After the breakup, I was taken in by a group of trendy young women.

"It hurts," she said, uttering a single word.

Then, after thinking for a moment, he added another sentence.

"Be gentle."

She stared straight at Lin Ye.

"As I said before."

He paused for a moment.

"We'll talk about Zao Fu's matter another day."

Women's eyesight.

"Right?"

"right."

After she finished speaking, she reached for the bedside lamp cord and pulled it. The light went out.

Lin Ye saw her take something out from under the pillow and put it in his hand.

It is a condom.

"Bought at the supermarket."

Her voice was very close, right next to his ear.

"Last time they got together for full-sleeve tattoos, they each bought one. None of them had boyfriends, so they just bought them for fun."

Lin Ye held the small cube in his hand, the aluminum foil packaging making a soft rustling sound between his fingers.

"Why are you keeping it?"

She leaned closer, the warmth of her skin emanating through the air.

"Waiting for a good person."

She said. The floral quilt had long since slipped to the floor.

She opened her eyes.

"you."

She spoke.

"What did you just say, 'We'll talk about it later'?"

His chest heaved.

"day."

She emphasized the word, confirming its dual meaning.

"back."

The second word was softer, as if he had finally figured something out.

"Is this the one after?"

Lin Ye watched her struggle to finish her sentence and found it both funny and a little pitiful.

"It's this one after."

He lowered his head and kissed her lips, which were about to say something.

The bitter taste of beer and her own unique sweetness lingered on her lips.

The springs of the single bed are still creaking.

The two figures on the wall kept changing shape, going from separate to overlapping and back again.

Lin Ye lowered his head and pressed his lips to her ear.

Bai Xiaojing.

He called her name again.

"pain."

she says.

The springs of the single bed finally quieted down.

Only the rapid breathing of the two people remained in the room, along with the vibrations of a subwoofer coming from some building outside the window.

Bai Xiaojing lay on the single bed, the floral quilt pulled up by Lin Ye to cover both of them.

She turned to the side, curled up in his arms, her head resting against his chin, her wet hair brushing against his neck.

Her breathing hadn't completely calmed down yet; her chest rose and fell, each rise and fall pressing against Lin Ye's arm.

The two remained silent for a long time.

Bai Xiaojing spoke, her voice muffled against his chest.

"elder brother."

"Um."

She raised her hand and drew circles on his collarbone, making two circles before stopping.

"Do you remember when I told you that the six of us stood in front of the bubble tea shop for twenty minutes, just a dollar and a half short of buying a cup of lemonade?"

"Remember."

She looked up.

Sweat soaked her blond hair, which clung to her forehead in strands.

Her face was flushed, her lips were red, and her eyes were glistening with tears.

she says.

"There's a hotel across from the bubble tea shop; a room for three hours costs sixty yuan."

She paused for a moment after saying this.

Then continue.

"We stood at the door for twenty minutes. The tattooed man said, 'Let's go in.' The man with the tattooed legs said, 'Okay.' The green-haired and pink-haired men didn't say anything, and the man with bangs was holding the cat without looking up."

My last words were, "Let's go."

She buried her face back into Lin Ye's chest.

I said, we're not at that point yet.

"That hotel looked filthy from the outside. The curtains were always drawn, and there was a man in slippers smoking at the door who looked at people like he was appraising their prices."

Her voice grew softer and softer.

"I think, if I were to sell..."

"And don't sell it so cheaply."

The room fell silent.

Lin Ye did not speak.

His hand moved up from her back and pressed against the back of her head, his fingers running through her sweat-dampened hair.

"Bai Xiaojing." He called the name again.

"This afternoon."

"When I was squatting on the curb smoking."

Bai Xiaojing lifted her head from his chest and looked at him.

"My lease was due, my ex-girlfriend ran away, and she took everything I had saved up over three years."

He smiled.

"At that moment, I thought, maybe I should just die."

Bai Xiaojing's hand moved up from his chest and touched his face. Her fingers explored his face, touching his eyebrows, eye sockets, bridge of his nose, and lips.

Lin Ye took her hand, brought it to his lips, and pressed his lips against her fingertips.

"I'm going with you."

Bai Xiaojing moved her finger on his lips, then withdrew it and buried it back into his chest.

The two fell silent again.

The single bed was very narrow, so narrow that there was no extra space.

They could only stick together, and as they stuck together, they couldn't tell which was her and which was him.

"elder brother."

"Um."

"that."

She hesitated for a long time before speaking.

"How were you feeling just now?"

Lin Ye was stunned for a moment.

"What, how is it?"

"Well... that."

She buried her face even closer to his chest.

"I...I have no experience, I'm afraid you won't have a good experience."

"Good."

He said.

"real?"

She suddenly raised her head.

"It's better than pretty good."

Lin Ye said.

Bai Xiaojing reached under her pillow, pulled out her phone, and glanced at it.

The screen showed 2:17 a.m.

She tossed her phone aside and huddled back into Lin Ye's arms.

"elder brother."

"Um."

She drew a square shape on his chest.

"What if the landlord comes tomorrow?"

Lin Ye took her hand.

"Pay rent."

"and then?"

"Then."

He looked at the energy-saving light bulb above his head that had gone out.

"I'll find a way to make money."

"Did you make any money?"

"I made money."

He looked down into her eyes.

"To live again."

Bai Xiaojing looked into his eyes for a long time.

Then she laughed.

"elder brother."

"Um."

"What did you just do?"

Lin Ye's hand stopped on her back.

"no."

"real?"

"real."

Bai Xiaojing breathed a sigh of relief, and her whole body went limp.

"I don't have money to buy medicine."

she says.

"If we can't even afford milk tea, how can we afford medicine?"

Lin Ye tightened his grip on her.

The system is still running.

He needs more than just a few rebates; he needs the entire system.

Bai Xiaojing's breathing gradually became even and long.

She fell asleep.

I fell asleep within seconds.

She fell asleep so quickly that Lin Ye felt it might have been a very long time since this girl had had a peaceful night's sleep.

The neon lights outside the window went out sometime ago.

Instead, the sky began to lighten with the pale light of dawn on the distant horizon.

4:30 a.m.

The quietest moment in the city.

Lin Ye lay on the single bed, one arm around Bai Xiaojing, his eyes open, staring at the energy-saving light on the ceiling that had gone out.

Bai Xiaojing, nestled in his arms, turned over in her sleep, facing the wall with her back pressed against him.

Her back was narrow, and the vertebrae of her spine pressed against his chest, rising and falling with her breath through the thin floral cotton quilt.

Lin Ye rested his chin on the back of her head.

He heard that cold, electronic voice in his mind ring out again.

But he was so tired that he didn't even have the strength to open his eyes.

He held Bai Xiaojing in his arms and fell into a deep sleep.