Because of the morning rush, Yan Yue and Lu Lingxi continued to stop and stop, and it was almost nine o’clock when they returned to Tiny Garden.
The two of them hadn’t spoken since Yan Yue’s phone conversation. Lu Lingxi felt a little embarrassed to overhear Yan Yue’s private matters, while Yan Yue was worried that Lu Lingxi would reject him and wanted to explain but couldn’t find a suitable opportunity.
Until the car was parked, neither spoke up to break the silence between the two. Yan Yue gently glanced at Lu Lingxi, paused and said nothing, then got out of the car and walked to the trunk. The shop consumed many clay pots yesterday, so on the way back Yan Yue deliberately brought a batch from the plant nursery to replenish the shop’s stock. Lu Lingxi saw Yan Yue’s intention and followed him over to help.
He was in a bit of a hurry, and Yan Yue was looking down at the pots in the trunk, not noticing there was someone behind him. When Lu Lingxi leaned over, Yan Yue was about to straighten. As soon as he raised his hand, he felt his elbow hit something and then he heard a low grunt from Lu Lingxi.
“Xiao Xi?” Yan Yue turned around to look at Lu Lingxi with a speed that ordinary people could not achieve, and said anxiously, “Where did I hit you?”
Lu Lingxi covered his nose, his eyes slightly red, and shook his head, “It’s okay.”
Yan Yue anxiously ignored Lu Lingxi’s answer, directly pulled away his hand and saw that the boy’s nose was a little red. When he did this, Lu Lingxi’s nose was sore from the stimulation and tears flowed out of his eyes. Yan Yue’s expression became cautious; as if facing a fragile treasure he gently wiped away the tears at the corners of Lu Lingxi’s eyes, then carefully touched the boy’s nose and asked in a low voice, “Does it still hurt?”
This series of actions made Lu Lingxi’s heart tremble slightly; there was an indescribable strange feeling, but the embarrassment was stronger. He really didn’t cry because his nose hurt, it was a purely physiological reaction. Taking a step back a little awkwardly, Lu Lingxi looked slightly shy and shook his head, “It doesn’t hurt anymore. ”
Yan Yue looked at him steadily, his eyes as deep as ancient starlight. After a long time, he raised his hand to cover the top of Lu Lingxi’s head and let out a soft, inaudible sigh.
Lu Lingxi keenly sensed that Yan Yue was in a bad mood and tilted his head after some thought: “Are you unhappy, Big Brother Yan? Is it because I heard you talking on the phone in the car?”
His question made Yan Yue a little stunned, “What?”
Lu Lingxi blinked and blushed, “Isn’t it because I overheard your private matters, Big Brother Yan?”
Realizing that he had misunderstood something, Yan Yue curled his lips into a faint smile; then he shook his head and affirmed, “No.”
“Oh.” Lu Lingxi relaxed, feeling that he could guess why Yan Yue was unhappy. As the matter concerned Yan Yue’s family, Lu Lingxi could not say it explicitly, but could only comfort him vaguely, “Big Brother Yan, no matter what, the important thing is to live a comfortable life.”
Lu Lingxi didn’t know the specific situation of Yan Yue’s family, but he believed intuitively that Yan Yue was not a bad person. Even if Yan Yue did something, there had to be a reason for it.
The way the young man looked slightly shy and consoled him earnestly made Yan Yue’s heart soften completely. He rubbed the boy’s hair hard and let out a heavy muffled chuckle.
Because of this little accident, Yan Yue refused to let Lu Lingxi move the pots with him and rushed him to rest. Lu Lingxi couldn’t object, so he had to go back to the shop obediently. But he couldn’t rest either; he found a watering can and started watering the potted plants in the shop. The plants hearts displayed on the panel were slowly accumulating, but the power of nature didn’t appear once again. Lu Lingxi glanced at the display of 357 plant hearts and thought that he still needed to keep working hard to level up.
Halfway through watering, the mobile phone that was charging at the cashier’s desk rang. The ringtone was specially set by Lu Lingxi for Wang Shuxiu. As soon as he picked up the phone, Wang Shuxiu asked a flurry of questions.
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“Where are you now? Back at the shop? Have you eaten in the morning?”
When Lu Lingxi didn’t come home last night. Wang Shuxiu was thinking about it all night and didn’t even bother to go to work. Although she knew that Lu Lingxi was in the plant nursery and that he wasn’t alone, Wang Shuxiu’s heart just couldn’t settle down. In the past, Lu Lingxi and Yi Hang played wildly and often didn’t come home. Wang Shuxiu didn’t feel anything at that time. But since Lu Lingxi’s accident, when Wang Shuxiu thought of the little bastard lying unconscious in the hospital and almost dying, her heart could not be as calm as before and she could not help but worry.
Her questions were too many and too fast, like machine gun fire, and before Lu Lingxi could answer one, he faced the next. After listening patiently to all the questions, Lu Lingxi answered them seriously. He had eaten at Uncle Li’s house, and brought back some sweet potatoes, and now he was already in the shop, Yan Yue was working and he was watering the potted plants.
Wang Shuxiu relaxed, “Yan Yue is the one you’re in partnership with, right?”
Lu Lingxi gave an “en”.
Wang Shuxiu thought about it and simply said, “Okay, let’s do it today. I’ll switch shifts with Lin Mei and you can take him home for dinner tonight.”
Lu Lingxi glanced at Yan Yue, who was squatting in the corner to organise the clay pots, and obediently said, “Okay, let me ask Big Brother Yan if he has time?”
He hung up the phone; Yan Yue was already looking over when he heard his name. Lu Lingxi’s expression was somewhat expectant: “Big Brother Yan, do you have time tonight? Mom asked me to take you back home for a meal.”
Yan Yue was stunned by this question for a moment; no matter how calm he was, he couldn’t help but be a little surprised. “Go to your place for dinner?”
Lu Lingxi nodded, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at Yan Yue. Yan Yue could not bear to disappoint him and nodded, “Okay.”
Lu Lingxi curved his eyes and happily went to text Wang Shuxiu.
The business in the morning was quite good; not long after the door opened, customers came one after another to buy some flower fertilisers and small tools. Even three of the clay pots Yan Yue had just brought were sold. Lu Lingxi was careful to keep track of the money he received, registering pots, fertilisers and tools clearly in different categories.
When Yan Yue saw how serious he was, he thought about it and suggested, “Why don’t we buy a computer to keep the accounts?”
“Can a computer also keep accounts?”
Yan Yue nodded, “Now there are many bookkeeping software, it’s clear and convenient, much easier than writing by hand. When there are no customers, Xiao Xi, you can also play games to pass the time. And when you get a regular customer base later, you can open an online shop.”
Apart from the convenience of keeping accounts, Yan Yue was more worried about Lu Lingxi being bored in Tiny Garden every day and thought that with a computer, he could play games and read the news or something. He wanted to buy a computer and give it to Lu Lingxi, but he knew that the young man would not agree, so he could only go in a roundabout way.
Lu Lingxi consciously skipped the games and focused on bookkeeping software and opening an online shop. He knew how to use a computer, and regarding the bookkeeping software, it was evident what it was from its name. But could an online shop also sell flowers and plants?
Yan Yue smiled, “You can sell anything.”
Lu Lingxi’s eyes instantly lit up; he had been thinking about how he could earn more money to pay back Yan Yue first and then save some money to support his family so Wang Shuxiu wouldn’t have to work so hard. If he could really open an online shop, there would definitely be a lot more customers than there were now.
The idea of getting a computer was almost unanimously approved by both of them, and Lu Lingxi found the bank card from last time and handed it to Yan Yue. The card still contained 100,000 yuan, which was regarded as an initial investment of 50,000 yuan from him and Yan Yue. After the computer was bought, it would be the property of the shop, so Yan Yue was not allowed to pay for it himself.
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Yan Yue took the card with amusement. He knew it would be like this. Sometimes he wondered how on earth the boy had been raised with such steadfast principles.
As the two were talking, a customer hurried in. A middle-aged man, together with a younger boy, worked together to carry in a large porcelain pot and place it on the floor. The middle-aged man wiped his sweat as he said, “Boss, please take a look.”
Lu Lingxi put down his account book and came closer. The pot on the floor was a five-fingered eggplant, a relatively precious fruit-bearing plant. He had seen similar fruit-bearing plants like kumquats before, but this was the first time he had seen a five-fingered eggplant.
Without waiting for Lu Lingxi to say anything, the middle-aged man hurriedly explained, “Boss, can you take a look at this five-fingered eggplant? The fruit is so sparse, and we’re very worried that it doesn’t bear any fruit.”
With a fruit-bearing plant, it was the fruit that counted. The fruit of the five-fingered eggplant was a small pear-shaped gourd with five little protrusions at the bottom of the fruit, resembling fingers or horns. The shape was very strange and cute. In addition, its colour was golden and bright, and didn’t change for a long time, symbolising wealth and prosperity and very pleasing to the eye. But the five-fingered eggplant in front of them was in a bad state, with very few fruit, and the colour of the peel was not very good-looking.
Lu Lingxi used the mental scan, the white panel popped up and the five-fingered eggplant appeared in three dimensions in front of Lu Lingxi.
Plant name: Five-fingered eggplant
Plant needs: Pruning
Plant viability: High
When Lu Lingxi saw the word “pruning”, he thought for a moment that the five-fingered eggplant in front of him was indeed a little too tall. He turned to the middle-aged man and asked, “Has this five-fingered eggplant only had its stem cut once?”
The middle-aged man was taken aback for a moment, and then immediately nodded.
Lu Lingxi said patiently, “The taller the five-fingered eggplant grows, the better, but it is best to limit it to about 60cm. Don’t be reluctant to cut the stem, it’s best to cut it two or three times to make the plant shorter so that it can produce more fruit. The colour of the peel is not very good either as it lacks light, so more sunlight is needed for the colour to be bright and shiny.”
The middle-aged man listened in awe, “What now?”
Lu Lingxi took a look. It was not too late to prune. He found a pair of small scissors and showed the middle-aged man how to do it. After a demonstration, the middle-aged man suddenly understood and smiled gratefully at Lu Lingxi.
Yan Yue leaned against the cashier’s desk and looked at Lu Lingxi, slightly lost in thought. There was something indescribably soft in the young man’s expression whenever he looked at the plants. He recalled what Uncle Li had said about Lu Lingxi having the aura of nature. It was the aura he liked to be close to.
After sending the middle-aged man away, Yan Yue asked curiously, “Xiao Xi, how did you know that this five-fingered eggplant didn’t have its stem cut?”
Lu Lingxi curled the corners of his mouth mischievously, “If I said that as soon as I saw it, all the information about the five-fingered eggplant would appear in my mind, would you believe me, Big Brother Yan?”
A smile filled Yan Yue’s eyes as he nodded with unusual certainty, “Yes.”
Lu Lingxi: “……”
Yan Yue suddenly laughed, thinking that the boy’s current expression was really funny. His laughter was interrupted by the ringing of his mobile phone. Yan Yue absent-mindedly glanced at it, but curbed his laughter when he saw the caller ID and then took a few steps outside the shop to pick up the phone.
“Grandpa.”
Lu Lingxi looked up at Yan Yue unexpectedly, not knowing why he was reminded of the phone call in the morning again. Yan Yue’s face had a faint smile on it, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, looking like he was smiling, but Lu Lingxi could not see the slightest trace of smile in his eyes, as if he was wearing a mask called “smile”.
“Okay.”
Yan Yue didn’t say much and seemed to be listening to the other side. He quickly hung up the phone and looked apologetically at Lu Lingxi, “Xiao Xi, I have to leave for a while, wait for me at the shop, I’ll come and pick you up this afternoon.”
Lu Lingxi nodded and wanted to say something but felt that none of it was appropriate. He watched Yan Yue drive away, regretting that he didn’t ask Yan Yue what had happened.
Yan Yue didn’t know what was on Lu Lingxi’s mind at the moment. He didn’t stop after leaving Tiny Garden but went straight back to the Yin family’s house. Grandpa called him because he wanted to have lunch with him. Although Grandpa hadn’t said anything on the phone, Yan Yue probably guessed what the meal was for. Even An Jie had received the news that Yan Hai was going to the overseas branch; he didn’t believe that Grandpa would not know.
The last time the rumours spread Grandpa had said nothing; instead it was Yin Ya who kept jumping up and down. This lunch was the perfect time to see Grandpa’s attitude. Yan Yue thought of his plans and gently tapped the steering wheel, the expression on his face becoming cold.
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