Yu Ci bought a bottle of ice water from the vending machine.

The cold liquid entered my throat, barely suppressing the restlessness that was welling up in my heart.

Hearing Xu Qian's words, his eyebrows knitted, and he looked thoughtful: "...Special?"

"Is there?"

"Yes!" Xu Qian nodded vigorously: "It's so special that sometimes I even wonder if your love star has moved."

"But it shouldn't be." Xu Qian denied himself again: "Based on my understanding of you, Brother Ci, you probably don't like this type."

"Oh?" Yu Ci glanced at him, his eyebrows slightly raised, and he became interested: "Tell me, what type do I like?"

Xu Qian gestured: "Brother Ci, you should like that kind of figure, uh, "

He thought about it and tried to find a more subtle description: "A woman with beautiful curves, and long, thin eyes, who looks like a vixen."

"If it's a man." Xu Qian glanced at Shi Jin and said, "He should be a fair and tender handsome boy, the kind with a dimple when he smiles? He won't be like Shi Jin at all."

Yu Ci raised his eyelids, thinking: "Is this how you look at me?"

"So." He shook the phone in his hand, smiling, "Are these sudden extra friends in my phone also your creation?"

Yu Ci casually clicked on the Moments of two of them: "The man is fair and tender, and the woman is charming."

He raised the corner of his mouth and pressed delete: "Xu Qian, you have become more capable."

you do not say.

He has no choice but to do this as your Empress Dowager keeps calling him all day long.

Xu Qian's eyes swayed from side to side with a guilty conscience. When he saw Shi Jin coming over, he spoke quickly as if he had seen reinforcements: "Brother Ci, they've finished their talk."

Yu Ci straightened up, spinning the phone nimbly around his fingertips: "I'll settle the score with you later."

Shi Jin walked over, his eyes inadvertently swept across his palm, and saw a long row of red dots on the screen.

The profile pictures are all selfies.

He paused slightly.

Yu Ci turned off the screen and looked over here: "Roommate, are you going home?"

"No." Shi Jin shook his head slightly, and said calmly: "I still have something to do, you go back first."

——

Shi Jin found a barber shop.

The name of the store is a simple "K". It is not located in a business district, but in an art park which is a bit remote.

Shi Jin took a taxi and when he arrived at the barber shop, the setting sun had already lit up the sunset with its afterglow.

Through the huge floor-to-ceiling glass window, Shi Jin turned his head and looked out the window.

At sunset, the orange-red glow outlined the layers of cloud petals. In the distance, there was a patch of red clouds, which were timidly blocked by the tall trees with dense leaves and thick branches. After a while, a crescent moon hung on the branches, spreading dots of hazy moonlight in the gradually dispersing red clouds.

The shop manager who was in charge of cutting his hair was a woman, about thirty years old, well-dressed, with long curly light brown hair. When she didn't speak, she looked a little serious, and her eyes were cold.

But I have to say, it looks quite professional.

She brought a haircut cape: "What kind of hairstyle do you want?"

Shi Jin placed the black umbrella he brought on the side of the chair and sat down in front of the mirror: "Just cut it shorter."

The female manager swiftly put the cape over him and tied a knot behind his neck with her nimble fingers.

She raised her hand to straighten Shi Jin's head, looked at him in the mirror, and quickly came to a conclusion: "Your hair grows very well, and the layers are very beautiful. If you just want to cut it short, it should be quick to cut."

Shi Jin nodded lightly: "Okay, thank you for your trouble."

"Don't worry." The female store manager smiled and said, "I will definitely give you a satisfactory haircut."

She checked the tools at hand and found that a comb was missing, so she stood up to get it: "Please wait a moment, I'll get the comb."

The high heels made a crisp sound on the tiles.

Shi Jin closed his eyes slightly and rested.

The store was playing soft piano music, and the melodious tune accompanied by the cool air from the air conditioner dispelled the scorching heat of summer. The orange sunset outside the window was moving away, and the white cat basking in the sun by the window was out of the range of the sunset's afterglow, and lazily turned over on its belly.

The store manager came back quickly.

She took the comb and combed Shi Jin's hair skillfully and gently.

The female manager was delighted by the soft hair ends. She touched the soft hair ends and praised, "Your hair is in great condition. It would be a pity if you dyed or permed it. By the way, you should be young, right?"

Shi Jin opened his eyes and met the calm gaze of the young man in the mirror.

The young man in the mirror lowered his eyelashes: "Twenty-two."

It seems that all barbers like to chat with customers while cutting their hair, even the slightly serious-looking store manager in front of them is no exception.

"Twenty-two is good." The female manager carefully trimmed the ends of her hair with scissors, and gestured with a comb from time to time: "Are you in love?"

Shi Jin lowered his eyes, watching the black hair falling from the ends of his hair to his cape bit by bit: "No."

The store manager looked at him in surprise and said, "You are about the same age now. You can start looking now."

Perhaps because she already has a child, the female store manager couldn't help but nag: "Start talking now, you can get married after a few years, and you can have a child before you turn 30."

The scissors cut the top of the head just in time, making a clicking sound in front of the forehead, and from time to time, fine strands of hair slid down the sides of the face and forehead.

Shi Jin reached out and plucked off the strands of hair that had fallen on the tip of his nose, and pursed his lips: "Let's talk about it later."

The female store manager saw his rejection and tactfully changed the subject: "Do you live nearby?"

The topic turned to more daily small talk.

Shi Jin's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, and he shook his head gently: "No, it's a little far from here."

"Have you found a job?"

"Um."

"Where do you work?"

A few strands of hair fell on the side of her face, rubbing her cheek and making it itchy. Shi Jin's eyebrows twitched, and just as she was about to reach out her hand, the strands of hair fell down.

He relaxed his brows and answered, "I am writing a book at home."

“Oh, he’s a writer.”

The female store manager took the time to look at Shi Jin, with some envy in her eyes: "It's good to be a writer. You can earn money by sitting at home writing books without being exposed to the wind and sun. It's really good."

Okay?

Shi Jin was a little dazed.

Maybe it's good.

The raven-black eyelashes drooped, and the emotions in the eyes were also concealed.

Shi Jin curled the corners of his lips and said, "Yeah, it's good."

"Your parents must love you very much. Writing requires support." The female store manager found a hair dryer in the tool box and said, "I heard from my niece before that writers have a hard time before they become famous."

She smiled and looked at Shi Jin in the mirror: "Your parents can support your writing, they must love you very much."

Warm air blew out from the air outlet of the hair dryer, and the "whoosh" sound ringing in my ears drowned out the melodious piano music in the store, carrying the coolness of the air conditioner and entwining in the room.

The female manager was concentrating on blowing her hair and did not notice that the customer in front of her who had been patiently answering every question did not answer her question.

"alright."

The whirring sound of the hair dryer stopped.

The female store manager shook off the shawl that had scattered her hair and looked at her masterpiece with satisfaction: "It's done, take a look."

Shi Jin followed her gaze and looked at the mirror.

Her hair was not cut very short, she just trimmed the ends that fell on her shoulders, and slightly shortened the loose hair on her forehead that blocked her vision, revealing her delicate eyebrows and eyes.

The store manager also used a hair dryer to shape his bangs, deliberately revealing the red mole hidden in the center of his forehead, making him look refreshed and neat.

Shi Jin was very satisfied with this hairstyle: "Thank you."

Seeing that he was satisfied, the store manager smiled happily: "You're welcome, as long as you like it."

Shi Jin paid the money, picked up the black umbrella beside the chair, and walked out of the store.

It was already dark outside, and the neon lights on the roadside lit up, dotted like stars decorating the street.

Shi Jin opened his phone and found an unexpected message at the top of the dialog box.

[Ms. Zhong]: Xiaoshi, are you free tonight?

The sending time is 6:03 pm.

It was the lady I met backstage this morning.

Shi Jin glanced at the time.

It is now 7:12 pm.

He pursed his lips, hesitated for two seconds, and clicked on the dialog box.

【time】: free.

The reply came very quickly from the other end of the phone, almost the next second after Shi Jin sent the message.

[Ms. Zhong]: Have you eaten yet? Do you want to have dinner together? I'm near the China World Trade Center.

Guomao is where the book signing session will be held in the morning.

【Ms. Zhong】：【Location】

【Ms. Zhong】：I am here.

Shi Jin hesitated for a moment and tapped the screen.

【时】: Good.

After typing this word, he didn't look at his phone again.

Shi Jin put his phone in his pocket, walked to the side of the road and hailed a taxi: "Hello, to the China World Trade Center."

On this side, Zhong Ling breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the word "good" in the dialog box.

The noble lady at the side looked at her curiously: "Is it really that serious? No matter how good-looking this person is, it's not worth it for you to sit here and wait for an hour. And he's a man."

Although the times are developing rapidly and same-sex marriage does exist, it is just that as a parent, which parent does not want their son to get married and have children?

Zhong Ling, on the other hand, is extremely open-minded and has only one core goal: to sell her son as soon as possible, regardless of gender.

The lady put down the teacup in her hand and said in a tone of reproach: "A few days ago you asked me to help you find an excellent girl, why did you change your mind now and start introducing men to your son?"

Zhong Ling glanced at the empty teacup and waved to the waiter not far away: "Who said I introduced it to my son?"

Clear tea is poured into the teacup and billowing hot steam rises.

The lady blinked: "Isn't it?"

Zhong Ling twisted the hot teacup, her baby face full of smiles: "This is just one of them."

She smiled and took a sip of tea: "It's mainly because of the eye contact. As for the other things, it won't be too late to look at it later."

"By the way." Zhong Ling glanced at her and unceremoniously ordered her to leave: "Why are you still sitting here? Don't disturb my dinner with Xiaoshi."

The lady said, "Dinner? Who ate three cakes just now? How dare you say you didn't have dinner?"

She stood up and the waiter handed her the bag.

The lady took the handbag and before leaving, she didn't forget to criticize her best friend: "If you eat more, you won't need to bring a swimming ring next time you go swimming."

Zhong Ling rolled her eyes at her and said, "Go, go."

The lady then took her bag and left.

Zhong Ling refilled her cup of tea.

But no matter how delicious the tea is, you can’t keep drinking it.

Just when Zhong Ling was about to vomit from drinking tea, Shi Jin arrived.

He immediately spotted Zhong Ling sitting by the window. Her light blue cheongsam was very eye-catching no matter where she was.

Zhong Ling also saw him.

The lady in the cheongsam waved at him with a smile on her face, and said with a relaxed look: "Little boy, here."

Shi Jin walked towards her: "Sorry to have kept you waiting."

The author has something to say:

Today is also the third update——