Chapter 26
As Chen Zhoujing descended the stairs, his pace slowed, his expression complex, a sense of unease lingering in his mind for days.
The warm breeze outside the corridor brushed against his cheeks, stirring up the strange feelings in his heart.
"Damn!" he couldn't help but mutter.
He Shang, who had caught up, wrapped her arms around his neck: "What are you doing?"
"Did you two have a fight?" he asked, puzzled.
"What argument?" Chen Zhou broke free from him, a tightness in his chest. "Who did you argue with?"
"You know perfectly well what I'm asking." He Shang rolled her eyes at him. "Besides her, there's Jing-ge at school who makes you sigh every day. Who else is there?"
Mentioning Li Jing, Chen Zhou's face darkened: "Get out, get out, get out!"
"Brother Gun, you keep saying 'get lost' all the time." He Shang was speechless.
"If you really can't handle it, just tell me what's bothering you," Xu Xiao added.
“It’s something we can’t talk about.” Zhao Chengyang walked up.
He nudged Chen Zhoujing on the shoulder: "Some people, they'd rather die than admit it, that these brave warriors who charge into battle for love can't even understand their own thoughts."
"You want to go to the hospital again?" Chen Zhou said in a deep voice.
"Hey, I'll just say one thing." Zhao Chengyang's temper flared up again as he spoke.
"You two are done." He Shang raised his hand to shake off their shoulders and stood in the middle. "If all else fails, ask Xu Xiu. I think he's quite capable."
"You're sick." Chen Zhou glared at him. "What are you thinking about all day? Studying hard and making progress every day is the most important thing!"
"Get out of here, get out of here! Class is about to start, are you still going to buy it or not?" After he finished speaking, he strode towards the convenience store, leaving behind a few people who looked like they understood but didn't.
"He's not as open-minded as Yu Chao." Zhao Chengyang clicked his tongue. "It's normal for him to change three or four partners a month, but he only dated one person and he got injured like this."
"Be careful Yu Chao doesn't hear you." He Shang smiled and followed Chen Zhoujing's steps.
When she got home that evening, Jian Sheng thought about buying a birthday present.
She searched through the small bag she had brought from Jeju to Jiangzhou and found only two hundred yuan in total. It was 1,500 yuan that Zhou Yilian had specially given her before she died, and she had spent most of it on Jian Zihua and household expenses.
If it weren't for the subsidies from the township and school, she would have starved to death.
If Ye Hua hadn't suddenly taken her away, she really was planning to go collect the bottles.
Jian Sheng sat on the folding bed and carefully took out the loose change of one, five, and ten yuan. This was the hard-earned money that Zhou Yilian had earned by doing needlework for the people in the town before she died. She smoothed out the folded corners, counted the money again, and pressed it down with her hand.
I've never attended someone else's birthday party before, so I don't know what gift to buy, but I only have Saturday to choose from.
I hesitated for a long time before I dared to bring this up with Ye Hua.
She remained seated in the recliner, fanning herself and reading. When she saw Jian Sheng standing in front of her without speaking, she fanned herself and said, "Don't stand here and get in the way if you have nothing to do."
Jian Sheng felt a chill run down his spine and dared not speak.
Ye Hua glanced at her hair again: "Just say what you want to do."
"It's a classmate's birthday..." Jian Sheng lowered her head, already regretting agreeing to go.
Why get involved in something that has nothing to do with you?
Ye Hua asked directly, "You're going to participate, right?"
Jian Sheng nodded, but then, afraid of troubling her, said softly, "If you don't want me to go, I won't go."
Ye Hua snorted: "You have to do what you promised."
"Turn right after you go out, go through three traffic lights, and there's a shopping mall." She stood up, shook her head, and swayed to the entrance hallway, supporting her back.
She took a wallet out of the cabinet in the entryway and then took out several brand-new hundred-yuan bills and held them in her hand.
While Jian Sheng was still feeling ashamed, he stuffed the money into her hand and said, "Take it."
Jian Sheng's eyes widened: "No, Grandma, I didn't mean to borrow money from you."
Ye Hua paused for a few seconds, then smiled deeply: "Zhou Yilian gave me money for my retirement, so don't feel guilty."
Seeing that Jian Sheng wouldn't stop, she added, "Be nicer to Qing Yao in the future..."
Ye Hua looked at her head again: "While you're at it, go cut off that messy hair of yours and show your eyes. You're affecting the class like this."
Jian Sheng didn't speak, but slowly clutched the money and nodded.
"Thank you, Grandma." She walked a few meters away with a heavy heart, then turned back and said.
Ye Hua waved his hand and closed his eyes, refusing to look at her.
After she left, she stared at the halo of light streaming in through the window and slowly said, "It can be considered as slowly repaying the debt the Jian family owes your mother."
When she arrived at the shopping mall Ye Hua had mentioned, she stood at the entrance in a dilemma. She had never been to such a large shopping mall before. On weekends, it was crowded with people, and everyone who passed by stared at her school uniform.
Jian Sheng gritted his teeth, pushed open the transparent curtain, and was about to go in when someone patted his shoulder.
She turned her head and saw Jian Qingyao with a lollipop in his mouth, staring at her expressionlessly.
Jian Sheng was startled and quickly slipped through the curtain. Standing straight through the transparent plastic curtain, she looked as if she had done something wrong.
Jian Qingyao was furious when he saw her hunched over. He pushed open the curtain and went in, looking at her with a gloomy face: "What are you doing here? Dating?"
He looked around again but didn't see anyone.
Jian Sheng got agitated by what she said and retorted, "What are you talking about!"
Jian Qingyao was taken aback: "Oh~ you're angry out of embarrassment."
"Nervous..." Before she could finish the sentence, she remembered Ye Hua's words and shut her mouth.
"What are you looking for? I've been standing at the door for ages." He moved aside, making room for people to come in.
Jian Sheng briefly mentioned buying a gift, but Jian Qingyao stared at him for a long time as if he were a monster.
"Let's go." Jian Qingyao moved the lollipop from the corner of his mouth and gestured for her to go inside.
Jian Sheng was embarrassed and could only turn around. When he came up, he followed behind him like a little follower.
Jian Qingyao glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and laughed out of anger.
He took out his phone, swiped around on it, and then answered a call. Judging from his tone, he was talking to Ye Hua.
Jian Sheng didn't know where he was going, but following him was the right thing to do, until they entered the elevator and went up to the fifth floor.
After exiting the elevator, Jian Qingyao stopped walking, and she almost bumped into his back.
Jian Sheng suddenly stopped and looked up at the blindingly bright house across the street.
The whirring of the hairdryer lingered in her ears. Her pupils reflected a minimalist-style hair salon, its black and white decor sophisticated and beautiful, with numerous lights and furnishings that shone brightly under the warm-toned overhead lighting of the mall.
Jian Sheng was taken aback by this trendy look: "Are you getting a haircut?"
Jian Qingyao didn't speak, but stepped inside. After a few steps, Yu Guangzhong's men didn't follow. He looked at the reserved Jian Sheng standing outside the door from across the boundary line.
"Come in," he sighed, his tone extremely impatient.
Jian shook her head; she didn't want to go in.
What kind of barbershop is all men? What kind of barbershop has such novel attire? What kind of barbershop has so many barbers? What kind of barbershop is decorated so luxuriously?
Jian Sheng clenched his hands, hesitant and uncertain.
Her hair was originally long, but Jian Zihua cut it all off with scissors when he was drunk. Her aunt saw that she had been crying for several days before taking her to a roadside barber to get it trimmed. Unexpectedly, it was trimmed even shorter, turning into a boy's hairstyle.
Later, when it grew too long, she cut it herself; she had gotten used to it.
...........
Faced with more than a dozen curious eyes, Jian Sheng felt extremely ashamed and lingered at the door for a long time before Jian Qingyao roughly dragged him inside.
He sat on the stool, fiddling with his phone, and without looking up, told the barber, "Cut it short, just enough to show her eyes."
After saying that, he stopped talking and started playing games on his phone horizontally.
Jian Sheng struggled with her thoughts several times before finally being taken to get her hair washed by a hairdresser whose English name was unknown.
She tried her best to lift her head up to make him feel more at ease, while also worrying about how he might feel.
The person behind her kept telling her to relax and talked to her a lot, which made Jian Sheng very busy.
After washing her hair, Jian Sheng sat up immediately.
The barber screamed in fright.
"Wh...what's wrong?" Her wet hair drooped down, and water droplets slid down her head and into her eyes.
"I haven't wrapped it up for you yet." He held the towel, his hand hovering awkwardly in the air.
Jian waved his hand and said, "No need, no need."
After saying that, he lowered his head again.
The hairdresser didn't say anything, but asked her to go to the front to get her hair cut.
The person who fixed her hair was another tall, blond boy who looked about the same age as her.
He didn't speak, focusing solely on cutting her hair. Jian Sheng finally relaxed, but her worries shifted back to her head. She wanted to say it didn't need to be too short, but several times she raised her hand only to lower it again when he glanced away.
In the end, she gave up struggling.
Soon, after finishing the back of her hair, he started working on her bangs.
She could only close her eyes and not look.
Not long after, she heard the person on her head speak their first words.
He said "Holy shit".
Jian Sheng stared wide-eyed at his reflection in the mirror, and seeing his stunned expression, she too was momentarily speechless.
The person sitting on the stool in the mirror looked completely different. Her thick bangs had been cut to spread out to the sides with fine, wispy strands in the middle, completely revealing her beautiful eyebrows and eyes, and a pair of very expressive eyes.
Her pupils looked as if she was wearing colored contact lenses, moist and bright, shimmering with tiny sparkles.
Her face was already fair and small, which made her features look very delicate. There was also a signature mole above her brow, making her face pleasing to the eye.
"Damn, thank goodness the back wasn't cut too short, just trimmed." The blond youth chuckled. "Are you satisfied with this hairstyle? It's not too short, just below the ears, perfect for a girl."
Seeing that Jian Sheng didn't speak, he continued, "Sorry, I thought you were a boy just now, so my technique was a bit rough."
He scratched his head, turned on the hairdryer, and blew on her head again, this time much more gently.
She simply said it was nothing and then carefully observed her reflection in the glass.
She blinked at herself... and then stared blankly.
After finishing, Jian Sheng stood in front of Jian Qingyao, who was engrossed in the game. It took about a minute for Jian Qingyao to finish the game.
"Damn it, what terrible teammates." He grumbled and shoved his phone back into his pocket.
Then, he looked up in frustration, and when his eyes met Jian Sheng's, he panicked.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Jian Sheng frowned and asked, "Are you done yet?"
She hesitated for a moment: "Um... do they accept cash? I don't know how to pay."
Jian Qingyao remained silent until Jian Sheng waved in front of him, at which point he snapped out of his daze.
He clicked his tongue and stood up: "Wait."
Jian Qingyao didn't wait and followed him to the cashier.
"How much?" Jian Qingyao asked the boy who had just washed her hair.
The boy was about to say something when he saw Jian Sheng following behind and his eyes widened: "Holy crap, your girlfriend."
Jian Sheng moved to the side, keeping a distance from Jian Qingyao.
Jian Qingyao glared at the boy: "Are you blind? Hurry up."
The boy didn't say anything, but glanced at Jian Sheng's face a few times and gave a number.
Jian Qingyao paid with his mobile phone, and Jian Sheng was too embarrassed to ask. It wasn't until he left that she said, "Can I pay you in cash?"
Jian Qingyao, who had been facing away from him, stopped and said, "You can buy gifts on the first floor. Take a look around. I have something to do, so I'm leaving."
After he finished speaking, he ignored her calls and strode away.
"Speechless!" Then let's stuff this eighty along with the one hundred and sixteen from last time into his door crack.
Jian Sheng slowly walked to the elevator entrance where she had just come up, followed the flow of people in, glanced at the button for the first floor, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found it was there.
She wandered around on the first floor, still thinking about the money she had just received.
"What kind of scissors cost eighty to cut hair...?" Jian muttered to herself, clutching the money in her pocket, and found a store that sold dolls and everyday items.
After going around in circles, they finally chose a very cute doll. Last time they chatted, she said she liked cute things.
After returning home, she slipped the money into Jian Qingyao's door and went to study until the evening of the next day.
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