Chapter 14
All of them struggled to get up, patting off the dust on them while saying with their heads bowed, “Dye, we’ll dye it. Of course we’ll listen to Sister Qiao.”
…
In the hair salon, the evening light shone in through the glass windows. The problematic students sat in a row on the couch, occasionally throwing guilty glances toward Wen Qiao. Wen Qiao spoke to the boss Tony politely, “Help them dye their hair back to black. Thank you.”
Wen Chi’s best friend was called Xia Bo. He was the first to have his hair dyed back to black and was called out by Wen Qiao.
The Chinese parasol trees were lush in the summer, and everywhere was illuminated in yellow light from the setting sun. The young man who had his hair dyed back to black looked clean, refreshing, and pleasing to the eye.
“If Wen Chi is to fight again in the future, you must stop him, do you hear me?”
Xia Bo said in an aggrieved tone, “Sister Qiao, how can I possibly be able to stop Brother Chi?”
“Then call me. If Wen Chi were to show the slightest inclination towards violence, call me immediately, do you hear me?”
Nodding profusely, Xia Bo replied, “Yes, Sister Qiao.”
Wen Chi’s posttraumatic stress disorder and Wen Mo’s autism both required help and treatment from a psychologist. This was why she had gone to ask Wen Jianmin for money.
Besides, it was what Wen Jianmin owed them.
Wen Qiao stood at the salon’s door, and the underlings who had their hair dyed black all passed by her, bowing and saying docilely, “Goodbye, Sister Qiao.”
“If you guys dare to egg on Wen Chi to go to cyber cafes again, Iー”
“We won’t, we won’t. Sister Qiao, we won’t dare to do that anymore.”
Wen Chi was the last one to have his hair dyed back. One of the boys, who was a rich second-generation heir, paid the bill and then ran off anxiously.
Wen Qiao was wearing a loose-fitting uniform and had his hands in his pants pockets as he walked up to Wen Qiao. “When did you start learning martial arts?”
Wen Qiao raised her brows. “Do you think everyone is like you? This is what it means to hide one’s capabilities.”
The eyes of the young man with his short black hair looked sharp without the coverage of his hair. Now he looked clean and handsome. The children that Wen Jianmin cast aside were Wen Qiao’s glory.
“Let’s go home.”
…
The street lights along the path that was lined with Chinese parasol trees seemed glowed faintly in the darkness. Wen Qiao kept talking the entire journey, telling Wen Chi to not fight again in the future, not to go to cyber cafes, and to work hard in his studies.
Wen Chi listened half-heartedly, not caring much about it.
Wen Qiao wasn’t hoping to be successful on the first attempt. It was better to take things slow. There might be psychosis genes running in their family, but there were also genes producing geniuses.
Since young, she didn’t need to study seriously to be able to get good grades. It was the same for Wen Mo. It should be similar for Wen Chi as well, but it was just that he was unable to focus at the moment. After he overcame these ailments, it shouldn’t be difficult for him to get into a good high school.
In her mind, Wen Qiao had already thought of the university she wanted to apply for. She was going to apply for the Central Conservatory of Music’s Traditional Instruments Department. Her mastery of the pipa had already reached a high level of proficiency.
In the morning, both Wen Chi and Wen Mo went to school while their mother had gone to work. After having breakfast, Wen Qiao changed into a T-shirt and jeans, before tying her hair up into a ponytail. She then washed her face and patted on a Dabao [1. Chinese skincare brand.] skincare product that cost seven dollars a bottle.
Suddenly, Lu Youyou’s voice rang out, “Qiaoqiao…”
Wen Qiao picked up pipa on the sofa, putting it in its case. At that moment, Lu Youyou pushed the door and entered.
“Qiaoqiao, don’t tell me that you’re going to school like this?”
Wen Qiao zipped up the pipa’s case then looked at herself. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you know that there’s an interview for the Central Conservatory of Music in the afternoon?”
“I do.”
“Then you also know that Xu Lu will also be participating in the interview, right?”
“En, what’s wrong?”
Grabbing her hand, Lu Youyou walked up to the wardrobe with gusto. “Go and put on a beautiful dress! Daddy wants you to win against everyone else with your beauty!”