Chapter 124: Wrath and Joy (Basic + Powder 450)

  When the peony cried out, seeing Wu San quickly approaching to grab himself with ill intentions, he flapped his wings and proudly stepped on Jiang Changyang's head twice. Before Peony got angry, he flew up and landed on Peony's arm, letting out two strange laughs, tilting his head to look at Peony's face and saying in a flattering tone: "Peony is really lovely."

  Peony looked at its small, black bean-like eyes and couldn't help but smile awkwardly at Jiang Changyang: "It has never done anything so rude before, I think it must like you."

  Jiang Changyang smiled slightly: "I guess so too." He picked up a grape from the table and placed it in his palm, handing it to Fling. Fling carefully observed his expression, then swiftly snatched the grape away with lightning speed, flying to what she thought was a safe place. After landing, she skillfully grasped the grape with one claw, let out a loud "Uncle Jiang is great!" and began eating the grape with her head down.

  Jiang Changyang couldn't help but burst out laughing, and the others, seeing that he wasn't angry at all, followed suit. Peony knew that from now on, in Shuai's eyes, Jiang Changyang would only be called Uncle Jiang.

  Jiang Changyang stayed in Fangyuan until it was almost time for dinner before leaving. Peony believed that if it weren't for Lin's mother's subtle hints, such as asking him if the farm was busy, who took care of things when he wasn't around, or whether the road was easy to walk on after dark, he would have stayed until after dinner. But Lin's mother seemed to think he had overstayed his welcome and didn't want him to stay any longer. In this situation, no matter how thick-skinned he was, he couldn't bear to continue sitting there and could only get up and bid farewell.

  Yingniang and Rongniang were somewhat regretful, Jiang Changyang was a good conversationalist, he knew the customs and practices of many places outside Beijing that they didn't know about, such as the sea, such as the desert. He even enthusiastically told them how to find minerals, "On the mountain with green onions, there is silver below; on the mountain with scallions, there is gold below; on the mountain with ginger, there is copper and tin below; on the mountain with precious jade, all branches of trees droop downwards."

  Peony didn't believe that he had really followed people to find mines, or that he could tell at a glance where there were mines and what kind of mines they were. Most of his knowledge came from reading miscellaneous books or listening to his friends. But she was sure that Jiang Changyang was racking his brains and trying his best to please her family and pets. Compared to the Fling who would pretend to be deaf and dumb, pretending not to exist whenever he saw Liu Chuan, this Fling who dared to jump onto Jiang Changyang's head and cause trouble made Peony feel more at ease.

  She believed that animals had an innate ability to see through the essence, just like when she first woke up from this body, what she feared most was facing the swinging in front of her bed. The swinging would always maintain a posture for a long time, staring at her motionlessly, its small black eyes barely moving, and she felt that those eyes could see into her heart, piercing her soul, and recognizing her identity. This idea made her shiver. But she persisted, not letting anyone take it away, learning to gaze at it kindly, and talking to it. At first, it was arrogant, ignoring her, even pecking at her hand without courtesy, but slowly, it became her swinging, learning to shout "Peony is so lovely" whenever it saw her. It was her first friend after arriving here, and no one else could accompany her lonely solitude like it did.

  Peony gently placed her hand on Shuai's head and stroked it softly, whispering words that only the two of them could hear: "Shuai, you've had enough snacks today, and you can't have any more for the next two days." Shuai closed her eyes halfway, remaining still, clearly savoring Peony's gentle caress.

  "Peony whispered: 'What do you think of him? You still like him, don't you?'"

  He gently tilted his head and pecked at her palm lightly.

  "Good, you understand the meaning of 'like' this time, right?" Peony remembered reading that African Greys' intelligence was equivalent to a five-year-old child's. The more they were trained, the older and smarter they became. Most of the time, Goodie showed his own consciousness, rather than just repeating simple words.

  This time, Shuai didn't answer her, he was about to fall asleep.

  The peony smiled slightly and muttered to herself, "Actually, I think my luck is pretty good. Although it was a bit troublesome before, everything worked out in the end. Maybe it'll be like that in the future too?" Perhaps, he would also become the person she expected him to be. The peony suddenly shook her head, let's not think about it for now, there's still plenty of time, and things will naturally fall into place.

  Mrs. Lin carried in the clean laundry, just in time to hear Peony's words, and smiled: "Peony, if you can think that way, it's for the best. Only when you're open-minded will your body be well." She lowered her voice here and whispered: "Mom is still waiting for the day you get married, you must live a good life, and make those petty people jealous to death."

  "Got it."

  Lin's mother immediately said, "Young Master Jiang is a good person, but you should be reserved when the time calls for it and gentle when the situation requires it. Some things shouldn't be spoken carelessly, just like today..."

  "Alright, I know you've been busy all day and you're tired too, hurry up and go to sleep."

  Lin's mother could only shake her head and walk away while turning back to say: "You have to listen to me this time, next time he comes, you have to be more indifferent than today..."

  The peony puffed out her cheeks, still wanting to refuse and welcome at the same time. That night, the peony had a beautiful dream, in which she was alone, but surrounded by elegant and noble peonies, even including black varieties that didn't exist here, too many to count. So when it wasn't yet light, she woke up automatically, with a smile still on her lips. The watchman Kuaner was exhausted from the previous day and slept soundly, so Peony quietly avoided her, gently opened the door, and walked out.

  The fragrant garden was shrouded in a thin layer of white mist at dawn, with no wind, and it couldn't be seen whether the weather would clear up. The air was extremely fresh, carrying a hint of damp earthy grass fragrance. This is the taste of life. A peony stretched out its hand from a blade of grass to pick a sparkling dewdrop, put it in its mouth, savored it for a moment, and tasted a faint dusty flavor. It spat it out and laughed like a child.

  She glanced at the sky and estimated that others would not get up for another quarter of an hour, so she went to the nursery. Along the way, she enjoyed her flower garden. Some of the transplanted flowers and trees were doing very well, while some were withering, but the stones bought from Yuan Shi Jiu were truly beautiful and suitable. Peony thought that if the peonies and flowers she had carefully planted were a beautiful dress, then Yuan Shi Jiu's stones were the bones that supported this beautiful dress. Now that the flesh was plump and full of vitality, she only needed to manage it well, bring it to life, make it full of spirit and vitality, and it would be a rare beauty, with the power to captivate people at first sight.

  As she thought of this, she couldn't help but think of Jiang Changyang again, that young and strong man with a face as red as his white teeth, who smelled of grass rather than incense. She couldn't help but start predicting when he would come to visit next, and what excuse he would use. She guessed that at most it would be three days before he came again, and the excuse would be that she had asked him to find a florist for her. Maybe the florist wouldn't be so easy to find, but he would definitely come halfway to report on what his friend said, telling her to wait a little longer and so on. Peony couldn't help but curl up the corners of her mouth.

  As she approached the nursery, she heard a conversation coming from not far ahead. It was Zheng Hua's voice: "Xi Lang, you'd better do well. He Niangzi has a soft and kind heart, and she also understands peonies very well. If you can gain her appreciation, I'll teach you some tricks, and that will be enough for you to live on for the rest of your life."

  Xi Lang said in a low voice: "I know. Ninth Uncle, what did you learn from her?"

  Zheng Huajuan let out a soft sigh: "She's always on guard against me, most of the time she doesn't want me by her side. But I still hope that one day, she'll see how diligent and honest I am and teach me something."

  " Ninth Uncle, is it true that there are many peonies in that small garden? I heard that this year all the temples and Taoist monasteries in the city have been bought up by Cao Wanrong, so where did she get them from?"

  Zheng Hua said, "Actually, some of them are inferior peonies and paeonias, but there are also many flowers that have been received. I don't know where they came from either. Hei Niangzi is very capable. You also saw the young master today, she has many friends like this. Maybe it was given to her by someone's family, who knows?"

  Xi Lang murmured, "Oh," and said in a low voice, "This year, Cao Wanrong spent a lot of money buying up the surrounding land and hiring famous designers to design it. If he builds it, it will be even bigger than this one. Not only that, but he also plans to reserve the temple's entrance for next year at a high price. He's been telling everyone that Fangyuan is empty and has few peonies, not worth visiting, and that buying so many stones would be better off renaming it 'Stone Garden'. I plan to tell this to Madame He, do you think she'll be delighted and let me into the garden?"

  Zheng Huaqiang only said, "You must never mention that person again. Be careful not to arouse suspicion or be accused of betraying your former master and being driven out. If that happens, my efforts will have been in vain. I'm warning you again: keep your hands and feet clean, don't dare steal any more connectors from this Fragrant Garden, or I won't forgive you."

  Xirang said gloomily, "Ninth Uncle, I've told you many times before. At that time, I really had no way out. My father was waiting to use the medicine, and neither Cao Wanrong nor I were willing to lend me money. Even taking my wages in advance wasn't an option. What could I do? I didn't want to be a thief either."

  Peony sighed again, and it was Cao Wanjun. Zheng Huajiang introduced a little thief to her, and he really took advantage of her kindness. With the intention of deceiving her, he still thought himself diligent and honest, and wanted her to teach him techniques, how could she praise him?

  There's also Cao Wanrong, who thought that by buying up all the grafts, he could put her to death? No way, she has a new peony propagation technology that the florists of this era have not yet mastered. That is the method of budding grafting. In traditional peony grafting methods, hard branch grafting has always been the main method, which requires a large number of peony scions. However, if you use the dozens or even hundreds of buds on the root neck of the peony, also known as heel sprouts, to graft onto the root of the paeonia, it's different. The survival rate is higher, and it facilitates dwarfing of the peony, making it suitable for potting. She just has to wait two more years at most.

  So Cao Wanjun buys more peony seedlings, and builds a bigger garden, she is not afraid. Since he has so much money and likes to attack people, she wants to see how much money he can spend to buy all the peony seedlings in the entire city of Beijing. Can't he think that by controlling her peony business from the source, she won't exhaust his funds? In the following years, let's see how he competes with her.

  The peony took a few steps forward, bypassing a clump of rhododendron, and saw Zheng Huaizhang and his nephew squatting beside a Taihu stone. The two were tending to a bean green plant, Xilang's expression was extremely focused, and the movements of tending to the flower were also very gentle, looking like a true flower lover.

  Peony thought for a moment, deciding not to "disturb" the two of them. No matter whether Xi Lang was genuine or fake, she planned to let him stay temporarily. She knew Cao Wanrong's sinister and cunning temperament, if he was indeed someone sent by Cao Wanrong, then even if she drove him away, there would still be others coming, so it didn't hurt to keep him in plain sight.

  The peony quietly turned around, went to the nursery, asked the gatekeeper to take out the key and open the tightly closed door, walked along the small path between the ridges, and looked over her treasures one by one, liking them more and more. By the time she had inspected all the flowers that had been transplanted, Yuhua also came over.

  Peony told Yihlang's affairs and her own plans to Yuhe, saying: "I plan to go back to the city and take a look around everywhere, saying that I want to book next year's peony in advance."

  Yu He furrowed his brow and said, "But what if that Ji Lang is telling a lie? With so many middlemen, can we really make a profit? Peony flowers are expensive, even if we manage to grow them, not many people will be able to afford them. Maybe he's just trying to get us to follow in his footsteps and take a loss this year, that way he'll feel better."

  Peony smiled and said, "It's not that I really want to buy it, but rather that I plan to buy it." Cao Wanrong was either genuinely planning to book the next year's peonies or just teasing her, she would help him in any case. The two major gardens were competing for the peonies, and as a result, the price of peonies next year should be very good.

  Although the Fragrant Garden was still half-finished, Yingniang and Rongniang both loved it here. They learned to wear rough linen clothes like Peony, following her everywhere, walking around until evening when they went for a stroll in the fields with Zhengniang and others, watching children catch frogs on the ridges, playing happily. At night, they recited poetry with Dagu Niang and Lin Mama, and together with Peony's sisters, they savored the oil-fried sparrows brought by Zhou Baniang, drinking until midnight, enjoying a leisurely and carefree time that they had never experienced in their city home.

  On the third day, early in the morning, Peony was inspecting her treasures in the nursery as usual. As expected, Jiang Changyang arrived. He entered the nursery with ease and found Peony observing the healing of a peony flower's wound. He smiled and said, "How is that special brocade doing?" It seemed as if he had come specifically to see that particular flower.

  The peony pinched her mouth and smiled, her hands didn't stop moving, she casually pointed in the direction: "That's over there, you go take a look yourself."

  Jiang Changyang quietly followed behind her, walking softly past the thatched hut, but then suddenly quickened his pace and returned, not disturbing her, and stood still beside her. Peony didn't pay attention to him, continuing to do her own thing, until about half a time unit had passed, when she finally finished observing all the flowers and trees. Turning around, Jiang Changyang was still standing there, and upon seeing her look over, immediately broke into a smile.

  Yu He stood by, secretly winking at Peony, hinting her to look at Jiang Changyang's clothes. Peony noticed that he was wearing a new jade-colored robe today, without his sword, and a crystal-clear jade pendant hung from his waist. Although the black gauze hat on his head wasn't new, it was styled very fashionably, and his six-sided boots were spotless. This was truly rare.

  Jiang Changyang noticed that Peony was looking at his clothes, with a hint of a smile on her lips and a slight awkwardness. He pulled at his robe and laughed: "I had this robe made last year, I don't particularly like the color, but Wu San said it's okay. I didn't believe his taste, so I wore it to let you all judge for yourselves."

  Peony and Rain Lotus almost burst out laughing. Don't you like it? This is obviously a hint that they should praise him, Peony suppressed her smile and said seriously: "Actually, it's pretty good, looks very spirited."

  Jiang Changyang couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

  Peony looked around and asked, "Where is Director Wu?"

  Jiang Changyang said casually, "He has other things and can't come." As he followed Peony out, he said, "I asked around, my friend who is also a florist still has some left, and is willing to give one to you. I picked one that won't talk for you, how's that?"

  Peony was taken aback. What kind of person is this? How many flower masters have been raised in the same way? Can't you just pick one that won't speak? Are there many different types?

  Seeing Peony's hesitant look, Jiang Changyang's expression became even more relaxed. He strongly advised Peony to take the person in: "He has no children, and he is an old man. As long as you are willing to support him until his death, he will certainly not do anything that would betray your trust. Just get through these few years, and by then, the people you have chosen and trained yourself will be ready."

  "Excuse me, but would you mind telling me who this friend of yours is?" Peony couldn't help asking.

  Jiang Changyang hesitated for a moment before saying, "I don't know if you've ever heard of Jing Wang?"

  Peony shook his head vaguely: "I am not familiar with these big shots."

  Jiang Changyang smiled and said gently, "He's not some big shot, originally he wasn't famous either. Among the more than ten dragon sons of the Emperor, he was the most unknown, equivalent to a idle person, no wonder you don't recognize him. This flower craftsman is his protégé, do you dare to want him?"

  "Is he your good friend?" Peony asked with a frown.

  Jiang Changyang corrected her seriously: "It's friend." It's a friend, not a good friend.

  The peony fell silent for a moment before saying, "If you think it's believable, I'm willing to give it a try."

  Jiang Changyang's smile grew more gentle, and he said with unusual confidence: "I chose him, you can rest assured. His price is a bit high, 100,000 yuan, but it's well worth it. I heard that over ten years ago, he managed the Furong Garden, once you see him, you'll understand."

  The peony saw a hint of cunning and complacency in his eyes, and couldn't help but look forward to the arrival of this mute flower craftsman, smiling: "If he's really as formidable as you say, then it's not too much to ask for more."

  Jiang Changyang smiled and the two of them walked on in silence for a long time before he suddenly called out softly, "Dan Niang."

  His slightly low and muffled voice was like fine silk, gently sliding past Peony's ear, leaving a strange feeling. Peony's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and her smile became somewhat stiff as she said in a low voice: "What?"

  Jiang Changyang looked up at Peony, and on her white jade-like earlobe, he caught a glimpse of a beautiful flush. Although it was fleeting, he still quickly captured this subtle change. His eyes shone brightly as he said happily: "I'll invite the Pan couple to stay at my villa for a few days in two days' time, would you like to go and keep Mrs. Bai company?" Before Peony could respond, he added hastily: "Mainly to thank Mrs. Bai for her help last time."

  What's the point of asking if I'm willing or not? The answer is right there. Peony let out a slightly helpless sigh: "Then I have to go." Although she didn't particularly like Pan Rong, she liked Madame Bai.

  Jiang Changyang smiled happily and said in a low voice, "I just built a waterside pavilion and piled up a fake mountain, it's already completed. You can go take a look too. I planted lotus flowers and white lotus, next summer they will definitely be very beautiful. At that time you can bring Yingniang and Rongniang to play."

  "Then will you take money for it?" Peony asked with a teasing smile.

  Jiang Changyang quickly retorted: "You say you'll take it or not?"

  The peony suddenly felt that his gaze was too piercing, she coarsely rolled her eyes at him: "How do I know if you'll accept it or not?" After speaking, she couldn't help but turn her face away and smile.

  Jiang Changyang fell silent for a moment, then burst out laughing. For the first time, he had received her cold shoulder, but also got a red face and a shy smile. This new set of clothes was worth wearing after all, and it wasn't in vain that he had spent half a day pestering Jing Wang and getting that florist to come over.

  Peony felt increasingly ill at ease upon hearing his laughter, especially when she saw Rain Lotus's mouth corners always curled up and never put down. She became even more embarrassed, so she pretended to look around: "What are you laughing at? What's so funny?"

  Jiang Changyang saw through her little trick at a glance and laughed even louder.

  Shai Shai was still playing with Ying Niang and Rong Niang in the thatched cottage, the only difference being that today it was carrying a tree branch and gnawing on it non-stop. When it saw Peony and Jiang Changyang approaching, it dropped the branch and charged at Jiang Changyang's head as usual. Jiang Changyang stood still, and just as Shai Shai was about to land, he quickly stretched out his arm and swiftly grabbed its neck.

  He blinked his small, bean-like eyes in shock, staring at Jiang Changyang in terror, unable to comprehend why this man who was smiling foolishly just yesterday had suddenly changed his expression. He pinched its neck, not too tightly, but still pinching it... It struggled and scratched his hand a few times, but he didn't react at all, nor did the force of his grip increase or decrease. It looked frantically at Peony, who stood by seemingly without any intention to rescue it. After a moment's silence, it used its utmost strength to shout: "Uncle Jiang is good!"

  Just then, its beak was forcefully flicked by Jiang Changyang's other hand, which had been hanging idly. The bird was dazed and disoriented, not only in pain but also a bit frightened. Its loud voice weakened: "Peony, peony, shake, shake."

  It was begging for mercy, Peony's heart softened, but Jiang Changyang had no intention of letting go. So, Fling flung again and changed to: "Uncle Jiang is good, Uncle Jiang is good." Only then did Jiang Changyang let go, placing it on his arm: "Little thing, this is where you should be." Fling hung its head dejectedly, not moving for a long time.

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