Shuangling: Braving the Rapids

Before evening self-study, Qin Shoufeng strolled to the door of Yue Chuan's dormitory next door, carrying a large bag of snacks. "Chuan'er, still thinking about that? Hurry up and eat, look what delicious treats I brought you!"

Seeing his cousin sitting blankly on the edge of the bed like a wooden statue, Qin Shoufeng smacked his lips and dumped the snacks onto a small stool. "What are you standing there for! Hurry up! Quickly get out the pickled vegetables that Second Aunt made, they're making my mouth water!"

Yue Chuan was jolted back to his senses by his cousin's elbow. He took out a few flatbreads and a jar of pickled radish strips from the white woven food basket and handed them to his cousin.

Qin Shoufeng didn't stand on ceremony, rolling the radish strips into the pancake and devouring it. "Chuan'er, this pancake roll is amazing! It's eight hundred times more fragrant than my mom's! And this radish, hey! It's absolutely delicious!"

Yue Chuan didn't say anything, just nibbled on the pancake. Qin Shoufeng, on the other hand, wolfed down his food, finishing most of the radish strips and several pancakes in no time. Little did he know, this was his cousin's food for three days!

"Have you finished eating?" Qin Shoufeng let out a burp, put his arm around his cousin's shoulder, and said with a grin, "I want to discuss something with you."

Hearing this, Yue Chuan blinked and immediately replied, "Brother, judging from your expression, you're not going to ask me to... deliver love letters to that person again, are you? I really can't do that..."

"Li Baihui is your deskmate, so I won't make things difficult for you. Here's what we'll do: you take this letter to Liu Qing, and all these snacks are yours, okay?" After saying that, Qin Shoufeng stuffed the bulging bag of snacks and the pink envelope into Yue Chuan's hand.

"Why is it Liu Qing again?" Yue Chuan recoiled as if electrocuted, his brows furrowing. "I haven't even exchanged two words with her. You'd better go deliver it yourself, so you don't mess it up and blame me later..."

"Stop pretending! Liu Qing transferred to the Olympiad class last month, and I saw her borrow your notes with my own eyes! How could you not know her?" Qin Shoufeng rolled his eyes first, then smiled and said, "Good brother, please help me this time, I really, really like her!"

Qin Shoufeng is quite an interesting kid. Even though there are pretty girls in his class, he insists on looking for girls from afar. Strangely enough, all the girls he's interested in have connections with Yue Chuan. I really don't know what he's thinking.

"Give me a break!" Yue Chuan shook off her arm and waved his hand in refusal. "Liu Qing is our class's discipline monitor. She'd never be friends with you! Besides, if someone saw me putting something in her desk, the rest of the class would think I'm a toad trying to eat a swan!"

Since receiving the punishment, Yue Chuan has become increasingly cautious. No matter how much his cousin pleaded with him, he remained unmoved. He was too busy avoiding trouble to dare to jump into another fire pit!

"Hmph! You sit next to the school beauty, of course you don't know the hunger of a starving man! This is the only girl I've ever liked since I was a child, aren't you going to help me?"

Qin Shoufeng is spouting nonsense with a straight face. He was in love with Li Baihui a while ago, but now he's "fallen out of love with someone else." How dare he say such things? It's just like the saying, "A knife to the butt—it's an eye-opener."

"Brother, you should just give up on that idea. The teacher is keeping an eye on me every day. If I get punished one by one, I'll be fired!" Yue Chuan remained firm in his stance.

Seeing his cousin's resolute attitude, Qin Shoufeng sighed repeatedly, finally tossed the snacks onto his cousin's bed, and walked away dejectedly...

The girl who could make Qin Shoufeng so enamored must naturally be academically excellent and strikingly beautiful, but these descriptions seem somewhat inadequate when applied to Liu Qing. In terms of academics, Liu Qing was in the same tier as Yue Chuan and Li Baihui, and they were known as the "Three Musketeers" of Class 1, Grade 1; in terms of appearance, her aloof and unapproachable demeanor surpassed even Li Baihui's—her long, black hair cascaded down her back, and just sitting there flipping through a book was enough to captivate a group of young men.

Besides the two points mentioned above, Liu Qing's family was also extremely well-off. Her father, Liu Changwen, had been a township cadre in his early years, and after going into business, his business flourished. Needless to say, their material conditions were exceptional; they had hired at least twenty tutors for their daughter!

If things had continued this way, Liu Qing's path to higher education would likely have been smooth sailing. But fate always likes to play tricks. Not long after the start of her first year of high school, Liu's father, Liu Changwen, was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer.

To pay for medical treatment, the family sold all their shops and emptied their savings. Unable to bear the pressure, Liu Qing's mother developed depression, and their once happy family was plunged into a quagmire.

The decline of her family's fortunes made the already taciturn Liu Qing even more silent. The only boys she could talk to, besides her deskmate, were Yue Chuan. It wasn't that the two were particularly close; it was just that they were assigned to the same group in the math Olympiad class and had to work on problems together every day.

At first, Liu Qing looked down on this dusty-looking mountain boy, especially his hands stained with black dirt. For this wealthy young lady from a privileged background, even the slightest bit of slovenliness was intolerable. However, as time went on, her impression of Yue Chuan changed drastically. The boy sold walnuts to earn tuition, and despite his small stature, he dared to brave the danger to rescue a street vendor. These deeds deeply moved Liu Qing, who was trapped in a desperate situation.

Qin Yuechuan is also a student, isn't he? He can alleviate his parents' financial burden on his own, so why can't I?

From the moment the idea popped into her head, Liu Qing began to think about working and making money. But the girl oversimplified the problem. She wasn't a poor mountain boy who had done farm work since childhood. Having been pampered since she was young, how could she know the ways to make money? Even if she did, her delicate skin would most likely not be able to endure that kind of hardship.

With her living expenses running out, and her mother constantly absent-minded and forgetting to give her money, Liu Qing couldn't sit still any longer. She was too embarrassed to ask her mother for money, but then she suddenly thought of her grandmother who lived alone in the suburbs.

That afternoon, Liu Qing walked towards her grandmother's house, her mind heavy with worries. On the way, she reminisced about her past life of luxury and sighed repeatedly. Just as her thoughts were swirling, a shout suddenly came from the depths of the alley:

"Hair collection - specializing in long hair - also collects sewing machines, televisions, radios..."

An old man on a bicycle came towards her, shaking a rattle-drum. The muffled "thump, thump, thump" sound accompanied him, startling the neighbors and stirring the girl's heart.

As if possessed, Liu Qing took a step forward and timidly asked, "Master, how much do you think I can sell this hair for?"

After asking the question, the girl's heart began to race. Her fair and slender hands unconsciously stroked her smooth, black braids, as if she was reluctant to part with them and worried about not getting a good price.

The old man abruptly stopped, bracing himself on one leg. He squinted his triangular eyes, looked the man up and down, and then slowly said, "Hair doesn't fetch a good price these days. I'll give you forty at most!"

"My hair is fine, it's been growing for many years, how... how come it's only worth this little bit?" Liu Qing said, frowning.

The girl wasn't just bragging; her waist-length hair was truly exceptional, and the shampoo and conditioner she used at home were all brand names, showing that she paid great attention to hair care.

At this moment, the old man clicked his teeth and took out a measuring tape. He first pretended to measure it a couple of times, then twirled the end of his hair with his fingers. "Forty-five, no more."

Forty-five yuan, haha, that wouldn't even be enough to buy snacks back then, but now Liu Qing was actually tempted. Everything the family could sell had been used to pay off debts, so where would she find spare money to fix her hair? Instead of spending time on her hair, she'd rather use that money for a few meals.

The old man had spent most of his life wandering the streets, and shrewdness and worldliness were ingrained in his bones. How could he not know what the girl was thinking? At that moment, he decisively pulled out a wad of small bills and stuffed them into the girl's hand. "Don't feel bad about it. Hair can grow back! If it's too long, it'll be a hassle to braid it..."

This was the first time Liu Qing had ever earned money for her family in her life. It was a good thing, but her hand holding the small bills trembled violently.

Just as Liu Qing was hesitating, the old man took out a pair of scissors, and with a crisp "snip," all the long hair fell into the old man's hand.

The old man was overjoyed to have such a good, shiny head of hair bought for such a low price. It was definitely the best deal he had ever made in his entire career. At this moment, he couldn't hide his elation and his mouth stretched to his ears.

The old man laughed smugly, while Liu Qing felt like she wanted to die. She felt a chill run down the back of her neck, touched her short, ear-length hair, and burst into tears: "You... why did you cut my hair so short? How am I supposed to face anyone?"

"You've already taken the money, how about you go to the hair salon and get a haircut?"

The old man coldly uttered a sentence, then stomped on the bar and instantly shot forward several feet. In no time, the old man's figure, along with his maniacal hawking cries and the sound of a rattle drum, vanished without a trace.

The alley was eerily quiet, with only Liu Qing squatting against the wall, clutching her uneven stubble of short hair, tears streaming down her face onto the bluestone slabs.