That was how unjust the world was. There were people raking in millions every year, while someone like her struggle to keep themselves warm and fed.
When she came out of the mall, she glimpsed a woman on a shared bike, her wavy hair flowing in the wind. She was on the phone, and there was a sapphire ring nestled around her ring finger. It seemed to be of the same model as Jiu Yue’s 1.2 million ring. Even the phone she was using was of the latest model.
Why not ask your sugar daddy to drive you home? she thought sourly, curling her lips.
For once, she decided to splurge on a cab. Once she slid into the passenger’s seat, she saw the woman on the bike again, riding past her. The breeze mussed up her hair, exposing her angelic face.
Who did she remind her of? Sun Yuhan pondered for a while, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Wait, didn’t the person at the clothes shop mention that she looked like Yan Huan?
But how could it be? Yan Huan was the best actress in the world, a winner in life. How could the loafer she just saw be compared to her?
Jiu Yue had the dishes ready by the time she got back.
She went into her room and changed into her new clothes, wondering if she could surprise Jiu Yue. The clothes were expensive for a good reason, for it did make her look rather classy. It was a pity that she was in slippers. She thought about slipping into high heels, but decided against it when logic prevailed.
Hopping into the kitchen, she spun before Jiu Yue.
“What do you think, Jiu Yue? Am I pretty?”
Jiu Yue turned around and glanced at her.
“Blue doesn’t go well with your dark skin.”
He was an honest man. Always had been. What he said was the truth, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. It was a crushing blow to her new-found vanity.
Vexed, she confined herself to her room and refused to come out.
Jiu Yue brought out the dishes, removed his apron, and walked to Sun Yuhan’s bedroom door. He knocked.
“The food’s ready, Yuhan.”
Sun Yuhan was still throwing a tantrum inside the room. She found a pair of scissors and thought about cutting the clothes to shreds. Then she remembered that it had cost her 3k, which instantly made her dismiss any plans of ravaging it.
What she cuts wouldn’t just be clothes, but also her own money!
Jiu Yue knocked on the door again. “It’s time to eat.”
He stood there for a long time, and sighed when she refused to come out.
Sometimes, he realized, you can’t just go ahead and tell the truth.
He turned, sat down at the table, and picked up his chopsticks; but he wasn’t keen on eating.
The door opened with a bang. Sun Yuhan walked out, sat down, and began eating while ignoring Jiu Yue. Suddenly, with his bowl in his hand, Jiu Yue began studying her with a serious look.
Sun Yuhan’s heart tightened. Under his intent gaze, her heart raced, and her face flushed.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, prodding at the rice with her chopsticks while averting her eyes.
“You know, you might look prettier if you dye your hair,” he offered. He left some stuff unrepeated, like how the blue clothes really did not suit her.
Sun Yuhan ran her hands through her hair.
She had never taken special care of her hair, or dyed it. Whenever it grew out, she took the trouble of shortening it herself.
“Only if you come with me,” she said, prodding at the rice again.
“Okay,” said Jiu Yue. He was playing the yes-man, perhaps after realizing he had hurt her with his careless speech.
That appeased Sun Yuhan. As she ate, she thought about what kind of hairstyle she should be getting. Maybe she could get the same one as the Yan Huan lookalike who bought the same dress as her today. Her hair didn’t look bad.
When they were about to head out, however, they found the sky dusking and overcast. Even the wind felt humid.
Jiu Yue gazed at the moonless sky.
“Let’s go,” Sun Yuhan took his arm. “What are you standing here for?”
“I’ll go get an umbrella,” said Jiu Yue, remembering about the rain alert he had heard from the weather forecast. It wouldn’t hurt to be prepared, he thought. He went into his room, grabbed an umbrella, and set off with Sun Yuhan.
They ended up at a large salon, staffed by young, handsome guys in their twenties. They were all clean and well-groomed, without rocking any hairstyles too shocking to the eye.
Once Sun Yuhan sat down on the chair, someone washed her hair, while someone else massaged her shoulders. At first, the over-the-top services made her a little uncomfortable, but soon she found herself enjoying it.
Jiu Yue sat on the sofa outside, irritated by the smell of shampoo and the drumming of dyers.
Suddenly, he heard the pitter-patter of rain. His hands tightened around the umbrella he was holding. As he had expected, it had begun to rain. A heavy rain, too.
The sound of rain swelled, and raindrops followed the wind where it went. In the intensifying rain, the light from various sources wavered.
The barber said something to Sun Yuhan, which provoked a chuckle. Her hair was in curls, and she was sitting below a machine that had weird antennas all over it. It was a weird sight. To a woman, it might seem normal; to a man, it was weird, creepy, and incomprehensible.
There are some things men would never understand; like why women go through the hassle of straightening their hair and curling them back, then repeating the same process over and over again, as though it would give them insomnia if they skipped the ritual. Black hair was pretty, yet they had to dye it into the colors of the rainbow. Wasn’t that strange?
On the same note, there were things women could never understand about men; like how they could stand watching soccer for the entire day, and why they never bother to haggle.
Come to think about it, men and women have entirely different ways of viewing the same world.
The rain was still falling, and the number of pedestrians had decreased greatly. On the empty street, all that remained were the lampposts on both sides of the street that illuminated the road leading to god knows where.
At times, a car would zoom past, sometimes gently, and sometimes obnoxiously, stirring up dirty water and giving the pedestrians a free shower. Resigned, the drenched pedestrians could only dip their heads and mutter a curse.