Gifting a Maiden a Pot of Orchid

My dad moved fast. By the afternoon of the following day, Fang Qingye received a call from him saying that everything had been taken care of. He told him to have his classmate's third uncle bring his son straight to Chengguan Middle School for enrollment when the term started, and they wouldn't need to worry about anything else.

Fang Qingye immediately called Wang磊 to share the good news. Over the phone, Wang磊 was naturally overflowing with gratitude, insisting on dragging his third uncle to Fang Qingye's house to express their thanks, an offer Fang Qingye promptly declined.

"Don't come, absolutely do not come. Wang磊, I'm sure you understand that this is a sensitive period... Besides, keep this between you, me, and your third uncle. Don't mention it to anyone else," Fang Qingye urged again.

"Rest assured, I've worked in the township for a year now, I understand all of this. I won't cause any trouble for you or your dad... Well then, I'll definitely find a way to thank you properly when I have the time later!"

After a brief exchange, the two of them hung up.

After finishing work and returning home in the afternoon, Fang Qingye didn't stay long. Right after dinner, he headed straight for his grandfather's plant nursery. Nanxin had been hit by a typhoon a couple of days prior, and he wanted to go check if his grandfather's nursery had suffered any damage.

Besides, given the tense atmosphere at home, staying there felt impossible anyway.

Fang Qingye straddled his little scooter, rounded the intersection, and headed northeast. Ten minutes or so later, he arrived at the Four Seasons Nursery, drove the scooter right inside, and spotted a girl in the orchid cultivation section—Bai Ou.

She was wearing a short skirt today, and her legs were blindingly white.

She was currently repotting an orchid. Hearing the sound of the motorcycle, she looked up to see Fang Qingye riding in, her eyes immediately curving into crescent moons with a smile.

"Yezi, here to see your grandpa and grandma?"

"Yeah, we had that typhoon a couple of days ago. Any damage left behind?" Fang Qingye asked as he parked the scooter right beside Bai Ou.

"None at all. I already asked your grandpa," the girl replied.

"That's good. What are you up to?" Fang Qingye asked.

"Repotting orchids," Bai Ou said, already turning back to her work.

"Do you come here often?"

"Yeah, lately I've been coming over almost every afternoon," the girl said. "You know how much I love flowers and plants."

That was certainly true.

Bai Ou had been fascinated by flowers and plants since childhood. When taking the college entrance examination, she originally planned to apply for the horticulture major at China Agricultural University, but her father firmly opposed it. He gave her an ultimatum: either major in education to become a teacher, or study law so she could end up working in a court or procuratorate like her uncle.

Bai Ou was an obedient child and ultimately chose to study law, getting accepted into East China University of Political Science and Law. However, her passion for plants had never faded.

Fang Qingye sat on his little scooter, watching the girl busy at work. He asked, "Isn't now a bad time to be repotting orchids?"

Although he wasn't as knowledgeable about flower cultivation as his grandfather and Bai Ou, he still knew the basics. Orchid repotting was mainly done in the spring. In summer, the weather was hot and humid, putting orchids into a semi-dormant state, and repotting during this time easily led to rotting roots and decayed seedlings.

"I know, but I want to take it back to school and keep it in my dorm when the semester starts," the girl replied.

"I'll help you then." Fang Qingye parked his scooter properly, crouched down beside the girl, and helped steady the flowerpot.

"This orchid is called a lotus-petal orchid. Look, do its petals look like a lotus flower?" The girl extended her fair hand, gently stroking the petals with utmost care.

It really did look like a lotus, blooming brightly.

"I heard your grandpa say this is a rare variety of orchid, and it's very expensive," the girl added.

Hearing this, Fang Qingye curled his lips in a silent scoff.

Expensive?

It was all just hype!

Especially over the past couple of years, orchids had become a subject of massive speculation around Jinghai. Any orchid with even the slightest unique feature was hyped up to astronomical prices, and it was common to see them trading for a million yuan per pot on the market.

Take this Phalaenopsis, for instance. At the time, it could sell for as much as 100,000 RMB, but now it was worth at most a hundred bucks.

Seeing Bai Ou working meticulously with beads of sweat forming on her face, Fang Qingye chuckled softly and said, "Stop repotting. Just take the whole pot with you in a bit."

"That won't do. Your grandpa said he still needs to sell it for money."

"Don't listen to him. These flowers aren't worth much anymore... I'll talk to Grandpa. You take a break for a minute."

Bai Ou had been squatting for nearly half an hour while repotting, and her legs were starting to go numb. Hearing this, she stood up and dusted the soil off her hands.

Fang Qingye pushed his little scooter forward, intending to head toward his grandparents' makeshift cabin, when the smartphone in the pocket of his oversized shorts suddenly rang—not with a regular ringtone, but with a QQ video call alert!

"Bai Ou, help me take it out and see who it is."

The girl immediately reached into his pants pocket, pulled out the phone, glanced at the screen, and said, "It's Liu Dong, requesting a voice chat, and Song Dahai is in it too."

"Answer it."

Bai Ou immediately pressed the answer button and turned on the speakerphone. Liu Dong's slightly excited voice came through the receiver.

"Yezi, Dahai, what are you guys up to?"

"I'm at my grandpa's nursery," Yezi replied.

"I'm playing CS, make it quick if you've got something to say!" Song Dahai's voice came through, accompanied by the loud clatter of gunfire.

"I'm treating everyone tomorrow night at six, at Dingcheng Hotel," Liu Dong announced.

"Oh? Is there some good news to celebrate?" Fang Qingye asked.

"Pretty much. I've officially been transferred to the Publicity Department."

"Holy shit! That's awesome news!" Song Dahai's voice rang out again, the gunfire now completely gone.

"This treat is an absolute must. Just eating won't cut it, we have to go karaoke afterwards... We're bringing some girls, right?" Song Dahai asked.

"Sure, I'm bringing one," Liu Dong agreed readily, then added, "Yezi, are you bringing Bai Ou?"

Fang Qingye immediately looked toward Bai Ou, who was standing nearby.

The girl nodded.

"Yeah, Bai Ou is right here with me. She sends her congratulations," Fang Qingye replied.

"Thanks... Dahai, what about you? Are you inviting Qian Xiaoli?"

"Don't you dare mention her, or I'll flip out!" Song Dahai retorted, before quickly changing the subject: "Yezi, help me ask Chen Meimei out."

"Ask her out yourself!" Fang Qingye flatly refused. "You have her number and you're already QQ friends, why are you dragging me into this?!"

"Well, I'm kind of worried she'll turn me down..."

"If you're worried about getting rejected, don't ask her out at all! Seriously, Dahai, you're so decisive when it comes to everything else, why are you dragging your feet so much on this? You don't look like a real man at all," Fang Qingye said.

"Damn it! To hell with it, I'm calling her right now!"

With that, Song Dahai dropped out of the three-way voice chat. Fang Qingye exchanged a few more words before disconnecting, and the two of them walked together toward the makeshift cabin.

"Yezi, is Dahai really chasing Chen Meimei from your workplace?" Bai Ou asked as they walked.

"Didn't you just hear it? It shouldn't be fake."

Bai Ou didn't say anything, suddenly reminded of a conversation she had with Qian Xiaoli during a class reunion not long ago.

"There's no way he's escaping the palm of my hand!"

At that time, Qian Xiaoli had clenched her right fist tightly, exuding an overwhelming aura of dominance.

A chuckle involuntarily escaped Bai Ou's lips.

"Bai Ou, what are you smiling at?" Fang Qingye found the girl's smile a bit peculiar.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Bai Ou snapped back to reality and hurriedly shook her head.

The two arrived at the cabin. Bai Ou went to wash her hands, while Fang Qingye went to check on his grandparents.

In truth, he didn't have any other business here. He just chatted with the two elderly folks for a bit before going with Bai Ou to look at the other flowers.

It was the height of summer, and many flowers in the nursery were in full bloom: Trichocereus cacti, colorful Epiphyllums, hollyhocks, roses...

As they walked, Fang Qingye listened to Bai Ou chat about the various plants. Time flew by quickly, and before they knew it, the sky grew dark. Both of them began getting ready to head home.

Fang Qingye rode his little scooter, while Bai Ou hopped on her own bicycle. After bidding farewell to his grandparents and just as they cleared the nursery gates, Fang Qingye suddenly remembered something.

"Wait..."

With that, he turned his scooter around and headed back into the nursery. Not long after, he rode back out, with a potted plant resting on the footboard of his scooter—it was none other than that pot of lotus-petal orchids.

Bai Ou smiled again, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

"Did you tell your grandpa?"

"Yeah, I did. Let's go, I'll help you deliver this flowerpot to your place." Fang Qingye said, revving his scooter.

Bai Ou lived in a newly developed residential complex on the west side of the city called碧海花园 (Blue Sea Garden), residing on the sixteenth floor of a high-rise. Fang Qingye helped carry the flowerpot all the way up to the sixteenth floor.

Bai Ou unlocked the door and switched on the lights—no one was inside.

"Where are your parents?" Fang Qingye asked casually.

"My dad isn't back from a business dinner yet, and my mom went out for a stroll—want to come in and sit for a bit?" Bai Ou invited.

"No need, I should head back... Don't forget about dinner tomorrow night!" Fang Qingye said, turning to leave.

"I won't... Bye-bye."

"Bye."