The Secret Garden of Fingertips
Xiao Ai’s nail salon is located in the most bustling district of the CBD. Every day, she is like a diligent gardener, using colorful paints and sparkling decorations on the small plot of land that is the fingertip to create secret gardens for urban women. But recently, she has discovered some uninvited guests growing in her own "garden" - small, flesh-colored, like newly-emerged flower buds, yet somewhat grotesque. The doctor told her that they were warts caused by the HPV virus.
She was puzzled. She wears gloves and disinfects rigorously every day. How could this have happened? She began to pay attention to her customers. The urban white-collar workers who came and went, with slender or thick fingers, dressed in fashionable or simple attire. In their conversations, they would occasionally mention recent physical discomfort, or small bumps appearing on the edges of their nails. Xiao Ai's heart skipped a beat, a feeling of unease rising in her.
She began to observe silently, studying each customer's nails as if investigating an unsolved puzzle. She noticed that most of the customers who came for manicures were office workers. Their lifestyles were highly similar: spending long hours in front of computers, working overtime until late at night, and staying home on weekends. Their fingertips, moving between keyboards and mice, seemed to have long lost contact with nature.
Xiao Ai began to secretly use some "special" disinfectant during the manicure process. She bought these disinfectants from a mysterious supplier, who claimed they could kill all viruses. Each time she used them, she was careful, like an alchemist concocting a secret potion. But to her dismay, her customers still came in droves, and the "flower buds" on their fingertips seemed to be quietly growing.
One day, a young girl, looking tired and expectant, walked into her salon. The girl's hands were beautiful, with fair skin, but there were several obvious warts on the edges of her nails. She told Xiao Ai that she was currently preparing for an important project, working overtime until late every day, and under a lot of pressure. Xiao Ai's heart stirred. She suddenly realized that this might not be a virus problem, but another deeper "infection".
She began to subtly guide her customers during the manicure process to think about their lifestyles, their work pressures, and their emotional states. She discovered that many were already tired of this repetitive, mechanical, and oppressive life, but were powerless to change it. They could only seek a trace of illusory comfort in the small "garden" of their fingertips.
She started reducing the number of manicures and began recommending methods to relax, such as yoga, meditation, or even weekend outings to the suburbs. She found that when customers no longer focused solely on their nails, the "flower buds" on their fingertips were quietly receding.
Until one day, a regular customer brought a doctor friend. After carefully examining her nails, the doctor smiled and said, "This is not an HPV virus. It's skin inflammation caused by long-term use of inferior nail polish and excessive manicures. You need to stop getting manicures and let your nails rest."
Xiao Ai was stunned. She picked up her own gradually recovering hands, looked at the "flower buds" that had completely disappeared, and felt a sense of emptiness. It turned out that this was not a virus at all. It was just a kind of alienation that modern people, trapped in the concrete jungle of the city and exploited by work, were manifesting in their bodies. Looking at the constant stream of customers in her shop, she seemed to see souls trapped in exquisite cages, using the small "garden" of their fingertips to conceal the barrenness within. She glanced at the rows of colorful nail polishes on her counter and suddenly felt an indescribable sense of sorrow.
She slowly picked up the nail polish remover and wiped away the last trace of color from her hands, bit by bit. Then she suddenly noticed that a tiny, emerald-green sprout had grown on the nail of her left pinky finger, with a crystal-clear dewdrop hanging from its tip.