Chapter 202: Sudden Attack!
“How is it? Looks okay?”
After the second round of trimming, An Han’s frown deepened even more.
Her hair was now noticeably shorter. It did look more gender-neutral than before, but because of her face shape, it still leaned toward a feminine style, and honestly, it looked worse than the last one. Or maybe it just didn’t fit her taste.
Forget it. Even if she shaved her head bald, she’d just look like a nun anyway.
Not wanting to make things hard for the hairstylist, she stood up and asked, “How much?”
“Forty.”
“???”
She looked up blankly at the stylist, then quickly searched the wall for a price list.
What the hell? This tiny salon dares to charge that much? The decoration wasn’t fancy at all, and there were only eight chairs in the whole place, a true small shop!
Even the barbershop behind the school that charged thirty yuan felt like a rip-off, and now she’d found an even pricier one.
“If you get a membership card, haircuts are twenty.”
“No, thanks.”
Never coming to this scammy place again!
With a gloomy face, An Han pushed open the glass door and stepped outside. Su Peng followed, teasing with a grin, “It looks fine. Actually, you look even cuter now.”
“I was going for handsome!” she shot back unhappily.
No matter how stylish the haircut, once it was on her head, “cool” was about the best word to describe it, never “handsome.”
An Han understood that well. With a sigh, she handed her phone to Su Peng. “Hold this for me.”
Since she was wearing a short skirt and a long-sleeved top, she had zero pockets. She’d been holding her phone the whole time, even while washing and cutting her hair.
“Okay.”
“Let’s go, we still have to buy clothes.”
As soon as she mentioned shopping, the sadness caused by her new haircut vanished instantly.
Because of her own sense of aesthetics, she had always admired the pretty outfits worn by other girls on the street. And today, she finally had the chance to pick and buy one herself.
Unfortunately, her budget was limited, she could only afford one set.
Before Su Peng could even react, An Han dashed across the street into the clothing store opposite the salon.
“Why are you running so fast?” he laughed helplessly, following her.
But when he reached the entrance, he saw her already coming out.
“Men’s clothing store,” An Han explained casually, then looked up again, her eyes shining as she scanned the nearby shops. After glancing around for a bit, she suddenly turned to ask, “Are you buying clothes too?”
“Me? Nah, I’ll pass.”
“I’m really curious, how much do the clothes you usually wear cost? A few thousand yuan? Some fancy brand?” She leaned closer, peeking curiously at the tags on his clothes. “I heard rich people always wear brand names.”
“Then I must be the weird kind of rich person, mine are all from online shops,” Su Peng replied with a small laugh.
He wasn’t lying. Since childhood, he had never cared about brand-name fashion.
“You like designer brands?”
An Han shook her head like a rattle drum. “Nope. I’m just curious how rich people live.”
She had zero interest in brand names. Spending thousands on one outfit? She’d rather use that money to buy games. A good game could last dozens or even hundreds of hours, way more worth it than a luxury outfit.
She was never a fan of shopping. Even when she went out, she usually went straight to the shop she needed, bought her stuff, and left right away.
But today felt different. Maybe because Su Peng was with her, or maybe because she was now a girl, even though she had a clear goal, she strolled slowly through the shopping street, stopping at every store that caught her eye.
“That outfit just now looked really good. Why didn’t you try it on?”
As the two of them walked out of a women’s boutique, Su Peng looked back at the little suit she had been especially interested in and asked curiously.
“Too feminine.”
And that small suit actually cost more than three hundred! That was over her budget.
An Han muttered in her heart but still marked down a few unisex hoodies. She planned to walk through the whole street before deciding which one to buy.
Su Peng could only smile helplessly. He really didn’t understand what was going on between An Han and her family.
There was no reason for her to dress like a boy in front of her family… especially wearing clothes made for girls but in a masculine style.
Noticing Su Peng’s confusion, An Han turned her head and gave him a bright smile. “Don’t think too much about it. I’ll handle it.”
She had already told Su Peng about the system, but he didn’t believe her at all. If she kept talking about it, he would probably think she was crazy.
However, Su Peng could see that her smile looked a little forced.
“Let’s just buy the clothes and stop walking around,” An Han said, stretching lazily before smiling to comfort Su Peng. “It’s fine. If I can’t handle it, I still have you, right?”
“How did it turn into you comforting me?” Su Peng said with a helpless laugh.
“Of course! I’m not that soft, clingy girl who cries and begs for help whenever something goes wrong.”
After all, she had to face it sooner or later. Even if her mother hadn’t suddenly come to visit, even if she dressed completely as a man to fool her family, during the one-month winter break, she would still get exposed eventually.
Instead of panicking when that happened, she might as well take the time now to think carefully about how to deal with it.
She went straight back to the women’s clothing store she had visited earlier. Just like before, after trying on and confirming the size was right, she didn’t nitpick or bargain. Five minutes later, she simply scanned the QR code and paid.
The salesgirl was stunned. “Miss, this outfit has a 30% discount…”
“Huh? Really?”
An Han looked up from the counter, blinking blankly at the salesgirl. “Then… can I get a refund?”
“You should’ve said it earlier when it was discounted…”
She muttered softly, her cheeks turning a little red from embarrassment.
While waiting for the salesgirl to pack up the clothes, Su Peng stepped forward naturally to pick up the shopping bags.
“Heading back now?” he asked, holding a bag in each hand.
“Let’s go!”
…………………………
At around eight in the evening, the tall and short pair got off the bus.
In front of the bus stop was a large university campus, and behind it was a low-rise urban village. This was in the suburbs. At eight o’clock, there were seven or eight food stalls set up near the entrance of the village, and the place was fairly crowded, mostly with people who looked like students.
A woman wearing an elegant long dress, a pearl necklace, and a wide-brimmed hat stood there, dragging a suitcase and wearing low heels. She looked completely like a tourist.
She looked around the area for a moment, then took out her phone from her bag and called her son.
Just then, another bus arrived at the stop.
A pretty girl jumped off the bus first. She turned around in a hurry and said, “Hurry up and give me my phone!”
“What’s the rush? I’m carrying all these bags.”
A tall, slim man stepped down after her, holding two clothing bags. He turned to the side and said, “It’s in my jacket pocket. Get it yourself.”
“My outfit doesn’t even have pockets~”
The girl complained as she leaned closer to take the phone. After glancing at the caller ID, she groaned in frustration. “I knew it, it’s my mom. Other than the mobile service center or scammers, only my mom ever calls me.”
“Mom, that big brother is so handsome,” said a little girl nearby, tugging at the woman’s sleeve and pointing at Su Peng. “Way more handsome than my brother.”
Hearing that, Su Peng turned his head and smiled at the little girl. “You’ve got a good eye.”
An Han then answered the phone. “Mom?”
As she spoke, her gaze fell on the little girl, and her expression instantly froze.
“An Han, we arrived two days early. Come out and meet us.”
The gentle voice from the phone overlapped perfectly with the woman’s voice right beside her.
“……”