CHAPTER 215: CHAPTER 207 HEATHER

After recounting the earlier incident to Li Yanan, Lin Zhenxin looked down at the flower, feeling a bit disoriented.

"Heather."

Suddenly, Li Yanan’s voice reached her ears.

"What?" She had been a little distracted earlier and didn’t catch it.

"I said, the flower in your hand is Heather."

After Li Yanan repeated himself, Lin Zhenxin finally realized that the flower she was holding was Heather.

"It’s rare for someone to use this flower to visit the deceased."

Li Yanan reached out and tucked a strand of Lin Zhenxin’s hair behind her ear, revealing her clean little face.

"Why?" Lin Zhenxin asked in confusion.

"The flower’s symbolism is not good," Li Yanan replied.

Lin Zhenxin naturally knew that everything had two sides. There were flowers with good symbolism and those with bad symbolism.

"What is the symbolism of Heather?"

Asked this way by Li Yanan, she suddenly became curious.

Li Yanan’s eyes deepened, and it was unclear how long had passed; he just reached out and ruffled the top of her head.

But he didn’t answer again.

Tu Haohao, like a wandering soul, had the driver drive back and forth along the streets of J City.

No one knew how much time had passed when she saw a flower shop and had the driver park by the roadside.

She silently walked around and finally fixed her gaze on a bucket of flowers in the corner.

"Hello, are they for a gift or personal use?" The shop owner, a girl in her twenties, walked over with a smile.

"What kind of flower is this?" Tu Haohao asked instead of answering.

"Heather," the owner replied with a smile.

"Wrap a bouquet for me, it’s a gift." After a brief silence, Tu Haohao said.

Hearing that Tu Haohao said it was a gift, the shop owner’s expression showed some hesitation.

"If it’s a gift, I don’t really recommend this type of flower because... the symbolism isn’t great."

"How so?" Tu Haohao looked up at the shop owner.

"The symbolism of Heather is loneliness and betrayal."

"Ninety-nine percent of the flower shops in J City don’t stock this flower. I only got it because it looks nice in arrangements."

The symbolism of Heather...

Loneliness and betrayal, is it?

"Please wrap a bouquet for me," Tu Haohao insisted.

The shop owner wanted to say more, but seeing her expression, she finally picked a few of the best-blooming ones from the bucket and wrapped them.

But she couldn’t help muttering to herself.

In the morning, a noble-looking woman also came here to pick flowers.

So many beautiful flowers with excellent symbolism she didn’t want. After hearing the symbolism, she also chose Heather.

The shop owner couldn’t help but shake her head.

People these days...

When Lin Zhenxin went home with Li Yanan, Aunt Xu was making dumplings with shepherd’s purse filling.

The shepherd’s purse was picked in the spring, blanched with water, and frozen in the fridge to be taken out and used as needed.

The taste wasn’t as fresh as in the spring, but it was still a hint of freshness.

Lin Zhenxin was about to go up to help, but Aunt Xu smilingly chased her out of the kitchen, letting her sit in the living room and watch TV with her grandmother. She realized...

She remembered something quite important!

That her vacation was about to be over.

Li Yanan happened to come out of the bedroom, and Lin Zhenxin told him with a worried face.

Perhaps she had gotten used to the carefree days recently, and the thought of returning to the nine-to-five schedule made her feel a bit demoralized.

"Just quit, I’ll take care of you."

Li Yanan couldn’t wait for Lin Zhenxin to quit and come home so he could take care of her.

"Pretend I didn’t say anything." Lin Zhenxin feigned not hearing it.

Li Yanan had long expected her reaction, so he just laughed and said nothing.

For lunch, they had the dumplings that Aunt Xu had made.

The filling was rich and flavorful, with the meat and shepherd’s purse being fresh and delicious. Lin Zhenxin ate five or six in one go.

"By the way, it seems like a new family moved into the building in front today." Aunt Xu said.

This neighborhood was one of the top high-end communities in J City. Even a two-bedroom unit could be sold for a staggering price.

Li Yanan didn’t pay much attention, only responding with a soft acknowledgment.

"Eat more." As he spoke, Li Yanan served a few more dumplings to Lin Zhenxin.

The doorbell rang, and Aunt Xu went to answer it.

In came Xun Chen, wearing gold-rimmed glasses with his eyes fixed on the dumplings.

"Aunt Xu, add a pair of chopsticks, let Lawyer Xun join us for the meal."

Lin Zhenxin smiled, having originally thought Xun Chen would decline, but to her surprise, the usually aloof him obediently sat down in front of Aunt Xu.

"The Li Group can hold on for at most three days."

Suddenly, Xun Chen said.

The dining table fell silent.

Aside from grandma who didn’t understand and continued eating dumplings happily, everyone else had their thoughts.

"Let them last a week. This week, I want them to feel what it means to be overwhelmed with joy and sorrow."

Li Yanan replied coldly, while Lin Zhenxin tapped the edge of his bowl with her chopsticks.

This was a rather impolite action, but since it was her doing it, it added a hint of coyness.

"No talking about work during meals," said Lin Zhenxin.

When Tu Haohao arrived at the Li Group holding the bouquet, Li Chengze was in a meeting.

The atmosphere at the Li Group was scattered, which was the most direct impression on Tu Haohao. In such an environment, every extra second spent felt oppressive.

The secretary knew her identity, didn’t ask much, and just let her into the president’s office.

Tu Haohao walked directly to Li Chengze’s president chair and sat down, his black suit jacket still hanging on the chair back.

Although the room was warm, even the light reflecting off the dark floor carried warmth, Tu Haohao still pulled his jacket over and draped it on herself.

The scent belonging to Li Chengze instantly enveloped her.

If this had been in the past, it would have been the happiest thing for Tu Haohao, but now...

There seemed to be a large hole in her heart, icy winds blowing through.

She had never been a smart child since she was young, so why, when it came to Li Chengze’s matters, was she so sensitive?

As she thought about it, from last night until now, she hadn’t slept well, and with eyes closed, she began to sleep deeply...

After lunch, Li Yanan and Xun Chen left.

Lin Zhenxin was bored, messaging Yao Lemon on WeChat.

Yao Lemon was talking about a client at their company who specially ordered a custom-made 24K gold intimate product for a couple’s wedding anniversary.

Yes, it was exactly the kind of toy everyone imagined.

"Don’t they feel it’s heavy when they use it?"

Listening to Yao Lemon’s voice message, Lin Zhenxin almost choked on her sweet soup.

Yao Lemon also sent a design draft for her to look at, and indeed it was a gleaming ’treasure.’

While they were chatting, Lin Zhenxin’s phone rang with an unknown number.

Yao Lemon’s voice message got cut off midway as well.

Hesitant, Lin Zhenxin still answered the call.

The other end was silent for quite a while, and this pattern was quite familiar to Lin Zhenxin.

"He Nuoxin, I know it’s you."

Lin Zhenxin deliberately lowered her voice, not wanting Aunt Xu, who was still tidying up in the kitchen, to hear.

But in the next moment, when the other side spoke, Lin Zhenxin was surprised to open her eyes wide.

It wasn’t He Nuoxin?

Li Chengze returned to the office like a defeated rooster, downcast.

Just upon entering, he saw Tu Haohao asleep on the desk.

He didn’t expect her to be there.

Even Li Chengze himself hadn’t realized it yet, but he slowed his steps until he was beside her.

The unknown bouquet on the desk caught his eye, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.

Li Chengze leaned on the desk, looking down at Tu Haohao.

That sense of defeat gradually dissipated, perhaps her peaceful sleeping face was so serene that it calmed his chaotic heart.

Li Chengze didn’t wake her.

Her clean face bore no makeup; her skin was translucent and white, long lashes casting shadows on her face.

Before he realized it, his fingertips had already brushed against her face.

Startled, he instinctively tried to withdraw his hand.

But soon, he unwillingly lingered, gently stroking back and forth.

That creamy texture, unlike Nuoxin’s...

Aware of what he was thinking, the smile at the corner of Li Chengze’s mouth froze.

He actually compared Tu Haohao with He Nuoxin?

As if sensing something, the once soundly sleeping Tu Haohao suddenly opened her eyes, momentarily stunned to see Li Chengze there.

Then she felt Li Chengze’s hand on her face, and her sleepiness gradually faded away.

The two merely gazed at each other as the lazy, warm afternoon sunlight spilled over them.

"You haven’t eaten yet, have you?" Tu Haohao spoke first, her tone subtly different from usual.

Naturally, Li Chengze wouldn’t notice these differences.

All of a sudden, like a student caught cheating, Li Chengze abruptly stepped back, looking at her as if she were some menacing force.

"Why are you here?" Perhaps due to embarrassment, his voice was quite stiff.

Tu Haohao said nothing, just got up, letting his jacket slide to the floor.

"..." Li Chengze bent down himself to pick it up.

On her way, Tu Haohao had brought two lunches, originally intending to have them together with him.

"Let’s eat together, I have something to tell you." She looked away, sitting on the sofa, her fingers deftly opening the lunch boxes.

Li Chengze happened to be hungry too and sat down directly.

And that bouquet of Heather was inadvertently knocked to the floor by him.

"I bought that bouquet for you," Tu Haohao said indifferently.

Li Chengze made no comment, picking it up from the floor and carelessly tossing it on the coffee table, a few petals scattered onto the table.

From start to finish, Tu Haohao watched quietly.

The dishes were rich, and Li Chengze was hungry; he ate quickly.

Tu Haohao, however, had little appetite.

Or rather, since her surgery, her appetite and food intake had significantly decreased.

The doctors said different bodies react differently due to individual constitution, but to Tu Haohao, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

She had once dreamed of becoming slimmer.

But now that she had become skinny, Tu Haohao realized she couldn’t even find a tenth of her past happiness...

Couldn’t find any!

However, Tu Haohao had excellent manners; even without appetite, she didn’t use chopsticks to waste the food.

"Li Chengze, I..." She had just started to speak when Li Chengze’s phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID and instinctively looked at Tu Haohao.

It was a call from He Nuoxin!

In the high-end coffee club of J City.

Lin Zhenxin was the first to arrive.

While waiting, she took out her phone, and unintentionally, thoughts drifted back to what Li Yanan had said halfway at the cemetery.