Chapter 30: A Chance

Zhan Nanhui’s mouth turned down in a frown as he coldly watched the bus drive away.

Tang Aren got on the bus and enthusiastically sat down beside Yi An’an. “I took your money, so I’ve got to do the job. Besides, I saw Sister Lan’s address last time—she lives over by the Workers’ Stadium. It’s far, there are no buses over there, and it’s a long walk. It’d be too tiring for you to carry the basket by yourself. Let me help you!”

Yi An’an could only nod and glance back helplessly at the bus stop.

Zhan Nanhui had already disappeared.

Yi An’an sighed inwardly. This was the only way for now.

After they got off the bus, they headed to Sister Lan’s house. It really was far—three streets away. Fortunately, Tang Aren carried the basket, making the trip much easier for Yi An’an.

When they arrived at Sister Lan’s home and knocked, Sister Lan opened the door shortly after. Seeing Yi An’an, she beamed with joy. “What a coincidence that you came! I just ran out of a few of your pickles. We’ve had guests over recently—our guests are different from others, they’re used to rich food at home, so they prefer these light, appetizing pickles. They loved them! Some even wanted to take some home. Even my husband praised me for buying such good stuff this time!”

As she spoke, Sister Lan invited Yi An’an and Tang Aren in, placing the jars of pickles from the basket onto the table.

Today, Yi An’an was wearing a gray padded jacket and black pants. Though the colors were plain, the ends of her hair were softly curled, and she had a red velvet bow in her hair. With her pink cheeks, she looked especially pretty.

Sister Lan glanced at her hair and asked, “Did you get this done at that state-run salon on the next street? I haven’t seen this hairstyle before.”

Yi An’an quickly replied, “No, Sister Lan, I just curled it myself with an iron rod—just the ends. I did an even better job curling Big Sister Dani’s hair from the scrap station. Now, all the girls over there are asking me to do their hair!”

Sister Lan looked a bit skeptical when she heard it was done with an iron rod, but the style was indeed voluminous and looked quite good. She then said, “How about this? I’ll take you to the state-run salon and borrow their equipment. You can design a hairstyle for me. If I like it, I’ll reward you well!”

Yi An’an had been planning to sell the trendy hairstyles she knew to a state-run salon, but those salons had high entry barriers and didn’t take outsiders seriously. She had done hairstyles for the women at the scrap station to try to find an opening, but their connections couldn’t compare to that of a bureau director’s wife. This was truly an opportunity.

Yi An’an quickly agreed, handed Tang Aren a yuan and told him to head home, then followed Sister Lan out the door.

It was clear that Sister Lan was a regular at the state-run salon. As soon as they walked in, a middle-aged woman in a white coat—the oldest among them—greeted her warmly.

“Comrade Lan, you’re here early this month. Don’t you usually come at the end of the month?” the woman asked with a smile.

“Sister Hua, I’m not here for a cut today—I want to get a perm. But I want my little sister here to do it for me. I’m telling you, she worked in a big-city state-run salon. Her skills are great, and her hairstyles are fashionable. I want to give it a try.”

Sister Hua looked Yi An’an over and asked, “So you’re saying…”

“I want you to let her use your best perming machine,” Sister Lan said.

Sister Hua was taken aback. She lowered her voice and said, “That equipment was just shipped in from Guangdong. I’m the only one who knows how to operate it. I doubt this young lady can handle it.”

Sister Lan hesitated, but turned to look at Yi An’an.

Yi An’an had already spotted the machine in the corner when she entered. In the 1980s, perms were done with electric rollers—the hair was wrapped around heated rods, connected to wires, and powered with electricity, giving it a high-tech, robot-recharging look.

In her previous life in the 1980s, Yi An’an had worked at a salon and was skilled in both electric and cap perms.

Yi An’an nodded confidently to Sister Lan.

Drawing on unknown courage, Sister Lan said to Sister Hua, “Let her try it!”

Sister Hua reluctantly agreed, still uneasy. She spent quite a while explaining the equipment to Yi An’an before finally going back to cutting hair for another customer.

Yi An’an examined the electric clips, then selected a few specific curl sizes based on Sister Lan’s face shape and began curling her hair.

As she worked, Sister Lan said, “I’m warning you—don’t embarrass me! If you mess up, I won’t forgive you!”

“Don’t worry, Sister—I won’t let you down!” Yi An’an said with a smile.

Reassured by her confidence, Sister Lan began to relax.

After curling the hair, Yi An’an plugged in the machine. She stayed nearby, carefully monitoring the process and adjusting the curls as needed.

Sister Hua kept a wary eye on her at first, fearing she’d damage the machine. But as she watched Yi An’an work skillfully, she began to relax.

After forty minutes, Yi An’an turned off the power, carefully unwrapped the curls, and began trimming and styling the hair.

When Sister Lan’s hair was fully dried and she saw herself in the mirror, she raised her eyebrows in delight, shaking her head in satisfaction.

Her hair was shiny, bouncy, and full of volume, with a very trendy cut. She suddenly felt it looked familiar.

“Oh wow! Isn’t this the same hairstyle as the Hong Kong-Taiwan star on my calendar?” Sister Lan exclaimed. “That calendar just arrived—they say no one else here has it. Have you seen it before?” she asked, clapping her hands in sudden realization.

Yi An’an smiled. “I live in the countryside—I’ve never seen a Hong Kong-Taiwan calendar. I just saw a booklet of hairstyles in a bookstore once. It had lots of trendy styles. I drew some of them. I can show you, and if there’s one you like, I can try it next time!”

Yi An’an had been wanting to promote these trendy hairstyles, so she immediately asked for paper and pen, quickly sketching three or four styles—all very Hong Kong-Taiwan in style.

Not only did Sister Lan love them, but even the other women in the salon were impressed and asked the salon manager if she could do them.

Sister Hua, the manager, had never seen these styles before and didn’t know how to do them.

“Let your sister help us too, Sister Lan—we’ll pay double!” some of the customers, who knew Sister Lan, pleaded with her.

Sister Lan raised her hand and fluffed her new hairstyle. “My hair’s too short for these longer styles anyway, so I’ll let you have a turn. But she can’t do it for free—you’ll really have to pay double!”

The women eagerly agreed.

Sister Lan turned to Yi An’an. “Do you have time to do theirs too?”

Yi An’an smiled and shook her head.