Feast of Flowers

of me?” Pei Yan stared at Hua Jin.

“How can you call it “secret” when I took it in public?” Hua Jin handed her phone to Pei Yan, “Well, you can delete it if you want.”

“I knew you were envious of my face.” Pei Yan sneered, “So I’ll let you keep it, since I don’t think you’ll ever find a more handsome boyfriend than me in your life.”

 “Says who? My first love was a ‘Male-God’ and he was a hundred times more handsome than you.” Hua Jin put away her phone.
“Just to let you know, boys shouldn’t be too narcissistic or girls would be put off.”

   “Who’s your first love anyway, this ‘Male-God’?” Pei Yan raised his eyebrows.
“Tell me about him.”

“My first love, the ‘Male-God’, is known and acknowledged by everyone as a rare man that has both beauty and strength.
There will never be a man more handsome than him in this world.” Hua Jin tapped her phone before showing the screen to Pei Yan.
“Look if you don’t believe me.”

After seeing the person on the screen was Sun Wukong, a fictional movie character, he was struck speechless.

“I didn’t lie to you, right?” Hua Jin then put away her phone and threw her snack wrappers and beverage can into the trash.
When she looked back, Pei Yan had also come to throw his trash.
On her way back, she saw someone had littered a milk carton on the ground, so she casually picked it up and threw it in the trash as well.

“Turns out that you like monkeys over people.” Pei Yan’s expression was subtle, “What an unusual taste.” After speaking, without waiting for Hua Jin’s retort, he walked towards the wash area and put his hands under the faucet to wash his hands carefully several times. 

Hua Jin simply stared at his back, before going into the car again and taking her seat.

Pei Yan’s hometown was in Jiangsu City, which was famous all over the country because of its popular wines.
When Hua Jin and Pei Yan passed the Jiangsu Expressway Toll Station, it started to rain.
This gave him no choice but to take Hua Jin to a hotel to stay the night, to prepare for their journey to his hometown tomorrow, hopefully when the rain stopped.

  In the evening, Pei Yan got up and knocked on Hua Jin’s door, only to find that she wasn’t in her room.

 He frowned and was just about to call her, when he saw her walk out of the elevator.

   “You went out?” Pei Yan found that there were splotches of mud on the edge of her white skirt.

“Yeah.” Hua Jin nodded.
“I went out to the old neighborhood to ask about the embroidery style a few decades ago.”

 Pei Yan released his gaze before saying, “Go change your clothes before coming downstairs to the restaurant for dinner.”

“Wait for me.
I’ll go right now.” Hua Jin went into her room and quickly changed into a new set of clothes.
When she opened the door, she saw Pei Yan had really waited for her in the corridor.
She smiled and thanked him.

    “You are running errands for our grandma, so you don’t need to thank me.” Pei Yan put his hands in his pockets, “I just didn’t expect you to be a Shu embroiderer.”

  “Surprised?” Hua Jin walked into the elevator.
“Actually, I’m mainly here for myself, so I still want to thank you.”

 “For yourself?” Pei Yan’s expression mostly remained unchanged, though a little surprise slipped through.
Didn’t Yan Shao tell him that this Shu embroiderer came to the Shu Province to collect information in order to be able to make the panda embroidery for grandma?”

 “Yes.” Hua Jin smiled, “Shu Embroidery isn’t merely manual labor, but it is an artform.
If someone wants to improve their skills, they must first overcome countless difficulties to allow their craftsmanship to fuse with their artistic expression, together with their color aesthetic.
Only then will they be able to make the most exquisite embroideries.

Pei Yan didn’t speak.
He admired Hua Jin’s spirit, but he personally didn’t understand what she was trying to say.

The two stayed the night at the hotel, but on the next morning, instead of stopping, the rain grew even heavier.
After eating their lunch, Hua Jin noticed that Pei Yan looked a little annoyed.
“I heard that the oil-paper umbrellas here are very beautiful, and it just happens to be raining today.
Let’s buy two of them and let’s play a bit.”

 “No.” Pei Yan refused without thinking.
“This is not Xi Lake and I am not Xu Xian*.
For what purpose are we buying oil-paper umbrellas? Don’t tell me you wanted to play Legend of the White Snake?”

*Note: Xi Lake and Xu Xian are the location and a main character in the folklore story, Legend of the White Snake.
Check out the wikipedia article for more information.

“I just wanted to experience holding an oil-paper umbrella under the rain.
Perhaps I might suddenly get a flash of inspiration and enlightenment.” Hua Jin said seriously, “People like me, who pursue art, are very particular when it comes to artistic expression.”

“Can you stop speaking gibberish and start speaking in a human language? Maybe I can reluctantly accommodate your request then.”

“An oil-paper umbrella is very beautiful.
I just want to take one out in the rain and take pictures to post on my social media.” Hua Jin spoke all this in one breath.

Pei Yan stared at Hua Jin silently for a good three seconds before saying, “That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Pei Yan put down his chopsticks before standing up, “Let’s go then.”

“Where to?”

  “To accompany you to pursue art and find inspiration.” Pei Yan crossed his arms around his chest, glowered at her and then mockingly said, “Looking forward to witnessing you get enlightened!”

 “As expected of Mr Pei.
Such a handsome and kind man.” Hua Jin picked up her bag and followed behind him.
“Right now, you’re already so tall and committed, aren’t you over 3.8 meters tall already? If you remember to turn on MeiYan* when you take pictures of me later, you’d probably grow taller to 8.8 meters!”

*Note: It’s a beauty filter… 

Pei Yan paused before turning to look at Hua Jin.

‘Photo?’

‘Me?’

  ‘Who said I’ll do it?!’

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The author has something to say: “Art? Bah! Beautify your own face! What does that have anything to do with me?!