Camping (1)

It was P.E. class, and after finishing the laps, the teacher had dismissed the students for free time. Lu Mingfei found the idea of sweating it out on the track rather pointless.

Thus, Lu Mingfei returned to the classroom to review his high school subjects. As an ordinary student, wasn't it perfectly normal to prepare for the college entrance exam?

"Lu Mingfei, how are you coming along with the things you need to bring tomorrow?" Su Xiaoqiang poked Lu Mingfei, who was sitting next to her.

Su Xiaoqiang had also returned to the classroom during P.E.

In the past, she might have gone to watch the boys play basketball to feast her eyes, but these days, she had no interest in basketball at all; she had far more interesting things to do.

"Huh? Prepare what?" Lu Mingfei didn't quite catch what Su Xiaoqiang was talking about.

"Tomorrow is Saturday, the whole class is going camping in the wild! What are you spacing out for?" Su Xiaoqiang reached out to touch Lu Mingfei's forehead. "Let Mommy check, you don't even have a fever!"

"Go, go, go." Lu Mingfei gently swatted her hand away. "Don't take advantage of me."

"What the hell is this camping trip tomorrow? When did the class announce it? How come I didn't know?"

Lu Mingfei felt like he was living in a fantasy; he truly had no idea about this class activity.

"The class didn't announce it, it was in the class group chat. It was the night I sent you home—the class has been planning this for a week! Don't tell me you didn't check the group messages? Besides, you haven't replied to the QQ messages I sent you these past few days either. What's going on?"

Su Xiaoqiang explained the situation, taking the opportunity to press Lu Mingfei on why he hadn't replied to her.

"So that's why I didn't know about the camping trip."

Lu Mingfei sighed.

"My cousin and I share a computer. He's been having some relationship trouble lately and is a bit depressed. He's been hogging the computer at home, just staring blankly at his chat logs, so I haven't been able to get on QQ or reply to your messages. Naturally, I missed the notification in the class group."

"Oh, I see! So you weren't ignoring my messages on purpose!" Su Xiaoqiang had a sudden realization.

"The point is that I didn't know about the class notification, okay!" Lu Mingfei slapped the desk.

"Hee hee!" Su Xiaoqiang flashed him a big, bright smile.

Lu Mingfei was speechless.

"In that case, I guess you haven't prepared anything for the camping trip, have you?" Su Xiaoqiang asked.

"Yeah, looks like I'll have to scramble to get things together after school today. The time is so tight!" Lu Mingfei slumped over his desk, feeling like his life was over.

Su Xiaoqiang looked at Lu Mingfei with a playful expression.

"That look on your face is suspicious!" Lu Mingfei sensed something was off.

Su Xiaoqiang stood up and faced Lu Mingfei with a triumphant look. "Celebrate, Xiao Ming! I knew you were unreliable, so this young lady has already prepared the food for you. You just need to show up tomorrow."

I have to admit, Su Xiaoqiang was already quite beautiful and possessed the aura of a mature woman, but right now, Lu Mingfei found her incredibly cute.

"Then I thank you, oh great heroine!" Lu Mingfei stood up and gave her a formal cupped-fist salute.

"Xiao Ming, you may rise!" Su Xiaoqiang waved her hand grandly, full of spirit.

Soon, it was time for school to end. After waving goodbye to Su Xiaoqiang, Lu Mingfei walked out of the school gate.

It was December, and the weather had turned quite cold. The sky outside darkened quickly; the sun had barely set, and the world was already dim.

There was still plenty of time. He remembered that his uncle had a set of camping gear, bought back when he had gone through a phase of being very interested in camping.

He could ask his uncle when he got home.

However, his hair seemed a bit long; it was time for a trim. It would be perfect to get a new look before the camping trip tomorrow.

With these thoughts in mind, Lu Mingfei walked to the entrance of a barbershop.

The shop was tucked away in a street corner, with a sign that read "Jianmei Styling." It looked ordinary—perfectly suited for him.

"How much longer?" Lu Mingfei asked as he entered.

The proprietress looked like a rather pretty woman.

"Won't be long. Once I finish this one, there's no one else. About ten minutes." The proprietress gave Lu Mingfei a quick glance before answering.

"Alright." Lu Mingfei found a seat and sat down.

He glanced at the clock on the wall; it was just past six. After a short wait, the previous customer was finished.

When it was Lu Mingfei's turn, the proprietress's eyes lit up. She hadn't looked closely before, but he was actually quite a handsome young man.

Furthermore, he clearly had great features; he looked handsome even without any styling. She wondered what he would look like after a proper cut. Her hands began to itch with anticipation.

The way she looked at him was as if she had discovered a rare treasure, making Lu Mingfei feel a bit uncomfortable.

But since he was already here, he had to bite the bullet and go through with it.

He sat in the chair, and the proprietress draped the cape over him.

"Handsome, how would you like it cut?" she asked.

"Just trim it a bit shorter, don't let it cover my eyebrows."

"Got it. Any other requests?" she asked.

"Nothing else. Just do what you think looks good, as long as it's not too ugly," Lu Mingfei replied casually.

"Then I'll leave the rest to my skills. Don't worry, handsome, I will definitely create a perfect masterpiece."

The artist within the proprietress was stirring; it had been a long time since she had encountered such an inspiring subject.

"What kind of 'work of art' is that? I'm just getting a haircut!"

Lu Mingfei grumbled inwardly. Do barbershops these days refer to their customers as works of art?

After the haircut, Lu Mingfei looked at himself in the mirror and had to admit that the proprietress actually had some real skill.

Thanks to her meticulous trimming, Lu Mingfei's exposed face now had sharp, well-defined angles, and his features looked as if they had been carved by a knife. After the fusion of the Shinigami power over this period, his physique was no longer as scrawny as it once was.

Hmm, he looked much more pleasing to the eye than before.

The proprietress looked at Lu Mingfei, knowing he had a good foundation, but she hadn't expected the final result to be so much better than she had imagined.

If she were ten years younger, she would have definitely tried to pursue this young man.

"How is it, handsome? My craftsmanship isn't bad, right?" the proprietress asked.

"Absolutely top-notch!" Lu Mingfei gave a thumbs up.

"That goes without saying. I'm a barber who once participated in the World Hairdressing League," the proprietress said proudly.

She was a renowned figure in the hairdressing circle. Opening a shop here was just to fulfill a childhood dream: to find a remote place and run an ordinary shop.

He hadn't expected—he really hadn't expected—that he would just randomly pick an ordinary-looking barbershop on the side of the road, only to find such a character hidden inside.

Lu Mingfei almost couldn't keep a straight face.

With a blank expression, he paid the bill and left the shop.

"Come back again, handsome!"

He could still hear the proprietress's voice calling out from behind.