CH 29.2

Chapter 29.2 – Performance and Flowers

In the next two days, Shi Yuan fell into confusion.

He felt that human feelings were too complicated.

If he were Cheng Youwen, he would still tell Qin Luoluo – he never hides what he likes, if he likes flowers, then he likes flowers, if he likes his head being touched, then he likes his head being touched, if he likes his human, then he likes his human, frank and clear, and anyone with a discerning eye can see it.

Cheng Youwen flinched because of his disability, while Shi Yuan never had low self-esteem because of his… species.

This was the difference!

Shi Yuan thought about it, trying to understand human beings, and felt that Cheng Youwen made little sense.

He also asked Xia Fang if he would say it straight if he had someone he liked.

Xia Fang was cleaning the vases in the theater, holding a half-dried rose in his hand, and said in surprise: “Why do you want to discuss relationship issues, having conflicts with your Lu Tingting?”

“No,” Shi Yuan said. “I was just thinking.”

“What’s there to think about?” Xia Fang asked. “It doesn’t matter whether there is true love or not, money is the most important thing. I have dated so many men and I have never been tempted once.”

Shi Yuan asked, “Why?”

Xia Fang replied: “Because I don’t believe that stories have a happy ending. Reality is not a script, nor is it a novel, so what if there is true love? We will all be killed by monsters.” He pointed at the roses. “You’ve also raised flowers. Like this rose, it will wither, so its beauty is meaningless; we will all die soon, so our struggle is also meaningless.”

He threw the rose into the trash can: “Carpe diem is the real thing. Shi Yuan, if I have your face, all the men in Gleaning City will be mine.”

This was something Shi Yuan had never seen before, he imagined it: “Wow, there are so many, will you guys mate together?”

Xia Fang: “……”

Xia Fang expressed the same emotion as Lu Bafang: “…Shi Yuan, you are still a bit scary.”

On the third day, when Shi Yuan got off work, he saw a familiar man at the entrance of the theater.

The man’s name was Duan Mu. He was someone Shi Yuan knew at the food distribution office, they exchanged contact information. At this time, Duan Mu was dressed in a casual suit, his hairstyle was carefully made, elegant and handsome.

“Hello,” Shi Yuan said. “What a coincidence.”

Duan Mu smiled and politely invited him to a nearby coffee shop.

Since acting, Shi Yuan has been shown kindness by all kinds of people: those who strike up a conversation, those who send him flowers, those who give love letters, those who ask about his contact information in the troupe… There were both men and women, but they didn’t know much about him, they were just fascinated by his face, and they were only interested in sleeping with him.

The appearance of the mutant was special, and it was inevitable to be scorned by some people. But it turned out that as long as it looked good enough, all rules and regulations would be ignored.

Shi Yuan was not interested. He just wanted to go home to find Lu Tinghan after getting off work. He didn’t have time to take care of them. He didn’t understand why so many people courted him – when he was in the wasteland, no monster had ever looked at him.

After all, he couldn’t spread his feathers to dance, he couldn’t chirp, collect shiny gems, and build nests.

He once thought he was ugly and couldn’t compete with others.

Perhaps human aesthetics were different.

Duan Mu was an acquaintance, so he should not be courting him.

Shi Yuan thought for a while, and followed him to the coffee shop.

They ordered two cups of hot mocha, full of aroma.

Duan Mu took the initiative to chat with him about himself.

He was a model.

He said that no one cares about fashion these days, but he just wants to be a model. It was really not easy to go from an unknown little model step by step to the present. He has recently been on the covers of two magazines and finally made it through.

He said that he likes watching stage plays very much, and the Wild Rose Troupe can surprise him every time. He felt that people who could stick to their dreams were amazing.

Shi Yuan listened carefully and said, “Thank you for telling me this. I didn’t know that modeling was like this before.”

“There are many interesting things.” Duan Mu was very happy, even his eyes lit up a bit. “If you are interested, I can tell you next time – when will you be free after that? Can I buy you another cup of coffee?”

Shi Yuan made an appointment with him and will come here again next Tuesday.

He stayed in the coffee shop for half an hour, and when he got home, Lu Tinghan was already reading a book on the sofa.

Shi Yuan nestled to his side and was satisfied to be touched.

Lu Tinghan asked, “How come you’re back late?”

“Someone invited me to drink coffee, purr.” Shi Yuan narrowed his eyes comfortably.

Lu Tinghan touched him with one hand and turned the pages of the book with the other: “Which one?”

“His name is Duan Mu and he is a model,” Shi Yuan said. “It’s the person I met at the distribution office.”

Lu Tinghan: “What did you talk about?”

Shi Yuan immediately told Lu Tinghan those interesting stories just like pouring beans.

He finally said, “He and I even made an appointment to meet again next Tuesday!”

Lu Tinghan turned another page of the book and said, “I just wanted to ask you if you want to go out for dinner next Tuesday.”

Shi Yuan’s eyes lit up: “Is it the noodle restaurant we ate at before?”

“Hmm.”

Lu Tinghan, a busy man, seldom took the initiative to ask for an invitation. Shi Yuan only hesitated for half a second before giving up on Duan Mu, saying, “Then I’d better go with you.”

He talked to Duan Mu, and Duan Mu said it didn’t matter, he had a lot of time, so he could make an appointment another day.

A few days later, Shi Yuan received a bouquet of flowers in the theater, red roses and lilies in full bloom, and the name on the business card was Duan Mu.

Next Tuesday, Lu Tinghan really took him out for dinner.

Eating beef noodles, Shi Yuan’s whole body felt warm, Lu Tinghan asked: “Did he ask you out again?”

“Yes.” Shi Yuan picked a chopstick of noodles. “Next Monday.”

Lu Tinghan put down his chopsticks and took a sip of tea: “Shi Yuan, have you forgotten something?”

Shi Yuan: “Huh? What did I forget?”

Lu Tinghan tapped the table with his fingertip: “You said that you will buy flowers with me next Monday.”

Shi Yuan: ?

He had no memory of it at all.

“Buying flowers with Lu Tinghan” was such an important matter, no matter what, he wouldn’t be able to about forget it, and he would think about it at least three times a day. He tried hard to remember for a long time, his tail was so tangled up that it curled up, but he still couldn’t remember when he promised it.

He said suspiciously: “I can’t remember, really? I won’t forget this kind of thing.”

“Of course,” Lu Tinghan’s tone was very sure. “Will I lie to you?”

Shi Yuan still felt something was wrong and observed Lu Tinghan’s expression.

Lu Tinghan was as calm as ever, with a relaxed expression, without a shred of uncertainty.

—Shi Yuan’s human observation project has been going on for so long, and he still hasn’t learned how to observe words and expressions, let alone find flaws from Lu Tinghan.

Shi Yuan said, “Well, maybe I forgot.”

So, confused, he turned down the invitation with Duan Mu again.

That day, he and Lu Tinghan went to the flower shop.

This was the largest flower shop in Gleaning City. Lu Tinghan had someone give an order in advance. The boss had already prepared the most beautiful flowers.

“After this business is done, I will quit.” The boss just finished moving a large pot of flowers, sweating profusely, holding a cattail leaf fan. “All my suppliers have left, and no one is growing flowers. Pick whatever you want, and I’ll give it to you at a cheaper price. I really didn’t expect that my last deal was with General Lu.”

For the next hour, the boss sat on a recliner and watched the two choose flowers.

He thought the general loved flowers, so he took the time to buy them, but when he looked at it, he felt something was wrong.

Lu Tinghan didn’t look at the flowers with much love, just like looking at the stones on the side of the road. On the contrary, Shi Yuan was very happy and kept picking out different flowers.

“Lu Tinghan, which one do you think looks good?” Shi Yuan asked, holding up two sunflowers.

Lu Tinghan: “The one on the left.”

“What about these two?”

“It’s still on the left.”

Shi Yuan wrapped his tail around the two flowers on the left, and started running around again, waving a large bunch of flowers with his tail.

“These are beautiful!” he said, “especially the sunflowers.”

Lu Tinghan said: “Then buy them all.”

“I’m too poor,” Shi Yuan said. “If you buy these flowers for me today, I won’t be able to pay them back for the rest of my life.”

Lu Tinghan: “Then owe it first and pay it back slowly later.”

Shi Yuan asked, “Do you think my salary will increase a lot?”

General Lu maintained a polite silence.

Shi Yuan struggled for a long time, but still failed to resist the flowers’ temptation and gave in.

When he liked something or someone, he couldn’t hide it no matter what—he went into the flower shop empty-handed, and when he came out, his arms were full of flowers, and his face was almost buried in the sunflowers.

There were so many flowers that Shi Yuan couldn’t hold them anymore, Lu Tinghan also walked down the street with a few bundles of flowers.

There used to be several shops on this street. After the Level I warning, a large area was blown into ruins. It had not been rebuilt for a long time, and maybe it would never be rebuilt. Soon, the largest flower shop would also be closed. Debris was everywhere, and not far away was a ruined wall, a gray area, only their flowers were bright and dazzling.

Shi Yuan talked about the troupe, and said that Duan Mu also gave him flowers before.

Lu Tinghan walked and said, “You have been invited so many times before, why did you say yes to him?”

“Because Duan Mu is my friend,” Shi Yuan explained. “He’s not like other people, others are courting me and rushing to mate with me.”

Lu Tinghan: “…”

General Lu was worthy of being a general, he just raised his eyebrows when he heard the astonishing words: “Shi Yuan, so is he.”

“Ah, is he?” Shi Yuan asked, “How do you know?”

“It’s obvious,” Lu Tinghan said.

Lu Tinghan was very smart, so Shi Yuan immediately believed him, and said: “Okay, then I will meet him next time and explain to him that I will not be with him.”

Lu Tinghan: “How are you going to tell him?”

“I’ll tell him I don’t like it, so I don’t like it,” Shi Yuan said. “If I like something, others will definitely see it.”

Lu Tinghan didn’t know what came to his mind, but he actually smiled, saying “Mmm” as an expression of agreement.

Shi Yuan thought about it for a while and felt uneasy, and then confirmed: “I have an appointment with him next time this Friday, can I go over? Are you okay that day? I haven’t forgotten anything, right?”

Lu Tinghan said, “Not this time.”

He glanced back at Shi Yuan.

Shi Yuan’s entire upper body was submerged by the flowers, and only a pair of sharp devil horns were exposed on the gorgeous bouquet. He moved very slowly, like a large group of flowers slowly moving forward.

His voice came from behind the group of flowers: “That’s good. But what a coincidence really, he asked me out twice, and it just so happens that both times we had something planned!”

Lu Tinghan said calmly, “Yes.”

The more Shi Yuan thought about it, the more incredible it became: “How could it be such a coincidence?”

“Yeah, how could it be such a coincidence?” Lu Tinghan said, and stretched out his hand to take half of the flowers in Shi Yuan’s arms. Shi Yuan’s face finally appeared, and his fair cheeks were surrounded by a circle of petals – now, he could finally see Lu Tinghan clearly again, and immediately curved his eyes with a smile.