After several days of continuous drizzle, the rain finally stopped. A few white clouds drifted across the sky, which was a clean, deep blue. The warm sun had perfectly dried the damp, chilly air from the previous night.
However, Yang Yi had no intention of taking Xixi out to play today.
Was it because a few customers had come to the coffee shop?
Today, some students from Jiangcheng Media University had come to stroll along the canal for a spring outing. They stumbled upon Yang Yi's coffee shop out of curiosity and, in a group, came in to buy a few cups of coffee.
Of course, it was two handsome, well-off boys who paid. The two girls with them didn't seem to be their girlfriends—or perhaps the relationships hadn't quite reached that stage yet. Naturally, the boys were showing off like peacocks displaying their feathers.
Well, okay, even if it was takeout, it still brought a bit of liveliness to Yang Yi's little shop.
But that wasn't the reason Yang Yi wasn't taking Xixi out to play. He was racking his brains over how to do Xixi's hair—specifically, how to tie it into a double ponytail with tadpole braids, as Mo Fei had requested.
"How about this?" Yang Yi gathered a section of Xixi's hair in his hand, asking the little one for her opinion.
The shop had a smooth, mirror-like glass partition wall, and Xixi was sitting facing it, obediently letting her dad comb her hair.
But even though Xixi was well-behaved, she didn't approve of her dad's skills. She gently shook her little head and said, "No, it doesn't look good."
"Hold on!" Yang Yi let go of Xixi's hair, frowned, and pulled out his phone. He opened the page he'd been looking at earlier and studied it carefully again.
"Step one: divide the hair into two sections, tie up one side..." There was a tutorial online, but it looked simple and was hard to execute.
Divide the hair into two sections—how exactly? In the picture of the little girl, her hair wasn't parted right down the middle. One side had more hair, the other less, which made it look comfortable.
But who could tell Yang Yi what the exact ratio was? 1:4? 2:3? Or 2:5?
And then there was step two!
"Step two: use a colored elastic band to tie it a section lower down, then loosen it by pulling..."
Which section lower down? How much lower? And what did "loosen it by pulling" even mean?
After Xixi woke up from her nap in the afternoon, Yang Yi had spent nearly two hours struggling without grasping the key technique. He felt like he was going crazy.
His hands—capable of wielding a knife to carve through a bloody storm or crafting exquisite wooden art with precision—how could they fail at such a trivial task?
"Hey, Xixi, tell me, how should Daddy do it to make it look good?" Yang Yi couldn't help but say.
But Xixi had no advice to offer. She pressed her little finger to her cheek, tilted her head, and thought for a long while before saying, "Xixi doesn't know either. Mommy always does Xixi's hair! Mommy makes it look so pretty!"
"Jingle..." The door opened as a customer came in. Before Yang Yi could turn around, a gentle voice reached him.
"What are you two doing? Kai Kai, look how well-behaved Xixi is."
Yan Xiaopei? Why was she here again?
Yang Yi was puzzled as he turned around. He saw Yan Xiaopei in a pink-and-green floral dress, bathed in the sunlight streaming through the door, looking like a midsummer beauty. She walked gracefully over in her rather high heels.
But Yang Yi's gaze didn't linger. He shifted to Yan Xiaopei's son, Yan Yingkai, who was following reluctantly behind his mother. Fortunately, the little cold-natured boy was introverted and aloof, too proud to make a scene with his mom.
Since she had sincerely asked, Yang Yi replied politely, "Hi, I'm figuring out how to do Xixi's hair."
"I was picking up Kai Kai from his class on the way home, so I stopped by to bring your clothes back. I've already washed them." Yan Xiaopei held up the bag in her hand with a smile.
"Oh, it's no big deal. You didn't have to make a special trip," Yang Yi said, shaking his head as he took the bag and set it aside.
But Yan Xiaopei showed no sign of leaving. She chuckled and said, "Doing hair? A big man like you can't handle that. It takes a woman to do it! Let me help!"
As she approached, Yang Yi had no choice but to step aside. However, he didn't walk away; he just stood nearby, watching.
Yan Xiaopei gently gathered Xixi's hair. The little girl's hair wasn't short anymore—it hung down past her shoulders by about a palm's length, soft and smooth, as black as if it had been oiled.
"Xixi is so well-behaved, and your hair quality is amazing!" Yan Xiaopei praised enviously. "You don't even need to curl it; it's naturally straight."
Xixi, flattered, smiled happily even though she didn't really like this auntie.
"I want double ponytails with tadpole braids," Yang Yi said, showing Yan Xiaopei a photo on his phone.
Yan Xiaopei covered her mouth with one hand and laughed. "You even looked up a guide? How can you learn it that way? Alright, it's normal for a big man like you not to understand. Leave the braiding to a woman!"
Her words carried a hidden meaning: leave it to a woman—but which woman was that?
Yan Xiaopei was secretly pleased. She felt she had found a chance to impress Yang Yi. If she could braid his daughter's hair well, wouldn't he realize that life needed a woman to take care of him and his child?
Yang Yi's intense gaze from beside her made Yan Xiaopei, who was pretending to focus on Xixi, blush faintly. She was delighted but couldn't show it—it was exhausting!
"At least I didn't waste all that time dressing up," Yan Xiaopei thought, subtly puffing out her slightly padded chest.
But Yan Xiaopei didn't know that Yang Yi's attention wasn't on her at all. He was completely focused on every move she made, committing it to memory.
"The key is to push it up a bit here, one side loose and one side tight, to create the curved tadpole braid," Yan Xiaopei explained absentmindedly, but her hands moved skillfully. In no time, she had finished Xixi's hair.
"Come on, how does it look?" Yan Xiaopei stood up, smiling. She said it to Xixi, but she was secretly glancing at Yang Yi.
"Pretty!" Xixi clapped her little hands happily.
But Yang Yi sat down eagerly, reaching out to undo the elastic bands. "I think I get it now. Let me try!"
It was only then that Yan Xiaopei noticed Yang Yi hadn't really been looking at her. Her eyes turned a bit resentful.
Still, she leaned in, bending down to guide Yang Yi's hands. Their hands accidentally brushed.
Yang Yi frowned slightly and subtly moved his hand away.
Of course, doing the hair was the priority. Yang Yi's learning ability was strong. After watching Yan Xiaopei do it once, he followed her example and managed to tie Xixi's hair decently.
"Daddy's work looks good too!" Xixi giggled.
Only then did Yang Yi smile in satisfaction. He stood up and looked at Yan Xiaopei gratefully. "Thank you so much! I wouldn't have known what to do without your help!"
It was really a matter of getting past the initial hurdle. With a teacher to guide him, Yang Yi learned quickly.
"If you're truly grateful, then treat me to another cup of coffee. I thought yours was especially good yesterday!" Yan Xiaopei said, lightly covering her mouth with a laugh.
The summer beauty's eyes were like silk threads, carrying tens of thousands of amperes of electricity...