"Keep the plastic wrap on for two hours. Once the tissue fluid has drained, wash it clean. Remember to apply the recovery ointment three times a day. It is normal to feel itching and slight stinging after the anesthesia wears off. Try not to touch it once it scabs over."
Lao Lu wrapped the plastic wrap around Xia Mian's arm, giving instructions while looking at the tattoo on her arm.
Her snow-white skin was still flushed red from the needles, and a light green butterfly was imprinted on her skin, with every detail on its wings perfectly outlined.
Lao Lu sighed, "Zhou Ran's craftsmanship is getting better and better."
He looked back at Zhou Ran, who was tidying up the equipment behind him. Zhou Ran was wearing a mask, so his expression was unclear; he just lowered his eyes, as if he hadn't heard.
Lao Lu tore off the plastic wrap: "All right, WeChat or Alipay?"
Xia Mian lowered her head, took out her mobile phone, and hurriedly scanned the QR code on the wall. After entering the password, the shop's speaker announced the payment confirmation.
"I'm leaving now," Xia Mian said with her head lowered.
Lao Lu acknowledged her, then turned to Pi Tao'er on the sofa and said, "Say goodbye to the big sister."
Pi Tao'er said "Mm" and obediently waved her hand: "Goodbye."
She had been playing wildly all day and was already a bit sleepy; at this moment, she could barely keep her eyes open.
Xia Mian responded and pushed open the glass door.
Once the sound of the wind chimes stopped, Lao Lu walked over to Zhou Ran, nudged him with his elbow, and whistled.
Zhou Ran took off his mask and glanced at him: "What?"
"What did you do to that little girl upstairs? Her face has been red ever since she came down, and she didn't even dare to lift her head."
Lao Lu laughed and leaned in: "What? Seeing that the little girl is pretty, you stopped acting like a decent person?"
Zhou Ran frowned and pushed Lao Lu away: "Get lost."
"Did I hit the nail on the head?"
Zhou Ran threw the mask in his hand: "How come I didn't notice her face was red."
Lao Lu looked at Zhou Ran with an "are you kidding me" expression.
"She sat there for over an hour, and not a single part of her from her face to her neck was white. Even that silly kid Zhuang Zhong noticed something was wrong, and you're still pretending?"
Zhuang Zhong, who was playing a game on the side, heard his name and looked up.
"Huh? Calling me?"
Zhou Ran glanced at him: "Nothing to do with you."
He threw the disposable equipment into the trash can and said to Lao Lu in a low voice: "Stop saying useless things in front of the girl. She's thin-skinned and can't handle your kind of nonsense."
"Yo, so you know she's thin-skinned?" Lao Lu laughed, "That's why I didn't say it in front of her, right? I said it behind her back."
He shook his mobile phone keychain and shouted to Pi Tao'er: "Tao'er, come home with Brother."
"Mm."
Pi Tao'er crawled off the edge of the sofa, shuffled over to Lao Lu, and stretched out her two little arms: "Carry."
Lao Lu stretched and acted like a rascal: "Oh, Brother has been tired all day and can't even lift his arms. Tao'er will have to massage Brother when we get back."
Zhuang Zhong had just finished a game, put away his mobile phone, and stood up, clapping his hands: "Tao'er, come to Brother Zhuang, Brother Zhuang will carry you."
After everyone left, the shop returned to silence.
Zhou Ran took a thin cigarette from the front desk drawer and held it in his mouth. He searched for a long time but couldn't find a lighter, guessing that Lao Lu must have swiped it, so he could only bite the cigarette filter dryly.
Summer nights arrive late; the sunset hadn't set yet, and the sunlight spilled onto the glass door, illuminating the entire tattoo shop.
The butterfly manuscript hadn't been put away yet.
Zhou Ran lowered his eyes and looked at it.
How could she not be thin-skinned?
She wasn't just blushing downstairs; she was blushing upstairs too.
Xia Cheng is just a small coastal city. The area isn't large, and among the entertainment activities the locals can name, going to the seaside to cool off is one of them.
Xia Mian wandered around all day and didn't head to the seaside until the afternoon when the sun wasn't as intense.
The last boat to go out to sea was at five in the afternoon. If she went out now, she could still catch the last boat returning.
Passing through the alley entrance of the snack street, the blue brick road was uneven, surrounded by low buildings, and the leaves of the old locust tree rustled in the wind.
As soon as Xia Mian walked out of the alley entrance, she heard a noise.
"Say that again! I'll knock your teeth out!"
A childish voice came from not far away; it was a bit shrill and sounded familiar.
"You little tyrant! We didn't say anything about you, what does it have to do with you!"
"It has everything to do with me!"
"Are you annoying! Being so fierce, who would dare to play with you!"
The noise at the alley entrance grew louder. Xia Mian looked in the direction of the sound and saw several children arguing face-to-face.
The little girl with pigtails had half of her hair crooked and loose, looking messy. She was sweating profusely while arguing with the others. If it weren't for a little girl behind her hugging her waist and trying desperately to stop her, she might have gone up to fight them.
The little boy standing at the front on the opposite side covered his nose, his voice muffled and tearful.
"Lu Tao! Don't even think about playing with us ever again! I'm going back to tell my mom that you hit me!"
As soon as Pi Tao'er heard this, she wanted to jump two meters high on the spot and leap up to beat the boy.
"Go ahead and tell! I hit you because I wanted to! If we don't play, we don't play; I don't care!"
Shui Cao behind her was thin and small. She was hugging Pi Tao'er like a tug-of-war, her two little arms exerting all her strength, and she was so anxious she was standing in a horse stance.
She shook her head, making "woo-woo-woo" sounds.
Seeing this, the little boy stepped forward and pushed Pi Tao'er. The two little girls were pushed and fell, both sitting on the ground.
Pi Tao'er was stunned, blinking her eyes, and finally reacted.
"Xu Zhenguo!" she shouted at the boy.
"Little Tao!"
Seeing this, Xia Mian hurriedly ran over, picked up Pi Tao'er and Shui Cao from the ground, and helped the two little girls pat the dust off their bottoms.
"Are you okay? Did you get hurt from the fall?"
Seeing that Xia Mian had arrived, Shui Cao finally let go of her arms around Pi Tao'er.
She had fallen so hard just now, yet she still held onto Pi Tao'er tightly without letting go. Pi Tao'er had fallen on top of her, so she had taken the worst of the fall.
Shui Cao shook her head, but her hand reached behind her back to secretly touch her bottom.
The little boy named Xu Zhenguo looked at Xia Mian, a stranger, and appraised her for a long while before asking: "Who are you?"
Xia Mian looked back at the little boy: "Whose child are you? Didn't your family tell you that you shouldn't hit girls when you're out?"
"She hit us first!"
"That's right! She hit us first!"
Several little boys spoke all at once, their voices getting louder and louder.
When Pi Tao'er heard this, her anger flared up again.
"It was clearly you who bullied Shui Cao first!"
"We were just playing hide-and-seek! Who told her she couldn't find us! If she can't find us, she can't blame us for not letting her play!"
"It was you who deliberately left her alone in the game arcade!"
Xia Mian finally understood. She frowned at the little boys, her expression stern: "Even if you don't want to play with her, you can't leave her alone in a place like a game arcade. What if she got lost by herself?"
Xu Zhenguo scoffed: "Who told her to keep following us, the mute."
Pi Tao'er grabbed the shoe from her foot and threw it at Xu Zhenguo: "I'll teach you to have a dirty mouth!"
Xia Mian hurriedly pulled Pi Tao'er away and frowned at Xu Zhenguo: "Where are your parents? Do you know that children who talk nonsense will be caught by the police?"
The children looked to be about seven or eight years old. As soon as Xia Mian brought up the police, they all became scared.
Xu Zhenguo often heard his mother use the police to scare him, so he was a bit intimidated now, but with a group of friends behind him, he could only muster the courage to question Xia Mian.
"Who are you? Mind your own business!"
Before Xia Mian could think of a new identity that would be enough to intimidate a group of children, Pi Tao'er had already stepped forward.
"She is my big sister!"
Pi Tao'er grabbed her arm, revealing the butterfly tattoo she had gotten the day before yesterday to the children.
"See that? This is a tattoo! Only the underworld gets tattoos!"
Pi Tao'er's voice grew louder and more confident—
"My sister is underworld!"
Xia Mian widened her eyes and looked at Pi Tao'er: "?"
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