Nathan Ye's Baldness

"Uh..." Nathan Ye rubbed his hands together, looking rather uneasy.

Su Li let out a curious "hmm" and looked at him inquisitively.

Nathan Ye seemed a bit flustered. He spun around hurriedly and stammered, "I-I'll take Chancellor Su over to have a look now."

As he spoke, Nathan Ye walked ahead. Su Li watched his awkward gait—his arms and legs moving out of sync—and found the whole scene rather bizarre.

Su Li pressed her lips together and followed Nathan Ye toward the Wig Workshop. The two walked all the way to the entrance, and just as Su Li was about to step inside, Nathan Ye suddenly stopped.

"Minister Ye, why did you stop?" Su Li asked in confusion.

Nathan Ye's face was full of hesitation. He poked his head inside, furtively glancing left and right.

Su Li was completely baffled. What on earth was he up to?

After a few more glances, Nathan Ye seemed to confirm something. He finally gave Su Li an embarrassed smile and said, "Chancellor Su, let's—let's keep going."

"Oh..." Su Li responded, still puzzled, and continued inside. Nathan Ye looked increasingly uneasy.

As they reached the back of the workshop, Su Li could hear April's laughter ringing out like silver bells. She sounded absolutely delighted.

Nathan Ye, on the other hand, only grew more anxious at the sound of April's laughter. Su Li was thoroughly perplexed. She hurried over to see April chatting and laughing with a young man dressed as a merchant.

The young man looked like the son of a wealthy merchant from Chang'an. He had handsome, sunny features and seemed about April's age. Standing together, the two looked surprisingly harmonious and well-matched.

Su Li glanced back at Nathan Ye and saw that he looked utterly heartbroken. His hand trembled nervously, and as he instinctively reached up to touch his hair, he accidentally shifted his wig patch out of place.

Realizing his wig patch was askew, Nathan Ye frantically tried to fix it. But the more he panicked, the worse it got—his wig patch ended up a complete mess, still not back in place.

Just then, April and the young merchant noticed Su Li and Nathan Ye.

"Chancellor Su! Minister Ye!" April called out brightly, her gaze landing on Su Li and Nathan Ye. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through. Just as Nathan Ye was fiddling with his messy wig patch, he heard April's voice, his hand jerked, and the wig patch flew out of his grasp—straight into the wind.

In an instant, Nathan Ye's glaringly bald head was exposed in the bright sunlight, shining almost like a second sun. The brilliance of his baldness seemed to envelop him in a glowing halo.

Su Li stared at Nathan Ye's bald head in shock. After months of seeing him with his wig patch, she hadn't expected his baldness to be so complete—it was practically a textbook case of male pattern baldness!

In ancient times, men kept their hair long, but Nathan Ye's 'Mediterranean-style' baldness was so pronounced that his attempt at growing it out looked like a classic case of 'the countryside surrounding the city'—utterly awkward.

At this point, not only was Su Li stunned by the sight of Nathan Ye's bald head, but even April and the young merchant stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the dazzling spectacle.

Nathan Ye, meanwhile, was so mortified that he wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. He covered his head with both hands, his face burning with embarrassment.

April quickly recovered and rushed over, gently comforting Nathan Ye: "Minister Ye, don't worry! I'll make you a new wig patch right away!"