Tang Yu tugged on Yin Zhao-an's sleeve, indicating to her not to go too far with her words.
Yin Zhao-an soothingly patted Tang Yu's hand in response. Then, she returned her attention to her mother and said, "That man wore a black hat and a black trench coat in this weather. The coat even looked like it was made out of wool. Don't you think something is wrong with him?"
Although Wang Zhen agreed with her daughter's sentiment, whether the man her daughter mentioned was a psychopath wasn't the focus of her attention. "Why are you caring about others? Hurry up. Don't you feel hot? Or don't tell me you're also sick in the head?"
"Fine, fine, fine. I was wrong, okay?" Yin Zhao-an raised her hands and conceded defeat.
…
The enrollment venue was very crowded, so Wang Zhen took on the burden of enrolling both girls. After taking over Tang Yu's enrollment files, Wang Zhen squeezed into the crowded office by herself.
There were truly far too many people coming and going from the enrollment venue. While Tang Yu stood outside the office, pedestrians in a hurry would often bump into her, her physiological disgust causing her face to turn pale and cold sweat to trickle down the sides of her face.
After looking around, Yin Zhao-an finally found a place with few people and promptly pulled Tang Yu over to that place.
The place Yin Zhao-an eyed was a wooden gazebo. Although the gazebo had a hollow roof, the hollowed section was covered by a type of creeper, granting a cooling shade for the inside of the gazebo. In addition, as the gazebo was quite far from the enrollment venue and away from any streets, there weren't many people sitting under the gazebo.
After taking a seat, Yin Zhao-an reached for Tang Yu's pocket.
"What are you doing?" Tang Yu warily asked when she saw Yin Zhao-an's actions.
Seeing that her actions were misunderstood, Yin Zhao-an retracted her hand and pointed at Tang Yu's right pocket, saying, "You have a pack of tissues in your pocket, right? Can you take it out for me?"
Tang Yu grew embarrassed when she realized the misunderstanding. After awkwardly taking out the pack of tissues from her pocket and handing it to Yin Zhao-an, she leaned against the bench and closed her eyes to rest.
Subsequently, Tang Yu felt a piece of soft and lightly fragrant tissue paper gently brushing against her face, wiping away her sweat. Then, she heard Yin Zhao-an softly chuckling and whispering:
"What is going on in that brain of yours? Do I look like the kind of person who'd take advantage of you?"
Tang Yu opened her eyes a little and glanced at Yin Zhao-an when she heard the latter's words. After meeting Yin Zhao-an's sincere gaze and letting out a cold humph, she quickly closed her eyes again and snatched the tissue paper out of Yin Zhao-an's hand.
Suddenly, a resonant whistle came from behind. The roguish behavior instantly allowed Yin Zhao-an to guess the other party's identity, and she couldn't help but turn around in surprise. Then, sure enough, she saw the long-lost Wen Tao.
Through his last-minute struggle and effort, Wen Tao met the requirements to attend high school, albeit just barely.
Meanwhile, being able to return to school, Wen Tao chose to dye his hair black and get a haircut at a random barber shop. Unfortunately, he had met the legendary "Tony the Barber," so instead of the middle parting style he asked for, he had his bangs thinly trimmed, giving him a very well-behaved look.
Wen Tao's innocent look was completely at odds with his dodgy demeanor. After crudely taking a seat across from Yin Zhao-an and Tang Yu, he revealed a big smile and said, "Greetings, Big Bro and Sister-in-law!"
Tang Yu's pupils instantly narrowed at the form of address. Then, with a horrified expression, she turned to look at the equally shocked Yin Zhao-an.
Meanwhile, Wen Tao immediately covered his mouth like a child who had just said something wrong when he saw Yin Zhao-an's and Tang Yu's reactions. Then, in a muffled voice, he said to Yin Zhao-an, "I think I wasn't supposed to call her that way?"
"You son of a…" Yin Zhao-an gritted her teeth and cursed under her breath. Immediately, she got up from her seat and glared at Wen Tao, her menacing appearance making it seem as if she was about to teach Wen Tao a lesson.
Seeing this, Wen Tao hurriedly fled from his seat and hid behind a pillar. "Haha, calm down, Big Bro, calm down."
Just as Yin Zhao-an was about to say something, she suddenly decided against it and returned to her seat. Then, she looked at Wen Tao with an amused expression.
When Wen Tao saw the two girls looking behind him with complicated expressions, he hesitantly turned around. Upon doing so, the first thing that entered his eyes was a chest covered by a black shirt, the chest's pectoral muscles so well-developed that they had the shirt crying for mercy.
Looking further up, Wen Tao saw a head of dazzling gray-white hair that nearly blinded him and ears decorated with a bunch of strange black earrings.
"Tony?!" Wen Tao instantly recognized the person behind him, and he couldn't help but curse out loud, "Damn! Don't tell me you're also a student of this school? How did you even get past security looking like this?!"
In response, the man in the black shirt looked down at Wen Tao's somewhat sweaty bangs and tried to reach for them with his hand, only for Wen Tao to dodge away in disgust.
"You look good."
Wen Tao grew even more annoyed when he heard the man's words. "Fuck! I should have asked for a refund! I told you I wanted a middle part, yet what the hell did you give me?! I'm never going back to your shop!"
While Wen Tao was going off on the man in the black shirt, Tang Yu leaned into Yin Zhao-an's ear and quietly asked, "Is that black-haired boy the underling you mentioned last time?"
With an amused smile on her face, Yin Zhao-an said, "Honestly, I really don't know how he managed to convince so many people to become his underlings. He even asked to be my underling the first time we met."
At this time, a girl wearing a white shirt appeared near the wooden gazebo while looking around, seemingly searching for something or someone. Then, when the girl's eyes fell on the gazebo, she dashed up to the man in the black shirt, embraced his robust arm, and sweetly smiled, saying, "Found you!"
…
TL Notes:
[1]Tony the Barber: This isn't referring to a specific term. It's an internet slang in China used to refer to hairdressers with "spectacular" skills.