Chapter 80 Storm

Qiao Jin found City Master Qiao in the study. He knocked on the door and pushed it open when he heard the person inside let him in.

Gu Jue was standing at the door but didn't follow him in.

Qiao Jin sat opposite City Master Qiao as soon as he entered.

"Dad, where did you get the white peonies in my yard?"

City Master Qiao raised his head from the desk.

"What's wrong?"

"One of them didn't grow much. Is it because of a different variety or wrong way of taking care of it?"

When Qiao Jin said this, City Master Qiao had some impression. He could see the three white peonies when he occasionally went to Qiao Jin's yard.

One of them did not grow much. It didn't even bloom for several years and was a little withered.

He thought that one was dead and wanted to pull it out and throw it away, but Qiao Jin refused to let him.

After several years of care, it finally bloomed again.

"It was found by the flower shop owner at the southernmost edge of the city. Go ask him."

City Lord Qiao tore off a piece of white paper and wrote a specific address for Qiao Jin, asking him to ask himself.

He had a lot of official duties, so he pushed Qiao Jin out.

Qiao Jin and Gu Jue left the City Lord's Mansion and went straight to Yinghua Tower. Qiao Jin ordered a table of dishes to bid farewell to Bai Heng and Yi Luo.

After ordering, they went to the flower shop.

The shop owner was a somewhat thin old man.

Seeing that there were guests, he put down the potted plant in his hand, wiped his hands on his clothes, and then came to Qiao Jin and Gu Jue to ask them what they wanted to buy.

Qiao Jin waved his hands.

"Old man, more than ten years ago, the City Lord's Mansion bought three white peonies from you. Do you remember?"

"I remember."

Of course he remembered. White peonies are very precious flowers. They bought three at a time, and the buyer was the City Lord's Mansion. Of course, it is impossible to forget such a thing.

But he didn't quite understand why someone would ask this question after more than ten years.

"Yes, is there any problem?"

"A little bit. There is one white peony that you sold to my father that is a little different. The other two are lush and flourishing, but this one is not. Is it a different variety?"

Qiao Jin frowned. He loved the one in the middle the most. Sometimes when he saw it, his thoughts would suddenly become a little different, as if he had feelings for that flower. He felt

a little disappointed for some reason.

Gu Jue didn't expect Qiao Jin to ask about flowers, so he immediately turned sideways, gently covered the lower half of his face with his hands, and his eyes fell on the other flowers in the flower shop.

The varieties are of course different, because the one in the middle is a peony, and as for the reason why it hasn't grown for so many years.

Yu Chi told him that it was because she gave Miss Li's magic pill to Qiao Jin, and she herself was gradually weakening, so her real body would not grow.

The old man's memory suddenly returned to the evening of that day twelve years ago.

The City Lord's Mansion wanted to buy white peonies and paid a lot of money for them because they were very rare and no one was selling them.

At that time, his wife was seriously ill at home and urgently needed money, so he took the job and expressed his willingness to look for it.

After three days of searching, he finally found two plants. He was planning to take them back, but he saw a calf-high flower growing under a big tree on the edge of the cliff. It had already grown very similar buds. It

was very similar to the one in his hand, so he brought it back.

Now that he thinks about it carefully, it does seem to be different.

But too much time has passed, and he can't remember what the flower looked like.

Qiao Jin gestured with his hands.

"The leaves are long and thin, and the tips of the leaves are not divided..."

The shopkeeper didn't quite understand what he said, so he swept his eyes across the shopkeeper's flowerbed and pointed to a pink flower leaf and said.

"This one is the same as the leaves of this pink peony."

The old man looked in the direction of his hand, and after seeing the pink peony he was talking about, he stroked his beard and smiled.

"Young Master, this is not a peony, this is a Chinese peony."

The old man stepped forward, took out the pot of peonies, and found another pot of peonies inside and put them together.

"These two just look very similar, they are not the same kind of flowers."

He explained to Qiao Jin the difference between peonies and peonies, and Qiao Jin benefited a lot. She didn't expect that peonies and peonies look so similar.

The boss said that this is a very normal thing.

If you are not an expert in raising flowers and plants, it is indeed easy to confuse peonies with peonies.

Later, he talked about the peony again. Since it was mixed in with the peonies, he should return the money to Qiao Jin.

Qiao Jin refused.

"Compared to the two white peonies, I like the peony more."

Qiao Jin and Gu Jue said goodbye to the old man and returned to Yinghua Tower. He was in deep thought on the way. He

spoke out loud as he thought.

"Yes, peony..."

Gu Jue asked him.

"What's wrong with peony?"

Qiao Jin looked at Gu Jue's calm face.

"You don't seem surprised at all?"

"Because I knew it a long time ago."

"You knew?"

Qiao Jin was a little skeptical. Gu Jue knew it a long time ago?

Gu Jue nodded calmly.

"Yes, both peonies and peonies have medicinal value. Yu Chi is a doctor, he saw it at a glance."

Qiao Jin's facial expression was a little chapped.

"Master Yuchi also knows?"

Seeing that he was a little excited, Gu Jue pursed his lips, blinked his eyes, and grinned twice.

"Actually, Feng Wuqing also knows."

Qiao Jin felt himself cracked.

"So I don't know?"

"Maybe?"

...

There were only four people present at lunch. Qiao Jin originally wanted to bring Jiang Li with him, but Jiang Li seemed to be busy. So

she didn't come with him.

When Qiao Jin was with friends, Jiang Li usually wouldn't follow. After all, there wouldn't be much to talk about if she went alone, and Qiao Jin would have to take care of her all the time.

Qiao Jin told Bai Heng and Yi Luo what had just happened.

Bai Heng laughed twice in embarrassment. Yi Luo's expression didn't change, but he and Gu Jue looked at each other secretly.

After all, there was one thing that they all knew but Qiao Jin didn't know.

They would chat while eating, without so many rules. After they finished eating, Yi Luo put down his chopsticks, suddenly changed the subject, and asked Qiao Jin a question.

"Have you found your little fairy?"

Qiao Jin paused, put down the chopsticks in his hand, and his eyes were a little absent-minded.

His facial expression suddenly softened, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly, even he himself did not notice.

"I think I found it."

Gu Jue: "???"

Bai Heng looked at Gu Jue, as if asking: Did you tell him?

Gu Jue shook his head hurriedly.

It was thanks to Qiao Jin that he did not notice their little movements.

On the way here just now, he was thinking that when the little fairy first appeared, she was wearing a white peony flower ornament on her head, but that might not be a white peony.

Because at that time, there was only one white flower blooming in his yard, which was the peony that was mistaken for a peony.

After the fairy disappeared, every time he saw the peony, he would feel upset and a sense of melancholy would rise from the bottom of his heart.

It was as if something was moving away, and he stretched out his hand but didn't catch it.

He sorted out everything in his mind, from meeting to separation.

The voice, appearance and smile of the fairy gradually became clear in his mind, and gradually turned into a person.

Maybe the answer was already in his heart, but he was slow and stupid enough to not see it clearly.

Qiao Qing might be right, he was indeed a fool.

At that moment, Qiao Jin's mind seemed like a maze with many connections, and in the end all led to the only exit.

When he got the answer, he was not particularly surprised, because that answer had appeared in his mind thousands of times, but he did not choose to believe it.

Why didn't he believe it?

If the little fairy was the peony.

Peony, also known as Atractylodes macrocephala, is also called Yurong, and can also be called...

"...Jiangli."

Qiao Jin has never been stupid. When he was in school, he was a smart student that the teacher liked very much. He could learn the sign language completely, understand it thoroughly, and memorize it in one month.

So when he learned that it was peony, these words surged in his mind, and finally the two words Jiangli suddenly hit his heart.

It was sour and bitter, like a storm. He seemed calm on the surface, but his heart was already turbulent.

After the storm, everything calmed down, and finally turned into a peaceful picture. It was the pear blossom in the white jade bottle on the table by Jiangli's window.

"Since you have thought it was her thousands of times, why don't you believe it's her?"

Yi Luo asked Qiao Jin. Qiao Jin closed her eyes and her voice was a little deep.

"Because of my cowardice."

"Cowardice?"

The other three people didn't quite understand why it was cowardice.

Qiao Jin fell back, leaned back in the chair, and covered his eyes with his hands.

"When I first met her, I thought Jiangli just couldn't speak, that's all. At that time, I thought she was a little fairy."

Last time he told Yu Chi and the others, why didn't he try Jiangli?

In fact, he had tried it a long time ago.

Many times.

He gave Jiangli snow pear cream.

He bought candy for Jiang Li.

He bought flowers for Jiang Li.

He also asked Jiang Li what the outside world was like.

The answer he got was what he wanted, but not what he wanted.

Jiang Li wrote it on a piece of paper and told him.

Snow pear paste is sweet.

Candy is delicious.

Flowers are beautiful.

The world outside is big and broad.

But Qiao Jin discovered a very sad fact from the details.

"She couldn't speak at first, and then as time went by, after gradually testing, I found that Jiang Li's sense of smell and taste also disappeared..."