"Are you Principal Qin?" A short man with slicked-back hair emerged. He had the same hairstyle as Chow Yun-fat's God of Gamblers, which required a lot of hair gel.
"I am. And who are you?" Qin Xiaoyu tilted her head, finally able to see these people clearly. They were all dressed in a mismatched manner, with a somewhat gangster-like appearance. The leader was a burly man over 1.8 meters tall, clearly a trained fighter, with a face full of fat and small but bright eyes, who was staring at her and sizing her up.
"This is our Brother Qi," the short man introduced proudly.
"Brother Qi? Qi Si?" Qin Xiaoyu suddenly realized that she had read a serialized article online about the history of fighting organized crime, and there was a gangster named Qi Si. Could it be that she had met the real Qi Si?
"You know quite a lot! And you're the one calling my brother by his name!" the short man said unhappily.
"What's wrong?" Qin Xiaoyu thought to herself, "I even know he was executed later. You guys are such a jerk."
"I heard your school opened. Why didn't you register with Brother Qi? You need to complete the paperwork." The short man was somewhat dissatisfied that Qin Xiaoyu showed no fear.
"What procedures? How come I didn't know? The business license has already been issued." Qin Xiaoyu really didn't know what she had missed.
"Are you pretending to be stupid?" The short man was really anxious. When Master Wang heard the noise, although he was scared, he still ran over and stood next to Qin Xiaoyu, tugging at her sleeve.
"Got it. From now on, Brother Qi can come here for a haircut. I'll get him a membership card." That was all Qin Xiaoyu could do.
"Do you think Brother Qi needs a barbershop like this?" The short guy made Qin Xiaoyu laugh in exasperation.
"So all these guys are coming over for a haircut?" Qin Xiaoyu crossed her arms and looked up at them. These social ills? This is a society governed by law, who's afraid of who?
"What are you doing? Xiaoyu, your business is booming! Hey, don't block the way." Zhou Yue walked in carrying a bag of popcorn, filling the corridor with its aroma.
"Sister Yue, go upstairs, I have something to do." Qin Xiaoyu was afraid that Zhou Yue would act rashly, so she quickly sent her away.
"I'm not going, I want to watch the show. What's going on here? Tell me," Zhou Yue said stubbornly.
"Sister Zhou, the commander asked me to bring you a coat. He said you're not dressed warmly enough and it's going to snow." A soldier ran in, panting, carrying a wool coat.
"My dad's so fussy, he can't even walk a few steps without making me freeze!" Zhou Yue frowned in dissatisfaction. Seeing that she wasn't taking the coat, Qin Xiaoyu, worried that Xiaobing would be in a difficult position, quickly took it and smoothed things over. Xiaobing saluted, turned around, and ran out.
The corridor returned to silence. A dozen people stood motionless, no one spoke, only heavy breathing could be heard.
"It seems we can't reason with Principal Qin. Let's go," Qi Si suddenly said, taking the lead and walking out, with the others following closely behind.
"Amitabha Buddha." Master Wang kept chanting the Buddha's name. She was glad that Zhou Yue had arrived at this time, otherwise Qin Xiaoyu's domineering attitude might have caused a big disaster.
"What are these people doing? They're acting weird." Zhou Yue tilted her head, and Qin Xiaoyu chuckled. She hadn't expected this unexpected turn of events; she'd only intended to be friends and hadn't expected to get anything from her, but instead, she'd found herself the most powerful bodyguard. These thugs weren't stupid; attacking the commander's daughter in front of her was suicidal.
"Little Fish, you were a bit too arrogant just now. Don't cause any trouble." Master Wang was still worried. Zhou Yue was there today, but she couldn't always be there.
"It's fine, what can they do? If it gets too much, we'll call the police!" Qin Xiaoyu said nonchalantly.
"Should I go home and talk to my dad?" Zhou Yue said hurriedly.
"No need, don't trouble your father with such a small matter." Qin Xiaoyu quickly stopped Zhou Yue; this girl was really honest.
"Don't take this lightly. Everyone doing business around here has to pay them." Master Wang was getting a little anxious when he saw that Qin Xiaoyu wasn't taking it seriously.
“We used to run a barbershop, and we never saw them come to collect money.”
"What do you know? I gave it to you secretly, 20 yuan a month."
"Give it to me secretly?" Qin Xiaoyu never dreamed that such a thing could happen.
"Yes. The old lady Wang who did your fortune telling last time is an old neighbor of the Qi family. I asked her to put in a good word for you, otherwise it would only be 30 yuan a month." Master Wang sighed. Qin Xiaoyu was dumbfounded. You can pay protection money and still negotiate the price?
But then she thought about it again. Her hairdressing school was right next to the military district, and she was renting a house from the military. She didn't believe they could actually fly to the sky.
Whether it was Zhou Yue's deterrent effect or not, Qi Si and his group did not come over again.
With the Spring Festival approaching, customers were so numerous that the doors were practically closed. Qin Xiaoyu had to ask Master Wang to bring the hairdressing school over to help with the work, so that everyone could work together in an assembly line fashion to speed things up. Two students were stationed at the old shop to take turns bringing customers over, and things were going smoothly.
The students progressed rapidly, especially Tian Tian, who soon became capable of handling tasks independently. Xiuqin, on winter break, was always looking forward to visiting her cousin and went to the hairdressing school every day. After a few visits, Qin Xiaoyu became unhappy and sent her home to study.
"Don't come anymore. Focus on your college entrance exams and don't end up like me, a good-for-nothing." Tian Tian's eyes were a little red as she spoke. Qin Xiaoyu knew she had misunderstood.
"Whether or not you can get into university doesn't necessarily mean you have the ability, but when you have an opportunity, you have to seize it, otherwise you'll regret it, right?" Both girls nodded.
Qin Xiaoyu was worried that Xiuqin would get carried away, so she discussed it with her cousin-in-law and arranged for her to go to her uncle's house in the county town.
The last twenty days before the New Year were spent counting down the days, Qin Xiaoyu was extremely busy.
"Little Fish, I'm leaving!" Zhou Yue shouted as soon as she entered the house. She hadn't shown up for two or three days and missed her a little.
"Where are you going?" Qin Xiaoyu asked, her hair in a bun, a hair clip between her teeth.
“I’m going to my husband’s hometown in Shandong for the Spring Festival. I don’t know what kind of old-fashioned idea it is, but a new bride must go back to her hometown for her first Spring Festival to pay respects to her ancestors,” Zhou Yue said, pouting as she sat down in her swivel chair.
"That would be terrible, that toilet alone could kill you." Qin Xiaoyu learned about life in her rural hometown in the 1980s from the customers' conversation. Open-air toilets, and in the south, houses were all made of single bricks. In winter, people relied on sheer willpower to get through it. This pampered young lady probably wouldn't be able to handle it.
"Cut my hair even shorter. I heard we need to conserve water, and washing my hair is such a hassle." Zhou Yue was on the verge of tears.
"Okay, I'll get you all ready. You're the bride, after all. It's okay to suffer a little when you get back. Don't be stubborn. This is your first time going back." Qin Xiaoyu said, still worried.
"Hey, I'm older than you, why are you acting like my older sister?" Zhou Yue protested.
"Whoever is right is the older sister." Qin Xiaoyu smiled mischievously.
"Oh, Little Fish, if I were a man, I would marry you. I'm so happy to be with you," Zhou Yue exclaimed.
"Then dump your lover and marry me," Qin Xiaoyu teased her.
"Oh, right! Let's get down to business. How about I ask my dad to find you a girlfriend in the army?" Zhou Yue's eyes lit up.
"Yes, yes!" Master Wang was working on the other side of the house when he heard this, so he abandoned his customer and ran over here, afraid that Qin Xiaoyu would refuse him too quickly.
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