Eleven sunflowers
Because of this, Zhou Jun left in a huff, completely forgetting why he had come to find Xu Li.
Xu Li was the first to grab her bag and go downstairs, before Zhou Junchang got off work.
Xu Li stood in front of Zhou Junchang, looking at him with a half-smile, but the latter didn't even glance at her, focusing on doing his own thing.
Anyone with eyes can see that this person is angry.
Xu Li, however, saw through his act and didn't go along with him. Instead, she asked Zhou Junchang with a smile if he had any more wine.
Nobody paid any attention to her.
Several of the guys next to me were about to leave. They walked over to the bar, greeted Zhou Junchang, and also greeted Xu Li.
Normally, Zhou Junchang wouldn't respond, but today he probably wanted to let someone know he was angry, so he nodded and hummed in agreement.
Okay, that's obvious enough, isn't it? That should clearly show how angry I am.
Xu Li found it childish, pretending to admit defeat, and softened her tone: "Fine, then tell me what to change it to..."
"..."
That's enough.
"..."
Xu Li took a deep breath, almost giving up. She had never coaxed anyone like this before.
Zhou Jun packed his things, took the keys, and prepared to go home.
Xu Li stood still without moving. Zhou Junchang couldn't possibly lock Xu Li here alone, so Xu Li waited for Zhou Junchang to speak.
Sure enough, Zhou Jun looked up at Xu Li but didn't say anything. His eyes seemed to be telling Xu Li to come out quickly, and he also seemed a little impatient.
Xu Li stood inside the door, while Zhou Junchang stood outside. From Zhou Junchang's perspective, Xu Li's eyes reflected a dark light.
The light from the streetlights shone on Zhou Junchang's back, making his hair seem to glow; it was fluffy, soft, and gave him a somewhat lazy look.
Standing in the darkness, Xu Li suddenly felt a little confused, and then said, "Zhou Junchang, I'll take you somewhere."
Zhou Junchang was backlit and didn't speak. After a while, Xu Li saw Zhou Junchang nod.
It was already past midnight, and many shops had already closed. Walking side by side down the empty street, I felt relaxed.
Xu Li pointed to the closed shops on the street and asked, "It's so late, why are they all closed?"
"nonsense."
"Why did you follow me without even asking?"
Zhou Junchang's initial embarrassment had subsided by half, but then Xu Li provoked him even more, making Zhou Junchang feel even angrier than before.
"Where are we going?"
"Didn't I already tell you? It's too late, everything's closed now."
"Then why aren't you going back?"
"Um."
Despite saying that, neither of them stopped and continued walking along the street.
Xu Li asked with a smile, "I already said we were going back, why are you still coming with me?"
Is your house in this direction?
Xu Li stared at her toes and said with a smile, "No."
Zhou Junchang didn't say anything more.
...
The two walked into a small flower shop.
From the pitch black of night, it's impossible to tell that the shop is open. Even during the day, not everyone would notice it. The fact that Xu Li knows about it so late at night means he must be a regular customer.
Once inside the flower shop, I discovered that only the storefront was small; the display area inside was quite large, offering all kinds of flowers and divided into several different themes.
It's a flower shop, and it should theoretically be closed, but the shop is the owner's home, so it's open as long as the owner hasn't taken a break, so it's considered to be open 24 hours a day.
The shop owners were a middle-aged couple, but once inside, all I saw was the wife sitting in front of the sewing machine, head down, pedaling, seemingly sewing something.
The woman was wearing glasses, but she still couldn't see clearly. She squinted and carefully checked the threads. She only saw Xu Li when she heard a noise.
"Aunt Du, you haven't rested yet?"
A smile instantly appeared on the woman's face as she stood up to greet Xu Li: "Why are you coming now?"
"I just happened to be passing by after get off work and stopped by to take a look."
"You're getting off work so late? You need to take better care of yourself."
...
The two chatted for a long time, and Zhou Junchang listened from the side.
The woman noticed Zhou Junchang behind Xu Li and asked, "Who is this?"
Xu Li didn't know how to introduce Zhou Junchang, so she gave a straightforward answer: "Colleague."
Aunt Du looked somewhat disbelieving; when had Xu Li ever brought a boy here before? But she still nodded.
Xu Li quickly changed the subject, pointing to the sewing machine and asking, "Aunt Du, what were you sewing just now?"
Aunt Du's tone was somewhat disdainful, but the wrinkles around her eyes from smiling couldn't lie: "It's all because your uncle hasn't been paying attention when he's delivering flowers these past few days, and he's worn out all the clothes."
The couple had always lived a very frugal life, and now they had opened this flower shop together, with no other source of income.
Xu Li didn't see her uncle when she entered the room, and asked, "Where is Uncle?"
"I just mentioned that I was a little hungry, and he went to the kitchen to cook noodles for me." After saying that, he shouted towards the kitchen, "Xiao Li is here."
Xu Li waved her hand, intending to stop him: "It's alright, it's alright, let Uncle do his work."
But Uncle Du still heard it, and came out of the kitchen with his apron still around his waist, inviting Xu Li to sit down.
"Uncle, you go ahead and do your work. Aunt Du still wants to eat noodles, so I came to buy some flowers myself."
Uncle Du smiled and nodded, telling Xu Li not to be so polite.
Aunt Du: "Xiao Li, you've come to buy flowers? What do you need them for?"
Aunt Du was already skeptical, and if she were to say that the flowers were meant for Zhou Junchang, things would become even more complicated.
Xu Li shook her head, trying to cover it up, and said, "No, I'm just taking a look. You go ahead and do your work."
Seeing that Xu Li didn't need help, they didn't force her. Knowing that Xu Li had come many times before and knew what she wanted to do, Aunt Du followed her into the kitchen.
With only the two of them left in the room, Zhou Junchang finally spoke up, asking, "Why haven't I seen you buy any flowers?"
"I've bought it."
"I got to know Aunt Du and Uncle Du so well by buying flowers here."
Xu Li put her hands on her hips, her tone somewhat relieved: "We were lucky today. Normally, they might not even be open."
Zhou Jun tilted his head and asked, "Do you come here often? Are you familiar with this place?"
"I bought chrysanthemums."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Jun realized something was wrong, but by the time he realized it, it was too late. Then he heard Xu Li add something else.
"Bought for Xu Zhengbei."
A hint of moisture flashed in Xu Li's eyes. Although it was only for a moment, Zhou Junchang still caught it. Zhou Junchang felt a little sad, but he didn't know how to comfort her. If he did, it would seem a bit abrupt.
Xu Li pulled a yellowish-brown newspaper from beside the vase, roughly rolled it up, and handed it to Zhou Junchang: "Choose flowers, I'll give them to you."
Zhou Junchang doesn't understand flowers and has never bought any. He knows that many flowers have symbolic meanings, but he has no idea what those meanings are.
It doesn't really matter. Anything will do as a gift. He doesn't know anything about etiquette. But since it's a gift from Xu Li, Zhou Junchang thinks he should still consider it carefully.
This is the second time I've given him something.
Zhou Junchang stood still, gazing at Xu Li.
Xu Li walked to the rose section and looked at the various colors of roses.
Zhou Junchang also came along. Xu Li asked him why he came over too, saying he could just choose by himself.
Zhou Jun touched his chin, reluctantly but having to admit, "I don't understand, you do it."
Xu Li smiled without saying a word and lowered her head to start choosing flowers.
Xu Li asked, "What's your favorite color?"
"casual."
"You have to choose one."
"……red."
Xu Li picked up a champagne rose, put it down, and turned to look for a red rose.
Zhou Junchang quickly changed his mind upon seeing this: "This is also acceptable."
"real?"
"Um."
Then Xu Li picked up the champagne roses she had just put down.
The two walked slowly, and since Zhou Junchang didn't understand these things, Xu Li was the one who chose and matched the flowers the whole time.
Zhou Junchang didn't understand why Xu Li would bring him here, and then inexplicably want to give him flowers. Oh well, let her give them if she wants.
The sound of conversation came from the kitchen. Xu Li explained, "This is a flower shop that the two of them run together. Sometimes when someone places an order, Uncle will go to deliver it. Otherwise, the two of them will stay in the shop together."
Xu Li, holding the baby's breath, said, "Although Aunt Du's tone sounded disgusted when she spoke just now, I could still feel her inner joy. She is actually very happy."
After one trip, the flowers have been mostly selected.
One last main flower was needed, and finally, Xu Li's gaze settled on the sunflower.
The meaning of sunflowers flashed through her mind, and she asked Zhou Junchang, "Do you know what the meaning of sunflowers is?"
Xu Li knew that Zhou Junchang didn't understand these things, but she still asked him that question.
Xu Li slowly began to speak: "In Greek mythology, the water nymph Clytie loved the sun god Apollo, but received no response. So she turned into a sunflower and looked up at him every day, symbolizing a love that was unspoken but firm and profound."
"A flower can have many meanings, and this meaning is one of the meanings of the sunflower."
Xu Li counted out eleven sunflowers.
The sunflower is a straightforward expression of "you are my light," and eleven sunflowers represent "wholehearted devotion."
Strangely enough, out of all the sunflowers, this was the first one Xu Li thought of.
Xu Li started wrapping flowers. Although she hadn't learned it before, she had picked it up from frequent visits and observations.
At this moment, Aunt Du came out and asked Xu Li and Zhou Junchang if they wanted to have a bowl of noodles for a late-night snack.
Xu Li refused, saying that they would be leaving soon.
Aunt Du walked over and saw Xu Li wrapping flowers. She smiled without saying a word as she looked at the matching flowers, a strange emotion in her eyes.
The flowers were wrapped up in no time. They weren't very big; Xu Li held about a full arm's length of them, but they were a bit small on Zhou Junchang, who could only hold them with one hand.
Xu Li handed it to Zhou Junchang, letting him hold it in his arms.
It was getting late. Xu Li had only come to buy a bouquet of flowers. Now that she had bought them, she paid and was ready to leave.
Although Aunt Du kept telling Xu Li not to pay, Xu Li still secretly put the money under the vase when they weren't looking.
Aunt Du looked at the eleven sunflowers Zhou Junchang was holding and exchanged a knowing smile with Uncle Du, knowing better than to say anything.
Two people were walking down the street, heading home.
Zhou Jun often looked down at the flowers in his arms.
The petals are a bright pale yellow with slightly curled edges, like marks kissed by sunlight. Each flower faces the same direction. A few champagne roses are interspersed among the sunflowers. The petals are a pale creamy gold, wrapped in a half-open arc. Unlike the flamboyant red roses, the color is just right.
The bouquet was simply wrapped in dark khaki kraft paper, with the edges loosely tied with hemp rope. There were no extra decorations; all the flowers were simply bound inside—just like the person holding the flowers, whose heart was full of enthusiasm, but who only dared to hand them out in the most clumsy way.
When you get closer, you can smell the sunflower scent with the fresh grass of sunshine, mixed with the faint sweet fragrance of champagne rose, like a white shirt that has been dried in the sun on a summer afternoon, clean and reassuring.
Zhou Junchang turned to look at Xu Li. Zhou Junchang was more than a head taller than Xu Li, and they were standing side by side, so at this moment only the top of Xu Li's head could be seen.
Fine, for the sake of this bouquet of flowers tonight, I'll take her home.
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