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Chapter 28
The number of potted plants ordered by Brother Han was quite large. Apart from some small ones placed on desks and windowsills, there were also some to be placed in corridors and corners of the office. In the latter case, Lu Lingxi helped Brother Han pick out more than thirty large-leaved golden pothos and money trees. These plants were not usually placed in the shop because they took up too much space, so if necessary, you had to go to the plant nursery to prepare them.
Lu Lingxi planned to go to the plant nursery after the shop closed and change the pots to clay ones in advance. All the green plants in Tiny Garden also needed to be repotted to clay pots.
After carefully keeping the accounts, Lu Lingxi found a merry apron that Du Lin had prepared for him earlier and put it on. He was wearing shorts today, and the apron hung down just over the edge of his shorts. From the front, it looked like the young man was wearing nothing but the apron, which was quite an unexpected match with the silly sheep printed on it. A smile flashed in Yan Yue’s eyes as he asked, “What are you going to do?”
Lu Lingxi took out several clay pots from under the cashier’s desk and pointed at them, explaining, “The green plants that Brother Han ordered need uniform clay pots, and the pots need to be changed before delivery.”
The green plants in Tiny Garden were all in plastic pots, except for a few begonias in full bloom in porcelain pots.
As plastic pots were cheap, they were usually given away for free as add-ons when customers bought something. However, most customers didn’t like plastic pots and would buy other pots specifically, which was another major source of income for Tiny Garden, apart from the plants. In the list of Brother Han, over a hundred clay pots cost a lot of money.
After Lu Lingxi finished speaking, he was about to move the chlorophytum hanging above his head. Yan Yue stopped him in time, “I’ll do it.”
Lu Lingxi blinked, compared their heights and obediently moved out of the way. Tiny Garden was small in size and Du Lin had thought of a number of ways to make reasonable use of the space, and the plants hanging from the ceiling was one of them. Many hanging and climbing plants were suspended overhead.
Lu Lingxi usually needed to step on a small stool for watering and caring for them, but Yan Yue only needed to stand on tiptoe and stretch out his hands to easily pick the chlorophytum that was out of his reach.
“What else do you need?” Yan Yue followed Lu Lingxi’s command and placed the chlorophytum in the corner, looking at Lu Lingxi with a faint smile.
Lu Lingxi looked at his height with some envy and pointed out a few more potted plants, all of which needed to be taken down and repotted.
Yan Yue rolled up his sleeves and was about to go get them, “Wait a minute.” Lu Lingxi suddenly thought of something and stopped him.
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Yan Yue was a bit confused, but Lu Lingxi had already turned around, found another apron behind the cashier’s desk and handed it to him. Generally, in order not to get dirty in the shop, everyone needed to wear an apron. Yan Yue in his shirt and pants looked like a well-dressed elite, which really didn’t suit working in a gardening shop, so Lu Lingxi thought it would be better to give Yan Yue an apron.
Yan Yue looked at the grey wolf apron handed to him and chuckled, raising his eyebrows slightly, “I wear it?”
Lu Lingxi also felt that this apron didn’t suit Yan Yue, but there was nothing else that would fit, so he had to smile shyly and explain, “It won’t be good to get your clothes dirty.”
The young man’s eyes were shining brightly as he looked at Yan Yue, his eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings, the dimples appearing at the corners of his mouth. Yan Yue now finally understood what a “beauty trap” meant. At this time, let alone wearing this funny apron in front of the boy, he was willing to walk on the street in it.
Yan Yue quickly picked it up, took the thin strap of the apron and put it around his neck, then turned around and stood in front of Lu Lingxi, casually saying, “Xiao Xi, help me tie the belt at the back.”
“En.” Lu Lingxi didn’t think anything of it and naturally reached out from Yan Yue’s back to the front and pulled the apron’s ties. For a moment, Yan Yue felt as if the young man was hugging him, and despite the thin layer of his shirt, the heat of skin-to-skin contact still made him shiver uncontrollably. The feeling was so wonderful that Yan Yue felt his mind go blank for a moment; his heart seemed to stop and a strong current of electricity raced through his body. He could barely control himself not to turn around to hold the young man in his arms.
Lu Lingxi tied the straps and took a step back, saying softly, “There.”
Yan Yue turned around, nearly breathless, and with difficulty squeezed out a smile towards Lu Lingxi as if nothing had happened. Before he met Lu Lingxi, he had never known that a hug that wasn’t really a hug would affect him so much. Lu Lingxi had clearly stepped away, but instead of subsiding, the searing heat from Yan Yue’s back seemed to be spreading throughout his body. Yan Yue remembered the touch he had longed for when he saw Lu Lingxi for the first time and the way he couldn’t resist getting closer to the boy again and again. This dark craving seemed to have reached its peak at this moment. The contact with Lu Lingxi was like an opium poppy; having tasted the sweetness once, he couldn’t help but want more.
“Big Brother Yan, take the gloves.” Lu Lingxi, unaware of Yan Yue’s reaction, bent down and found another pair of gloves for him.
Yan Yue took a deep breath, reined in his reverie and said in as steady a tone as possible, “Okay.”
With Yan Yue’s help, the green plants that needed to be repotted were quickly taken down. Lu Lingxi carefully piled them up in the corner, then vacated a nearby spot, laid a large plastic sheet on the floor and moved a small stool to sit.
Changing the pots of green plants required extra care. If you didn’t pay attention, you might break the root system of the plant stuck in the soil. With the help of the panel, Lu Lingxi didn’t have to worry about this. He carefully held a pot of chlorophytum and his mental scan showed the distribution of the plant’s root system clearly. Avoiding the root system, Lu Lingxi took a small shovel and inserted it along the edge of the pot to loosen the soil, then carefully supported chlorophytum to turn the plastic pot upside down and tapped on the bottom of it.
When Lu Lingxi was doing this, he looked very serious and his eyes were fixed intently on the pot in his hands, as if he was dealing with a living object. Yan Yue was so absorbed in watching that he dragged another small stool to sit beside Lu Lingxi. The stool was a little short and it was not comfortable for him to sit with his long legs, but the boy’s serious attitude overcame this discomfort. After the chlorophytum fell out of the plastic pot, Yan Yue handed over a clay pot right in time.
Lu Lingxi was taken aback for a moment, and then looked up and smiled at Yan Yue. After repotting the chlorophytum in his hands, he patted the soil off his gloves and said to Yan Yue, “Big Brother Yan, if you feel bored, you can go wander around or take Dahei to find Brother Dong across the street, don’t mind me.”
Dahei, who was lying quietly next to Lu Lingxi’s leg, heard his name and gave a low bark, his furry head rubbing against Lu Lingxi’s calf, as if he was unhappy that Lu Lingxi was kicking him out.
Lu Lingxi patted Dahei’s head affectionately and smiled slightly.
Yan Yue’s eyes were hot; he shook his head and said seriously, “You tell me what to do, I’ll do it with you.”
Lu Lingxi curved his eyes, “Okay.” To his surprise, Yan Yue was very clever and learned how to do it almost immediately, and did everything very well. He looked at Yan Yue in amazement, “Big Brother Yan, you’re really good!”
The astonishment and admiration in the young man’s eyes was undisguised, and Yan Yue couldn’t help but feel a certain subtle sense of satisfaction. Since when did he feel proud of himself for being able to change the pot of a chlorophytum without any problems? Driven by the subtle sense of satisfaction of being watched by the young man, Yan Yue worked harder and harder.
The two of them worked together and the process of changing the pots went a little faster, but even so they worked until 7 o’clock when Tiny Garden closed. Lu Lingxi made a phone call to Wang Shuxiu, saying he had to go to the plant nursery in the suburbs. Wang Shuxiu took hold of Lu Lingxi on the phone and asked for a long time.
“Going alone? How long will it take? What if you can’t get a taxi when going back at night?”
Lu Lingxi patiently explained to Wang Shuxiu that he was not going alone but together with Yan Yue. As for going back at night, Yan Yue had a car, so it wasn’t a problem. Lu Lingxi was originally going to ask Yi Hang to go with him, but when he had mentioned it in the afternoon, Yan Yue said that he would go. Tiny Garden was his and Lu Lingxi’s business, so why bother someone else?
Lu Lingxi thought about it and agreed, although Yi Hang was not someone else, but a part-time worker he had hired. Because the plant nursery was in the suburbs, Lu Lingxi needed to visit it from time to time and needed a car to bring the plants from the nursery to the shop or to make deliveries like this one. The last time Lu Lingxi went to deliver tomatoes to Yi Hang, they agreed that he would look for Yi Hang when he needed a car. Every time he used the car, Yi Hang would write it down and they would settle the money at the end of the month. Yan Yue also knew about it but since he insisted on going this time, it also saved Lu Lingxi the trouble of looking for Yi Hang. Moreover, the two of them had to change the pots of the plants, and Yan Yue was at least a skilled hand, much more useful than Yi Hang.
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Before going to the plant nursery, the two of them had to find a place to eat.
“I’m not familiar with the area, what do you want to eat, Xiao Xi?” Yan Yue asked.
Lu Lingxi hesitantly glanced around and said with a slightly shy expression, “Big Brother Yan, do you eat beef noodles? I’ll treat you to noodles.”
This street of Tiny Garden was close to some old districts, and the surroundings were basically full of small restaurants, so there were no particularly decent places to eat. It didn’t matter to Lu Lingxi himself but he was worried that Yan Yue wouldn’t be used to it, so he thought of beef noodles. There was a beef noodle shop at the back of the street. Despite the inconspicuous facade, the noodles were particularly good. Especially the stewed beef was so soft that it melted in your mouth.
Yan Yue was not picky when it came to food. He wanted to say that he would buy the meal, but looking at the young man’s expectant eyes, he didn’t say anything and just nodded.
As soon as the two of them walked in, the old lady selling the noodles greeted Lu Lingxi with a smile, “Xiao Xi is here to eat noodles?”
Lu Lingxi gave a shy smile and nodded, pulling Yan Yue to sit down.
“Two bowls of beef noodles?” The older lady asked Lu Lingxi.
Lu Lingxi said “en” and added, “A small extra bowl of beef.”
A bowl of beef noodles in the shop was ten yuan and there were noodles and meat; but some customers liked the taste of beef, so an extra bowl of beef was twenty.
Two bowls of beef noodles were quickly brought up; the hot noodles were dotted with a few pieces of beef and green onions were evenly sprinkled in a circle, emitting a faint fragrance. Lu Lingxi pushed a small bowl of beef that had been added separately towards Yan Yue. “Big Brother Yan, add it to the noodles, it’s really extra delicious.”
The young man looked at him seriously, as if he was afraid Yan Yue wouldn’t believe him. Yan Yue’s heart instantly melted into a puddle of water, the corners of his mouth slightly hooked up, “Let’s eat together.”
The two of them finished their noodles and got some food for Dahei nearby, looked at the time, saw that it was getting late and drove directly to the plant nursery without further delay. It took only forty minutes to get out of the city, and by the time they got to the plant nursery, it was already past eight o’clock.
Lu Lingxi made a phone call to Uncle Li halfway and told him that they were coming over. He was afraid that if Uncle Li heard the commotion, he would be worried thinking it was a thief. Unexpectedly, when they arrived, they found that Uncle Li was waiting for them in the plant nursery and even prepared the clay pots they needed and cleaned them all carefully.
Lu Lingxi was a bit embarrassed, feeling that he was bothering Uncle Li at this late hour.
Uncle Li smiled sincerely, “Linzi wouldn’t get here until this time, she had to wait to get off work to come here. I’m used to it. Don’t worry, child, there is nothing to do in the village at night, I’m just looking for something to pass the time.”
Lu Lingxi curved his eyes and thanked Uncle Li politely.
Skipping the previous steps, they got busy starting to change the pots. Golden pothos and money trees cultivated in Tiny Garden were growing well, each reaching a man’s waist. Coupled with the soil wrapped around the roots, it was impossible for one person to lift them, so two people had to work together to change the pots smoothly.
Until now Lu Lingxi thought it would be simple, similar to changing the pots of small plants, and that he would be able to finish it in two hours and be home by eleven o’clock. Only when he started doing it did he realise it wasn’t that easy at all. Even though both he and Yan Yue knew the steps, they were still fumbling around and making mistakes.
When they finished changing half of the pots, Lu Lingxi was so tired that he found a rock and sat down, wiping his sweat as he said to Yan Yue, “Big Brother Yan, let’s take a break.”
Yan Yue’s physical strength was much better than Lu Lingxi’s, so he wasn’t too tired, but he was a bit distressed to see Lu Lingxi like this. “Let’s continue tomorrow,” Yan Yue suggested.
Lu Lingxi thought about it and shook his head, “Forget it, let’s finish it all since we’re here today. It’ll just be a bit too late.”
It was almost eleven o’clock now, and Uncle Li had been persuaded by Lu Lingxi to go back to rest. It would be early in the morning when all the pots were changed, and Lu Lingxi was hesitant to rush back to the city. The small farmhouse was quite complete, so there was no problem with living there. Du Lin had stayed here occasionally for a night back then. She showed Lu Lingxi everything when she handed over this place. The things in the house were quite new and Du Lin didn’t take any of them with her, leaving them all to Lu Lingxi.
At the sight of Lu Lingxi’s hesitation, Yan Yue’s eyes darkened and he said in as calm a tone as possible, “If it’s too late, we can just stay here for the night.”
Lu Lingxi thought about it and agreed.
The two of them rested for a while and finished changing all the flower pots. After a simple wash, Lu Lingxi found a clean sheet inside the cupboard to make the bed. As Du Lin had only lived there once in a while, only one room that could accommodate people was cleaned up and the rest was filled with miscellaneous things.
Yan Yue’s heart was pounding. Even though he knew it was just sleeping, he couldn’t suppress the clamouring desire in his heart at the thought of the boy lying beside him. After washing his face with cold water, Yan Yue pushed open the door as calmly as he could, thinking of all sorts of scenarios but forgetting the existence of Dahei.
On one side of the kang bed, the young man sat with a light smile, while Dahei grinned widely lying in the middle, separating him from the young man.
Yan Yue: “……”
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