Downstairs from the apartment complex, the last shop across from Fengting Street closed its doors.
The shop owner saw off her last haircut customer.
A long-haired girl in a fleece-lined sweatshirt carried a dustpan full of trash to the entrance, emptied it into a cardboard box, and gave the pan a few taps.
A glowing, striped barber's pole spun above her head.
SNAP—
The shop's lights went out. The beautiful manager, a hairpin securing her hair, locked the door. Afterward, the entire street sank into a deep silence.
Not a single bug buzzed beneath the streetlights.
Only a bleak, cold wind swept through.
...
CLICK—
On the thirteenth floor of a building on this street, dozens of meters up, a balcony light suddenly switched on.
Jiangg Yao took a bath towel from the drying rack and minced her way to the bathroom door, her long, smooth calves in motion.
