Chapter 13
Sighing aside, they still had to eat.
Qu Banqing was feeling lazy and didn’t cook, so seeing that it was still early, they went to a nearby street for breakfast.
A bowl of vegetable congee cost only three yuan. The long table was lined with twenty or so rooster-decorated porcelain bowls, and there were various side dishes like shredded potatoes, cold marinated lotus root, pickled green beans with scrambled eggs, and olive relish… all piled high and all-you-can-eat.
They each bought a bowl of congee and a flavorful tea egg, enjoying their meal. On their way back, they bought a dozen large chicken legs from a braised food store for the fox cubs.
Ning Zhixia was a little worried: “Do you think they’ll lose their fur if they keep eating this?”
“It doesn’t matter if they do.” Qu Banqing’s motto was to make the most of everything. “I’m making needle felted wool…”
Ning Zhixia strongly condemned him: “Evil stepmother!”
Qu Banqing snorted and turned to walk in another direction.
Ning Zhixia shouted, “Where are you going?”
Qu Banqing didn’t look back: “To the supermarket to buy pig feed for Ning Meow Meow!”
“Hmph!”
Ning Zhixia sniffed and walked back, carrying the chicken legs.
The fox cubs had played too late and were still sound asleep. Ning Zhixia put the chicken legs in the room, telling them not to come downstairs during the day. The only response he got was a few tails sticking up and swaying like seaweed.
A customer had booked a morning manicure appointment. Ning Zhixia didn’t have time to play with the tails, so he went downstairs, opened the door, and watered the flowers.
He had good eyesight and spotted the customer getting out of the car across the road. Just as he was about to wave, someone from the head massage parlor rushed out with a beaming smile.
“Oh, Sister Zhang, are you here for a manicure? You haven’t been here in so long, you don’t know, we do manicures now!”
The owner of the head massage parlor enthusiastically pulled the customer, glancing at the stunned young man and winking at the customer, “Only 88 yuan, any design you want. All that builder gel and nail care stuff is just a rip-off. You can also get a face wash and head massage here, how convenient!”
Sister Zhang was clearly tempted by the various promotions and hesitantly followed the owner inside. A few seconds later, Ning Zhixia received a message apologizing for canceling the appointment.
“Hmm…”
Ning Zhixia read the message and sullenly kicked a small pebble.
It was the customers’ right to choose where they wanted to go. Fortunately, the two shops had different target audiences, and many young customers still preferred the Monster Manicure Shop, so the impact on his business wasn’t significant.
However, the other couple’s aggressive solicitation still bothered him.
“Hmph, what’s so great about a head massage parlor?”
Ning Zhixia, with a chocolate stick in his mouth, carefully followed a video tutorial on his tablet, practicing on a head model.
“From the hairline to the Baihui acupoint… light pressure, heavy pressure, light pressure… ha, easy peasy!” Ning Zhixia declared confidently.
Bright sunlight streamed into the corner of the room, casting dazzling layers of light and shadow. Ning Zhixia was engrossed in his practice, kneading the head model vigorously like dough.
Suddenly, the light dimmed. He assumed the kittens were crowding the windowsill, so he stopped and turned to look, only to find an unexpected visitor.
Audrow leaned comfortably against the window, the cascading pothos swaying in the spring breeze. A few vines rustled towards him, and he closed his eyes in enjoyment, his fingers toying with the leaves wrapped around them.
Sensing the gaze on him, Audrow turned his head, his light blue eyes shifting towards him.
Ning Zhixia was surprised: “What are you doing here?”
He hadn’t heard a thing, and he didn’t know when Audrow had arrived.
Audrow held up an exquisite cake box.
Compared to last time, he seemed much more generous, his attention now captured by the head model in front of Ning Zhixia. After observing it for a moment, he suddenly asked, “What’s that?”
“A head model.”
Ning Zhixia patted it playfully, chuckling, “I’m practicing head massage!”
Audrow nodded as if he understood, then asked, “Is it comfortable?”
“Not bad.”
Since they were on the topic, Ning Zhixia asked, “Want to try?”
Audrow readily agreed, turned, pushed open the half-closed door, and walked in, slowly approaching Ning Zhixia.
He lowered his gaze to the head model in the young man’s lap, poked it, and asked, turning his head, “Should I lie on your lap too?”
In your dreams.
“That’s a different price.” Ning Zhixia pointed to the recliner opposite the workstation. “Over there.”
The electric reclining sofa wasn’t cheap. It had been sponsored by Old Ning during the renovation, and he had bought two, with the other one placed next to the bookshelf upstairs.
Audrow was clearly satisfied with this comfortable piece of furniture and went over to lie down.
Ning Zhixia scooted his chair over to the recliner, adjusting its height while glancing at the tutorial video playing on his phone.
The tutorial said that head massage required the customer to be in a relaxed and pleasant state of mind and body.
Ha, piece of cake.
Ning Zhixia was an expert at relaxation, confidently taking out his tablet.
Soon, the room was filled with the iconic laughter of yellow squares—
“Ahahahaha, Patrick, let’s go catch jellyfish!”
“…?”
Audrow’s closed eyes slowly opened.
“You have to close your eyes and feel it.”
Ning Zhixia strictly followed the steps in the tutorial, covering Audrow’s beautiful, slightly puzzled eyes with his hands, and then gently stroked downwards.
Yes. Closed.
Ning Zhixia nodded with satisfaction.
Because the recliner was so comfortable, Audrow decided to ignore the other party’s inexplicable actions, relaxing as those hands kneaded his head.
His silver-gray hair was smooth and cool, strands slipping through Ning Zhixia’s fingers, reflecting a faint halo in the sunlight. Even frequent visits to hair salons probably couldn’t achieve such hair quality.
Ning Zhixia’s fingertips gradually shifted, picking up a strand of hair that had fallen onto the pillow and twirling it.
“You’re distracted.”
His wrist was suddenly grabbed by a large hand. The unexpected cold touch made Ning Zhixia look down in surprise.
Audrow had opened his eyes at some point, his light-colored pupils devoid of emotion, quietly gazing at him.
“Uh, sorry…”
Ning Zhixia’s heart skipped a beat, caught red-handed. He quickly resumed following the tutorial and pressing the acupoints, muttering excuses for his mistake, “Because even your hair is cool to the touch, it’s so comfortable, I couldn’t resist.”
“It’s normal.”
His fingertips touched the young man’s wrist, he glanced sideways, and released his hand. “Because I’m not human.”
Oh right, makes sense.
Ning Zhixia mumbled, “I almost forgot.”
Audrow smiled, his gaze fixed on him, and suddenly asked softly, “Aren’t you afraid of being around non-humans so often?”
“Afraid of what? It’s been so long, I feel like my mental threshold has been raised significantly.” Ning Zhixia’s eyes curved into a smile, his expression relaxed as he continued to diligently massage Audrow’s head.
He asked professionally, “Is this pressure okay? Should I press harder?”
Audrow cooperated and said, “Yes, please.”
“Okay! Keep your eyes closed. Immerse yourself in the experience!”
Ning Zhixia said confidently, turning to adjust the progress bar of the tutorial video.
However, Audrow didn’t obey this time.
The other party’s slender, firm neck was exposed, and in the sunlight, he could even see the blue veins beneath the skin. He found it difficult to look away.
After a moment, Audrow suddenly raised his hand and reached for the young man’s smooth, exposed throat. With the rise and fall of his breath, his slightly protruding Adam’s apple slid against his fingertips.
Fragile, defenseless.
He could even imagine what would happen if he broke through that thin layer of skin.
Like small fish swimming in the water, just a gentle flick of his fingers could easily pierce their gills, cleanly slicing through their fins, skin, and bones, the scattered scales floating in the water like beautiful, blood-stained gems.
What would happen to this cheerful young man if he did that?
The cruel instinct in his genes made Audrow’s fingers twitch, gently tracing the skin, then pausing at the Adam’s apple, tapping it lightly twice.
He narrowed his eyes, pondering the strange thoughts that flooded his mind, but he couldn’t quite distinguish what this novel, warm sensation meant.
His fingers lingered on the young man’s neck for too long, and Ning Zhixia asked puzzledly, “What are you doing?”
Audrow’s eyes flickered with pure curiosity, his voice soft as he asked, “Aren’t you afraid of this either?”
“I am.” Ning Zhixia covered his neck and leaned back, rubbing vigorously. “Because it tickles!”
Audrow looked up at him for a while, then retracted his hand, slightly disappointed.
Ning Zhixia looked at the uncooperative customer and said reproachfully, “If you move again, I’ll eat your cake!”
Audrow blinked: “So fierce, boss.”
“Yes, fierce. My nickname is the Snack Terminator, so be careful!” Ning Zhixia straightened his head, flexed his wrists, and continued the massage.
Where was he just now?
Forget it, start over!
The progress bar of the head massage tutorial was rewound several times. Ning Zhixia shook his hands, gave Audrow’s silky smooth hair one last caress, and announced, “Done!”
He eagerly asked, “How do you feel?”
“Quite comfortable.” Audrow got up, left a piece of strawberry cheesecake from the box on the table, and returned to the recliner, lying down lazily.
Ning Zhixia secretly curled his lips. Willing to share a limited-edition cake, that definitely meant he was very satisfied.
“By the way,” Audrow picked up the tablet, scrolling through the screen still showing SpongeBob, “19 has absorbed quite a bit of energy recently, it might connect to a new plane in a couple of days.”
Ning Zhixia paused: “Really? What type of plane?”
Audrow didn’t look up: “Guess.”
“I’m not guessing.” Ning Zhixia pouted. “I’ll find out when the time comes.”
He took the small cake from the table and ate a couple of bites, then noticed Audrow still glued to the recliner, watching the tablet, and asked puzzledly, “Aren’t you in a hurry to leave today?”
“No.”
Audrow tapped the screen, and the cheerful SpongeBob theme song played again.
He said comfortably, “One more episode.”
Ning Zhixia paused, then pulled a stool over—
I want to watch too!
After dinner that evening, Ning Zhixia, after practicing all day, felt incredibly skilled. He stood in the living room, hands on his hips, and announced that he would add head massage to the shop’s services.
Qu Banqing kicked him in the butt, sending him sprawling: “Don’t even think about it, that couple is shameless, your little tricks won’t bother them.”
“Wuwuwu, no, let me do it! Their head massage parlor offers manicures, why can’t we offer head massages! I can’t swallow this!”
Ning Zhixia lay on the sofa, flailing his limbs, spinning a square cushion with his feet.
“Don’t be so childish.”
Qu Banqing’s eyebrows twitched. He looked at him like he was looking at a rebellious child throwing a tantrum, and said, rubbing his forehead, “We haven’t even gotten certified.”
“It doesn’t matter, we can just take the exam!” Ning Zhixia kicked the cushion away, bragging a little smugly, “I even experimented on Audrow, he praised my skills!”
He hugged the head model and demonstrated his excellent technique to Qu Banqing.
The silicone head model dented with every press, like a torture device.
Qu Banqing took a deep breath: “A-Ning, stop it.”
The head model didn’t deserve this.
Ning Zhixia looked aggrieved: “Didn’t I do a good job? But Audrow said…”
Qu Banqing patted his head sympathetically: “Silly child, he’s not even human, how can his opinion be a valid reference?”
“…!”
Ning Zhixia froze, blinking in confusion.
Faced with the harsh reality, Ning Zhixia deflated like a caterpillar that had lost its dreams, slumping weakly on the sofa.
Wuwuwu, I’ll behave.
