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Deng Zi was quick, and in less than a day, he helped Cheng Mi secure a resident singer gig at a bar.
It wasn’t far from Fenggao High School or where she lived, making it convenient for her to get there from anywhere. The environment was good, the pay wasn’t low, and she could go whenever she wanted.
Cheng Mi wasn’t in a hurry, but she also had nothing urgent to do, so she planned to go tomorrow.
The hair dye she had bought earlier and set aside also came in handy. Cheng Mi hadn’t really taken care of her hair much since she came to Fenggao, so it looked a bit plain. It was a good time to add some color.
While showering in the evening, she casually used the hair dye to highlight her hair.
The bathroom had an old-fashioned water heater. After showering, Cheng Mi opened the bathroom door for ventilation and stood by the vanity, doing her hair in front of the mirror.
The disposable gloves were sticky, and the plastic rustled with every movement.
After only a few minutes, Si Tingyan entered from outside the bathroom door.
The mirror wasn’t directly opposite the door, but on the side wall. Cheng Mi noticed Si Tingyan in her peripheral vision and turned her head.
That small red mark on the side of her neck was directly facing him.
He had made it, on her old scar.
Si Tingyan’s gaze lingered on it for a moment, then moved away, as if he hadn’t seen it, and he walked straight in.
He had forgotten a piece of clothing in the bathroom and needed to retrieve it.
The clothes were hanging on a hook next to the mirror, meaning he had to pass behind Cheng Mi.
The bathroom wasn’t particularly large, but Cheng Mi had no intention of moving for him. Her hands continued to apply hair dye to her hair in a methodical manner.
Si Tingyan passed behind her, his clothes brushing against hers.
Cheng Mi watched him in the mirror.
Si Tingyan’s entire face had very delicate contours, without any superfluous strokes. Even just his profile in the mirror was already pleasing to the eye.
He walked past her, reaching out to take down his clothes.
Cheng Mi had stared enough; she wanted to talk to him now.
She put down the hair dye in her hand, moved her waist away from the counter, and slowly turned around.
Si Tingyan was about to pass in front of her with his clothes.
Cheng Mi’s eyes swept over his face: “You did this, pretending not to see it?”
After saying that, she just stared at him intently.
Si Tingyan stopped, his gaze falling upon her face.
Cheng Mi always liked to look people in the eyes, but with Si Tingyan, Cheng Mi liked to let her gaze wander over his face, taking in every detail.
She looked from his eyes to his short black hair.
Si Tingyan himself was fair-skinned, and the black hair made this paleness a bit colder, along with the unique clean look of a teenager his age.
It made one want to run their fingers through it and caress it.
It also made Cheng Mi harbor some improper thoughts.
Her ten fingers were still encased in disposable gloves, the clear plastic film sticky with hair dye, and she didn’t stop as she was about to touch him.
Si Tingyan didn’t dodge either, looking at her as he answered her question: “Why did you lean in yourself?”
“Why?” Cheng Mi seemed to be asking herself, and also telling him.
Her fingertips touched his short hair, the sensation through the thin film reaching her fingertips.
Cheng Mi looked into Si Tingyan’s eyes, her fingertips slightly bent, hooking onto a strand of hair.
Her movements were unhurried, hooking the strand of hair and twirling it.
In just an instant, the color on her hair also climbed onto his.
Cheng Mi told Si Tingyan his question: “Because I like you no matter how you are.”
No matter if you’re the top student in your grade, or the one who drives me crazy.
I, Cheng Mi, like you quite a lot.
Si Tingyan didn’t speak this time, just looking at her in silence.
Cheng Mi also never left his eyes from beginning to end.
A few strands of un-dried dye were in her long hair, and that strand of Si Tingyan’s was on his left forehead. Her fingertips moved from top to bottom, finally leaving the tip of that strand of his hair.
Cheng Mi was deliberate, and she had an agenda.
She wasn’t so naive as to think Si Tingyan didn’t know her intentions.
She knew Si Tingyan definitely knew.
How many people at the same school could have smoke-grey highlights, especially in a school where everyone has uniformly black hair?
Only the two of them.
No one else would be like her, Cheng Mi, and Si Tingyan.
This was almost a declaration of possession.
The bathroom was cold and damp, permeating every corner. Water droplets fell from the showerhead, splashing onto the tiles with a patter.
Neither of them spoke.
After a long moment, Si Tingyan’s eyes moved away from Cheng Mi’s face.
Cheng Mi still had a hint of uncertainty, unsure if Si Tingyan would wash it off before the color set.
But Si Tingyan didn’t.
He did nothing, and left the bathroom.
________________________________________
The next morning, when she came out of her room for school, Si Huiru, being a meticulous person, noticed it immediately.
A few strands of smoke-grey highlights subtly appeared in Cheng Mi’s long hair. When Si Huiru called her for breakfast, her gaze lingered on her hair for a moment longer.
But she didn’t scold her. She just smiled when Cheng Mi happened to meet her gaze, which she hadn’t had time to avert, and told Cheng Mi, “It looks quite nice.”
She was nothing like a strict, conservative elder.
After Cheng Mi went to the dining table and sat down, Si Tingyan came out of his room.
Cheng Mi’s seat was directly facing his room. She had just heard the movement, and she looked up, her five fingers loosely holding the chopsticks.
Si Tingyan was the same as usual, his school uniform neat and crisp.
But today, there was a slight difference: a faint silver-grey strand in his black short hair, not very obvious.
It was lighter than Cheng Mi’s, but just as striking at first glance.
Si Tingyan’s skin tone was already on the cooler side, and that touch of smoke-grey intensified this feeling, yet it didn’t make him seem unfriendly; it perfectly complemented his pale complexion.
Cheng Mi looked at him, her gaze unwavering.
Not only did Cheng Mi notice, but so did Si Huiru; it wasn’t a deliberate, meticulous observation, but just a glance revealed it.
This was the child she had raised since he was small; she could detect even the slightest change in him.
Perhaps unintentionally, Cheng Mi felt Si Huiru’s gaze briefly sweep over her.
Then it returned to Si Tingyan.
Cheng Mi hadn’t gone out last night, so Si Huiru knew it could only have been done at home.
Si Tingyan came over, and Si Huiru asked him, “Xiao Yan, did you... accidentally get your sister’s hair dye on you?”
Cheng Mi looked at Si Tingyan.
Si Tingyan’s gaze also briefly passed over her.
“Yes, I did.” Then he pulled out the chair opposite Cheng Mi and sat down.
Si Tingyan really seemed to be a good child at home. Si Huiru didn’t have the slightest doubt about his words.
And Si Huiru was indeed a very gentle mother. Seeing Si Tingyan with that grey strand, and his apparent intention not to remove it, she didn’t make him wash it off.
The matter was thus dropped.
Si Huiru pulled out a chair and sat next to Cheng Mi. When she remembered something she wanted to tell Cheng Mi, she turned and saw the small, unusually red mark on the side of her neck.
Cheng Mi’s hair was down last night, so this spot was covered, and Si Huiru hadn’t seen it then.
This morning, with her hair tied up, a slight shift in angle revealed it.
Cheng Mi felt the gaze and turned her head.
The moment she met Si Huiru’s eyes, she understood what was going on.
At the same time, Si Tingyan across the table also noticed and looked up.
The air solidified for a moment.
Normally, when elders see something so easily recognizable, they would certainly escalate the matter and sternly criticize.
Cheng Mi looked at Si Huiru.
But in fact, what Si Huiru was thinking was different from Cheng Mi.
Si Huiru had always been like this with Cheng Mi: wanting to care but also worried about being too intrusive, which today’s children certainly wouldn’t like.
And Si Huiru was precisely not the type to restrain her children’s every move. For example, with Si Tingyan, besides being particularly attentive to his health since childhood, Si Huiru wouldn’t make strict demands otherwise, only showing great concern. She had always been very attentive to his food, clothing, daily use, and studies.
Si Huiru knew that a beautiful girl like Cheng Mi was very popular with boys, which was a happy thing. It was lucky for a child to receive more affection than average.
Cheng Mi was also in the prime of her youth, and dating was normal.
So she didn’t say much, deeming it best to pretend not to see. Children certainly wouldn’t like their elders knowing about such matters or bringing them up. But ultimately, she couldn’t resist giving a single piece of advice.
“Cheng Mi, if a boy bullies you, don’t let him.”
When Si Huiru said this, Cheng Mi was startled for a moment.
The topic was quickly glossed over by Si Huiru, who then brought up what she had originally intended to tell Cheng Mi.
“Your uncle just called, he said to call him back.”
Si Huiru asked her, “Have you been too busy with studies lately, forgetting to check your phone, which is why you missed your uncle’s call?”
Meeting Si Huiru’s kind and gentle eyes, Cheng Mi felt a momentary, imperceptible panic and looked away.
“No,” she said, “I’ll call him back after school this afternoon.”
At this moment, Cheng Mi met Si Tingyan’s gaze across the table.
Si Tingyan’s dark pupils were very deep, so deep that it was as if he saw everything about her.
Cheng Mi felt that her flaw wasn’t revealed in front of Si Huiru, but rather was seen by him.
Si Tingyan’s eyes were calm, yet it was difficult to associate them with pleasure.
Before Cheng Mi could probe further, he had already looked away, no longer looking at her.
________________________________________
Cheng Mi could sense that Si Tingyan’s mood hadn’t been well since he left the dining table.
It was strange, actually; Si Tingyan’s emotions were usually undetectable from his outward appearance; he rarely showed emotion on his face.
But Cheng Mi could always sense it, to varying degrees.
Today, they took the bus from the bus stop. The bus was crowded as usual, and after they got on, they couldn’t stand together.
Cheng Mi knew that Si Tingyan didn’t want to talk to her.
The bus swayed to the school, and Si Tingyan got off a step ahead of her.
When Cheng Mi got off from the back door of the bus, Si Tingyan was already walking in front.
Cheng Mi watched his back for a while, then followed.
This time was neither early nor late, it was when the school gate was most crowded.
Cheng Mi walked behind, able to see a few girls ahead, arm in arm, casting seemingly casual glances at Si Tingyan as they passed him.
Then they slowed down, their eyes smiling, their hands half-covering their lips as they whispered something to their friends.
Similarly, many people were looking at her too.
Si Tingyan alone was enough to draw eyes, but Cheng Mi’s ponytail also showed several subtle strands.
Moreover, their highlight colors were the same.
This was no different from wearing matching couple outfits.
Along the short walk to the school gate, many whispers had already passed by their ears.
Cheng Mi ran into Qiao Yunmiao at the school gate.
Everyone else had noticed, let alone Qiao Yunmiao, who constantly had her eyes on Si Tingyan.
Perhaps because Si Tingyan was clearly angry yesterday afternoon, Qiao Yunmiao didn’t dare to approach him to talk today.
It was the first time Cheng Mi saw Qiao Yunmiao not clinging to Si Tingyan the moment she saw him.
Si Tingyan had already entered the school gate.
Qiao Yunmiao, on the other hand, stood rooted to the spot, with students continuously passing by her. She stood motionless, watching Cheng Mi.
Cheng Mi’s steps were not affected in the slightest. Qiao Yunmiao was not yet at the school gate, but in the open space in front of it.
Originally, Cheng Mi had no intention of bothering with Qiao Yunmiao and her group. After the magazine model issue was resolved, they would each go their own way. However, Qiao Yunmiao and her friends had repeatedly played dirty tricks on her in private.
Including the forum last night, where they were still slandering her.
Of course, Cheng Mi wasn’t exactly ‘bothering’ with them; at most, she had simply noticed them.
Cheng Mi walked towards Qiao Yunmiao.
The area near the school gate was bustling and crowded.
When she was only about a meter away from Qiao Yunmiao.
Cheng Mi’s highlighted ponytail swung high, revealing the red mark near her ear on the side of her neck and face.
Her eyes left Qiao Yunmiao’s face, and she walked straight past her.
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