At 7:05 PM, Cupid's voice cut through the Breaking Bad episode Tòumíng was deeply absorbed in.
"The auction. Remember? The thing you were excited about three hours ago?"
Tòumíng sat up quickly, trying to look like he'd been aware of the time all along.
"Oh yeah, the auction. Pshhh, yeaaaaa, totally remembered. Was just about to get ready."
"You completely forgot."
"I did not forget—"
"You've been lying here for two and a half hours watching the same show on loop. You forgot."
"I was just taking a brief rest before—"
"You. Forgot."
Tòumíng ignored him and rolled off the bed, heading toward the walk-in closet. Somewhere in the back, behind all the designer hoodies and cargo pants he'd impulse-bought, was the suit. The all-black suit Cupid had insisted he purchase "for formal occasions" that Tòumíng had sworn he'd never actually wear.
He found it still in the garment bag, tags attached, looking expensive and uncomfortable.
"Told you I'd need it eventually," Touming said smugly.
"Shut up."
Tòumíng pulled out the suit and started getting dressed, struggling with the buttons on the dress shirt, fumbling with the tie until he gave up and just left it hanging loose around his neck. While trying to figure out which way the jacket was supposed to go, he pulled out his phone and called Měi Nán.
The phone rang twice before Měi Nán's voice came through, slightly breathless like he'd been in the middle of something.
"Tòumíng? What's up?"
"You busy tonight?"
"That depends entirely on what you're about to propose."
"There's this elite mining CEO auction thing happening at ten. Rich people, mineral collectors, gemstone dealers. Thought you might want to come with me."
The energy in Měi Nán's voice shifted immediately, going from casual to intensely interested.
"An elite auction? With actual wealthy people who aren't gang members or married businessmen sneaking around?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Oh my god, YES! It's been forever since I've had access to new rich clients that aren't either violent criminals or cheating on their wives! Do you know how rare it is to find legitimate wealthy single people in this city?" Měi Nán was clearly already planning. "When is it? Where? What's the dress code? Please tell me it's black tie, I have the perfect outfit—"
"Business formal. Starts at ten. There's a fifty-thousand-yuan minimum buy-in to participate in the stone auction part."
"Fifty thousand? That's nothing. I can cover that easily."
"I'm paying," Tòumíng said quickly. "I invited you. I'm covering the buy-in."
"Aww, how gentlemanly." Měi Nán's voice turned teasing. "Does this count as a date? Our first official date? Should I dress extra pretty?"
"It's not a date."
"You're paying for my entry to an exclusive event and escorting me there. That's literally the definition of a date."
"It's business networking!"
"Business networking where you specifically called me to be your plus-one instead of going alone. Date."
Tòumíng sighed, giving up that argument. "Can you afford the fifty thousand though? I only have like ninety thousand yuan liquid right now because I spent the past five days buying random stuff—"
"You spent a hundred and ten thousand yuan in FIVE DAYS?" Měi Nán's voice rose with a mix of horror and amusement. "On what?!"
"Furniture. Kitchen stuff. More clothes. A really nice coffee maker I don't know how to use. A gaming console. Some collectibles. It added up."
Měi Nán glossed over the spending habits completely. "Anyway, I'm richer than you, so money isn't an issue. I can easily cover my own buy-in if needed."
"Nuh-uh." Tòumíng's competitive instinct kicked in. "I just made bank on a gem sale. I'm plenty rich."
"Babe." Měi Nán's voice took on that patient, slightly condescending tone. "Let me do the math for you. I currently have sixty-four long-term clients on the six-month boyfriend package deal. That package costs two hundred thousand yuan per contract. Sixty-four times two hundred thousand is twelve million, eight hundred thousand yuan in outstanding contracts. Divided by six months means I'm making two million, one hundred thirty-three thousand, three hundred thirty-three yuan per MONTH. And that's not counting short-term bookings, special event rates, or tips."
Tòumíng's brain stalled trying to process those numbers. Over two million yuan. Per month. From escorting.
"I... I have one point five million in inventory," he said weakly, knowing how pathetic that sounded in comparison.
"That's cute." Měi Nán's tone was genuinely affectionate rather than mocking. "Really. You're doing great for a miner who just started his gemstone side hustle. But yes, I'm significantly wealthier than you by current liquid assets and monthly income. Which is fine! I don't care about that. I just don't want you bankrupting yourself trying to impress me."
Tòumíng felt his face heat up. "I'm not trying to impress—"
"Sure you're not. Anyway, what time does this thing start? You said ten?"
"Yeah. Ten PM."
"I'll be there at eight."
"Why? The event doesn't start until—"
"Because there's always a before-gathering," Měi Nán explained patiently. "Rich people never just show up exactly at event start time. They arrive early, network in the lobby or a connected lounge, establish social hierarchies before the official proceedings begin. And if there's no formal pre-gathering space, the nearby bars and restaurants are usually filled with future guests doing informal networking. Trust me, I've worked enough of these events to know the pattern."
That actually made sense. Tòumíng had been planning to just show up at 9:55 and walk in, but arriving early to scope out potential buyers for his future gem sales was probably smarter.
"Okay. Eight o'clock then. Where should I meet you?"
"Text me the venue address and I'll meet you there. Now I need to get ready, finding the right outfit for 'wealthy mining industry networking event' is going to take some planning. Can't look too expensive or I'll intimidate potential clients. Can't look too cheap or they won't take me seriously. It's a delicate balance."
"It's a mining auction, not a fashion show."
"Everything is a fashion show when you're hot and trying to make business connections, babe. You'll understand when you're older."
"You're only four years older than me!"
"Four years wiser. See you at eight!" Měi Nán hung up before Tòumíng could argue further.
Tòumíng stood there in his half-assembled suit, phone in hand, trying to process the conversation. Měi Nán made over two million yuan per month. Two million. That was... that was more than Tòumíng had made in his entire life before the supernatural abilities.
He finished getting dressed, managing to figure out the tie after three YouTube tutorial videos, and checked his phone for his actual current balance.
¥65,242.33
Just barely enough to cover the fifty-thousand-yuan buy-in with some buffer for transportation and maybe a drink. He'd been so confident about his wealth five minutes ago, and now he felt poor again.
He checked the auction location on his phone. The address was just past Huángjīn zhī Lù Road the Golden Road, appropriately named for a street lined with luxury hotels and high-end event venues. About thirty minutes from Guanlan Lake if traffic cooperated.
Tòumíng checked the time. 7:48 PM.
He had almost two hours before he needed to leave.
Just enough time for one more episode of Breaking Bad.
He settled back onto the bed, careful not to wrinkle his suit too badly, and pulled up the pirated streaming site. The familiar pop-up ads appeared—hot singles, cryptocurrency schemes, one particularly aggressive redirect trying to install what was definitely malware.
He closed them all and hit play, letting Walter White's criminal empire provide a soundtrack to his preparation for entering a world of legitimate wealthy people who would have no idea they were networking with a teenager who'd died in a dumpster three weeks ago.