Left Ear (49)

  Left ear (49)

  "Alright," he said, "goodbye."

  I stared at the phone for a long time, then I dialed it back. He answered quickly, and I panted to him: "I'll bring it over this weekend."

  "It's too late," he said, "I'll go get it from your school."

  At noon, I withdrew my last 2,000 yuan from the bank at the school gate and put it in my backpack. I leaned against the subway entrance waiting for Xu Yi to appear. Couples walked by me one after another. A boy bent down and gently kissed his girlfriend's face. I lowered my eyes to look at the ground, where there was a dirty brick with a green piece of gum stuck on it. I felt a wave of nausea in my stomach, as if I were about to faint. It was then that Xu Yi appeared before me, saying: "Li Ruo, your hair has grown long, you should get a haircut."

  I dazedly asked him: "Why did you go gamble with others again?"

  "This time it's not a gamble," he said. "I'm doing some work for a company and my computer needs an upgrade."

  I lowered my head, opened the bag, and took out the money to give it to him. He took the money and whispered "thank you" to me. I said, "You're welcome." He said, "Then I'll go, I still have something urgent to attend to."

  I said: "Oh."

  He turned around and walked into the subway, took two steps, then turned back to me and said: "Li Ou, are you free this weekend?"

  I nodded.

  He said: "Then come to my bar for fun on Sunday. I don't have to work, but I'll be there at night."

  I smile.

  He waved goodbye and left.

  After Xu Yi left, I decided to skip class and went alone to a barber shop. The staff greeted me enthusiastically and suggested that I should style my hair in this way or that way. I interrupted her saying: "I don't have money, just cut it for now, short is fine."

  Maybe they couldn't make money from me, so they assigned a silly-looking barber to me, definitely an intern. I saw his trembling hands in the mirror and comforted him: "It's okay, just cut it short, the hairstyle doesn't matter."

  He smiled at me with a hint of gratitude and said, "Don't worry, I'll definitely make you satisfied."

  I was texting Yu while getting a haircut: "Can you lend me 1,000 yuan? I'll pay you back as soon as possible." The money my mom left on the card for me when she left, I gave it all to Xu Yi. If I don't think of something, I'll be facing the danger of going hungry.

  He didn't even send me a short message, but instead called me directly. He asked me: "Li Ruo, what do you want money for? Didn't your aunt leave enough money for you to use?"

  I loudly lied in the midst of the hair dryer's humming noise: "No, I want to buy a computer, but I'm still short on money."

  "Does Auntie know? Does she agree?"

  "Never mind if you don't lend it."

  "He also asked: 'At the beginning of school, what did you buy a computer for?'"

  I said: "I want to write something."

  "Oh, that's great. By the way, are you doing well in Shanghai?"

  "It's okay." I said.

  "Okay," Yu said: "send me your card number."

  "Don't tell Mom," I said.

  "Alright." Yu said with some helplessness, "But I'm glad you thought of me. You know, no matter what it is, I'd be happy to help you."

  "Uh-huh." I nodded, answering him with a heavy heart, "Thank you. I'll pay you back as soon as possible."

  "Don't overwork yourself, Shanghai is big, and often tutoring jobs require traveling to far-off places. You're a girl, be careful, don't take unnecessary risks, got it? If anything happens, just tell me."

  I suddenly feel like crying. At the same time, I also want to know if he knew why I wanted to borrow money from him, whether he would kill me or not.

  I put my phone away and put it in my pocket. The barber adjusted my head a bit, facing the mirror, I saw a short-haired big-eyed me in the mirror, with neat bangs on my forehead, I was very satisfied with my new hairstyle, so I made a funny face at the mirror.

  That week, I found a job at the library helping to organize books. The one who introduced me to this job was my senior Lin, who was already in her third year and also studying Chinese. She often helped out at the library, and since I frequently went there to borrow books, she started talking to me on her own initiative. She was a very nice person, spoke softly, worked efficiently, and didn't make people feel tense, so I gradually came to like her too. Sometimes, in the vast library with only a few scattered people, Lin would sit across from me, put her hand on my forehead, gently stroke it, and say: "Li Rou, there really aren't many girls like you who love reading books."

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