In the evening, He Yingtong called Jiang Wan to ask how she was feeling.
Jiang Wan replied simply, “Pretty good.”
“Really?” He Yingtong sounded confused. “According to that client, his friend is quite peculiar. He’s gone through four or five housekeepers in a month — not because he has a bad temper, but just… strange. I don’t know the specifics, but he’s not a bad person. He won’t be violent or do anything inappropriate to you.”
“I know,” Jiang Wan thought to herself. She had already seen it firsthand.
“Jiang Wan,” He Yingtong said sincerely, “If anything happens in the future, you can still come to me. I consider you a friend.”
“Thank you.”
After hanging up, Jiang Wan went to the washing machine, took out the freshly washed bedsheets, and walked to the balcony to hang them up.
On her way through the living room, she suddenly stopped.
The sky was dark, and the living room lights were off — a pitch-black space.
In the midst of this darkness, the refrigerator door was open, casting a cold, white light. The glow fell entirely on a man sitting on the floor. He faced the fridge, long legs bent, head lowered, playing chess on the floor.
Jiang Wan kept her eyes straight ahead as she passed by. She reached the balcony, hung the bedsheets, gave them a shake, and hung them to dry.
On her way back, she couldn’t help but glance at him.
His hair was long, held back by a headband, exposing a smooth, prominent forehead. The subtle under-eye bags were even more visible under the fridge’s icy light.
His gaze was lowered, focused intently on the chess pieces in front of him.
His hand — the one reaching out — was long and slender, clean, with pale skin and clearly visible veins.
He Yingtong had mentioned that he was a retired professional e-sports player. Jiang Wan had assumed his hands would be rough and worn from overuse — but to her surprise, they were the opposite.
Beautiful and delicate.
Jiang Wan didn’t disturb him. She quietly returned to her room and started her livestream.
She did ASMR streams — never showing her face, only her voice.
One of her former cellmates did singing and dancing livestreams and supposedly made a lot of money. Jiang Wan had asked her for advice and spent a long time reading books in the prison library. When she was finally released, the first thing she did was save up for a computer and recording equipment.
She wanted to make money — a lot of money.
That way… her parents wouldn’t have to push her into taking the fall for someone else again.
She had spent nine years of her life in prison. By the time she got out, the world felt like a blur — she could barely remember what day it was, almost forgetting how old she was.
She went in at nineteen — the age for college. While people her age were on campus, living the prime of their youth, she was in prison. On her birthdays, all she could do was look up at the pitch-black sky and silently make a wish.
To get out.
To celebrate her birthday properly.
To buy a big cake — a three-tiered one, if possible.
In those nine years, her family never visited her once. Jiang Wan’s heart grew cold. After her release, she didn’t go to see her parents either.
She had no money. She did daily-wage jobs after getting out, working day and night. It took her nearly a month to save up enough for rent, but every landlord wanted a deposit too. She searched for a long time until she finally met He Yingtong.
That was the first time she felt grateful there were still good people in the world.
He Yingtong helped her a lot — taught her how to use a computer, how to dress up, and even gave her some of her own beautiful clothes. She lowered Jiang Wan’s rent and often took her out for meals.
When Jiang Wan earned her first payment from streaming, she bought an expensive bottle of perfume as a thank-you gift for He Yingtong.
She thought they could stay friends forever — live together for a long time.
She even secretly started saving money, planning to give He Yingtong and Wei Jiyuan a big red envelope when they got married.
But life didn’t go as planned.
Jiang Wan put on her headphones, started her livestream, and typed on the screen:
[Welcome, everyone! The livestream countdown begins — 30, 29, 28…]
Sansukini: My fave ASMR are the Soap Cutting ones. I just love the crunchy sound when the soaps are being cut. It’s very satisfying.