Before that thought could settle, the two figures in the rain moved.
Su Xiaoxiao pulled the emergency exit's iron door almost shut, leaving only a crack, and pressed half her face against it.
She saw her brother lower the hand he had used to block the door.
She saw him pull an old folding umbrella from inside his jacket, open it, and offer it to her.
The canopy tilted toward Chen Shu, leaving half his own shoulder exposed to the rain.
Su Xiaoxiao's nails dug into the paint on the doorframe.
She recognized that umbrella.
One of its ribs had broken. Her brother had wound wire around it three times, then proudly declared it could serve another three years.
Usually, touching it once earned her a lengthy lecture.
Now it sheltered that lock-picking criminal.
Chen Shu accepted it without a shred of guilt and shook the water off its ribs.
She said something through the rain.
Su Xiaoxiao strained her ears, but caught only a few scattered words.
"...kid...knows the score..."
Then Chen Shu pulled a slip of paper from her outdoor jacket pocket and passed it through the rain into Su Bai's hand.
The paper was already swollen with rainwater, its edges fraying, the whole thing limp and soggy.
Su Bai glanced down at it.
Just once.
He closed his hand around the paper and casually pushed the umbrella farther toward Chen Shu.
The two of them walked deeper into the alley, one behind the other.
Chen Shu walked ahead, holding her brother's umbrella.
Her brother followed half a step behind, neither too close nor too far.
The obedience in his retreating figure hurt her eyes.
No delivery box, no electric scooter, no evening rush surcharge of a yuan and a half.
Su Xiaoxiao slid down the iron door