Bai Li placed all of it into a memory box she had built herself, lined with pale wood and soft cloth. She told no one except Lili, who took the confidentiality of the project very seriously until she did not and accidentally shouted one useful detail in the hall. Bai Li had nearly fainted from the stress.
The funny part was that Yan Cijin suspected almost everything and still had no proof.
She watched them with narrowed eyes every evening.
"Why is there dust on your sleeves?" she asked Bai Li one night.
Bai Li looked at her with complete innocence. "Work."
"Why are there flower petals in Lili's shoes?"
Lili immediately answered, "I fell into them."
Yan Cijin looked from one to the other.
Bai Li smiled in the exact way people smiled right before lying badly.
Yan Cijin crossed her arms. "I do not trust either of you."
Bai Li stepped close and kissed the tip of her nose. "That is mean."
"It is accurate."
"You wound me, wife."
