(1)
It was five o’clock in the afternoon, and Xiaocheng No. 2 Middle School had already dismissed for the day.
The days were growing longer. Even at this hour, the sky remained bright, though the setting sun was veiled by clouds, leaving only a vast expanse of crimson “fire clouds” stretching across the horizon.
The pale blue sky carried a hint of the softness unique to spring, making one instinctively relax and want to take a deep breath.
Truthfully, the climate in Xiaocheng was somewhat similar to Keisuke Michihashi’s hometown of Kagoshima, so he often caught a familiar scent in the air.
Here, small red flowers bloomed all over the hills; in his hometown, red camellias bloomed just as wildly across the landscape.
But this place was better than his hometown in one regard: it was connected to a vast continent, free from the frequent earthquakes and tsunamis.
Here, he felt far more at ease than he ever had in those Western countries.
This familiarity also made him accustomed to handling matters the way they did back home.
Currently, he was walking through the streets and alleys of the small city, looking for a suitable spot—the kind of place that was generally cluttered but not too secluded, sometimes even located right in a bustling downtown area.
There, one could find a group of poor girls waiting to be rescued by adults. Their demands weren’t high; as long as you had a stable job, you could certainly afford the price. And compared to those “one-night-stand” businesses that ended after a single encounter, they preferred long-term cooperation… or rather, a more stable form of “assistance.”
Compensated dating—each taking what they needed, using simple money and superficial feelings to please one another.
Before long, near the entrance of the covered shopping street, Keisuke Michihashi locked his gaze onto a girl who was dressed decently but hadn’t forgotten to showcase her curves.
She was very young, appearing to be no more than sixteen or seventeen, yet her body radiated a mature charm. However, the look in her eyes remained green—a mature body but an immature soul. This was the most popular type.
As for the police car parked next to the girl, Keisuke didn’t care in the least.
Because in Japan, this kind of compensated dating wasn’t illegal.
Keisuke didn’t rush to greet her. He simply walked forward as if passing by casually, smiling and giving her a slight, polite nod.
The girl’s attention was clearly caught by this somewhat handsome, middle-aged face, and she couldn’t help but steal a glance.
Keisuke then stopped in his tracks, wearing a very approachable smile. “Hello, do you need help?”
“Help…? I don’t need any.” The girl shook her head and blinked in confusion. Though she had a face that looked very well-behaved and introverted, her tone was cheerful when she spoke. “What about you, Uncle? What are you looking for? Do you need help?”
“I am looking for girls who need help—I give them money to support their schooling and buy things they like. All I need in return is a little bit of companionship in my life.”
“…” The girl sized up the “uncle.” The face that had looked slightly handsome a moment ago now seemed written all over with stupidity—he was just a few drops of drool away from playing the part of a half-wit. “Are you sick?”
“I am not sick. If you are worried, I can show you my full physical examination certificate,” Keisuke said with a serious face. “Furthermore, I have never been infected with an STD to this day.”
“…You really are sick, aren’t you? There’s a police car parked right there.” The girl crossed her arms, looking at this uncle whose intentions were far too direct. “If you want to solve your ‘problem,’ go find a hair salon.”
“No, what I need is a more long-term, stable, and reliable relationship.”
“Psycho.” The girl looked indignant. “Who do you take me for?”
Seeing this, Keisuke quickly whispered his price: “Thirty thousand yuan a month. No overnight stays required, and you only need to do very little.”
“If you aren’t satisfied, we can negotiate the terms further.” Keisuke introduced himself with a straight face. “I am a man living alone. I need the companionship of a young girl so that I don’t sink into that boundless loneliness.”
“…Are you singing a song or something?” The girl was somewhat speechless.
“This is my business card. You can contact me through this number; I’ll be free for the next few days.” Keisuke’s expression was incredibly sincere. “Please, give it some serious thought.”
After speaking, Keisuke turned and left without hesitation—he still had other places to go to find new targets. After all, one couldn’t put all their eggs in one basket.
The girl stared blankly at his retreating figure. She lightly pinched the business card, which felt unusually thick. Suddenly, with a click, she snapped it in half.
In fact, the card itself was a hidden device with a hollow space inside. Stuffed within were exactly ten red one-hundred-yuan bills.
“Counterfeit…?” She didn’t quite believe it, lightly pinching the crisp, brand-new bills rolled into a ball. “There’s no way they’re real, right?”
“Hey—Dijiukai! You’re walking so fast!”
“You’re too slow.”
“Your boyfriend is still behind us.”
“He’s dead slow, I don’t want to wait for him.” Dijiukai curled her lip.
“Did you guys have another fight?”
“No, it’s just that lately I feel like we aren’t on the same wavelength.”
“Huff… puff… Xiao Ai, you’re really fast. I took a detour just now to buy you fried skewers. Look, your favorite fried potatoes.”
“I’m getting a bit tired of eating this every day.”
“I see. I’ll buy something else next time.” The slightly chubby boy panted slightly. “Didn’t you say you disliked coming here? Why did you walk this way today?”
“I haven’t been here in a long time, just felt like looking around.”
“Haha, if you run into your ex-boyfriend, he’ll be pissed off again.”
“It’s been so many years; who still remembers whom?” Dijiukai lightly brushed the bangs on her forehead. “A new phone came out recently. it looks amazing, I really want to buy one.”
“Your parents definitely won’t agree; that thing is way too expensive.”
“Yeah, true…”
“I don’t have big money right now, but spending a little is fine. Today’s budget is one hundred yuan; buy whatever you want.”
“Oh, we’ll see.”
“Our anniversary is coming up in a while. Where do you want to go to celebrate?”
“Hmm—you arrange it.”
“I still need to hear your opinion. I’m not like your ex-boyfriend; I’m much more gentle and considerate than him.”
“Why do you keep bringing him up? That was back in seventh grade.” Dijiukai curled her lip. “It’s so long ago it feels like another lifetime.”
“Haha, just a casual mention.”
“It’s just that you’ve gotten fat lately. Last year, you were even handsomer than him.”
“Sigh, who told you to always leave your leftovers for me? I guess I should lose some weight.”
“You aren’t allowed to! What if someone steals you away once you lose weight?”
“Hehe… okay, okay, I won’t lose it. I’ll eat until I’m a big fatty and belong to you forever, okay? Haha.”
“Of course, being too fat isn’t good either. This is just right.” Dijiukai felt the hundred-yuan bill in her pocket—unsure if it was real or fake—as her gaze swept over the giant poster in front of the mobile phone store.
[iPhone 3GS, Explosive Discount, 3,699 Yuan!]
It was the most advanced phone of the time, innovatively removing the physical keyboard with a solid block of pure black screen. Even on a poster, it was captivating.
(2)
Above the old barbershop, the character for ‘King’ in the word ‘Barber’ was already missing. Now, even the top part of the sign couldn’t hold on any longer and finally fell after a light breeze. It landed squarely on Zhao Lao’er’s head just as he was about to push the door open.
“F—k!! Li Fayuan, your shop sign fell off! Pay up!”
“No money.”
“It almost hit Ningning!”
“Is Ningning okay?”
“Ningning is fine, and the kitty is fine too!” Bie Ningning smiled vibrantly and nodded vigorously.
“Damn it, there aren’t even any customers. Come on, I’ll treat you to dinner.”
“Wait a second.”
“What are you writing?” Zhao Lao’er leaned over and saw Li Fayuan writing stroke by stroke under the blue light, as neat as if it were printed.
“Donating to help impoverished college students.”
“Crap, you actually believe in that.”
“I’ve looked through the materials carefully and contacted them.”
“Giving money away for nothing… only a fool does that.”
“It’s only five hundred yuan a month. It isn’t much.”
“How much net profit does this crappy shop of yours even make in a month?”
“Over two thousand, I guess.”
“After rent?”
“After rent.”
“You’d be better off getting a regular job, for f—k’s sake.”
“Why don’t you get one?”
“I’ve got money! I haven’t even finished spending the RMB I got from exchanging my US dollars!” Zhao Lao’er looked smug. “How about this? I’ll invest a sum in you, renovate this crappy shop, and jack up the prices. Customers will come flooding in.”
“No.”
“I’ll only take a thirty percent cut!”
“I wouldn’t do it even for a ten percent cut.”
“You’re a real iron rooster, stingier than me.”
“Someone always needs a cheap haircut.” Li Fayuan signed his name at the bottom of the form and slowly raised his head. “This is fine. It isn’t like it’s unusable.”
“No class.”
“Take care of your own life first.” Li Fayuan looked at Zhao Lao’er. “Lao’er, do you want to learn a skill? The money in your hand will run out eventually.”
“Learn what? I’ve been famous for being a good-for-nothing since I was a kid. And I f—king hate the idea of barbering.”
“What’s wrong with barbering? It’s clean. At least it’s more comfortable than fixing cars.”
“I f—king won’t learn to fix cars either.” Zhao Lao’er poked Li Fayuan’s chest. “Besides, I just go out and pick up a customer whenever I’m free now. I earn a few dozen yuan a day, which is about enough. It’s easy.”
Li Fayuan ignored him. He silently pulled a cigarette from his pocket, tucked it in his mouth, struck a match with one hand to light it, then picked up the sealed letter and slowly pushed open the deep blue glass door. “Watch the shop for me. I’m mailing a letter.”
“Hurry up! Ningning is hungry!”
“It’s okay! Ningning won’t be hungry if she plays with the kitty!”
“Then you can play with the cat every day so you don’t have to eat.”
“Wu— No! Second Daddy is bad!”
“Hahaha—little girl—” Zhao Lao’er laughed loudly and looked up, but the glass door was soon pushed open again.
A female student who wasn’t wearing a school uniform walked in.
“Where’s the boss?” She looked like she didn’t really want to talk to Zhao Lao’er.
“He went out. He’ll be back in a bit.”
“How long? Five minutes, maybe!”
“Oh. I’ll wait for him to come back to dye my hair.” The girl grumbled and sat down in a chair, fiddling with her bangs in front of the mirror—as if no matter how she fixed them, she would never be satisfied.
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