Chapter 42

Chapter 42 - 42 041 Still better looking without glasses Chapter 42: 041: Still better looking without glasses Chapter 42: 041: Still better looking without glasses Around ten o’clock, Xie Shang received a call from Ms. Su Nanzhi.

“I heard from your uncle that you took a girl out for dinner today.”

“Mhm.”

Su Nanzhi wasn’t a gossip, she just found it curious.

As soon as Xie Shang had turned eighteen, Su Nanzhi had given him an adult sex education class, which basically taught him to respect women, stating he could date but not be promiscuous, could be carried away by passion but must protect the girl from harm.

He had listened calmly throughout the whole thing and could even skillfully tie a knot in a condom.

“Where did you learn that?”

“Tianfang City.”

Tianfang City was a well-known pleasure quarter in the capital, with all kinds of extravagant diversions; it was the place men loved to go, and Su Nanzhi had heard plenty of stories about rich young men’s “romantic escapades,” each one more decadent than the last.

Kids are hard to teach, especially those who don’t lack resources because they are exposed to too much and face many temptations.

“Did you go there to mess around?”

Having been self-disciplined since a young age, Su Nanzhi rarely restricted Xie Shang’s behavior and more or less let him raise himself.

He shook his head: “Didn’t play, not interesting.” He said something that Su Nanzhi still remembered to this day, “Those who can’t even control their own bodies are inferior.”

Afterwards, Su Nanzhi never really saw him messing with relationships. Instead, she occasionally saw him paying respects to Buddha, reading scriptures, burning incense, and brewing tea. She was actually worried he might one day find the mundane world too uninteresting and simply become a monk.

So him taking a girl out to eat was big news.

“Girlfriend?”

Xie Shang said, “No.”

Madam Zhai took the chance to chime in, “When will you bring her over for us to see?”

Madam Zhai wasn’t a gossip either; she just had accumulated a few boxes of jewelry with no one to give them to. She couldn’t possibly give them to Su Beihe’s partner.

“Not a girlfriend.”

“Haven’t won her over yet?” Su Nanzhi teased, “What a waste of the good looks I gave you.”

Xie Shang didn’t want to continue this topic.

“Mom, can you go online and dispel some rumors?”

“Which one?”

Sorry, but the movie queen’s scandals were far too numerous, and some were just outrageous.

“The rich lady’s sweetheart one.”

*****

Su Nanzhi timed it for the top of the hour and posted on Weibo at eleven o’clock.

Su Nanzhi V: This sweetheart was given life by me.

Within half an hour, this post was trending on the hot search.

[Granny]

[I don’t believe it, not unless there’s a high-resolution picture]

[This wave of hype, is he about to debut?]

[My hand’s cramping from deleting ‘couple’ posts, this is what you get for shipping recklessly!]

[Can cook, take care of people, has no bad habits, doesn’t require a dowry, could have two kids in three years. Granny, do you think I stand a chance?]

[Beauty that runs in the family]

There are three hair salons on Lotus Pond Street, and the one Wen Changling often goes to is the closest to Granny Zhu’s house, called Lanying Hair Salon. The proprietress of Lanying Hair Salon is Jiang Lanying.

Today was the weekend, and the salon was quite crowded.

Jiang Lanying had just finished washing a client’s hair and had a towel draped over her shoulder: “Trim or wash?”

Wen Changling replied, “Just the bangs.”

Jiang Lanying settled the client she was working on and led Wen Changling to the furthest left empty chair.

“Sit here.”

Wen Changling sat down.

Jiang Lanying had just secured the cape around Wen Changling when a client with pear blossom-tinted curls got impatient:

“Boss Lady, is my hair done yet? How long has this chemical been on?”

The salon was a small business with no assistant, so Jiang Lanying shouted toward the staircase, “Yang Xining!”

Yang Xining, a full-time illustrator who believes that, despite not making enough from her royalties to eat well, the future will hold promise for her.

She shuffled downstairs wearing slippers, draped in an oversized T-shirt, with her hair a complete bird’s nest, “What’s up? I’m creating here.”

She was working on a pure love masterpiece, with Boss Xie of the pawnshop as the inspiration.

“Come help her trim her bangs,” Jiang Lanying turned, comforting Wen Changling with a smile, “Don’t worry, my girl’s learned this; she won’t mess it up.”

Wen Changling had a bad feeling.

Yang Xining quickly tied her hair into an extremely messy bun, took the scissors, and came over, “You want bangs like this?”

“Mhm.”

“How long?”

Wen Changling indicated a length to her jaw, “This long.”

Yang Xining started cutting, and all was well at first—until—

Two customers at the next table began gossiping.

“Not the rich lady’s darling, don’t spread nonsense.”

Yang Xining perked up her ears to listen.

She was excited, new material was coming her way.

The customer spoke in a hushed voice, “My daughter told me, that’s Boss Xie’s mother.”

“Her own mother?”

“Right, her biological mother.”

“I was wondering why they looked somewhat alike.”

Yang Xining was so engrossed in listening, she didn’t pay attention to her work and snipped straight through.

Wen Changling froze.

Yang Xining came to her senses, saw Wen Changling in the mirror, and froze, awkwardly holding on to that strand of bangs, not knowing whether to drop it or keep it, “Sorry about that.”

She had cut it too short. How short? After it stood up, it wouldn’t hang down on its own.

Wen Changling pressed it down. It wouldn’t stay.

Yang Xining felt very embarrassed, “Maybe... I can glue it back on.”

“Yang Xining!” Before Wen Changling could get angry, Jiang Lanying was already furious, charging over with scissors in hand, “You damn thing!!!”

Yang Xining dodged her mother’s flying kicks while apologizing to Wen Changling.

By that point—

“It’s okay,” Wen Changling forced a laugh.

Jiang Lanying, putting off scolding her rebellious daughter for now, tended to the mess, smiling apologetically, “Let me fix it for you.”

“Oh, okay.”

But it couldn’t be fixed properly. The sides could only be trimmed to be equally short. Jiang Lanying blew it dry for a long time and used some hair gel to temporarily make the bangs on both sides hang down obediently.

In the end, truly remorseful, Jiang Lanying didn’t charge Wen Changling, instead, gifting her a bunch of haircut coupons and a pitaya as compensation.

Wen Changling, pressing down the short bangs that sprang up the moment she left the Lanying Hair Salon, walked home with her head down.

“Wen Changling?”

Suddenly someone called her. She instinctively turned around, and her facial expression stiffened in an instant.

The person had a scar as long as a finger on the right side of his forehead.

After Wen Yuan passed away, Wen Changling stayed at her granduncle’s for a while. Zeng Zhili was her granduncle’s adopted son and was the same age as Wen Changling.

The last time they met was in court; Zeng Zhili was the defendant, and Wen Changling was the plaintiff. By the looks of it, he must have just been released from prison.

Zeng Zhili was thinner and more haggard than seven years before, with pronounced hollows in his cheeks. Seeing Wen Changling’s face, he first chuckled, “You really do live here.”

Wen Changling turned and ran.

Zeng Zhili caught up and grabbed her hand, “Why run? Are you that scared of me?”

Does one step back from feces out of fear? No, it’s because it’s filthy.

Wen Changling shook off Zeng Zhili’s hand and stepped back defensively.

He looked her up and down; the scar on his forehead made his eyes appear asymmetrical, “Why are you wearing glasses now?”

He caressed the fingers that had touched Wen Changling, a reminiscent look on his face, “You look better without them.”