Tree Planting Day
Bai Hui returned to the car and saw Zhu Juntang video chatting with an old man with a white beard. The old man wasn't bald, but his hair and beard were completely white, gleaming with a silvery light. Bai Hui always thought that old men with such outstanding temperament must be similar to the peerless masters in martial arts novels, except that they might not be martial arts masters, but experts in some other field.
The old man was telling Zhu Juntang about the history and culture of the paulownia tree, "To truly talk about the historical significance of the paulownia, it mostly dates back to the Han Dynasty and later. The Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital says: 'In the Shanglin Park Garden, there are three types of paulownia: the Euphorbia tirucalli, the Pterocarya stenoptera, and the Vitex negundo.' When Huo Guang brought his granddaughter to the Shanglin Park Garden, his granddaughter, who later became Empress Shangguan, fell in love with the swings hanging on the Shanglin Park trees. Huo Guang then asked her if she would like to swing here every day..."
Bai Hui listened to Zhu Juntang talk about the history of the parasol tree for quite a while, but Bai Hui doubted whether Zhu Juntang could remember any of it. The old gentleman quoted from the Daya section of the Shengmin Zhishi (Book of Odes), specifically the line "The Phoenix cries, on that high hill. The parasol tree grows, in the morning sun. Lush and verdant, harmonious and melodious,"—she probably couldn't even recognize all the characters. How could she possibly recognize a few words just by listening to the sounds?
The car stopped at the teaching building where Zhu Juntang had her class. The driver got out and opened the door, the driver's side door opening a little faster than the rear door. Zhu Juntang rubbed her eyes, ended the video call, and said to Bai Hui, "I'm going to... go to class. The driver will take you home. If I'm not bullied by Liu Chang'an at noon, we'll have lunch together."
"Okay, don't provoke him." Bai Hui said helplessly. Zhu Juntang is really like a masochist. He likes to provoke Liu Chang'an for no reason, and then when he gets bullied, he comes to Bai Hui crying and wailing to denounce and curse Liu Chang'an together. Then, his anger resurfaces.
Maybe she thought the word "cute" in "solid germination" made her feel cute?
Zhu Juntang didn't take it to heart. She listened to mostly incomprehensible Chinese science popularization along the way and almost fell asleep. The short walk after getting off the bus was a bit cold, so she shrank her neck and stretched her hands behind her neck to part her hair and cover it.
It was no longer cold. Zhu Juntang walked gracefully into the classroom.
The third period had just ended, and people were moving around in the classroom. The girls were going to the restroom in twos and threes. Zhu Juntang looked around and first saw Yan Qingcheng. She nodded slightly in acknowledgment, and then she spotted Liu Chang'an sitting in the far corner. She put her hands on her sides, raised her palms, and waved them a couple of times, preparing to run over. But she immediately gave up and, as always, maintained the demeanor of a young lady from a wealthy family. She gently pressed the hem of her skirt and walked over to Liu Chang'an.
"Roll call has already been taken today," Liu Chang'an reminded her.
"Could I really be expelled?" Zhu Juntang frowned slightly, unconcerned; that wasn't the point.
"It's perfectly normal for you to be fired."
"If you expel me, I won't get any more donations each academic year. Who would do something that offers absolutely no benefit?"
"That's true."
Zhu Juntang glanced at the boys next to Liu Chang'an and waved.
Wei Xuanyi and Sun Shutong were still somewhat overwhelmed by Zhu Juntang's aura, and unconsciously moved a few places to the other side. Qin Zhiqiang, who was sitting in place, was stunned for a moment, and then moved over as well.
Zhu Juntang nudged Liu Chang'an, who remained motionless. Liu Chang'an glanced at her and then simply sat down in an empty seat in the front row.
Zhu Juntang followed and sat down next to Liu Chang'an, immediately saying, "I've discovered a secret about you!"
"I've discovered you're constipated." Liu Chang'an had also discovered one of Zhu Juntang's secrets.
"I didn't!" Zhu Juntang was building up the sense of mystery when revealing his secret and the smug feeling of discovering his secret, but he completely ruined it.
I was also a little furious. How could this person slander someone so casually? This kind of serious slander is almost equivalent to believing that she is not a fairy, but just a mortal.
"Then tell me, is it your little skirt that's dying of longing, or your little socks that's dying of longing?" Liu Chang'an could tell from her prepared demeanor that it was time for Zhu Juntang's budding desire to take hold again.
Zhu Juntang nervously pressed down on her skirt, her breathing quickened slightly, and her cheeks puffed out.
"Can you try something different? Stop teasing me with my little skirts and socks!" Zhu Juntang said angrily.
"No." You can't rely on one trick to succeed. Just like some authors who write novels, they can write ten or eight books with the same formula without any problem, but changing the formula is risky.
"I still have to say it," Zhu Juntang said, mustering her courage.
Liu Chang'an opened his notebook and casually sketched a simple drawing of a sheep.
"I heard Bai Hui say today that there was a man named Gui Youguang who planted a phoenix tree after his wife died. Since then, ancient literati have had a tradition of planting a phoenix tree after each wife dies. It's all just following the trend." Zhu Juntang summarized the traditional cultural notes she learned this morning.
Liu Chang'an's hand trembled, ruining the drawing of the sheep. He couldn't help but turn to look at Zhu Juntang. This person always managed to bring Liu Chang'an surprises and astonishments, no less than Zhou Dongdong and Shangguan Dandan.
There's a vulgar slang term from Junsha at this point, and I'm not sure if I should say it.
He didn't even need to question or confirm, and believed that this was just a story mainly based on Zhu Juntang's own imagination. Bai Hui was often ridiculed by Liu Chang'an and Gao Dewei for her IQ and grades, but in fact, Bai Hui also scored 600-something out of a total of 750 points, and was admitted to a 985 or 211 university with dignity.
It's impossible for Bai Hui not to know whether Gui Youguang planted a paulownia tree or a loquat tree.
Liu Chang'an remained silent, redrawing a sheep. There was nothing more to say; he neither wanted to comment on Zhu Juntang's remarks, nor did he want to correct her, much less respond to her.
"Why aren't you reacting?" Zhu Juntang was taken aback. He shouldn't be so calm. She had already touched a raw nerve in his emotions that had been etched into his past for thousands of years.
Liu Chang'an didn't want to pay attention to her. Just then, class started, and he looked up at the teacher on the podium.
"Old man?"
"Grandfather!"
"Mie Mie meow meow!"
Zhu Juntang was eager to tell him his secret, so not responding at all would ruin any of the gossip!
"Grandpa, are you ignoring your Immortal Sheep?" Zhu Juntang clung to Liu Chang'an's arm and acted coquettishly.
Liu Chang'an borrowed some duct tape from Qin Zhiqiang behind him and placed it on the table.
Zhu Juntang looked at the tape, and many images flashed through her mind. So she let go of Liu Chang'an's arm, sat obediently, and placed her hands together on the table, just like the elementary school student she had been on her first day of class.
"Little lamb, you're so good." Liu Chang'an patted Zhu Juntang's head with satisfaction.
"Meow!" Zhu Juntang didn't want to say anything more.
Zhu Juntang didn't bother Liu Chang'an until the end of class.
She just stared at the roll of tape. After class, Qin Zhiqiang and the others had to go back to their dorms first. Liu Chang'an returned the tape to Qin Zhiqiang, Zhu Juntang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"I know, you planted most of the sycamore trees at Xiangtan University!" Zhu Juntang said immediately, unaware of the threat posed by the duct tape.
Liu Chang'an nodded.
Zhu Juntang immediately became smug. "I think there's a reason you planted the phoenix tree. Dare you tell me what that reason is?"
Zhu Juntang had done a lot of research and imagination. Zhu Juntang had always been very interested in the mysterious stories surrounding Liu Chang'an, but he basically never told her about them, so Zhu Juntang had to try to find them out herself.
He planted each and every sycamore tree by his own hands, and for many years, he has been sitting under the sycamore tree waiting.
When he rests, when he eats, when he daydreams, when he reads, when he drinks tea, there is always a tall and shady sycamore tree accompanying him, as if it were an embodiment of someone.
Until one day, that person emerged from the long river of history, like a receding wave, struggling to leap ashore and gracefully walking back to his side.
Who is this person? Zhu Juntang really wanted to know. This person's appearance would probably break An Nuan, Qin Yanan, Bai Hui's hearts.
Arbor Day.
"What?" Zhu Juntang touched her ear.
"Arbor Day," Liu Chang'an repeated.
What is Arbor Day?
"Oh, you don't know about Arbor Day?" Liu Chang'an nodded. He wasn't sure if Taiwan maintained the tradition of Arbor Day, but even if it did, it was understandable that Miss Zhu wouldn't know.
"You mean... you planted the sycamore tree because of Arbor Day?" Zhu Juntang pulled at his ears and stared at Liu Chang'an with wide eyes.
"Our country's Arbor Day was initiated by forestry experts such as Ling Daoyang, Han An, and Pei Yili during the Republic of China era. Initially, it was celebrated on Qingming Festival. Later, to commemorate the death of Sun Yat-sen, it was changed to March 12th. This holiday was reinstated as a national holiday in the late 1970s." Liu Chang'an looked at Zhu Juntang, "If we're really talking about planting trees as a holiday activity, we can trace it back to before Christ."
Zhu Juntang looked around and saw that there were sycamore trees he had planted everywhere.
The leaves of those sycamore trees had all turned yellow and were shivering in the cold wind, yet they seemed to be stubbornly mocking each other.
"You... you planted so many sycamore trees just because of Arbor Day?" Zhu Juntang let go of her ear, put her hands on her hips in anger, and looked at Liu Chang'an with resentment.
"Yes, I'll be planting trees next Arbor Day. Will you come?" Liu Chang'an invited in a gentle tone.
"I'm not going!" Zhu Juntang stormed off. What a waste of time! She had made plans to have lunch with Bai Hui, where they could admire Bai Hui's newly collected set of animal-themed stockings together at noon.
Liu Chang'an smiled, turned to look at the ubiquitous sycamore trees on campus, his gaze gentle.
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I recommend a good book with sound values, a positive outlook, healthy thinking, and in line with the core socialist values: "The Great Doctor Ling Ran". Ling Ran, a medical student, has a small goal: to become the world's greatest doctor, and he accidentally achieves it.