Chapter 97

Chapter Seventeen: The Gift

　　With the flower garland in hand, one could come and go as they please.

　　The queue at the garden entrance looked long, but if you didn’t have to wait in line and just walked straight through, it would only take a few minutes to reach the front.

　　Yuan Xiaoling didn’t rush in; instead, she stopped at the front of the queue, standing beside those waiting in line.

　　Though it was morning, with the sun not fully risen yet and the air fresh, there were still many people queuing up.

　　”Who would’ve thought I should’ve come even earlier. Didn’t expect that getting up at eight is already late.”

　　”I should’ve known. The Chunhai City flower festival happens once a year, so famous, and it’s summer vacation too. Definitely tons of tourists.”

　　”It’s more crowded than going to Zibo last month.”

　　”Heat’s killing me, heat’s killing me.”

　　The people in line complained endlessly, Yuan Xiaoling joined in with them.

　　”Exactly, way too many people.”

　　”If you don’t queue, someone else will.”

　　”Sigh, tourist attractions.”

　　Bai Ling arrived at the entrance, only to realize the blonde busty girl wasn’t with her. Looking back, she saw Ningning chatting happily with those in line.

　　”Not sure what’s happening up ahead, it hasn’t moved for ages.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling: “True, with this many people queuing, every minute wasted by those ahead is hours wasted for everyone.”

　　”Does Chunhai City have more plants or people?”

　　Yuan Xiaoling: “The more plants there are, the more visitors. The more visitors, the more air they consume. The more air consumed, the fewer plants. So the more plants, the fewer plants.”

　　”There are still more good plants in this world.”

　　The white-haired maiden silently approached, grabbing the blonde busty girl and pulling her away from the crowd.

　　”Hey hey,” Yuan Xiaoling seemed reluctant to stop, “We were just chatting.”

　　Bai Ling rolled her eyes: “You’d better say less.”

　　It’s just that most outsiders can’t beat you, otherwise you’d be in trouble sooner or later.

　　Walking into the garden, there were still many tourists. Flower beds left small paths for people, but deeper inside, shoulders bumped against each other.

　　Yuan Xiaoling didn’t rush forward. Her mobile phone rang.

　　[Yuan Tong: Sister, you’re not at home? Where did you go?]

　　[Ningning: I’m enjoying the flower festival.]

　　[Yuan Tong: Uh, we went years ago, then stopped because it got too crowded.]

　　[Ningning: It’s my first time here, what do you need me for?]

　　[Yuan Tong: Well, we’re heading to the forest again today, wondering if you want to join. You’d make us feel safer, and we also wanted to ask about the secrets of creating skills.]

　　[Ningning: Don’t become dependent on me, you managed fine before I came. As for skill secrets…]

　　About this, Yuan Xiaoling hesitated a bit since she didn’t really know herself—her skills were all task rewards.

　　[Ningning: Here’s a two-word secret: the first word is Doubt! Maintain curiosity towards spiritual power, no matter what phenomenon, always explore its essence. The second word is Enlightenment! Continuously understand within doubt, rely on bursts of inspiration.]

　　Yuan Xiaoling didn’t move, neither did Bai Ling. In fact, looking at the crowded path ahead, she didn’t know how to proceed.

　　There were really too many tourists. The magical flower festival of Chunhai City was famous nationwide, and it was during summer vacation. Even just on the import-export roads, you could see many people holding selfie sticks live streaming.

　　“Lads, right now we’re at the Chunhai City flower festival. Look at all these people, mountains, water, flowers, grass, and beauties.”

　　The outdoor streamer with the selfie stick mentioned beauties and directly pointed the camera at Yuan Xiaoling.

　　Bai Ling rolled her eyes, even less wanting to squeeze forward with Yuan Xiaoling.

　　At this moment, she suddenly noticed the bushes nearby parting to reveal a small path. Looking up, the branches waved toward her, seemingly inviting her to hurry along.

　　Bai Ling grabbed Yuan Xiaoling.

　　”Stop playing with your phone, let’s go this way.”

　　The two girls entered the path, and the bushes instantly covered it again. Bai Ling heard some voices behind them:

　　”Hey, there was a path here just now, where did it go?”

　　”I saw it too, the livestream audience saw it too, two pretty girls… one small beauty and one big beauty just went in.”

　　”Maybe something’s blocking it, let me try. No, can’t pull it apart.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling also heard these voices, putting down her phone and looking around. The view opened up, surrounded only by flowers, grasses, and lush green trees, without the crowded crowd.

　　”Did grandpa open a special path for us?” she realized.

　　Bai Ling quietly nodded and slowly continued forward.

　　”Don’t rush off,” Yuan Xiaoling hugged her waist and turned on the selfie mode on her phone, “Say cheese~”

　　Bai Ling thought ‘cheese’ was so childish, she wasn’t incapable of smiling.

　　”Hmph.”

　　Click.

　　Yuan Xiaoling shared the photo in the QQ group “Yuan Family New Generation Affection,” sharing her date with her beautiful girlfriend with Yuan Tong and Yuan Ye, drawing envy.

　　Because they were about to enter the Yuan family forest for training, their phones would be confiscated soon.

　　[Ningning: Keep it up, train well. When you become as powerful as me, you won’t need to train and can go on dates with your girlfriends.]

　　Unfortunately, Yuan Xiaoling didn’t receive any response, perhaps their phones had already been taken away.

　　Poor things.

　　”Here,” Bai Ling called her from a small hilltop, “Come this way.”

　　She discovered the path led up the mountain. Although she didn’t know why Grandpa Yuan made this path for them, it might be because the view from the mountaintop was nice.

　　Of course, she wouldn’t know that Grandpa made them take the mountain path because due to Dabeitù reasons, climbing mountains would be tiring for Yuan Xiaoling, and she couldn’t play with her phone while walking.

　　No gaming during outings!

　　”Huff, huff, this path is hard to walk.”

　　Sure enough, when the slope began, Yuan Xiaoling had to put her phone away. But just walking was boring, so she picked some flowers and grasses by the roadside and started weaving them together.

　　”What are you doing?” Bai Ling asked curiously.

　　”I’m making tickets,” Yuan Xiaoling said, “I think using a flower garland as a ticket is too loose. Look, I can easily make one myself, exactly like the one worn on the head.”

　　She had carefully observed that although the flower garlands on their heads seemed special, they were actually no different from the local flora, all plants imbued with wood-element spirit energy, which could be found everywhere in the garden.

　　Bai Ling subtly rolled her eyes.

　　Seeing her little gesture, Yuan Xiaoling became unhappy: “What do you mean, look down on an art student’s ability? I’ll weave one for you to see!”

　　After speaking, her delicate white hands began deftly moving.

　　Bai Ling glanced a few times, wanting to speak but held back, remaining silent.

　　She wanted to say, even if you could weave one, where did you get the materials before entering the garden?

　　But seeing Yuan Xiaoling weaving so seriously, she kept quiet, thinking she’d figure it out herself eventually.

　　A small hill full of blooming trees, not steep, not long. By the time they reached the summit, Yuan Xiaoling’s flower garland was ready.

　　”Look!”

　　Bai Ling glanced at it, involuntarily twitching her lips.

　　”I don’t know if you noticed,” she said, “our garlands only have flowers, no grass or leaves… yours is a grass ring.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling froze, examining it closely—it was true. The garland grandfather made was vibrant and fresh, hers was entirely green—green everywhere, completely unwearable.

　　”I’m not wearing it anyway.” Bai Ling crossed her arms.

　　Yuan Xiaoling’s face reddened slightly, pondering for a moment before coming up with a solution—reaching out to pluck the weeds and leaves off the garland.

　　”See, now it’s just flowers…”

　　It was indeed just flowers, but there were only three small ones—one slightly larger with two smaller ones surrounding it.

　　Bai Ling remained silent, just watching her quietly.

　　”Just, that’s it,” Yuan Xiaoling’s cheeks flushed red, “look at the shape, it’s actually pretty good, kind of like a crown.”

　　”Let’s keep climbing the mountain.”

　　Climb the mountain, stop messing with your handicrafts.

　　”Alright alright, climb climb climb, I’m great at climbing.”

　　As she spoke, Yuan Xiaoling couldn’t stay idle. Having lost face earlier, she decided to regain some dignity.

　　”Bai Ling ah,” she said, “If nothing unusual happened, and we graduated normally, what job would you do?”

　　Bai Ling shook her head: “Don’t know.”

　　Didn’t know, never thought about it before, because ever since that day ten and a half years ago, fate took off like crazy.

　　But if she really thought about it, without these events, after graduating with Ningning, what would she do?

　　”I think if none of these things happened, you’d definitely have a tough future,” Yuan Xiaoling analyzed calmly, “Look, you’re an athlete, but your spirit power is mental-type. If you continue in sports competitions, you definitely can’t compete with enhancement-types and element-types.”

　　Bai Ling raised an eyebrow.

　　”And then you’re stuck, athletes after graduation don’t have other skills, so you’d have to沉淀for two years, then two years of mandatory military service, a lifetime of military sentiment, and come back to open a veteran barbecue shop.” Yuan Xiaoling vividly described.

　　”No, it wouldn’t be barbecue,” Bai Ling coldly snorted, “If opening a store, it’d be a veteran milk tea shop.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling blinked: “Why?”

　　”Because letting you stand at the counter selling milk tea has good advertising effects.”

　　Bai Ling glanced at the blonde’s bountiful assets, the bulging collar revealing her generosity.

　　”Tch, I’m not an athlete, no need to沉淀, we art students can do plenty.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling wanted to give examples but remembered her recently crafted “grass ring” and felt embarrassed to continue.

　　Fortunately, by this time they had already reached the summit, climbing up from beneath the rocks, a sea of flowers spread out before their eyes.

　　”Look, these are all my plant family members,” Yuan Xiaoling introduced her, “This is pear blossom, this is gardenia, this is trumpet flower, this is, this is…”

　　”Can’t recognize them anymore, huh.” Bai Ling expressionlessly commented.

　　”How could I not, this is sweet flower, I recognize it.”

　　As a child, she often picked them, sucking on the center to drink a bit of sweet nectar—that was sweet flower!

　　Bai Ling didn’t argue, sitting down to rest. The ground covered with flowers and grass was soft, and raindrops wouldn’t wet her clothes, after all, there was a Water Dragon Lord nearby.

　　Yuan Xiaoling sat next to her, facing the scenery, humming a song:

　　”All the flowers have stopped blooming. Faraway, everything becomes clear in love~~”

　　”Stop singing,” Bai Ling helplessly said, “Your voice isn’t suitable for such low and sad tunes.”

　　”Nonsense, I used to be good at it,” Yuan Xiaoling hummed, “Even sang at school performances… um.”

　　She remembered, back then she could sing deep male tones effortlessly, now it was soft girl vibes, not fitting for that.

　　”It must be the song’s fault,” the blonde cleared her throat, “I’ll switch to a less sorrowful one.”

　　What to sing?

　　At this moment, she and Bai Ling suddenly noticed the weeds around the small hill growing, then white fluff emerged from the grass. A gentle breeze blew, causing them all to float up, blinding the eyes with chaotic blossoms.

　　Dandelions!

　　Yuan Xiaoling’s eyes lit up, thinking how wonderful grandpa was, not only giving hints but also setting the mood.

　　Thus the young girl began anew:

　　”The dandelions by the elementary school fence are a scenic memory with a taste. The cicadas’ sounds from the playground during nap time still sound pleasant after many years~~”

　　Dandelions floated everywhere with the wind, Bai Ling’s gaze grew distant. She had never seen such a sight, in her memory… it was probably only at weddings where they threw so much stuff into the sky.

　　”We fold our wishes into paper airplanes and send them as letters, because we can’t wait for meteors~”

　　Yuan Xiaoling sang slowly and softly, her soft voice tender like a kitten’s paw scratching at the ear.

　　Itchy.

　　Bai Ling suddenly felt a bit sleepy, like lying down after eating a full lunch on a warm sunny bed.

　　”Wherever I go, you follow closely, many dreams waiting to happen~”

　　Nonsense, clearly it was wherever Bai Ling went, Yuan Xiaoling followed, impossible to shake off.

　　Speaking of which, why did she always follow her in her previous life? Though Yuan Xiaoling never answered, Bai Ling hadn’t given it much thought either.

　　If forced to think… she couldn’t come up with any reason. It couldn’t be because of… right?

　　Suddenly, Bai Ling felt something heavy on her body, especially her chest being pressed. Opening her eyes, she saw the blonde leaning over her, grinning mischievously.

　　It turned out that while Bai Ling was dozing off, Yuan Xiaoling had suddenly lunged forward, using her Dabeitu to heavily suppress Bai Ling’s… uh… smaller version, allowing her to…

　　”Put it on, the crown I wove with my own hands!”

　　Ningning’s first handmade work, truly a debut piece, couldn’t possibly be wasted. Taking advantage of Bai Ling’s suppressed state, she took out the garland with only three flowers, solemnly and earnestly placing it on Bai Ling’s head.

　　”I hereby announce,” her soft voice said gently, “you shall be the queen of the new era.”

　　Bai Ling rolled her eyes.

　　”So childish.”

　　Honestly, it was a bit, even Yuan Xiaoling didn’t argue, merely humming twice.

　　After a while, Yuan Xiaoling seemed to hear something, getting up and pulling Bai Ling, saying, “Come on, grandpa has something for you over there.”

　　”?!”

　　The two girls descended the mountain one after another. Dense bushes originally had no path but parted as they walked. Finally, they reached a large tree where a bright green bracelet rested in the hollow.

　　Branches hooked the bracelet, slowly growing and presenting it to Bai Ling.

　　”What is this?” Bai Ling hesitated.

　　Yuan Xiaoling heard the tree say something and nodded twice.

　　”Grandpa says, though it’s made of resin, it has spirit power shaping it, no worse than jade, agate, gemstones, pearls, gamma doppler, and all that.”

　　The last one was added.

　　”No, I mean, why me…”

　　”Just take it,” Yuan Xiaoling supported her hand to accept the bracelet, then slid it onto her wrist, “Just wear it.”

　　And why question it? Grandpa giving bracelets to his granddaughter-in-law is quite common, haven’t you seen TV shows, movies, anime, novels?

　　After receiving the gift, the two girls started heading back. Bai Ling remained silent all the way, just caressing the bracelet already on her wrist.

　　Reaching the end of the path, she softly said, “Your grandpa… is a remarkable person.”

　　She didn’t know how to describe it, as Little Bai Ling had never encountered such a thing before.

　　”That’s true, let me tell you, my grandpa is amazing. If he were in Naruto, he’d definitely be Hashirama Senju,” Yuan Xiaoling looked down at her Dabeitu, “Coincidentally, he also has a blonde busty granddaughter… Ouch.”

　　She hadn’t finished speaking when a nearby tree smacked her on the head.

　　At noon, they caught some wild game. Cleaning ingredients was easy for Yuan Xiaoling, controlling a bit of water element cleaned it thoroughly. However, during the cooking phase, both were at a loss.

　　In the end, grandpa helped out, starting a fire by drilling wood.

　　Resting on the leaf-covered ground after lunch, with grandpa helping the tree canopy provide shade, shielding them from the harsh midday sun.

　　For the first time, the two girls enjoyed a bird-song-and-flower-scented afternoon nap.

　　”Mmm mmm mmm~ Mmm~ Forget it.”

　　Waking up, Ningning originally wanted to stretch lazily, testing Bai Ling’s limits as usual, but remembering their elder was watching, she refrained.

　　Beside her, Bai Ling woke up a bit later.

　　She fell asleep later than Yuan Xiaoling because she couldn’t sleep when she initially lay down, and the reason she couldn’t sleep was not having Ningning’s Dabeitu to hold or use as a pillow. The reason she didn’t hold Dabeitu was also because the elder was watching, feeling shy.

　　But eventually, lying down for a while, she fell asleep comfortably.

　　”Sleeping doesn’t necessarily have to be in a hotel,” Bai Ling’s first comment after waking up was, “Outdoors is nice too.”

　　”Uh-huh.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling subconsciously nodded, suddenly sensing something amiss, turning to look at Bai Ling with surprise. The latter maintained a calm expression.

　　”You… Calm down, grandpa is still here!”

　　”I said sleeping,” Bai Ling rolled her eyes, “Not sleeping with you.”

　　Besides, there’s no grandpa in Tianhai City.

　　Of course, the outdoors there might be a bit dirty, but as long as you don’t stick to hotels, options broaden. For instance, in the water, sea, pool, beach—clean and hygienic, swimsuits are convenient…

　　Yuan Xiaoling glanced at her silently, feeling this white-haired junior was thinking of something risqué.

　　That is to say, as a junior being so disrespectful to a senior is simply unacceptable!

　　Anyway, after a short half-day tour, the physical activity quota was met. Standing at the small road they came from, gazing into the distance, the groves and flower seas gradually faded away.

　　”We should head back.” Yuan Xiaoling said softly.

　　Bai Ling understood her meaning, touching the bracelet on her wrist, nodding lightly.

　　”Uh-huh.”

　　Not just going home, but back to Tianhai City.

　　—————–Divider—————–

　　PS: Five thousand words! That flower was eaten when I was a kid, though I didn’t recognize it then, calling it Sweet Flower works symbolically, pretty spicy, don’t you agree?