Extra 2 : Shen Yin’s Flower Care Guide
Song Tan’s injuries hadn’t fully healed yet, but she didn’t want to stay in the hospital anymore, so she went straight back home to recuperate.
Shen Yin pushed aside all his tasks to stay home and accompany Song Tan.
At first, for the first two days, Song Tan felt pretty good being able to spend time with Shen Yin.
But being together every day started to wear her out.
“Teacher Shen, I think you should go out more,” Song Tan said seriously.
Shen Yin looked up from his book, his gaze falling on Song Tan.
“What, you find me annoying now?”
“No, it’s not that. I’m just worried that you’re cooped up at home every day and getting bored,” Song Tan replied.
Shen Yin glanced at her. “Cooped up at home?”
In truth, Song Tan had gotten used to staying at home, though she enjoyed the outside world. Home was comfortable, even if she spent every day there.
But with a teacher at home watching over her, setting limits on phone usage, portioning out meals, even timing her sun exposure, it was a bit suffocating.
Song Tan knew he meant well, but with all this fuss every day, she feared an early demise.
“No, I just think… with all your responsibilities, being home with me every day means those tasks pile up, which isn’t good.”
Song Tan’s excuse wasn’t very convincing, and Shen Yin could tell as soon as he heard it.
“Your acting skills seem to have regressed,” he remarked.
When she acted in front of him before, she could have earned Oscars, but now she seemed to be brushing him off.
Setting the book down, Shen Yin moved to sit beside Song Tan.
He looked at her.
Caught under his gaze, Song Tan blinked.
Shen Yin lifted his hand, as if to touch her face, but then let it drop wearily.
His expression was troubled.
She asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Are you tired of me now?”
Song Tan : ?
“You probably are,” Shen Yin’s tone was filled with melancholy.
He continued, “I’ve never been an interesting person from childhood to adulthood. Everyone says I’m a bookworm. Besides reading, I don’t know anything else.”
He looked at her again, sighing. “Being with me must be quite dull, right?”
“Not at all,” Song Tan was just feeling smothered by his strictness, hence why she wanted him to go out more.
But she hadn’t expected Shen Yin to be so sensitive.
Reaching out, Song Tan hugged him, denying, “It’s not boring at all. Being with you is quite enjoyable.”
“Then why do you keep trying to make me leave?” Shen Yin asked.
Song Tan buried her face in his chest, speaking in a muffled tone, “Do you want to hear the truth?”
Shen Yin nodded.
“The truth is, I want to write this,” Song Tan gestured to her laptop.
“Write a novel?” Shen Yin asked.
Song Tan : ?
“You knew?”
Shen Yin cleared his throat.
Not only did he know, but he had also read it.
“How did you know?” Song Tan recalled his comment about her reading too many CEO novels.
“…”
On Song Tan’s bookshelf, there were indeed quite a few popular novels, but they belonged to the more restrained kind.
But the electronic novels on her phone were quite unrestrained.
Seeing Song Tan’s expression change, Shen Yin quickly hugged her and apologized, “Sorry, I saw it accidentally…”
Because Song Tan was in a coma at the time and he didn’t know when she would wake up.
He was worried that when she woke up, her things wouldn’t work, so every week, he would charge her phone, iPad, and computer to prevent them from getting damaged from disuse.
That day, her computer had a slight malfunction, and when he was fixing it for her, he accidentally saw the novel she was writing.
“It’s really well written! Especially the male lead.”
Song Tan : “…”
With Shen Yin’s intelligence, how could he not see that some inspiration was drawn from him?
Song Tan felt like she was so embarrassed right now.
“Shen Yin, you must go out today.”
Shen Yin : ?
“Otherwise, I’m going to beat you1.”
Shen Yin : “…”
In order to make Song Tan feel better, Shen Yin had to temporarily leave home for a day.
After Shen Yin left, Song Tan buried herself in her bed.
She had never been so embarrassed in her life.
But she was good at digesting emotions. After a while, she figured it out.
Writing novels wasn’t something to be ashamed of.
Even if Shen Yin found out, so what?
He still had to provide her with material!
The more Song Tan thought about it, the more courteous she felt, so she opened her computer and continued writing the novel.
During her coma, she had read many novels, but her own novel had been on hold for almost half a year.
She didn’t know if the readers who were originally following it were still there.
Although Song Tan’s mood was uneasy, she had experienced a lot during this time and gained a lot, so when she started writing the plot, she found it quite easy.
After she finished writing a chapter, the sky outside had already darkened.
But Shen Yin still hadn’t returned.
Song Tan checked her messages, but there was no reply from him.
Could something have happened?
Song Tan was still a bit worried and called Shen Yin.
The phone rang just as Shen Yin picked up the call.
“Are you waiting for my call?”
“Yeah, without permission from my wife, I dare not enter the house.”
Song Tan : … She knew he was poor, but she didn’t expect him to be this poor.
“Okay, hurry back, I’m hungry.”
“Okay.”
As soon as the conversation ended, Shen Yin had already stepped into the small courtyard gate.
He should have arrived at the doorstep just when he received the phone call.
With many things in his hands, Song Tan walked over to see, finding him carrying flower pots and a toolbox.
“What are you buying these for?” Song Tan asked.
“For planting flowers,” Shen Yin replied.
Song Tan pondered. How did she interpret it differently?
Previously, Shen Yin had treated her like raising a delicate flower. Now, after ‘fighting’ with her, was he planning to cultivate other flowers?
Wasn’t this a bit too fickle?
Song Tan watched him place the new flower pots in the yard, fill them with soil, and replant the flowers.
Shen Yin was very proficient in taking care of plants. The medicinal herb garden behind the yard was also well-maintained by him. Not to mention the flowers inside the house, lush and flourishing. However, as autumn approached, many plants were entering the leaf-falling season.
Every morning, Shen Yin would sweep away the fallen leaves with a large broom.
Now, with two more pots of flowers, although they hadn’t bloomed yet, Song Tan felt somewhat uncomfortable with them.
She sat on the stone steps closer to the flower pots, watching Shen Yin playing with them.
Shen Yin only glanced at her once before continuing his work.
Song Tan : ???
Normally, when he saw her sitting on the stone bench, he would bring a cushion over, not letting her sit on the cold stone slabs.
Now, all his attention was focused on the flowers, completely ignoring her.
“Ahem.”
Song Tan deliberately coughed twice in front of him.
Shen Yin didn’t hear.
“Ahem ahem ahem ahem.”
Out of Song Tan’s sight, Shen Yin raised his eyebrows.
But when he turned to look at Song Tan, his face returned to calmness.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Accusingly, Song Tan pointed at the flowers, pretending to cry, “You don’t care about me anymore. You care about those flowers instead of me.”
Shen Yin just watched her act.
Her acting was now exaggerated to the point where tears weren’t coming out, but her crying sounded poignant.
“Are you… jealous of the flowers now?” Shen Yin asked, suppressing a smile.
Song Tan paused for a moment, finding it hard to continue acting, but she had to.
“Do you want the flowers or me?” she said.
After saying that, Song Tan couldn’t help but laugh, and Shen Yin couldn’t hold back his laughter either. After laughing for a while, Shen Yin introduced, “This is the Tan flower2 that I found.”
Speaking of Tan flower, he glanced at her.
“Tan flower… blooms for a very short time.”
Usually, Tan flower would bloom at night, and the blooming period would only last for a few hours.
At that time… they probably had both fallen asleep, so they would end up unable to see anything by the time they wake up.
“If we can see it, consider it fate; if we can’t, look again next year.”
Song Tan nodded, “But, you didn’t bring back those two pots of Tan flowers just for me, did you?”
Although the character ‘Tan’ was in Song Tan’s name, she didn’t consider herself a Tan flower.
What she wanted to do was to be a plastic flower, that bloom every day of the year, and enjoy all four seasons.
But Song Tan didn’t have the courage to say this to Shen Yin.
“Indeed, I thought of you, so I brought them back.”
He sighed, “I’ve read gardening guides for so long, but my flower won’t let me tend to them, so I have to try with other flowers.”
“Well, you really are using those flowers as a substitute!” Although the reason was indeed ridiculous, when it comes to women, that angle is indeed sharp.
After bantering for a while, Shen Yin smirked triumphantly, “It seems that the gardening guide needs to add some content.”
Song Tan : ?
“If I’m raising a delicate flower, I can’t let her see other flowers.
“Otherwise, she’ll get jealous.”
Song Tan : “…”
Author’s note :
Shen Yin : Folks, my wife gets jealous over a flower, who understands?
- because she’s too embarrassed ↩︎
- It’s Epiphyllum oxypetalum, also known as the Dutchman’s pipe cactus, princess of the night or queen of the night. t is a type of cactus that blooms at night and only lasts for a few hours. The flowers are large and white, with a delicate fragrance. ↩︎
[Shen Yin : Folks, my wife gets jealous over a flower, who understands?]
I stG I can hear his smugness in it. 😂😅😂😅