Feast of Flowers

y, Men scare the hoodlums away.
Hua Jin felt she was an abnormal woman, since she could both embroider and scare away would-be ruffians in this day and age.  

The booked car arrived quickly.
Hua Jin got on the back seat, while the driver reminded her that there were water bottles available for free if she was thirsty.
She thanked him, but did not even touch the bottles of water.
Seeing that his passenger was not one to talk, the driver decided to remain silent as well, just turning on his radio for traffic announcements.

The broadcast said that there was a car accident on a certain road that has caused traffic congestion.
Pedestrians and vehicles were advised to avoid going through that route. 

“Luckily we just passed the intersection right next to it.
Otherwise, we’d have had to take a long detour.” The driver sighed in relief, but having remembered that his female passenger seemed to not want to talk, he refrained from speaking further.
He really just was a bit chatty.
That’s probably his only problem.
He had once gotten a bad review because he talked too much, so since then, he’s learned to restrain his chatterbox mouth. 

“Well, lucky we’re lucky.” Hua Jin gave a curt reply.

“That’s not it.” The driver blustered proudly.
“I’ve been lucky since I was a kid.
Even dogs wag their tails when they see me!”  

Hua Jin was too flabbergasted to reply for a while.
The example the driver gave was just too out there. 

When the driver found that Hua Jin wasn’t all that averse to conversing, he stopped holding back his great chatty self and proceeded to talk about recent topics he found interesting.
Hua Jin also realized that there were guys like this driver hidden everywhere who were very in the know.
There were some things that even she, an Internet savvy person, couldn’t understand on her own could be thoroughly explained by them.
Simply fascinating. 

When they passed the vicinity of the car accident, Hua Jin could only make out the sound of numerous ambulances and police sirens from a distance.
Nothing else could be heard.

Arriving outside a residential building, the driver stuck his head out his window to get a better view.
He found the alleyway was narrow and small, with the walkway a bit uneven.
“Miss, we’ve arrived at our destination.
Please don’t forget to give me a 5-star review.” 

“Okay.” Hua Jin pushed the door open and got out of the car.
She had only walked a few steps when she found the walkway suddenly illuminated.
She turned to see the talkative master had not driven away, but instead had turned on his headlights to light her way across the alley.

Hua Jin stopped walking and thanked the driver.

The driver closed the door and window, so he couldn’t hear what Hua Jin said.
Seeing her turn around, he waved to her and motioned her to go home quickly.

The driver had closed his door and window, so he could not hear her thanks.
Seeing her turn around and thank him, he just motioned her to quickly go home already. 

It was not easy for a young woman to be outside at night.
If this kind of trivial matter can ensure the safety of a person, he just regarded it as accumulating virtue for himself. 

Walking through the dark corridor of her apartment building, Hua Jin heard Sister Qin roaring.
Was she scolding her child again?

The building that Hua Jin’s rented apartment was in was a single-row, old fashioned condominium.
There were only 6 floors in total.
Each room had a kitchen and a bathroom, and all shared a spacious balcony that connected the whole floor.
There were rumors of the building’s imminent demolition, but nothing has happened for 2 to 3 years.
Most of the people living in the building were tenants from all over the world.
They were polite to each other, but due to their vastly different schedules, most were destined to not develop too deep a friendship with their neighbors.

Going up to her floor, when Hua Jin was just about to insert her key through her door, she heard bowls being broken next door.
She turned her head and listened carefully, but there was no sound of a crying child.

She’s heard from Grandma Chen downstairs that Sister Qin was a local here.
Her husband gambled and sometimes even cheated and beat up people.
She divorced him and moved back in with her parents, together with her son, but because her son was being bullied by her brother’s children, she moved out again.

Perhaps the pressures of life had worsened her temper and that she couldn’t help but scold her son.
Be that as it may, Hua Jin has never seen her act violently against him.
Whether she was right or wrong, Hua Jin thought it wasn’t her place to judge.

Even after a few minutes of Shu Embroidery in the house, the ruckus next door has yet to cease.
Hua Jin sighed helplessly.
She got up and loaded a small bowl with green dates from the refrigerator and went out and knocked on Sister Qin’s door. 

“Sister Qin, I bought these fresh green dates yesterday and they taste good.
I’ve brought some of them for you and your son to enjoy.” After Sister Qin opened the door, Hua Jin didn’t enter.
She only glanced towards the boy, sitting quietly on a shabby sofa, apparently unhurt.
His clothes weren’t even ruffled.

“Thank you.” Sister Qin looked at Hua Jin and accepted the bowl.
She quickly took the bowl inside and came out again just as quick.
The green dates were gone, but in its place were a few pieces of sliced pineapple.
“These pineapple slices were what I pickled today.
They are very sweet.
Have some too.”

“Thank you.” Hua Jin took a bite and as advertised, the pineapple was sweet and delicious, with no sharp sourness at all.
When she returned to her apartment, the loud noise from next door had ceased.
It wasn’t too long until it became completely quiet. 

The mother and son must have fallen asleep.

She yawned, turned on the lights, and started embroidering the big red dragon and phoenix quilt.

What she promised had to be completed even if she had to stay up late. 

An hour later, she got up to walk a few steps around her room.
A media app on her phone suddenly sent her a notification titled, “His life makes you sympathize, but its life makes you cry.”

She clicked on the notification and read the contents.
It was about a rich man and his pets when traveling.
Because he didn’t want his pets to suffer in the cargo hold during flights, he decided to just go to their destination by private jet.

“Viral News!”