Chapter 5

It was inconvenient to sleep in too late at someone else’s house, so with a will of iron, Shang Mingbao got up at seven when the alarm rang.

The first thing she did after getting up was to check the evening primrose. Wildflowers have their own beauty; their natural, unrestrained state is more interesting than those of neatly cultivated garden varieties. She picked up the double-ear vase and went to the window, flipping it around to examine it in the morning light.

Even though she added water, the flowers were indeed wilted.

Fang Suining was strictly forbidden from discussing this matter with Shang Mingbao, so she could only exaggerate and indirectly tease about how beautiful the flowers were. Shang Mingbao was oblivious to her implied meaning and suddenly mentioned at breakfast, “Your uncle looks quite young.”

Fang Suining, peeling a boiled egg, responded startlingly, “Yes, otherwise, how could he trick people into a second marriage?”

“Huh?” Shang Mingbao was genuinely surprised.

Although Fang Suining was not sensitive about airing family secrets, she thought better of continuing since this was related to her distinguished older brother’s private affairs. She merely said, “In any case, he’s not a great person. Why are you so curious about him?”

Just as Shang Mingbao was about to reply, two coughs came from outside the dining room. This was the assistant’s alert; Fang Suining, understanding immediately, nudged Shang Mingbao with her elbow. The two quickly pretended to be nonchalant and sat up straight. After a while, a shadow of Xiang Lianqiao appeared on the terrazzo floor at the doorway.

It was already nine o’clock. Xiang Lianqiao asked the assistant, “Has Feiran had breakfast?”

“He has, but he went out again.”

“Out again?” Both Fang Suining and Xiang Lianqiao exclaimed together.

They both thought he had gone out to collect specimens again, but in fact, Xiang Feiran had driven to the city.

Xiang Lianqiao’s retired life was quite simple; a red flag car replaced all his walking. Xiang Feiran asked the driver and learned there were no plans for the car today, so he drove it down the mountain.

Due to the owner’s identity, the black sedan was managed more neatly and solemnly than usual cars, with no decorations. Even the scent was soothing and orderly. The only two exceptions were that the young man driving it was quite young, and the long-eared plush rabbit in the passenger seat… was too pink.

There was no way around it. After examining the car under the light last night, I found that the dirt from the wet soil was hard to clean, so it had to be taken to a professional dry cleaner.

He parked the car by the street, moved to the passenger side, and bent down to unfasten the seatbelt of the plush rabbit.

The glass door of the dry cleaner was clean and transparent, reflecting the casually dressed man in a black T-shirt, holding the pink toy in one hand and with his other hand in his pocket.

This dry cleaner was highly rated on review sites and was located next to an affluent area. When he inquired about the price, it was indeed quite impressive.

“If you need it today, there’s an additional charge of two hundred. Basic members get a 10% discount,” the clerk said as usual, noticing the man’s eyebrows furrow slightly.

Clearly, this was a little girl’s sleeping companion, and since she had been brought all the way from Hong Kong, she must have been very attached to it.

Xiang Feiran sighed subtly and paid via scan.

“Would you like to become a member? A twenty thousand membership gets a 25% discount,” the clerk said with a sweet smile, but the offer was rather startling.

“I can’t afford it.”

The clerk persisted, saying he could afford it, and tried to persuade him: “Ten thousand is fine too. I can give you a 25% discount.”

Xiang Feiran didn’t reply, instead, he stared at the “327” in his WeChat account balance. After a moment, he whispered, “Wait a moment,” and made a phone call.

“Hello.”

“You mentioned that place needed people?”

After some negotiation, the night’s compensation settled at two hundred sixty. Before hanging up, Xiang Feiran calmly added, “Remember to cover the late-night snacks.”

The clerk, who had overheard the entire conversation, was left speechless.

The store was as quiet as if someone had just died. Xiang Feiran nodded slightly, “I’ll pick it up this afternoon. Excuse me.”

Cleaning and drying took four hours, so he scheduled to pick it up at two in the afternoon and drove to the specimen museum at the botanical institute. The museum was not open to the public, but entry was possible with a student ID. Inside, he spent several hours studying the Gentianaceae specimens and correcting six erroneous identifications.

When the museum staff returned from lunch and saw him, they naturally greeted him: “The new species you published in the last issue of Phytokey was very impressive.”

Phytokey is a SCI Zone 3 journal, suitable for publishing new species. Xiang Feiran had published a new species of the poppy genus there during his sophomore year. According to him, publishing new species is an “insignificant” academic achievement in botany, but his paper was perfect in terms of morphological identification, gene sequencing, and phylogenetic tree, far exceeding the academic capabilities of a sophomore.

Because of this, he was recruited into Professor Zhou Yingshu’s research group, a leading figure in domestic plant taxonomy. Initially, his classmates envied him, but that faded when they learned that other graduate students received stipends and he did not.

The museum staff noticed he was correcting Professor Zhou’s identifications again and said with a smile, “Professor Zhou is coming this afternoon. Did you and your mentor arrange to meet?”

In the spacious room, the air seemed to pause for a second. Xiang Feiran smoothly put down his pen, closed the specimen book, and pushed back his chair, expressionless as he said, “I’ll leave first.”

As the third-largest specimen museum in the country, it housed millions of specimens, including many with errors due to age, technology, or other reasons. Theoretically, any borrower had the right to correct errors and write new identification results—as long as they were confident and professional.

Xiang Feiran had corrected hundreds of specimens, including over thirty from Professor Zhou. This was quite normal, as Zhou Yingshu specialized in bamboo and was not skilled in identifying all genera and species. The problem was, one day while correcting, Xiang Feiran sighed deeply and remarked, “The mentor’s school is unfortunate.”

Professor Zhou, who had been quietly standing behind him for a long time: “…”

One learns from mistakes. One should not stumble in the same place twice. Amidst the staff’s suppressed laughter, Xiang Feiran raised his hand in farewell and left without looking back.

Back at the dry cleaner, the long-haired toy was as good as new, wrapped in a transparent plastic bag.

The clerk, tying a pink bow with skillful hands, said with a smile, “Is this for your girlfriend? It looks cuter this way—the bow is free.”

Xiang Feiran picked up the toy and, rarely verbose, uttered two words: “Not for.”

Not only did he not remember the child’s name, but he also hadn’t seen her face clearly in the dark last night, only recalling her panic under the flashlight. Moreover, she was Fang Suining’s classmate, and since Fang Suining had no gender, rounding it off, her classmate had no gender either.

The same joke was made when he arrived at the band’s rehearsal room.

The band members were all broke, unable to rent high-end places. They had found a small warehouse in an old neighborhood for their rehearsal space. The thirty-square-meter space was cluttered with wires, instruments, ashtrays, and instant noodle boxes.

When Xiang Feiran arrived, the lead singer was leaning against the doorframe, smoking. With sharp eyes, he spotted the rabbit and, with a cigarette in his mouth, chuckled, “Yo, the young master is in love?”

They had known each other since childhood. Xiang Feiran didn’t want to say much and replied coldly, “Get lost.”

In a poor band, changing members was as common as changing rags. Recently, they had added a new member who had not been introduced yet. With everyone present, the lead singer shouted into the room, “Come out and meet!”

After a while, two more dejected quails emerged. One was a familiar face to Xiang Feiran, the guitarist, and the lead singer’s cousin. The bassist was the new recruit.

The lead singer gave a thumb up in a casual manner. When mentioning Xiang Lianqiao’s identity, the bassist’s expression noticeably changed: “What the hell, how did we end up playing in a band with the grandson of a diplomatic envoy?”

The lead singer and guitarist burst into laughter. Xiang Feiran accepted the cigarette handed to him and smirked, “He’s just joking.”

The bassist thought it over and decided, in such a crappy band, why would a diplomatic envoy’s grandson be involved? He believed it right away.

In fact, the group of them are all students who make some extra money from regular performances. Since Xiang Feiran is usually very busy with his research projects, he has withdrawn from the official band members and is considered an extra.

Their songs are written by the guitarist, who always considers them as overlooked treasures of the Rolling Stones. In reality, the songs are often complained about by the bar patrons. Half a month ago, the lead singer lost his mind, got into a confrontation with a customer, and played two original songs, leading to the power being cut off. The lead singer and the beauty said, “Yoyo, what’s up? Let’s have an unplugged session—”

He and his bag were thrown out.

Xiang Feiran brought a new commercial performance offer, and the remaining three were extremely grateful and filled with passion. They agreed to perform three days a week starting next week, with each performance lasting three hours.

“Where do you live?” The lead singer approached him, lit a cigarette, and asked, “Still the same old place?”

Living in the mountains is somewhat inconvenient for commuting, and there’s no accommodation application at the school. During the holidays when there are performances, Xiang Feiran just sleeps on the practice room floor.

After receiving a positive response, the three cleaned up the smoky and messy practice room, throwing out the ashtrays, empty bottles, and instant noodle boxes, and sprayed a whole lot of air freshener that could suffocate a camel.

With everything finished and still early, they went to a billiard room to start a game. The lead singer, leaning on his cue stick and sitting on a high stool, asked the pink rabbit, “Did you succeed? Or are you still pursuing?”

The billiard room was smoky and noisy. Xiang Feiran bent down, aiming at the cue ball, and casually said amidst the crisp sound of the ball being struck, “Classmate Suining, I didn’t remember the name too well.”

The lead singer was exasperated: “You didn’t remember, but you’re running errands for them?”

Xiang Feiran was annoyed: “Enough, she’s a guy.”

—

The top ten youths spent the afternoon searching for topics while smoking five cigarettes and winning two thousand in gambling.

The summer camp required a project report with no specific regulations, leaving the choice of topic to the students. It was supposed to seem formal, but it was essentially a pretext for the students to enjoy themselves.

The two were brainstorming, first talking about researching fan circles, and then comparing the popular cultures of teenagers in Hong Kong and other places. After looking around, they still found it uninteresting.

Fang Suining perked up: “How about asking Brother Feiran to help us collect specimens and identify plants?” Then he lay back down on the desk: “Forget it, the dog won’t bother with me.”

He had threatened her in the morning that she would be responsible for the evening primrose because Shang Mingbao was her guest! Ridiculous!

“What does he study that makes him so knowledgeable about plants?” Shang Mingbao asked, feeling a strange thought cross her mind. The person from last night also seemed to be studying flowers and plants.

“He’s a biology student, but his interest is in botany,” Fang Suining casually replied. “His father, who is my uncle, is also a biologist and a Tsinghua University.”

The two were idle, wasting time until dinner.

Xiang Lianqiao asked about their project plans. Fang Suining shamelessly asked, “Grandpa, why don’t you ask Brother Feiran to help us?”

Xiang Lianqiao had seen through her scheme and remained unmoved: “This is the last big task for you during the summer vacation; you should find a way yourself.”

Fang Suining pouted. Xiang Lianqiao then turned to Shang Mingbao and subtly suggested, “If you choose a plant project, you might need to climb mountains. Are you up for it?”

He always had a scholarly smile, but his years of authority were evident in his demeanor, making Shang Mingbao a bit reserved. Xiang Lianqiao then leaned on his cane: “After dinner, come to my study. I have something to discuss with you.”

Xiang Lianqiao’s study was on the third floor. It wasn’t particularly large but had a thick atmosphere, with thousands of books showing obvious signs of use. The spines of the books were covered in various inscriptions.

When Shang Mingbao entered, he was writing the preface to a student’s monograph. The blue ink bottle was open, and a plain Hero pen rested on a lined notebook.

“Your grandfather called me,” Xiang Lianqiao said directly, “I know your heart condition is not good. Your grandfather and parents are quite worried about you coming here.”

Shang Mingbao hadn’t expected this. Thinking it over, her grandfather was well-connected, and Xiang Lianqiao was a university professor, so it was normal for them to have connections.

She quickly realized the question from the dinner table: “Are you worried about my health? I’ll be fine as long as I don’t engage in intense exercise.”

“I see you don’t take much medicine usually?”

“I take some coenzymes; some medications have noticeable side effects, so I don’t take them specifically.” Shang Mingbao answered proudly, “I’ve only had two episodes this year.”

Xiang Lianqiao laughed at her: “Do you know why your mother asked you to come here?”

Shang Mingbao nodded: “Heart disease is not about my tower. She doesn’t want me to be a long-haired princess.”

She appeared strong, well-behaved, and optimistic. Xiang Lianqiao’s gaze softened unconsciously: “You’re very smart. So tell me, among the things discussed at the table, which one do you most want to do?”

Shang Mingbao was actually not very interested in anything. Her threshold for happiness and curiosity was too high. How could a girl who had seen the best of the world from birth find interest in mundane, overlooked things?

She had seen better elsewhere.

But to fulfill Fang Suining’s wish, Shang Mingbao still said, “Botany.”

Xiang Lianqiao smiled: “Feiran has big ideas. I might not be able to persuade him, and he’s not very talkative. He’s more patient with plants than with people. I’m afraid you might get bored.”

“It’s okay,” Shang Mingbao replied, thinking she was also quite delicate. Maybe before she got bored, he would get annoyed with her first.

When Xiang Feiran returned home around nine in the evening, Xiang Lianqiao had been waiting in the specimen room for a long time.

When he personally stepped in, it should have been straightforward, but he only gave Xiang Feiran a crisp answer: “Not bringing.”

Xiang Lianqiao, putting aside his pride, asked, “Isn’t my grandfather’s request worth considering?”

Xiang Feiran continued writing labels on the paper, not lifting his eyelids: “I’m very busy and can’t accommodate.”

The former diplomat, known for his negotiation skills and eloquence, left with a nose full of dust.

After he left, Xiang Feiran called Aunt Lan to have her put the toy back in the guest’s bedroom and not to make a fuss about it. Aunt Lan didn’t say anything on the surface, but she was very talkative in her mind, her thoughts flashing across like a screen: “Huh???”

The lights in the specimen room stayed on until the early hours of the morning as expected.

Xiang Feiran wasn’t lying; he was indeed busy. Collecting specimens was enjoyable for a while, but it turned into a nightly ordeal. Over the course of a week, he collected about five hundred specimens and worked until three in the morning every day.

What he didn’t expect was to run into this guest again while taking a smoke break.

Shang Mingbao had come to find the evening primrose. She had carefully observed during the day and discovered many buds that were about to bloom, indicating that the flowering period was likely that night. Unable to sleep, she decided to go downstairs to see the flowers.

Xiang Feiran stood silently under the corridor, took a few puffs, then stubbed out the remaining half of the cigarette and walked towards the evening primroses.

“Can’t sleep?”

Shang Mingbao jumped slightly, her body trembling like a kitten under the moonlight in her white nightgown. She turned her head to see Xiang Feiran standing a few steps away with his hands in his pockets.

It was nearly two in the morning, and the moon was high in the sky. Shang Mingbao’s unspoken “uncle” and her breath both seemed to freeze.

He had a rather restless face, with prominent brow arches. His eyes seemed indifferent, but there was a rebellious air about him. Wearing a light gray hoodie, loose-fitting and youthful, he appeared extremely young.

Shang Mingbao was thoroughly confused. It could be attributed to the dim lighting last night, but the moonlight was much brighter today. He did look this young, yet he was evidently an elder. Could it be that Xiang’s grandfather had a child late in life?

“Uncle…” She started to speak.

“Forget it,” Xiang Feiran interrupted her immediately.

He finally noticed her appearance and asked, “Are you younger than Suining?”

Indeed, such a question was typical of an elder…

Shang Mingbao pulled the sleeves of her long nightgown over her hands and replied to the elder, “I’m a year younger than Suining.”

Xiang Feiran remained standing in the same spot, his tone very flat: “Staying up this late, missing home?”

Missing home seemed trivial since she wasn’t a child anymore; admitting it would be quite embarrassing. But when asked by him, Shang Mingbao suddenly felt a lump in her throat.

She gave a soft, brief “Mm.”

Xiang Feiran seemed a bit surprised: “I thought returning that doll to you would help you sleep better.”

Shang Mingbao was also surprised, her eyes lighting up with joy: “It was returned to me? When? Where?”

“I had Aunt Lan put it in your room. Didn’t you see it?”

Shang Mingbao understood: “I slept with Suining and didn’t go over there.”

“Now that you know,” Xiang Feiran lifted his chin slightly, as if giving an order: “Can you go back to sleep now?”

His expression was always very indifferent, and his gaze lacked any other emotion, making it hard to gauge his attitude.

Was he patient or impatient? Probably more impatient.

Shang Mingbao, knowing how to behave properly in front of elders, answered slowly, “Then I’ll go…”

She walked slowly, making sure he wouldn’t call her back. Once she was certain, she relaxed, and her arm, which had been gripping her sleeve, finally dropped.

Unexpectedly, amidst the chilly and heavy night mist, his steady voice suddenly said, “Wait a moment.”