EFB Chapter 22 I beg you
Chapter 22 I beg you
Cheng Zheng slid the scissors down, the tip lifting her chin and forcing her to tilt her head back: "You'll do anything? You're willing to bow down for a few strands of hair today, but if an enemy points a gun at you one day, will you hand over even the factory blueprints with both hands?"
"Your level of awareness makes me seriously doubt your loyalty to the factory and the country."
Lin Shuyao was surprised by his ability to pinpoint accusations and quickly protested, "That's not true! The hair and the blueprint are completely different!"
Cheng Zheng sneered, his cold eyes sweeping over her with sarcasm, disdain, and a hint of unfathomable darkness, clearly indicating that he did not believe her.
Lin Shuyao didn't understand why he always had a strange malice towards her.
He's always been like this ever since she started working at the factory. He's always been kind and gentle to Su Wan and Gao Tingting, but he's so mean to her.
A wave of indescribable bitterness welled up in her nose, and she suddenly didn't want to struggle anymore. No matter what she did, he wouldn't let her go today.
She steeled her resolve, closed her eyes, as if standing on the guillotine: "Go ahead and cut it."
Cheng Zheng put the scissors back in his hand: "Go sit down over there and cut them."
Lin Shuyao did as he said without saying a word. After sitting down, she raised her hand to untie the princess-style hair tie on her head, and her long black hair cascaded down her back, as smooth and shiny as a ribbon.
She turned her back to him, her slender back ramrod straight.
Cheng Zheng stepped forward, gathered her long hair together with his left hand, the silky touch flowing between his fingers, raised the scissors with his right hand, and was about to cut it when he noticed something. Suddenly, he looked up and saw her reflection clearly in the glass window in front of him—her delicate eyebrows were furrowed, her usually bright cat-like eyes were filled with tears, and her pearly teeth were tightly biting her lower lip, which was so white that it turned white.
It was as if they had suffered a tremendous injustice.
It was just a haircut, and he didn't quite understand why she was so resistant.
He trims it himself every month, and it doesn't stop growing even after he trims it.
Seeing her like this, his heart inexplicably felt like it was being squeezed, the scissors paused, and then moved down, from where her ear was to her shoulder.
Looking up again, she suddenly closed her eyes in the glass window, a tear rolling down her eyelid and finally hanging on the tip of her delicate chin.
His hand paused again. It was something that could be finished with just one snip of the scissors, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He moved the scissors down a little further.
Click, click.
Finally, the sound of scissors rubbing against strands of hair filled the air.
Lin Shuyao's shoulders trembled, but she didn't make a sound. Cheng Zheng saw her biting her lip through the window, tears streaming down her face like broken beads. His heart felt like it had been burned, and he blurted out in a deep voice, "Why are you crying? I didn't cut it too short."
It was only a little shorter than her previous length. After the cut, the length was still below her shoulders, and she could still tie it up.
Lin Shuyao didn't hear a word he said; all she could hear was the cacophony of clicking and snipping. Only after the sound stopped did she force a sob and ask, "Is it finished?"
Cheng Zheng hummed in agreement and tossed the scissors onto the table.
Lin Shuyao turned away, sobbing, her eyes red and teary: "Are you satisfied now? Can I leave now?"
What do you mean he's satisfied? He didn't cut her hair on purpose.
"This is discipline."
Cheng Zheng said firmly.
Lin Shuyao didn't want to hear a single word. She glared at him hatefully, then quickly opened the door and rushed out.
Cheng Zheng glanced at the hair he was holding in his hand, his eyes darkening for a moment. He then opened a drawer, found an empty tin cookie box, and carefully placed it inside along with the scissors and her hair.
……
Lin Shuyao ran into Gao Tingting as soon as she ran out of the administration building.
"Qingqing, what's wrong?" Gao Tingting saw that her eyes were red, clearly she had just been crying.
Lin Shuyao sniffed, not wanting her friend to worry: "I'm fine, Tingting."
Gao Tingting didn't believe it. Seeing her swallowing her anger, her heart ached. Who was so blind as to bully her future sister-in-law? She rolled up her sleeves: "Did someone bully you? Tell me, I'll go find them!"
Lin Shuyao grabbed her: "No, Tingting, I'm really fine. It's just that my hair was cut too short all of a sudden, and I can't accept it."
Gao Tingting then noticed her hair: "It's not short at all, it's past your shoulders. You can tie it up if you want."
Lin Shuyao was still immersed in her sad mood and didn't notice how her hair had been cut. Anyway, Cheng Zheng didn't like her, so he must have cut it to make her look ugly. Now, after hearing Gao Tingting's words, she suddenly remembered something and reached out to touch her hair. It wasn't the ear-length bob she thought it was. Instead, it was past her shoulders and a little below her collarbone.
Cheng Zheng didn't cut it too short for her?
She was a little surprised.
But that couldn't erase the hatred he felt for cutting her hair.
Seeing that she was unhappy, Gao Tingting coaxed her, "You're pretty, you'd look good even with a bowl cut, don't be sad, there are big chicken legs in the cafeteria today, come on, let's go eat!"
Lin Shuyao was inexplicably amused by the bowl cut hairstyle and burst out laughing.
Gao Tingting affectionately took her arm: "That's right, smile and your worries will disappear, let's go, let's go..."
The sadness came and went quickly. After being coaxed and amused by Gao Tingting all the way, Lin Shuyao's face was beaming with joy when she arrived at the cafeteria.
Unfortunately, the smile vanished when they reached the window.
Because the last big chicken leg was taken away by someone.
She and Gao Tingting exchanged a glance, both of them looking utterly helpless.
"It was too late after all."
Gao Tingting's gaze followed the chicken leg in someone else's lunchbox with a sigh.
Lin Shuyao also swallowed the chicken leg: "Let's come earlier next time."
The two resignedly bought a plate of stir-fried cabbage with steamed buns from the window, then found a seat and sat down.
"Hey, why is everyone getting short hair today?" Gao Tingting took a bite of her steamed bun and noticed that several women passing by had short hair that reached their ears.
"You didn't know?" Lin Shuyao said, "Military training requires all female comrades not to have long hair."
Gao Tingting then remembered: "It seems there is such a rule, but it wasn't so strict when we were in military training."
As the two were talking, Lin Shuyao suddenly noticed Su Wan carrying a tray, looking around as if searching for a seat. She was about to wave her over to sit down, but changed her mind when she saw Cheng Zheng and Assistant Zheng following not far behind her.
The three of them appear to be together.
Lin Shuyao didn't want to run into Cheng Zheng, so she pretended not to see him and focused on eating the rice on her plate. Unexpectedly, Su Wan still noticed her and came over: "Comrade Shen! Is there no one next to you? Can I sit down?"
Lin Shuyao couldn't refuse, so she could only nod with a smile. Su Wan quickly waved to Cheng Zheng and Assistant Zheng, indicating that there were seats available.
Then the three of them sat down at Lin Shuyao's table.
Su Wan sat down next to Lin Shuyao.
Cheng Zheng sat down next to Gao Tingting, with Lin Shuyao sitting diagonally opposite him.