Gu Yu had been lying in bed scrolling through trending topics, thoroughly enjoying himself, when he suddenly received an SOS from his younger sister. He froze for a moment.
Snapping back to reality, he sprang up instantly, quickly slipped on his slippers, and rushed out the door.
Although he had no idea what his sister actually needed, did it really matter? His sister had asked for backup; how could he, as her older brother, not respond? Besides, Yao Yao had seven older brothers, and she had specifically asked him. That alone was reason enough.
Five seconds later, Gu Yu found his sister. He was instantly and utterly shocked by her hairstyle.
"Yao Yao, your... your hair... what happened?"
Gu Yu felt somewhat numb. He hadn't seen her for barely half a day; how had his sister turned into a Sha Ma Te?
"Seventh Brother, this... this..." Yao Yao anxiously twisted her little fingers.
Explaining the matter of her tribulation² wasn't easy to do with Seventh Brother, but she couldn't think of any other excuse on the spot.
Seeing her troubled expression, Gu Yu simply waved his hand. "If it's inconvenient, you don't have to say anything!" He was well aware of his sister's unique circumstances. Sometimes, it wasn't that she didn't want to tell him, but that telling him might actually be detrimental to him.
"Let's figure out how to deal with this hair first!"
Gu Yu stopped dwelling on the cause and reached out to touch Yao Yao's hair. The instant his fingers made contact, he felt like he was touching steel wire. It was unbelievably stiff! Trying to straighten hair like this, even with a flat iron, would probably look awful. Gu Yu fell into a rare silence.
"Seventh Brother, you don't have a solution either, do you?" Seeing her brother's expression, Yao Yao's little face fell instantly. If that was the case, her only option was to shave her head completely and wear hats until her hair grew back. The only remaining issue was hoping her mother wouldn't scold her upon finding out.
Gu Yu shook his head. "Yao Yao, Seventh Brother can't do anything about this hair, but I do have a way to make it so other people won't be able to tell."
"Really?" Yao Yao's big, pretty eyes immediately lit up. She hadn't actually expected to salvage her current hair – the difficulty was too immense; it would be better to just let it grow out slowly. As long as her Seventh Brother had a way to prevent others from noticing, she would be perfectly content.
"Okay, get yourself ready; Seventh Brother is taking you out." Gu Yu nodded, telling his sister to find a hat to wear. After all, bumping into anyone else with that explosive hairstyle would be difficult to explain. He then took out his phone, found a number, and made a call. He returned shortly after.
By this time, Yao Yao, after considerable effort, had finally managed to stuff all her hair into a hat. Without another word, the brother and sister duo slipped out the door. Afraid of being spotted, Gu Yu didn't even drive; instead, the two used Shrinking Ground Talismans. Their main focus was utmost caution.
Only when they arrived at their destination did Yao Yao realize that her Seventh Brother was taking her to get a wig.
"Xiao Yu, your sister's hairstyle certainly is... unique!"
The person greeting them was a man around thirty years old, with slicked-back hair and wearing a floral shirt.
Hearing this, Gu Yu's expression darkened. He said in a low voice, "Chi Zhong, I came over this late to get some styling done, not for you to make jokes. Get a move on and sort out my sister's hair, quickly!"
This was a stylist Gu Yu knew, one who primarily handled makeup and styling for celebrities, usually A-listers at that. Therefore, his skills were undoubtedly top-notch. Furthermore, he had a wide selection of real-hair wigs, so there was bound to be something suitable for his sister.
"Alright, alright, alright, you're the boss! I'll get right on it!" Chi Zhong knew better than to provoke this particular 'master' and didn't say anything further. He had Yao Yao sit down properly and took out his hair clippers. He needed to deal with the explosive hairstyle first.
Otherwise, with hair like that, no other styling would be possible. He could tell from the first touch that it wouldn't be easy, but when he actually started cutting, he found it far more difficult than anticipated. By the time he had finished shaving off the 'explosion head', he had already had to change the clipper blades three times.
If he hadn't witnessed it himself, he would never have believed human hair could get this tough.
"Wow, it feels so cool!" Yao Yao exclaimed, looking at herself in the mirror and unable to resist reaching up to touch her smoothly shaved head.
Only then did Chi Zhong properly take a look at the girl. This sister Gu Yu had brought over was exceptionally pretty. Even now, with her head completely shaved, she wasn't remotely ugly; instead, she possessed a kind of indescribable cuteness. For someone like him, who admittedly was a bit of a 'face-con', styling beautiful people was always an enjoyable process.
"These are wigs made for child actors. Take a look, little friend, and see which one you like."
"Mm-hmm, okay." Hearing this, Yao Yao looked towards the mannequin heads in front of her. Each mannequin sported a wig made from real human hair. Both in texture and appearance, they looked completely authentic.
Yao Yao quickly selected a style with a color similar to her own natural hair. It was a bit long, however, and needed some trimming. For the stylist, this was a routine task.
Before long, Yao Yao saw her brand-new self reflected in the mirror, and her eyes instantly lit up. The girl in the mirror looked almost exactly identical to how she had before the tribulation; you couldn't tell at all that the hair was fake.
"Seventh Brother, look quick, I have hair now!"
She was absolutely overjoyed by this. She immediately threw her arms around her Seventh Brother, her voice filled with excitement. Seeing his sister so happy, a smile spread across Gu Yu's face as well. At last, his late-night dash hadn't been for nothing. He readily transferred the payment to the stylist.
"Let's go, time to head home."
Having dealt with the biggest problem, Gu Yu naturally had no intention of lingering.
Chi Zhong initially intended to walk them downstairs, but Gu Yu stopped him. Since they had arrived using Shrinking Ground Talismans – getting there so quickly without a car – being seen leaving together might arouse unnecessary suspicion.
Naturally, the stylist wasn't open for business at this hour; Gu Yu had come directly to his home.
"Alright, be careful on your way down then." Seeing Gu Yu insist, Chi Zhong didn't press the matter.
He turned to open the door for them, but just then, a piercing shriek suddenly echoed from outside. The sound was filled with terror, followed immediately by the heavy thud of something hitting the ground.
Since the room's soundproof window happened to be open at that moment, the sounds from outside were exceptionally clear.
This sudden turn of events left all three people present momentarily stunned.
Although they hadn't seen exactly what happened, it wasn't difficult to guess the nature of those sounds.
"Wh-what... what's going on?!"
Neither Chi Zhong nor Gu Yu had ever encountered anything like this before. Gu Yu, however, remained relatively calm; with his sister right beside him, he felt he had nothing to fear.
But when he turned his head, he saw Yao Yao – who just moments before had been happily stroking her new hair – her pretty little face had suddenly turned grim.
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