"Boss, a haircut!" Pushing open the glass door, the cool air that greets me alleviates the heat from the run here. With a deep breath, Ji Zimo shouts into the room.
"What style would the lady like? The current trend is the bun hairstyle, amongst others..." The owner is exuberantly passionate with a customer stepping in, directing Ji Zimo to take a seat and flipping a book filled with various hairstyles in front of her for her to choose her preferred style.
"No need!" With a grand wave of her hand, Ji Zimo declares, "Just shave it all off!"
"Miss, you... you're not joking, right?" The barbershop owner stammers, taken aback by Ji Zimo's bold proclamation.
"Mmhm!" Ji Zimo nods firmly.
"Perhaps you should reconsider, your hair is so dark and straight, isn't it a shame to just shave it all off...?"
"Bald, I want bald!"
"..."
"Boss, just say if you can do it or not. If you can't, I'll go somewhere else!" With that, Ji Zimo threatens to leave the shop.
"Can, can!" The boss quickly stops her. "Can!" How could he refuse business that comes right to his door?
...
And so, in the time it takes to sip a cup of tea.
Ji Zimo bids her glossy, sleek hair farewell, welcoming a shiny new... bald head!
...
"Get me a pack of sunflower seeds..." Pushing open the box door, Ji Zimo settles down on the sofa, nudging the someone who is enthusiastically singing next to her.
"Hey, who are you? How could you simply barge into someone's box?"
"Tang XiaoLu! Did singing make you lose your mind?"
"Zi Mo?" Tang XiaoLu exclaimed, but before Ji ZiMo could say anything, her scream had broken through her throat, her sound echoing around the room for a long time, "You really came back with a shaved head!"
"What else?" Seeing everyone's attention was directed towards them, as a girl with thin skin, Ji Zi Mo with a somewhat shy smile, stroked her bald head, "I am a person who keeps her word!"
"Zi Mo, we were only kidding that time!" A tall girl pushed through the crowd and came over, glanced at her and couldn't help but laugh.
"Jin PingMei, why didn't you say so earlier?" Who said that losers should fulfill their promises? Who said that if she doesn't do it, she wouldn't marry the man she loves for the rest of her life? Damn, telling her now that it was only a joke!
"Um, Zi Mo, we didn't expect that you would really shave your head!" Jin PingMei reached out and touched Ji ZiMo's bald head, and then commented, "But the bald head that Zi Mo has shaved doesn’t look bad at all. It feels really good!"
"What the heck!" If not for the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to take on this girl who was 1.75 meters tall, Ji ZiMo wants to fight her right now!
"Zi Mo, sorry, we..." After all the laughter, everyone still felt a pang of guilt. Ji ZiMo's hair, black and shiny, had grown down to her waist, rumored to have been kept for ten years for the one she loved. Now, all those years of effort have been wasted because of their little joke.
Jin PingMei, accompanied by Tang XiaoLu and Bai JingAn, walked up to Ji ZiMo to apologize, "We're really sorry, Zi Mo. How about we buy you a wig to make up for it?"
"There's no need, no need..." Ji ZiMo's major flaw is that she is soft at heart. Now when these people stand in front of her, she loses all her anger, touches her bald head, and smiles brighter than anyone else, "I haven’t tried a new hairstyle like this before, so it’s quite nice!"
"Zi Mo, are you really okay?"
"Don't worry…"
"You go and sing your song, Jin PingMei, go draw your lots, and Bai JingAn, the beauty, don't stick around me, I will think that you have a crush on me!"
"Ugh!" Bai JingAn snorted, showing her cold and aloof demeanor of a literary college's top beauty.
"Carry on with what you are doing! I'm perfectly fine!" Ji Zimo waved away all concerns with bravado.
She was often unabashed and carefree, so everyone assumed she was alright, thus scattering away.
After everyone left, Ji Zimo got a few bottles of wine from the table to a quiet corner of the room, where she sat alone in melancholy.
It wasn't that she was numb. How could she possibly be numb, after cherishing her long hair for that man over a decade? Despite her laid back nature, she was always meticulous when it came to taking care of her long hair, dedicating a chunk of her morning, afternoon, and evening solely for it. Now that it's cut, nothing's left. Truly, nothing's left.
However, it's better now that it's cut. After all, that man to her was as untouchable as the moon in the sky. By cutting her long hair, it was like severing all her lingering attachments.
Feeling dejected, Ji Zimo picked up a bottle of wine and started chugging it down. Normally, even a small sip of alcohol would hit her hard, but now she was downing a bottle in one go!
...
Before she knew it, she had already finished off four to five bottles. Not only was her face flushed, but she was also feeling the call of nature.
Staggering to her feet from the corner, Ji Zimo wobbled over to Tang Xiaolu. "Xiaolu, I'm going to use the restroom..."
"Yeah, alright!" Tang Xiaolu was deeply engrossed in singing, hardly paying any attention to Ji Zimo as she casually responded.