These past few days, Liu Nian and Du Qiyan seemed possessed, constantly researching air perms and horse-tail curls together. They even made a special trip to the county town to get some supplies. So when Qing Ye’s online order of perm and dye materials arrived, everyone felt eager to experiment, as if they were about to accomplish something magnificent.

However, the troubling question remained: who would be the test subject? Du Qiyan’s hair had been straightened and curled by Liu Nian no less than three or four times these past few days, and the shop’s two wigs were nearly bald from their experiments. They then turned their attention to Manager Li, but Li Lanfang tossed her flowing red hair and said earnestly that it wasn’t that she didn’t want to help, but they couldn’t leave customers waiting at the door during mahjong games.

After she floated away like a breeze, Qing Ye watched the two looking helpless, then untied her hair tie: “I’ll do it.”

Du Qiyan hesitated: “That’s not good – you still have school. What if it turns out like mine did? How would you go to school then?”

Qing Ye walked over, sat in the chair, and looked at them in the mirror: “That’s why you need to do it properly. You’ve been researching for so long – if you mess up my hair, you’ll both have to shave your heads with me.”

The two shuddered and then began preparing the materials.

Qing Ye didn’t waste time – while they were busy with their work, she wore her headphones and held her book. She had this kind of self-discipline – no matter how many distractions were around, if she wanted to, she could instantly block out everything and immerse herself in her tasks. Especially after transferring to An Middle School, she found this ability to focus had improved even more – otherwise, she probably couldn’t have lasted a day.

Qing Ye’s hair had never been permed or dyed – it was naturally hanging, black, shiny, and smooth. The quality was very good, so Liu Nian and Du Qiyan were extremely cautious, afraid of ruining Qing Ye’s long hair.

Later, at Liu Nian’s suggestion, he wanted to try giving Qing Ye an air bangs perm. Qing Ye had no objections – she let him experiment. After all, she was the guinea pig today – as long as they didn’t burn off all her hair, they could do whatever they wanted.

The most nervous moment was when they removed the rollers. Even Qing Ye, who had been immersed in chemical formulas, took off her headphones and anxiously stared at herself in the mirror.

Like with Du Qiyan before, when the hair was wet, you really couldn’t tell if the perm had worked or not. They were just afraid that once it dried, it would stand up like risen dough.

So while Liu Nian was blow-drying her hair, she kept her eyes closed, afraid it would be too cruel to watch the process.

However, when she heard Du Qiyan calling from beside her: “Qing Ye, Qing Ye, quick, look! Isn’t this right?”

Qing Ye sneakily opened one eye to peek at herself in the mirror, then both eyes suddenly lit up. In the mirror, she saw herself with smoothly hanging, slightly curled, airy wool curls. It wasn’t excessively puffy – light and delicate rather than heavy. With the slightly curled air bangs, combined with Qing Ye’s perfect face shape and bright, lively eyes, she looked sweet and ethereal with a hint of vintage charm, just like a little fairy who had walked out of the forest.

Even Liu Nian stared at the mirror in a daze and said: “Qing Ye, you look really beautiful like this.”

Qing Ye immediately gave him a thumbs up: “Your Third Aunt wasn’t wrong – you really are a genius.”

Liu Nian said somewhat shyly: “Actually, it’s because your hair quality is good. If you had less hair, the volume at the crown wouldn’t be this nice. If you had too much hair, it would be too puffy when curled and hard to manage. You suit this hairstyle.”

Qing Ye also felt the hairstyle suited her well. She stood up and looked at herself again in the mirror, then clapped her hands: “Very good, let’s discuss pricing.”

So she pulled up a stool and began setting prices for their recently researched hairstyles. She was originally planning to set it at over 400 yuan, but Liu Nian and Du Qiyan both stopped her, telling her the price was too high. They thought 150 to 200 yuan was appropriate, no more than that.

Qing Ye once again sighed at the price difference – in Beijing, at the salon she used to frequent, you couldn’t even get bangs permed for that price.

Xing Wu came back quite early today. Seeing the rolling door half-closed but the lights still on inside, he knocked from outside. Qing Ye happened to be standing by the door and bent down to open it. When the rolling door went up and Xing Wu saw her, he froze in place. They stood there, one outside the door, one inside, looking at each other.

Xing Wu’s dark bright eyes sparkled with fine fragments of light as he stared at her intently. He had never seen Qing Ye with this style before – just changing her hairstyle made her whole person light up, clear, and enchanting, making it impossible to look away.

Qing Ye somewhat awkwardly tilted her head and touched her hair, asking in a soft voice: “Does it look good?”

The corner of Xing Wu’s mouth curved into a faint smile as he walked in. As he passed by her, he casually dropped: “Don’t ask such pointless questions next time.”

Qing Ye turned around and was just about to punch him when Xing Wu slightly shifted his body to dodge, put down his toolbox, and said to her: “I’m dirty, don’t touch me.”

Only then did Qing Ye notice that he was quite dirty, seemingly stained with something like machine oil – even his hands were black. So after Xing Wu came back, he went straight to the backyard to shower.

Qing Ye tore a page from her notebook and began calculating the membership card system with Liu Nian and the others – like what discount to give for charging certain amounts at once, how to set up haircut cards, and how to calculate perm and dye cards.

In the end, all the calculations left Liu Nian and Du Qiyan completely confused.

When Xing Wu came out after his shower, he saw Liu Nian pointing at her discount scheme saying: “I don’t understand – we currently charge 10 yuan for a haircut, how come it’s increased to 12? Customers will think we’re expensive and won’t come anymore.”

Qing Ye pointed at the plan written on the paper: “That’s why we need to promote and encourage old customers to get cards. With a card, haircuts become 8 yuan – isn’t that a good deal for them?”

“But we’re losing money,” Du Qiyan said.

Qing Ye clicked her tongue: “How come you can’t understand? When customers charge their cards at once, aren’t they sure to come back? This way we stabilize our customer base and get cash flow.

Let’s make a hypothesis – suppose our hairstyles become popular at Zhazha Pavilion and lots of people come for perms. Can you two handle all the work? Can our current shop keep up?

What do we do if there’s a sudden increase in customer flow in a short time?

Look!”

Qing Ye pointed at the paper again: “That’s when we need our cash flow to help us solve potential problems. Cash flow is a more important profit quality indicator than profit margins. Haven’t you heard ‘Before moving the army, prepare the provisions’? Cash flow is our provisions – whether it’s solving existing problems, expanding operations, or trying something new, it’s our guarantee.”

Liu Nian said: “Qing Ye, aren’t you thinking too much? What if no one comes?”

Qing Ye immediately stood up and tapped his forehead: “Do you know why you only just discovered you’re a genius? Because you’ve always been doubting yourself. Why doubt yourself? We haven’t even tried and you’re already being negative – is this how things get done? If everyone thought this way, how would society develop? How would new businesses establish themselves? Do you know why people in Zhazha Pavilion are poor? Because they’re all living life backward.”

Xing Wu sat leaning back with crossed legs, quietly smoking a cigarette while listening to the three’s animated discussion.

Li Lanfang had run this shabby hair salon for many years, basically operating on a wing and prayer. Management? Just open the doors and leave it to fate.

Yet now Qing Ye was treating this broken-down shop like a real business, even conducting what seemed like employee training and mindset development.

Gradually, Xing Wu’s gaze settled on Qing Ye as she stood before Liu Nian and Du Qiyan, gesturing and explaining, her whole being radiating energy and light.

Qing Ye was right – their county was already quite backward, and Zhazha Pavilion was the poorest slum in the county. Most people here lived day to day, content just to have enough to eat. Everyone had this attitude of just getting by, naturally lacking confidence in everything they did, with self-doubt and negativity becoming the norm.

But in Qing Ye, Xing Wu saw a vitality and positivity he’d never seen before as if her small frame contained limitless energy. This constant upward pull she created made Xing Wu fall into deep thought.

Finally, they allocated the work – Du Qiyan would make a promotional poster tomorrow to put at the entrance, Liu Nian would further consolidate the newly researched perm techniques, and then they both looked at Qing Ye: “What about you?”

Qing Ye tossed her curls proudly: “I’ll bring in customers!”

Xing Wu found it amusing from the sidelines, looking at the three of them like they were idiots, with the air of three cobblers trying to match Zhuge Liang’s wisdom.

Before Du Qiyan left, Qing Ye saw Xing Wu hand her an envelope at the shop entrance. Du Qiyan seemed to refuse a few times, but after Xing Wu said something to her, she finally accepted and left.

Xing Wu came back in and pulled down the rolling door. While Qing Ye was organizing things by the washing station, she asked him: “Did you give Yan Yan money?”

Xing Wu happened to be walking behind her and handed her a clip with an “Mm.”

Qing Ye took the clip and glanced back at him, then went to the backyard to shower.

Qing Ye’s feelings were complicated. She had never been poor – accurately speaking, she’d never worried about money since birth. But Xing Wu was different. He seemed to live casually, appearing not to care about anything, yet after learning about her plans to study abroad, he never let her spend a penny, whether on those not-so-cheap daily necessities or this time when she planned to give money to Du Qiyan.

Qing Ye understood that Xing Wu was planning for her, though she couldn’t imagine why he would. She was at most a temporary guest in his home, bound to leave eventually. She didn’t even know if, after the college entrance exam and going abroad, she would have any connection with Xing Wu or the people of Zhazha Pavilion. This thought made her feel frustrated.

Just then her phone rang – it was Sun Hai calling. She quickly answered. Sun Hai asked how she was doing, and she said things were good, school had started, and everything was going smoothly.

Hearing Uncle Sun’s voice again and thinking of her previous life, then looking at this dim bathroom, Qing Ye suddenly felt it all seemed unreal.

She sat on the small stool in the bathroom chatting with Uncle Sun for a while. Sun Hai had been quite worried about her adjusting to An County, but hearing Qing Ye’s voice seemed to put him somewhat at ease.

On the phone, he told Qing Ye there had been some progress with her father’s case. Meng Ruihang’s father had found a key witness now in Japan. Mr. Meng had a friend going to Japan next month and planned to have them talk to the witness. If that person would testify for Qing Ye’s father in court, it could have a crucial impact on the case.

Qing Ye felt excited on one hand – at least Uncle Sun and the others hadn’t given up on her father and were still making various efforts. But on the other hand, she felt conflicted about the Meng family’s actions. They had refused to take her in initially, yet now they were still trying to help her father. She didn’t know whether to thank them or blame them, especially after Meng Ruihang had gotten together with He Leling behind her back. If her father really could get out of trouble this time, she wouldn’t know how to face the Meng family in the future. Fortunately, these weren’t problems she needed to consider right now.

Before hanging up, Sun Hai worriedly gave Qing Ye a few more reminders: “Xiao Ye, don’t worry about your father’s situation. Your studies are the most important thing right now. Uncle Sun isn’t worried about your ability, just afraid the environment around you might wear down your determination. I saw your father last month, and he was talking about you. You can’t let your father down.”

“I understand.”

After hanging up, Qing Ye sat in the bathroom for a while longer until there was a knock on the door, Xing Wu asked from outside: “Are you planning to sleep in there?”

Only then did Qing Ye open the door to find it had started drizzling outside at some point. Xing Wu came with an umbrella to get her. She stared somewhat dazedly at Xing Wu’s deep eyes and brows, that heavy feeling growing stronger.

She picked up her clothes and phone and stepped under the umbrella. They were very close, and Qing Ye could smell his fresh, pleasant scent. She didn’t even know when she had become so sensitive to his smell.

After entering the back door, Xing Wu folded the umbrella and turned to put it aside, closing the back door as well. When he turned around, Qing Ye was leaning by the door, her hair slightly damp, air bangs falling softly between her brows, small curls fluffy and soft, making her eyes shine like clear springs in the darkness. Her skin was as white as a peeled egg, clear and alluring. Xing Wu didn’t move for a moment, maintaining his door-pushing posture with one hand braced against the door frame as he looked at her.

Qing Ye had been waiting for him to lock the door, but seeing him motionless, she looked up and asked: “What are you looking at?”

“Looking at how changing your hairstyle has made you look more and more like a spirit.”

He said this while locking the door and walking towards the stairs. Qing Ye followed behind him and retorted: “Xing Wu, why are you so annoying? Would it kill you to just say I’m pretty? Don’t you think you’re quite unlikeable sometimes?”

“If you find me so unlikeable, why don’t you just fall in love with me then.”

Silence. Sudden silence. Only the creaking of wooden stairs under their feet. Neither spoke anymore.

Back in the room, the curtain separated them. Qing Ye continued with her practice books, persisting for another hour before turning off the lights. Xing Wu’s side had been quiet for a while.

Qing Ye lay in bed, blinked twice, and suddenly spoke into the darkness: “I won’t stop moving forward for anyone.”

She didn’t know if these words were meant for Xing Wu or herself – perhaps both. But Xing Wu gave no response, perhaps already asleep.

…

Early the next morning, just as Qing Ye arrived at school, her class erupted in chaos. The principal, Miss Yu, and a group of school leaders had rushed straight to their class. The situation suggested something major had happened.