Zhou Ran shut Xia Mian up with a single sentence.
She held a coconut and stared at Zhou Ran for a long time, losing all of her "underworld" vibe.
She pondered for quite a while, trying to think of what to say to counter Zhou Ran's remark. After thinking hard for a moment, there was only one way to break the deadlock—
"How about I stick my finger down my throat and throw it up for you right now?"
Zhou Ran chuckled: "I'll pass, thank you."
He had realized that while Xia Mian was indeed shy and looked obedient, her mouth could always pop out with things you never expected.
The kind of things that didn't match her appearance or persona.
A huge contrast.
He weighed the coconut in his hand: "Let's go, sister of the society."
Xia Mian rubbed her nose, calculating in her heart how to snatch that coconut back.
Even after taking the hush money, her mouth was still just as sharp.
The old apartment area was exactly as Zhou Ran had said; there were no streetlights at night, and only a few windows in Aunt Pang's homestay building were still lit.
Zhou Ran stopped downstairs, waiting for Xia Mian to enter the building before leaving.
The iron stairs made a "thump, thump, thump" sound with every step, and Zhou Ran could hear every single one.
Once Xia Mian went upstairs, the surroundings finally quieted down.
She glanced down, and in the darkness, Zhou Ran's figure was still standing downstairs.
He turned his back to light a cigarette. Xia Mian squinted; she could only see him clearly when a car passed by on the road, along with the small red dot held in his hand.
The door behind her was opened. Xia Mian looked back and saw a male student walking out while draping his jacket over his shoulders.
The moment he locked eyes with Xia Mian, the male student's footsteps faltered.
Xia Mian looked at him for two seconds, then turned to walk toward her room.
The male student suddenly called out to her: "You're that tenant next door my mom mentioned, right?"
Xia Mian turned back to look at him, recognizing him as Aunt Pang's son.
"Yes."
"Oh," the male student asked casually, "which room?"
There were six or seven rooms on this floor.
Xia Mian didn't speak or respond; she just stood there without moving.
Seeing that she wouldn't talk, the male student turned and walked downstairs.
Xia Mian glanced downstairs, and only after the male student's figure disappeared did she take out her key and walk toward the room door.
Before entering the room, she looked down once more.
Zhou Ran's figure was already gone; he must have left.
Although Xia Cheng was by the sea, the temperature was still ridiculously high. Even breathing felt scorching, and the cicadas outside grew louder and louder.
The guest lay on the tattoo bed, and in just a short while, a layer of sweat had already seeped out beneath him.
He had come in a couple of days ago to get a full-back tattoo. When he went home, his wife saw it, thought it was super good-looking, and insisted he come back to have Zhou Ran design a pattern and include her name in it.
The placement was also very thoughtful—tattooed on his chest.
Before the tattooing, Lao Lu had even considerately shaved his chest hair for him.
He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, not knowing if it was from the pain or the heat.
"You guys don't even have an air conditioner in this shop during the summer," he exhaled, looking at Zhou Ran, who was tattooing him. "This young man is still looking so calm and collected; aren't you hot?"
The machine in Zhou Ran's hand didn't stop, buzzing away, and he didn't reply.
He didn't like to talk or chat while working; all his attention was focused on his hands.
Lao Lu picked up the conversation: "A calm heart naturally keeps you cool."
"Your shop is quite quiet today. It was really lively when I came last time, a whole room full of people."
Lao Lu smiled and said: "It's too hot; the room can't handle that many people breathing. It would be stifling."
The wind chime swayed, not even having time to ring.
Lao Lu looked back toward the door. Shui Cao was standing behind the glass door, standing on tiptoes and grabbing the door handle, preparing to open it.
She was small and not very strong; opening the door wasn't as smooth for her as it was for Pi Tao'er.
Lao Lu got up to push the door open, smiling as he greeted Shui Cao: "Shui Cao, why aren't you growing any taller?"
Shui Cao tilted her head and smiled at him.
As soon as she entered the room, her gaze wandered around.
Lao Lu knew what she was looking for: "Tao'er is grounded at home today; she didn't come."
Shui Cao looked back at him, nodded, and her eyes began wandering around again.
"Brother Zhuang Zhong didn't come today either; he went out to sea."
As soon as Lao Lu said this, Zhou Ran's hand, which was busy with the tattoo, suddenly paused.
The guest turned his head and followed up on his words: "That kid is so lazy; can he really go out to sea to play in such hot weather?"
Lao Lu said "Ah," and walked slowly toward the refrigerator.
"You say that, but isn't it allowed for people to go out to sea to cool off?"
Once that boat starts, the sea breeze blowing is what you call comfortable.
The guest laughed: "That's true. Tomorrow I'll take my wife out to sea to play too. I heard there are a lot of projects on the island now; many tourists come here to play there."
Lao Lu looked back at him.
"Are there really people who come here for tourism?"
"Ah, of course! I heard an influencer came here, and when they went back and posted about this place on the internet, wow, this place became famous."
Lao Lu was amused. This strange way of thinking wasn't unique to just Xia Mian.
"But most are just driving over from Minghai and stopping by. How could anyone really head to our little broken city?"
Zhou Ran continued operating the machine, thinking to himself.
There is one. There really is one.
Lao Lu opened the refrigerator, muttering as he did so: "Cao'er, what do you want to drink? Brother Lu will get it for you."
Shui Cao trotted over to Lao Lu, looking up at him expectantly.
Lao Lu suddenly said "Oh."
"Zhou Ran, when did you buy a coconut?"
He held the coconut, ready to take it out: "Shui Cao, let's drink this; it's refreshing."
Zhou Ran furrowed his brows and suddenly spoke: "Leave it there."
Lao Lu clicked his tongue: "So stingy. I'm giving it to Shui Cao."
"Shui Cao doesn't like drinking coconut."
"Is that so?" Lao Lu looked down at Shui Cao, "You don't like drinking it?"
Shui Cao nodded obediently.
Previously, Zhuang Zhong had brought back a few coconuts, and the two little girls each held one, sitting on the sofa drinking together.
Shui Cao had never drunk coconut water before; she thought it was novel but expensive. She couldn't stand the taste but was too embarrassed to put it down, so she could only hold it and take small sips, wrinkling her face and secretly sticking out her tongue as she drank.
At that time, Zhou Ran was standing at the doorway smoking, watching Shui Cao's little actions, and he was amused right then and there.
Lao Lu said: "If Shui Cao doesn't drink it, I will, okay?"
"Leave it there." Zhou Ran didn't even lift his head.
"I'm telling you, why are you so stubborn?" Lao Lu laughed in frustration. "I'll go buy you another one later, okay? It's so hot today, and this coconut is already opened; it'll go bad if you leave it in the fridge."
"Even if it goes bad, leave it there."
Lao Lu was so angry he had no temper left.
"Fine, I'll leave it there."
Lao Lu grabbed two bottles of iced soda from the refrigerator, took the lighter from the cashier counter, and popped them both open with a "pop, pop" sound.
He inserted a straw into the bottle and handed it to Shui Cao.
"Go ahead and drink."
Shui Cao held the soda bottle and nodded at Lao Lu, making "ah, ah" sounds; her voice was soft and small.
She didn't drink it, but instead trotted over to Zhou Ran's side, holding the soda bottle up to him.
"Ah."
Zhou Ran looked back at her, then stopped what he was doing, took off his mask, and took a sip from the straw.
"It's good."
Shui Cao smiled and held it up higher, signaling for Zhou Ran to take another sip.
Zhou Ran put his mask back on: "You drink it."
"Ah."
Shui Cao held the soda bottle, turned around, and climbed back onto the sofa. Once seated, she lowered her head and drank the soda in small sips.
The guest watched and laughed, asking: "Whose little sister is this, yours or his?"
"Both," Lao Lu leaned against the cashier counter, tilted his head back to gulp down some soda, and looked at Shui Cao, saying, "She's much more obedient than a real sister."
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