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

Lin Ye leaned against the headboard, looking at the master bedroom filled to the brim with eight girls.

The blond-haired man lay beside him, his dark brown eyes gleaming under the bedside lamp.

She rested her chin on her crossed arms, tilted her head to look at him, and curled her lips into a mischievous smile: "Brother, you just said on the sofa that we could knock on the door, and we came, so what?"

The tattooed man sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, holding the pillow he had carried all the way in his arms, his tongue flashing between his lips.

She replied in an extremely serious tone, as if discussing some major decision: "Then go to sleep, what else can you do?"

"sleep?"

The blond-haired man sprang up from the mattress, his honey-brown hair whipping against Lin Ye's arm.

"You've got a full-sleeve tattoo and you've brought a pillow over just to sleep? Why don't you just go back to your own room and sleep there?"

"My mattress isn't as soft as my brother's."

The tattooed arm remained unfazed.

The man with the tattooed legs used a small fork to spear a piece of watermelon and handed it to Lin Ye, adding without turning his head, "Your lying skills are still terrible. You tried on eight mattresses at the mall this afternoon, and the one you finally picked was softer than mine. You think I didn't see that?"

The tattooed face blushed, and the koi carp on the tattooed arm tensed its scales.

"From now on... you'll be living here, brother?"

The blond-haired man lay on the mattress, his hands supporting his chin, his deep brown pupils sparkling in the warm yellow light of the bedside lamp.

Her silk nightgown straps slipped down a bit, revealing her slender shoulders, and the faint pink tinge from the hot water in her collarbone still lingered.

Her voice was very soft, so soft that it seemed as if she was afraid that speaking loudly would shatter this dream.

"Um."

Lin Ye leaned against the headboard and took a sip of the honey water that Shen Qing had just refilled for him.

"We'll be living here from now on...?"

The blond-haired man asked another question, this time in an even softer voice, his tone trembling slightly at the end.

What do you think?

Lin Ye placed the honey water back on the bedside table, the bottom of the cup making a very slight crisp sound as it tapped against the marble tabletop.

The blond-haired man buried his face in his crossed arms and remained silent for a long while.

He sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, his tattooed arm holding the pillow he had carried all the way in his arms. The koi fish on his tattoo gleamed with a faint blue light in the dim light.

She lowered her head, moved her tongue between her lips several times, and then spoke in an extremely rare tone, devoid of any arrogance.

"Just a few days ago, we were squatting in the living room of our shared apartment, and we couldn't even scrape together five yuan."

Her voice was a little hoarse.

"The six of us stood in front of the coffee table, and one by one we reported how much money we had left in our pockets—I reported one dollar and fifty cents, Hua Tui reported eight mao, and Qi Liu Hai reported two or three mao—"

"Sanmao".

Qi Liuhai sat on the corner of the bed, with Wangcai lying on her knees, its cat tail sweeping back and forth on the sheets.

Her voice was still soft, but she finished the sentence very quickly.

"Yes, Sanmao."

The tattooed arm hugged the pillow even tighter.

"It cost less than five yuan in total. There were six of us. At that time, I felt like I would be kicked out and have to sleep on the streets tomorrow."

Hua Tui sat at the foot of the bed, holding a small fork for scooping watermelons. The rose tattoo on her leg was strikingly red under the bedside lamp.

She didn't look at anyone, but just looked down at the rose on her lap, and spoke in a very calm tone.

"I had already searched for underpasses online. I checked which underpasses were draft-free, which underpasses weren't occupied by homeless people, and which underpasses were closest to public toilets."

Green Hair and Pink Hair huddled in the corner at the foot of the bed, their ear loops rubbing together.

Green Hair hugged his newly bought pillow, resting his chin on it, his mint green highlights sliding down from behind his ears and covering half of his face.

"Back then, we couldn't even afford milk tea. The four of us would chip in for the cheapest lemonade, and we'd still be short by 1.5 yuan."

The pink-haired girl nodded vigorously beside him, her peach-pink hair ends swaying twice.

"The owner came out and glanced at us, then we left. We ended up not buying that glass of lemonade."

Shen Qing sat to Lin Ye's left, her moon-white cotton nightgown gleaming gently under the lamplight.

She reached out and gently moved the honey water glass in front of Lin Ye slightly to the right position.

Then she spoke, her voice gentle but firm.

"The night I was kicked out by my landlord, I walked around the night market for two hours with a backpack. I thought this was the end of my life. Then I found Huang Mao, and he took me to a barbecue stall. He said—"

She paused for a moment, then smiled.

"I have no problem with it, as long as she's willing to squeeze in with us."

She imitated Lin Ye's tone quite well, about 70% of it, and then laughed at herself.

The blond-haired man lifted his face from his arms, his honey-brown hair stuck to his cheeks with tears, and a few glistening water droplets still clung to his eyelashes.

She looked at Lin Ye, her lips moved several times, and then she said something in a tone that was both crying and laughing, which she couldn't control.

"Brother, you motherfucker—you picked us up from a run-down rental and now you've crammed us into an 860-square-meter villa—how are we supposed to pay you back—?"

Lin Ye put the cigarette in his hand on the bedside table, reached out and pressed it against the back of her head, then pressed her face back into his arm.

"No need to pay it back."

He said.

Just three words.

The blond-haired girl lay in her arms, her shoulders trembling, and muffled sobs came through the fabric of her silk nightgown, hoarse, but there was a clear smile on her lips.

The tattooed man quickly wiped the corner of his eye with the corner of a pillow at the foot of the bed, flicked his tongue nail between his lips several times, and then said in an extremely deliberate tone, pretending that he hadn't cried at all, "This lousy pillow is shedding fibers and it's poking my eyes."

Hua Tui placed the small fork beside the fruit plate, stood up, walked to the French window, turned her back to everyone, and adjusted the side slit of her floral nightgown again and again. After a while, she turned back, her eyes red, but the corners of her mouth curved.

Shen Na sat at the very edge of the bed, not saying a word from beginning to end, just quietly watching the group of girls cry and laugh one after another.

Her gaze finally landed on Lin Ye—he was leaning against the headboard, legs crossed, an unlit cigarette between his fingers, his expression as calm as if nothing had happened.

But she noticed the tiny, barely suppressed curve at the corner of his mouth.

Then her eyes reddened.

The green-haired and pink-haired girls huddled together, their earrings completely rubbed together, making it impossible to tell which strand was mint green and which was peach pink.

The two of them were sniffling at the same time, and simultaneously wiping away tears with the corner of their pillows, their movements so synchronized it was as if they were looking in a mirror.

Only the bangs didn't cry.

She sat on the corner of the bed, looking down and stroking Wangcai's belly. The cat rolled over on her lap and purred.

Her bangs covered most of her face, making it impossible to see her expression.

Just then, her phone rang.