White Lotus, Living Up to Her Name

Fang Qingye filled out his annual leave request form. After his immediate supervisor, Section Chief Wu, signed it, Fang Qingye took the form to Xia He for her signature.

Xia He naturally had no objections. She picked up a pen, swiftly signed her name on the form, and then asked Fang Qingye with a smile, "Little Fang, where are you planning to go for your vacation?"

"It's so hot, I don't want to go anywhere. I'll just stay at home."

"Oh... That's nice, then. Don't forget our badminton match on Friday."

She remembers this detail so clearly.

Fang Qingye muttered a silent complaint to himself.

Still, playing badminton with Xia He felt pretty good. She was skilled and pretty, making watching her play a visual treat—unlike that gloomy buzzkill Dujuan.

The next day, Fang Qingye officially began his vacation.

He slept in past ten o'clock in the morning, surfed the internet, played video games, took a nap after lunch, read a book, and went for a stroll in the evening. Sometimes he hung out with Song Dahai and the others, or drove to the main river channel of Jiaogang to go fishing. His days were wonderfully cozy and leisurely.

However, he didn't sleep in this morning. Waking up at nine, he got dressed, washed up, and first grabbed a bowl of tofu pudding and an egg crepe at a small snack bar by the entrance of his residential compound. Then he drove straight towards the northeast of the county town—he was going to visit his grandparents.

Last night, his mother had spoken up: "You're busy with work, and yet you don't even go visit your grandparents during your vacation. They spoiled you rotten when you were little." Hearing that, Fang Qingye decided to head over this morning while the weather was still cool.

His grandfather Fang Guisheng's plant nursery was in the north of the town, not far from the Tongyang Canal. As Fang Qingye drove up, he saw a fence made of woven branches serving as a wall. Right facing the road was a simple wooden gate with a plaque bearing four large brush-written characters: "Four Seasons Nursery."

The calligraphy was bold and vigorous—it was his father's handwriting.

Fang Qingye parked the car at the entrance and walked inside. A yellow dog immediately came bounding over, wagging its tail. It was Wangcai, a local mongrel his grandfather kept.

Fang Qingye affectionately patted the dog's head, and the man and dog walked deeper into the nursery.

The nursery was quite large. Though called a nursery, it primarily focused on indoor potted evergreen plants, such as Dracaena draco, Money Trees, Peace Trees, Fortune Trees, braided Fortune Bamboo, and Wealth Trees. These were mainly rented out to government units and enterprises in the county seat to provide indoor ornamental greenery.

Nowadays, various organizations paid great attention to their office environments, and growing potted green plants in offices had become a trend. However, many people did not know how to care for them, which naturally gave rise to the plant rental business.

This way, sitting in an office, people didn't have to tend to the plants themselves, yet they could still enjoy various greenery—simple and effective.

Fang Guisheng's nursery mainly ran on this business.

Of course, there were also some flowers, such as Chinese roses, camellias, red-leaf plums, and begonias, as well as orchids. Fang Guisheng had a deep passion for orchids and grew many varieties, including Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium floribundum, Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium sinense, and Cymbidium kanran, as well as rare varieties like the Ghost Orchid and the Prime Lotus.

Fang Guisheng had specially built a large greenhouse for cultivating prized orchids, though it wasn't needed right now during the summer.

As Fang Qingye walked along the path inside the nursery and passed the orchid cultivation area, he noticed a short-haired girl wearing a black T-shirt and denim shorts squatting in the flower bed, her back to him as she fussed over a pot of orchids.

"White Lotus," Fang Qingye called out.

Hearing someone call her, the girl stood up, turned around, and smiled at him, her eyes curving into lovely crescents. "Yezi, how come you have time today to come visit your grandparents?"

"I'm on annual leave. Are you on break? When did you get back?" Fang Qingye asked.

"Yesterday. I didn't have anything to do today, so I came over to take a look," White Lotus said.

Fang Qingye knew that White Lotus also loved orchids. When they were in middle school, she often came to his grandfather's nursery to play. Seeing that the girl's face was flushed red from the sun, he remarked, "It's so hot and you're not even wearing a straw hat. Aren't you worried about getting a sunburn?"

"It's fine. You know I don't tan easily."

Indeed, White Lotus lived up to her name. Unlike some girls who were skin and bones, her chopstick-like legs were plump and rounded, and her skin was very fair.

Moreover, she didn't tan easily. Even if she occasionally got a bit darker from the sun, a few days later her skin would return to its previous fairness, making many girls who frantically slathered on sunscreen all summer long quite envious.

"Are my grandparents here?" Fang Qingye asked again.

"They're both here. Your grandma is in the house, and your grandpa is repotting plants," White Lotus said.

Just at that moment, Fang Qingye saw his grandfather wearing a straw hat and riding a motorized tricycle with a canopy, emerging from behind the house. He hurried forward to greet him.

"Grandpa, where are you going?"

"I'm going to deliver some potted plants to the County Party Committee Office, and then to the Organization Department to check if those flowerpots need watering." His grandfather stopped the vehicle and said to him.

Sure enough, Fang Qingye saw the bed of the tricycle loaded full of flowerpots.

"Where is Xiaoqiang? Why isn't he going?" Fang Qingye asked.

Xiaoqiang's full name was Zhang Xiaoqiang, an employee hired by his grandfather to help manage the nursery. Transporting flowers and potted plants was a task primarily handled by Zhang Xiaoqiang.

"Xiaoqiang had something come up at home and asked for a day off," his grandfather replied.

"I'll go make the deliveries. It's too hot, you should rest," Fang Qingye offered.

"Can you handle it?"

"No problem, it's not like I've never delivered them before," Fang Qingye laughed.

"Alright then." His grandfather climbed down from the driver's seat, felt around in his pocket, and handed a crumpled piece of paper to Fang Qingye. "This is the list of potted plants to be delivered to the various offices of the County Party Committee Office. Make sure you don't deliver the wrong ones! And remember to collect the old ones... Also, do you know who to look for?"

"I know, look for Director Chen of the County Party Committee Office," Fang Qingye glanced at the paper and answered casually.

Then he stuffed it into his pants pocket, took the straw hat handed over by his grandfather, jumped onto the tricycle, and prepared to drive off.

At that moment, White Lotus suddenly said, "Yezi, I'll go with you too."

"Don't you need to cultivate your orchids?" Fang Qingye asked.

"I was just messing around anyway, and I don't have anything else to do," the girl replied.

"Alright then, get in!"

The girl nimbly jumped onto the vehicle and sat in the passenger seat.

"Sit tight! Let's go," Fang Qingye said as he started the engine. The tricycle made a chugging sound and moved forward.

"Xiao Ye, drive slower and be careful!" His grandfather's voice came from behind.

"Don't worry, Grandpa, I'll keep an eye on him," White Lotus answered loudly.

The County Party Committee and County Government were both located in a building in the New District. Without entering the city, Fang Qingye drove the tricycle westward along the North Ring Road. The morning breeze blew past, making the heat less oppressive and feeling quite refreshing.

Sitting beside Fang Qingye, White Lotus seemed to be in a great mood and softly hummed a tune:

*Writing a poem for you, standing still for you*

*Doing the impossible for you*

*Learning to play the piano and write lyrics for you*

*Losing my mind for you*

*Writing a poem for you, standing still for you...*

*...*

"White Lotus, you're in high spirits today," Fang Qingye said with a smile while driving.

"I'm always in high spirits," the girl replied, then asked, "I saw a new car parked at the entrance of the nursery. Did you buy it?"

"Yeah. I made a bit of money in the stock market, and my dad gave me some more, so I bought one. It makes going out more convenient," Fang Qingye answered truthfully.

"Then let's go out and play when you have free time!"

"No problem, we'll call Dahai and Liu Dong along too."

"I heard Liu Dong got transferred to the Publicity Department?" White Lotus asked again.

"Right, I reckon there's an eighty percent chance he'll stay permanently." Fang Qingye then recounted how Liu Dong frequently worked overtime at the Publicity Department, staying up late to write articles. He even mentioned how Liu Dong was trained in badminton specifically to act as a sparring partner for the leadership.

Hearing this, White Lotus burst into giggles.

"I really didn't expect Liu Dong to change so much after working for just a year. But it's pretty good too. Since he entered a government organ, he has to adapt to their rules of operation. I bet Liu Dong could become a leader in the future!"

"I agree with your point!" Fang Qingye said loudly. "This guy handles human relations and social finesse quite well, which is a huge advantage in the workplace."

"What about you? I heard from Dahai that your senior schoolmate, the bank president, also appreciates you a lot." A playful smile appeared on White Lotus's face.

"Yeah, I helped her solve several tricky problems," Fang Qingye didn't shy away from it.

In front of his childhood friends, there was no need to put on airs.

"So you want to be a leader in the future too?" White Lotus asked again.

"I don't have that kind of ambition, and I'm not interested in that stuff."

"Then what are you thinking about?"

"Living a carefree and leisurely life," Fang Qingye replied lazily.

"That's nice too... As the ancient poem says: White clouds come and go while the green mountains remain, opening a jar of wine with a hearty laugh... Haha!" The girl laughed happily.