Cohabitation 3

 Chapter 3: Live Stream

That evening, He Yingtong called to ask Jiang Wan how everything felt.

Jiang Wan replied, "It's pretty good."

"Really?" He Yingtong sounded puzzled. "According to that client, her friend is super eccentric and went through four or five housekeepers in a month. It's not even that his temper is that bad, just... weird. I don't know the exact details, but he's a decent guy personality-wise. He won't resort to violence, and he definitely won't... pull anything too out-of-line with you."

I know, Jiang Wan thought to herself. I've already witnessed it firsthand.

"Jiang Wan," He Yingtong said sincerely, "if you ever need anything in the future, you can still reach out to me. I still consider you a friend."

"Thank you."

After hanging up, Jiang Wan went to get the washed bedsheets from the washing machine to hang them out to dry. As she passed through the living room, she paused in her tracks.

It was already dark, and the living room light was off, leaving the space pitch black.

Amidst that darkness, the refrigerator door was wide open, spilling out a cold, ghostly white light that washed entirely over the man sitting cross-legged on the floor. He was facing the fridge, his long legs bent, head lowered, playing a game of chess right there on the floorboards.

Keeping her eyes straight, Jiang Wan walked past him out to the balcony, hung the sheets up, gave them a good shake, and left them to dry.

On her way back, her gaze unconsciously drifted toward him again.

His hair was quite long, pulled back behind his head with a hairband to reveal a full, smooth forehead. The plump aegyo sal under his eyes looked even more pronounced under the stark white light.

He kept his eyes lowered, staring with intense focus at the chess pieces on the ground.

The hand he reached out was slender and clean, the skin so pale that the veins underneath were clearly visible.

Since He Yingtong had mentioned he was a retired professional e-sports player, Jiang Wan had assumed his hands would look rugged and calloused from overuse. She never expected them to look like this—delicate, pretty, and refined.

Not wanting to disturb him, Jiang Wan went to her room and set up for her live stream.

She did ASMR streaming. No face cam, just audio.

One of her former prison mates made a living doing singing and dancing streams and reportedly made quite a bit of cash. Jiang Wan had picked her brain for tips, read a stack of books at the library, and made buying a computer and recording gear her very first priority upon getting out.

She wanted money—a lot of money.

That way... her parents wouldn't have to sell her out for cash or force her to take the fall and go to prison in someone else's place anymore.

Her life had been swallowed up by nine years behind bars. When she finally walked out, she could barely tell what year it was, and almost forgot how old she even was.

She had gone in at nineteen—the prime college age. Everyone else her age was out on campuses living life in full bloom, while she was locked away in a cell, forced to stare up at the pitch-black night sky on her birthdays and silently swallow a single wish.

I want to get out. I want to celebrate my birthday properly. I want to buy a big cake—a three-tiered one if possible.

Through all those nine years, not a single family member had come to visit her. Her heart had turned stone cold. Upon release, she didn't bother looking back at her parents either. Broke and desperate, she took on grueling day-labor gigs right out of the gate, working day and night until she scraped together enough after nearly a month just to afford a place. But every landlord demanded security deposits, and after striking out repeatedly, she finally ran into He Yingtong.

That was the first time she felt genuine gratitude that good people still existed in this world.

He Yingtong had given her so much help: teaching her how to use a computer, showing her how to dress and style herself, gifting her pretty clothes, cutting her rent, and taking her out to eat.

The very first paycheck Jiang Wan earned from streaming went toward buying an expensive bottle of perfume to give to He Yingtong as a token of thanks.

She truly thought they would stay best friends and live together for a long time.

She had even been secretly saving up cash, planning to give He Yingtong and Wei Qiyuan a massive red envelope stuffed with wedding money when they tied the knot.

Too bad things never went the way you hoped.

She slipped on her headphones, turned on the stream, and typed a countdown onto the screen:

[Welcome to all the babies tuning in! Stream countdown starting in 30, 29, 28...]

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