Chapter 50 Part 1

Jiang Xun’s phone call completely shattered the atmosphere they had managed to build.

Miao Jiayan looked helplessly at Chen Chao's back. After waiting for a long time without Chen Chao turning around, Miao Jiayan had no choice but to move his small stool again. He got up, and putting on an act, first went to pour some water for Chen Guangda. On his way back, he took the opportunity to sit in the middle, right under Chen Chao's nose.

Chen Chao was lying on his side, playing with his phone with one hand. He no longer looked at him, nor did he play with his hair.

Miao Jiayan stood up to go out. Chen Chao asked, “Where are you going?”

“To get some water,” Miao Jiayan reflexively turned his head and answered immediately. “I forgot to bring my cup.”

Chen Chao tossed out an “en.” Miao Jiayan asked, “Want some watermelon juice?”

“No, don't bother making it, it's a hassle,” Chen Chao said.

Miao Jiayan nodded and was about to leave when Chen Guangda turned his head from the side, “I want some.”

Chen Chao looked at his dad with a raised eyebrow, “?”

“I tried yours the other day and it was pretty good, nice and cold,” Chen Guangda said with a grin. “Miao'er, can you make a glass for uncle?”

“Ah, okay,” Miao Jiayan said hurriedly.

“Don't make it for him,” Chen Chao said.

Miao Jiayan smiled and turned to leave.

“Didn't you say you didn't want any?” Chen Chao asked his dad after Miao Jiayan had left.

“It's sweet, better than the ones you buy outside,” Chen Guangda said.

Miao Jiayan was in the kitchen cutting watermelon. He chopped it into small pieces and threw them into the juicer. He also took a bag of ice from the freezer and tossed some in. The juicer buzzed to life. In his mind, Miao Jiayan replayed the moment Chen Chao had touched his hair and the words Chen Chao had said.

Actually, beneath Chen Chao's grumpy exterior was a gentle person. He had been like that since they were little.

He didn't get angry as easily as he let on. He would indulge others' little moods and would silently tolerate things in his own way. In the few times Miao Jiayan had been in a standoff with him, it was always Chen Chao who broke the silence first.

Brother Chao is much more magnanimous, Miao Jiayan thought to himself.

When Miao Jiayan came back carrying two glasses, someone had already come to see Chen Guangda. A man in his thirties was talking to him. Miao Jiayan placed both glasses next to them, came back empty-handed, and said to Chen Chao, “There's no more watermelon.”

Chen Chao was sitting up reading a book. Without looking up, he just said, “I don't care.”

He himself had said he didn't want any just now, but when Miao Jiayan gave his share away, he was unhappy. Miao Jiayan tentatively asked, “How about orange juice? The oranges are really sweet too.”

Chen Chao flipped a page of his book and said flatly, “I don't like orange juice.”

Miao Jiayan had to be mindful of the people over there, so he moved closer to Chen Chao and whispered, “But there's no watermelon left... Do you want some water?”

“They get to drink something sweet and I have to drink water,” Chen Chao glanced up at him. “Why do I have to be so aggrieved?”

He was clearly teasing the little fool, but the little fool didn't get it and asked innocently, “Then what should I do?”

Chen Chao just said, “I don't know. I don't care.”

Miao Jiayan was slow to react in these situations, a simple-minded soul. He was about to go out and borrow a watermelon from some auntie's house when Chen Chao called him back, “Come back.”

“Hm?” Miao Jiayan turned his head.

Chen Chao finally smiled, pointing his chin towards his own bed, “Just sit down and relax.”

Seeing him smile, Miao Jiayan knew Chen Chao was teasing him. He smiled too and said, “I thought you were really angry.”

“Do I get angry that often?” Chen Chao raised his eyebrows. “Am I that idle?”

“No, no,” Miao Jiayan smiled and asked, “So, do you want some orange juice?”

Chen Chao said, “No, stop fussing. Just stay put.”

Miao Jiayan wasn't sure if it was his imagination or if he was overthinking it, but it seemed that ever since this little, not-quite-a-spat spat of theirs, Chen Chao seemed to talk more than before. This talkativeness was reflected in his conversations with Miao Jiayan. He didn't seem as sullen as before, and he seemed... more clingy.

When Miao Jiayan came over in the morning, Chen Chao was already awake, looking at him with his eyes open.

Miao Jiayan smiled at him. Chen Chao cleared his throat and beckoned him over.

“What's wrong?” Miao Jiayan walked over and asked.

Chen Chao asked, “What time is it?”

Miao Jiayan checked his phone and said, “8:17.”

“Just woke up?” Chen Chao asked.

Miao Jiayan paused for a moment, then ran a hand through his own hanging hair and said, “I washed my hair.”

Chen Chao didn't say anything else. Miao Jiayan stayed with him for a while, then asked, “I'm leaving now, Brother Chao?”

“Where are you going?” Chen Chao asked.

“I'm going to the flower shed to check, my flowers are almost ready to be sold,” Miao Jiayan said in a small voice.

Chen Chao looked down and said, “Go on.”

The first batch of Miao Jiayan's two hundred-plus mu of roses had matured. Sister Fangfang was worried he couldn't sell them and said that if he couldn't move them in the end, she would clear them out during one of her promotional events. Sister Fangfang told him to do a livestream in the next few days and get some real work done.

Miao Jiayan wasn't really in the mood to do a livestream. All his thoughts these days were focused elsewhere.

“Are you in a relationship?” Sister Fangfang asked him on the phone.

Miao Jiayan quickly denied it, “No.”

“If not, then what are you doing? I can never find you, and you're not doing any real work?” Sister Fangfang asked suspiciously, then added, “If you're in a relationship, tell your big sis.”

“I'm really not,” Miao Jiayan said, squatting on the ground in self-deprecation. “Who would date me?”

The kid was already twenty, so it was about time for him to be in a relationship. Sister Fangfang didn't forbid him from dating; she used to worry he'd get scammed, but she didn't manage him so strictly anymore.

“If you're not dating, then hurry up and livestream. You can't have neither love nor money, so go make some good money,” Sister Fangfang said coolly and objectively.

“Oh, okay,” Miao Jiayan agreed. “Do you have anything you want to sell? I can sell it together?”

“I don't, I'm out of stock. Just sell your own stuff,” Sister Fangfang had just woken up, a face mask still on her face. “Don't sell too much. You haven't shipped orders before, so start with two hundred bouquets to get a feel for it. It'll be easier to handle if any issues come up.”

“Okay,” Miao Jiayan touched a small bud that was about to bloom, “Got it.”

Doing a livestream to sell two hundred bouquets sounded like a joke. At first, his fans thought it was some kind of trick, that the two hundred would keep getting increased to two thousand. But to their surprise, Miao Jiayan really only sold two hundred bouquets. Once they were sold out, that was it, he never added more.

He had seriously posted on Weibo that he was going to sell flowers, and it was over in less than ten seconds.

—Honey, please add some more! There will be refunds from that first two hundred.

—Add add add add, buy buy buy buy.