Old Ma had come to Yangzhou from Taixing to cut hair when he was a young man, and he had been at it for over thirty years. His barbering skills were beyond reproach, and he possessed a particular knack for cleaning ears. Thanks to his excellent reputation, he had essentially cornered the market on haircuts in the Wanzi Street area, leaving other barbers in the vicinity with no customers at all.
Though his life was hard, he could earn twenty or thirty taels of silver in a busy year. After deducting his expenses, putting ten or so taels into his pocket was never a problem. While he couldn't compare to those who ran proper shops, he was certainly doing better than he would have been back home farming.
Old Ma was quite content with this life, but today, things felt distinctly wrong. Early in the morning, crows had been cawing incessantly in the courtyard where he rented his room, and when he was getting ready to wash his face and head out, his eyelid wouldn't stop twitching.
Chapter 31