Whoosh!
I woke up because the sunlight was blinding. The room was already bathed in sunshine, licking every corner. Since I didn’t have school today, I stayed up late watching movies and paid the price by waking up late. I stretched my body out on the bed. It felt weird thinking I had this huge bed all to myself.
I’m short and small, but the bed was ridiculously big, like something out of a princess’s room. Even if Bora or Haru slept over, there’d still be space left. I pushed the blanket aside and got out of bed. The room sparkled, probably because the interior renovation was still fresh.
“Yawn!”
After a big yawn, I stepped outside in my dinosaur pajamas. While I was sleeping, the outside world was bustling with people hard at work. Even now, as I left my room, the hallway was filled with people walking around.
The employees joked when they saw me awake.
“Hana, you’re up?”
“Sleep too much and you’ll turn into a sleepyhead!”
I waved at their familiar faces, a sign of greeting. They acknowledged my wave. I glanced at the office. Inside, many employees were working hard. It felt a little awkward to barge in and cause chaos. Everyone was busy working, and here I was, just lazing around.
“I should work too!”
With that thought, I charged back to my room. I took off my dinosaur pajamas and neatly put them away, then changed into a T-shirt and shorts. It was summer-hot outside, so shorts and a T-shirt were a must. I’d never wear a skirt. Well, except for the school uniform skirt, which I had to wear reluctantly.
With my straw hat on, I looked like a seasoned farmer. Today, I planned to weed and water the backyard. After all, it was my hair, so watering plants with water containing my hair was my choice.
Would the research institute or the company threaten me for using my hair? I confidently walked outside, of course, letting the office know I was heading to the backyard. As soon as I said that, Maru hurriedly changed clothes and tried to follow me. I ignored her and took the elevator down first.
Hehe!
—
When I arrived at the vegetable garden, I was shocked by the sight. Birds were gathered, pecking at my strawberries!
“You rascals! You gotta pay to eat!”
I grabbed a stick-like thing and swung it at the birds. They fluttered away. I looked at the dead strawberries with a sad face. They’d pecked everything but the stems. It’s so hard to grow strawberries…
Luckily, no bugs came, but the birds often visited my garden to peck at the strawberries and then flew away. It made me so angry.
“Hana, are the strawberries okay?”
Maru, who had followed me, asked. I shook my head. The strawberries were already dead.
“No… the bad birds ate them and flew away.”
If they’d at least paid, I could’ve forgiven them, but birds don’t carry money. They just ate for free and fled. My strawberries, full of nutrients and flavor, were gone. I couldn’t just sit back and take the birds’ tyranny anymore.
“Maru! Let’s build a greenhouse!”
The answer was a greenhouse. Since the area of my crops wasn’t that big, covering it with a greenhouse would protect them from bird attacks, right? That was my idea. No matter how much the birds pecked, they couldn’t break through the greenhouse.
Using strong, durable plastic wrap would make it even better. Maru nodded at my suggestion. She usually went along with whatever I wanted, so talking to her was the best.
“Okay. Building a greenhouse here, just like you said, would be perfect!”
And so, a greenhouse was being built behind our research institute building. Installing a greenhouse in the realm of cutting-edge science? Nothing could be more thrilling.
Once I decided to build a greenhouse, there was no way it wouldn’t happen.
Maru returned to the office and reported what Hana wanted. Hana wanted to build a greenhouse in the vegetable garden. If it wasn’t strange or harmful to Hana, feedback was immediately implemented.
It had been a while since such a big project, so the employees were busy preparing to build the greenhouse. Since the vegetables and fruits from Hana’s garden were often eaten by the office staff, there wasn’t much resistance to building the greenhouse. In fact, they were eager to help and figure out how they could contribute.
Without Hana, these office employees would be jobless. Of course, they wouldn’t get fired just because Hana was gone, but the department would scatter and disappear. While they sometimes handled research institute-related tasks, most of the time they managed businesses connected to Hana. They distributed the beneficial things Hana created nationwide or set up separate sales routes, all without Hana lifting a finger.
In a way, you could think of them as a general trading company. Since the employees acted as the main contractors, their work wasn’t too difficult. They were mostly in the position of giving orders or signing contracts. Of course, they didn’t abuse their power based on Hana’s words. Contracts were always made under reasonable conditions.
And so, the construction of the greenhouse in Hana’s garden began. The garden was larger than expected, so heavy equipment was brought in for the construction. Office employees wearing straw hats occasionally went out to the garden to watch the progress.
Among them was Hana, who was small in stature. Since Hana was the main character, it was natural for her to oversee the greenhouse construction. Not long after the construction company was hired, the greenhouse for Hana was completed. The support beams were so strong that even a typhoon wouldn’t budge it, so it could withstand most disasters.
It was also a state-of-the-art greenhouse with temperature control, so Hana wouldn’t have to worry about farming in the scorching summer heat. There was no risk of her collapsing from heatstroke. The greenhouse was equipped with machinery to maintain the perfect temperature.
Of course, maintaining it was expensive, but for the research institute, it was pocket change. In fact, the office employees, who owed a lot to Hana’s garden, were thrilled that the greenhouse was completed.
Since the office employees occasionally came out to help Hana, maintaining the garden wasn’t a problem even when Hana wasn’t around. When Hana went to school, the office staff managed the garden.
—
I smiled contentedly at the completed greenhouses. Now, birds wouldn’t peck at the strawberries. I also thought about expanding the garden later, so I set up greenhouses in areas where nothing was planted yet.
It felt like my hobby had grown into something bigger. But since the employees didn’t mind these construction projects, I could do as I pleased.
The employees had already become slaves to my strawberries! The strawberries disappeared as soon as they arrived at the office. Even though I packed enough for everyone, they still vanished, showing just how popular they were.
“It seems like we have better conditions than most farmers, huh?”
“Yeah, definitely.”
Bora and Haru exclaimed in awe when they saw my greenhouse. Even I thought it was a bit over the top. The equipment was massive! But considering I didn’t even spend 1% of my own money on it, it felt small in a way.
From today, I planned to grow other plants too. The space was too big just for strawberries.
