “Only this genre won’t make readers associate it with me.” Even if the writing style is exactly the same, readers wouldn’t suspect Yannian went to write Danmei. At most, they’d think the styles are similar.

 

Years of belief being shattered, Jiang Chen couldn’t quite accept it: “You’re really not?”

 

An Jing nodded and nodded.

 

Jiang Chen: “…”

 

For some reason, An Jing actually saw a trace of disappointment in Jiang Chen’s eyes. It made An Jing feel a strange sense of guilt, as if he had deceived the other person. I’m not gay—I’m really sorry for that. QAQ