“This… why does it feel so embarrassing.”
He felt like some big celebrity.
Did Little Blue have some weird filter on him?
Bo Ting pondered for a moment and rubbed his numb ear. Then he lowered his head tentatively. “Thanks?”
The flower basket fell silent for a moment, after which the nearby leaves happily curled up again.
“You’re welcome.”
The last line of text appeared, and Little Blue finally quieted down.
Bo Ting let out a sigh of relief. At least it wasn’t so awkward anymore.
He took out his phone and saw the message Mr. Xu had sent earlier. He couldn’t help but say, “So embarrassing. I almost bolted out of there just now.”
Little Blue was practically his braindead fan.
To be honest, Bo Ting had nearly curled his toes in secondhand embarrassment for a second there.
Xu Qinglai had just been thinking that the potted flower posed no threat when he received Bo Ting’s feedback.
“Exclusive?”
He subconsciously repeated the two words, raising an eyebrow slightly. The displeasure that had just risen in his heart was subtly dispelled by Bo Ting’s awkward fidgeting.
He stared strangely at the screen and actually thought… Bo Ting’s neurotic personality was pretty good.
Though he often did utterly boundaryless things, it… wasn’t without its benefits at times like this.
The tension at his brows slowly eased. Xu Qinglai said, “Maybe it’s been alone in West View Paradise lately as the only potted flower and saw some weird stuff.”
“Perhaps when you get back, you can hand it over to that flower shop owner for some education.”
Bo Ting thought it made sense.
He didn’t know Little Blue’s age, but… no matter the age, it couldn’t keep saying such socially suicidal things.
Miss Du still needed to give the flowers daily lessons on social norms, or how would they integrate into society later?
With his mind made up, Bo Ting increasingly felt that Mr. Xu had given great advice. He couldn’t help but praise him.
“Mr. Xu thinks of everything.”
“I’ll buy a few social interaction manuals for them in a couple days.”
A faint smile appeared on Xu Qinglai’s face, and his mood instantly shifted from cloudy to sunny.
“Mm, go ahead and get busy.”
“I won’t disturb you anymore.”
Bo Ting nodded.
“Got it. I’m just about to tidy up.”
He thought that after the weather changes hit, he might not come back here for a long time.
So Bo Ting decided to thoroughly clean the house before leaving, lest it get filthy and affect the property value later.
After placing Little Blue on the shoe cabinet, Bo Ting put on gloves and started cleaning.
Two hours later, the floors were finally spotless.
As expected of a luxury apartment—it took more effort to clean than his current place.
But luckily, he had plenty of strength.
Bo Ting checked the time; it was just past five in the afternoon. He could still catch the bus.
No time to rest, he hurriedly grabbed Little Blue and headed downstairs.
With a “ding,” the facial recognition elevator stuttered upon detecting Bo Ting, then automatically closed the next second.
After Bo Ting left, the floor numbers slowly began to change.
“Weird, why did it go black just now?”
In the property management office, a staff member had casually glanced at the six or seven computer screens in front of him when one suddenly went black. He found it a bit odd.
But after clicking it once, the screen returned to normal.
The property staff thought it was just a glitch and shook his head, continuing to monitor the other screens.
Bo Ting hadn’t expected that after cleaning all afternoon, the inspection personnel would still be outside.
Though the staffer named Xue had been replaced by an unfamiliar man.
Bo Ting glanced over, nodded amicably in greeting, and said hello. Unexpectedly, the staffer—perhaps overtired—walked right over.
Bo Ting was a bit baffled.
Zhao Jiang, who had been roped in by Xue Hengfu to cover his shift, gritted his teeth. He watched as the guy from Taiping Luxury Garden emerged from West View Paradise, casually carrying a “potted flower,” and nearly cursed Xue Hengfu out.
That dead fatty—why hadn’t he mentioned there was a heavyweight here?
If he’d known, he wouldn’t have agreed to the shift swap.
Zhao Jiang held his breath, trying to act natural. As he approached, his gaze fell on the flower in the other’s hand.
“Mr. Bo bought a new potted flower?”
The heterized flower looked a bit familiar, but the exquisite woven basket momentarily stumped Zhao Jiang.
Bo Ting felt a little embarrassed.
“No.”
“This is the flower I had at West View Paradise before. Things have been busy lately, so I came to pick it up.”
Zhao Jiang filtered out the preamble and latched onto Taiping Luxury Garden’s implied meaning.
Things have been busy lately…
That had to refer to the resurgence of the Eye of Virtual and Real and the Lurker of the Mountains passing by, right?
The guy knew after all.
Coming today to retrieve the flower—was it to keep it safe from the anomalous god’s aftermath?
Zhao Jiang thought subconsciously.
Looks like Camphor District isn’t safe either.
He raised his vigilance a notch and nodded.
“You’re heading back now?”
The bus hadn’t arrived yet. Though a bit anxious, Bo Ting didn’t mind chatting more with the staff to build rapport.
He had a good impression of the Population Census Office personnel anyway.
“Yeah.”
“Nothing else today.”
Zhao Jiang took a deep breath. “Will you be out tomorrow?”
Bo Ting was puzzled.
Why did people in Mengjia City chat so strangely?
Still, he answered politely.
“Depends on the weather.”
“We’ll see then.”
Mm.
Actually, it mostly depended on whether he’d oversleep.
As they chatted, the bus arrived, ending the awkward conversation.
Bo Ting sighed in relief and turned.
“I’m getting on. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Zhao Jiang waved, notebook in hand, watching the very human-looking figure board the bus and leave before withdrawing his gaze.
He recalled their conversation.
“Asked all that and got nothing.”
Oh well. No incidents was already good.
Zhao Jiang shook his head, relaxing his tense body, and returned to the checkpoint.
After Bo Ting got back, he took Little Blue straight to Miss Du’s flower shop.
The shop had been open for nearly a month and seemed to have no business lately.
Being in a residential neighborhood, after the locals bought once out of curiosity, it fell quiet.
But Miss Du wasn’t in a hurry.
Bo Ting scanned the shop.
He saw the latest seeds Miss Du had bought planted already. He knocked on the door.
“Miss Du, bringing Little Blue back.”
“It’s Bo Ting.”
“Come in.”
The slightly upbeat voice was clearly Xiu Xiu’s. Bo Ting nodded, carried Little Blue in, and noticed as he set it down that the flower seemed reluctant.
Miss Du: …
“This guy’s pickiness for looks is getting worse.”
Muttering, Miss Du placed Little Blue with its friends.
“Little Bo, eaten yet?”
Miss Du turned and asked.
Bo Ting shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Planning to boil some instant noodles upstairs.”
Miss Du thought for a moment, went to the counter, and grabbed a bag of bread for him.
“This is from Miss Zhou upstairs.”
“Thanks for bringing Little Blue back this time.”
Bo Ting felt awkward accepting it, but even though it was the more approachable Xiu Xiu today, Miss Du remained firm on this point.
Bo Ting had no choice but to take it.
“Perfect timing. In a few days, I’m buying books for Little Blue and the others. If you need anything, Miss Du, just let me know.”
Miss Du nodded, then looked puzzled.
“Books?”
Did Little Blue and the others need to read?
Bo Ting grew serious at the mention.
“The flower shop will eventually open to the public. Little Blue and them need to learn Mengjia City’s basic rules.”
“Mm, and behavior too.”
They needed a refresher.
Miss Du pondered, finding Bo Ting’s words reasonable.
The shop really had no business. In a bit… maybe they could consider external sales?
But that depended on Its will.
She subconsciously glanced at the other.
Bo Ting smiled faintly.
“I’ll draft an external sales plan tonight?”
“What do you think?”
After all, Miss Du was the boss; it was up to her.
Miss Du: “No problem at all.”
“Uh, if it works, we can split profits by percentage?”
“That’d be great.”
Bo Ting’s smile grew more genuine, brimming with motivation!
…
That night, Bo Ting whipped up a proposal, perfecting the external sales plan that had been interrupted last time.
He even pulled an all-nighter for the first time ever. The next morning, when the alarm rang, he smacked it off and stiffly yawned.
“So sleepy.”
“No, can’t sleep. Hang in there.”
Bo Ting got up, brewed coffee in the kitchen, brought it to the living room, and reviewed the proposal again. He’d planned to show Miss Du, but paused at a thought.
Mm.
Neither he nor Miss Du had external sales experience.
Why not send the proposal to Mr. Xu first?
Mr. Xu was a successful entrepreneur with plenty of expertise there.
Seven a.m.
Xu Qinglai had just finished washing up when he got Bo Ting’s message.
His steps halted; he rarely checked the time like this.
Had the guy stayed up all night?
Messaging this early?
Though thinking that, Xu Qinglai tapped on Bo Ting’s avatar.
There was the “Beautiful Flower Shop External Sales Plan.”
A cute cat head poked out, making a pleading expression.
“Mr. Xu, can you check if this proposal is feasible?”
Bo Ting’s first time making one; he didn’t even know the format and had googled it.
But it was readable enough.
Xu Qinglai skimmed it quickly.
Leaning against the door, he replied.
If a subordinate handed him this report, it’d never pass. They might even be gone the next day, off to “practice” their “proposal.”
