Xiao Yu had originally planned to leave on the second day of the lunar new year, but the family dragged him into staying a few extra days. In Ye Yaohui's words: "What are you going back for? You've got nothing to do. Stay a few more days. When school's about to start, you and Qingqing can go back together." Zhang Luan's attitude was also imperceptibly changing. She smiled at Xiao Yu and nodded: "Yes, stay a few more days. Qingqing is happy when you're here." That was her seal of approval. Xiao Yu was genuinely delighted. He clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly, his palms turning red and white. Knowing he shouldn't show off too much, he forced himself to calm down and said "okay" with a smile. Ye Qingli was different. Her eyes curved like crescent moons, and her mouth—let's not even mention it—was nearly stretched to her ears. This time, Zhang Luan didn't scold her for being spineless.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, shops on the street gradually opened for business. Ye Yaohui had already gone back to work. The two couldn't stay idle at home, so Xiao Yu gave Xu Qingsong and Liu Xu a call each, asking them to come out for mahjong. After hanging up, Ye Qingli, who didn't know how to play mahjong, still shook his sleeve excitedly: "How did it go? Are they coming out?" "Liu Xu was dragged by his dad to visit relatives. He'll be back in the afternoon. Xu Qingsong, that idle fellow, is bored out of his mind at home, but when he heard Liu Xu wasn't coming, he also wants to come out in the afternoon."
Actually, Xu Qingsong wanted to come out, but he'd have to be a third wheel. He might as well stay home and play games; his account still had unfinished missions today. Xiao Yu thought what he said was fine, but Ye Qingli heard it differently. Her mouth fell open: "Why does he have to wait for Liu Xu? Could it be that they…" "They're both straight." Xiao Yu gave her a slight smile, speaking up for his buddy for once. "Really? How do you know?" Ye Qingli actually understood. Although there were many posts about Xiao Yu on the forum, there were also quite a few about Xu Qingsong and Liu Xu. The three of them were notorious players at school, breaking girls' hearts. So she was teasing him on purpose, just to see his reaction.
Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow slightly and said shamelessly: "If they were really like that, they'd be fighting over me." "..." "After all, your boyfriend is pretty handsome." He continued shamelessly. "..." Seeing her speechless expression, Xiao Yu was a bit unsatisfied. He pinched her cheek, pulling her mouth into a long strip: "What's that supposed to mean? I'm telling the truth. Plenty of people chase after me. You're lucky I chose you." "Good things never come cheap." Ye Qingli shrugged. Xiao Yu: "..."
It was boring at home, so they dressed up and went out for a walk. On the street, leftover firecracker tubes from New Year's Day lay scattered in the snow. Ye Qingli looked down and kicked one, not noticing the ice underneath. Xiao Yu grabbed her just in time, saving her from a fall. "You scared me! How is there ice here?" Ye Qingli clutched Xiao Yu's sleeve, her heart pounding. "Good thing you caught me, or I'd have made a big fool of myself." "Serves you right for being so reckless," Xiao Yu snorted. "..." Ye Qingli stopped walking, her expression darkening: "Why can't you say something nice? You should treat me the way you treat my parents. After all, we're the ones who'll spend our lives together." Xiao Yu was stunned.
"We're the ones who'll spend our lives together." Ye Qingli realized what she had said a few seconds later. Her head flushed, ears burning. She looked away and coughed unnaturally. Xiao Yu reached out from his sleeve, smiling as he pinched her hot earlobe: "So you really like me that much?" "Ah, well... I just spoke too fast. You know I sometimes don't think before I speak..." Ye Qingli scratched her burning face, stammering. What was she thinking? She must have had a brain freeze to say something so embarrassing. Xiao Yu just looked at her quietly, as if saying: "Go ahead, make up more." "..."
When they first came out, she was thinking, "Why is it so cold today?" Not anymore. She felt like she'd be drenched in sweat the next second. Ye Qingli stamped her numb feet, mortified, wanting to crawl into a hole. Seeing her like this, Xiao Yu stopped teasing her. He lowered his head and kissed her, the tips of his hair brushing against her forehead, tickling as he moved. He was really good at kissing. Every time he kissed her, Ye Qingli felt weak, her gaze unfocused. She lowered her head, blushing, and pressed against him, her voice soft with innate femininity: "Can you be more careful? Don't kiss me outside. There are so many people." Even though she was complaining, she curved her lips, making it sound like coaxing. "You should be glad we're outside." He ruffled her soft hair, grinning mischievously. "At home, I can't guarantee I'd only be kissing you." Embarrassed, Ye Qingli pinched his waist.
Because Xiao Yu's hair had gotten a bit long, they didn't really need to buy anything at the mall, so they redirected to a barbershop. Xiao Yu went to the back to wash his hair. There were two people ahead waiting for haircuts, so he had to wait. Sitting around was boring, so Xiao Yu wrapped a towel around his head and went to find Ye Qingli. Ye Qingli was scrolling through videos when the sofa beside her sank. She instinctively looked over. Xiao Yu's towel was already wet, his brow ridge prominent, his lines sharp. No wonder there was a saying online: "Pushing all the hair back is the true test of a handsome guy." As he dried his hair, he pointed at her phone: "Do you like cats?" Ye Qingli snapped back to reality and answered a bit awkwardly: "Yeah, I like them." "There are a few near school. Have you seen them?" Ye Qingli thought for a moment: "Are there three? One that's ugly?" Xiao Yu paused, her "ugly" comment making him smile: "Mm, yeah. How did you know?" "Last time I went to the hospital to see Huang Xu, we had a fight on the way back. You were feeding the cats that day." Mentioning it brought down her mood. She was silent for a moment, then added, "I saw they were friendly with you, tails held high. A while ago, Xu Yan and I wanted to feed them too, but no matter how we called, they wouldn't come out. We couldn't find them." "You went looking for them? Why didn't you mention it?" Xiao Yu finished drying, put the towel aside, a strand of hair sticking up. He explained, "It was too cold in winter; I was afraid they wouldn't survive, so I found a good home for them." "You're pretty kind-hearted." Ye Qingli looked up, smiling, and reached out to mess up his hair. Xiao Yu caught her expression and squinted: "If your boyfriend is kind-hearted, shouldn't you be smiling with relief? Why do I feel like you're mocking me?" Ye Qingli finally couldn't help laughing out loud. She nodded: "I am mocking you. You've got a technique for drying your hair. Now you look like a Teletubby." "..."
The barber was quite meticulous. The two before them had simple trims that still took over half an hour. Finally, it was Xiao Yu's turn. The barber asked Ye Qingli for her opinion, suggesting they dye it a color. "Your boyfriend is already handsome. Bleaching it blond would make him even cooler." With a face like that, even a shaggy cut wouldn't look bad, so why not make some easy money? Nowadays, haircuts and dye jobs were supervised by girlfriends. Xiao Yu wanted to see Ye Qingli's taste, looking at her through the mirror. Ye Qingli met his eyes, then looked at the barber, looking troubled: "Forget it. He just won my family over. If you dye him into some flashy punk, you'll be trying to break us up." "..." The barber touched his own dyed hair. Wasn't this the current trend? How was it "flashy punk"? But she seemed determined, so the barber gave an awkward smile: "Any other requirements? Just a trim?" "Whatever, just don't make him too ugly." Ye Qingli glanced at her phone, then smiled at him: "Please try to be quick. We have mahjong plans." "..." In the end, it was just a trim, cutting some length. The barber removed the cape from Xiao Yu, earning a teary ten yuan from Ye Qingli.
Xiao Yu ran his hand through his hair in the mirror. Once outside, he shot a sidelong glance at the girl beside him and complained lightly: "You're too stingy with me." "You mean because I didn't let you bleach your hair?" Ye Qingli looked up, her pupils like crystal-clear glass beads. She opened her mouth, full of disbelief: "Xiao Yu, can't you understand my good intentions? Did you see that barber's hair? The bleach was uneven, his hair looked like a colorful rooster! Do you really like hair like that?" "Then why did you bring me to this shop if you knew he was bad?" "Because it's cheap." She answered matter-of-factly. Xiao Yu: "..." So the final say always had to be hers.
At two in the afternoon, Liu Xu and Xu Qingsong finally arrived at the meeting point. Xu Qingsong got out of the passenger seat, jerked his chin for Liu Xu to pay, and walked over with model-like catwalk steps. Suddenly, a cold wind blew, making him shiver. He hunched his shoulders and ran over. Liu Xu caught up and glared at him: "Serves you right for not wearing long johns." "When you're out, the most important thing is looking cool. Who's like you, dressing your lower half like a cannonball?" Xu Qingsong glared back exactly the way Liu Xu had. Then he looked at Xiao Yu and Ye Qingli: "Don't just stand here. It's freezing cold. Get inside." Ye Qingli scanned his outfit from head to toe: short padded jacket, straight-leg jeans, thin skate shoes. He did look good, but seeing his frozen, contorted face and hopping steps, she suddenly thought he was kind of pathetic. "We waited for you two, and this is the thanks we get?" Xiao Yu snorted, taking Ye Qingli's hand and heading inside.
The mahjong parlor charged by the hour. Xiao Yu waited until everyone was there before scanning the code to pay. Liu Xu watched and laughed: "Wow, the big spender has learned to save money." "Got to save money. You know, my haircut today only cost ten yuan." Xiao Yu said this while deliberately glancing at Ye Qingli. "Because it's cheap, right?" "..." The door opened, and the four sat down. They determined the dealer by rolling dice. After one round, Ye Qingli got the highest number. She rolled up her sleeves and reached out. She had only watched her grandmother play before; this was her first real game. As she grabbed a tile, she fumbled and dropped the one-bamboo tile. "Oh, caught a little chick," Xiao Yu glanced at her with a laugh. "..." Ye Qingli quickly picked up the tile, clutching it like a treasure, and glared at him with murderous intent: "Why are you calling out my tiles?" "You think we're blind?" Xu Qingsong slapped the table. "How dare you talk to my girlfriend like that?" He slapped the table, and Xiao Yu slapped too. Ye Qingli had never handled mahjong before. She had seen others set up their tiles neatly along the edge, but she struggled for ages trying to stand hers up. Meanwhile, the two guys were making noise on either side, vibrating the table until her hands felt numb. "Both of you, shut up," Ye Qingli said in a low voice, gritting her teeth. As the only girl at the table, her words carried weight. The room instantly quieted, and the three watched her slowly arrange her tiles. "Ye Qingli, do you even know how to play?" Liu Xu felt an inexplicable urge to laugh at her serious expression. He had never seen anyone so focused on arranging tiles. "I'm okay. I don't need you to go easy on me," Ye Qingli glanced at him briefly. "So cocky?" Xiao Yu licked his lips, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it. He had been stuck at her house for two days; if he hadn't smoked now, he might have quit altogether. "She learned from you, right? When we first met, she didn't talk so sassily," Xu Qingsong leaned back against the chair arm, slouching like he had no bones. "Really? If that's the case," Xiao Yu half-closed his eyes, grinning lazily through the smoke, "then there's one more person to curse you out." Xu Qingsong: "..."
Finally, as Ye Qingli wished, no one went easy on her. Xiao Yu, as her boyfriend, was even worse. Liu Xu and Xu Qingsong turned a blind eye and let things slide, but he specifically went after her tiles. Ye Qingli gasped. Good thing they were just playing for fun, not for money. Otherwise, with how petty she was, she'd probably be fuming tonight, with blisters in her mouth. Another round began. The mahjong machine whirred noisily. Just then, a couple walked past the hallway—also in the throes of new love. The girl was holding the boy's arm as they walked in. The door was closed tight, so they couldn't hear what the guy said, only the girl coquettishly calling him "husband." Xu Qingsong heard it and let out a wolf whistle. He lifted his chin at Ye Qingli: "Ye Qingli, did you hear what that girl outside said?" "I heard it." "So what about our A Yu? Handsome and dignified, doesn't he look like your husband?" Xiao Yu looked up at this. He had never thought about that term before, and suddenly he was very interested. Ye Qingli glanced at him, then looked down to arrange her tiles. "I think he looks like an old man."