CH 50

“Who did this?” Ye Zhou picked up the leaves on the windowsill and said in disbelief, “They were still fine yesterday.”

“I heard a bird call this morning. It should’ve been a bird.” Shang Jin flipped through the flowerpot and there really were no flowers left for him.

Compared with Shang Jin’s flowerpot, Ye Zhou was suddenly relieved of his own pot’s experience. He’d lost a few leaves at most, while Shang Jin’s flowers had genuinely blossomed. Ye Zhou patted Shang Jin’s shoulder and sighed, “Your strawberry really met with many difficulties in life.”

“It was my negligence. I should have anticipated any possible danger that might arise.” Shang Jin picked up the fallen flower and walked to the bookshelf. He pulled out the dictionary and pressed the flower inside.

After class at noon, Shang Jin and Ye Zhou discussed making a simple fence net for the flower pots, and the two people ran off campus in their Shang Ye number.

Ye Zhou suggested, “How about using a wire mesh?”

“It’s okay…” But the wire mesh was relatively thin and also easily rusted. The plants were bound to go through wind and sun, and moreover, with it raining more now, the durability was a bit low. Shang Jin walked and walked and suddenly heard the bird’s cry. He turned and looked at where the bird cry came from and saw a parrot eating in a birdcage. “I know what to buy. We just need to spend a bit of money and we completely don’t need to do it ourselves.”

Half an hour later, Ye Zhou carried two around 30cm cages, while Shang Jin held a collapsible flower stand and they hustled into the dormitory building.

“The two of you are simply…” Wen Renxu said incredulously. The two people obviously had such good grades, but why was the brain circuit always different from ordinary people??

“What are you guys buying two cages for?” Even if Liu Yutian was playing games, he couldn’t attend to it. He came to take the cage from Ye Zhou’s hand. He had also heard about the bad news about the two pots of strawberries, but animals were animals after all. Could people reason with animals? “Even if you want to catch the bird, you have to know which one it is!”

Shang Jin was puzzled. “Who told you that we bought the cages to catch birds?”

Liu Yutian looked dumbfounded, “Or else?”

Ye Zhou said as a matter of course, “Of course, it’s for the strawberries.”

Liu Yutian was stunned. Shang Jin and Ye Zhou also didn’t mind him. They began to untie the triangular fastener of the birdcage chassis and set the cage aside. They picked up their strawberry seedlings from the windowsill and placed it in the chassis. The cage body was fixed back on again, and finally four ribbons were tied into a “井” character, fixing the pots in place. Afterwards, the collapsible flower stand was unfolded and fixed at the end of the corridor leaning against a wall. The unfolded flower rack wasn’t too big, and it wouldn’t hinder others from walking. Ye Zhou placed the bird cages on it.

Shang Jin patted the dust off his hands and said, “This was long overdue.”

They’d already attracted the attention of the people in the dorm next door not long after the two had come in. Zhou Wendao exclaimed, “Heyo, oh my good! You both really take these strawberries as pets? Look, one pot in one independent room, and also a high class community!” The height of the flower stand was ten centimeters shorter than the wall of the corridor. It wasn’t only good for basking in the sun, but even if there was a strong wind, one didn’t have to worry about the tragedy of falling.

“Otherwise, how can they be the test gods? Just see the difference in these plants!” Another classmate from the same floor also came to join in the fun. “Compared to the one I raise in the dorm, it’s plumper and it’s simply one in heaven, one on earth.”

“Did you buy these cages together again?”

The loud voice shouted twice, and almost all the classmates in the entire building came to watch. The owners of the birdcages were quickly squeezed out the encirclement that was incessantly buzzing. Within only one noon, the strawberries raised by them became the most popular on A Uni’s friends circle and BBS after the Shang Ye number.

LZ: Shocking! The Shang Ye home actually uses this to raise strawberries!

LZ: As a member of the Finance Department, I was fortunate enough to share the same dorm building with the legendary test gods. And even more fortunately, I still live on the same floor. At noon today, I was preparing to take a rest when I suddenly heard a loud shout outside, scaring me to kip-up and flip out of bed. Walking out of the dorm, I saw a circle of people surrounding the 405 doorway. At that time, I was excited and wanted to see the liveliness. I couldn’t wait to run over and leaning on the back of the classmate in front of me, I saw it…it’s said that they’re Shang Jin and Ye Zhou’s strawberries…I won’t talk about more gossip and directly put the photos【Image】【Image】【Image】

1L: I saw Shang Ye and rolled in!

2L: The latest development of Shang Ye!

3L: Landlord, you don’t need  to say shocking. We’d still come in when we see Shang Ye!

23L: They’re all plants, why is the gap so big!!

32L: My next reincarnation, I should become the test god’s strawberry so that he can put me in the palm of his hand and water me everyday~

38L: Thank you, test god, for opening the door to a new world to me! I was just worried about not knowing how to solve the problem of birds pecking my plants. In a moment, I’ll go on Taobao and order one.

41L: I was thinking…in the unlikely event that one day, there was a bee who flew to the flower of Shang Jin’s strawberry and then visited the flower of Ye Zhou’s strawberry, then the strawberry that grew out, wouldn’t that be the crystallization of the two test gods?? Judging from the present time, the strawberry would bear fruit just at the end of the term! So, can I reserve one in advance!

53L: I don’t think one is enough. I have three subjects that I’m not too sure on. Can I reserve three?

55L: Upstairs all step aside! I’m reserving all of them!

62L: Who would dare grab it from me! I need it the most! During the last semester, I couldn’t pass the exam even after praying to the Shang Ye number. This semester, I must have double insurance!

68L: Upstairs classmate, since the Shang Ye is useless to you, I reckon that this strawberry wouldn’t be useful to you, so don’t waste the quota. Why not give it to me!

Of course, Shang Jin and Ye Zhou didn’t know about all of this happening on the forum, but even if they knew, they wouldn’t really take them to sell.

Perhaps strawberry should bloom in this period. By the end of May, Ye Zhou used a pen refill to pass through the cage and moved apart the leaves before class. Unexpectedly, he saw quite a few flower buds. He quickly looked through Shang Jin’s strawberry and it also grew flower buds.

“Shang Jin!” Ye Zhou turned to Shang Jin, who was just closing the door and said, “They budded!”

“It’s a few days later than I expected,” Shang Jin wrote a few words in his notebook and said, “I’ll look at pest control method when I get back. This time, I can’t go away again.” It’s a pity that if something hadn’t gone wrong with those flowers, they would have likely began to bear fruit now. Now that there were flower buds, he estimated that they would flower in early June. The timing was a bit late.

Ye Zhou was completely immersed in the joy of the plants budding and said, “Really good. I’m guessing our two strawberries would bear fruit at almost the same time.”

Stepping into June, the strawberry flower buds finally completely unfolded. Not only that, but more buds were emerging from under the leaves.

Originally thinking that being on the fourth floor, there might not be bees and the like flying around, but they didn’t expect that after the two pots had a lot of flowers, they still attracted a few bees that shuttled back and forth between the two cages.

At the end of the school course, the final exam would officially begin in another two weeks.

On this evening, Shang Jin and Ye Zhou ate in the canteen and felt a hot line of sight on them.

Ye Zhou looked around and didn’t sense the difference. He leaned toward Shang Jin and whispered, “Do you feel that someone is looking at us?”

Shang Jin leisurely ate his food and nonchalantly said, “Felt it.”

“Then how come you’re not reacting at all?”

Shang Jin put down his chopsticks and said, “Why do I need to respond? If they have something, they’d naturally come over. Not coming over just means that it’s not important.”

“Makes sense.”

After finishing the last bite, Ye Zhou wiped his mouth and was about to take his bag up when a boy sitting across from them said, “These two gentlemen, please stay your step!!” (T/N: he’s speaking like he’s in a wuxia novel)

What era were these words from?

Ye Zhou didn’t let go of his hold on the backpack strap. “This brother, what can I do for you?” (T/N: Ye Zhou matching his way of speech…)

“I dare not, I dare not!” The boy waved his hand. “I’ve heard that elder brother Ye has cultivated a strawberry plant that may have flowered?”

Ye Zhou blinked and said, “Dare to ask brother, whence…”

Words not yet finished, Shang Jin suddenly put down  the cup in the middle of the table and said softly, “Speak properly.”

Ye Zhou embarrassingly said, “Buddy, where did you hear that?”

“Aiya, it’s spread all over school. I heard that the two of you planted them together?”

Although each took care of their own, but the strawberries were indeed placed together. Ye Zhou didn’t deny and said, “What’s up?”

“Then when the strawberry bears fruit, can you sell me one, just one!” The boy wrung his hands, “That strawberry has the great care of you two, and its fruit should be the crystallization of your love. If I eat it before the test, presumably there’d be no worries for the end of term.”

Shang Jin picked up his own drinking cup and tugged at Ye Zhou’s schoolbag, said, “It’s the crystallization of our love. Do you think it’s suitable for you to eat it?”

What crystallization of love?!

Ye Zhou awkwardly said, “Classmate, properly review to pass the final exams. Forget about these trivial things. Feudal superstition is unacceptable!”

That boy wanted to continue talking, but the two people didn’t give him another chance and hurriedly left the canteen.

“What is this all about…” Ye Zhou shook his head and questioned A Uni’s school ethos for the first time.

The two didn’t ride their car today and simply took a detour to the sports field. Passing by the girls’ dormitory, they found that it was noisy in front of the building. Ye Zhou looked at it curiously and Shang Jin said, “Let’s go see.”

Ye Zhou was just waiting for this sentence. The two men had a height advantage and, although they didn’t go to the center of the crowd, they still saw the scene in front.

Several boys were sitting in front of the girls’ dormitory arranging candles and putting a bouquet of roses next to them. No need to think about it: this was a confession scene.

Ye Zhou curled his lips and said, “This is too high-profile. In case a girl doesn’t like him, and he mustered a large force but ended in tragedy; both sides would be embarrassed.”

“What’s embarrassing about it? Does this kind of trivial matter need to be taken seriously??”

“I forgot you’re different from the average person.” Ye Zhou lost interest and pulled Shang Jin away from the scene. “If you ask me, he should choose a place without people to confess. It doesn’t have to be as eye-catching as holding a bouquet of roses. If the girl is really interested in him, he just needs to take two wildflowers and his confession would be successful.”

Shang Jin nodded thoughtfully. “So it’s like that.”