If Xia Mian hadn't said that, Zhou Ran wouldn't have noticed.
As soon as she brought it up, Zhou Ran felt as if his face were on fire; it flared up instantly, burning intensely.
He stood up abruptly, feeling as if that fire were about to burn into his brain.
Xia Mian was startled by his actions: "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," Zhou Ran coughed unnaturally, "Go back to sleep, your brain is going to burn to a crisp."
Xia Mian frowned and raised her hand to touch her forehead.
"The fever has gone down."
Zhou Ran pressed his brows together, trying to suppress the heat on his face.
He turned to leave, but Xia Mian called out to him: "Where are you going?"
"To open the shop."
Xia Mian was stunned and picked up her mobile phone to check the time.
Seven in the morning.
Do people who get tattoos come this early now?
Zhou Ran went downstairs to the doorway and opened the glass door. The rolling shutter outside was only pulled up halfway, and the breeze blowing in wasn't enough to dissipate the heat on his face, so he simply raised his hands and pulled it all the way up.
With a "clatter," he startled the birds in the locust tree.
Damn.
Zhou Ran stood at the doorway and finally let out a full breath.
Staring at someone's hand was one thing, but he had actually reached out and touched it.
Was there something wrong with his brain?
And after touching it, he hadn't even been able to make sense of what he felt.
Fuck.
Zhou Ran cursed under his breath.
After letting the wind blow on him at the doorway for a while, Zhou Ran didn't even have the heart to smoke a cigarette.
He went inside and threw himself onto the sofa, leaning his head back. He couldn't go back upstairs, and since his sleepiness was gone, he could only sit downstairs.
Who in their right mind comes to a tattoo shop at seven in the morning?
He had never opened the shop this early.
A tattoo shop isn't like a restaurant or a cafe, and there aren't many people getting tattoos in a small city. There were only him and Lao Lu as tattoo artists in the shop, and he didn't like having too many people around, so he always staggered the appointments.
In the first two years after the shop "Entwine" became famous in Xia Cheng, someone took photos of the shop and posted them online, and his little run-down storefront almost became an internet-famous check-in spot.
Zhou Ran didn't have the heart for that, was too lazy to do any promotion, and certainly wouldn't engage in enthusiastic hospitality.
Lao Lu said he had a sour face.
He was a tattoo artist who made a living with his skills; what did it matter if his face was sour or not?
Zhou Ran glanced upstairs and reached out to grab a mirror placed to the side to look at his face.
His brows were pressed a bit low, his brow ridges were raised, he had double eyelids, and his eyes didn't look small at all.
What was so sour about it?
When Lao Lu arrived at the shop, Zhou Ran was standing in front of the stove in the small kitchen, lost in thought. He didn't know what was boiling in the pot, but steam was drifting out, carrying the aroma of meat.
"Whoa, this smells good, what are you cooking?" he asked casually.
Lao Lu put his things down and peeked into the kitchen: "Why did you open the shop so early today?"
Usually, when he arrived at this time, Zhou Ran would still be sleeping upstairs. He had a key, so he was the one who usually opened the shop from the outside.
It was the first time he had seen him up early, and even cooking something.
"My mom went to the morning market today and bought two bamboo mats. It's getting hot, and they're perfect for sleeping on. Since you're up, I'll go lay them out for you." Lao Lu said as he headed upstairs.
Zhou Ran was lost in thought while cooking and didn't hear what Lao Lu said.
By the time he reacted, there was already a "thump-thump-thump" sound coming from the stairs.
You could tell how hurried it was just from the footsteps.
"Holy shit!" Lao Lu dashed into the kitchen and cursed in a hushed voice, "What the hell is that upstairs?"
Zhou Ran looked back at him. Lao Lu was patting his chest to calm himself down; he must have been scared.
"A person."
"I know it's a person, damn it!" Lao Lu scolded, "Why is Xia Mian here?"
"Is she awake?" Zhou Ran asked.
"No! I walked in and saw someone lying on the bed, it scared the hell out of me. I almost screamed!"
Lao Lu lowered his voice, his tone filled with unconcealable shock.
"Why is she sleeping at your place? You two didn't..." Lao Lu's words trailed off, his eyes widening, "I knew you were up to no good, I saw that you two were acting strange long ago!"
Zhou Ran glanced at him: "If you're not using that brain of yours, you might as well donate it."
"Does Zhuang Zhong know about this?" Lao Lu asked.
"What does that have to do with him?"
"Doesn't he have feelings for Xia Mian and want to pursue her?"
Zhou Ran said "Oh": "He can pursue her if he wants."
Lao Lu almost wanted to applaud Zhou Ran. After thinking about it, he gave him a thumbs up instead.
"Brother, you're broad-minded."
"Are you sick?" Zhou Ran turned off the stove.
"You two have already done 'that,' and you're still letting Zhuang Zhong pursue her? You're a beast!"
Lao Lu emphasized the word "that."
Zhou Ran asked him: "Done what?"
"You know, that!" Lao Lu nudged his arm, "Why are you playing dumb?"
"Get lost."
Zhou Ran was holding the pot and used a spoon to scoop the meat porridge into a bowl.
"She just had an allergic reaction and a fever last night, and I happened to run into her. She spent the whole night at the hospital."
"Then why didn't she go back instead of sleeping here?"
Zhou Ran really couldn't give a reason for that.
He thought for a moment and gave Lao Lu a blunt answer: "Get lost."
Lao Lu was half-convinced and leaned in closer to ask in a low voice: "Are you and Xia Mian really okay?"
Zhou Ran let out a hum of laughter, simply put down what he was holding, turned around, and crossed his arms to look at him.
"What do you want to happen between us?"
"I'm just asking, don't end up fighting with Zhuang Zhong later," he said, "That girl seems like a nice person and she's pretty, do you really have no feelings for her?"
Zhou Ran paused for a second, turned around, and pulled a porcelain spoon from the chopstick holder.
Lao Lu said: "Don't deny it. I said you've been acting strange, and you have been. If it were someone else, even if they were lying on the floor in front of you, would you care?"
Zhou Ran was amused: "Am I such a beast in your eyes?"
He put the spoon in the bowl and said nonchalantly: "You've let people stay for meals before, if someone were really lying on the floor, wouldn't you care?"
"But you let her sleep here? And in your bed?"
"Is that a bed you haven't slept in, or one Pi Tao'er hasn't slept in?"
Lao Lu pointed at Zhou Ran: "Keep being stubborn. When Zhuang Zhong comes to settle the score with you, don't say your buddy didn't help you."
"What score would he settle with me?" Zhou Ran raised his eyelids.
"Stealing his love, of course."
Zhou Ran glanced at him: "Is she his love?"
"Yours, your love, happy now?"
Lao Lu couldn't be bothered with him.
Zhou Ran was the type of person who would still be stubborn even after being dead for three days.
He carried the meat porridge, walked past Lao Lu, and went straight out of the kitchen, with Lao Lu calling after him.
"Where are you taking that?"
When Zhou Ran stepped onto the stairs, he looked down. That grandson was leaning against the kitchen doorway watching him, asking a question he already knew the answer to with a "I know everything" look on his face.
He was incredibly annoying.
Zhou Ran couldn't be bothered to deal with him and slowly went upstairs.
Lao Lu snorted.
"Show-off."
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