Pushing the envelope
In the early summer, the children's faces change in an instant.
When Chen Nanxing and his friends went out in the afternoon, the sun was still high in the sky. As soon as they stepped into the barber shop, the rain poured down.
"Welcome!"
The young barber came forward enthusiastically, showing a professional smile, and his inquiring eyes shuttled between Chen Nanxing and Ji Chuan:
"Which of you wants a haircut?"
Ji Chuan took Chen Nanxing's hand and arranged her to sit on the chair in front of the mirror. He stood behind her, put his hands on her shoulders, and said to the hairdresser, "Let's cut both of them."
"Okay, this beauty will get her haircut first, right? What kind of haircut would you like?"
The shop they found was a bit deserted. There was no one else in the shop except a young barber and his wife, so they had to line up to get a haircut.
Chen Nanxing has had smooth waist-length hair for many years and has never thought about changing her hairstyle. Now when the hairdresser asked her this, she hesitated for a moment.
"Try short hair?" Ji Chuan offered Chen Nanxing an option. "I think you'll look good with short hair."
The hormones of love were secreted too vigorously, covering Ji Chuan's eyes and clouding his brain, making him regard Chen Nanxing as a treasure, holding her carefully in his hands every day.
After confirming their relationship, Ji Chuan did everything for Chen Nanxing himself, even small things like combing her hair, Ji Chuan refused to let Chen Nanxing do it, including the time when she was hospitalized. So when Chen Nanxing hadn't noticed anything wrong with her body yet, Ji Chuan noticed it before him.
I don’t know if it’s the effect of the medication, but Chen Nanxing has been losing a lot of hair during this period.
Ji Chuan didn't dare let Chen Nanxing know, so he secretly hid his hair.
"Short hair?"
Chen Nanxing looked at himself in the mirror, shook his head, and thought he could give it a try, so he gladly accepted Ji Chuan's suggestion:
"Alright, let's cut it here."
As he spoke, Chen Nanxing gestured to the position of his shoulders with his hands, tilted his head back to glance at Ji Chuan, and said with a smile: "Is this considered short hair?"
Ji Chuan has a physical liking for Chen Nanxing. He always can't help wanting to be intimate with Chen Nanxing, but in front of outsiders, Ji Chuan always knows how to act in moderation. He touched the back of Chen Nanxing's neck lovingly, and there was love flowing in his eyes that he himself couldn't even notice.
"Forget it."
"Okay, no problem." Seeing that they had discussed it, the barber quickly called his wife to take Chen Nanxing to wash his hair. As soon as Chen Nanxing finished washing, he shook out the apron and wrapped it around Chen Nanxing's neck.
The cool touch of the scissors touched the back of his neck, and then a "click" sound rang out in his ears. Although Chen Nanxing couldn't see, he could feel the lightness of strands of hair leaving his body, and he could almost hear the subtle sound of them hitting the ground.
Ji Chuan always stood behind Chen Nanxing, looking at Chen Nanxing through the mirror without blinking, hoping that time would pass slower, slower, and slower.
He watched the barber's scissors neatly cut off Chen Nanxing's waist-length hair, and watched the black hair that he had once entangled between his fingers and played with fall down and pile up at his feet, like a bunch of lifeless dead grass.
For no reason, Ji Chuan's eyes felt sore, his Adam's apple rolled, and his heart felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand, causing it to ache.
When the last snip of the scissors fell, Chen Nanxing's originally long hair became short hair that reached her shoulders.
In fact, short hair suits her better now. She is too thin, and her long hair looks scary. Now with short hair, Chen Nanxing's face looks smaller visually, and her eyes, which appear bigger because of her thinness, are more prominent.
The barber has a good aesthetic sense. While cutting Chen Nanxing's hair short to shoulder length, he also gave her a low-level hairstyle.
The long-lost sense of ease made Chen Nanxing smile. Ji Chuan leaned over and brushed the strands of hair off her forehead. His voice was so gentle that it could drip water: "It looks very beautiful. You look very energetic."
Chen Nanxing felt a little embarrassed by the overly direct compliment. She spread her fingers to comb her hair and stood up as if fleeing from famine. "It's your turn."
The barber followed closely behind and gestured for Ji Chuan to sit on the chair next to him: "What kind of haircut would you like, handsome?"
Ji Chuan didn't hesitate and even said in a casual tone, "Just shave it short, a buzz cut will do."
Chen Nanxing thought Ji Chuan was giving her some psychological comfort by cutting her hair short, and immediately frowned in disapproval: "Little Ji."
She wanted to say that she quite liked this short hairstyle and didn't need Ji Chuan's buzz cut to comfort her.
But Ji Chuan had already found an excuse. He smiled at Chen Nanxing in the mirror and asked cockily, "Don't you think I'd look handsome with a buzz cut?"
The barber, from his professional perspective, agreed with Ji Chuan's words: "The handsome guy has a smooth face and three-dimensional features. He will look very handsome with a buzz cut."
With professionals taking action, Chen Nanxing had nothing to say and sat aside, waiting for Ji Chuan silently.
A buzz cut is much easier to cut than other hairstyles. Chen Nanxing didn't have to wait long before the electric clipper stopped buzzing.
Ji Chuan's conceit was not a failure, and the barber's professional ability was also not in doubt. Ji Chuan's well-defined facial features were enhanced by the short haircut, making him look even more tough and handsome.
Chen Nanxing looked over and had to admit that Ji Chuan's buzz cut did suit him better than his previous curly hair period.
"Let's go."
Ji Chuan scanned the code to pay, then came over and took Chen Nanxing's hand and walked away together.
The rain came and went quickly. In the time it took them to get a haircut, the sky outside was clear again. They did not go to the hospital but went straight home.
After a trip out, Chen Nanxing was exhausted, so as soon as he got home he went to Ji Chuan's study room, which was converted from a guest room, to read.
When Ji Chuan pushed the door open, Chen Nanxing was lying on the rocking chair in the corner, reading a book intently.
When he got closer, he found that Chen Nanxing was reading "Evolutionary Psychology". Ji Chuan immediately became interested. He majored in psychology in college and had also read this famous book in the psychology community.
"Why did you find this book?"
The rocking chair sofa is for single seat, but it is very large. Chen Nanxing is thin and Ji Chuan is not fat either, so if they squeeze together, two people can barely sit on it.
Because they were sitting so crowded, the two people were basically sticking together, and when one person spoke, the other person could feel the amplitude of the vibration of that person's chest.
"Well, I picked it up after finishing that book on the history of world civilization. I've been reading it for a few days now, but I didn't read it very deeply."
Ji Chuan put one hand through the back of Chen Nanxing's neck and pulled the edge of the book with the other hand to check Chen Nanxing's reading progress.
"Mate selection strategy?"
Ji Chuan had only recently graduated, but he could still readily recall the contents of these books:
"Men are more likely to pursue young, physically fit women. To reduce the risk of uncertainty about paternity, they are more concerned about their partner's sexual fidelity. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to choose men with resources, status, and ambition."
Before they were together, Ji Chuan liked to share his life story with Chen Nanxing. After they were together, he was almost invisible to Chen Nanxing. Chen Nanxing knew that Ji Chuan majored in psychology in college, and Ji Chuan had a lot to say about this book.
"Yes, that's wonderfully said."
Chen Nanxing nodded in appreciation and applauded to confirm Ji Chuan's point of view.
Ji Chuan was greatly encouraged and recalled a funny incident from his college days that he had never told Chen Nanxing. He couldn't wait to tell Chen Nanxing:
"At the time, there was a saying circulating in our college that when getting married, people shouldn't say nonsense like, 'I'll never leave you, for richer or poorer,' but should instead place their hands on 'The Selfish Gene' and 'Evolutionary Psychology' and swear, 'I will go against my instincts, defy my nature, and remain forever loyal to you and love you forever.'"
This sentence was all the rage in their college at the time, and was considered a golden sentence for countless people to express their love. There was even a time when people on campus expressed their love by giving these two books instead of flowers.
When Ji Chuan was in college, he found this kind of operation very puzzling. Now that he is in the sea of love, he has also become one of the puzzling people.
"I think so too."
Ji Chuan solemnly closed the book "Evolutionary Psychology", held Chen Nanxing's hand and placed it on the book, and began to confess his love for her for the umpteenth time.
"Nanxing, I will go against my instincts and my nature to remain loyal to you and love you forever, even if it means the end of the world."
To this day, restraint is still a synonym for the beauty of the Chinese people, and it has not changed over the years. They express their emotions and love in a restrained way. In the general environment, everyone is accustomed to restraint, including Chen Nanxing.
But Ji Chuan is different. He is young, passionate, and expresses his love directly, like the scorching summer sun, leaving no place for people to hide.
It was such strong emotions that made Chen Nanxing helpless. She looked at Ji Chuan's eyes full of affection and stubbornness, and couldn't help but raise her hands to cover them under her palms.
Ji Chuan's eyelashes were very long, and they gently swept across her palm like two small fans.
Although the air conditioner in the room was turned on very low, Chen Nanxing felt that his palms were very hot, as if they were being burned by two balls of fire.
She hurriedly moved her hands away from Ji Chuan's eyes and found herself extremely upset.
Originally, Chen Nanxing thought that it was Ji Chuan's eyes that were expressing love, so she covered what she thought was the outlet of his love, but she didn't expect that Ji Chuan's love had already been integrated into the air around her and inhaled into her lungs.
"What's wrong?"
Ji Chuan held Chen Nanxing's hand in confusion, not understanding what Chen Nanxing's action just now meant. Chen Nanxing looked at their intertwined fingers and suddenly leaned his head over, pressing on Ji Chuan's chest.
"Thank you, Xiaoji, thank you so much."
When saying this, Chen Nanxing didn't know whether the inexplicable emotion in his heart was touching or gratitude.
Ji Chuan is a very easy-to-coax puppy. He will be very happy as long as Chen Nanxing shows a little affection to him.
In his joy, he became bolder and tenderly rubbed Chen Nanxing's hand and made a request that was basically impossible to fulfill:
"Nanxing, can you meet my parents?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
