The Queen of the Shadows, restrain yourself!

An old-fashioned hut with an area of ​​[-] square meters, a large mirror, two chairs, a hair dryer, scissors and combs are randomly placed on the trolley, and the half-person-high shampoo shelf at the door is this The standard configuration of similar small shops, the faucet is still dripping with water...

The boss is a middle-aged woman in her 40s, with maroon curly hair, knee-length matte boots under her apron, dark gray leggings that are very popular this year, and an off-white sweater.In the early autumn of Tongcheng, this body is just right.

Tongcheng is a small town in X City.There are many small shops like this in this alley, and there will be a sign at the door with specific prices, for example, haircut: 5 yuan, hair perm: 20 yuan.

Xiao Guang stood opposite this hair salon for a long time.

The boss is very gentle, so that the guests will greet them warmly when they come in and out. Oh, the shampoo water is hot water.

The proprietress had just sent the last customer away, and after cleaning the broken hair on the floor, she walked towards Xiao Guang with a big red bucket dangling with one hand.

"Stand farther away, it will splash on you." The proprietress smiled at Xiao Guang and pointed to Xiao Guang's white pants.

Xiao Guang followed the proprietress' eyes to look at his pants, and obediently moved two steps to the side.I didn't pay attention for a while, and stood next to the sewer entrance.

Silently lifted the mask up, pinched the mouth of the mask on the bridge of the nose.

The proprietress poured out the bucket of water with gentler movements than usual, and stretched her waist as if carrying a heavy load.

Xiao Guang then entered this small shop, "Sister Xiang's Hair Salon".

"Huh? It's you, do you want to wash, cut, blow, or perm?" The proprietress noticed that someone was following her, and turned her head to see the girl who had been standing at the door of her shop. She seemed a little surprised.

"Haircutting", Xiao Guang took off the schoolbag on his left shoulder and hugged it in his arms. He didn't know where to put it for a while, and the guitar was still hanging on his right shoulder.

"Come and put it here, you sit first, I'll put the water in", the proprietress patted the chair next to Xiao Guang, and motioned to put it there, after explaining, she started to clean the shampoo basin, rinsed it with tap water, and then started to put hot water on it. Inside another clean red bucket.

Xiao Guang put his schoolbag and guitar away, put his hands on his knees and sat obediently, waiting for the next step from the proprietress.

The proprietress tightly covered Xiao Guang's blue shirt collar and neck with a dry towel, and put her hand into the red bucket to test the water temperature before letting Xiao Guang lower his head into the shampoo basin.

The proprietress took a large water ladle and poured half of it on Xiao Guang's long hair gently. The water temperature was just right, and Xiao Guang squinted his eyes comfortably. , This head of hair looks like it has been carefully cared for.

"How to cut it?" The proprietress held the scissors in her right hand, undecided, and looked at Xiao Guang's eyes in the mirror.

"Cut your hair short," Xiao Guang said firmly.

"Short hair? How short"?The proprietress thought she heard it wrong, and hooked a lock of Xiao Guang's hair with her left hand. At first, she thought that Xiao Guang just wanted to simply fix it.

"Cut the hair," Xiao Guang finished, not caring about the expression of the proprietress.

I also remembered when I was a child, it rained a little in Tongcheng, Xiao Guang and his mother went out of the stall, although the rain was on their heads and clothes, but the excitement could not be concealed in their eyes, the temperature dropped rapidly today, and there were a lot of people who came to buy glutinous rice balls , and even formed a small queue. Xiao Guang, who was only as tall as his mother's waist, helped collect the money, bagged and picked up chopsticks, and his hands and feet were numb...

"Then cut it"?The proprietress hesitated for a moment and asked a question, Xiao Guang came back to his senses and nodded.

The proprietress moves very quickly, and the hair is also very simple. It is such a good hair, it is a pity to cut it off.The proprietress was optimistic about the length of the left hair, and instead of letting the cut hair fall to the ground, she caught it with her hands and piled it up into a small handful.Such fine hair can be left alone and sold for money.

Xiao Guang looked at the little lock of hair and smiled.

It was late at night when I returned home after selling glutinous rice balls with my mother, and the Tongzilou where I lived had no water supply in the middle of the night. When my mother saw that Xiao Guang was wet all over, she was so anxious that she didn’t know what to do.I made ginger soup with the little water left over from the glutinous rice balls, and drank it one by one.But Xiao Guang still sneezed several times.

Xiao Guang urged his mother to cut off the long hair that he had managed to raise, so that he would not need to wash it, and it would be easy to dry with a towel.In the end, my mother couldn't get over the determined Xiao Guang, so she cut off Xiao Guang's hair. My mother also held the cut hair in her hand and tied it with a yellow plastic hair tie.The next day, my mother sold her hair to an old man who rode a bicycle and yelled around. Xiao Guang also ate the first old popsicle in his life.

"Where are the bangs? How long should they be?" The proprietress began to trim the remaining hair.

"Short on the inside, and slightly longer on the outside to cover the eyebrows." Xiao Guang slowly said the hairstyle he wanted.

The proprietress thought for a while before making a move, looking serious.Although Xiao Guang was wearing a mask, judging from his appearance and temperament, he didn't look like a young man who would come to this kind of place to have his hair cut, so the proprietress became a little more serious.

After the hair was cut, Xiao Guang looked at the neat short hair in the mirror, and then regained the familiar feeling.Xiao Guang, it should be like this.

There was a howl from a hair salon next door, and only a man could be heard cursing, vaguely cursing, why is the water cold? Is it going to freeze to death?

Xiao Guang remained calm, and the proprietress remained calm, as if this happened often.

After the hair was cut, the proprietress also gave a free styling experience, although it was just blowing dry with a hair dryer.

Xiao Guang took the schoolbag from the chair next to it. The schoolbag has two layers. He opened the zipper of the small layer, took out a blue wallet that was cracked and slightly worn, found a five-yuan one and handed it to the proprietress. .

"Thank you, the cut is very good", very similar to my mother's cut, Xiao Guang didn't say the second part.

The proprietress is very happy, not only the craftsmanship has been recognized, but also the long hair left by Xiao Guang can be sold at a good price again.

"Come again next time," the proprietress sent Xiao Guang outside the door, smiling like a beckoning cat.

Walking out of the alley, there is a passenger station next to it. Xiao Guang came to take the bus back to city A, but cutting his hair was not a whim. In the past, the company restricted him and he could only obey, ranging from small things like tone of voice and facial expressions to big things like styling and clothing , are all arranged by the company.Now, thinking of his contract that expires in only two months, Xiao Guang wants to do what he wants to do, and cutting his hair is only the first step.

There is no direct connection between Tongcheng and city A. You have to take a three-hour bus from Tongcheng to the provincial capital before you have a direct flight to city A. Xiao Guang sat by the window, and the scenery of Tongcheng was receding , Xiao Guang looked at the retrograde road and trees, lost in thought.

The contract with the company is only two months away, and AP Entertainment will not let her go, trying to squeeze out the last bit of value left. Thinking back to the five years of signing with the company, except for being manipulated like a puppet, Pretending to be another look to be cute and cute, I didn't do any of the things I like, and I didn't even get a chance to show my favorite music, but it's only been two months, and after two months, I won't be there Not "Sweet Girl" - Xiao Guang, but a freelance musician - Xiao Guang.

AP Entertainment was established very early, and it was one of the first batch of brokerage companies to train trainees. Xiao Guang’s group "Sweet Girl" is the first three-person girl group that the company sent out. The style positioning is the same as the group name. In the sweet category, the song "Sweet Girl" with the same title caused a lot of shock for a while.

But apart from the song with the same title, two albums were released later, both of which were in vain and did not cause any waves. This combination of driving high and low was once ridiculed by the crowd.The person who was ridiculed the most by the crowd was Xiao Guang.

Words such as "fake smile", "uncoordinated" and "masquerade girl" were all pinned on Xiao Guang's head.Now go to Weibo to search a lot.

There are too many people frantically rushing into the entertainment industry. Every year, countless people enter this industry. If the group is not popular and cannot make money, it will be eliminated. As a small group, the three of them gradually went further and further away, and the company didn't bother to take care of their own activities. They felt that the three of them couldn't make any waves, and they broke up when the contract expired.

Xiao Guang himself did not go to pick up the activities. After he was free, he returned to Tongcheng and rented a house near the nursing home for a month. Occasionally, he went to the nursing home to talk with his mother. Although it was just Xiao Guang who kept saying that mother... .. can't say, or write songs with the guitar in hand.

Today seems to be the beginning of autumn. Most of the people in Tongcheng are old and young. The young and middle-aged people have gone out to work. This town, apart from the coolness of the autumn wind, is also a little more deserted, a little less popular.

After autumn last year, Wen Shang took time to go to a nursing home to accompany his mother. There was a big sycamore tree in the backyard of the nursing home. When I went there, the golden leaves fell all over the ground, and people walked by, making a "click, click" The sound of rotting leaves piled up at the roots of the tree, moistening the big sycamore tree invisibly.

And at this time last year, I still received some commercial performances in bits and pieces, usually needed training, and didn't have so much rest time. At that time, the company hadn't given up on the combination.

Sycamore...

click, click

Xiao Guang's right index finger tapped lightly on the guitar on his lap, and with his eyes closed, he felt the melody in his mind.Xiao Guang never gave up on music. At first, he showed many songs to the company, but they were all passed. They were either too soft or too gloomy, not sunny at all. Over time, Xiao Guang became "Entertain yourself".

The three-hour bus ride passed quickly, and it was already afternoon when we arrived in the provincial capital, and the time was just right. Xiao Guang bought an evening flight, which was slightly cheaper, and he had little savings left, so he had to keep his mother Living in a nursing home, there is very little money that can be used. After all, City A is a super-first-tier city. Even if you save money, the cost will be very high, not to mention the pitiful small share.

I originally planned to stay in Tongcheng for a few more days. The place is very comfortable, the rhythm is slow, and there are memories everywhere. Sitting around holding the guitar and plucking the strings, it is like being in a hot spring. You can squint your eyes and enjoy this place comfortably. A moment of warmth.

The agent who hadn't contacted for a long time called him twice in succession. Xiao Guang was a little surprised, this didn't seem like the other party's style.Although the combination has gone downhill over the years, the manager has never allowed the three of them to take shortcuts, which is why Xiao Guang has always respected each other.

Wang Shumin is 45 this year. I thought that the sweet girl would reach the peak in my own hands and let me step into the ranks of gold brokers in one fell swoop, but who knew it was just a flash in the pan and faded away like a fleeting moment. It is true that I am not reconciled. It is uncomfortable It is also true that at my age, my body and energy are fading, and I have almost no chance.

Xiao Guang is an inconspicuous one in the group, but Wang Shumin always thinks that she will be popular. Xiao Guang has a cleanliness and transparency that other people don't have. When the group was casting, the senior leaders of AP Entertainment looked down on Xiao Guang , what the combination needed was a sweet girl, but Xiao Guang was retained in the end, which was due to Wang Shumin, and Xiao Guang didn't know about it.

Fortunately, Xiao Guang worked very hard and played the role of dancer in the group, which can be regarded as blocking everyone's mouth.

After taking the longest bus, the rest of the journey was quicker. In a blink of an eye, I arrived in City A, and then returned to this city full of competition. I was a little strange for a while, and it seemed that Tongcheng was more suitable for me.