I scoffed as I walked through the doors that Zhou Chenghai held open for me. This mall was the kind of place where the air smelled like money and the security guards wore suits and sunglasses inside.
The million dollars that Xu Zhenlan gave me wasn't going to go far here... but that was fine. Today was going to be an experiment in... effective shopping habits.
Yes, that was it...
Effective shopping habits.
Strolling through the mall, Chenghai walked three steps behind me at all times, his hands in his pockets, and his jaw clenched so tight I could see the vein in his forehead throbbing every time I looked back at him.
In fact, he looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. Good. Angry people made mistakes and bored people stopped paying attention.
And I needed him bored for the experiment.
The first store had mannequins in the window wearing things that wouldn't last five minutes in a real fight. Crop tops, skin-tight pants that would tear at the slightest wrong move, and heels sharp enough to puncture an eyeball.
They were... perfect.
I walked in like I owned the place, because that's what this body would have done. The sales associate smiled at me with teeth too white to be real. No wonder the security guards had to wear sunglasses indoors... they'd go blind from all the too white smiles.
"I need everything," I said, waving a hand at the racks. "Start with those."
Chenghai stayed by the door, his arms crossed in front of his chest. His eyes tracked each one of my movements, but his posture said he'd already checked out mentally.
I picked up a crop top... something I would never have allowed myself to wear in my past life, and held it against myself.
I honestly couldn't help but cringe as I looked down at the garment. How this ever became a style, let alone a popular one, I'll never know.
Putting it back on the hanger, I moved to the back wall where the winter stock was kept, out of season and out of sight. Spring was here, so while most people wouldn't be looking for jackets, sweaters, and scarves, the stores didn't have enough spring stock to fill the gaps.
Perfect timing for me.
Next winter was going to be a bitch.
I ran my fingers along a black parka and thought about how useful it would be when the power grid went down and heating became a memory.
There were five jackets hanging in a row like toy soldiers, and when I looked at them just a second too long, there was only two left.
Nothing else on the rack shifted, all the hangers stayed in place. Only the first jacket and the last one was there to fill the gap visually, and unless someone was counting inventory by hand, no one would notice.
Or at least not notice soon enough to accuse someone like me of stealing.
I moved down the line, casually, like I was browsing.
This was the experiment. I didn't actually want or need any of this stuff, but I needed to know how my space worked, what I could or could not get away with taking, and who the first person to notice something was off would be.
A long look, and things disappeared faster and faster.
It got to the point where I would just think of it, and it would disappear.
Oh.... this was perfect.
Wool sweaters, mittens lined with fleece... all of it disappeared into the hair stick's space without a sound, without a shimmer, without anything that would make Chenghai look up from his phone.
"Miss?" The sales associate appeared at my elbow, smile still fixed in place. "Can I help you find anything?"
"Those heels," I said, pointing at a pair of seven-inch stilettos with metal-tipped points. "Two pairs."
Her smile faltered. "Two?"
"One to wear. One as backup." I met her eyes. "You never know when you'll need to stab someone in the eye. Actually, let's make one black and one red. It would be better for hiding the blood, don't you think?"
She laughed like I'd made a joke.
Joke's on her... I hadn't.
Chenghai's jaw tightened further like he could hear what I was saying. That was a bit of useful information... the man could hear like a dog. He was standing across the store from me and could still hear what I was saying.
When he shook his head and went back to his phone, my shoulders dropped. He thought I was insane. Spoiled. Useless.
Good.
I spent the next twenty minutes trying on crop tops I'd never wear, asking Chenghai's opinion on colors he clearly didn't care about.
And with every question I asked, his answers got shorter and shorter as his posture got stiffer and stiffer.
By the time I walked out with two bags of useless clothing and two pairs of zombie-killing heels, he looked like he wanted to throw me into traffic.
I was having a great time.
Leaving the designer clothes, I walked over to the home goods store that was three floors of overpriced pillows and candles that smelled like someone's idea of "zen."
With a bright smirk on my face and a wink at the pained look on Chenghai's, I grabbed a cart.
Chenghai stayed by the entrance, leaning against a display of faux-marble bookends like he wanted to blend in. He didn't even pretend to follow me this time.
Even better.
I moved through the aisles slowly, picking up a throw blanket here, a set of candles there. Things that looked like impulse buys. Things that would go in the cart where he could see them.
Things that Xu Zhenlan would see on the credit card statement at the end of the month.
Then I turned down the bedding aisle.
Looking like soft clouds of heaven, I let out a soft sigh. Comforters sat stacked six deep on the shelves, there were towels in every color and texture, and pillows stuffed with down and memory foam and whatever else people paid too much for.
I stood in front of the shelf and ran my hand along a king-sized comforter. The tag said that it was waterproof and warm.
Amazing.
With a blink, the stack behind it shifted forward slightly, filling the space of the four massive comforters that disappeared. And better yet, the shelf still looked full.
I moved methodically grabbing every comforter, blanket, sheets in every thread count not caring about the size.
I also grabbed towels that were thick enough to stop bleeding if I needed them to.
I was almost getting giddy with how fast I was able to put things into my space... and the best part? No one saw a thing. No one even noticed when hundreds of things disappeared.
Looking up at the security camera in a back corner, I wondered if it would catch anything definitive...
Probably not.
By the time I reached the end of the aisle, I'd cleared half the back stock and the shelves still looked untouched.
I added a decorative pillow to my cart for appearances and kept moving.
The boba tea shop was on the second floor, wedged between a luxury watch store and a place that sold thousand-dollar handbags.
I ordered the sweetest thing on the menu and took my time drinking it.
Chenghai stood five feet away, arms crossed, staring at nothing, but his jaw worked like he was chewing glass.
I sipped my tea and studied the man who hated me so much he didn't even say a single word since we left the house.
He was angry. Not just frustrated. Angry.
It didn't matter to me that he was angry at me or this situation. He was probably pissed at the fact that he had to babysit a girl who bought heels for "stabbing people in the eye" and spent twenty minutes debating the merits of cream versus beige throw pillows.
I found it hilarious.
"Want some?" I held out the cup.
He didn't even look at me. "No," he grunted, breaking his silence.
"Your loss." I shrugged before I took another long sip, letting the silence stretch.
His fingers tapped against his bicep. Once. Twice. A tell.
He was paying attention even when he looked like he wasn't.
That was a problem.
By the time we got back to the car, I had six bags of useless luxury items and a dimensional storage space full of things that would actually keep me alive.
Chenghai loaded the bags into the trunk without a word. His movements were sharp with anger, but I wasn't bothered.
What I was bothered about was the fact that he was good at his job. Too good.
He'd been bored, frustrated, angry—but he'd still tracked me. Still noticed when I lingered too long in certain sections. Still watched my hands even when he pretended not to.
If I kept bringing him on supply runs, he'd eventually notice the pattern. Notice that I spent too much time near the back stock. Notice that I never actually bought the things I touched.
He was a liability.
Next time, I'd take a taxi.
That way, there would be no witnesses, no one watching my hands, and no one counting the minutes I spent in the winter section of a store in the middle of summer.
I slid into the passenger seat and buckled my seatbelt.
Chenghai got in, started the engine, and didn't say a word the entire drive home.
I stared out the window and planned my next trip.
Solo.