He dropped Qingye off at the entrance of Xuandian and was about to leave after handing her the medicine when she said: “Add me on WeChat.”
Xing Wu raised an eyebrow and glanced at her. Qingye took out her phone and sneered: “Playing hard to get now?”
Xing Wu said nothing but slid open his QR code for her to scan. Just as he mounted his scooter, his phone buzzed. He checked to find Qingye had sent him a red envelope marked: “Medicine money.”
Xing Wu scoffed and put his phone back in his pocket.
Li Lanfang fussed over Qingye’s fall all morning, but by afternoon she was back to playing cards as if nothing had happened. Only one of the two wash-cut-blow stylists came in today, the other saying they were taking a break. The one who came wore a dog chain on his belt and introduced himself to Qingye as “Liu Nian.” Qingye almost heard it as “durian” and was about to comment on the strange-smelling name when Liu Nian showed her his name tag and Qingye’s unclear eyes could roughly make out “Liu Nian.”
She wasn’t sure if it was his real name – it had a strong “funeral love family forty-five-degree sky-gazing” vibe to it.
Li Lanfang had Qingye sit at the cashier counter to help collect money while she went to play mahjong. The barbershop had a decent business that afternoon, and Brother Liu Nian washed and cut hair without a single complaint, even bringing water for Qingye during his free time. Qingye casually asked him: “How much do you make per month?”
Liu Nian flipped his flowing hair and replied: “1,200 yuan, plus bonuses when Boss Li wins at mahjong.”
Qingye nearly spat out her water. Looking at the simple fellow before her, she was momentarily speechless. What kind of faith made him work so diligently for 1,200 yuan? This was truly a magical place.
After three o’clock, Yellow Hair and Fatty came to the barbershop. They’d heard yesterday that Xing Wu had a beautiful cousin and came specially to tease – no, to visit her.
As soon as Yellow Hair entered, he familiarly patted Li Lanfang: “Auntie, pure hand straight dragon, huh?”
Li Lanfang irritably swatted his hand away: “Get lost, you’re scaring away my luck. Where’s Wuzi?”
Yellow Hair’s eyes shifted to Qingye, and he answered distractedly: “He’s busy.”
“Busy my ass.” Li Lanfang cursed, completely unaware she was cursing herself.
Qingye immediately recognized these two – the fat one and the skinny one – as the thugs from Xing Wu’s motorcycle yesterday and naturally felt no goodwill toward them. She kept her head down, scrolling through her phone.
Yellow Hair pulled up a chair next to Qingye and was about to strike up a conversation when she looked up, nearly scaring him off his chair. Her blood-red eyes were full of blood vessels and wide open. Yellow Hair stammered: “Holy shit, zombie transformation?”
Just then, Xing Wu walked in carrying a plastic bag. He walked straight to Yellow Hair and kicked his chair, making him stand up: “What are you doing here?”
Yellow Hair smiled and winked: “Just came to see cousin, didn’t we? But what’s wrong with your cousin? Looks scary.”
Xing Wu took the plastic bag inside and replied: “Fell down the stairs, got acute conjunctivitis. You came to visit a patient empty-handed?”
Yellow Hair sheepishly said: “We’ll make up for it, make up for it! Tomorrow I’ll bring some big apples. Cousin, what else would you like? Just tell Big Brother.”
Xing Wu watched Yellow Hair’s eager manner without comment, but Qingye replied without hesitation: “Cherries and avocados.”
“Cher…” Yellow Hair looked back at Xing Wu, his eyes saying ‘Your big cousin isn’t easy to please.’
Xing Wu’s lips curved slightly, while Fatty, who had been quiet for a while, finally processed things and asked: “Wh-why would falling downstairs cause conjunctivitis?”
All three people looked up at him and unanimously cursed: “Idiot.”
Then Yellow Hair paused before laughing loudly: “Now this shows she’s family! Look at that synchronization!”
Qingye pulled at the corner of her mouth, and a hint of amusement flickered in Xing Wu’s eyes as he glanced at her, but it vanished the next second. He snatched Qingye’s phone away, his tone unpleasant: “Want to go blind? Go upstairs and sleep.”
Having sat for several hours, Qingye didn’t mind going upstairs. She limped past Xing Wu, supporting herself against the wall. As she passed him, she suddenly stopped and said: “Take your medicine money.”
Without looking up, Xing Wu said: “I might be broke, but I’m not so poor I need your medicine money.”
Qingye found it completely baffling. What was wrong with her normally paying him for the medicine? Which nerve had she struck this time? He was sick in the head.
She ignored him and turned to go upstairs.
Yellow Hair clicked his tongue and said to Xing Wu: “Bro, aren’t you being too harsh with your cousin?”
“Your cousin or my cousin?”
“Your cousin, though I wouldn’t mind being your cousin-in-law.” Yellow Hair finished with a leering grin and a grotesque wink. Just then, an old man came in for a haircut, and Xing Wu barked at Yellow Hair: “Get lost and help out.”
“Yes, yes.”