It would not be an exaggeration to say that Xia Mian is Pi Tao'er's lifesaver.
In less time than it takes to say two sentences, the door behind them was pushed open.
"I'm telling you, Brother Zhou, you really should thank me. If I hadn't gone early, the vouchers my dad had would have been handed out to others. I was quick-witted and grabbed..."
Zhuang Zhong's voice rang out along with the sound of the wind chimes, then suddenly stopped.
"Xia Mian?"
Lao Lu also looked up upon hearing this, thinking that Zhou Ran hadn't finished the tattoo for the girl and she had come back for after-sales service.
"What's wrong?"
Zhou Ran glanced toward the restroom: "I'm returning your big devil."
Lao Lu understood what was going on as soon as he heard that.
"What has she been doing outside again?"
Pi Tao'er had already heard her brother's movements outside, and at this moment, she was hiding in the restroom, not daring to come out.
Zhou Ran turned his head and asked Zhuang Zhong: "How many did you get?"
Zhuang Zhong shook the free meal vouchers in his hand: "Six."
"Perfect, take her along too."
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Zhong turned his head to look at Xia Mian, his eyes lighting up.
"Sure thing!" He introduced enthusiastically, "You just arrived, have you been to the commercial area near the middle school? A new seafood buffet opened there. I heard the owner goes out to sea to catch the food himself; it's super fresh!"
Zhuang Zhong patted the vouchers in his hand: "Grand opening promotion! The staff sent the vouchers to my dad, and I took all six of these! You can eat to your heart's content later!"
Lao Lu glanced at Zhou Ran and nudged Zhuang Zhong with his elbow.
"Why are you being so eager?"
"Hey, I'm just being warm-hearted..."
After saying that, Lao Lu walked toward the restroom to catch her.
As soon as the door was pushed open, Lao Lu was stunned.
"Did your head get blown up by a fart?"
When Pi Tao'er heard this, her face wrinkled up. She walked out stubbornly and plopped down on the sofa.
This scene amused Zhuang Zhong: "Yo, Big Devil Tao Tao, what kind of look is this?"
Although Lao Lu usually takes care of the child, Pi Tao'er's hair is usually braided by his mother at home. Now that her hair was as messy as Mei Chaofeng's, there was nothing he could do.
"I don't know how to braid hair."
Pi Tao'er raised her hand and tugged at her own head, wanting to pull off the other pigtail as well.
"Hey, hey, stop pulling. You only have those two strands of hair; don't pull them all out."
Xia Mian shifted her gaze away from Zhou Ran and said, "How about I do it?"
She walked up, took the hair rope from Pi Tao'er's head, and smoothed it out for her with her hands.
The child's hair was fine and soft, and she didn't dare to use much force as she gently fiddled with it.
"What style should I braid?"
Lao Lu said: "Just make it symmetrical for her."
The three grown men just stood there watching Xia Mian comb Pi Tao'er's hair.
Xia Mian's hands were not large, and her fingers were slender like green onions and white jade. As they moved back and forth through the hair, it looked like she was playing with a string game.
It made Zhuang Zhong stare straight ahead.
"Hey, hey, a girl's hands are indeed skillful. Lao Lu, you should learn a thing or two."
Lao Lu glanced at him, but Zhuang Zhong had no intention of stopping.
"I have to say, Xia Mian's hands are quite pretty. They look so white and tender, incomparable to us rough guys. If one were to hold them and knead them a little..."
Zhou Ran turned his head and appraised Zhuang Zhong. With just that faint look, without a ripple of emotion, Zhuang Zhong managed to read a sentence from it: "Are you sick in the head?"
He shut his mouth and slapped himself across the face.
He had such a loose tongue.
Zhou Ran withdrew his gaze, but his eyes involuntarily looked at Xia Mian's hands.
The little girl's hands were indeed white, white and thin, thin to the point of being fragile.
Zhou Ran's hand twitched involuntarily, feeling that he had been influenced by Zhuang Zhong's words.
"Hold them and knead them a little"—what kind of feeling would that be? Zhou Ran even pondered it for a moment.
However, this thought only existed in his mind for a second.
Just one second, and he cut it off.
He was five years older than her. Was he a beast or something, pondering about a little girl like that?
Zhou Ran bit his cheek, shifted his gaze, and subconsciously reached for his pocket.
No cigarettes.
He frowned and inadvertently looked at Xia Mian's hands again.
Damn.
He cursed under his breath, rubbed his buzz cut, and pushed the door open to go out.
Zhuang Zhong looked at Zhou Ran's back, confused: "What's wrong with Brother Zhou?"
Lao Lu glanced at Zhou Ran outside the door.
"Probably annoyed by you."
The newly opened seafood buffet was in the commercial area near the school district, where there was a pedestrian street about a fifteen-minute walk from the Tattoo Shop.
After the sun went down, it wasn't very hot anymore. They were a large group, and since Zhou Ran didn't drive, they walked over slowly.
Xia Mian followed behind; it was too late to go out to sea now.
It was summer vacation, and there were many people on the commercial pedestrian street. This was the first time Xia Mian had come here.
Zhuang Zhong verified the vouchers and led everyone inside to find a large table.
Pi Tao'er wasn't well-behaved while eating, so Lao Lu had to keep an eye on her, pulling Shui Cao to sit in a row with the two children.
There were only three seats left opposite them. Zhuang Zhong pulled out a chair and turned to invite Xia Mian.
"Xia Mian, you sit on the inside."
Zhou Ran glanced at Zhuang Zhong, and Lao Lu also looked up.
Xia Mian nodded: "Thank you."
She walked to the inside seat, took off the small bag on her shoulder, and set it down. Her hands swayed under the spotlight above, making her skin look even whiter.
Zhou Ran's gaze involuntarily followed the movement of Xia Mian's hands.
Zhuang Zhong let out a "hehe" and prepared to pull out the chair next to him to sit down, not forgetting to greet Zhou Ran: "Brother Zhou, come and sit."
Zhou Ran said "Oh," walked straight up to Xia Mian's side, and plopped down on the chair Zhuang Zhong had pulled out.
Zhuang Zhong was stunned, completely dumbfounded.
"Wait, Brother Zhou..."
Zhou Ran raised his eyelids: "Is there a problem?"
Zhuang Zhong blinked at Zhou Ran, unable to say anything even if there was a problem.
Lao Lu sat opposite them, watching the three of them, his mouth unable to stop smiling.
Show-off.
"Hey, it's nothing, it's nothing." Zhuang Zhong clicked his tongue and waved his hand, feeling a bit discouraged, and plopped down on the outermost seat.
Just as he sat down, Zhou Ran kicked the leg of his chair.
"Go get some food."
Zhuang Zhong froze; his butt hadn't even warmed the seat yet.
Zhou Ran raised his eyebrows: "You're sitting on the outside, so why aren't you going?"
He could have not sat on the outside in the first place!!
But since Zhou Ran had spoken, Zhuang Zhong could only stand up, feeling annoyed as he watched Lao Lu, who was secretly laughing opposite him.
"What the hell are you laughing at? Let's go!"
Lao Lu scanned Zhou Ran and Xia Mian, then stood up and patted Pi Tao'er: "Let's go, go get some food."
Pi Tao'er jumped off the chair and followed Lao Lu, holding Shui Cao's hand.
Xia Mian found the two little girls quite amusing. Shui Cao was like Pi Tao'er's little follower; wherever Pi Tao'er went, she brought her along.
She laughed softly, and Zhou Ran heard her and turned to look at her.
The moment their eyes met, Xia Mian stopped laughing and looked at Zhou Ran expectantly.
Actually, she was a little intimidated by Zhou Ran.
Zhou Ran was good-looking, but there was always a hint of ferocity and coldness between his brows, and he liked to frown. Only when he occasionally smiled did he show a bit of gentleness.
But only a little.
Especially after Zhou Ran shaved his hair, he added a bit more wildness to his ferocity.
When she woke up upstairs that day, she didn't actually think much of it.
Zhou Ran explained that he was putting a cushion under her. She had seen it; he was holding the cushion and stuffing it under her neck.
But she was embarrassed to say that she had been woken up by the strength of Zhou Ran's hands.
The buffet restaurant was noisy with people coming and going, and from time to time, she could hear Lao Lu's lazy voice.
"If you can't eat it, don't take so much. If you get fined, I'll keep you here to pay off the debt."
Xia Mian hurriedly shifted her gaze.
Zhou Ran noticed her discomfort and took the initiative to stand up.
"What do you want to eat?"
Xia Mian said: "Anything is fine, I'm not a picky eater."
Amidst the human voices, she seemed to hear Zhou Ran let out a short laugh.
"Alright, easy to raise."
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