Ye Zhibai had caught whiffs of various delicate floral scents. They were the mingled aromas of different blossoms, creating a wondrous fragrance in the air.
Rich and full-bodied, yet subtly refined.
In plain speak—it smelled amazing.
“Little Bai’er, check out over there. Those are all the fresh flowers that arrived this morning. They’ll go downstairs on the shelves before evening.”
Lin Zihan didn’t need to point them out; Ye Zhibai had already spotted them.
They were far too conspicuous to miss.
Bathed in sunlight pouring through a triangular bay window, surrounded by the gentle trickle of water from a slender trough,
there lay a neat expanse of vibrant blooms in every color imaginable.
Seasonal favorites like white orchids, jasmine, red and white roses, and carnations competed in splendor.
There were even out-of-season daffodils in bloom!
They must have been cultivated in a greenhouse.
After all, these flowers didn’t grow naturally at this time of year—they were greenhouse specials!
Ye Zhibai knew little about flowers and couldn’t claim to be a fan, but the sheer spectacle of them piled together was undeniably impressive.
Standing beside Lin Zihan in front of this floral bounty, she took a gentle sniff. It was truly soothing to the soul.
Ye Zhibai slowly reached out her small hand.
Not to touch the blossoms.
But to swat away Guang Yu’s little paw, which was stretching toward the flowers!!
“Listen up, Guang Yu. Plucking flowers at home is bad enough, but these are for sale. If you so much as touch one, I’ll pluck you bald—not a single hair left.”
(Though with Guang Yu, that’d just mean her ears and tail; she didn’t have fur anywhere else.)
Guang Yu shuddered at the words.
She yanked her hand back, looking utterly aggrieved!
“I wasn’t gonna pluck any flowers! They’re so pretty—why would I?”
I’d like to ask the same about the flowers in our yard.
Guang Yu squatted down and dipped a hand near the water trough, sticking up her index finger.
“I’m just checking the right water temperature for plants. I wanna figure out what killed the cactus at home!”
You did, that’s what!
Argh! I’d totally forgotten about that cactus!
“Hiss… it’s warm water! A bit on the cool side, even. Ye Zhibai, did you know you water flowers with warm water?”
I knew that!
Sigh… all right, then. Ye Zhibai would shoulder half the blame for the cactus’s demise.
She’d been too lazy to explain things properly to Guang Yu at the time.
Lin Zihan, meanwhile, was meticulously plucking excess thorns from the flower stems.
She brushed back the golden bangs from her forehead with one hand while patiently removing the prickles with the other—an exquisite sight. Her slender fingers danced like butterflies amid the blooms.
Her elegant, refined air shone through, every movement reminiscent of a true little princess.
Even in their fallen circumstances, the poise of the Lin Family’s Eldest Miss showed no sign of fading with time.
Lin Zihan turned to Ye Zhibai with a gentle smile.
“The main reason I wanted to bring you here, Little Bai’er, is to show you where I work every day. Bringing a friend home like this? It’s a real badge of pride. So, what do you think—isn’t it gorgeous?”
“Mm. Very nice.”
“Hahaha! Little Bai’er, are you calling the flowers pretty or me pretty this time? You’re impossible to read!”
“Both are pretty.”
“!”
It was the first time Ye Zhibai had seen Lin Zihan’s smile freeze like that.
Her cheeks tinted pink, her little mouth slightly agape in surprise!
Just to clarify:
Ye Zhibai had only been stating the plain truth.
They really were both pretty! She was just being honest!
A flicker of light danced in Lin Zihan’s scarlet eyes, myriad hues swirling within—only to withdraw in an instant as she composed herself once more.
“Ahem… cough. Thanks for the compliment, Little Bai’er! But the prettiest part is over here. Come on, come this way—feast your eyes on the results of my morning’s hard work!”
Wherever Lin Zihan led, Ye Zhibai followed.
She wasn’t familiar with the place, after all.
Then, when they reached the middle of the room,
Lin Zihan lightly brushed the already spotless tile floor twice with her hand—
and promptly dropped flat to the ground!
Uh…
What was with the sudden prone position? Was there a grenade or something?!
Guang Yu, on guard!
No—Little Fox had already joined in the fun and flattened herself too.
Talk about adapting on the fly.
Propped on her elbows, Lin Zihan craned her neck up toward Ye Zhibai and beckoned.
“Come on over and get down here too, Little Bai’er. There’s an old ventilation duct, sealed over with loose tile. Pry off a bit, and you can peek downstairs! Just keep your voice down once I open it… or Mama will hear us.”
This went beyond mere sneaking around.
It was full-on master thief territory!
Still, Ye Zhibai found it intriguing. She got down on her belly opposite Guang Yu, just as instructed.
Now the two girls and one fox lay sprawled in a circle, with the tile Lin Zihan had mentioned at the center.
Lin Zihan pressed her index finger to her lips in a playful shushing gesture, then slowly pried up the tile.
She set it gently aside and pointed downward, urging Ye Zhibai to peer through the gap.
Ye Zhibai leaned forward bit by bit—
Thump!
Ow!
Guang Yu!!
She told me to look—couldn’t you wait your turn?!
Nooo, we had to bonk heads mid-air. What a hard head!
To Lin Zihan, Ye Zhibai’s wince—like bumping an invisible wall—was hilarious.
“Ha… relax, Little Bai’er. Mama never looks up. You’re safe.”
Thanks for the reassurance. Hadn’t even crossed my mind.
After shooting Guang Yu a warning glare to hold off, Ye Zhibai poked her head forward first, right up to the hole beneath the tile.
It was just big enough for about a third of her head.
But that was plenty to take in the full view of the floor below.
And then… gazing down at the first floor’s layout and decor from this bird’s-eye vantage,
her eyes brightened.
The bouquets down there were even more intricate and varied than those upstairs, each in its own vase, arranged with perfect precision.
They looked measured out with a ruler and compass—symmetrical down to the tiniest detail, a study in meticulous beauty.
A golden-haired woman was seated near the entrance, tending to the bouquets.
No customers in the shop at the moment.
That had to be Lin Zihan’s mother, right?
Lin Zihan had wanted her to see the first floor precisely for this little bit of “showing off,” hadn’t she?
Still prone, Lin Zihan kicked her legs up lazily, swinging her little white sneakers back and forth. She was in high spirits.
Leaning close to Ye Zhibai’s ear, she whispered,
“Heh heh heh… see that, Little Bai’er? That’s the fruit of my morning labors! I was up before four, hauling the flowers down from the delivery truck bit by bit. Extras went upstairs, most got arranged below. Sorted them into vases one by one, added water, positioned them just so—isn’t it neat now? I was super hardworking today!”
All of that… by yourself?!
Yup.
To cut down on labor costs, Elsa had always handled the heavy lifting while Lin Zihan was at school.
But now, on vacation, of course she’d pitch in to ease Mama’s load.
Ye Zhibai eyed the vases below… some nearly half as tall as a person.
Vases that heavy, and Lin Zihan—barely scraping five-foot-seven with her slender frame—had somehow managed to shift them?!
Even skipping the unloading from the truck, rearranging them around the shop to perfection would have been a Herculean task.
She recalled the two flower shop photos Lin Zihan had sent her phone around six that morning. Those must have been quick snaps taken amid the bustle, while decorating the store.
Maybe also a way to recharge when exhaustion hit—messaging Ye Zhibai for a boost.
No doubt, after setting her phone down, she’d given herself a little pep talk in her head and pressed on, heaving those vases with dogged determination.
Seeing how seriously Little Bai’er was watching, Lin Zihan felt genuine joy from the bottom of her heart.
She even lightly clinked her two shoes together and continued sharing the challenges involved.
“It’s not that it’s super hard or anything—it’s just exhausting, you know? Sigh, I really have no idea how my mom sticks with it every day. I got it after moving things just once. Opening a flower shop is easy, but keeping it arranged is tough~”
“You’re right.”
“Little Bai’er thinks so too, right?”
“Yes.”
It was the honest truth.
Ye Zhibai… didn’t dislike hard workers.
The scene gave Ye Zhibai a profound shock.
That shock stemmed mainly from a deep sense of empathy.
She narrowed her eyes.
In her mind, memories surfaced from long ago… so long ago it felt like a previous life.
Well, actually, it had been less than a month.
In any case!
In her previous life, she had once worked at a restaurant.
Back then, she would occasionally be asked to neatly rearrange those heavy tables and chairs.
Though Ye Zhibai had been a boy at the time, she wasn’t particularly strong.
She didn’t eat well on normal days, so where would that strength come from?
But for that extra few hundred bucks in pay… so she could one day afford some food she actually liked, she pushed herself late into the night.
Late enough that everyone else had left, leaving the restaurant empty with just her.
In the dim glow of a single lamp, a lone figure still toiled away.
Finally, gazing at the vast expanse of spotless, perfectly aligned tables and chairs, Ye Zhibai’s heart had swelled with joy back then.
But… there was no one she could “show off” to, no one to share it with.
Ye Zhibai could only push open the restaurant door by herself.
Carrying that buried pride and self-affirmation in her heart, she walked into the night.
Toward her rundown little apartment in a remote corner.
So sometimes, being able to “show off” your hard work to others…
That in itself was a kind of happiness.
Right now, Lin Zihan was immersed in that boundless happiness.
Ye Zhibai pulled her head back, and Guang Yu leaned forward to take in the pleasant view as well.
Lin Zihan lay there, meeting Ye Zhibai’s gaze.
Hmm… Little Bai’er kept saying it was great, really nice.
But her expression remained so cool and icy!
Because of that, deep down, Lin Zihan suddenly felt an urge to act a little spoiled.
That impulse harkened back to the feeling from last time in the classroom when Ye Zhibai had put a Band-Aid on her—it had never fully faded.
Lin Zihan blinked quickly, her voice playful as she grinned at Ye Zhibai.
“Hey, Little Bai’er, I’ve been working so hard! Don’t I get a reward or something?”
Her cheeky tone gradually took on a pleading edge without her even realizing it.
“I… during break, I’ll still have to keep this up for ages, coming to the shop early in the morning to watch it for my mom, arranging flower vases every day. So… could you pat my head as a reward? Just once… just… ah, never mind. Pfft, I was just kidding, Little Bai’er, you don’t have to… huh?”
Joking or not…
Ye Zhibai, with her characteristically cool expression, still extended her small hand—warm and gentle.
It landed steadily atop Lin Zihan’s silky golden hair, making the girl tremble slightly.
Nothing more needed to be said.
Ye Zhibai had said it before.
She didn’t dislike hard workers.
Someone who worked hard deserved their small wishes fulfilled.
This could stand as a little memorial to her own lonely silhouette vanishing into the darkness back then!
Let’s encourage each other!
