Chapter 49: Haircut

Shen Yunhe was in the kitchen washing dishes, listening to the sounds of laughter coming from the living room. A smile curved at the corners of his lips. After tidying up the kitchen, he walked into the living room.

Jiang Huaiyu: “Dad, can we go out and play this weekend?”

“Of course!” Shen Yunhe had been wanting to take them out for a fun day.

“Awesome! I want to go to the amusement park!” Jiang Huaiyu excitedly jumped into his dad’s arms.

Jiang Huairou looked up at her mom.

“Mom, when we go, can I wear a beautiful princess dress?”

“Sure!” Jiang Banyue hugged her daughter and gently tucked the hair from her eyes.

“Your hair is getting too long, it’s time for a haircut.”

“No!” Jiang Huairou quickly ran behind her dad.

“If my hair gets short, I won’t be a princess anymore! I want to be a long-haired princess!”

Jiang Banyue patiently explained, “Long hair absorbs too much nutrition from your body, and that could affect your growth.”

“Mom’s lying!”

Jiang Huairou’s dream was to grow tall, wear beautiful long dresses, and have long hair like a fairy.

“I’m definitely going to grow up tall, just like Dad, and be as tall as him!”

“Are you sure?” Jiang Banyue asked. “No girl wants to grow over 1.8 meters tall, that’s really unattractive! You’d look like a bamboo stick!”

Jiang Huairou imagined what a bamboo stick looked like, then shook her head.

“Then I’ll grow to 1.7 meters!”

Jiang Banyue still didn’t want to give up on cutting her hair. Her hair was already waist-length.

“But your hair is difficult to manage. You can’t do it yourself, and every time you need me to help. With the tight school schedule, it’s such a waste of time. Also, what if a classmate tries to bully you at school? The first thing they’ll do is grab your hair…”

“If you want to keep your long hair, you can wait until you grow up to have long hair. And I’m not cutting it all off, I’m just trimming a bit.”

“I can wake up earlier!” Jiang Huairou was determined to protect her beautiful long hair.

“I think getting you to wake up earlier is more difficult than getting you to cut your hair!”

Jiang Banyue’s words left Jiang Huairou speechless. She tugged at her dad’s sleeve for help.

“Dad~”

“Cough!”

After several lessons, Shen Yunhe dared not interfere with his daughter, especially when Jiang Banyue was the one involved. He knew he had no chance of winning.

Although he thought his daughter looked pretty with long hair, he felt that Jiang Banyue’s reason for cutting it wasn’t strong enough. He believed that girls shouldn’t keep such long, beautiful hair, as it could attract the attention of people with ill intentions. He fully supported the idea of cutting her hair.

Seeing that she couldn’t keep her long hair, Jiang Huairou tried to minimize the loss. She ran up to her mom, hooked her arm, and brought her fingers close together.

“Mom, can you just cut a little bit, not too much?”

“Sure, we can get the hairdresser to give you a pretty new style, how about that?”

“I want to!”

Jiang Huairou cheered up again when she heard that she could have a new, pretty hairstyle. She started discussing with her mom what kind of hairstyle would look best.

Shen Yunhe watched his daughter’s mood swing from happy to sad, helplessly shaking his head. Meanwhile, Jiang Huaiyu, noticing his own short haircut, touched it and said, “What’s so good about long hair? Summer’s hot, winter’s full of static electricity, and you always have to manage it before going out. It’s such a hassle! Look at my hair—so short, clean, and neat!”

Shen Yunhe laughed as he patted Jiang Huaiyu’s head.

Jiang Huaijin looked at his short hair, which was almost covering his eyes. He blew his lips upward, thinking about whether he should also cut it into a buzz cut.

To help teachers distinguish between the two brothers, Jiang Banyue had given them different haircuts. The eldest son kept a short ear-length style, looking cute and obedient, while the second son had a buzz cut, giving him a lively and cheerful look. It was easy to tell them apart.

In the end, Jiang Huairou decided to get a neat fringe and had the back of her long hair trimmed to match.

Jiang Banyue finally finished sorting out her daughter’s hair and sighed in relief. Since she was two years old, her daughter had loved wearing beautiful skirts and getting her hair styled in pretty braids. Everything had to be what she liked, and she had a particularly strong sense of independence. Jiang Banyue could only coax her and persuade her, never using force.

In the afternoon after school, Shen Yunhe took the two sons home, while Jiang Banyue took her daughter to the hair salon, which was conveniently located next to her cake shop.

The hairdresser was a woman in her forties. Jiang Banyue and the kids had been coming here for haircuts for a while, and they were familiar with the woman. Jiang Banyue called her Sister Zhang. After washing their hair, Jiang Huairou sat in the chair.

“Aunt Zhang, please make sure you give me a pretty hairstyle.”

“Okay, no problem!” Jiang Banyue smiled lightly and sat to the side, watching.

While Sister Zhang trimmed Jiang Huairou’s hair, they chatted casually. Jiang Huairou closed her eyes, unwilling to look at her beloved hair being cut off. Afterward, Sister Zhang washed her hair again and used a blow dryer to dry it. Jiang Banyue took out a new bunny hairpin and placed it in her daughter’s hair.

“All done! Open your eyes and see if you like it!”

Jiang Huairou slowly opened her eyes. In the mirror, she saw a girl with neat bangs, dark long hair, and a cute bunny hairpin. Her arched eyebrows and bright eyes seemed to hide precious black pearls, looking clean and pure, with a smile curving up on her face.

Jiang Huairou cupped her face with both hands and gazed at herself in the mirror, saying, “Wow! Who is that beautiful girl in the mirror? She’s so pretty!”

Sister Zhang couldn’t help but laugh, while Jiang Banyue shook her head and smiled helplessly. She took her daughter’s hand.

“Sister Zhang, you keep busy. We’ll head out now.”

“Okay!” Sister Zhang saw them out.

Jiang Huairou spotted her cake shop and pulled her mom over.

“Mom, let’s go inside and get a piece of cake!”

“Sure!”

Jiang Banyue followed her daughter into the shop, only to see a familiar figure lowering his head while picking a cake. It was Shen Yunshuang, and there was a man beside him, wearing a clean white shirt, looking refined. Jiang Banyue realized he must be her boyfriend. Of course, Shen Yunshuang was in her twenties, so it was about time for her to think about marriage.

Jiang Banyue thought it would be rude not to greet them since they were in her own shop. Just as she was about to approach, her daughter released her hand and ran forward, excitedly calling out, “Auntie!”

Shen Yunshuang turned around, and upon seeing her niece, she joyfully picked her up. “Rou Rou, darling, Auntie missed you so much!”

Jiang Banyue greeted them from the side. For some reason, Shen Yunshuang, upon seeing her, seemed to have the feeling of introducing her partner to the family.

“Sister-in-law, this is my boyfriend. His name is Lin Yiming.”

Jiang Banyue had asked Shen Yunshuang countless times not to call her “sister-in-law,” but Shen Yunshuang insisted on doing so.

After the greetings, Shen Yunshuang, with her boyfriend in tow, left. Jiang Huairou picked out a few cakes, and they left holding hands.

At home, Jiang Huairou mentioned meeting her aunt at the dinner table. Shen Yunshuang had a boyfriend, and Shen Yunhe already knew about it. He had been looking for an opportunity to meet him.

As soon as he returned home, he had called the family, and his parents had encouraged him to stay in the county to be with the kids, hoping he would bring them home. He had also talked about the situation with his younger siblings. His grandfather had passed away two years ago, and Jiang Banyue had taken the three kids back to pay respects.

His parents had always hoped he would remarry and bring his wife and kids back home.