Chapter 37 Grassland Market - Part 2: Getting a Haircut...
Cutting hair... Tang Bufan couldn't help but touch his own hair. He hadn't cut his hair for more than two years. Being a homeless person was too hard, and he had just gotten by looking unkempt.
"Should I trim it a little, or cut it shorter?" Tang Bufan then walked behind Lu Yi and used his fingers to comb his hair, causing a bunch of fine sand to fall out.
"What do you think, teacher?" Lu Yi asked for his opinion.
Tang Bufan looked at the length of his hair; it was down to his waist, meaning he had been growing it for at least three or four years.
"Do you like long hair?" Tang Bufan asked him. Lu Yi is the son of the president, so he couldn't be as lazy as him when it comes to taking care of his hair. There must be someone to trim it for him.
“Uh… the reasons I started growing my hair out are rather complicated…” Lu Yi seemed to have thought of something, and his expression became somewhat embarrassed.
Tang Bufan continued to play with Lu Yi's hair, thinking to himself that it was indeed naturally curly hair, the curls were really beautiful... Suddenly, a guess came to his mind.
"Because of your mother?"
Although Lu Yi has deep-set eyes and a high nose bridge, his facial features are still quite beautiful, probably because he is only 17 years old and also because he resembles his mother.
Lu Yi was surprised that he had guessed it, and her cheeks flushed slightly: "Yes... there was a period when I was a child... when I was a little abnormal."
Tang Bufan was stunned, and looked up at him: "What do you mean?"
"Well..." Lu Yi hesitated for a moment before confessing to him, "In the first year or two after my mother passed away, I lived in a daze. One night I had a nightmare. In my daze, I went to her room in the tower at night. When I looked up, I saw myself in the dressing mirror... For a moment, I thought I saw her."
Tang Bufan felt a lump in his throat.
"I just realized my hair has grown so long... I sat down in front of my mother's dressing table, played with her jewelry, and pretended to talk to her while looking in the mirror..." Lu Yi became increasingly embarrassed as she spoke, feeling quite ashamed. She turned to look at Tang Bufan, only to find him staring at her with his dark eyes reddening.
Lu Yi was stunned. Tang Bufan came to his senses, quickly composed himself, took the iron basin and walked to the sink. He greeted Lu Yi as if nothing had happened: "Come on, take a chair and sit here. I'll help you wash."
He only realized his voice was off after he finished speaking; his throat was too sore and his voice was choked.
Lu Yi slowly moved to Tang Bufan's side, leaning forward uneasily to examine him: "...Did I upset the teacher?"
"No..." Tang Bufan lowered his head and bit his lip, but he couldn't help it and suddenly reached out and hugged Lu Yi.
He hugged her tightly, as if trying to transfer his strength to her.
Lu Yi's body stiffened slightly, then slowly relaxed.
My heart started racing, and I thought to myself, "He's so tiny."
“Teacher, it’s alright.” Lu Yi also reached out and hugged Tang Bufan, his eyes softening: “I’m not a child anymore.”
Later, the psychologist took him to a human concentration camp. He saw a man trying to return to the underground city, banging his head on the ground until it bled profusely. Only then did he wake up from his dream and realize what he was meant to do in this life.
"I wish I could have been by your side back then," Tang Bufan said, choking back tears as he hugged him.
Lu Yi's lips curled slightly as she felt his body: "You're here right now."
"no the same."
“Same.” Lu Yi thought for a moment after saying that, “I don’t want you to be a few years older than me, teacher.”
"?" Tang Bufan didn't know what he meant by that.
The two fell silent, and after a moment of silence, the atmosphere became subtly strange.
Lu Yi was wondering if he should pat Tang Bufan's back a few more times, while Tang Bufan was annoyed that he had acted impulsively and reached out to hug him.
The last time I kissed him... I wasn't such a casual person before, was I?
Then she jumped out of Lu Yi's arms.
Lu Yi's hand, which was about to pat his back, froze in mid-air.
"..."
"Ahem." Tang Bufan coughed awkwardly and turned around to get some water.
"Come on, sit down, let me wash your hair!" Tang Bufan decided to continue his hair-washing mission.
"..." Lu could only smile helplessly, then took a folding chair and sat down.
Tang Bufan had washed Lu Yi's hair once before and was already quite skilled at it.
"How old were you back then?" Tang Bufan asked, soaking Lu Yi's hair in water. He couldn't help but ask for details.
"Nine years old." Lu Yi was quite embarrassed and asked him in return, "Does the teacher have any embarrassing history from his childhood?"
To be honest, he didn't know about Tang Bufan's family situation.
"Of course I have one." Tang Bufan sighed. "My biggest dark history is that when I was in first grade, I stole a mechanical pencil from the stationery store near the school gate and was caught red-handed by the store owner."
Lu Yi was stunned, never expecting that Tang Bufan would steal something.
"The shop owner was a fat, middle-aged man with a big head and ears. He was very fierce. He grabbed my ear and cursed at me until my ear bled. I cried. At that time, all the children and parents inside and outside the shop were staring at me. That was the most embarrassing moment of my life." Tang Bufan regrets it to death when he thinks back on it now.
"Uh... why did the teacher steal?" Lu Yi pressed, "Isn't the 21st century the most prosperous period in human history?"
"Even in the most prosperous times, there are poor people." Tang Bufan gently washed Lu Yi's hair with water, and began to tell his story:
“I don’t have a father; I come from a single-parent family. My mother is beautiful, but she’s mentally challenged. In vocational high school, a guy brought her breakfast a few times and showed her concern for her health, so she started dating him and got pregnant. That was in 1997. My maternal grandfather was from the countryside and his thinking wasn’t progressive enough. He didn’t think about getting my mother to have an abortion; instead, he wanted to marry her off directly.”
Tang Bufan got angry as he spoke, his tone turning fierce: "I never expected that the man's family would make such good promises at first, but then they thought that getting married at 17 was too early, so they sent the man to Guangdong to learn a skill. My mother was happily resting at home preparing for the wedding, but when she heard that the man had run away, she sat at their door and cried. Meanwhile, she had already dropped out of school and was six months pregnant. My grandfather smoked all night, and the next day he asked her if she still wanted the baby. My mother touched her big belly and said yes, and that's how I was born."
Lu Yi was stunned. Because Tang Bufan had fair skin and a good temperament, and was so thin that he was almost unrecognizable, he still had an elegant and scholarly air. So he thought that Tang Bufan came from a scholarly family. He never expected that Tang Bufan's background would be so bumpy.
“After my mother gave birth to me, she went to work in a clothing store in the county town. My grandfather took me to grow vegetables in the village. Later, when I was old enough, my mother took me to the county to attend primary school. I was the poorest in my class. All the other children had mechanical pencils, but I didn’t. I knew my mother didn’t have money, so I had a crooked idea and went to steal one.”
After Tang Bufan finished speaking, he sighed deeply: "That's why I feel especially sorry for poor children. I know better than anyone how inferior poor children are inside."
"And then what?" Lu Yi asked curiously, "Did the stationery store owner let you go?"
"No, it just so happened that my teacher was leaving the school gate after get off work. He heard the noise and came over to see what was going on. He found out that the student who stole the stationery was from his own class. He was devastated. He had visited my home before and knew my family situation, so he came in and paid for it for me. Only then did the stationery store owner let go of my ear. He was so angry that he pulled my ear until it bled."
Tang Bufan remembers it very clearly: "The mechanical pencil cost two yuan, and a small box of replacement leads cost fifty cents, totaling two yuan and fifty cents. I will never forget that money. At the age of seven, I lost my personality and dignity for two yuan and fifty cents."
"..." Lu Yi felt a deep sense of unease.
As Tang Bufan washed Lu Yi's hair, he continued with emotion, "I was able to successfully finish high school and get into university entirely thanks to the support of my three teachers."
Three?
“One in elementary school, one in middle school, and one in high school.” Tang Bufan smiled with mixed feelings of gratitude. “I’m so lucky. All the teachers I’ve met have been good. My middle school teacher advised me to take the high school entrance exam instead of going to a vocational high school. My high school teacher helped me with my mother’s funeral and even got me some donations. He was also the one who influenced me the most. I learned calligraphy from him.”
Lu Yi's heart tightened. She wanted to look up at Tang Bufan, but he reached out and pressed her head back into the basin of water.
Tang Bufan didn't want him to see his reddened eyes.
"Your mother, she..."
“Pancreatic cancer, from diagnosis to death, it only takes a year.” Tang Bufan choked up as he said, “And my maternal grandfather suddenly collapsed and died in the field when I was in the second year of junior high school. He was not seen by the aunt in the next field until ten o’clock. So after the second year of senior high school, I became an orphan.”
Lu Yi frowned and pressed, "Aren't there any other family members?"
"No, my mother was a baby girl that my maternal grandfather found. My maternal grandfather was poor and never married."
Lu Yi understood, so he comforted Tang Bufan: "Teacher, don't be sad, you have me now."
Tang Bufan raised an eyebrow and forced a smile: "You can stay with me for the rest of your life?"
"Anyway, I'm not getting married..."
"Then I want to go back too."
Lu Yi then fell silent.
He sat there with his head down, and Tang Bufan washed his hair, so he couldn't see his face.
"After my mother died, I originally wanted to drop out of school. My high school teacher helped me raise funds, and the village gave me some subsidies, so I managed to get through high school." Tang Bufan finished speaking slowly after recounting his story.
"When I got to college, I started working. Because of my good looks, I worked as a waiter in a high-end Western restaurant near the school. One day, a popular restaurant review streamer noticed me and invited me to do a live stream. He asked the viewers if I was handsome and created some buzz, which made me a little famous. I was immediately approached as a model and appeared in several magazines. During that time, I was very arrogant and was seduced by money and girls..."
Lu Yi couldn't sit still any longer and finally raised his wet head: "Did the teacher talk to you?"
"No." Tang Bufan pressed his head back into the basin of water: "There were a lot of girls pursuing me at school and online, but I was busy making money and didn't care about dating. I just liked it when they praised me. As a result, I failed two subjects at the end of that year. My high school teacher was so angry that he came to my house to arrest me and gave me a good beating."
"Huh?" Lu Yi was stunned again: "He...he hit you too?"
"He hit me, he hit me with a clothes hanger." Tang Bufan couldn't help but laugh as he recalled, "I was 20 years old, and he made me cry by hitting me with a clothes hanger. He scolded me for going to the big city and going astray, for not studying properly after finally getting into teachers' college, and for having a big face and acting arrogantly. He even broke the calligraphy brush that he gave me on the spot..."
"Teacher, you learned to swear from him, didn't you?" Lu Yi couldn't help but interject. He had wanted to complain for a long time. Tang Bufan was very imposing and self-righteous when he scolded people.
Tang Bufan blushed and slapped his head: "What are you talking about? Did I scold you? I was just giving you a heartfelt lesson."
Lu Yi took a hit from him and silently added in her mind, "He's good at hitting people too."
After hitting him, Tang Bufan's dark eyes welled up with nostalgia as he continued, "My high school teacher wasn't my father, but he was like one to me. After my mother passed away, he would invite me to his house for Chinese New Year every year. During the hardest period of my life, he provided me with living expenses. So when he broke the calligraphy brush he gave me, I felt really bad and suddenly realized my mistake. That winter break, I buried myself in my studies, and after I went back to school and finished my make-up exams, I quit my part-time modeling job."
After Tang Bufan finished speaking, he rubbed Lu Yi's hair with his hand and told him with great pride, "I could have been an artist. At that time, several entertainment companies wanted to sign me."
Tang Bufan paused, then muttered, "It's just that after I stopped being a model, a lot of girls unfollowed me. Being a teacher is not as good as being a model."
"It's okay, I'm keeping an eye on you."
"You're not a girl." Tang Bufan's straightforward male nature came out: "Girls have sweet words, they'll call me brother."
"I can call you brother too." Lu Yi lowered his head and called out to Tang Bufan, "Brother~"
"Get lost." Tang Bufan was amused by him and earnestly rubbed Lu Yi's head with both hands in the basin of water: "You have no manners, call me teacher!"
Seeing that he was finally happy, Lu Yi felt relieved and obediently called him, "Teacher."
"That's more like it." Tang Bufan was satisfied because he had been raised by his teachers, so he also admired it: "The great teacher-student relationship is no less than friendship or love, just like my teacher and me, just like the two of us."
The bond between teacher and student... Lu Yi thought of Tang Bufan's hug to him just now...
Is that also a teacher-student relationship?
He then thought of that kiss in the desert, him and Tang Bufan sitting in the RV under the starry sky...
Is that also a teacher-student relationship?
Lu Yi sat there with his head down, feeling somewhat lost.
Tang Bufan couldn't see Lu Yi's face, but he scooped Lu Yi's wet, golden hair out of the basin. Feeling touched that a teacher was washing a student's hair, he happily said, "You can continue sitting here. I'll change the water for you."
"Okay." Lu Yi replied obediently, her voice a little lower than usual, but not much difference could be detected unless you listened carefully.
Tang Bufan poured the sandy water into a bucket, then filled a basin with clean water and rinsed Lu Yi's hair again, removing all the sand from his golden hair.
The two moved to a bunk bed; Lu Yi sat on the floor, and Tang Bufan sat on the bed.
"I've been here for four years, and I wonder how my three teachers are doing." Tang Bufan sighed as he dried Lu Yi's hair with a towel. "My elementary school teacher is still the principal of my school. My disappearance and Chen Fei's must have affected him, and so must the child's grandmother... She's heartbroken..."
He clicked his tongue in annoyance: "I need to get back as soon as possible."
Lu Yi sat on the floor without saying a word. Tang Bufan nudged him forward, then reached for the scissors.
"How short do you want it cut?" Tang Bufan asked him, giving him a heads-up: "Let me make it clear first, my skills are just average."
"I'm not cutting it anymore," Lu Yi suddenly said.
Tang Bufan paused slightly, then looked down at him as if sensing something: "Are you... not too happy?"
"No," Lu Yi said calmly, "I'm still a little reluctant to part with my hair."
Tang Bufan looked at Lu Yi's long, curly hair, which was shiny after washing and slightly damp after being wiped, adding to Lu Yi's youthful beauty.
She's prettier than many girls.
“That’s true, Lu Yi is a handsome boy.” Tang Bufan smiled, then put down the scissors and picked up the towel again to dry his hair.
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