Vase

"Here we are. Get off."

Su Tingbai planted his long legs on the ground, bringing the vehicle to a steady stop.

Shen Rui'an had flowers in both hands now. He looked at one, then the other. Just as he was considering which one to put down first, Little Zhu and the others came out after hearing the commotion.

"Boss, Young Master Shen, you're back!" Meng Meng swiftly took the flowers from Shen Rui'an, then exchanged meaningful looks with a petite, unfamiliar girl behind her.

Ya-ya, who was following behind, lit up the moment she saw Shen Rui'an. She had originally studied art, but by the time she graduated, the field was full of big names everywhere and lesser talents were a dime a dozen. Someone like her, stuck somewhere in the middle, could hardly find a decent position. Luckily, she had been good at writing copy since childhood, so she successfully landed a job with Su Tingbai's team.

The facts proved that her luck had exploded and she had stepped in dog shit. Su Tingbai's team had easy work, high pay, holidays off, weekends off, and never made up workdays!

The main reason was that Su Tingbai, their boss, was a willful rich second-generation heir!

Especially after Su Tingbai came to this estate, Ya-ya went home every few days to visit her mother. She had been born in a small village not far from here—wasn't that fate of a sort?

Since joining Su Tingbai's team, she had traveled to many places across the country, eaten food from every corner of it, and met plenty of people she had once only seen in newspapers or on TV. It had truly broadened her horizons.

As an art student and a looks enthusiast, Ya-ya had always held beauty to high standards. She could even find some evergreen celebrities in the entertainment industry not good-looking enough. She had thought she had seen countless handsome men and beautiful women in her life and that nothing could move her anymore.

But the moment she saw Shen Rui'an, she suddenly felt she had been too arrogant. How could there be someone this beautiful in the world?!

He was more stunning than any anime character, practically a masterpiece created after Nuwa and God had competed against each other!

Ya-ya stared blankly, completely entranced.

Although Meng Meng and the others had seen Shen Rui'an several times already, they had no resistance to him either. Still, they were better off than Ya-ya. After being stunned for a moment, they quickly came back to themselves.

Seeing that her friend had not moved, Meng Meng nudged Ya-ya with her elbow and whispered in her ear, "Girl, stop staring. The boss is shooting daggers at you!"

Only after meeting Su Tingbai's speechless gaze did Ya-ya snap back to her senses. She eagerly took Su Tingbai's backpack. "Boss, I'll go wash the vegetables! A-Ming, hurry up and film this."

This was all footage material and definitely had to be filmed. After editing, it would only appear as a fleeting shot.

Meng Meng was much more tactful. With a knowing smile, she took the little purple flowers Shen Rui'an held in one hand. "Young Master Shen, let me hold these for you."

Shen Rui'an naturally handed them over. "Thank you."

Then, with one hand braced against Su Tingbai's broad shoulder, he slowly got off the vehicle.

As expected, beauty was beauty. He was clearly getting off an electric scooter, yet Meng Meng and Little Zhu somehow felt as though they were watching him step out of a luxury car.

Afraid Shen Rui'an might fall, Little Zhu stood nearby, ready to help support him. Young Master Shen looked like a delicate beauty in a painting, so they could not be blamed for worrying too much.

After Su Tingbai had been feeding him these past two days, Shen Rui'an's appetite had improved somewhat. But he had been frail and ill for far too long, and there was no making up for it so quickly. He still looked pale and weak.

He staggered when he got down, but steadied himself by holding onto Su Tingbai. Then he took the little purple flowers from Meng Meng and waited for Su Tingbai to get off.

With Ya-ya and the others helping wash the vegetables, Su Tingbai was in no rush. Once Shen Rui'an was off the vehicle, Su Tingbai met his expectant gaze, and the corner of his mouth lifted unconsciously. "Come on. I'll find you a vase to put them in."

Shen Rui'an worriedly looked at the slightly wilted purple flowers in his hand, raised them toward Su Tingbai, and said anxiously, "Su Tingbai, these are about to wither!"

Shen Rui'an possessed an innocent naivety that came from being sheltered from the world. Because he was physically weak and had spent so long recuperating, others usually took care of him. Even if he had a particular hobby, he often lacked the energy to carry it out. Even something as simple as flower arranging had always been done with someone helping beside him, so he did not know how to handle flowers and plants himself.

Shen Rui'an did not have many refined hobbies either. Usually, he just walked the dog and scrolled through videos. Sometimes, even watching a slightly longer video made him tired. When he got tired of scrolling, he went to sleep. He rarely had enough energy in a day to deal with anything else.

He spent the vast majority of his time sleeping. Today's activity level was already far beyond his limit, yet strangely, he did not feel tired at all right now. He even felt pretty good.

Su Tingbai looked at the bluish-purple flower onions. They had been picked for too long and were a little wilted from lack of water. "It's fine. Put them in a vase with water, and they'll last for several days."

These flowers bloomed in May and June, and this was their flowering season. They usually grew in large patches and were particularly eye-catching. Three or four blooms clustered together, branching out at different heights along the long stems. They looked like orchids, but not quite—distinctive and exceptionally beautiful.

If Wild Roses were a fiery, passionate beauty, then these flower onions were a cool and distant beauty.

Their styles differed, but both were equally lovely, each beautiful in their own way.

It was Shen Rui'an's first time holding so many pretty little flowers, and he could not bear to part with any of them.

"Then hurry up and find one for me." He clutched the flowers and urged him on. He was genuinely worried the flower onions would wither.

Su Tingbai said helplessly, "Come with me, then!"

He led Shen Rui'an to a storage room. "Just stand at the door. It's cluttered in here, and there's a lot of dust."

He remembered that Shen Rui'an was in poor health. He had gotten carsick on the very first day he arrived, and there was a lot of dust in this room. Su Tingbai was truly afraid it would make him choke.

In truth, the storage room was not as messy as Su Tingbai made it sound. Several aunties cleaned every week, so it was not dirty, and everything had been sorted properly. Still, it was ultimately a room for storing miscellaneous things, and Su Tingbai rarely came here.

Following his memory, he found a transparent, pale-green oval vase. "This one. It looks pretty nice."

He took the vase outside. Shen Rui'an followed behind Su Tingbai like a puppy with the flowers in his hands, while Baisui appeared from who knew where and trailed behind Shen Rui'an.

Little Zhu and the others were picking and washing vegetables in the courtyard. Their sharp eyes caught sight of the two men and the dog, and they exchanged meaningful looks.

"Didn't the boss used to think flower arranging was too troublesome? That was why he bought so many green plants to decorate the house."

"You remembered right. He said cut flowers did not last long and vanished in the blink of an eye. Looking at them made people sentimental, so aside from the gardens, which were specially tended and full of blooming flowers, most of the house was filled with hardy evergreen plants."

"Tsk, have you ever seen the boss be this considerate toward anyone? He's even finding a vase for him~"

"Never. Last time, Boss Xing bragged about how popular he was with women and brought several bouquets over, asking the boss to find him a vase so he could show off. What happened? The boss just carried over a bucket of water, set it down, and told Boss Xing to deal with it himself..."

"Um... I think the boss treats Young Master Shen differently."

"Isn't that obvious!"

Meng Meng recalled how the boss had spoken on the phone with Old Master Su that day and mimicked him. "Who wants to take care of some spoiled young master? Go back where you came from~"

"Pfft—"

The group whispered and gossiped, then could not help laughing when they saw Meng Meng's imitation.

Meanwhile, Su Tingbai had no idea his employees were gossiping about him. He helped Shen Rui'an scrub the vase inside and out until it was crystal clear. When he turned around, he met Shen Rui'an's clear eyes. Looking down at the vase in his hands, he felt it was not even as bright as Shen Rui'an's eyes.