The locksmith worked quickly—less than a minute later, the door clicked open.
Lin Siya sat crouched to the side, hugging her knees and watching blankly as Ah Xin pulled out her phone to pay the locksmith.
Only when the man left did she finally stand, a step slow, unsure what to say.
"…Thank you."
That was all she could manage. This woman had helped her far too much today.
Standing by the door, she glanced into her apartment—and immediately flushed crimson. The room was overflowing with trash, the air thick with a foul odor. Her face burned like fire.
"I… I won't invite you in," she muttered, eyes darting away in embarrassment. Biting her lip, she hurried inside to grab her phone, then came back to the doorway. "I'll pay you back."
Ah Xin nodded, taking out her own phone. They added each other as contacts, and Lin Siya quickly calculated what she owed: one hundred for the locksmith, ten for the slippers, thirty for the taxi—doubled to sixty—so a total of one hundred seventy.
She typed in 200 just to be safe and entered her payment code.
Insufficient balance.
Her heart dropped. Sneaking a glance at Ah Xin—who hadn't noticed her screen—she sighed with relief and lowered the amount to 180. No way she didn't have that much, right?
Insufficient balance.
Again.
Her face went pale. She finally remembered—she hadn't worked in over a year. After being expelled from the Lin family, all her shares had been taken back. No income, no savings. She'd spent her last money waging a pointless war against Jian Jia, and for the past year she'd done nothing but order takeout.
Her hands trembled as she tried one last number—170.
Still insufficient balance.
Despair crept up her spine. Opening her banking app, she nearly blacked out at the sight of the balance: 150 yuan.
That was it. Barely enough for a few more takeout meals.
"I called a cleaning service for you."
Ah Xin's calm voice pulled her back to reality. Lin Siya looked up, wide-eyed. "C–cancel it," she stammered. "I can't afford it. I can't even pay you back."
Her life really was gray and hopeless.
"Then you can owe me," Ah Xin said lightly. She even took out a small notebook and a pen, writing down each expense in front of her. Then she handed the notebook over. "Does this total look right to you?"
Lin Siya stared at the neat handwriting for a moment, dazed, then nodded. "Yeah. That's the amount."
"I'll pay it back," she promised.
But as she said it, her mouth tightened. Who would dare hire her now? Every company connected to the Lin or Gu families would avoid her like the plague. She'd tried working once, right after being cast out—but no one wanted her. People who wanted to curry favor with Gu Yan trampled her instead.
Maybe she should've left this city long ago. But it was too late.
Even now, after everything, her pride still refused to die. She had only fought for her own dignity—so why had it come to this?
Everyone against her. No sympathy.
And in the end, only a stranger had brought her home.
Half an hour later, the cleaning crew arrived—two workers in uniform.
They took one look inside the apartment and froze. After exchanging a wordless glance, they turned to Ah Xin.
"It'll cost extra," one said, pointing at the mess. "We can't do this for the standard rate."
They were both silently screaming inside. This isn't cleaning—it's a garbage disposal job.
The floor was buried in takeout containers, the air thick with sour soup smells and buzzing flies.
In all their years, they had never—and probably would never again—see anything like this.
Ah Xin didn't argue. She paid the extra fee, and the two reluctantly began.
Lin Siya stood beside her, head bowed, frail and defeated.
"I'm a failure," she murmured.
Ah Xin glanced at her. "Don't forget—you still owe me a lot of money."
"…Huh?" Lin Siya blinked, stunned.
"You should be thinking about how to pay it back."
Lin Siya lifted her head, speechless. Wasn't she supposed to be a good Samaritan? How did she suddenly turn into a debt collector?
"The cleaning fee is one thousand," Ah Xin added, jotting the number down.
Lin Siya pressed her lips together. She couldn't even argue—technically, the woman wasn't wrong. It was her debt.
"…I'll find a job tomorrow."
Ah Xin nodded, smiling faintly—just enough warmth to make Lin Siya feel a bit better.
No matter what, this woman had helped her—a stranger with no obligation to do so.
The cleaners worked for five hours before finally finishing. When they left, both looked utterly exhausted and gave Lin Siya complicated stares.
The apartment, though, was spotless.
Bright, clean, almost unrecognizable.
For a moment, Lin Siya felt something stir in her chest—gratitude, maybe? It had been so long since she'd seen her home look like this.
Then she caught her reflection in the mirror—and understood those looks the cleaners gave her.
She was filthy. Hair matted, skin dull, looking exactly like someone dragged out of a dump.
Mortified, she shrieked and dashed into the bathroom. She scrubbed for nearly an hour, until her skin turned pink and raw.
When she finally came out, dressed in clean clothes, she faced the mirror again.
Her once-radiant face was pale and thin now, her complexion waxy and dull.
"Done washing? Come eat."
The voice from outside was gentle. Lin Siya blinked, surprised—the woman was still here.
For the first time in a while, she smiled.
Walking out, she saw the table filled with food. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Ah Xin said evenly,
"It's takeout. We'll split the cost half and half. I've added your share to the ledger."
…Alright then.
Strangely, that made her feel better. She nodded and sat down, not bothering to pretend. After half a day without eating, she was starving.
Halfway through the meal, she realized Ah Xin had barely touched her food. Almost everything had gone into Lin Siya's mouth.
Her throat tightened. Maybe… this woman really did have a kind heart.
She might tally every cent, but perhaps that was her way of sparing Lin Siya's pride.
How could someone like this still exist in the world?
Stealing a glance at her, Lin Siya thought the woman—sitting lazily on the sofa, her outdated clothes and tacky makeup doing nothing to hide her calm grace—was somehow… beautiful.
My sense of beauty must be broken, she thought, flustered.
"I live in Building 46, Unit 306," Ah Xin said once Lin Siya finished eating. "When you pay me back, you can come find me there."
Lin Siya sniffled, a little disappointed. She'd thought the woman might say, 'If you need help, come to me.'
Instead… she was still thinking about the debt.
But when Ah Xin left, Lin Siya found herself smiling. She didn't even know why—she just felt lighter.
Running to the window, she leaned out and watched the woman descend the stairs, that bright wine-red hair glowing under the light.
She followed the figure with her eyes until the woman entered Building 46. So she hadn't lied—they really weregoing the same way.
"Third floor, Unit 6…" Lin Siya murmured, counting the windows.
When she saw the balcony with clothes hanging out—each item gaudy and eccentric—she couldn't hold back a laugh.
Yep. Definitely Unit 6.