Chapter 31

Let me buy you a drink.

Saturday, downtown pedestrian street.

Shi Qiyue stood at the entrance of the home decor store, holding the door open and urging, "Come in."

Shi Ziqian stood a few steps away, staring at the gaudy storefront of the jewelry shop for a long time before frowning and looking at her: "Is this what you mean by injection?"

"Yes, I'm going to get a shot." Shi Qiyue said without any hesitation, gesturing with one hand to her ear. "They're going to put a needle through my ear later, isn't that what a shot is?"

"What about the illness you mentioned?"

Shi Qiyue blinked innocently: "You already know it's a lie, so why are you asking?"

Seeing that Shi Ziqian did not move, Shi Qiyue said again, "Since you're already here, why don't you come in for a bit? I'm too scared to come in alone."

Shi Ziqian finally compromised: "If you want to get your ears pierced, go to a hospital. Is this a place to get your ears pierced?"

Shi Qiyue pointed to the large characters pasted on the glass door: "Isn't it written here, 'Get your ears pierced'? Can you stop being so fussy? It's just getting your ears pierced, why go to the hospital?"

She kept blocking the door, and the shop assistant couldn't help but urge her, "Little sister, do you want to come in? The air conditioning is about to run out of cool air."

"Did you hear that? They told you to come in quickly." Shi Qiyue urged Shi Ziqian again. "It's okay. If others can beat me, why can't I?"

This jewelry store wasn't large, filled with shelves displaying various pieces. Besides jewelry, they also offered manicures, ear piercings, and even simple makeup and styling services. There were only two young employees inside. One of them, seeing a young girl who had been lingering at the door for a while finally come in, greeted her, "Little sister, what would you like to buy?"

"I want to get my ears pierced," Shi Qiyue said.

"Getting your ears pierced? Do your parents agree?" This little girl looked really young; it was hard to tell if she was in elementary or middle school. Although there are quite a few kids this age who get their ears pierced, there's always the risk of parents coming to complain, so the clerk asked an extra question.

"The parents," she turned to look outside, "the parents are here."

Following her voice, a tall young man walked in, dressed simply in a white shirt and black pants, his striking features revealed when he looked up. Because of his height, the already somewhat crowded shop seemed even more cramped the moment he entered.

"Parents, do you agree to me getting my ears pierced? They're asking you." Shi Qiyue said lazily.

Shi Ziqian glanced at her, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Shi Qiyue said to the shop assistant, "The parents said he agrees."

The two shop assistants over there didn't care what she was saying; they were secretly watching Shi Ziqian, exchanging glances and pursing their lips to smile secretly.

"Hey, ladies." Shi Qiyue tapped on the counter in front of them. "I'm the one who wants to get my ears pierced. Why are you looking at him?"

Her direct question made both shop assistants blush, and they hurriedly asked her, "How do you want to do it?"

“How do we attack…” Shi Qiyue reached out and poked her ear repeatedly, “This, this, this, this, we’ll attack in a row like this.”

"Huh?" the shop assistant exclaimed in surprise. "You're getting so many? Getting cartilage piercings will hurt a lot."

"Just kidding," Shi Qiyue said with a smile. "Just one piercing on each earlobe will do."

...

Two shop assistants surrounded Shi Qiyue, disinfecting her ears and marking the positions on her earlobes with a pen. They then pointed to the marks in the mirror and asked, "Is this position suitable?"

"More or less," Shi Qiyue said indifferently.

The shop assistant used two clips to hold her earlobes in place, then took the puncture needle and confirmed with her again, "So, it's time to get ready to get it done?"

Looking at the gleaming needle in her hand through the mirror, Shi Qiyue asked, "Will it hurt?"

"It will hurt a little, but it won't be particularly painful."

Shi Qiyue seemed to be mentally preparing herself, frowning at herself in the mirror for a long time before calling out, "Hey, Shi Ziqian."

Shi Ziqian sat on the sofa near the entrance, looking down at his phone, and hummed in response.

The shop assistant followed Shi Ziqian's gaze. Most of the jewelry in the store was sold to young people for fun, costing only a few dozen yuan a pair, and wasn't very valuable. But now, the tall young man sitting on that low sofa, with his superior features and refined temperament, made the whole store seem more luxurious. She suddenly had a strange feeling, as if her shop had transformed into a high-end jewelry store.

She then looked at the little girl in front of her, who was wearing an elaborately made dress and a pair of lambskin ankle boots. She looked expensive, yet she came to their shop to spend 50 yuan to get her ears pierced.

Shi Qiyue, unaware of her inner thoughts, glanced sideways at Shi Ziqian and said, "At a time like this, shouldn't you say something to encourage me?"

Shi Ziqian said calmly, "You still have a chance to back out."

"Tch, why would I go back on my word?" Shi Qiyue scoffed. "Go ahead and fight."

A tingling, stinging sensation shot through her ear, like a needle pricking her skin during a blood draw, and it vanished as soon as she touched it. Shi Qiyue's brow finally relaxed, and she said to Shi Ziqian with a delighted smile, "I thought it would hurt a lot, but I didn't feel anything. I should have known better than to call you."

After getting her ears pierced, the shop assistant put on a small titanium alloy earring for her, saying it would prevent the piercing from closing up. Shi Qiyue looked at herself in the mirror, quite satisfied, and called to Shi Ziqian, "Okay, let's go."

Shi Ziqian got up to pay, and the shop assistant tried to sell her some earrings: "Would you like to buy some more earrings? We have all kinds of earrings and studs in our store, you can take a look."

"No need." Shi Qiyue looked up at Shi Ziqian and smiled casually. "How about I go back and steal Zhu Qing's gemstone belt?"

Shi Ziqian glanced at her, his eyes scrutinizing her: "Why do you want hers? I'll buy you whatever you want."

"Ugh, you're so boring, you have no sense of humor at all." Shi Qiyue's smile faded a little. "Who would actually touch her things? I find it disgusting."

She casually picked up a pair of snake-shaped metal earrings and held them in her hand: "Buy me these."

After leaving the jewelry store, Shi Ziqian glanced at his watch and said, "I'm not going back. You can take a taxi home yourself."

Shi Qiyue stretched and said, "I came out with you and we didn't even get to eat. Is this how you act as a brother?"

"If you go back now, you can still make it to dinner at home."

"I don't want to." Shi Qiyue tilted her head and leaned closer, showing him her earlobe. "Didn't you see I just had surgery here? I need to eat something good to replenish myself."

"What do you want to eat?" Shi Ziqian was too lazy to discuss the word "surgery" with her. He remembered the meal she had with her classmates at Jinghai last time. "If you want to go to Jinghai, I'll call and make a reservation."

“When did I say I wanted to go to Jinghai?” Shi Qiyue tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment. “I want to eat McDonald’s, a kids’ meal.”

Shi Ziqian: "Isn't McDonald's nearby? Go eat there yourself."

“No way.” Shi Qiyue immediately refused. “What child would eat a kids’ meal by themselves? I would lose face.”

The nearest McDonald's is indeed not far away, just a few hundred meters away on the side of the square.

Shi Qiyue walked leisurely, her hands tucked into the pockets of her skirt. Shi Ziqian walked not far ahead of her; his legs were much longer than hers, and he didn't wait for her. Before long, the distance between them grew larger and larger.

When the distance between them grew so great that it almost crossed a certain boundary, Shi Qiyue wasn't in a hurry to chase after him; she would simply call out from behind, "Hey—"

Shi Ziqian would stop and glance at her sideways. Once she got closer, he would continue walking.

After walking for a while, Shi Qiyue seemed to find it extremely interesting and started calling out "Hey, hey, hey" repeatedly behind him. Shi Ziqian turned around, frowned, and stared at her. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately said nothing. When she reached his side, he slowed his pace slightly and walked alongside her.

Shi Qiyue finally stopped calling him and continued walking slowly with her hands in her pockets. When she passed a manhole cover, she jumped over it and said, "Have you heard that you shouldn't step on manhole covers when you walk, or you'll have a lot of bad luck today?"

Shi Ziqian ignored her.

Shi Qiyue didn't seem to care and appeared to be in a good mood. Turning past a flowerbed, she saw the McDonald's sign. The square here was always crowded on weekends, with many parents bringing their children to play. There were ice cream and cotton candy carts everywhere, making it even more lively than an amusement park.

"What would you like to order later?" she asked with great interest, only to find that Shi Ziqian, who had been looking straight ahead, was now staring intently at a certain spot in the square.

Shi Qiyue followed his gaze and looked in that direction. Next to McDonald's was a dessert shop with a parasol at the entrance, under which were round glass tables. A long-haired girl sat alone in a wicker chair under the parasol, facing them. She wore a white dress and had a serene and gentle demeanor, like a spring mountain stream.

"I wasn't looking at anything." Shi Ziqian had already looked away and continued walking forward.

Shi Qiyue followed, and after walking a little further, she finally saw the girl's face clearly. She suddenly stopped and laughed, "Hey, Shi Ziqian, isn't this your deskmate?"

Shi Ziqian paused in his steps: "How did you know?"

"You forgot? She was the one who gave you the message yesterday," Shi Qiyue said slowly. She looked at his expression, her eyes flickering thoughtfully. "The one you asked me about that day, wasn't it her?"

Shi Ziqian did not answer, neither admitting nor denying.

Shi Qiyue immediately understood and winked at him: "She looks like she's alone. Isn't this your chance? Aren't you going to say hello?"

Shi Ziqian looked in that direction again, a complex mix of emotions flashing in his eyes. After a long while, he shook his head and said softly, "Let's go."

Shi Qiyue glanced at his expression, seemed to understand something, and didn't say anything more. The two walked a few steps forward, then Shi Qiyue suddenly turned her head and asked him, "What's your phone number again?"

"What are you doing?"

"Ask away."

Shi Ziqian looked puzzled, but still recited a string of numbers.

Shi Qiyue repeated it, then suddenly a sly smile appeared on her face. She walked past him and headed straight for the dessert shop: "Since you accompanied me to get my ears pierced today, I'll give you a gift."