CH 11

Chapter 11: You Are Really… Young and Promising

A string of question marks flitted past Ye Yuqing’s mind.

Praising me that my head is round? Is he saying that I have an empty head?

I won’t care anymore, I’ll just pretend that he is complimenting me!

[Okay, see you at ten then!]

After she replied, she was absolutely excited and went on a mad dash around the house several times.

The next morning, Ye Yuqing woke up with her alarm clock sounding off. She changed into the clothes she bought yesterday and tried the high-end makeup again. After another failure, she washed her face and went with her daily makeup instead.

——

Ye Yuqing was engrossed in deep thoughts about marriage, which guests should be invited etc. However, when the bus stopped, she was jolted back to realisation that it was all still a bit too little early to be mulling over.

Ye Yuqing took out her mirror, making sure that her makeup was ok, pressed tightly her bag to check her blank canvas, and got out of the bus. The bag also contained a meal to act as a mediator between them.

Standing in front of the villa, Ye Yuqing took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

Finally, I can go in this time! My efforts paid off!

Hearing the prompt tone, Li Che groggily walked to the entrance, looked up, and saw the face on the LCD screen.

As she stood at the door, the wind blew her hair up, swaying her red hairband.

“Who?” Li Che stared at that face, his voice didn’t fluctuate as he asked.

“Hello, this is Ye Yuqing.” Her nervousness evident.

“Ok?”

Ye Yuqing was stunned. Did the other party forget? Thus she promptly reminded him: “Well, we made an appointment yesterday. I agreed to help you plant trees!”

The house had a very large yard with lush plants; a landscaped pond with a lot of koi fish swimming around. Everything was beautiful from every angle.

The door was ajar, Ye Yuqing took off her shoes and went in, then she saw the man sitting on the sofa.

Li Che was wearing a long gray sleeved shirt with a slightly deep neckline. His shoulder blades were wide so he could wear such a loose style. His neckline seemed smooth, and his prominent Adam’s apple… looked very masculine.

Ye Yuqing put her things on the table and greeted him.

“Good morning, I brought the saplings along, when shall we start planting them trees, Mr. Li Che?”

Ye Yuqing had considered how to call the other party. Many people called him Jason, and only close friends called him Li Che. If she called him the latter, it would seem like the two were close to each other.

“No hurry.” Li Che replied calmly while looking at her.

“Have you had breakfast? If not, I brought snacks.”

Suddenly, Ye Yuqing was a little afraid to look at him. Now that they were alone like this, she felt that the other person was aggressive. It was different than their previous encounter.

“Aren’t you afraid?” Li Che suddenly asked.

Ye Yuqing’s heart skipped a beat. ” What should I be afraid of?”

“An investigation report shows that there has been a rise in the number of women getting violated and out of that more than 70% were acquaintances.”

His face was deadpan as he spoke, it created a strong sense of oppression, so it was difficult to see if he meant it or was just messing around.

“You won’t.” Ye Yuqing calmly replied and looked away. “If you want to rob me, I can give you what you want. If you want to rob something else, then you might be the one who would lose.”

Li Che: “——”

He was deliberately trying to scare her, but Ye Yuqing was really not afraid.

Do I have such a harmless face?

There were floor-to-ceiling windows on all four sides of the house, one side faced the garden and the other three the lake. The view was very beautiful. Ye Yuqing looked around for a while, thinking that this was a gem of a place and it must be very peaceful to live here.

“It’s so beautiful here, is this your friend’s house?”

Li Che hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“Oh… Is it the lady from last time?” Ye Yuqing cautiously asked again.

“No.”

Ye Yuqing breathed a sigh of relief and her expression visibly relaxed. “Oh, Your friend must not live here often, so you help him manage the house and take care of the trees?”

Li Che looked at her and nodded.

That’s right, his friend mortgaged the villa, plus dozens of acres nearby. The man himself was sentenced to three years in prison. Of course, it was another story that they were not friends anymore.

Ye Yuqing didn’t dig further and shifted the topic. “Then when shall we start planting trees?” she asked enthusiastically.

“I want to take some rest, you want to start first?”

“Ok, I’ll go ahead, you can join in later when you’re done resting.” When Ye Yuqing came in just now, she had spotted the gardening tools near the door.

She went out and picked them up and started straight away.

As she dug, her mind was filled with thoughts. Li Che’s appearance looks delicate and fragile. It shouldn’t be easy to plant trees and manage such a large garden. Why didn’t the homeowner hire a professional gardener? Is it because the tree planter is good-looking, then the tree he plants will also look good?

If one day she can afford such a big house, maybe she could understand how the rich think.

Ye Yuqing was amused by her own thoughts.

An hour later, she had dug a fourth pit yet the other party had yet to arrive.

Ye Yuqing raised her head and looked at the French windows on the second floor. The floor-to-ceiling windows were one-way glass, one could see clearly from the inside but from the outside, just a reflection of light was visible.

……

Since she couldn’t see anything, Ye Yuqing’s train of thought switched gears… Is it because his waist was not feeling good? If so, I will finish planting these trees! Maybe he will think that I’ve done good work and reward me…

Although she knew it was impossible, she was happy just thinking about it.

From the other side of the window, Li Che calmly looked out…

She can really plant the trees.

Few people in the city know how to plant trees, a group which is adept in planting trees even fewer. Professional gardening companies charged 500 bucks per day, which was more expensive than other small-time hands. She did it for free and also seemed very happy. He had saved five hundred bucks today.

After all the pits were dug, Ye Yuqing began to fill them with water. There was a hose for watering, so she didn’t need to use a bucket to carry water, which was much easier than digging a hole.

The sun was shining brightly, a small rainbow appeared as the water splashed. The sight of the little rainbow seemed to improve her mood further.

Aha! I’m so capable, even without his help I can finish this all alone!

Surely, he will be shocked and speechless later!

Ye Yuqing held her waist and happily hummed .

♪The tree~ the tree~

I planted you~

Hope you won’t be afraid of storms and grow up quickly.♪

Having hummed the tune twice, Ye Yuqing felt that this nursery rhyme wasn’t suitable. It felt like she was bringing her son to plant trees. She didn’t want such a handsome son, for the time being, she only wanted a handsome boyfriend.

She changed it to an adult version.

♪A boring life, I want to become a rich woman~

To support a handsome guy, feel happy everyday~

The handsome guy is getting old~ Then I’ll replace with another~

The rich lady is so happy~♪

—

Li Che walked to the window and saw that she had watered the entire garden. And the progress was quite fast. He thought such a job wasn’t worth just five hundred yuan but at least eight hundred. And since the attitude had been positive, it accorded another two hundred bringing the grand total to a full grand.

But what was she thinking? Chasing a man by helping plant trees with muddy hands?

Li Che contemplated, then turned around and walked downstairs. The sound of water and singing concealed his already soft footsteps.

There was enough water in the pit in front of her. Ye Yuqing wanted to move onto the next one, but when she turned around, she bumped into something.

Li Che was deliberately standing very close to the other party.

Ye Yuqing looked up to see who the other party was, screamed, and dropped the hose in her hand. When she was about to fall over, Li Che reached out and pulled her up by her back collar.

Ye Yuqiing’s mind was utterly addled. When did this guy come? Didn’t he have a bad waist that didn’t let him work? Why didn’t he make any sound when he came? He couldn’t have heard my singing, could he?

Just as she calmed her racing heart down, she heard a sigh above her head. Li Che carried the person, and stared at the smudge of red hairband in her black hair, and sighed again inaudibly.

“I underestimated you. You are really… young and promising.”