NOVPUBOver the next two days, since their parents were not at home, Xu Qingfan simply couldn’t be bothered to cook, and ended up dragging Xia Xiaoxiao and Lin Jing to eat out.
Yao Jiping called home several times during the trip to report that they were safe and also casually mentioned that the couple would not be returning for New Year’s, telling Xu Qingfan to take the bus back to Chuxi Village alone for dinner on New Year’s Eve.
In the blink of an eye, New Year’s Eve arrived. Last year at this time, Xu Aiguo had given Lin Jing and Xia Xiaoxiao a ride home, but this year that clearly wasn’t possible.
After lunch, the three of them went to Gualv Square to wait for the bus.
Perhaps because Valentine’s Day was just around the corner, the square was still bustling despite it being New Year’s Eve.
The number of vendors selling rose flowers from one end of the street to the other was easily in the hundreds.
If you were social enough, you could hear hundreds of calls like "handsome boy, beautiful girl" from one end of the street to the other.
"Handsome, your girlfriend is pretty, buy her a bouquet of flowers!"
"Handsome, are you buying flowers or not? They’re really gorgeous!"
Xia Xiaoxiao was walking on Xu Qingfan’s right side, looking forward to the roses on the stalls, even though it was just a very ordinary red rose; if someone were willing to give it to her, she would happily accept it.
"Handsome, buy a bouquet, it won’t cost you much, this big bouquet is only 88!"
Xu Qingfan glanced at the person speaking and thought to himself, you’re almost nothing short of a swindler, daring to sell a dozen roses for eighty-eight.
Xia Xiaoxiao obviously really wanted them, but she would never stoop to beg a jerk to buy them for her.
[If you send them, you send them!]
Just as they were about to reach the bus station, when Xia Xiaoxiao thought Xu Qingfan wouldn’t buy any flowers, he suddenly stopped at a small flower-selling corner.
"Boss, how much for this bouquet?" Xu Qingfan asked, pointing at a bunch of pink roses.
"Brother, these flowers are 58 yuan," a little girl said loudly.
Seeing Xu Qingfan squatting down and not responding immediately, the girl thought he found it too expensive and didn’t want to buy, so she immediately helped him haggle: "Brother, if you find it expensive, 55... no, 50 yuan will also do, and I’ll even give you a rose for free!"
Xia Xiaoxiao felt secretly delighted. She loved pink flowers the most. The jerk was definitely buying them to give to her, and the reason he hadn’t bought any earlier was because they were selling red roses there!
[Red roses are so ugly, not pretty at all. Pink is so much better!]
"Xiao Fan, who are you buying flowers for?" Lin Jing glanced at her daughter, asking with an implying tone.
Xia Xiaoxiao was an expert at controlling her expressions, keeping a straight face without saying a word.
But actually, her silence had already betrayed her; under normal circumstances, she would have spoken up to share a few complaints about Xu Qingfan.
"Just 58 then, and give me that rose," he said as he ruffled the little girl’s hair and pulled out a fifty and a ten from his wallet.
"No way, we agreed on fifty, here’s your flower!" the little girl only took the fifty, leaving the ten yuan bill untouched.
"Then I can still buy something else, right?" he placed the ten yuan back on the stall, picked up the flowers, and also took two red roses from beside it.
The little girl was stunned for a moment, and by the time she realized what had happened, the three of them had already walked seven or eight meters away.
"Brother, there’s still one flower left for you!" the little girl caught up holding a rose.
"That one’s for you," Xu Qingfan didn’t look back, just waved his hand behind him.
However, Xia Xiaoxiao did turn her head back, and seeing the little girl stand there looking dazed made her snicker internally.
[Always flirting with little girls!]
But then she remembered that Xu Qingfan was supposed to give her pink roses, and the thought made her push away any unpleasant thoughts she had entertained.
"Cough cough~ Who are you buying flowers for?" the three of them reached the bus station, and Xia Xiaoxiao asked, pretending to be indifferent.
"Who else could it be for, obviously it’s…"
"I don’t want your flowers!" Xu Qingfan hadn’t finished speaking when Xia Xiaoxiao haughtily interrupted him.
"Why would I give you flowers for no reason? Of course, they’re for Auntie. The pink roses represent gentleness and elegance, wishing that Auntie may always be treated gently by time and remain forever young."
"What!"
"Huh? They’re for me?"
The faces of both the mother and daughter were filled with astonishment, although Xia Xiaoxiao’s was a mix of anger and disbelief, while Lin Jing’s was surprise mixed with a touch of emotion.
"Of course, they’re for Auntie. Thank you for taking care of me all these years. With a mom like mine, unreliable as she is, would I have grown up to be this handsome and charming if it weren’t for you?" n𝚘𝚟pub.𝚌o𝚖
"You’re shameless," Xia Xiaoxiao muttered under her breath, pouting.
"Hehehe~ then Auntie thanks Xiao Fan for the flowers," Lin Jing said, obviously very happy. She smiled radiantly as she took the roses from Xu Qingfan and even leaned in to sniff them.
The bus arrived soon after, and the three of them boarded and sat down in the last row.
The old-fashioned bus had a female conductor who came around to collect money and sell tickets. The seats were upholstered but worn, revealing yellow sponge from the torn corners, apparently picked at by some unscrupulous vandal, making them somewhat uncomfortable to sit on.
Xia Xiaoxiao took the window seat, visibly upset as she turned her head to look out the window. The wind beat against the girl’s face as it came through the fully opened window.
Lin Jing sat between them, holding the roses Xu Qingfan had just given her, looking delighted.
Not long after, as the conductor came to collect their fees, Lin Jing curiously asked, "Xiao Fan, how did you think to buy flowers there?"
"Oh, you mean that? Both her parents are probably deaf-mutes. I watched for a while, and the little girl had a cochlear implant surgery; she’s the only one in her family who can speak," Xu Qingfan explained, telling them about how he noticed they communicated using sign language.
Xia Xiaoxiao turned her head to give Xu Qingfan a disdainful look, clearly not expecting him to have observed so closely.
[So he bought the flowers out of pity, but that’s still no excuse for giving flowers only to my mom and not to me!]
"You didn’t mention it; I didn’t even notice. No wonder only that little girl was talking when buying flowers. If I had known, I would have bought more," Lin Jing expressed some sympathy for their situation.
"As long as your conscience is clear, that’s what matters. Li City is full of land requisitions and demolitions now; who knows, in a few years, that little girl’s family might be demolished, and then they might end up richer than you, Auntie."
"Giggles~ that would be quite nice,"
"Hmph~" Xia Xiaoxiao again turned her head out the window.
[Just chatting with Mom, even though he still has two roses in his hand, he didn’t give one to me!!]
The girl obviously forgot that she had just said how ugly she thought red roses were.
Speaking of which, holding two roses was rather cumbersome. After thinking it over, he decided to give them to Xia Xiaoxiao: "Here, take these. I don’t know what red roses signify, but here’s wishing you happiness and academic success every day."
"Tch~ I can have lots of people give me roses," Xia Xiaoxiao nonchalantly accepted the two roses.
"Auntie, did you hear that? This Xia Xiaoxiao has tendencies for early romance!"
"Stinky Xu Qingfan, don’t falsely accuse me!"
"Ouch, ouch~ now the words you said yourself are turned into me falsely accusing you."
"All those flowers that ended up in my drawer were thrown in the trash!"
"Who knows?"
"You!"
Lin Jing giggled secretly, munching on melon seeds in the middle, egging on, "Xiao Fan, what else do you know? Tell Auntie."
"Oh, there is plenty!"
"You better not say it!"
"Hahaha..."
