Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

An Jiuyou took the age of eighteen very seriously. Perhaps for children like them, who urgently needed to grow up and become independent, eighteen was always a significant milestone.

An Jiuyou had three wishes for her eighteenth birthday: to get a cartilage piercing, arrange a trip, and experience a romantic relationship. These three wishes were made when she was fourteen, the year Wang Shanshan helped her land a children's clothing commercial. The shooting was on her birthday, September 29th. It was a very hot day—an autumn tiger in Jiangnan, with temperatures soaring to 32°C. An Jiuyou had to wear a winter down jacket, posing under warm lights and a campfire. She shot 120 sets of winter jackets in a day, and by the end of the shoot, she was soaked through. She sat on the curb for half an hour in a tank top and shorts, dazed.

Her pay for the shoot was calculated by the number of sets, with each set earning her 12 yuan. By the end of the day, she earned over 1,400 yuan, a small fortune. Wang Shanshan gave her 500 yuan for pocket money, and she used it to take a taxi with her mom to KFC to buy a bucket of fried chicken.

That day, Shi Tuo had gone with Zhang Rou to his grandmother's house for a birthday celebration. He received a long text message from An Jiuyou. In the message, she listed these three wishes.

She said that if these three wishes came true, she would have grown up.

For the next three years, she made these three wishes every birthday. She was so eager to grow up, more and more each year.

Young people have their own premonitions. Even though their childhood was not wealthy, it was full of joy, and it seemed that with effort, things could get better.

But the harder they tried, the more anxious they became. They couldn't explain where this anxiety came from, but they were chased by this impending anxiety, pushing themselves to grow up as quickly as possible.

But just before the final step, the adults ran into trouble.

Before they had grown up and become independent, they were already entangled in the fate of the adults, and the future became uncertain.

Of An Jiuyou’s three wishes, only the cartilage piercing remained achievable.

As for why she wanted the cartilage piercing so badly, Shi Tuo remembered that he had asked her when they were fourteen. Back then, a fourteen-year-old An Jiuyou, in her very adolescent way, said that because she would become a big star in the future, tattoos would be too troublesome, but a cartilage piercing wouldn’t be. She had watched many TV shows and movies and had never seen a director take a close-up shot of someone’s ear. She said that the ear was the most hidden place, and the earring was tucked in so deep that no one would see it, but only she would know that there was a hole there.

She spoke with a tone that was both sad and funny.

At that time, Shi Tuo hadn’t taken her seriously.

But she kept saying it for four years. Now, with just over a month left before her eighteenth birthday, she was standing in front of the piercing shop she had carefully researched.

This shop was in the busiest commercial area of Wangcheng, tucked away on the third floor of a complex. The storefront looked decent, and the photos on the glass door were not of exaggerated tattoos or faces covered in piercings, but small artistic tattoos and single piercings like ear studs and nose rings. It didn’t look too frightening.

However, the inside of the shop was a bit unsettling.

A middle-aged man, looking like a big brother, sat on the central chair in the shop. The piercer, wearing a mask and holding a piercing tool, made a loud "clink" sound as he pierced the man’s ear.

The air was silent for a moment, and then the man, who was at least 1.8 meters tall and weighed at least 180 pounds, looking like he had killed someone before, suddenly jumped up.

"Ah..." He probably wanted to curse, but because he was too shocked and in too much pain, his words turned into loud howls of "Aooohhh..."

An Jiuyou and Shi Tuo had never seen a man of this age and appearance cry before. He was crying harder than Shi Tuo had that night, tears and snot all over his face as he sat there howling loudly.

Shi Tuo: "..."

He silently grabbed An Jiuyou's T-shirt corner, preparing to pull her out. Only she herself knew about the hole, so it seemed too artistic for her. It was not suitable for her.

The piercer, possibly because he was so bored waiting for the big brother to finish crying, looked around and saw the two of them standing at the door. The piercer, with his weirdly shaped colored hair, looked at An Jiuyou, his eyes lighting up, and rushed out, saying, "Are you two lovebirds here for a tattoo or piercing?"

Shi Tuo stepped back a bit, shaking his head firmly. "No, we’re just passing by."

"I have an appointment," An Jiuyou said, pulling her T-shirt corner back. "My last name is An. I want a cartilage piercing, just one ear."

She had been thinking of being brave enough to get both ears pierced before coming, but now she was hesitating because the big brother inside had scared her.

He must have really been in pain to cry like that."You want to pierce a different spot than this guy," the piercer quickly reassured An Jiuyou, possibly worried that the man’s loud crying would scare away business. "He pierced through the anti-helix, which is the most painful spot. You'll just pierce the cartilage; it will only hurt a little more than piercing the earlobe."

An Jiuyou pulled Shi Tuo into the shop. The man, still holding his ears and crying with teary eyes, looked at the two teenagers entering. Perhaps embarrassed, he emphasized, "I’ve pierced my cartilage before too. It hurt a lot."

He had nose rings, earrings, and a tongue ring, but his crying looked a hundred times more pitiful than when Shi Tuo cried last time.

An Jiuyou: "…"

Piercer: "…"

The piercer nearly wanted to tape the man’s mouth shut.

When the door had opened earlier, he was momentarily struck by how beautiful the girl standing outside was. She was wearing a plain T-shirt and jeans, completely barefaced, but her features were so delicate, it was as if they had been drawn.

He had initially thought of tricking her into getting a piercing and maybe giving her a nice earring as a gift, taking a photo to put on display as a shop advertisement.

He didn’t expect her to be an appointment-based customer. Even more unexpectedly, she came in requesting a cartilage piercing.

Now, he definitely wasn’t going to let this living advertisement go.

"It really doesn’t hurt," the piercer said, showing An Jiuyou reviews of their shop on his phone. It was indeed a highly-rated shop in Wangcheng, and the piercer himself was quite famous, having won several awards. Reviews praised his skillful technique, quick hands, and how painless his piercings were.

It all seemed like a set-up to get good reviews from customers who enjoyed chatting, not very objective at all.

Shi Tuo lowered his voice and asked An Jiuyou, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

An Jiuyou nodded firmly, still hearing the man sobbing next to them. "Yes, I really want to do it!"

The obsession she had since fourteen, the rite of passage she had set for herself—this should be painful, to leave a lasting impression.

"Did you talk to your mom about this?" Shi Tuo asked again.

"Mm." An Jiuyou replied, "My mom said as long as it doesn’t affect filming, it’s fine."

"What if it gets swollen and affects your audition?" Shi Tuo said once more.

An Jiuyou looked at him and said, "I’ve already written Lin Luo’s character profile. Lin Luo, in my profile, already has a cartilage piercing."

She was serious, not just acting on impulse.

Shi Tuo nodded and then looked at the piercer, "Then can you pierce mine first to try?"

After saying this, he looked at An Jiuyou again. "I’ll go first, and if it hurts too much, you can reconsider."

After Shi Tuo spoke, the big guy next to them hiccupped and, feeling like the kid didn’t know any better, said, "Kid, I’m not lying to you—this hurts more than getting sliced with a knife!"

Trying to act tough for a girl isn’t worth it.

A hole in the body is something you’ll carry for life. Even if you stop wearing earrings, the cartilage piercing will leave a groove in the bone, and you’ll always be able to feel it.

It’s a permanent mark.

This is not something you teenagers can bear.

An Jiuyou was also shocked, her eyes wide: "Why are you doing this?"

"Rite of passage," Shi Tuo sat down on the chair next to the big guy, smiled at An Jiuyou, and said, "Next month, you won’t be the only one turning eighteen."

An Jiuyou stared at him.Shi Tuo casually showed the piercer the picture of the cartilage piercing An Jiuyou had previously sent him: “Same spot as this, on the left ear.”

She had been talking about that spot for four years—of course he was familiar with it.

Even though she described it in a melodramatic way, they both knew that in a place no one else could see, in their hearts, there was a hole.

A rite of passage.

Shi Tuo watched as the piercer, slightly surprised and excited, aimed the piercing gun at his ear after disinfecting it—snap.

The pain wasn’t sharp.

Looking at An Jiuyou, he said, “It didn’t hurt during the piercing. It hurts a bit now, and it pulls when I talk.”

He thought for a second and added, “Not painful enough to make someone cry though.”

An Jiuyou clearly hadn’t expected him to be so decisive—she stood there dumbfounded and nodded.

The feeling of getting a cartilage piercing was quite strange. Now his left ear felt swollen and hot, with a faint, private thrill.

At that moment, he understood even better the four-year-long obsession An Jiuyou had held onto. This kind of small, harmless wound on the body wasn’t irreversible, but it could poke a hole in the tightly wound nerves they'd been living with.

“You sure you want to do it?” he asked her. “I think the pain is manageable, but it might get infected easily.”

His entire ear was already starting to turn red.

“Yes,” An Jiuyou said with absolute certainty.

She had made up her mind a long time ago, and seeing Shi Tuo’s ear now made her even more determined.

Besides, it really didn’t seem that painful.

An Jiuyou looked curiously at her reflection, staring at the new piercing in the mirror. Behind her, the piercer was discussing something with Shi Tuo, gesturing a lot and speaking animatedly. It made Shi Tuo, standing stiffly with no expression, look even more like a wooden statue.

Even though this wooden statue now had a bright red left ear.

An Jiuyou looked at her own ear—inflamed only around the piercing, but otherwise didn’t feel anything much.

“His ear is thicker than yours. It definitely hurt more for him,” the big guy next to her started chatting.

“You’ve got a good eye. In this day and age, it’s rare to find a guy willing to suffer pain with you.” He gave a thumbs-up toward Shi Tuo’s direction.

An Jiuyou: “…”

She wasn’t fond of talking to strangers and didn’t really get what the guy was praising Shi Tuo for. So she just gave a polite smile in response.

Shi Tuo walked over with a bag full of disinfectant and anti-inflammatory items. He ignored the piercer behind him who looked like he still wanted to say something, and placed half of the supplies into An Jiuyou’s backpack. “Apply this once a day. Don’t get your ear wet for a week, especially when you wash your hair.”

An Jiuyou obediently slung on her backpack: “Okay.”

Shi Tuo glanced at her ear and asked, “Shall we go?”

“Mm.” An Jiuyou showed him her phone. “Should we buy this? One pair is enough.”

“Silver ones,” Shi Tuo said, still keeping his head slightly down as he walked toward the door. “Wearing other metals now will make it easier to get inflamed.”

The two of them spoke softly, closely—so closely that there was no room for any outsider to wedge in.

Once the completely ignored piercer and big guy saw them disappear from view, they both let out a synchronized sigh.The big guy sighed, “Kids these days, huh!”

The younger generation was truly something.

He’d been hustling in society for decades—if nothing else, he could read people. That kid just now didn’t look that old, but he had depth. He’d barely exchanged a few words with the girl, and before the girl could even respond, the kid had already shown up.

And when he did, he deliberately blocked his line of sight to the girl.

There wasn’t even any verbal exchange between them, yet somehow the kid gave off an intense sense of pressure.

A teenage boy, and yet he made the big guy instinctively feel like, “This girl is taken—don’t mess with her.”

The piercer, who was about to work on the big guy’s other ear, echoed the sentiment with a sigh: “Yeah, seriously.”

His features were very proper, his clothes and manner looked like he came from a decent background, but his eyes—there was something off about them.

Just earlier, he had casually suggested to the boy that since the two of them looked so good, he’d give them each a fancy pair of earrings for free—worth four figures—and asked if they could let him take some side-profile pictures to use at the storefront to attract customers.

He was a local of Wangcheng, and the shop was part of his family’s property. He’d been running this piercing studio for almost three years now—always fair and honest, and his reputation was genuinely good.

Usually, customers were thrilled when he complimented their looks. And when he threw in a high-end freebie, they were even happier.

But that kid didn’t even look at it before coldly saying, “No thanks.”

That voice—it was icy enough to shatter.

The piercer couldn’t help but crane his neck to take another peek outside.

So strange.

How could someone that young have such a cold, unsettling presence?

Gave him the chills.