Hair Tie
The Band-Aid was applied properly.
Zhang Xueji quickly got up, turned his back to Xie Qiaoqiao, and began tidying up his medical kit, throwing the Band-Aid wrapper and the used cotton swab into the trash can as well.
After throwing away the trash, he stood up and awkwardly walked a few steps, bumping his shoulder into the hat rack.
As he turned, his clothes got caught on the chair’s armrest, and he accidentally knocked over the chair.
A chain reaction, just like his current brain that had lost all control—causality without reason.
Xie Qiaoqiao walked over and set the fallen chair upright. Zhang Xueji hugged the medical kit, standing pressed against the wall, feeling very uneasy. “Thank you……………”
Xie Qiaoqiao said, “You’re welcome.”
Zhang Xueji felt dizzy—his heart was beating too fast, and now he felt a bit oxygen-deprived. But Xie Qiaoqiao’s expressionless face looked so calm that Zhang Xueji forced himself to act calm as well.
Yet, as he awkwardly placed the medical kit back, Zhang Xueji couldn’t help but wonder in his heart: She’s so composed, did she not hear what I just said?
I wasn’t speaking that quietly!
Why didn’t she react at all?
He scuttled back along the wall like a crab, only to see Xie Qiaoqiao standing in the living room, looking at her phone.
Suddenly, she looked up, and Zhang Xueji’s gaze, which he hadn’t had time to retract, was caught by her like a thief. The two locked eyes.
Once they made eye contact, it was hard to look away—whoever looked away first would seem guilty.
Zhang Xueji straightened up and pretended nothing had happened. “I’ll go tidy up the side bedroom………………”
Xie Qiaoqiao said, “My elder sister came to deliver my key. I’m heading back.”
Zhang Xueji: “Huh?”
He turned to glance out the window; outside, the wind and rain still raged, and he even saw someone’s underwear fly by in mid-air.
Zhang Xueji: “Does your elder sister also live in this building?”
Xie Qiaoqiao shook her head and denied it, walking out to open the door, leaving behind a stunned Zhang Xueji.
She doesn’t even live in the same complex and braved such a storm to bring the key—Xie Qiaoqiao’s elder sister is basically a superwoman. In comparison, his own ‘son’ wasn’t nearly as filial.
Outside, the corridor’s motion-sensor light had already come on. Wearing a raincoat and having just removed her hat, Hua Lingyue leaned against the wall.
Her gaze fell on the young man and woman standing one after the other at the neighbor’s door, and she raised an eyebrow.
Hua Lingyue took out the key and opened the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Xie Qiaoqiao following her inside, wearing a pair of ill-fitting slippers.
She didn’t like any clothes that didn’t fit, so as soon as she entered, she kicked off the slippers.
Only after sitting down on the stool at the entryway to change her shoes did Xie Qiaoqiao remember: she’d forgotten to take her wet shoes and socks when she left.
She’d also left her wet clothes.
Never mind, she’d ask Zhang Xueji for them tomorrow.
Hua Lingyue took off her raincoat and hung it aside. “Why were you at his place?”
Xie Qiaoqiao replied, “I went out for something in the evening, got caught in the storm on my way back, and forgot my key, so I went to his place to change clothes.”
Hua Lingyue’s gaze swept over Xie Qiaoqiao’s clothes. Judging by the size, it was clearly not hers, and it looked pretty new—probably hadn’t been worn many times.
“Tsk tsk,” Hua Lingyue clicked her tongue, her tone teasing, “Looks like our lucky victim is quite fond of you.”
“But he’s still a single man living alone. Good grades don’t mean good character. You’d better not go to his place alone. Some men whose brains aren’t fully developed might see that as a silent invitation.”
Xie Qiaoqiao: “What kind of invitation?”
Hua Lingyue: “Didn’t middle school biology teach you where people come from? Remember?”
Xie Qiaoqiao didn’t see the connection, but still nodded. “I remember. Sperm enters the egg, after implantation it forms an embryo, and the embryo develops into a human child.”
Hua Lingyue made an “O” with one hand and a “1” with the other, then brought them together. “It’s an invitation for the sperm to enter the egg.”
Xie Qiaoqiao suddenly understood, uttered an “Oh,” and went to turn on her computer.
Judging by her expression, Hua Lingyue knew these words had gone in one ear and out the other.
The computer screen displayed surveillance footage. Xie Qiaoqiao saw Zhang Xueji walking around the living room, tidying up the messy tea table.
Hua Lingyue poured herself a cup of hot water and stood behind Xie Qiaoqiao, just in time to see what was on the screen.
She was baffled. “Surveillance? Where is this surveillance from? Why does this guy look familiar?”
Xie Qiaoqiao: “The lucky victim.”
Hua Lingyue: “Cough, cough, cough!”
She was so shocked that she choked on her hot water and spat it out.
Xie Qiaoqiao didn’t turn around, but as if she had eyes in the back of her head, she sidestepped; the water splattered onto the computer desk.
Xie Qiaoqiao moved even farther from the desk. “You need to wipe down the desk. Use a disinfectant alcohol wipe. Water that’s been in your mouth might have bacteria.”
Hua Lingyue immediately defended herself. “I do NOT have Helicobacter pylori!!!”
She argued while searching for the disinfectant wipe, and once she found it, she obediently started wiping the desk.
The surveillance feed on the computer screen was already turned off, but the icon for the surveillance software APP was still brightly displayed on the desktop.
Hua Lingyue looked at the APP with a complicated expression. “You installed surveillance at his place? How did you do that?”
Xie Qiaoqiao: “I climbed in through the balcony when he wasn’t home.”
Hua Lingyue was utterly shocked. “That’s the 27th floor! Wait, you secretly installed surveillance? That’s illegal, you know! And you’re even a civil servant! That’s—what’s the term, breaking the law while knowing the law! Double the crime!”
“This is illegal?” Xie Qiaoqiao tilted her head, confused. “But when I search for information online, I often get redirected by ads to surveillance livestreams.”
“I’ve seen so many livestreams of strangers living alone and women’s bathhouses and bathrooms, and no one’s been caught. I thought it was legal.”
Hua Lingyue: “……”
Although Xie Qiaoqiao sounded sarcastic, Hua Lingyue knew she was just stating facts. Xie Qiaoqiao had no concept of sarcasm; most of the time, she simply described what she saw.
Hua Lingyue rubbed her face. “Anyway, secretly installing surveillance is illegal. Don’t do it again. Find a chance to go to his place and remove it, and don’t let him find out, or you might get reported—also, no more climbing balconies! That’s the 27th floor! What if you fall?”
“If you get redirected to those kinds of sites again, copy the URL for me, or just report it yourself.”
Xie Qiaoqiao sat back down at her computer chair. “That’s not important. Tonight, at the West Campus Minsi Building, I exorcised a Ghost who studied Clinical Medicine. Go check it out.”
When Zhang Xueji closed the door and turned around, he tripped over something—after stumbling a couple of steps and regaining his balance, he looked down and saw a pair of shoes and socks he’d accidentally kicked askew.
They were Xie Qiaoqiao’s; she’d forgotten to take them when she left.
Zhang Xueji crouched down, straightened the shoes, and lined them up neatly. Then he squatted there, debating whether to knock on her door and return them now, or wait until tomorrow—
Forget it, it was already late. He’d do it tomorrow.
Zhang Xueji muttered to himself, then stood up and tidied the living room again.
As he cleaned, he was a little absent-minded, still wondering whether Xie Qiaoqiao had heard what he’d said.
Although he really had spoken a bit quietly, the hair dryer had already been turned off at that time………………uh, but the sound of the storm outside was pretty loud.
Could it have been drowned out by the storm?
Did she really not hear it?
He drifted toward his room like a wandering soul, but his steps stopped unconsciously when he passed the shared bathroom.
The bathroom door was closed. Zhang Xueji hesitated for a moment, then put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it gently.
As soon as the door opened, hot, humid, fragrant mist rushed out to greet him.
The entire bathroom was wet, with water everywhere and droplets clinging to the walls.
The bath products were the same as those in Zhang Xueji’s own bathroom, but after someone else used them, the scent was ever so slightly different.
Zhang Xueji saw two hair ties for girls, used to tie up hair, hanging from the mouth of the shampoo bottle, the red beads on them covered in moisture.
“Can’t find my hair tie.”
Xie Qiaoqiao, hair loose, sat in front of the dressing table and delivered this bad news to Hua Lingyue with a blank face.
Hua Lingyue had no choice but to crawl out of bed to help her look for the hair tie—she’d stayed over at Xie Qiaoqiao’s place last night because it was too late.
Hua Lingyue: “Don’t you have any other hair ties?”
Xie Qiaoqiao opened and closed a drawer with one finger. “I do, but I don’t know which bag they’re in.”
Hua Lingyue glanced at the pile of household goods in the corner of the bedroom.
When Xie Qiaoqiao moved in, she’d only unpacked a few daily necessities. Things like hair ties and clothes, she hadn’t bothered to organize at all.
Now it was too late to sort through everything, since office worker Hua Lingyue was about to be late. She grabbed a chopstick from the kitchen and used it to pin up Xie Qiaoqiao’s hair.
“This’ll have to do for now! Buy some new ones after class—I have to go, or I’ll miss the subway!”
The hair pinned up with a chopstick wasn’t very neat, and some stray hairs kept falling in front of Xie Qiaoqiao’s eyes. She tried to smooth them back in front of the mirror, but as soon as she let go, they fell down again.
She couldn’t find any hair clips either.
Xie Qiaoqiao gave up, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and headed out for class—she had an early class at eight today.
In the morning, when she turned on her phone, she received Zhang Xueji’s location as usual.
[I’m out for my morning run.]
[Morning run’s done. I made breakfast. Not sure if you like boat congee and Portuguese egg tarts, but I packed some and hung them on my door handle. If you’re not allergic to seafood, go ahead and eat it.]
[I’m heading to class. Your dirty clothes from yesterday are still in my bathroom. Will you come get them tonight?]
[I put your shoes in the laundry machine to wash. They’ll take a couple days to dry.]
[I’m at school now. Are you still asleep? Oh, right, your canvas bag is also still at my place, but I haven’t looked inside. If you need anything urgently, just message me and I can bring it over. There’s no big class today, so I’m pretty free.]
Xie Qiaoqiao went out and sure enough, saw a thermal bag hanging from her neighbor’s door handle.
She wasn’t picky, ate the breakfast, really liked the Portuguese egg tart, and replied to Zhang Xueji.
[Nothing urgent inside.]
[Breakfast eaten. The Portuguese egg tart was delicious. [photo of empty plate]]
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