Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  If you think about it, there were indeed cats in fairy tales, except that they were mostly black cats sitting on an evil witch’s shoulder. They were gloomy and scary, and often terrified the fairy tale heroes with their long, sharp teeth.

  Fina’s tone and face were both provocative and tempting. It showed its little tiger’s teeth once in a while, looking slightly like an evil black cat in a fairy tale.

  It placed a seemingly impossible trade in front of Sihwa––trading her tail for a human’s identity.

  Yet, the trade was not totally impossible; it was actually kind of feasible.

  If Sihwa really showed up to the world as a handicapped girl who had lost her legs, nobody would ever think that she used to be a mermaid. She could get as much sympathy as she wanted by using her gorgeous face. It was hard to get an ID card, but not totally impossible. There were many things one could not buy with money, but an ID card was not one of them.

  Without considering who would perform the surgery, or how Sihwa could survive the surgery, Fina’s proposal was not as impulsive as Zhang Zian had imagined.

  “Hey! We get our body from our parents. We don’t have the right to mutilate it…” Old Time Tea said quietly from outside the bathroom. Maybe it wanted to convince Sihwa to give up the horrible idea. Yet, later it realized that Sihwa had no parents at all, so she would not feel guilty to anyone even if she mutilated her body.

  It seemed that Fina’s fierce speech had shocked all the elfins on the first floor.

  Sihwa’s face was as pale as paper. “Fi… Fina, you mean that… I need to cut off my entire tail?”


  “Yes. Don’t you always complain about your tail? You always want an ID card and a human identity… Cutting your tail off is the easiest and the only feasible option…” Fina’s eyes shifted up her tail, stopping at her skinny waist.

  Sihwa was no different from a human from her waist up. Light blue scales started appearing around her waist. They were small at first, and became bigger around her waist.

  To execute Fina’s horrible idea, Sihwa would be cut in two at the waist…


  A bloody scene appeared in Zhang Zian’s mind, along with other elfins, including Sihwa herself.

  She quivered. Fear penetrated her bones.

  They were not in a fairy tale. She could never get a pair of legs––never ever. But she could obtain human identity through another cruel way.

  But, was it worth it?

  Zhang Zian wanted to tell her it was not worth it, but after glancing around the narrow bathroom, he swallowed his words back.

  If a prisoner was confined in a ten square meter room all his life, and could never step out, but was offered a way out if he was willing to give up half of his body, he would do it. He could be free from his prisoner’s identity… Although he would end up handicapped, he would at least be able to leave the small, shabby room. Who could be sure that the prisoner would never choose the latter?

  Fina turned around and stepped away slowly. “You can think about it.”


  As Fina left, the other elfins also went back downstairs so that Sihwa could think about it by herself.

  “I’ll be out, too,” Zhang Zian said, closing the bathroom door behind him.

  He didn’t go downstairs, but leaned against the door to think. Giving up a fishtail for a human identity sounded familiar somehow, as if he had read it somewhere.

  Speaking of books, nobody could beat Pi.

  Zhang Zian walked next to the desk. Pi was not typing but was flipping through the Nameless Book.

  “Pi, I want to ask you something.” He pulled a chair close to sit.

  “Eek?” Pi scratched its head, then pointed back at the bathroom, meaning, “Is this about Sihwa?”


  Zhang Zian shook his head. “Yes and no. In fact, I wanted to ask you… You stay in the living room all day and barely go out. Do you ever feel lonely?”


  “Eek.” Pi grinned and typed, “Sometimes. Sometimes I want to get out and look.”


  “But?” Zhang Zian asked again.

  Pi tapped its Nameless Book and typed, “The whole world is in my book. Looking at the world with my own eyes is no different from looking at it in my book.”


  Then it pointed at the busy Book Friends Group and typed, “Besides, I have so many Book Friends with me. So I’m not lonely.”


  Zhang Zian believed Pi, but its case didn’t suit Sihwa, as it was too spiritual. There was fortune, beauty, and everything in the book. It could gratify all curiosity through the Nameless Book; there was no need to step out of the house.

  “Okay, Pi. I’ll leave you with your work. Don’t forget to take breaks.” Zhang Zian stood up and tapped its shoulder. “I’ll head downstairs.”


  “Eek.”


  Zhang Zian went downstairs, and saw everything was as usual. The elfins were doing what they were always doing––some were sleeping, some were watching television, while some were playing…


  Yet, just because it seemed normal, it became abnormal and unnatural, as if nobody wanted to talk about what had just happened.

  Two or three movie fans stayed around Famous. There were no real customers for now.

  Wang Qian was still working next door. Lu Yiyun was drawing with her head down.

  “Xiao Yun.” Zhang Zian walked to the cashier counter, then knocked on the desk with his knuckle.

  “What?”


  Lu Yiyun lifted her head in a haze. Behind her thick glasses were a pair of innocent eyes.

  “Is this a good time? I want to ask you something.”


  Zhang Zian thought about the correct wording to use. Talking to a young girl was not as casual as talking to an elfin, especially with what he was about to ask her. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

  His tone and attitude surprised her, and made her panic for a moment. She thought he finally found out about the Gay Pet Shop series she had been posting on Weibo and wanted to fire her…


  “What… What is it?” she asked anxiously.

  “As far as I know, you are quite an Otaku, right? This is not an insult… I’m an Otaku, too, and I don’t like going outside, nor dealing with people,” Zhang Zian explained. “I just wanted to ask––do you ever feel lonely about your monotone life between your apartment and the pet shop? Don’t you want to go out sometimes?”


  Lu Yiyun pushed her glasses up. From her impression, Zhang Zian was not the kind of person who would discuss such a topic with her.

  She thought for a while and said, “I’m not lonely. The shop is always busy with so many pets and so many customers. I’m not lonely at home either; I have Jasmine.”


  As she spoke, she tickled Jasmine’s chin. It laid lazily on her laps with its belly up, fully unaware of the fact that its private parts were in the air…


  “Speaking about going out… Well, sometimes I want to. But I only think about it. I want to visit interesting places, but after thinking about it carefully, I don’t feel the need for it. Tourist attractions are nothing more than the combinations of people, trees, houses, mountains, and water. It’s nothing more than that. It’s easier to follow Snowy’s live broadcast… Of course, not having enough money is the biggest reason. It’s already not easy to keep Jasmine and myself alive,” she said a lot at one time, then smiled shyly.

  She was not old, yet her words carried a sense of agedness.

  In fact, everybody thought that about tourist attractions, especially some cultural attractions. One could see as many as they wanted in pictures and videos, but everybody still followed the big crowd to the attractions during vacations and holidays.

  “Well… If you have a lot of money, but you have to stay at home all your life, you can never step out of the door, and can buy everything you want online, would you accept it?” Zhang Zian asked her in a different way.

  He thought she might say yes, although it might be an impulsive answer. But she shook her head without hesitating. “I don’t accept it. Absolutely not!” She was extremely firm, allowing no room for discussion.

  “Why? Don’t take me wrong, but isn’t your old life style just like this?” Zhang Zian was a bit surprised, and teased her intentionally, “Or your real concern is… That you won’t find a boyfriend like this?”


  She blushed right away and stuttered, “Boy… Boy… Boyfriend? It has nothing to do with a boyfriend! Besides, I’m not planning to get a boyfriend…”


  “Fine. Why is it then?” Zhang Zian laughed too. She made him think of his old classmate. They also once claimed in confidence that they never planned to have boyfriends, yet after they met the destined one, they forgot everything they had once said and threw themselves fully into their love relationships––even if the relationships were doomed to fail and hurt them.

  Therefore, it was not that she didn’t want a boyfriend; she simply had not yet met the right person.

  Sihwa thought she had met the right person, so she threw herself into a love relationship, even if it was doomed to fail and hurt her…


  Lu Yiyun said seriously, “I can stay at home all the time, I can be an Otaku forever, but nobody can deprive my freedom to step outside. Isn’t this in a poem? ‘Life is precious, and love even more. But I can give up both for freedom.'”


  She felt even more embarrassed. “Are my words inappropriate? Does it sound like stupid teenagers? Crap! It happens every time. I lose myself as soon as someone shows a hint of respect… My brain might be corrupted by ACG* world… Mr. Store Manager, please forget what I just said!” She said, holding her head in remorse.

  “No, don’t think this way. I like what you just said!” Zhang Zian smiled. “Okay. I won’t interrupt you anymore. Keep drawing.”


  He left the cashier counter, but Lu Yiyun was still unable to get her regret and self-condemnation out of her mind.

  After hearing her words, Zhang Zian seemed to have thought of something.

  What Sihwa was searching for, or what she should be searching for, might not be a human identity, nor the Oppa that she kept mentioning all day. It was actually freedom, but she had not figured that out yet.

  As there were not many customers yet, Zhang Zian picked up his car key and informed Lu Yiyun, whose face was as red as a cooked crab, that he was leaving. He drove to the beach to finish his daily task of chasing away the marine creatures in the area with the underwater loudspeaker, then collecting interesting marine creatures on the beach.