Chapter 3: The Hairstyle Worth One Thousand Eight Hundred
As a well-known international Grade A shopping complex, Henglong Square under the Henglong Real Estate, a subsidiary of Xiangjiang Henglong, was only built a few years ago in Ming City. It mostly houses luxury brands and is certainly what the system calls a core business circle.
Standing on the steps in front of the plaza, Zhou Wang took out his phone and began to search for nearby hair salons.
Actually, he had intended to find one while in the car, but the problem was that he got carsick whenever he played with his phone...
After looking at his phone for a while, Zhou Wang fell into the expected indecision.
Given that this was the core business district, there were naturally no shortage of hair salons nearby, but it was precisely the plethora of choices that made it overwhelming.
Flagship stores, high-end styling, private customization, men's haircuts... English and Japanese intermingled, each one looking upscale and making it difficult for Zhou Wang to decide.
Of course, what was more important was that famous saying,
"No one can walk out of a hair salon with a smile."
It would have been fine if it were any other day, but today Zhou Wang was here on a mission. The system's reimbursement rate depended directly on how good the hairstyle looked, so he had to be careful!
After some thought, Zhou Wang decided that if he couldn't make up his mind, he might as well go straight for the most expensive one.
The most expensive might not be the best, but in a competitive service industry, the price at least sets a floor.
With a new sort by price, Zhou Wang quickly locked onto a hair studio named "TIME."
Not for any other reason, but because the average price of 897 on the review app was enough to catch the eye.
Although this price was likely driven up by perming and dyeing, a typical hair salon averaged around 50 to 100 per person, and the most expensive one Zhou Wang had seen was just 299 per person.
After checking the address, he found that the studio was on the 6th floor of Henglong Square. Zhou Wang made a call to make an appointment, and after receiving a positive response, he entered the mall and took the elevator to the 6th floor.
At a relatively secluded corner, Zhou Wang found the shop.
The door and wall were an off-white color, without too much fanfare, with only an artistic wood logo on the right side of the wall, which read "Time · Hair Studio."
Entering the vestibule, with the bright but not glaring lighting, a man and a woman both dressed in work clothes stood as reception assistants on the right side. Seeing Zhou Wang come in, the sweet-looking miss with a ponytail smiled and walked over.
"Hello, do you have an appointment?"
"I just called."
"Okay, please follow me."
After confirmation, the young lady led Zhou Wang inside and they sat down in the meeting area, which was partitioned by transparent glass.
Zhou Wang looked around the interior of the shop; the overall decoration really had a sense of design, incorporating a large number of geometric elements while balancing minimalism and fashion.
It was unclear if it was because it was early, or because the shop had many partitioned spaces, but Zhou Wang didn't see any other customers in the shop.
What attracted Zhou Wang's attention the most were the dozen or so picture frames hanging on the back wall.
The people framed in these pictures were all handsome men and beautiful women, and Zhou Wang actually recognized most of them, because all of these people were celebrities, with several still active as popular actresses today.
"Is this..."
"All these celebrities have been served by our shop's founder, Mr. Zhang Junfeng," the young lady explained with a smile.
Zhou Wang's eyes lit up. Although he knew these things were just a gimmick, it indeed boosted his confidence in the shop quite a bit.
"Can I have Mr. Zhang cut my hair?" Zhou Wang asked directly.
"Mr. Zhou, I'm sorry, but Mr. Zhang isn't in the shop today, and if you want to see him, you might need to make an appointment a day in advance!"
"I see, then just recommend me a stylist."
Although Zhou Wang was somewhat disappointed, he clearly couldn't wait another day, so he said.
"Okay, if Mr. Zhou has high requirements, I would recommend Master Yue Fei from our shop—he is Mr. Zhang Junfeng's foremost disciple and is currently the chief designer in our studio. The base fee for a haircut is 1799 yuan..."
The young lady lit up the pad on the table, turning to a page with a photo gallery, and continued to introduce it to Zhou Wang.
"How much?" Zhou Wang was stunned, and couldn't help interrupting her.
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An 1800 yuan haircut?
Although Zhou Wang knew it might not be cheap, he could only say that poverty had limited his imagination.
He initially thought that even the priciest haircut would be only a few hundred yuan, but to his surprise, a simple haircut could also hit the four-digit range.
The apprentices are so expensive, how much would it cost to get that Teacher Zhang, certainly not tens of thousands, right?
"If you feel this price range is inappropriate, our salon also offers cuts at 199, 399, and 699 yuan..."
The young lady thought Zhou Wang was balking at the price and hurriedly spoke with cautious eagerness.
"No, let this Teacher Yue Fei cut my hair!"
Zhou Wang snapped out of it and decided on the spot, with the system backing him up, to see what an 1800 yuan hairstyle would look like.
Zhou Wang was too curious!
"Alright, please follow me, may I wash your hair for you?"
After receiving Zhou Wang's consent, perhaps motivated by the prospect of a commission, the young lady's polite smile became infused with extra warmth.
What followed was a 20-minute hair washing session.
The reason it took so long was due to the young lady's use of a professional massage technique to relax his scalp; her slender, gentle fingers mixed with the pleasant scent of her perfume made the experience quite enjoyable for Zhou Wang.
There was also supposed to be a complimentary shoulder and neck massage, but Zhou Wang, mindful of the system's countdown, had to regretfully decline it.
Then the young lady led Zhou Wang to a semi-private cubicle, and there he met Teacher Yue Fei, who had been waiting for him.
A man in his twenties, whose own hairstyle wasn't particularly eye-catching, but still looked quite comfortable.
Zhou Wang nodded to himself, thinking this seemed far more reliable than those flamboyant Tony Teachers, and he had also noticed that almost all the hairstylists featured in the album had Chinese names, which in itself made Zhou think well of the salon.
"Just go with whatever you think is suitable for me, any hairstyle will do!"
Zhou Wang said earnestly during the consultation.
Hairstylist Yue Fei gave an OK gesture, combed through Zhou Wang's hair, and occasionally used a comb to measure his brow, the sides of his face, and other features.
"Mr. Zhou, would you be open to partial hair perming?"
"I don't mind, but I'm a bit short on time."
Zhou Wang frowned, "Is a perm necessary to achieve the effect?"
"How about this, I'll give you a temporary style that won't take too long but will let you see the results. If you are satisfied, you can come back later for a permanent set... Of course, there's no extra charge for this temporary styling."
"Okay."
After Zhou Wang nodded, Teacher Yue Fei got busy.
Scissors danced around, chemicals were applied to Zhou Wang's scalp, complete with several small clips, and an unnamed white circular device orbited his head for quite a while; then came a second shampoo, followed by a mud mix for a scalp cleansing treatment, and finally, the last trimming...
By the time Zhou Wang was lying at the shampoo station for the third time, everything was nearly at an end.
After washing his hair, Teacher Yue Fei also applied a scalp essence for all-around hair care before picking up the hairdryer to start the drying process.
"All done."
As Teacher Yue Fei set down the hairdryer and uttered those words, Zhou Wang lifted his head to look at his new reflection in the mirror.
At the same time, the system prompt began to ring in succession.
Ding!
[Host's hairstyle change detected, system scoring in progress...]
[System score complete, current "Hairstyle" impression score: 88]
[Congratulations to the host for receiving an 88% reimbursement, now transferred to your account, please check your balance]
[Host triggers the Lucky Number "88", earning an extra reward, received a one-time item: Cui Si's Azure Dragon Saber (details available in the system inventory)]
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