Tattoo

on the side of the sofa while smiling at him.

Zhou Zui froze for a few seconds before he said, “Why didn’t you speak up?”

“I saw you were too busy to interrupt.” Xiao Ke raised the flowers in his hand and shook them.
“Teacher Zhou, your flowers have arrived.”

Lu Xiaobei was downstairs in a room doing tattoos and heard Xiao Ke speak inside so he shouted, “The flower god has come?”

“Ah, do your work.” Xiao Ke also raised his voice and said, “I’m not here to see you.”

Xiao Ke heard Lu Xiaobei laugh and say “fuck.”

He went upstairs with the flowers, and Zhou Zui’s coil machine was buzzing.
Xiao Ke was standing next to him with the flowers in his arms so Zhou Zui paused his hands and hooked a stool with his foot before he swung it to the side and tilted his chin.
“Sit.”

Xiao Ke then sat next to him and watched quietly.

Today, he was working on a hawk where the lines were intermittent.
Xiao Ke also knew that Zhou Zui’s drawings were not always full of lines while some of them did not even follow the process of outlining and directly sweeped the colors to make the matte surface.
Today’s drawing, Xiao Ke could only see the skeleton of a wing which seemed to be a wing, but looked more like a human’s winged scapula.

The strong man in the front probably was in a little pain as he had a grimace on his face which looked hideous.
Xiao Ke looked and wanted to laugh.

Xiao Ke was still staring at the drawing and pondering about it when Zhou Zui suddenly spoke up, “Put down the flowers?” 

Xiao Ke looked at him and hooked the corners of his mouth.
“It’s okay to hold it.
You look at it twice more.
Otherwise, it will go straight into the bucket later.”

The strong man in front of him suddenly made a sound and looked back at them both, “You two…?”

Xiao Ke smiled and nodded at him as he was very sure of his tone, “Us two.”

The strong man opened his mouth and looked at Zhou Zui, “Brother Zhou you…You’re pretty wild, huh?”

“That’s wild? I’m just sending flowers, how is that wild? My flowers are not pure?” Xiao Ke pointed to his flowers.
“Look at my flowers again, are they wild?”

The strong man laughed and turned back.

Zhou Zui gave him a look.
Xiao Ke’s eyes were frank and straightforward, and he blinked a little.
Zhou Zui felt a little helpless, “Stop it, Professor Xiao.”

Xiao Ke then nodded his head and agreed very quickly, “Okay, fine.”

He sat while quietly watching him work on the drawing that became clearer and complete under his hands which was a process Xiao Ke found very enjoyable and amazing.
Every once in a while, he could feel that Zhou Zui’s reputation was not without reason, and that his skills were really excellent and powerful.
Finally, the outline came out to be a human-headed bat that had human bones in the wings which was a bit scary at first glance.

“Tired? There is a bigger chair over there.” Zhou Zui said with a sideways glance.

Xiao Ke shook his head.
“I’m not tired, don’t mind me.”

Sitting in front, the strong man was quite tired and would every now and then have to change positions in small increments.
He had a bunch of snacks and drinks on the shelf in front of him, and Xiao Lin came up after a while to ask him if he wanted to eat anything and if he was thirsty.
She also asked Zhou Zui twice, but Zhou Zui shook his head.

Xiao Ke later put down the flowers and went to pour Zhou Zui a glass of water.
From the moment he sat here, he didn’t see Zhou Zui move so he hadn’t drunk any water.

“Drink water.” Xiao Ke handed him the glass of water, but Zhou Zui didn’t take it and shook his head before he said, “No.”

Xiao Ke didn’t take it away and said, “Drink, your mouth is dry.”

Zhou Zui looked up at him and did not say anything, but he took off his gloves to drink the water before putting the cup back into Xiao Ke’s hand.
Then he changed his gloves again before squeezing on some disinfectant and rubbing them.

“Tch,” Lu Xiaobei’s voice suddenly sounded downstairs, and he looked up at Xiao Ke before he said, “You should have fed him mouth to mouth.
We are working with our hands, inconsiderate Brother Xiao.”

Lu Xiaobei said this on purpose and smiled with an ambiguous expression.
“Next time, remember this, or do not give him a drink.
Mouth to mouth or you delay the tattoo.”

Xiao Ke actually had not thought of that.
He stood up to pour water while pondering in his heart what the result would be if he wanted to be reckless by putting it directly into Zhou Zui’s mouth, but in the end, he was afraid; afraid he would not really drink.
He still couldn’t figure out Zhou Zui’s bottom line, and didn’t know how far this person could take it before he felt offended.

Xiao Ke asked Lu Xiaobei, “Are you done with your work?”

“Yes, I’m done.
I was sending my client back, and I looked up and saw you delivering care,” Lu Xiaobei said.

Zhou Zui didn’t even look up, just cleared his throat before he said, “Shut up and draw your tattoo.”

Lu Xiaobei pursed his lips and went out to the front room to squat as he smoked.

In the front room, Xiao Lin was still doing nail art for a little girl, who asked Xiao Lin in a whisper, “Inside…They are a couple, right?”

Xiao Lin pursed her lips and laughed, but did not say anything.

Lu Xiaobei was indebted and took a puff of his cigarette.
“Them? Do they look like it to you?”

“Yes.” Some young girls were interested in this, and she said this while laughing and blushing a little, “I think they look quite good together.
The brother who just held the flowers is so handsome…” The little girl also asked Xiao Lin in a whisper, “Are these two really together? They sound pretty sweet…”

“Sweet,” Xiao Lin said with a smile.
“They’re sweet.”

In fact, the outside talk could be heard inside, but the voice was small so only some words were audible.
Xiao Ke looked at Zhou Zui who only smiled and did not speak.
Zhou Zui lowered his head to work and did not look up so he did not know if he heard or not.

It was a perfect day so Xiao Ke just ordered a lot of dishes for everyone to have a big dinner later on, but was also thinking about the need to add two bottles of wine.

The idea was interrupted by Lu Xiaobei.

Lu Xiaobei’s voice sounded very angry, “Have you come to be a dick? Hurry up and get out! Fuck off! If you’re too slow, this master will help you leave.”

The other party’s voice was hard to hear, like there was a cut on the vocal cords that made hoarse and harsh.
The man laughed and said, “I’m not looking for you, I’m looking for Zhou Zui.”

Translator Notes:

I think the author forgot what name she used for this little girl.
She was calling her Xu Wen here and in 49 other spots.
So I changed it to not confuse the readers.