Chapter 27

The clerk still had an impression of Ming Yunle, and was a little uncomfortable seeing him buy the seeds so decisively this time.

“Welcome to visit us next time.”

Ming Yunle returned to the car carrying the paper bag and said, "Let's go back now."

Ming Yunle had no experience in growing flowers. He thought it was easy, but it was not easy at all.

Because Ming Yunle has a strong sense of ritual, he wants to go through every step himself, so that he can consider that he has grown the fruit completely by himself.

The gardener took them over, gave each of them a tool, and after seeing the types of flowers, told them what they needed to pay attention to when planting. After Ming Yunle explained everything clearly, he let him go about his business.

The two of them didn't have to finish planting today, so the progress was relatively slow.

The vacant land was not big, so they didn't buy many seeds.

When it was almost over, Ruan Yan noticed that there was a lot of dirt on Ming Yunle's face.

He took off his gloves and helped Ming Yunle wipe it, but it didn't come off at all.

"Your face seems to be dirty too." Ming Yunle pointed at Ruan Yan's chin.

Ruan Yan raised his arm and rubbed it. Ming Yunle looked at it and said, "It's even dirtier."

They didn't pay much attention when they were planting, and only found out when they got up that they were all dirty and there was a lot of dirt in their shoes.

When I stood up, some soil was still falling down.

After shaking his body, Ming Yunle shook off a stone.

Seeing that big stone, Ming Yunle even wondered how he had done it.

Their faces and clothes were dirty, so they put away their gloves and tools and prepared to take a shower.

After coming down from upstairs, they sat in the living room in their bathrobes.

Ming Yunle said, "Just wear your bathrobe first, and I'll find you some clothes later."

The housekeeper brought them two cups of tea. Ming Yunle took a sip and put it back.

Ruan Yan asked, "Are you going to plant flowers next year? Aren't there still several varieties left to plant?"

"Let me think about it first."

Ruan Yan laughed: "You change your mind so quickly. Didn't you say you have to plant it every year?"

Ming Yunle said, "One thought at a time, don't dwell on it too much."

The main reason is that I have never planted it before, and the novelty wore off after planting it once.

But there is no certainty. Ming Yunle might become interested again after seeing the flowers bloom.

Although he likes to try new things, the only things he has always been interested in and persisted in seem to be chess, painting, piano, and a violin.

He doesn't care about that. Isn't it nice to have new experiences in life? Why does it have to have a conclusion?

Ming Yunle took a photo as a souvenir and sent a copy to Ruan Yan.

Ruan Yan looked at it for a while and said, "Your photography skills seem to have improved."

This was not Ruan Yan's first time visiting Ming Yunle's house, but he usually just sat for a while and then left. This time, he stayed a little longer.

"Do you want to play badminton?" Ming Yunle saw that the weather outside was good and there was no wind.

"Let's go in the afternoon." Ruan Yan glanced at the time and said, "You haven't had lunch yet. If you want to play, wait until you have lunch to digest the food, and then go play badminton."

It would have been fine if it hadn't been mentioned. As soon as the thought of eating came up, Ming Yunle became hungry and asked the chef to prepare food.

Lunch was simple. After Ming Yunle finished eating, he found that the wind was blowing.

"It seems that the weather is not suitable for playing ball anymore." Ruan Yan saw that the wind was strong outside and said, "Let's wait until the afternoon to see if the wind will die down."

Ming Yunle and Ruan Yan stayed in the pavilion and played chess for a while, and Ruan Yan kept losing.

After losing another game, Ruan Yan said, "I remember you mentioned that you were good at chess."

"My parents love playing chess, so I often played with them when I was little, and gradually I started to like it too."

"Which ones do you play?"

"I know a little bit of each, but my favorite is the one that's playing right now."

The two of them played badminton from the afternoon until the evening, and the wind never stopped, so they never got to play badminton.

As the sun was about to set, Ruan Yan was about to leave. Before leaving, he reminded everyone: "Planting it is just the beginning."

"Of course, I go to see it every day."

Ruan Yan said: "If it sprouts, remember to take a photo and send it to me."

"I'll call you when the flowers bloom."

Before leaving, Ruan Yan didn't forget to ask, "Will you continue your morning run tomorrow?"

"Of course."

"I don't know how long you'll last."

"Maybe not every day, but when I go I'll tell you a day in advance."

*

It was a rainy day, so Ming Yunle and Ruan Yan neither went for a morning run nor met.

Ming Yunle found a book and started reading while talking on the phone with Ruan Yan.

They each do their own thing, but they are always there for each other.

About thirty minutes later, Ming Yunle closed the book and saw Ruan Yan putting a piece of the puzzle together.

"How many days have you been working on this puzzle?" Ming Yunle asked.

"Three days."

"You only managed this much in three days."

"I don't just stare at the puzzle from morning till night. I only work on it at this time, and only for a short while every day."

Ruan Yan yawned, lay down on the table, and ignored the puzzle next to him.

His hand stretched a little too far and the phone was knocked crooked by him.

"Wait a minute, let me see the puzzle." Ming Yunle had never seen the pattern of the puzzle before, and it looked a little familiar at this glance.

Ruan Yan sat up and pointed the camera of his mobile phone at the puzzle.

Ming Yunle said, “I put this puzzle together a few months ago!”

Ruan Yan was a little surprised: "Really?"

"Um."

Ruan Yan's curiosity was piqued: "How long did you fight for?"

“…I haven’t finished the puzzle yet. Now it’s covered with a piece of cloth and placed in some unknown corner.”

Ruan Yan: “…”

Ming Yunle was a little embarrassed: "This is not my hobby. I just saw it in the store and wanted to try it casually. It's not necessary for me to piece it together. Maybe one day when I pass by and see that piece of cloth, I will want to piece it together again."

This is indeed Ming Yunle's style.

Ming Yunle said: "It has been raining for the past few days. When I open the window, I can smell the smell of soil. I like this smell very much. It smells good."

Ruan Yan put another puzzle piece together and said, "A few days ago, he said he liked the smell of the sea breeze."

"I like all nice smells. I like the smell of you too, minty."

"I like to spray mint perfume." Ruan Yan put down a puzzle piece and said, "Didn't you give me a bottle a while ago? I spray it every day."

Ming Yunle said, "The rain will stop tomorrow. I'm going to meet you at the coffee shop."

"Okay, come on." Ruan Yan said, "I miss you so much."

"Why do you always say you miss me? Haven't we just not seen each other for a few days?"

"That's what I think too. I'm really expressing my feelings."

Ruan Yan put the puzzle completely aside. He rested his chin on the back of his hand and looked at Ming Yunle on the screen: "I really like you."

Although Ming Yunle is often confessed to by Ruan Yan, it still doesn't affect his ears turning red.

Ruan Yan continued, "I'll pick you up tomorrow, or at noon?"

"Um."

After hanging up the phone, Ming Yunle opened the window again and sat there staring outside in a daze.

Has Xia Chen not come recently?

Ming Yunle calculated how long it had been since Xia Chen came to his house, and he was quite surprised.

Although this time is not very long, considering the frequency with which Xia Chen comes to visit him, it is definitely a long time.

Ming Yunle had just thought of Xia Chen when Xia Chen called.

Ming Yunle looked at the caller ID and knew that as soon as he heard the call, he would appear.

There was nothing else Xia Chen wanted to talk about when he called, he just wanted to express his daily condolences.

The two chatted for a while as usual.

"I've been busy before, and it's been raining recently. It seems like I haven't been to the cafe for a long time."

Xia Chen began to share what he had done in the past few days. Basically, Xia Chen was talking on the other end of the phone and Ming Yunle was listening on this end.

Listening to Xia Chen talking about his situation on the phone, Xia Chen said before hanging up: "Cousin, you must miss me. I will come to see you in a few days."

Ming Yunle smiled and said, "You don't have to come. My aunt wants me to have dinner with her. I will go to your house for dinner the day after tomorrow."

"Then don't leave, let's go watch a movie."

"OK."

Even long after he hung up the phone, the smile in Ming Yunle's eyes did not disappear.

The next day at noon, Ruan Yan appeared at Ming Yunle's house on time. Ming Yunle was preparing to have lunch.

Ming Yunle waved at him and asked, "Have you eaten?"

"have eaten."

Ruan Yan waited for Ming Yunle in the living room for a while, waiting for Ming Yunle to finish eating.

In the coffee shop, Ming Yunle also saw the coffee shop owner and Mr. Zhao sitting together.

They were of similar age, had good conversation, and eventually became friends.

After seeing Ming Yunle, Mr. Zhao nodded at him.

Ming Yunle and Ruan Yan sat in their old place, drinking coffee and chatting.

Ming Yunle took a sip of coffee and said, "I can play the piano alright, but not as well as Xia Chen. He's a great piano player."

Ruan Yan remembered that he had seen Xia Chen talk about piano once, and it was indeed amazing.

"I've been painting these days, and sometimes I walk outside with an umbrella."

Ming Yunle said: "I prefer to sit in the pavilion, but the wind is a bit strong. I haven't been to the pavilion a few times I passed by recently because it's easy to get wet."

Ruan Yan thought of the pavilion at Mingyunle's house. It was indeed very comfortable to sit there.

Ming Yunle added, "I haven't been exercising much lately. Let's go for a morning run tomorrow when the weather is fine."

Ruan Yan: "Okay."

*

The flowers grew a little, Ming Yunle was very excited, and took several photos and sent them to Ruan Yan.

Of course he knew that the gardener had made great contributions, but that did not affect his happiness.

He looked at them curiously for a long time. After he finished planting the flowers, he felt that the novelty had worn off and it didn't seem to matter if he didn't plant them himself next year.

But after seeing this, he felt that it would be more interesting to grow it himself.

So he said to the gardener, "I will plant flowers on this land every year from now on."

The flowers picked by Ming Yunle were naturally his favorite, and he became even more excited when he thought of this.

"Are these the flowers you planted? They look very successful." Ming Yunyuan also came. When he saw that Ming Yunle's flower planting had yielded results, he praised him very enthusiastically.