Qi sat back in her small chair.
Chatted with Bai Qiaoyu had actually refreshed her spirit, and she was no longer as sleepy as she had been at the start.
She gazed at the crowd passing by outside the glass doors.
Her seat was quite conspicuous, and there was even a spotlight beside her.
People walking past instinctively glanced at her.
‘They want to attract customers this way?’
It reminded Qi of those mascot statues placed at the entrances of large supermarkets.
She felt like the effect was probably about the same.
When she imagined that image and then applied it to herself, she felt quite ridiculous.
She wasn’t sure if it was because of her, but quite a few people did indeed push open the door and enter the shop after making eye contact with her this morning.
Or perhaps it was simply because of her position—anyone wanting to come in was bound to see her.
Of course, Qi didn’t care about that.
She only earned a fixed salary of 3,000, so it didn’t matter how many customers showed up.
She was only responsible for sitting there, which was very easy.
That peaceful state of affairs lasted until a woman, who looked very wealthy based on her attire, entered the barbershop.
“The shop is a bit full right now. You can go sit in the lounge for a while.”
The Proprietress treated her with an attitude completely different from the other customers.
While leading the woman deeper into the shop, she also happened to pull the black-haired girl along with them.
“You go grab a fruit platter and bring it in to the guest later. Try your best to satisfy any requests she has,” the plump woman instructed Qi.
“What’s with that look? This guest is a Black Card Member of our shop. Each time she spends money here, it’s worth more than three months of your salary. If you make her angry, I’ll deal with you later!”
‘So you do know how little you pay me…’
The black-haired girl grumbled silently in her heart.
Following the Proprietress’s orders, she went to the back to get a fresh fruit platter and brought it to the lounge door, giving it a knock.
“Come in.”
Qi pushed the door open and walked inside, placing the fruit platter in front of the woman.
Unlike the public lounge outside, this was an exclusive lounge for members, essentially a private room.
Furthermore, the interior was equipped with a sofa, a coffee table, and even a television.
It had many facilities that shouldn’t appear in a barbershop; it wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to call it a KTV room.
She felt like the people opening shops in this district were all quite creative.
She wondered if it was due to the influence of the School in the center.
After putting down the fruit platter, the black-haired girl didn’t leave immediately.
After all, the Proprietress had specifically instructed her to take good care of this Black Card Member.
“Come over and sit,” the woman said, patting the space beside her.
“Are you a relative of the Proprietress?”
Qi sat down on the sofa.
“I’m here to work.”
“Work? Are you an adult yet?”
“Not yet. I go to the School nearby. This is just a part-time job.”
“I see…”
Qi felt that the direction of the conversation was getting a bit strange, so she inconspicuously moved a bit further away.
“Um, the Proprietress said that if you have any requests, you can tell me…”
The black-haired girl hesitated, stopping mid-sentence.
“Hmm?”
Sensing that she seemed to have something to say, the woman gave a soft hum, signaling for her to continue.
“This shop… it doesn’t have those… special requirements, does it?”
Qi asked cautiously.
The woman was stunned for a moment before she let out a pfft and started laughing, covering her mouth.
“You silly girl, what is going on in that head of yours? What kind of special requirements could a barbershop in the city center possibly have?”
“Or rather, are you afraid that I’ll do something to you? Even though you are very cute, I don’t have that kind of interest in girls.”
The woman’s laughter made Qi feel rather embarrassed instead.
It was all Bai Qiaoyu’s fault for making her so paranoid.
“I’m sorry, sister. That’s not what I meant,” Qi apologized to her, feeling quite bashful.
“It’s fine, it’s fine~ You’re quite interesting. I don’t have any special requirements. Just sit here and chat with me for a bit.”
The black-haired girl obediently sat back down.
This chat lasted the entire morning.
It wasn’t until nearly 1:00 PM that the woman finally left the lounge and requested Qi to help wash her hair.
After all, Qi had spent so much time learning from Liu Linlin yesterday.
Although her movements were a bit clumsy, she at least didn’t make any mistakes.
The woman was in a very good mood.
When she left to settle the bill, she even paid an extra 1,000.
This made the Proprietress beam with joy, and she personally went to the door to wave the guest goodbye.
The work in the afternoon was still the same few things: cleaning up, helping to buy items, and sitting by the door as a lucky mascot.
Soon, it was time to get off work again.
Just like yesterday, she still couldn’t adapt to staying up late.
She had been dozing off during the last 3 hours of work.
Now that she was out of the shop, she only wanted to go back and sleep.
Walking to the roadside and learning from yesterday’s lesson, Qi looked around to see if anyone was there.
Then, she saw Jiang Wanli not far away.
Looking at the young girl walking toward her, Qi didn’t know what to say.
“Sister Xiaoli, do you have something to do around here today too?”
Because she was so sleepy, her voice lacked energy, but she still tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible.
“Yes. I remembered you got off work at this time yesterday, so I came over to take a look,” Jiang Wanli admitted naturally.
“Then let’s go back together, just like yesterday.”
This time, the black-haired girl took the initiative to invite her.
Jiang Wanli smiled and nodded.
She leaned over slightly and took Qi’s hand.
The warmth from the skin contact sent a jolt through Qi’s heart, and her brain instantly snapped awake.
“You…”
“You look very sleepy. You were half-asleep on the way home yesterday. If we hold hands, you won’t have to worry about tripping.”
Jiang Wanli explained gently.
“Is something wrong? You seem a bit tense.”
“No, it’s… it’s nothing to be tense about…”
Qi’s heart was in a bit of a mess.
She forced herself to stay calm and tried her best to ignore the sensation coming from her palm.
“Really? I thought it was because Qiqi was shy.”
“Sister Xiaoli, we’re both girls. What is there to be shy about?” the black-haired girl replied in a small voice, looking away.
Along the way, Qi was somewhat distracted.
Her attention was constantly fixed on their joined palms; she simply couldn’t ignore it.
Being held by Jiang Wanli, she didn’t even dare to move a finger for fear that her tiny movements would be noticed.
It felt as if she had returned to the very first time she held hands with a girl.
It was a very strange feeling.
It wasn’t until they entered the School and separated that she felt a sense of relief.
After returning to the dormitory and taking a shower, Qi lay on her bed.
She stared at the palm of her hand, unable to fall asleep quickly tonight.
She suddenly found her feelings toward Jiang Wanli a bit incomprehensible.
Something like holding hands should have long since become mundane.
She and her previous girlfriends used to hold hands while shopping all the time.
She clearly shouldn’t have such a strong reaction…
‘Could I… have fallen for Jiang Wanli?’ she murmured softly.
As soon as that thought left her mouth, Qi was amused by her own absurdity.
How could that be?
It made no sense at all.
The time she had spent with Jiang Wanli was very short, and they didn’t have any deeply memorable experiences.
They didn’t even know much about each other.
Why would she like Jiang Wanli?
Because she was beautiful?
Granted, Jiang Wanli was indeed very good-looking, but Qi had seen plenty of beautiful girls, and without exception, they had never caused a single ripple in her heart.
How could she possibly like Jiang Wanli?
It seemed that staying up late these past few days had made her nerves a bit weak.
Added to the fact that she was already on guard against Jiang Wanli, she had mistaken her feelings of panic for the feeling of being touched.
The black-haired girl understood very well…
Qi could establish a relationship with someone, but she would absolutely never fall in love with anyone else.
Jiang Wanli was no exception.