It was custom-made, with every stitch sewn entirely by hand. The curve of the hem, the cut of the neckline, and the position of the waistline had all been carefully refined and adjusted again and again.
She stood in front of the half-height mirror in the bathroom and slowly turned around.
The color of the dress had been specially adjusted to suit her complexion. It was neither too bright nor too gaudy, making her skin look fair with a rosy glow, like a tender peach that seemed as though it would release juice at the slightest touch.
Bai Tao stared at her reflection for two seconds before letting out a soft sigh.
Things really had changed.
This dress alone was more expensive than everything she owned now put together.
Even if she sold everything she had, she probably could not afford the hand embroidery on this dress.
But since it had been custom-made specifically for her, every inch around her waist fit perfectly. It hugged her skin without feeling restrictive, almost like another layer of skin growing naturally from her body.
So she had no way to resell it.
Bai Tao gave her reflection a bitter smile before turning and walking out of the bathroom.
Pei Jin was leaning against the doorframe, waiting for her.
The basement hallway was dim and narrow. The peach-pink hem of her dress swayed gently behind her. Pei Jin’s eyes lit up when he saw her.
His gaze lingered on Bai Tao for a moment before he looked away.
In that dim, cramped basement, Bai Tao seemed to be glowing.
She really was glowing.
“Let’s go.”
Bai Tao walked past him, bringing with her a faint fragrance.
Pei Jin nodded, bent down, and rummaged through the pile of shoes beside the door until he found the pair he had worn when he left the Pei Family. He kicked the oversized slippers aside and changed into those shoes.
Bai Tao glanced at him.
“Won’t your feet get stuffy in those?”
Pei Jin had just taken one step when her question made him pause.
He looked down at the shoes on his feet. They really were unsuitable for summer. But Bai Tao looked so dazzling that he did not want to dress too sloppily and embarrass her.
He did not answer her question. Instead, he turned around and carefully checked the iron door. After making sure it was locked properly and the key had been removed, he went after Bai Tao, who was waiting outside.
The alley was already full of people in the morning.
The elderly men and women who could not sleep were gathered in groups beneath the trees. Some were playing chess, some were practicing tai chi, and others simply stood around chatting.
The office workers rushing to catch the subway hurried past. Some carried breakfast in their hands, while others had steamed buns between their teeth.
Bai Tao and Pei Jin walking together drew plenty of attention.
One was a fallen young lady from a wealthy family. She was dressed elegantly and impeccably, yet walking through this old alley, she looked completely out of place. Her dress in particular was obviously expensive to anyone with an eye for such things. Under the sunlight, it shimmered with a golden glow without being harsh on the eyes.
The other was a poor young man who had grown up in an alley, wearing a 29.9-yuan undershirt.
The contrast between them could not have been greater.
Several workers squatting at the entrance of the alley were smoking. Their work clothes were covered in cement dust, and they held cigarettes between their fingers as their eyes repeatedly swept over Bai Tao.
There was no malice in those looks. They simply had never seen someone like her before and found her unusual. Perhaps they thought she was dressed far too extravagantly to be walking around here.
Still, it made Bai Tao uncomfortable.
She was walking ahead and did not notice the way people were looking at her.
Pei Jin did.
His gaze swept over the workers’ faces. There was no unnecessary emotion in his dark eyes.
The ash from the first man’s cigarette fell onto his trouser leg.
The second man looked away.
The third simply lowered his head.
Pei Jin withdrew his gaze and quickened his pace until he was walking beside Bai Tao.
“What do you want to eat?” Bai Tao continued walking without looking back. The sunlight fell on the top of her head, turning her hair chestnut brown.
Pei Jin walked on her right side, using his body to block the gazes that were still secretly following her.
He memorized the faces of the local troublemakers one by one, but none of them were the men who had robbed him.
Only after Bai Tao asked him did he withdraw his gaze.
“Anything. Just buy whatever you want.”
“Soy milk and steamed buns?”
Bai Tao turned to look at him, her eyes sparkling.
She remembered that the soy milk she had bought Pei Jin that morning had been sweet and especially delicious.
She did not know whether that particular shop’s soy milk was naturally sweet or whether she had simply been so exhausted that morning that everything tasted good.
She wanted to try it again.
Pei Jin nodded.
What he wanted to eat was not important. He had no money anyway.
The two of them arrived at a breakfast stall at the mouth of the alley.
The stall was small, but business was booming. Steaming baskets were stacked high, and the owner was incredibly quick with her hands. She collected money, packed orders, and called out to the next customer all at once.
Bai Tao ordered two cups of soy milk and six steamed buns.
The owner packed everything into plastic bags, tied the tops, and handed them over. She also took another look at Pei Jin.
Bai Tao took the breakfast but did not leave immediately.
“Boss, could you change six hundred yuan into cash for me?”
“Sure. Give me a second.”
The owner took an old wallet from her apron pocket, counted out six red 100-yuan bills, and handed them over. Bai Tao scanned the payment code on the wall and transferred the money.
Pei Jin stood beside her and watched as Bai Tao straightened and folded the small stack of cash before turning around and holding it out to him.
“What is it?”
Pei Jin looked confused.
Bai Tao extended the money toward him again.
“You can’t go out without any money on you these days. Take this cash for now. We’ll figure out the rest after you get your phone back.”
Pei Jin stared at the money in her hand.
The sunlight fell on the red bills, making them almost dazzling.
He had wanted to refuse.
He did not want to take Bai Tao’s money. Not even a single cent.
But he also felt that there was no point clinging to this false sense of dignity now.
His suitcase had been robbed. His phone had been robbed. His ID card was gone too.
Standing in front of this breakfast stall, he could not even afford a cup of soy milk.
Pei Jin reached out and took the money.
“Thank you.”
His voice was low.
“I’ll pay you back once I start making money.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Bai Tao smiled and nodded. Carrying the breakfast, she turned around and continued walking.
Pei Jin folded the money and put it into his trouser pocket.
The bills pressed against his thigh, feeling slightly warm.
Bai Tao carried the soy milk and steamed buns for a while, and the weight in her hands gradually became heavier.
She looked at Pei Jin, who was walking three steps ahead of her.
His hands were completely empty, and he looked particularly carefree. Every now and then, he stopped to examine the little advertisements pasted on the utility poles.
The poles were covered with job advertisements.
Construction site laborer, paid 400 yuan a day.
Parcel sorting, night shift, 280 yuan a night.
Restaurant dishwasher, meals and accommodation included, monthly salary of 4,000 yuan.
“Pei Jin!”
Bai Tao called out, but Pei Jin did not hear her.
He had one hand behind his head and was looking up at an advertisement pasted near the top of a utility pole. The sunlight illuminated his face, and his Adam’s apple moved slightly.
“Pei Jin!”
Bai Tao called him again, a little louder this time.
Only then did Pei Jin turn around.
“What is it?”
Bai Tao raised the breakfast in her right hand and waved it at him.
The soy milk and steamed buns inside the plastic bag swayed back and forth. The bag had been tied too tightly, producing a faint rustling sound.
Pei Jin waved his hand.
“We can drink it when we get back. I don’t want it right now.”
Bai Tao froze.
No, big brother. Was that what I meant?
The thin handles of the plastic bag had rubbed her hand red, leaving several deep marks across her palm.
Bai Tao took a deep breath and put on a pitiful expression.
She lowered her head slightly and looked up at him, her lips gently pursed.
“You take it, Pei Jin.”
Her voice stretched out, soft as melting ice cream.
“I can’t carry it anymore~”
Pei Jin looked at her for two seconds before walking over and taking the breakfast from her hands.
Bai Tao’s hands were finally free.
She lowered her head and looked at the red marks across her palm. She rubbed it and blew on it.
Pei Jin watched her movements without saying anything.
Fussy.
On their way back, the vegetable vendors had just started setting up their stalls.
One stall stood beside another, with plastic sheets spread across the ground and fresh vegetables piled on top. There were greens, radishes, cucumbers, and tomatoes, all glistening with water droplets.
Bai Tao stopped in front of one of the stalls.
An auntie was squatting on the ground with a plastic basket full of young greens in front of her. Their leaves were a vibrant green, and dirt still clung to the roots. They had obviously just been pulled from the ground.
Bai Tao squatted down and slowly picked one up to examine it.
There was a tiny hole from an insect in one of the leaves.
She stared at it for a moment before the corners of her lips curved slightly upward.
“One yuan a jin, pretty girl. Buy some.”
The auntie’s voice carried a strong local accent, and she looked at Bai Tao with a broad smile.
One yuan a jin.
So cheap.
The exact same vegetables, once washed, trimmed, packed into containers, covered with plastic wrap, and labeled organic, would cost ten yuan in a high-end supermarket.
Ten times the price for exactly the same vegetables.
Bai Tao remained squatting and looked back at Pei Jin.
Seeing how tired she looked from craning her neck upward, Pei Jin bent down.
“What is it?”
“Let’s buy some vegetables and cook at home, Pei Jin.”
They could not keep ordering takeout. Neither of them had any income right now, and even the cheapest takeout meal would cost at least fifty yuan.
Pei Jin looked troubled.
“I don’t know how to cook.”
“That’s okay.”
Bai Tao smiled, her eyes curving.
“I don’t know how either. We can learn from the phone.”
Pei Jin looked at her smile.
“Okay.”
He could not explain why, but he suddenly liked hearing Bai Tao say “we.”
The feeling of the two of them being able to rely only on each other made him feel strangely comfortable.
He took the 100-yuan bill from his pocket, held it between his fingers, and extended it toward the vegetable vendor.
The gesture startled the auntie.
Was he giving her a tip?
The red bill waved in front of her, but she did not even take it. She hurriedly waved both hands and recoiled as though she had been burned.
“That’s too big! I can’t give you change, young man!”
She was just a vegetable vendor. She spread a plastic basket on the ground, sat on a small stool, and made only around a hundred yuan in sales a day.
These days, everyone pays by phone. On the rare occasions when someone needed change, it was usually only ten or eight yuan.
The loose change in her pocket probably could not even add up to a hundred yuan.
Bai Tao had bought one and a half jin of greens for 1.5 yuan.
And this young man had suddenly pulled out a 100-yuan bill.
One hundred yuan for 1.5 yuan worth of vegetables.
The auntie had lived for most of her life, but this was the first time she had encountered something like this.
Bai Tao was still squatting there when she saw the 100-yuan bill extending from above her head.
She was startled too.
The fingers holding it were long and distinct, with faint veins visible beneath the skin. A red bill was pinched between his fingertips.
She quickly grabbed Pei Jin’s wrist.
“Oh, Pei Jin!”
Bai Tao lowered her voice, but there was an exasperated urgency in her tone.
“It’s only 1.5 yuan!”
Pei Jin looked at her in confusion, his brows drawing together slightly.
“I know.”
“What’s wrong?”
Bai Tao stared at his handsome face, which looked completely innocent and bewildered, as though he had no idea what he had done.
She fell silent for a second.
Forget it.
She had forgotten that Pei Jin was hopeless at everyday life.
He simply did not know that people used small bills and coins at vegetable markets.
He only knew that money could buy things. To him, pulling out a 100-yuan bill was no different from pulling out 1.5 yuan.
It was all money.
“It’s fine.”
Bai Tao released his wrist, her tone like she was coaxing a child who did not quite understand.
“Put it away. I’ll scan the code and pay.”
Pei Jin obediently put the money back into his pocket.
The auntie breathed a sigh of relief and took out a plastic sign with a QR code from a small basket nearby, holding it out to Bai Tao.
Bai Tao scanned the code and pressed her fingerprint.
Payment successful.
“Done.”
Bai Tao stood up.
The auntie handed over the plastic bag of greens, and Pei Jin immediately reached out to take it.
Bai Tao glanced at him and silently nodded in approval.
He could still be taught.
The two continued walking back.
The plastic bag swung gently in Pei Jin’s hand, and the leaves of the greens brushed against his trouser leg, leaving a faint water stain.
Bai Tao walked ahead, her steps much lighter now. The hem of her dress brushed against her calves again and again, like a blooming lotus.
Pei Jin looked down at the plastic bag in his hand, then raised his eyes to Bai Tao’s back.
The corners of his lips lifted slightly without him realizing it.
Bai Tao and Pei Jin returned to the basement and entered one after another.
Bai Tao changed into her slippers and curled up on the sofa. She placed the breakfast on the coffee table and scrolled through her phone while biting into a steamed bun.
The soy milk was still hot. She took a sip and narrowed her eyes from the heat, but she could not bear to put it down.
Pei Jin sat on the stool with his back against the large floral cloth and silently finished his portion.
He ate quickly, but never hurried. His lips remained tightly closed as he chewed, and he made no sound at all.
Bai Tao bit into her steamed bun, her fingers scrolling across the screen.
She had majored in fine arts.
When she took the college entrance examination, she had been admitted to an art academy with good grades.
Although the Bai Family had raised her with the intention of eventually using her as a tool for a marriage alliance, she had taken all four years of her professional courses seriously.
She remembered the girl who had slept in the lower bunk during college.
The girl rarely spoke. She wore round glasses and was quiet and unobtrusive.
But she was extremely talented at digital drawing. She took commissions online, drawing fan art and cute chibi characters. She could sell one drawing for two or three hundred yuan.
At the time, Bai Tao had found it strange.
Two or three hundred yuan for a drawing that took one or two days? She might as well work part-time at a milk tea shop.
But now she understood.
Bai Tao opened a social media platform and browsed through posts in the fan-art community for a while. She also looked through the accounts of several highly popular artists.
She gradually formed an idea.
She would start an account and draw things she liked, posting them simultaneously across multiple platforms, including DaYan and XiaoShu.
She had plenty of time now anyway.
If her drawings became good enough, she could slowly start taking commissions.
As she received more commissions, she could gradually raise her prices.
And if she kept raising her prices, then eventually she could…
She still had no idea what would happen after that.
But it was better than doing nothing.
Bai Tao put down her phone and looked up, intending to say something to Pei Jin.
Then she realized he had already finished eating.
He sat on the stool with his head slightly lowered, his gaze fixed on the floor.
She had no idea what he was thinking.
He did not move at all, sitting so quietly that he looked like a painting.
Bai Tao stared at him for two seconds and suddenly felt a little sad.
He must be really bored.
He had no phone, no computer, no books, and nothing to pass the time.
The basement was so small that even turning around was difficult. There was nowhere for him to go for a walk.
So he could only sit there.
Bai Tao stood up and walked over to the suitcase.
She crouched down, opened the zipper, and rummaged through the pile of clothes for a long time before finally pulling the tablet out from the very bottom.
It was a pink iPad.
Bai Tao wiped the screen with her hand, unlocked it, logged out of her WeChat account, then walked over to Pei Jin and held it out.
“Are you too bored?”
She stuffed the tablet into his hands.
“Play with my tablet for now. But don’t look through my photo album.”
Pei Jin froze for a moment and lowered his eyes to the pink tablet in his hands.
The screen was lit.
The wallpaper was a drawing she had made herself. It showed a chibi version of herself lying on a pile of paint tubes with her legs crossed. A little cat tail stuck up high behind her.
The entire interface was almost excessively cute.
“Thank you.”
Pei Jin spoke softly.
Bai Tao curled back into the sofa and was just about to pick up the half-eaten steamed bun when…
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door from outside.
The sound was not loud, but it was especially clear in the quiet basement.
Bai Tao and Pei Jin looked toward the iron door at the same time.
“Who is it?”
Bai Tao still had the last bite of steamed bun in her mouth, so her voice came out muffled.
Pei Jin was closer to the door and had already stood up.
He walked over but did not open it immediately.
Bai Tao was puzzled too.
Could it be the neighbor across the hall?
“Sis Tao, it’s me, Wang Jianguo.”
Bai Tao’s eyes lit up as soon as she heard the voice.
She put down the half-eaten steamed bun, stood up from the sofa, swallowed what was in her mouth, and said,
“Coming, coming. Open the door, Pei Jin. He’s a friend.”
Pei Jin turned the lock and pulled open the iron door.
A blond man stood outside.
He was wearing an extremely tight-fitting shirt with a pair of black, tight five-quarter pants. Gray clogs were on his feet, and a thick gold chain hung around his neck, swinging beneath the dim hallway light.
One look was enough to tell that it was fake.
Wang Jianguo thought Bai Tao would be the one opening the door, and he had already prepared a bright smile.
The door opened.
The smile froze on his face.
The person standing in the doorway was a full head taller than him.
A white undershirt hung loosely over his body, but the outline of his shoulders could still be faintly seen beneath the fabric.
Wang Jianguo’s gaze instinctively lingered there.
He slowly raised his head and met a pair of black eyes devoid of warmth.
Pei Jin pulled open the door and looked down at the blond man in front of him.
Both of them were startled by the other.
Wang Jianguo’s first thought was that he had gone to the wrong door.
But he had clearly heard Bai Tao’s voice coming from inside.
He glanced at the door number again.
It was the right one.
“Sis Tao, does she live here?”
Wang Jianguo’s voice was half a pitch softer than before, carrying a cautious uncertainty.
“Here, here.”
Bai Tao poked her head through the gap behind Pei Jin.
She introduced them.
“This is my friend. His things were robbed.”
Then she followed Wang Jianguo’s stunned expression upward and quickly reached out to pat Pei Jin on the arm.
“This is Brother Wang, the agent who helped me find this place. Don’t look so fierce.”
Pei Jin glanced at Wang Jianguo expressionlessly.
A quiet “Mm” came from his throat.
So he was an agent.
Pei Jin had thought Bai Tao had lost her mind.
Wang Jianguo pushed a suitcase forward from behind him.
There were several fresh scratches across its surface. Dried mud clung to the wheels, but overall, it was still in decent condition.
“Here’s the suitcase,” Wang Jianguo said.
“But the phone those guys said they already smashed it. They found someone who collects old phones and traded it for two stainless-steel basins.”
As he spoke, Wang Jianguo somehow produced two stainless-steel basins, one large and one small, stacked them together, and shoved them into Bai Tao’s hands.
Bai Tao held the two basins and stared down at them for two seconds.
Their surfaces were bright enough to reflect her blurry face.
Her reflection was distorted, stretched wide and flat like something in a funhouse mirror.
“Ah… okay.”
Bai Tao adjusted the two basins and hugged them against her chest.
“Thank you, Brother Wang. Do you want to come in and sit for a while? Who were those people? My friend and I want to report them to the police.”
Wang Jianguo glanced at Pei Jin.
Pei Jin stood in the doorway with one hand resting against the doorframe, practically blocking the entire entrance.
He did not look at Wang Jianguo. His expression was indifferent, and it was obvious that he did not welcome Wang Jianguo inside.
Wang Jianguo wisely waved his hand.
“I’ve got something to do later, so I won’t come in.”
He spoke much faster than usual, as though looking for an excuse.
“I’ve delivered your things. Those guys are used to petty theft. At least they returned the stuff. Don’t bother with them.”
Bai Tao opened her mouth, wanting to ask more, but Wang Jianguo had already taken a step back.
“Besides, it was my big brother who went to get the stuff back. I don’t even know which guys they were.”
Wang Jianguo slipped his hands into the pockets of his tight pants and slightly hunched his shoulders.
“Don’t ask anymore. I’ll get going.”
Then, as though afraid Bai Tao might ask him anything else, he turned around and left.
Bai Tao stood in the doorway, holding the two stainless-steel basins as she watched Wang Jianguo disappear.
She stood there for two seconds.
“This guy.”
She lowered her head and looked at her reflection in the basin.
Pei Jin said nothing.
Bai Tao did not think much of it either. She nudged Pei Jin with her shoulder, signaling for him to bring the suitcase inside.
Pei Jin nodded, bent down, gripped the suitcase handle with one hand, and lifted it effortlessly over the threshold.