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

Bai Tao and Pei Jin rode their bikes all the way downstairs.

Pei Jin slowly pushed the car into the aisle; its light green body looked rather cute in the dim light. He set up the kickstand, removed the key, and a pink bunny keychain, a gift from the store, hung on the keychain, swaying gently with his movements.

The two of them happened to run into He Yilong and He Fan.

He Fan carried a bass guitar on his back, with a black guitar case behind him. He walked sideways, and He Yilong walked behind him, with one hand on his waist.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Bai Tao turned around and exchanged a glance with He Fan.

The two of them laughed at the same time, a simple, friendly laugh between sisters.

"What a coincidence," Bai Tao said first, her tone a bit lighter than usual.

He Fan also smiled slightly, shifting his gaze from Bai Tao to Pei Jin.

Is this the friend she was going to find when she borrowed the raincoat that night?

He Fan sized up Pei Jin. He had short, black hair and a cold, stern expression. Even the simplest white t-shirt looked strangely elegant on him. He didn't look like an ordinary person; he looked more like a young master from a fallen family.

"Is this your boyfriend?" He Fan's tone was sincere and natural. "He's so handsome, and you two are a perfect match."

He really liked the pleasing combination of a handsome man and a beautiful woman. And he assumed that anyone Bai Tao would brave the rain to go out and search for, especially so late at night and with hail falling, must be someone very important to her.

The words were spoken.

Except for He Fan, the expressions of the other three people changed.

He Yilong's gaze had been lazily fixed on the back of He Fan's head, but when he heard the words "so handsome," his narrow eyes narrowed slightly.

He shifted his gaze from He Fan to Pei Jin, scrutinizing him from head to toe and from toe to head.

He Yilong is 1.9 meters tall, and Pei Jin is 1.88 meters tall.

The two were only two or three steps apart, but their auras were like two ferocious beasts meeting on a narrow path, and neither of them looked away first.

The dim, yellowish light in the corridor cast long, faint shadows of the two people, which overlapped briefly on the ground before separating again.

Pei Jin was somewhat baffled, wondering where this hostility came from at their first meeting.

He Yilong stood behind He Fan, taking advantage of the fact that Bai Tao and Pei Jin couldn't see him, and secretly reached out and pinched He Fan's lower back without making a sound.

He Fan's body stiffened slightly, but his expression remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened.

Bai Tao's expression changed because she had something to hide.

She had overheard He Fan and He Yilong's conversations, the sounds of the bed hitting each other and their deep breathing—she couldn't forget them even if she wanted to.

Seeing He Fan's gentle and harmless face now, Bai Tao automatically recalled the sound from that night. Her face flushed slightly uncontrollably.

Pei Jin frowned slightly upon hearing the word "boyfriend".

What do you mean by "this is your boyfriend"?

This sounds like Bai Tao had told these two people about herself, saying that she was their boyfriend? Or does Bai Tao already have a boyfriend, and these two people misunderstood her as that person?

Pei Jin's gaze fell silently on the back of Bai Tao's head.

Bai Tao felt as if she were being stared at by a wild beast. The chilling gaze coming from the back of her head made the hairs on her body stand on end.

How should she explain this to them?

Is Pei Jin not her boyfriend?

How do you explain the fact that the two of them live together? A man and a woman alone in one room—who would believe that?

He said he was her cousin?

While Bai Tao was still trying to figure out how to explain her relationship with Pei Jin, He Yilong finally spoke up.

"Aren't you going to the bar? You'll be late if you don't go now."

As if reminded, He Fan raised his wrist to glance at his watch, then pointed to the bass behind him and smiled gently and casually: "Bye-bye, beautiful lady, I have to go to rehearsal."

Bai Tao quickly waved her hand: "Bye-bye-bye, hurry up and go!"

As He Fan walked past Bai Tao, he left behind a faint scent of laundry detergent. He Yilong followed behind him, glancing at Pei Jin as they passed.

That glance wasn't long, but it wasn't short either.

The two men's eyes met briefly in the air, neither looking away first.

Pei Jin's expression remained unchanged, and He Yilong merely glanced at him indifferently before turning his gaze away and pushing He Fan in front of him away quickly.

The footsteps faded into the distance, and the corridor fell silent again.

Bai Tao watched their departing figures and let out a long sigh.

"They work the night shift," Bai Tao said, turning to Pei Jin in a light tone. "Let's go in."

She took out her key and opened the door; the two of them went inside one after the other.

In the evening, Bai Tao ordered takeout.

Two servings of braised chicken rice, with an extra serving of shiitake mushrooms and an extra serving of enoki mushrooms.

Both of them were exhausted today.

Bai Tao took a shower first, and it took her almost half an hour to come out of the bathroom. Her hair was wet and hanging over her shoulders, and she couldn't hide the fatigue on her face.

When Pei Jin went in, Bai Tao heard the buzzing sound of a hairdryer coming from the bathroom. It lasted for a few minutes before stopping, followed by a low sigh from Pei Jin.

This hair dryer.

Pei Jin tried to blow-dry his hair for a long time, but it was still wet where it should have been. However, since he was now living under someone else's roof, he couldn't say much. He simply put the hairdryer back and dried his hair with a towel again.

The two people were lying on a wooden bed, one on a wooden board and the other nestled on a sofa, separated by a large floral fabric.

The lights are off.

The basement darkened, with only a sliver of streetlight light filtering through the two tiny windows, casting a dim, yellowish glow that made a blurry square shape visible in the air.

Pei Jin lay on the hard bed, one hand behind his head, facing the ugly floral fabric. Since he didn't have a phone, Pei Jin could only lie on his side, looking at the sliver of light filtering through the bed curtains.

Tap tap tap, tap tap tap...

It was the sound of fingernails tapping on a phone screen; Bai Tao didn't know who she was chatting with.

Pei Jin frowned slightly but didn't say anything.

After taking a shower, Bai Tao nestled on the sofa, her hair still damp. She wrapped it in a towel, making it look like a loosely draped hat over her head.

She opened WeChat and saw a small red dot on Wang Jianguo's profile picture.

【Here I am. 】

Bai Tao quickly opened the chat box and typed rapidly on the screen.

Hey Wang, a friend of mine had his phone stolen in an alley. Do you know who those people were?

She remembered Wang Jianguo saying that he had a powerful boss in the underworld, which sounded impressive. Bai Tao thought for a moment and then added a pleading emoji.

The other party replied instantly.

Which alley?

[The one next to where I live now.]

Wang Jianguo didn't reply immediately. Bai Tao stared at the screen, watching the words "the other person is typing" appear and disappear repeatedly.

"...I think I know him."

Bai Tao's heart skipped a beat.

I'll try, but I'm not sure I'll get it back.

Bai Tao quickly replied with a cute cat nodding emoji. Then she clutched her phone to her chest, happily rolled over on the sofa, and the sofa springs made a muffled creak, which was particularly clear in the quiet night.

"White peach."

Pei Jin's voice came from the other side of the floral cloth, cold and tinged with annoyance.

Bai Tao paused for a moment, then lowered her voice, "Hmm? What's wrong?"

"What time is it?"

Bai Tao flipped her phone over and glanced at it: "Ten o'clock, what's up?"

"You're being noisy." Pei Jin paused for a moment. "Go to sleep."

Bai Tao stared at Pei Jin's blurry profile on the floral fabric, opened her mouth, and was about to say, "Don't meddle in other people's business."

She swallowed the words back down her throat.

No, I can't argue with him.

She still needs to rely on this powerful figure.

In her past life, Pei Jin was a man who built a leading enterprise from scratch. Every penny she invests now will be earned back many times over in the future.

This is a long-term investment; we can't ruin the relationship because of a momentary impulse.

Bai Tao changed the words she was about to say to an "oh," then covered her head with the blanket and secretly started watching videos.

No sound.

Only the image flickered in and out of focus, reflected in her bright, sparkling eyes.

Pei Jin noticed that the light from the floral fabric had gone out and assumed she was asleep.

Pei Jin closed his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a while before he started to feel sleepy.

tomorrow.

He needs to go out and find a job first.

Otherwise, he would really become a caveman, with no cell phone, no money, no ID card, and only a woman who was chatting with someone he didn't know and who was keeping him awake.

In summer, it always gets light very early.

Before six o'clock, sunlight was already streaming in through the two palm-sized windows in the basement.

Pei Jin opened his eyes.

He lay on the hard wooden bed, stared at the ceiling for two seconds, and then tried to move his waist.

acid.

After sleeping on the hard wooden bed all night, he felt as if his back had been disassembled and reassembled. Pei Jin began to reconsider whether he should sleep on the sofa instead.

He glanced at the curtain suspiciously. Bai Tao said the reason she let him sleep on the bed was because the sofa was too small for him. Oh well, Bai Tao had been so good to him, he couldn't repay kindness with enmity. He let Bai Tao sleep on the bed and he would sleep on the sofa.

Do unto others, do not impose on others.

He slowly sat up, propping himself up on the bed frame. His movements were much slower than usual, and the muscles in his shoulders were a bit stiff. He turned his neck and heard two soft clicking sounds.

He lazily slipped on his slippers, stood up, and gently lifted a corner of the floral fabric.

He's not a pervert.

But now he wants to know what time it is.

The floral quilt was slightly ajar, just a palm-width gap, and Bai Tao was still asleep.

One foot was resting on the back of the sofa, white and bare, with the toes slightly curled.

Her other leg dangled over the edge of the sofa, her head was slightly turned to one side, her hair was spread out behind her head, and some of it hung down from the edge of the sofa to the ground, the ends of her hair gently curled.

Her lips were slightly parted, her breathing was light and slow, and her chest rose and fell with each breath.

Her already youthful face, without any makeup and because she was sleeping so soundly, had a rosy glow, like a freshly peeled lychee, moist and tender enough to make you want to squeeze water out of it.

Her eyelashes were long, casting a small fan-shaped shadow under her eyes, trembling gently with her breath.

Her brows were relaxed, the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, and she exuded an aura of vulnerability, gentleness, and irresistibility that made one reluctant to disturb her.

Very cute.

Pei Jin stood next to the sofa and glanced at it twice.

Just two eyes.

He bent down, getting closer and closer to Bai Tao.

That youthful, rosy face grew larger and clearer in his vision; he could even see a tiny mole at the corner of her eye, which was particularly alluring.

Pei Jin shifted his gaze from her face to the phone beside her hand.

With a flick of his long arm, he reached the edge of the phone with his fingertips, and with a gentle push, the phone slid into his palm.

The movement was so light that it made almost no sound.

White Peach is dreaming.

In her dream, she was walking on a dark road, with towering trees on both sides. The shadows of the trees swayed in the wind, like countless clawing hands.

She didn't know where she was going, but she couldn't stop walking. Suddenly, two red lights appeared in the darkness ahead, like two giant eyes.

A huge black shadow emerged from the darkness; its face was obscured, but she could sense it approaching her.

Bai Tao suddenly opened her eyes.

The first thing you notice is a sharp jawline. Pale skin, clean and sharp features, and a slightly bobbing Adam's apple.

Pei Jin's chin was only a fist's distance from her face.

A man, while she was sleeping, bent over and got close to her, his face less than ten centimeters away. This setup, this scene, this atmosphere—it all seemed so wrong.

Startled, she grabbed the blanket and pulled it up sharply, shrinking back until the blanket reached her chin, burying half her face in it.

"Ah! What are you doing!"

The sound wasn't loud, but it seemed particularly clear in the quiet basement in the early morning.

Pei Jin was startled by the shout, closed his eyes briefly, frowned, and took two steps back. His expression remained unchanged, still indifferent and slightly impatient.

"Don't call out," his voice was low and hoarse from just waking up, "I'm just checking the time."

Bai Tao blinked, then looked at Pei Jin, who was holding her phone with the screen lit up.

Bai Tao pulled the blanket down over her face, revealing half of her face that gradually flushed red. She whispered, "Oh...so did you see it?"

"I saw it." Pei Jin put his phone on the coffee table, turned around and went into the bathroom.

The toilet door is closed.

Bai Tao covered her face and rolled halfway on the sofa, ending up in the gap between the sofa back and the coffee table. She had gotten stuck there last time too, but this time she was smarter and stopped after rolling only halfway.

What is she yelling about?

They just checked the time.

Pei Jin washed up very quickly.

Bai Tao heard the sounds of a running faucet, a toothbrush stirring in a cup, and a towel being wrung out coming from the bathroom. Then the bathroom door opened, and Pei Jin came out, his hair still damp, a few drops sliding down his forehead, which he casually wiped away.

He stood in front of the coffee table, looking down at the pile of white peaches on the sofa.

"I'm going out for a walk," he said. "Do you want to come?"

Bai Tao peeked half her face out from under the blanket, her hair a mess. She squinted at Pei Jin, then looked out the window.

"Go ahead. Buy breakfast while you're at it."

She waited for a while, but didn't receive a response from Pei Jin.

Bai Tao rubbed her eyes, sat up from the sofa, her hair even more disheveled, with a cowlick standing up on top of her head, trembling.

"I'll come with you," she yawned, her voice muffled, "I forgot you don't have a cell phone."

Bai Tao didn't really want to go, but Pei Jin didn't have a phone right now. What if he got robbed on the way, got lost, or was picked up by someone to live a good life? Wouldn't she have wasted all the money she had spent on Pei Jin?

"Um."

Pei Jin had originally wanted to ask her if she had any cash so he could go out by himself. He didn't like this feeling—being penniless and unable to help in any way.

He looked at Bai Tao, who was standing in front of him, so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open. The collar of her pajamas was askew, revealing her delicate and white collarbone.

Pei Jin suddenly felt somewhat powerless.

Although he didn't like Bai Tao, he knew that a man should never be so dependent on a woman, making her worry about his food, clothing, and even needing her to accompany him to buy breakfast.

It's his incompetence to not let women depend on him.

Pei Jin stood expressionless at the door, trying not to hinder Bai Tao from walking around in the small room.

As Bai Tao tidied up, she kept muttering to herself:

"Just wait a little longer. If I don't hear from you today, I'll go buy you a phone tonight. I asked my friend last night, and he said he seems to know a few thugs who could help get your things back."

Pei Jin stood at the door, watching Bai Tao walk past him again and again.

"Hmm," Pei Jin responded, then suddenly remembered something, "You have friends like that?"

How could Bai Tao know such a hoodlum?

Bai Tao was applying sunscreen to her face when she heard this and paused in her movements.

Afraid that Pei Jin might misunderstand, she quickly explained, "He's my landlord. When he showed me the apartment, he mentioned that he knew a powerful figure in the underworld. Last night, he promised to ask him for us."

Pei Jin leaned against the door frame, watching Bai Tao smear sunscreen on her face as she spoke. It turned out she had been talking about this with someone else last night.

It's not that I enjoy chatting with random, shady people.

Aren't you chatting with your boyfriend?

Pei Jin's mood suddenly improved a little bit.

Bai Tao glanced at him, feeling a little strange, but didn't think much of it.

"I'll be right there." She quickened her pace, afraid that Pei Jin would be impatient.

Pei Jin straightened up from the door frame. "It's alright, no rush."

Bai Tao was applying lipstick in front of the mirror when she heard this and glanced at Pei Jin in the mirror.

Is this person crazy? They seem to change their mind faster than turning the pages of a book.