Parting always arrives without warning, catching a person completely off guard.

Just the night before, Zhou Haiyan had still promised he’d come look at the photos with me the next day. But the moment I woke up, he told me he’d be leaving that very afternoon.

We had less than three hours left together.

And today was June 22nd.

I’d originally planned to throw him a birthday celebration once I got paid for the modeling job, but now it would have to happen early.

Zhou Haiyan had never once let me go without money to spend, but this time, I wanted to use my own.

So I went to the entrance of the East Market, where that same rusty single-bar bicycle still sat parked, the same loudspeaker still blaring the same call: “Buying hair, buying long hair, cutting long braids, top prices paid, sell your hair here.”

“Little girl, want to sell your hair?” It was the same man cutting hair, still there.

“Sell it.”

“Two hundred, how about it?”

“No.”

“Three hundred, three hundred’s my final offer!”

“No.”

“Fine, forget it then.” He’d noticed I was in a hurry for money and was deliberately lowballing me.

“Three hundred, fine.”

Because high school had kept me so busy, and my long hair took too much time to wash, I’d cut it once in between. Four years later, my hair had only grown back a little longer than it had been back then.

I had no time to keep haggling with him—three hundred was enough.

But I’d forgotten just how cunning and mercenary these dealers could be. The cold scissors sliced through my hair, and I couldn’t see exactly how he was cutting it, only felt handful after handful falling away, my scalp growing chillier, my whole head feeling noticeably lighter.

He’d said he’d only cut it to chin length, but when I finally looked in the mirror, I found he’d sheared it straight down to the roots—I’d been forcibly cropped down to a buzz cut.

The middle-aged man licked his fingers, spat once, counted out three red bills, and handed them to me.

I was so furious my lips trembled. “You never said you’d cut it this short.”

He looked at me sideways. “This is how we do it in this line of work. Take it or leave it. I can always give you your hair back if you want.”

He knew perfectly well the cutting was already done—there was no use giving it back to me now.

I snatched the money from him. “You cheap crook. Karma’s coming for you eventually.”

Then I turned and walked away.

At this hour, most of the cake shops in town hadn’t opened yet. I ran from place to place, and just as I was starting to think I wouldn’t find one, I finally found one open for business.

“Miss, please, I’m begging you, please make it as fast as you can.”

An hour later, I carried a freshly made blueberry cake to a nearby flower shop.

“Boss, one bunch of sunflowers, please.”

After buying all of that, I had exactly eight yuan and seven jiao left in my pocket.

Looking at everything filling my arms, the satisfaction in my heart drowned out any worry about my hair.

Only, when Zhou Haiyan saw the cake and the flowers, he didn’t look nearly as happy as I’d imagined he would.

He stared at my hair, pressing his lips together hard, and after a long moment, cursed softly, “You little idiot.”

I caught, sharp-eyed, a faint glimmer of tears in his eyes, and without thinking of anything else, rushed straight toward him.

“Hold it in, hold it in, no crying allowed. The old folks say tears before a parting bring bad luck for half a lifetime.”

“…”

I frantically fanned my hand above his eyes.

“…”

His throat caught, and when he finally looked up again, his eyes were full of speechless exasperation.

I let out a breath of relief, and just like always, pulled him over to stick the candles in together and light them.

The flames flickered, and just then bright, lively sunlight spilled down, merging with the candlelight.

“Zhou Haiyan, happy birthday.”

At the same time, he leaned in close to my ear and said something quietly.

But my right ear was completely deaf now, from the earlier haircut incident.

I could only stare at him blankly.

He looked away casually, saying as if it were nothing, “Nothing much. Just, happy birthday.”

I believed him.

We closed our eyes together and made our wishes.

This year, I wished for his safety on the road ahead, and for the two of us to have countless more years together.

As always, he tried to dab the first bit of cream onto my forehead, but I dodged and, quick as anything, dabbed it onto the center of his brow instead.

“I’m giving you all my good luck from now on. You can give it back to me once you’re home.”

He’d never liked sweets, but this time he ate through the entire cake, splitting it with me down to the last bite.

Just before he left, he reached out and rubbed the top of my head, sounding surprised.

“Still a bit prickly.”

“…Then don’t touch it.”

He suddenly let out a short laugh, the corner of his mouth curving faintly.

“Next time I come back, it won’t be prickly anymore.”

When he left, he took nothing with him except that ten-yuan bill, worn nearly to shreds by now, and the bunch of sunflowers I’d just bought.

I stood by the door, watching him and Brother Fu’s backs, until they vanished at the end of the road.

Strangely, my heart didn’t feel all that painful—just a dull, heavy feeling, some flavor I couldn’t quite name.

My eyes stung too, but no tears would come, leaving only a bitterness filling my mouth.

It wasn’t until later that I realized this was called numbness.

That night before bed, I felt under my pillow and found a set of keys and a bank card.

Zhou Haiyan had left me the little house, along with all the savings he’d accumulated over the years.

The tears welled up without warning.

Like being caught in an acid rain.