茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Chapter 13: Blind Date (Part 2)

Xiang Kun sent a message:

“I’m already here, sitting in the corner. It’ll be easy to spot me, I’m the one with the least hair.”

The pigtailed girl then glanced at her phone and started looking around the cafe. Her gaze quickly landed on Xiang Kun’s bald head.

Could it be her?

With a smile, the girl waved at him, then went to the counter to order something.

She seems to have a nice personality, especially that infectious smile. When she laughed, Xiang Kun found himself smiling too.

But she looked really young. Instead of a 26-year-old office lady who’d been working for three to four years, she seemed more like a freshman in college.

After her order, the girl came over, extended her hand, and greeted him, “Hello, you’re Brother Bin’s classmate, right? I’m Tang Baona.”

Xiang Kun stood up and greeted her, “Hello, I’m Xiang Kun.” He gently shook her soft hand.

Sitting across from Xiang Kun, Tang Baona sounded surprised: “I thought I was pretty early, but to think you’re even earlier! We did agree on 3 o’clock, right? I almost thought I made a mistake thinking it was 2 o’clock!”

Xiang Kun replied, “I had nothing else planned so I came early. The environment here is nice, plus they have air conditioning and Wi-Fi. Killing time with my phone is pretty easy.”

Tang Baona referred to Xiang Kun’s message, “You know what, your ‘hairstyle’ is indeed ‘easy to spot’.”

“Does it glow? The brightest star in the night sky? The brightest head in the corner?” Xiang Kun joked. He had taken off his hat after entering the cafe anyway, as he didn’t have high hopes for this date. He didn’t care whether people found his bald head attractive or not.

“What a cold joke,” Tang Baona laughed, “Why did you shave your hair off? Is it too bothersome to maintain, or because it’s summer and you want to feel cooler? Or, is it a new trend in the IT industry?”

“To be honest, it’s not that I wanted to go bald, I just woke up one day and that’s how it was.”

Tang Baona was startled, “Seriously?”

“Nah, just kidding,” Xiang Kun said, extracting a few photos from a company team-building event several years ago from his phone. “The real reason is my receding hairline. In no time, I’d have a monk’s crown. So, I decided to take the initiative and rid myself of the burden of worrying about hair growth products…”

Tang Baona scrutinized the photos for a long time. She compared them thoroughly with Xiang Kun’s current appearance before believing that the person in the photograph was actually him. She exclaimed, “Is this really your old photo? It seems like a picture of you ten years in the future… It’s not just the hairstyle, but your entire demeanor and body have changed. You look like you work out regularly…”

“Indeed, I threw all my time into my work before, and over the years, I’ve aged quite a bit. So, when my company went under a while back, I immersed myself in the gym to build up my physique. After all, I’ve lost my hair and I’m not particularly handsome, so I’ve resorted to relying on my body for appeal. Oh, right, Chang Bin didn’t mention to you that I’m currently unemployed, did he?”

Tang Baona returned his phone, nodding in agreement: “Indeed, life lies in movement. If the body collapses, no amount of money would do any good! By the way, besides going to the gym, do you have any other favorite sports?”

Apparently, she didn’t seem to care much about his unemployment or how he lost his job.

Xiang Kun shook his head, “In high school and college, I would occasionally jog a few laps around the track. But I’ve rarely exercised since I started working.”

“I see, if you have the time, you might want to try hiking. It’s a great way to reconnect with nature!”

Clearly a hiking enthusiast, Tang Baona showed Xiang Kun photos from their hiking trips.

She talked about funny stories from their hikes, embarrassing moments of her travel companions, her college major, hobbies, and even anime, comics, and games.

As she was talking about some animes she had recently started watching, Tang Baona suddenly paused and stared at Xiang Kun’s bald head for a moment before starting to laugh.

“Have you seen ‘One Punch Man’? I just realized you kind of look like Teacher Saitama! Can you take off your glasses for a sec?”

Xiang Kun hadn’t had time to watch anime since he started working, so he hadn’t seen ‘One Punch Man’. Regardless, he followed Tang Baona’s request by taking off his glasses and asked, “Do I resemble him? Is this Saitama a hero or villain?”

“He’s the main character!” Tang Baona found a picture of Saitama and showed Xiang Kun. She explained the general storyline and setting of the anime. Then she couldn’t help but laugh as she said, “Teacher Saitama once said, ‘I’m bald, and I’m strong.’ Didn’t you say the same thing? You mentioned that, after shaving your head, you started going to the gym and began feeling a lot stronger, right?”

Xiang Kun waved his fist jokingly, “Sadly, I don’t possess the power to defeat any enemy with a single punch.” Yet, he was successfully influenced and decided to check out the anime when he got the chance.

The two of them chatted from just past 2 o’clock until around 5:20. Xiang Kun then excused himself, saying he had something to do. There was no mention of meeting again.

Honestly, compared to all his previous blind dates, this was the first time the atmosphere was so good and everything went so smoothly.

However, it was clear the two of them belonged to different worlds.

Their hobbies and interests barely overlapped.

But what was strange was, no matter whether Tang Baona was talking about her hiking adventures, anime, comics, games, products that she found interesting, funny jokes or everyday anecdotes, even nail polish and lipstick combinations, Xiang Kun found them all fascinating.

Similarly, when Xiang Kun was sharing funny stories from work and school or incidents he and Chang Bin had encountered, and even some fun tales from his hometown, Tang Baona was equally interested, occasionally bursting into laughter.

If it were the old Xiang Kun, he’d definitely have pursued Tang Baona. Her beautiful looks and wonderful personality alone were sufficiently attractive – yes, Xiang Kun was that superficial.

But now, until he understood his own physical situation, Xiang Kun wouldn’t consider dating anyone.

He couldn’t even eat or drink normally, and even sleeping became unpredictable. How could he possibly be in a relationship?

Also, Xiang Kun felt that with someone like Tang Baona, there would be many suitors. She’d likely prefer someone handsomer, closer to her age, and with more common interests.