Chapter 44: 043 Bai Ou, Who Lives Up to Her Name

After Fang Qingye finished writing his leave slip and his direct supervisor, Director Wu, signed it, Fang Qingye took the slip to Xia He for her signature.

Xia He naturally wouldn't refuse. She picked up her pen and with a few swift strokes signed her name on the leave slip, then asked with a smile, "Xiao Fang, where are you planning to go for your vacation?"

"It's so hot, I don't want to go anywhere. I'll just stay home."

"Oh... well that's fine too, don't forget about playing ball on Friday."

She remembers that so clearly.

Fang Qingye grumbled inwardly.

But playing ball with Xia He was pretty nice too—her skills were good, she was pretty, and playing with her was a feast for the eyes, unlike with that Du Juan, who was a real clam.

The next day, Fang Qingye began his vacation life.

He slept in until past ten in the morning, browsed the internet, played some games, took another nap at noon, read a bit, went out for a stroll in the evening, sometimes got together with Song Dahai and the others, or drove to the main channel of Jiaogang to go fishing. Life was very pleasant.

But this morning he didn't sleep in. He got up at nine, got dressed and washed up, then first had a bowl of tofu pudding and an egg pancake at the snack shop outside the neighborhood entrance, and then drove straight to the northeast of the county town—he was going to visit his grandparents.

His mother had given orders the night before: you're busy with work, and on your vacation you still don't go visit your grandparents? We spoiled you for nothing when you were little. So Fang Qingye decided to head over early this morning while the weather was still cool.

Grandpa Fang Guisheng's nursery was in the north of the city, not far from the Tongyang Canal. When Fang Qingye drove over, he saw a fence made of bamboo strips serving as a wall, with a simple wooden gate facing the road. Above it hung a plaque with four bold brushstroke characters: "Four Seasons Nursery."

The flamboyant calligraphy was his father's handwriting.

Fang Qingye parked the car at the gate and walked in. A yellow dog immediately came running over, wagging its head and tail at him—it was a local dog named Wangcai that his grandfather kept.

Fang Qingye affectionately rubbed the dog's head, and man and dog headed deeper into the nursery.

The nursery was fairly large. Although it was called a nursery, it actually focused mainly on indoor potted evergreen plants, such as dragon blood trees, money trees, peace trees, happiness trees, bamboo baskets of prosperity, fortune trees, and so on, which were mainly leased to government units and enterprises in the county town to provide indoor ornamental plants.

Nowadays, all units paid attention to their office environment, and it had become a trend to grow green potted plants in offices. But many people didn't know how to grow them, so the rental of potted plants had emerged to meet the demand.

This way, sitting in the office, you didn't have to take care of them yourself, yet could still enjoy different green plants—simple and effective.

Fang Guisheng's nursery mainly did this kind of business.

Of course there were also some flowers, like Chinese roses, camellias, purple-leaf plums, crabapples, and so on, as well as orchids. Fang Guisheng was crazy about orchids and grew many varieties: cymbidium, multi-flowered orchids, spring orchids, cold orchids, ink orchids, and so on, as well as precious varieties like ghost orchids and Su Guan He Ding.

Fang Guisheng had specially built a greenhouse for growing valuable orchids, but it was summer now so it wasn't needed for the time being.

Fang Qingye followed the path inside the nursery. When he passed the orchid growing area, he finally noticed a short-haired girl wearing a black T-shirt and denim shorts squatting in the flower field, her back to him, fussing with a pot of orchids.

"Bai Ou," Fang Qingye called out.

The girl heard someone calling her, stood up and turned around, smiling at him, her eyes crinkling into lovely crescent moons: "Ye Zi, how come you have time today? Here to visit your grandparents?"

"I'm on vacation. Are you on break too? When did you get back?" Fang Qingye asked.

"Yesterday. I had nothing to do today so I came by to have a look," Bai Ou said.

Fang Qingye knew Bai Ou liked orchids. When she was in middle school, she often came to his grandfather's nursery to play. Seeing the girl's little face flushed red from the sun, he said, "It's so hot and you don't even wear a straw hat—aren't you worried about getting tanned?"

"It's fine. You know I don't tan."

Indeed, Bai Ou lived up to her name. Unlike some girls who were skinny, her chopstick legs were quite plump, and her skin was very fair.

And she didn't tan easily. Even if the sun occasionally darkened her skin a bit, after a few days it would return to its previous fair whiteness, which made many girls who slathered on sunscreen desperately every summer very envious.

"Are my grandparents in?" Fang Qingye asked again.

"They're both here. Your grandma is in the house, your grandpa is potting," Bai Ou said.

Just then, Fang Qingye saw his grandfather, wearing a straw hat, riding a three-wheeler with a canopy, emerge from behind the house. He hurried forward to greet him.

"Grandpa, where are you going?"

"I'm taking some potted plants to the County Committee Office, then heading to the Organization Department to see if those flower pots need watering," his grandfather said, stopping the vehicle.

Sure enough, Fang Qingye saw the three-wheeler's cargo bed loaded full of flower pots.

"Where's Xiao Qiang? Why isn't he going?" Fang Qingye asked.

Xiao Qiang, whose full name was Zhang Xiaoqiang, was an employee his grandfather had hired to help manage the nursery, especially the transport of flowers and potted plants, which was mainly Zhang Xiaoqiang's job.

"Xiao Qiang had something going on at home and took a day off," his grandfather answered.

"I'll deliver them. It's so hot, you should rest," Fang Qingye said.

"Can you manage?"

"No problem, it's not like I haven't done it before," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"Alright then." His grandfather climbed down from the driver's seat, fished a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Fang Qingye: "This is the list of potted plants to deliver to each office at the County Committee Office. Don't deliver them to the wrong place! And bring back the old ones... Also, do you know who to look for?"

"I know—Director Chen at the County Committee Office," Fang Qingye glanced at it and answered casually.

Then he tucked it into his trouser pocket, took the straw hat his grandfather handed him, hopped onto the three-wheeler, and was about to drive off.

At that moment Bai Ou suddenly said, "Ye Zi, I'll come with you."

"Aren't you going to tend to the orchids?" Fang Qingye asked.

"I'm just playing around, I don't have anything to do anyway," the girl answered..

"Alright then, get on!"

The girl nimbly hopped onto the vehicle and sat in the passenger seat.

"Hold on tight! Here we go." Fang Qingye started the vehicle, and the three-wheeler let out a "putt-putt-putt" sound as it rolled forward.

"Xiao Ye, you two drive slowly, pay attention to safety!" His grandfather's voice came from behind.

"Don't worry, Grandpa, I'll keep an eye on him," Bai Ou answered loudly.

The County Committee and County Government were both in a building in the new district. Fang Qingye didn't drive the three-wheeler into the city, but headed west along the North Ring Road. The morning breeze blew through, and it didn't feel so hot—it felt quite cool and refreshing.

Bai Ou sat beside Fang Qingye, seemingly in a good mood, softly humming a song.

Writing poems for you, going still for you

Doing the impossible for you

Learning to play the piano and write lyrics for you

Losing my senses for you

Writing poems for you, going still for you

"Bai Ou, you seem very happy today," Fang Qingye said with a smile while driving.

"I have always been very happy," the Miss replied, then asked, "I saw a new car parked at the nursery entrance; did you buy it?"

"Yes, I made a sum from stock trading, and my father gave me some money, so I bought one; it's convenient for going out," Fang Qingye told the truth.

"Then let's go out when we have time!"

"No problem, invite Dahai and Liu Dong and the others."

"I heard Liu Dong was transferred to the Propaganda Department?" Bai Ou asked again.

"Yes, I estimate an eighty percent chance he'll stay." Fang Qingye told how Liu Dong often worked overtime in the Propaganda Department, writing articles late into the night, and even mentioned that he had him train at badminton just to serve as a sparring partner for the leaders.

Bai Ou giggled upon hearing this.

"I really didn't expect Liu Dong to change so much after only one year of work, but it's good; since he has entered a government agency, he must adapt to their operating rules. I estimate Liu Dong will become a leader in the future!"

"I agree with your point!" Fang Qingye said loudly, "This guy handles human relations very well; that is a huge advantage in the workplace."

"What about you? I heard Dahai say that your senior, the bank president, also highly values you," Bai Ou said with a playful smile on her face.

"Yes, I helped her solve several difficult problems," Fang Qingye said without reservation.

In front of his childhood friend, there was no need to pretend.

"Then you will become a leader in the future too?" Bai Ou asked again.

"I have no such thought, nor am I interested in that thing."

"Then what do you want?"

"To be free and at ease, living a leisurely life," Fang Qingye replied leisurely.

"That's good too... As the ancient poem says: White clouds come and go while green mountains remain; open your heart to the wine... Haha," the girl laughed happily.