Chapter 981: Ghost Face Tattoo Studio

He didn’t pay it much mind. When he reached the bike shed, he got on his electric bike and left the apartment, heading to work.

...

Nancheng City’s Ghost Face Tattoo Studio.

It was a very small tattoo studio, tucked inconspicuously into a corner shop on the street.

The street was deserted too. Many shops had closed for good, and only a few were still open.

It was a little past nine in the morning, and the tattoo studio was already open.

Not long after opening, a customer came in.

The customer was a girl who looked a little over sixteen.

From the way she was dressed and her metallic-colored hair, it was clear she was either a trendy young woman or some other kind of person.

As soon as the trendy young woman entered and saw no one, she raised her voice and shouted, “Hey! Where’s the Boss?! Where is he?!”

After she called out several times, the owner of the tattoo studio slowly emerged from behind a curtain covering a doorway at the back.

He was a thirty-five-year-old man.

He was on the short side, just over 170 centimeters tall.

He was dressed entirely in black. Even his sneakers were black.

After coming out, he spotted the trendy young woman and quickly looked her up and down twice.

A smile appeared on his face. “Here to get a tattoo?”

The trendy young woman looked around the shop until she found a chair.

She sat down, then propped both feet on the crossbar beneath it, looking rather restless.

“Obviously! Why else would I come to your shop? It’s not like I’m here to ask you out!”

“Heh.”

The owner smiled. “You’re quite the comedian. Since you’re here for a tattoo, let me ask you something first. How old are you?”

The trendy young woman looked unhappy. “Twenty.”

As she spoke, a hint of nervousness flashed in her eyes.

The owner smiled. “You don’t look it. Let me see your ID.”

The trendy young woman looked even more unhappy. “I’m sixteen this year. Happy now? What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you’re going to say I’m underage and refuse to tattoo me too?”

The owner only smiled without answering.

The trendy young woman leaned closer to him. “A friend recommended this place. She’s about my age, and you gave her a tattoo.”

“Oh, is that so? So you want one too?”

The trendy young woman nodded. “Of course! All my friends have tattoos of their own, and I’m the only one without one. They all make fun of me.”

The owner asked again, “Which friend told you she got a tattoo here? Can you tell me her name?”

The trendy young woman gave him a name.

The owner thought for a moment, then remembered. He described the girl the trendy young woman had mentioned, and she hurriedly nodded. “That’s her, that’s her!”

“She told you she got a tattoo at my shop?”

The trendy young woman looked impatient. “Didn’t I already tell you that? Come on, did she pay you extra or something? You tattooed her, so why are you asking me all these questions when I want one here?”

The owner smiled faintly. “Then your friend must have tricked you. I’m a conscientious business owner. I absolutely won’t tattoo minors, not even if their parents agree. I did help your friend, but it wasn’t a tattoo.

“It was a temporary tattoo.”

The trendy young woman’s eyes widened in shock. “What? It was a temporary tattoo? Damn, that bitch actually lied to me?! She was showing off in front of me, saying it was a real tattoo!”

“But that still doesn’t make sense! If it was a temporary tattoo, I was suspicious. I tried water, alcohol, dish soap, and even potassium permanganate!!! I rubbed them all over her tattoo, but there wasn’t even the slightest sign of the color coming off!!!

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have thought she really got a tattoo…”

The owner explained, “Those are special temporary tattoos made by our shop. They can only be removed with the special solution we make here. So, do you get it?”

The trendy young woman quickly nodded. “Got it! But!”

She suddenly put on a mysterious expression. “Boss, then I won’t get a tattoo here. Give me one of your shop’s special temporary tattoos instead. But if my friend asks, tell her I got a real tattoo.”

As she spoke, the trendy young woman hurriedly rummaged in her pocket for some coins and bills.

They were all worth fifty cents or one yuan, with the largest bill worth only five yuan.

She stuffed the money, worth roughly a dozen yuan in total, into the owner’s palm. “This is for milk tea. Keep my secret.”

The owner laughed helplessly. “There’s no need. I’ll keep your secret, but take your money back.”

The trendy young woman didn’t stand on ceremony. She took the money the owner returned and put it back into her little bag.

But then, while the owner wasn’t paying attention, she kissed him on the left cheek.

She immediately grinned. “Boss! Since you don’t want the money, I’ll give you this as a reward!”

The owner smiled helplessly. “Your boyfriend will be upset if you do that.”

The trendy young woman said, “It’s fine. He won’t find out. Besides, it was just a kiss on the cheek, not like we kissed each other.”

The owner took a thick picture book from the glass counter.

He handed it to the trendy young woman. “Go ahead and choose. I have all the designs in here. And tell me where you want to put it, so I can make a recommendation.”

The trendy young woman didn’t say anything. She sat quietly in front of the counter and began choosing carefully.

Before long, she picked a black widow spider design.

The owner asked where she wanted it.

The trendy young woman boldly lifted her white, tight clothing.

She exposed her smooth, firm belly, full of youthful charm.

The owner glanced at her fair, tender skin and slender waist.

The trendy young woman pointed to a spot about a handspan to the left of her navel.

“About here.”

The owner nodded. Soon, he took the temporary tattoo from the counter.

Using special tools, he cleaned the patch of skin about a handspan from the trendy young woman’s navel, then applied the design.

Once he finished, he peeled off the transparent film.

A lifelike black widow spider appeared, sprawled around the spot about a handspan from her navel.

The trendy young woman held up a mirror and examined her new tattoo.

The owner watched too.

Mm... It had a certain allure. In that spot, the design looked sexy and wild.

And it wasn’t small. The spider even had a black web extending from its legs.

No matter how you looked at it, it was cool.

The trendy young woman was pleased with the tattoo too.

After taking a bunch of selfies, she continued browsing.

The owner asked, “Want another temporary tattoo?”

The trendy young woman didn’t answer. She silently picked two more.

One was a cartoon design of Sailor Moon.

The other was the Powerpuff Girls.

Once those two designs had been applied,

the trendy young woman rested her elbows on the glass counter.

At the same time, she rolled her sleeves all the way up.

She asked the owner to take a side-view photo of her.

After he took it, she got the photo. In it, Sailor Moon’s laughing face stood out vividly against her snow-white arm. It was impossible not to notice.