CH 126

Chapter 126 The Garden

Shen Shuting was not angry and Jian Chi didn’t care anymore, he just wanted to leave quickly, the farther away from Shen Shuting, the better.

However, Shen Shuting would not fulfill Jian Chi’s wish at all.

“What are you doing here?”

Now it was him who asked the question.

Jian Chi said angrily: “If I want to come, what does it have to do with you? You are no longer the president, why should I tell you everything?” 

To be honest, Jian Chi didn’t dare to refute Shen Shuting before. Based on the hierarchy, he was also in awe of Shen Shuting’s identity. This instinct was like fear and respect for elders, teachers, and those who have a more prominent position in society, not to mention Shen Shuting held a lot of weaknesses of his.

Now that he had broken up with Ji Huaisi, he didn’t want to worry about these twists and turns. The most important point was that Jian Chi faintly realized that Shen Shuting’s threats only existed in words, and have never been implemented into action.

Shen Shuting’s eyes darkened, “Are you very concerned about this matter?”

“What do you mean?”

“Me resigning as president.” 

Just as Jian Chi was about to say ‘what does this have to do with me’, he heard Shen Shuting continued: “It’s a bit difficult to take office again. After all, there was no precedent in the past, but it’s not impossible. I need to send an email to the school first, if they think…”

“I didn’t mean that at all,” Jian Chi took a deep breath. He wanted to pry open Shen Shuting’s brain to see the structure inside. He gritted his teeth and replied, “I think it’s fine now.” He was afraid that if he said, “This has nothing to do with me”, Shen Shuting’s thinking would spread to other places. 

Shen Shuting looked a little disappointed.

He pulled the corner of his lips coldly.

“It seems that you are very satisfied with the new president.”

Very good, he went back to the original point.

Jian Chi felt that if he stayed with Shen Shuting, he would be driven mad, so he stepped back and suggested: “I still have something to do, you should not be so free, why don’t we all do something really meaningful, and not stand here chatting.”

“Meaningful?”

Jian Chi nodded in agreement.

Shen Shuting said: “I do have things to do, perfect, you can come with me.”

“Okay…what?” Jian Chi, who heard the second half of the sentence, stopped, but it was too late. Shen Shuting looked at him and two words appeared in his eyes – come here. Jian Chi said, “I mean we do our own thing…”

“You don’t want to have this jade back?”

Shen Shuting picked up a jade pendant tied with a black rope around his neck, and the distance was enough to make Jian Chi discern its shape, the one that Ji Huaisi had given him.

He paused.

Jian Chi originally thought about finding Shen Shuting to get the jade pendant back, but the accident at the dinner made Jian Chi forget the thought. Later, he deliberately kept the memory of Ji Huaisi in his heart and did not touch it. If Shen Shuting hadn’t suddenly mentioned it at this moment, Jian Chi would have almost forgotten about it.

He looked at the jade pendant hanging on Shen Shuting’s neck, and gave birth to a subtle apprehension.

Does Shen Shuting know that this was a couple necklace with Ji Huaisi?

“Have you been wearing it all the time?”

“Every day,” Shen Shuting said, “how would Ji Huaisi  feel if Ji Huaisi knew that you easily forgot his gift?”

There was no sarcasm or laughter in the question but it would not be a good word in Jian Chi’s opinion. Rubbing his eyebrows, his voice didn’t sound as dissatisfied as before: “Can you give it back to me?”

Unexpectedly, Shen Shuting said, “Yes.” Without waiting for Jian Chi to relax, he answered indifferently: “Come with me.”

Well, Jian Chi should have expected it.

If it was something similar to the down jacket from before, of course Jian Chi would not hesitate. This jade pendant was not only precious, but also had a special meaning to him and Ji Huaisi, although these meanings were no longer represented now, Jian Chi still hoped that him or Ji Huaisi could keep it.

Now it seems that Ji Huaisi was more suitable than him. But the premise was that this jade pendant is returned to Ji Huaisi by him, not Shen Shuting.

Otherwise, the water would become murkier.

Shen Shuting did not go to the dormitory or the library and simply skipped past the BC dormitory. The teaching building was getting farther and farther behind Jian Chi, until no one could be seen. Two paths of lush branches and leaves casted fragmentary shadows from the gap, and a fountain suddenly came into view. Memories flooded into Jian Chi’s mind, and he seemed to have an uncertain answer.

Going around the fountain to the depths, the familiar wrought iron gate in the garden caused a faint pain in the back of Jian Chi who had once fallen on it, but finally, he let go of his suspended heart.

It turned out that Shen Shuting wanted to kidnap him to do manual labor in the garden.

Thinking of this, Jian Chi had a strange feeling. It was here that he first had close contact with Shen Shuting, but at that time, the atmosphere between them was tense, or Shen Shuting was unilaterally hostile to him. Jian Chi still couldn’t figure it out. At that time, Shen Shuting’s disgust was all true, how did he change it?

Whether it was hate or liking a person, there was no essential difference in the way Shen Shuting expressed his emotions.

Now they can barely be regarded as hostile, but Shen Shuting’s words and actions were fundamentally two extremes. Jian Chi still preferred the old Shen Shuting who wanted to run ten meters away from him when he saw him.

“Be careful with your feet.”

Shen Shuting’s cold warning pulled back Jian Chi’s thoughts. While protecting the computer in his arms, he had to be careful not to step on his second five million. He issued a disclaimer in advance: “If you want me to help, don’t give me the too expensive varieties, I don’t know gardening at all, if I damage your plants, it’s me who will be unlucky.”

“Who said I wanted your help?”

Jian Chi was startled, “Then why did you bring me here?”

Shen Shuting stopped suddenly, but fortunately this time, Jian Chi followed very carefully, keeping a distance all the way, to fundamentally eliminate the possibility of collision. Seeing Jian Chi standing so far back, Shen Shuting frowned in displeasure, and his voice sank a few times lower.

“I didn’t think about it but you’re right. The tools are in the wooden house. Use them to trim these extra branches and leaves for me.”

Jian Chi felt that he had dug a big hole for himself.

Gardening tools were much heavier than Jian Chi thought. Although Shen Shuting asked him for help with a cold face just now, he took off his uniform jacket, rolled up his shirt sleeves to his elbows, and half-kneeled on the ground to handle the flowers, branches and leaves. At this time, he didn’t mention the matter of having Jian Chi get started, Jian Chi could only watch from the side. Shen Shuting’s profile showed an unprecedented serious and focused look, completely ignoring the mud on his knees. Pinching the stems of the flowers with his fair and slender fingers, the quiet scene had an indescribable beauty with his immersion.

Last time, it was a dark night, and the accident made Jian Chi not in the mood to look at the whole garden, and now he finally had a chance. When he found that the flowers in the garden were arranged by color, he was surprised but also had a sense of certainty. After all, the owner of the garden was Shen Shuting, having an even more terrifying obsessive-compulsive disorder would not be strange.

“This is…” Jian Chi stared at the rose in Shen Shuting’s hand, and after a long time, there was an indescribable familiarity.

“Kalda rose,” Shen Shuting said calmly, “the first time you came here, you destroyed a variety.”

Sure enough, there was a relationship. Jian Chi smiled awkwardly, calculating how long he would stay before Shen Shuting returned the jade pendant. He cleared his throat, and changed the subject: “Do you like these flowers and plants very much?” 

“I don’t.”

Shen Shuting, who played the cards not in routine, made Jian Chi speechless, “Then why are you so interested in them?”

Shen Shuting stopped the movements in his hands, and stroked the delicate petals with his fingers. The gentle movements were very different from his cold voice. “Do you have feelings for tools?”

Jian Chi didn’t quite understand.

Suddenly, a sentence that Ji Huaisi inadvertently mentioned a long time ago appeared in his ears. Without this private garden belonging to Shen Shuting for him to use up his excess energy and accumulate patience, Shen Shuting’s temper might be a hundred times worse than it is now.

This garden with a lot of expensive and rare flowers seemed to Shen Shuting just a place where he can temporarily escape from the outside world and be in his own territory.

Thanks to Shen Shuting’s superior appearance, at least at this moment, it was difficult for Jian Chi to see his aloof and cold attitude from Shen Shuting’s actions. Shen Shuting, who was silent and focused on his work, was unexpectedly not so annoying.

Jian Chi took out the fruit candy that Teacher Wang had given him earlier from his pocket, peeled one and put it in his mouth. The sweetness of the lemon made his chaotic brain wake up for a moment, expelling this strange thought.