Pei Jin slowly pushed the scooter into the passageway. The tender green body looked rather cute under the dim lights. He put down the kickstand and pulled out the key. A small pink rabbit keychain that the shop owner had given them was still attached to it, swaying gently with his movements.
The two of them happened to run into He Yilong and He Fan.
Fan had a bass guitar strapped to his back, the black guitar case resting behind him. He was walking sideways, while He Yilong followed behind him with one hand resting at the small of his back.
Footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Bai Tao turned around and met He Fan’s eyes.
The two smiled at the same time. It was simply a friendly smile between girls.
“What a coincidence,” Bai Tao said first, her tone a little lighter than usual.
Fan curved his lips into a smile as well, then shifted his gaze from Bai Tao and looked behind her at Pei Jin.
So this was the friend Bai Tao had mentioned going to find that night when he had lent her the raincoat?
He Fan sized Pei Jin up.
Black tousled hair, sharp and cold features. He was wearing the simplest white tank top, yet somehow managed to make it look distinctive. He did not look like an ordinary person. Instead, he looked like the fallen young master of some wealthy family.
“Is this your boyfriend?” Fan asked sincerely and naturally. “He’s so handsome. You two look really good together.”
He really liked combinations where handsome men and beautiful women looked pleasing together.
Besides, he had assumed that someone Bai Tao would brave the hail and rain to go looking for so late at night must be someone very important to her.
The moment he finished speaking, the expressions of the other three people changed.
He Yilong had originally been lazily staring at the back of He Fan’s head. When he heard the words “so handsome,” his narrow eyes narrowed slightly.
He shifted his gaze from He Fan to Pei Jin and looked him over from head to toe, then from toe to head.
He Yilong was 1.9 meters tall, while Pei Jin was 1.88 meters.
The two men were only two or three steps apart, yet their auras were like those of two fierce beasts that had met on a narrow path. Neither was willing to look away first.
The dim yellow corridor lights stretched their shadows long and faint. Their shadows briefly overlapped on the floor before separating again.
Pei Jin was somewhat puzzled. He had no idea where this hostility had come from when they were meeting for the first time.
Standing behind He Fan, He Yilong took advantage of the fact that neither Bai Tao nor Pei Jin could see him and secretly reached out to pinch He Fan’s lower back.
Fan’s body stiffened slightly, but the expression on his face remained unchanged, as though nothing had happened.
Bai Tao’s expression had changed because she had a guilty conscience.
She had overheard He Fan and He Yilong that night.
The sound of the bed frame hitting the wall and their deep breathing were impossible to forget.
Now, whenever she saw He Fan’s gentle and harmless face, the sounds from that night automatically resurfaced in her mind.
Her face flushed slightly despite herself.
Pei Jin, on the other hand, had frowned slightly after hearing the words “boyfriend.”
What did “Is this your boyfriend?” mean?
It sounded as though Bai Tao had mentioned him to these two before and told them that he was her boyfriend.
Or perhaps Bai Tao already had a boyfriend, and they had simply mistaken him for that person?
Pei Jin’s gaze subtly fell on the back of Bai Tao’s head.
Bai Tao felt as though she were being watched by a beast.
That chilly stare coming from behind made every hair on her body stand on end.
How was she supposed to explain their relationship?
If she said Pei Jin was not her boyfriend, then how would she explain that they lived together?
A man and a woman living under the same roof. Who would believe them if she tried to explain?
Should she say he was her cousin?
While Bai Tao was still thinking about how to explain her relationship with Pei Jin, He Yilong finally spoke.
“Aren’t you going to the bar? You’ll be late if you don’t leave now.”
It was as though He Fan had just been reminded of something. He raised his wrist and glanced at his watch before pointing toward the bass on his back and smiling warmly and casually.
“Bye, beautiful. I’m going to rehearsal.”
Bai Tao hurriedly waved.
“Bye, bye, bye. Go, go!”
As He Fan passed Bai Tao, he brought with him a faint scent of laundry detergent.
Yilong followed behind him. When he passed Pei Jin, he turned his head and glanced at him.
The look was neither long nor short.
The gazes of the two men briefly met in the air, and neither looked away first.
Pei Jin’s expression did not change at all. He Yilong merely gave him a faint glance before looking away and pushing He Fan ahead of him as they quickly left.
Their footsteps gradually faded into the distance, and the passageway became quiet again.
Bai Tao watched them leave and let out a long breath.
“They work at night.”
Bai Tao turned to Pei Jin, her tone light.
“Let’s go inside.”
She took out her key and unlocked the door. The two entered the apartment one after another.
That evening, Bai Tao ordered takeout.
Two portions of braised chicken and rice, with an extra serving of shiitake mushrooms and an extra serving of enoki mushrooms.
They were both exhausted today.
Bai Tao took a shower first. She spent nearly half an hour in the bathroom before finally coming out. Her hair was still wet and hanging over her shoulders, and there was no hiding the exhaustion on her face.
When Pei Jin went in, Bai Tao heard the hair dryer buzzing inside the bathroom.
It stopped after only a few minutes.
Then she heard Pei Jin let out a low sigh.
This hair dryer…
Pei Jin had used it for ages, yet his hair looked almost exactly the same as before. The wet parts were still wet.
But he was living under someone else’s roof now, so he did not feel comfortable saying anything.
He silently put the hair dryer back where it belonged and dried his hair again with a towel.
One of them lay on the wooden bed, while the other curled up on the sofa. A large floral cloth hung between them.
The lights went out.
The basement became dark. Only a little light from the streetlamps filtered through the two palm-sized windows, casting a faint yellow glow that formed a blurry rectangle in the air.
Pei Jin lay on the hard wooden bed with one hand behind his head, facing the ugly floral cloth.
Without his phone, Pei Jin could only lie on his side and stare at the little bit of light filtering through the curtain.
Tap, tap, tap.
Tap, tap, tap.
It was the sound of fingernails tapping against a phone screen.
Bai Tao did not know who she was chatting with.
Pei Jin frowned slightly but said nothing.
After taking her shower, Bai Tao curled up on the sofa. Her hair was still damp, and she had wrapped it in a towel that sat loosely on top of her head like a floppy hat.
She opened WeChat and saw a little red dot next to Wang Jianguo’s profile picture.
【I’m here.】
Bai Tao quickly opened the chat and typed rapidly.
【Brother Wang, a friend of mine, had his phone stolen by some people in an alley. Do you know who these people are?】
She remembered Wang Jianguo saying that he had a powerful boss in the underworld. From the way he had described him, the man sounded quite formidable.
After thinking about it, Bai Tao added a pleading cat emoji.
The reply came almost instantly.
【Which alley?】
【The one next to where I’m living now.】
Wang Jianguo did not reply immediately.
Bai Tao stared at the screen as the words “typing…” appeared and disappeared, disappeared and appeared, repeating several times.
【I think I know them.】
Bai Tao’s heart skipped a beat.
【I’ll try, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to get it back.】
Bai Tao quickly sent a cute cat nodding emoji.
Then she placed the phone against her chest and happily rolled over on the sofa.
The sofa springs gave a muffled creak, particularly clear in the quiet night.
“Bai Tao.”
Pei Jin’s voice came from the other side of the floral cloth. It was cold and carried a trace of irritation.
Bai Tao froze and lowered her voice.
“Hmm? What is it?”
“What time is it?”
Bai Tao turned her phone over and glanced at it.
“Ten. What’s up?”
“You’re noisy.”
Pei Jin’s voice paused.
“Go to sleep.”
Bai Tao stared at Pei Jin’s blurry silhouette through the floral cloth.
She opened her mouth, about to tell him not to meddle in her business.
But the words reached her lips and she swallowed them back.
No.
She could not argue with him.
She still needed to rely on this powerful asset.
In her previous life, Pei Jin had built a leading company from nothing.
Every penny she invested in him now would multiply in value in the future.
This was a long-term investment.
She could not ruin their relationship over a moment of impulsiveness.
Bai Tao changed the words she had been about to say into a quiet “Oh.”
Then she pulled the blanket over her head and secretly started watching videos.
There was no sound.
Only the screen flickered between light and darkness, its glow reflected in her bright eyes.
Pei Jin saw the light disappear from the other side of the floral cloth and assumed she had fallen asleep.
He closed his eyes and stared at the ceiling for quite some time before finally becoming a little sleepy.
Tomorrow.
He had to go out and find a job first.
Otherwise, he was really going to become a primitive man.
No phone.
No money.
No ID card.
Only a woman who had no idea who she was chatting with and was noisy enough to keep him awake.
Summer mornings were always bright early.
Before six o’clock, sunlight had already squeezed through the two tiny basement windows.
Pei Jin opened his eyes.
He lay on the hard wooden bed and stared at the ceiling for two seconds before trying to move his waist.
Sore.
After sleeping on the hard wooden bed all night, he felt as though his waist had been taken apart and put back together.
Pei Jin began reconsidering whether he should sleep on the sofa himself.
He glanced suspiciously at the curtain.
Bai Tao had said she gave him the bed because the sofa was too small for him.
Forget it.
Bai Tao had already been this kind to him. He could not repay her kindness by taking advantage of her.
Let Bai Tao sleep on the bed while he slept on the sofa.
Do not do unto others what you would not want done to yourself.
He supported himself against the bed and slowly sat up. His movements were much slower than usual, and the muscles in his shoulders were somewhat stiff.
He rolled his neck and heard two faint cracks.
He lazily slipped his feet into his slippers and stood up before gently lifting one corner of the floral cloth.
He really was not a pervert.
But he wanted to know what time it was.
He lifted the cloth just enough to create a gap the width of a palm.
Bai Tao was still asleep.
One of her feet rested on the back of the sofa. It was fair and pale, with her toes slightly curled.
Her other leg hung over the edge of the sofa. Her head was tilted slightly to one side, her hair spread out behind her, with some of it hanging over the edge and falling to the floor, the ends gently curled.
Her lips were slightly parted, and her breathing was light and slow. Her chest rose and fell with each breath.
Her already youthful face, bare of makeup and flushed from sleeping so deeply, had a delicate rosy glow. She looked like a freshly peeled lychee, moist and tender enough to seem as though one could squeeze water from it.
Her eyelashes were long, casting a small fan-shaped shadow beneath her eyes as they trembled gently with each breath.
Her brows were relaxed, and the corners of her lips curved slightly upward.
Her whole body gave off a soft, completely defenseless air that made one reluctant to disturb her.
Especially cute.
Pei Jin stood beside the sofa and looked at her twice.
Only twice.
He bent down, moving closer and closer to Bai Tao.
Her youthful face, flushed with a rosy tint, grew larger and clearer in his vision.
He could even see a tiny mole at the corner of her eye. It was particularly captivating.
Pei Jin moved his gaze away from her face and toward the phone beside her hand.
He reached out with his long arm and hooked the edge of the phone with his fingertip.
With a gentle flick, the phone slid into his palm.
His movements were so light that they made almost no sound.
Bai Tao was dreaming.
In her dream, she was walking along a pitch-black road.
Towering trees stood on both sides, their shadows swaying in the wind like countless clawed hands.
She did not know where she was going, but she could not stop walking.
Suddenly, two red lights appeared in the darkness ahead, like two enormous eyes.
A huge black shadow emerged from the darkness.
She could not make out its face. She could only feel it approaching her.
Bai Tao suddenly opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was a sharp jawline.
Pale skin.
Clean, defined features.
A slightly moving Adam’s apple.
Pei Jin’s chin was less than a fist away from her face.
A man was bending over her while she slept, his face less than ten centimeters away.
The setup, the scene, the atmosphere…
No matter how she looked at it, something was wrong.
She was so frightened that she grabbed the blanket and yanked it upward, shrinking backward as she pulled it all the way to her chin and buried half her face beneath it.
“Ah! What are you doing?!”
Her voice was not loud, but in the quiet basement morning, it sounded particularly clear.
Pei Jin was annoyed by her cry and closed his eyes for a moment, frowning as he stepped back two paces.
His expression barely changed. He still looked calm and faintly impatient.
“Don’t scream.”
His voice was hoarse from just waking up.
“I was only checking the time.”
Bai Tao blinked.
Then she looked at Pei Jin again.
He was holding her phone, and its screen was lit.
Bai Tao lowered the blanket from her face. A flush slowly spread across the exposed half of her face.
She asked softly,
“Oh… did you see the time?”
“Yes.”
Pei Jin placed the phone on the coffee table and turned to enter the bathroom.
The bathroom door closed.
Bai Tao covered her face and rolled halfway across the sofa.
She rolled into the gap between the back of the sofa and the coffee table.
She had gotten stuck there last time too.
This time, she had learned her lesson and stopped halfway.
What was she screaming for?
He had only been checking the time.
Pei Jin washed up quickly.
Bai Tao heard the sound of the faucet, the toothbrush stirring inside the cup, and the towel being wrung out.
Then the bathroom door opened.
Pei Jin walked out with droplets of water still clinging to his hair. A few ran down his temple before he casually wiped them away.
He stood in front of the coffee table and looked down at the bundle of Bai Tao on the sofa.
“I’m going out for a walk,” he said. “Are you coming?”
Bai Tao poked half her face out from beneath the blanket. Her hair was as messy as a bird’s nest.
She squinted at Pei Jin, then glanced outside the window.
“Sure. We can buy breakfast while we’re out.”
She waited for a moment but did not get a response from Pei Jin.
Bai Tao rubbed her eyes and sat up on the sofa.
Her hair became even messier, with a tuft sticking straight up from the top of her head and trembling with every movement.
“I’ll go with you.”
She yawned, her voice still muffled with sleep.
“I forgot you don’t have a phone.”
Bai Tao genuinely did not particularly want to go.
It was just that Pei Jin did not have a phone right now.
What if someone robbed him again on the way?
Or what if he got lost?
Or what if someone picked him up and took him away to live a good life?
Wouldn’t all the money she had spent on Pei Jin be wasted?
“Mm.”
Pei Jin had originally wanted to ask whether she had any cash. He could go out by himself.
He did not like this feeling.
The feeling of having nothing and being unable to help with anything.
He looked at Bai Tao standing in front of him, small and sleepy, her eyes barely open.
The collar of her pajamas had slipped to one side, revealing a slender, pale collarbone.
Pei Jin suddenly felt somewhat helpless.
Although he did not like Bai Tao, he knew that a man absolutely should not be in a position where he depended on a woman like this.
He should not make a woman worry about his food, housing, clothing, and daily needs, to the point where he even needed her to accompany him just to buy breakfast.
Not allowing a woman to depend on him meant that he was incapable.
Pei Jin stood expressionlessly at the doorway, doing his best not to get in Bai Tao’s way as she moved around the tiny room.
As Bai Tao tidied up, she chattered on.
“Wait a little longer. If there’s still no news today, we’ll buy you a phone tonight. I asked my friend last night. He said he might know those little thugs and could try to get your things back.”
Pei Jin stood at the doorway, watching Bai Tao walk back and forth in front of him.
“Mm.”
He responded before suddenly remembering something.
“You have a friend like that?”
How could Bai Tao know those kinds of people from the underworld?
Bai Tao was patting sunscreen onto her face. Her hand paused at his question.
Afraid that Pei Jin might misunderstand, she quickly explained,
“He’s my landlord. When he showed me the apartment, he said he knew someone important in the underworld. He said that person was very powerful. Last night, he agreed to ask around for us.”
Pei Jin leaned against the doorframe and watched Bai Tao spread sunscreen over her face as she spoke.
So that was what she had been discussing with someone last night.
She had not been happily chatting with some random person.
She was not talking to a boyfriend?
Pei Jin’s mood suddenly improved a little.
Bai Tao glanced at him and found his reaction a little strange, but she did not think much of it.
“I’ll be ready soon.”
She sped up, worried that Pei Jin might get impatient waiting for her.
Pei Jin straightened up from the doorframe.
“It’s fine. No rush.”
Bai Tao was applying lipstick in front of the mirror.
Hearing that, she glanced at Pei Jin through the mirror.
What was wrong with this guy?
Why did it feel like his mood changed faster than someone turning the pages of a book?