After being kicked out of the wealthy family along with her yandere childhood friend

Bai Tao pressed the switch on the air conditioner fan.

The white, cylindrical machine emitted a low, very soft hum.

A few seconds later, a cool breeze rushed out from the row of round air vents, filling the entire room.

The temperature in the basement dropped quickly.

The sticky heat seeping from under the skin gradually dissipated, the air became dry and cool, and breathing became much easier.

Bai Tao nestled on the sofa, pulling the thin blanket up to her chin, revealing only her face and two feet.

Her toes curled up and then relaxed, making her squint her eyes in comfort.

The most comfortable temperature.

The temperature was just right—neither too hot nor too cold—enough for her to wrap herself in a blanket, daydream, play on her phone, and not want to do anything.

Bai Tao suddenly remembered something. She knocked on the bathroom door, her knuckles tapping on the thin wooden door, making a crisp, somewhat hollow sound.

The sound of water inside stopped, and after a moment of silence, Pei Jin's voice came through the door, sounding somewhat hoarse.

"What's wrong?"

"I put a watermelon in the bucket in the corner."

Bai Tao's voice carried a hint of excitement, "Shall we eat in a bit?"

Pei Jin turned his head, and sure enough, there was a white plastic bucket in the far corner.

It was covered with a pink plastic basin, upside down, like a small, round hat.

He replied "okay," then quickly rinsed his hands, dried them with a towel, walked over, and removed the pink basin from the top.

Pei Jin put his hand into the bucket of water, his fingertips touching the smooth, cool rind of the watermelon.

He reached his hand deeper and touched the surface of the watermelon. The water was a little cool, not icy, but in this basement without a refrigerator, it was already a pleasant surprise.

His fingers paused in the water for a moment, and a slight thought crossed his mind.

Bai Tao is quite clever; she even thought of this method of cooling down the food.

Pei Jin straightened up and pulled out the hair dryer that Bai Tao had bought from under the sink.

The plug cord was a bit short. He pressed the switch, and a buzzing sound echoed in the small bathroom. After blowing for about two or three minutes, his hair was still wet, just like before he blew it.

He held the hairdryer to his ear to listen, then looked at the back cover. It wasn't broken; it just wasn't working very well.

Pei Jin silently put the hair dryer back in its original position, wound up the cord, and placed it on the shelf under the sink.

No wonder Bai Tao's hair is always wet after taking a shower, hanging loosely on her shoulders, with water droplets dripping down her hair and soaking a small patch of her nightgown's shoulder.

Pei Jin turned around, walked to the bucket, bent down and took out the watermelon.

The watermelon wasn't big, but it was round and plump. Freshly pulled from the water, it carried a cool, refreshing mist, and felt pleasantly cool to hold.

Pei Jin truly felt the temperature difference as he walked from the restroom to the coffee table.

The toilet was still stuffy, damp, and hot, while it felt like a different season here.

The temperature in the basement has dropped quite a bit. The past few nights I'd been feeling stuffy and uncomfortable, tossing and turning all night.

It's too hot to cover myself with a blanket, but it feels damp without one. Now it's even better; I feel a bit cool standing here, and I have goosebumps on my arms.

He put the watermelon on the coffee table, then turned and went to the kitchen to get a fruit knife.

Bai Tao nestled on the sofa, wrapped in a thin blanket, with only her face showing, her eyes sparkling as she stared at the watermelon in his hand.

"Eating watermelon? Should we cut it in half or into several pieces?"

Bai Tao looked up at him, without even thinking.

"Let's cut it in half, I want to eat it with a spoon."

"it is good."

Pei Jin lowered his wrist, and the blade sliced ​​into the watermelon rind with a crisp sound, and the watermelon split open.

Juice seeped from the cut, dripping down the melon rind and leaving a small, shallow puddle on the coffee table that Bai Tao had just wiped that afternoon.

Pei Jin inserted the spoon into the center of half a watermelon and handed it to Bai Tao.

When Bai Tao took the watermelon, her finger accidentally touched Pei Jin's fingertip, and both of their hands paused for a moment.

Bai Tao casually withdrew her hand and hugged the half of the cold watermelon. Pei Jin also casually withdrew his hand, picked up the remaining half of the watermelon, and sat down on the stool.

Bai Tao was wrapped in a thin blanket, sitting cross-legged. She scooped up a big mouthful of watermelon with a spoon and stuffed it into her mouth. The juice exploded in her mouth, and the sweetness made her squint her eyes.

The tablet was playing a variety show, I don't know which episode it was, but several celebrities were laughing together in front of the camera, and Bai Tao would occasionally laugh out loud.

Pei Jin turned the phone to silent mode and watched all the videos of Bai Jiazhen that he could find online.

He scrolled through about a dozen results with a blank expression, then tried searching for Pei, but couldn't find anything.

The surname Pei is not very common, but if the fact that the Pei family's young master is fake is exposed, there should be some sporadic discussion.

No.

It's all clean and tidy; it seems they haven't found the real one yet.

Pei Jin stared at the blank search results for two seconds, then glanced at the time in the upper right corner; it was only eight o'clock.

Summer nights are long, seemingly endless.

Back when he lived with the Pei family, he would probably still be doing experiments, running in the gym, playing golf, enjoying the breeze on a yacht, or stargazing in the snow-capped mountains at eight o'clock.

He's sitting on a stool now, next to Bai Tao, who's wrapped in a blanket and eating watermelon, with a noisy variety show playing on his tablet.

He was very idle, so idle that he was a little anxious, but this anxiety was different from the one he had felt before.

Bai Tao, with her legs crossed, lay lazily on the sofa. She scooped out a spoonful of watermelon, put it in her mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and noticed that Pei Jin wasn't looking at his phone or anything else; he was just sitting there quietly.

Bai Tao felt a little embarrassed.

The two of them sat there in the basement, the air conditioner fan humming, having eaten half a watermelon.

The variety show automatically skipped to the next episode. When the opening theme music started, she didn't watch it. Her eyes were fixed on the screen, but her mind was on other things.

She thought for a moment, but had nothing to say. She thought again, but still had nothing to say. However, she didn't want things to stay quiet like this; the silence made her feel uneasy.

Do you watch variety shows?

Bai Tao spoke casually, but she was actually quite nervous. Pei Jin didn't seem like the type of person who would watch variety shows.

He probably thinks variety shows are one of the most meaningless things in the world.

Pei Jin glanced at her.

Bai Tao's tablet rested on its stand, displaying several celebrities playing games on the screen, laughing uproariously amidst colorful graphics and exaggerated sound effects.

He had never watched a single episode of a variety show before. The Pei family's television was always on the financial channel, occasionally switching to news or interviews with a few uncles and elders.

"Okay," Pei Jin said.

He moved the stool closer to Bai Tao, and Bai Tao tilted the tablet so that Pei Jin could also see it, but this angle wasn't good for either of them.

Pei Jin had to tilt his body to the side to see the screen, his body leaning to the right at an uncomfortable angle.

Bai Tao saw it and tilted the tablet further towards him, making the angle even more crooked, so now she had to crane her neck to see it.

The two of them stared at each other for a few minutes, neither of them feeling comfortable.

Bai Tao straightened the tablet and looked down at the sofa where she was sitting.

She lifted a corner of the sofa cushion, pulling up the thin fabric to reveal the gray-blue sofa cover underneath. She patted the spot next to her.

"Please come up and sit down."

Pei Jin is a very sensible person. Ever since he moved into this small basement with her, while she slept on the sofa, Pei Jin has never sat on the sofa.

Pei Jin was stunned when he saw her lift the cushion.

Pei Jin glanced at her.

Bai Tao was already leaning against the other end of the sofa, her knees bent, her feet on the sofa cushions, a thin blanket covering her waist, one hand holding a spoon, and the other holding a watermelon.

He didn't make a fuss, stood up, and then sat down next to Bai Tao in a very natural and generous manner.

When Bai Tao sat down, she didn't realize how small the sofa was.

She could curl up on it by herself and still have room to stretch out her legs and arms.

Now that Pei Jin has sat down, it suddenly feels a bit cramped.

His thigh pressed against Bai Tao's thigh, through the thin fabric of her nightgown and Pei Jin's pants, two waves of heat emanated from the point of contact, spreading along their skin in different directions.

The temperature in the basement was very low; even with a thin blanket, it didn't feel hot. However, the area where the two of them were close together was hot, excessively hot, causing Bai Tao's heart to beat a few beats faster than usual.

Bai Tao felt a little uneasy.

He clenched his right hand between his fingers, out of Pei Jin's sight, his nails digging into his palm, leaving a shallow crescent-shaped mark.

She remained outwardly calm, her eyes still fixed on the tablet screen, occasionally chuckling at a joke in a variety show. But her right fingertips betrayed her; they were trembling, a very slight tremor that was barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

Finally, a variety show ended.

As the end credits rolled, Bai Tao shifted her stiff body. She had been in the same position the whole time, her shoulders tense and her legs trembling.

She took the tablet off the stand and held it in her hand with such speed that it looked like she was running away.

"It's over, it's over~"

Bai Tao's voice was half a tone higher than usual, with an upward cadence at the end, carrying a sense of relief and lightness.

She hugged the tablet to her chest, not looking at Pei Jin, but looking down as if she were looking at something else.

"Um."

Pei Jin didn't move, but picked up his phone, sat on the sofa, and started playing on it.

Bai Tao was just about to collapse into a couch potato pose when suddenly, what the hell is going on? Why isn't he leaving yet?

Bai Tao cursed inwardly, but sat up straight again without showing any emotion.

She was holding a tablet, leaning against the other end of the sofa, about a fist's distance from Pei Jin.

After all, he would be a future pillar of support, so Bai Tao chose to grit her teeth and bear it.

She can't let a little discomfort push away a future of 100 million; that's not worth it, that's far too much of a loss.

The basement lights were dim and yellowish, shining down from a light bulb with exposed wires in the center of the ceiling. The light was gently stirred by the air from the air conditioner fan, casting swaying shadows on the floor.

Bai Tao sat cross-legged, yawned, and began to nod her head.

Pei Jin smiled, then stood up gently. He bent down, straightened the sofa cushions that Bai Tao had lifted, smoothed out the wrinkles, and then took the pillows from the other end of the sofa, placed them on the cushions, and adjusted their positions.

"Go to sleep," Pei Jin said softly. "I'll get up to cook tomorrow morning, which might wake you up."

Bai Tao waved her hand half-asleep, her movements limp and weak.

"It's okay."

Her voice was muffled, like she had a piece of candy in her mouth, "I don't have morning grumpiness."

"it is good."

Pei Jin turned off the light, lay down on the wooden bed, turned over, and faced the floral fabric.

The breathing on the other side of the floral fabric gradually became long and even. He listened to that very faint sound and closed his eyes.

When Pei Jin woke up, the alarm clock hadn't gone off yet.

He opened his eyes, stared at the ceiling for two seconds, then resignedly closed them for a moment and looked up at his pants.

The dark gray pajama pants clung to his body rather awkwardly, with some areas showing deeper wrinkles than others.

Pei Jin sat up expressionlessly, quickly pulled a new one from the suitcase by the bedside, as if afraid of being seen.

He quietly lifted a corner of the floral fabric, turned sideways and went out. On the sofa on the other side of the fabric, Bai Tao was still sleeping.

This time, she covered her face with a blanket, wrapping herself up completely. The blanket was light pink, and she tucked all four corners under her body without a single gap, not even her hair was showing.

Pei Jin glanced at it for two seconds, put down the floral cloth, and tiptoed into the restroom.

He placed the pants he had taken off in the sink, turned on the tap, and turned the water down to the lowest setting, a thin stream slowly soaking through the pants without making a sound.

He rubbed the laundry detergent into the fabric and scrubbed it vigorously, as if that would take something away. Foam overflowed from between his fingers, carrying a sweet and cloying fragrance.

After washing and wringing them out, I took a clothes hanger from the cabinet under the sink, propped up the pants, and hung them on the rope behind the toilet door.

Water dripped down and landed on the ground, leaving several dark dots.

Pei Jin glanced at it, bent down to wipe the water off the floor, and then threw the wet tissue into the trash can in one swift motion.

He turned off his phone alarm.

Pei Jin had been as careful as possible, making every movement as quiet as possible, and he minimized the sound of the knife hitting the cutting board. But Bai Tao was still woken up.

Bai Tao pulled the blanket off her face. Before she could even open her eyes, her eyelids felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and her eyelashes were stuck together. She blinked several times before she could barely separate them into a slit.

Her voice was muffled, every word shrouded in sleepiness, "What time is it, Pei Jin?"

Why does she feel so sleepy?

Pei Jin glanced at his phone. "5:50."

After listening, Bai Tao took a deep breath and then slowly and slowly exhaled.

That tone contained so many complex emotions: helplessness, resignation, and a little bit of genuine gratitude.

5:50.

She had never woken up this early in her life.

Bai Tao pulled the blanket back up to cover her face, then leaned against the back of the sofa, sinking into it and falling back asleep.

The aroma of the porridge quickly filled the entire room.

Bai Tao pulled back the blanket, rubbed her hair, making it even more messy.

She closed her eyes, sniffed the air a few times, and said, "It smells so good."

Bai Tao's voice was still hoarse from just waking up, but the satisfaction in her tone had already overshadowed her sleepiness.

Pei Jin paused for a moment, his hand holding the spoon still.

He stood in front of the stove, his back to Bai Tao, so Bai Tao couldn't see his expression.

His hand paused in mid-air for a moment, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile—a feeling that welled up from the depths of his heart and that he himself could not suppress.

How to describe it?

It felt great.