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

As she walked, the image of Pei Jin pinching her that afternoon flashed before her eyes.

The grip of that hand on her neck, the suffocating feeling of not being able to breathe, the pain of her knee hitting the gravel—Bai Tao subconsciously touched her neck, feeling that it still hurt a little when she touched it.

Pei Jin died.

You dared to bully me.

They got their comeuppance!

Thinking about this, Bai Tao suddenly felt a strange sense of pleasure from the fact that Pei Jin had been beaten up.

She couldn't even help but smirk.

Then quickly press it down.

No, no, she's going to be Pei Jin's savior, she can't be gloating like this.

The older women in the supermarket gave her a good idea.

Her sudden enthusiasm for Pei Jin would surely be met with indifference from Pei Jin, who would definitely find it strange and wouldn't give her a friendly look.

But what if she put it another way?

She said that she had actually had a crush on Pei Jin for a long time.

Then isn't it perfectly reasonable for her to want to take Pei Jin in?

Bai Tao was moved for a second by her own intelligence.

Bai Tao adjusted her expression and skipped into the pharmacy.

The pharmacist had already hung up Pei Jin's IV drip and inserted the needle. Pei Jin was covered with a blanket, with one arm exposed, medical tape on the back of his hand, and the transparent IV tube dripping down one drop at a time.

The middle-aged man came out of the consultation room, walked to the counter in front, dragged out a recliner from behind the counter, unfolded it with a whoosh, lay down, and took out his phone to start watching short videos.

Bai Tao greeted the uncle and then went into the small ward.

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Pei Jin lay on the hospital bed, the blanket covering his chest, his exposed shoulder glowing white. His face was turned to one side, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he felt uncomfortable even in his unconscious state. The dry, cracked skin on his lips peeled up, his breathing was heavy and slow, his chest rising and falling gently with each breath.

Bai Tao's gaze fell on his exposed arm.

Very white.

So white you could vaguely see the bluish veins beneath the skin. The muscles in his arms were beautifully defined, not the exaggeratedly large muscles you see in a gym, but rather a lean, powerful physique that seemed to come from within.

Bai Tao swallowed.

Then her gaze involuntarily drifted downwards.

The shape of the quilt's bulge.

Bai Tao abruptly looked away, her ears turning a deep red that looked like they could bleed.

There was nothing hanging under the blanket.

Around 11 o'clock, the uncle peeked in to check on Pei Jin's IV drip, then looked at Bai Tao, and instructed, "There are still two more IV drips to finish. Keep an eye on it, and call me when they're done. Don't fall asleep."

Bai Tao nodded obediently: "Okay."

The man then pointed to another empty hospital bed in the room and explained:

"It's not that I don't want you to sleep in that bed. Before there were any patients, family members were allowed to sleep there. But then some bastard reported us, saying the beds weren't clean. From then on, no one was allowed to lie in them."

Bai Tao quickly waved her hand: "It's okay, it's okay, I'll just sit on the bench."

The middle-aged man nodded, yawned, and went back to the recliner in front to watch videos.

Bai Tao dragged a small stool and sat down by Pei Jin's bedside.

She took out her phone, turned on the alarm, and set it to go off every twenty minutes. Even if she accidentally fell asleep, the alarm would wake her up.

Then she propped her elbows on the edge of Pei Jin's bed, rested her chin on her arm, and stared at the IV drip.

One drop, two drops, three drops.

The room was quiet; Pei Jin's breathing could be heard. Bai Tao stared at the IV drip for ten minutes before her eyelids began to droop.

The alarm clock rang again and again, and Bai Tao kept fluctuating between being fully awake and half-awake.

At one o'clock in the morning, the second IV drip was finally finished. Bai Tao ran to the front and called the uncle to change the bottle. The uncle quickly changed it into the third one, yawning as he went back.

Three o'clock in the morning.

The last IV drip was finally finished.

The uncle came over, removed the needle, and took Pei Jin's temperature again. He nodded and said, "The fever has subsided a bit. Take it again tomorrow morning."

Bai Tao was finally relieved.

She took off her coat, folded it, and placed it under her arm before leaning down next to Pei Jin's hand. Resting her head on her arm, with her face turned to the side, she could see Pei Jin's hand receiving the IV drip.

There is a small bruise on the back of my hand, which is a mark left by a needle.

Her slender fingers were slightly curled, with distinct knuckles and neatly trimmed nails. This same hand, which had choked her neck that afternoon, now rested quietly on the edge of the bed.

Bai Tao looked for two seconds, then finally couldn't hold on any longer. She closed her eyes, leaned against his hand, and fell into a deep sleep.

Only the breathing of the two people remained in the room, rising and falling, sometimes in sync, sometimes overlapping.

The rain outside the window had stopped completely sometime ago, with only a few drops occasionally falling from the eaves and hitting the puddles with a soft sound.

Bai Tao was woken up by the sound of the uncle stretching.

She struggled to open her eyes, her eyelids feeling as heavy as lead. She groggily reached for her phone, turned on the screen, and the glaring light made her squint.

6: 00.

She blinked, then unconsciously swiped to her WeChat contact list. No red dots. No unread messages. No one from the Bai family had messaged her.

Exactly the same as in my previous life.

Bai Tao stared at the empty chat interface for two seconds, then placed her phone face down on the bed.

Around 6:30, elderly people had already started lining up in front of the pharmacy. They brought their own stools and chatted in small groups.

"Uncle, I'm going out to buy some breakfast," Bai Tao greeted the uncle. "Could you keep an eye on him for me after he wakes up?"

A small truck was parked in front of the pharmacy, and someone was unloading eggs one basket at a time. The pharmacy owner stood at the door with his hands behind his back.

"Uncle, are you organizing an event?" Bai Tao asked, leaning closer.

The middle-aged man turned around and glanced at her, smiling broadly: "That's right, you get free eggs when you come here for a check-up."

Is it free?

The middle-aged man gave her an amused look: "How could that be? Of course you have to spend money."

Bai Tao nodded, "Okay." She wouldn't accept anything that cost money, but she'd consider anything that was free.

The middle-aged man was too busy to even look up, and waved his hand, saying, "Go on, go on."

Bai Tao doesn't like greasy food in the morning, so after thinking about it, she bought herself and Pei Jin each a cup of soy milk and a bowl of millet porridge. The soy milk was freshly ground and served in an opaque plastic cup, which was piping hot to the touch.

The millet porridge was served in a takeout bowl, along with a small bag of pickled vegetables.

Bai Tao carried the breakfast back, her steps becoming much lighter.

the other side.

Pei Jin opened his eyes.

What greets the eye is a vast expanse of glaring white, and the air is filled with the smell of disinfectant.

Is he... dead?

Yesterday afternoon, after parting ways with Bai Tao, he dragged his suitcase into the alley. A little disoriented, he looked down, trying to find his way. By the time he realized what was happening, he was already surrounded by seven or eight people.

The leader had dyed blond hair and wore a thick, gleaming gold chain around his neck. Behind him were several others, some fat, some thin, some tall, some short, standing in a row.

Pei Jin knows some martial arts.

When he was a child, Pei Shengli was afraid that he would be kidnapped, so he hired a private coach and trained him in Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) for several years. But with that skill, he could handle one or two people, but he was not good enough to fight seven people at once, especially when the opponents had knives and sticks.

What's more, there were two fat men on the other side who looked to weigh at least 250 pounds each.

When the two fat men pressed down on him, Pei Jin felt as if his ribs were about to break. He struggled a few times, but couldn't move.

My suitcase was stolen. My phone was stolen too.

He was beaten so badly he couldn't stand up and curled up on the ground like an ant that had been stepped on.

Then it hailed.

Hailstones the size of fingernails pelted him; at first it hurt, then it went numb, and then he felt nothing at all. With his last bit of strength, he crawled, inch by inch, along the dirty water flowing from the trash can, to the bottom of the bicycle shed.

His clothes were soaked with dirty water, which smelled fishy and foul. He sat on the ground, panting, thinking he might freeze to death there.

Then, white peach appeared.

Even when he had everything, Bai Tao never got close to him, or if she did, they weren't close. He found the messages Bai Tao sent him before he was kicked out baffling, even a little ridiculous.

He even wondered if Bai Tao was using him to regain her footing in the wealthy family.

After all, she was a fake heiress who was kicked out. She used him first and then discarded him, but now, he has nothing left.

Pei Jin, who had lived for twenty-four years, experienced for the first time what it meant to be unable to move an inch.

At this moment, however, some people began to approach him.

Pei Jin stared at the ceiling with his eyes open, seemingly lost in thought.

Suddenly, he frowned.

This feel...

He shifted his body slightly, feeling the fabric against his skin—it was like a piece of cloth.

She wasn't wearing anything.

Pei Jin froze.

He slowly reached his hand under the covers to check.

Then his expression was as hard to describe as if he had eaten shit.

The next second, a doctor in a white coat poked half his body in from the doorway. Seeing Pei Jin with his eyes open, he walked in with a smile, took out a thermometer from his white coat pocket, and pointed it at Pei Jin's forehead.

"Oh, young man, you're awake?" The middle-aged man glanced at the numbers on the thermometer and nodded. "Your fever's gone down. Your girlfriend went out to buy you breakfast; she hasn't come back yet."

girlfriend?

Pei Jin's brows furrowed even more.

The middle-aged man stuffed the thermometer back into his pocket, pulled over a small stool, sat down, and began to ramble on:

"Your girlfriend is really good to you. Yesterday it was raining so hard, I don't know where she dragged you here from, you were soaking wet, like a water ghost. I thought someone came to take my life. Isn't that funny? I've never hurt anyone."

The older man told a lame joke, and seeing that Pei Jin didn't laugh, he clicked his tongue awkwardly twice.

"I was worried something might happen to you at night, so I set an alarm every twenty minutes. I've lived this long and I've never seen such a thoughtful girl. I was really touched."

Pei Jin remained silent.

Girlfriend? White Peach?

He heard every word the uncle said, but he couldn't understand them when they were put together.

White peach? Good for him?

Pei Jin's mind conjured up Bai Tao's face; all he could picture was her face in the alley, tears streaming down her face as he choked her. He remembered the fear, regret, and something else in her eyes when she looked at him.

He thought she would leave.

He thought she would turn away when he was at his most vulnerable.

But she didn't.

"Thank you," Pei Jin's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against sheet metal, "Where are my clothes?"

"Oh, your clothes are soaked, and your pants are torn."

The middle-aged man stood up, walked to the cabinet by the door, opened a drawer and rummaged through it. "Your girlfriend seems to have given you something new. Let me see... where did she put it again...?"

Pei Jin waited two seconds, then asked a question he didn't really want to ask, but had to: "Who changed my... clothes?"

The middle-aged man didn't even look up, continuing to rummage through the drawer: "I changed them. You need to put medicine on those scrapes, and take off your wet clothes, otherwise your fever will get worse."

Pei Jin breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The uncle pulled a white plastic bag from the drawer, inside which were a neatly folded white T-shirt and black shorts, and handed it to Pei Jin.

Pei Jin took it and glanced at the Jiajiayue Supermarket label still hanging on it. The prices were ridiculously cheap: 29.9 for a pair of underwear and 19.9 for a t-shirt.

But it's better than nothing.

Pei Jin lifted the covers and prepared to get dressed.

The middle-aged man slapped his forehead: "Oh right, I had your girlfriend take your underwear back to you."

Pei Jin's movements froze completely.

"It's CK," the uncle added, his tone carrying a sense of pride that he knew his stuff. "That brand must be pretty expensive. I told her to take it home, wash it, and she can still wear it. Don't waste it."

Pei Jin's hand, holding the white T-shirt, hovered in mid-air.

His lips twitched slightly.

What exactly is this doctor saying?

Is he referring to his underwear, and who took it back?

Pei Jin put on his pants and fastened the elastic band. He paused for a moment. The size of the underwear was exceptionally good. Not too tight, not too loose, just right in that range that wasn't exactly comfortable but definitely not uncomfortable either.

He froze for a moment.

Who bought his clothes...?

Before he could think it through, the door was gently opened from the outside.

Bai Tao poked half her head in, carrying a breakfast bag, and her expression visibly froze the moment she saw Pei Jin had already sat up.

She hadn't expected Pei Jin to be awake.

When Pei Jin heard someone open the door, he turned his head and glanced indifferently at the entrance.

Just one glance.

There were no extra expressions or movements.

But when those dark eyes swept over, Bai Tao felt her neck start to ache again.

The suffocating feeling she had experienced yesterday, like a tidal wave, made her vaguely feel like she couldn't breathe.

But the next second, her mind flashed to those sparkly, beautiful bags from LV, Chanel, and Hermes, waiting for her to take them home from the department store counters.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Bai Tao took a deep breath and forced a smile at Pei Jin.

"Haha, good morning."

She placed the breakfast on the bedside table; the plastic bag rattled against the table, making a distinct rustling sound in the quiet ward.

"Want to eat?"

As Bai Tao took things out, she asked, "I just bought some random things, soy milk and millet porridge. I don't know if you like them."

Pei Jin, his eyes dark, lowered his head and remained silent. Only then did Bai Tao realize that she only reached his shoulder.

She was holding a cup of soy milk and inserting a straw. She looked up at Pei Jin with some confusion.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you eating?"

"I have no money."

Pei Jin's voice was faint, but he hadn't eaten or drunk anything since noon yesterday. His throat was as dry as sandpaper, and when he uttered those three words, they came out with a rough, hoarse tone.

Bai Tao was taken aback. Pei Jin didn't look at her; his gaze fell on a fold in the bed sheet.

Bai Tao picked up another cup of soy milk, inserted a straw, and handed it to him.

"Where's your suitcase? And your phone too?" She frowned, trying to recall. "When I went to look for you, I didn't see your suitcase."

Pei Jin didn't speak. He didn't take the cup of soy milk, but silently looked away and gazed out the window.

The ward was quiet for a few seconds.

Why?

Pei Jin suddenly spoke, his voice very low.

"What? Why?" Bai Tao asked, forcefully shoving the soy milk into his hand.

The warm soy milk seeped through the thin paper cup and onto Pei Jin's slightly cool fingertips. He looked down at the cup of soy milk that had been forcibly shoved into his hand; the straw was already inserted, just waiting for him to drink it.

He had many "whys" he wanted to ask.

Why were you outside the villa area at that time?

Why are you following me?

Why did you come back to me after I hurt you?

Why did you buy me clothes?

Why did you stay up all night for me?

Why do I always buy the perfect size underwear?

Why do you care whether I've eaten or not?

But these words, once on the tip of his tongue, were swallowed back down one by one. He didn't want to ask; these things were meaningless now.

In the past, Pei Jin would never have imagined that he would be so pathetic as to be so desperate for a meal.

But at this moment, he truly felt that if he hadn't been picked up by Bai Tao last night and had remained by that trash can, he might have actually gone so far as to rummage through the trash for food if he were starving.

Pei Jin took the soy milk and took a sip.

The warm liquid slid down his throat, making him squint slightly, but the feeling of warmth spreading from his throat to his stomach made him sigh comfortably.

Bai Tao felt a little relieved.

"My suitcase was stolen, and so was my phone," Pei Jin paused, his voice lowering, "I don't have the money to pay you back right now."

Bai Tao paused for a moment, then laughed, a relaxed and casual laugh. "It's alright, we're both in the same boat."

She sat on a small stool by the bed, opened the lid of the millet porridge, and pushed it towards Pei Jin, saying, "You can pay me back when you earn money later."

Pei Jin's eyes narrowed sharply.

Those eyes were like two knives, piercing straight at Bai Tao, with a scrutinizing, cold, and chilling sharpness.

"A fellow sufferer?" His voice was low, each word like a block of ice hitting the ground. "How did you know?"

The fact that he is not a biological son of the Pei family has not yet been made public.

Unlike the uproar caused by Bai Tao's blood type mismatch, the Pei family kept this matter very secret, and very few people knew about it.

But how did Bai Tao know that?

Bai Tao's heart skipped a beat.

Her neck started to ache again.

Could Pei Jin possibly believe that she framed him for not being his biological son? Given Pei Jin's current state, it wouldn't be surprising if he suspected anyone.

Bai Tao's brain raced. Oh no, oh no, this is it.

She forced a smile, speaking twice as fast as usual:

"The day I had my blood type tested, I heard some noise. They were saying something about you having your blood type tested too... Plus, you look so disheveled now, and you were dragging a suitcase out of the villa area."

Bai Tao paused, then added what she thought was a very reasonable analysis: "Who among those living there would walk out of such a big villa? Haha."

Pei Jin stared at her for two seconds, looking her up and down. Bai Tao nervously thought that the color of her underwear had been discovered.

Then he looked away.

I reluctantly believed it.

Bai Tao breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling that she could become an actress.

She seized the opportunity to quickly change the subject: "So, do you have a place to stay now?"

Perhaps because Bai Tao saved her, Pei Jin's attitude towards her was a little better than yesterday. At least he no longer looked at her like she was trash, and he started to respond to her words.

He shook his head.

Bai Tao's eyes lit up.

"Why don't you come and live with me?"

Pei Jin looked at her with a strange and puzzled expression. Bai Tao realized she had been too eager and quickly tried to make amends:

"Haha, I was just thinking—it's better for two people to share the rent than for one person to share it, right? Besides, we know each other, so it's better than having a stranger as a roommate."

"Then you should find a girl too," Pei Jin said calmly, "and I don't have any money to help you out right now."

Bai Tao waved her hand: "Well, you owe me money, and I was afraid you'd run away."

Pei Jin looked at her as if she were an idiot.

"Don't you have any money in your phone?" Bai Tao regretted asking as soon as she finished.

Pei Jin said expressionlessly, "My phone was stolen."

"Oh, oh," Bai Tao nodded quickly, "Then you'll have to live with me even more."

She counted on her fingers as she explained the debt to Pei Jin: "If you can't pay me back, you can do some housework or go out to work to pay me back. Your medical expenses for one night's stay are quite high. Once you've saved enough money to pay me back, you can move out."

Pei Jin leaned against the headboard, his eyes downcast, lost in thought.

Seeing that he was unmoved, Bai Tao gritted her teeth and prepared to unleash her ultimate move. She opened her mouth, and the words "I've actually had a crush on you for a long time" were already swirling on her tongue.

Pei Jin nodded.

Bai Tao swallowed back the words that were about to come out, almost choking on her own saliva.

She quickly stood up, afraid that Pei Jin would change his mind: "Then I'll go pay!"

Bai Tao ran to the front counter to pay the medical bills, then ran back to call Pei Jin to get out of bed.

Pei Jin put on the pair of blue plastic slippers he bought at the supermarket, which Bai Tao had bought for 9.9 yuan a pair. He stood at the entrance of the pharmacy and glanced down at his outfit.

Pei Jin wore the same outfit as several elderly men queuing at the entrance, but he was young and handsome with a good physique, so he looked like a model when he stood there, attracting the attention of many aunties and grandmas.

The whole outfit cost less than 100 yuan.

Pei Jin withdrew his gaze expressionlessly.

Bai Tao opened her phone's navigation app and led the way while looking at the route. Pei Jin followed behind her, and the two of them walked into the alley one after the other.