Pei Jiahao nodded and went to get it.
Guiying sat in the small chair near the styling station and accepted the bottle when Pei Jiahao returned.
He turned it over in his hands before opening it, checking the seal without making it obvious that he was checking it, pressing the cap gently to confirm it hadn't been tampered with.
It was sealed properly, untouched, and only then did he open it and drink.
It was a habit that had started a long time ago and had never gone away... laced drinks were harder to detect than laced water, and he had learned that particular lesson in a way that made it impossible to forget.
He didn't trust drinks he hadn't watched being made and he didn't trust food he hadn't seen prepared by someone whose hands he knew.
He pulled out his phone.
A message from Liuxian, sent forty minutes ago.
"How's it going?"
Guiying typed back: 'Better than expected. They didn't think I could do it.'
The reply came in under a minute.
