原创英文小说 [Blue Jacaranda] 蓝花楹 - Chapter 14 何木屋语2022-01-09 08:41:59
Chapter 14
澳洲：何木
Peter’s mind was clouded with a vague face, and a vague lily, in what must have been in a flower shop. Like the figments in a dream they didn’t seem real. But unlike a dream that would usually fade away within a day or two, they seemed to stay and settle in him as a real memory.
As his curiosity grew, he decided to revisit the past. He went back to Yuling Road, retracing the pathway from the Little Bar to a possible flower shop. But none of the flower shops he had come across was close to the Shop.
At last, he chose to ask for Xiaobai's help. “Xiaobai, do you remember where that flower shop was, you know the one on the way from the Little Bar?”
“The flower shop? Somewhere on Yuling Road?”
?“No, there isn’t one like that on it.”
“Then I don’t know, but why? Have you lost anything?”
“No, I just want to have another look,” he said quickly, but in another moment, he decided to tell the truth, “Wasn’t there a lily girl in the shop?”
“Lily Girl? What are you talking about…”
“I mean the ‘boss’ of the flower shop.”
“Oh my god,” Xiaobai started giggling, like a girl, “did you have a crush on the Boss?”
“No, no, don't get me wrong ...”
“No need denying it, anyway, let me ask Ming about it.”
A few minutes later he called back, telling of the most possible location to be a few lanes away from Yuling Road. So Peter’s pilgrimage-like search was expanded. Another two hours had passed and just as his legs felt so tired that he would give it all up, he found the lane he was on slightly familiar, and then, there it was, the Shop he had been painfully looking for.
Peering inside, there were other customers at that moment who he believed might cover him a little from an unwanted spot-on exposure. So gingerly, he entered the shop, and while pretending to look only at the flowers, he managed to steal a few glances towards the counter. A man was there standing, behind the counter, and beside him, a girl sitting on a high stool.
The girl, on a high stool… His memory rushed to life. Yes, he had bought her a lily, which was why his mind had registered a phrase of Lily Girl.
She was the reason he had come thus far!
Like a teenager in love he was blushing, and automatically he shuffled his feet for a quick exit. But just then, he heard the man talking. Held back by an urge to eavesdrop, he stayed put and strained his ears to listen.
“Let’s go to the movies tonight,” said the man.
“No, I need to be here because Xiaohuang is on sick leave.”
“Can’t you just close the shop for the night?”
“No.”
“You really need to learn how to run a business without tiring yourself out. See, I don’t get myself stuck in my hot pot restaurant...”
After the words, the man, thin and tall, began moving around the counter, which made Peter half-panic, and propelled his feet out of the 'dangerous' zone.
Outside the shop Peter lingered for a long while, not knowing what to do next. Then he saw that man coming out, walking towards a motorcycle over which he swiftly flung his long body, before roaring away very much like a gangster. ‘So, that is her boyfriend, obviously…’ Peter thought bitterly, his cynicism running wild. ‘What a joke, what an idiot, thinking of the face of nobody...’
He was heading home, his boring home, feeling downcast as ever. But half way he was daring himself to return to the shop, for that face was still blurry, his mission not nearly finished. And given the fact she already had a boyfriend, what more could he lose?
This time I saw no other souls but Her in the shop. His heart was pounding, and deciding not to be sneaky any more he strode into the shop, picked a lily from a basket, and marched towards her.
“Hello,” she greeted him politely, “just one lily?”
“Yes,” he said, taking a deep breath to calm his wild nerves, and realising she had not recognised him at all, he allowed his eyes to roam over the face.
The eyes were crystal clear, the mouth firmly set, and a dimple, shallow but distinctive, seemed to divide the chin. And overall the face and the features hinted at an air of serenity, or something like a quiet power.
Then, as he handed her a five-yuan note, her eyes lit up, “You?…”
He skipped a heartbeat, his face very hot, “Ahh, you still remember me…and yes, it is me, my name is Peter. I am sorry for that night, I was very drunk, out of sorts, I must have embarrassed you, or even offended you, haven't I?”
“Mmm…sort of, but that was okay, all past,” she said, a faint colour stealing to her cheeks, “Indeed you, and your friends, were very drunk, in an amusing way.”
“Hah, amusing way, or foolish way,” he smiled, grateful for her cordiality, trying to slow every second to live with her. Then, as naturally as he could compose himself, he presented the lily to her, “Well, I am rather sober today, and I hope you won’t mind accepting another lily from me?”
She was taken aback, the colour on her clear cheeks deepening. “No, you better not,” she said, recollecting herself, “you should give it to your girlfriend.”
“But I don't have a girlfriend.”
“Then,” she paused, thinking for a moment, “you should take it home and grow it until you find one.”
What a smart answer! He sighed inwardly and decided not to be outwitted by her. “Perhaps I should, but how about you are not too shy to accept it, and allow me to buy another one for my Future girlfriend.”
With a smile the face was relaxing, into a radiant, three-quarter moon. “Well…I am not too shy, only a little,” she took the challenge smartly, “And I may only accept it if you are too stubborn… but mind you I already have a boyfriend.”
“I know, I know,” he hurried his words out, stopping short of saying he had actually seen her boyfriend a while ago, “…anyway, thank you for accepting my flower, and by the way, is lily your favourite flower?”
“Eh?…” she frowned slightly, “How do you know?”
“Well, the way you handle lilies is very different, you seem to caress them as if they were your beloved pets.”
She smiled beautifully, “Really? I am not aware of that. Actually I like all flowers but, after what you have just said, perhaps I do have a preference for lilies.”
After saying bye bye merrily to each other, Peter was on his way home. Peter held his one lily close to his chest, feeling very happy. Overall his trip had been successful, not only confirming his first good impression of her, but further proving her great intelligence. True that she already had a boyfriend, but after his brief yet quite interactive conversation with her, he didn’t feel as upset as he should have been. For some reason, she was like a long lost friend and the existence of her boyfriend was irrelevant or at most, a petty annoyance.
The next time he went to see her again was seven days later. It had seemed that an interval of one week of not seeing her was the longest he could endure. He, again, had persuaded her to accept his lily, while at the same time bought another for his future girlfriend. "It must be the last time for you to do this," she said, to which he replied, "Please just regard me as a regular customer, and the single lily I give you should not have the power to dislodge you from you boyfriend, so you are absolutely safe with him,” he made a sly smile, turning to leave the shop, and on the threshold turning again to capture another look of her.
It was not that he hadn’t tried to forget her. Actually, there was no lack of excuses for pushing her out of his mind, such as her rough fingers due to her constant handling of prickly flowers, such as her possible ‘low’ education of not having been to a university, such as her teeth not as white and regular as Melody’s, or even Lotus’.
Yet, these imperfections, as well as the fact of her having a boyfriend, seemed less important than the special ‘connection’ he felt he had pre-established with her.
So, he kept on going to the shop, for an interval of a week, or even less if not seeing her was becoming so unbearable.
But on his fifth trip, his ‘clever’ words failed to work with her. Looking annoyed she said sternly, with that peculiar quiet power now exerting an absolute authority, “Listen Peter, I can’t accept your flower any longer, please respect my decision. See, my boyfriend was already suspecting, he must have heard some gossip, so please, don’t waste more time on me.”
Peter, facing the friendly face suddenly turned hostile, felt hurt and ashamed, and as his sense of humour had deserted him, he could only mumble, “… sorry… but…can’t I just come here to buy flowers, just… just for myself?”
A streak of pity was seen flashing in her eyes, but her words were anything but softening, “You don’t have to come HERE to buy flowers.”
The emphatic ‘here’ was like pinching his ears. For a moment, he stood petrified by her harsh words as well as her cold marble-like features.
“Sorry…then, okay, sorry,” he stuttered, and robotically he sought his way out.
Then just over the threshold he heard her calling after him, “Peter, wait …”
He halted, and turned, and forced his eyes to confront hers again, well, for the last time. “What…”
“Listen, Peter,” she began, “My nephew’s English is very poor. I wonder if you can help? I mentioned to his mother that I have a friend coming back from Australia...”
Peter took a long second to grasp her meaning, “You mean… help your, your nephew with his English?”
“Yes, yes …” she said quickly, as if feeling sorry for her previous coldness towards him.
“Errh… well…” Peter muttered absently, still preoccupied in his misery caused by her rejection, “maybe not, I am not sure…”
“I know you can…anyway, let me know, okay?”
“Okay…” Peter said weakly, wanting to escape from her as fast as he could. He desperately needed a place where he could heal himself.
The following weeks, without her, his life had fallen back to its usual dark void. Then one day in his idleness he suddenly recalled the matter of English tutoring.
A streak of light seemed to emerge on the horizon.
Yes, to think rationally it was not a death sentence, yet. He could still call her, contact her in some other way. And yes, she only told him not to come to her shop! And perhaps, perhaps she was only afraid that her boyfriend might accidentally run into him in the shop. All in all, she didn’t say she didn’t like him, and she didn’t say he couldn’t see her at other ‘safer’ places.
With a surge of adrenaline he searched for her shop number he had saved in his phone, and called at once to tell her that he agreed to teach her nephew English, if still needed. On the call she sounded surprised but cheerful to have heard back from him this late. However, her general tone was still very ‘business like’, which dampened his revived enthusiasm of ‘courting’ her further.
But nonetheless a tutoring plan was arranged. He would go to her nephew’s home, twice a week, as a home-visiting private tutor.
To take an initial assessment, he asked the boy to speak a few lines as in an English dialogue.
“Gooda morling, evelywai, myna s Wallian, lice to me you, and sank you...”
Apparently the boy, William, had all those mispronunciations in his English speech. Peter decided their first task was to fix his International Phonetic Alphabet, before anything else.
He was putting his heart into every lesson, not only for his own fun interacting with the student, but also, deep down, for not to disappoint the Lily Girl, who at least had enough faith in his English, if nothing else.
And his efforts had paid off. After only one month of tutoring, Willian’s school report on English had improved significantly, which was an exciting feedback boosting the confidence for both the student and the tutor.
And what was more, thanks to the favourable word of mouth that had been circulating among the parents, he soon got five more students, keeping him rather busy throughout several months.
“Hi Peter,” Xiaobai called one day, “go and set up an English tutoring school, forget about finding a job, and like me be your own boss.”
“But where is the investment?”
“There is no lack of capital so long as it makes money. I advise you to talk to your parents first, and also ask Bob and other friends for a possible partnership, you won’t know the result until you try.”
And when Peter raised the business idea to his parents, his father was surprisingly not ‘vehemently’ against it, “This must be treated as the last resort,” said his father, “only if you really cannot find a job, and so much hate any further study…”
And his discussion with Bob, who was still jobless, was also promising. “Peter,” he said excitedly, “this is a good idea, let’s consider it and plan it well, and who knows the business won’t be more successful than Xiaobai’s pig farm, haha...”
So, after agreeing to have a 50-50 partnership, they began to work on a business plan, estimating the cost and capital requirements. One day, as they searched the lease ads for the possible business location, they came across a two-storey shop for rental, close to two schools, and one university.
“The location is perfect, but don’t you think the space is more than what we need?” said Peter uncertainty, “We only need a classroom to begin with.”
“I agree, but can’t we re-lent the first floor?” replied Bob.
“That is too much trouble,” said Peter, then suddenly, he was struck with another idea, “Perhaps we can use the first floor for some sort of bar, say an English bar? Or an English saloon? Where foreigners and university students, and the sea-turtles like me, can come to have drinks, and chat in English?”
“Peter, you are a genius!” Bob applauded, “If so we will have a place for both English learning and leisuring, imagine we will have our own bar to drink...”
“Calm down Bob, don’t get carried away, think about the need for a much bigger investment, what if…”
“Peter,” Bob cut in, impatient, “you can’t find any business with no risk, it all depends on our efforts, and of course our luck. For investment, if we can’t get enough from our parents, we can try from others, my Tingting will surely take a share if I ask her.”
That night, in the discussion, Peter’s dad was very concerned about the suitability of having a bar in the business plan, but his mum, who had been very impressed with his son’s success as a private English tutor, and thus become more and more aligned with him in terms of his future, was encouraging, “If Bob’s parents are okay with it, we can afford the same...”
So, all the stars seemed to align with his new fortune. In another two months, the PB English Centre, comprising a classroom and an English bar, was made ready for business. And the most important ‘star’, the primal ‘star’, he knew from the bottom of his heart, was the Girl.
“Hi Lily Girl,” he called her, the day before the opening ceremony, “I hope you haven’t forgotten me, but tomorrow is the opening day of our English centre, I would like to invite you, and, and of course, your boyfriend, to come as our important guests, for without you, the business wouldn’t have been possible.”
“Oh, Peter, I haven’t forgotten you, I actually need to thank you for helping my nephew. He is now doing very well and very interested in the subject. And it is really amazing that you now have your own tutoring school, many congratulations!”
“Thank you, so you will come?”
“Yes of course, we will try to make it tomorrow, thank you for the invitation.”
“You are very welcome...”
On the opening day, dozens of relatives and friends, of two partners’ families, had come to celebrate the event. Tall flower baskets bordered the path of entrance and virtual fireworks were cracking on and on. Red banners and flowing ribbons shone brilliantly on the front of the shop. On the poster that stood at the entrance, it said, “Today’s Business Opening Special: Half price for all drinks and foods in the English bar, and half price for all English training courses.”
The two bartenders, actually two university students majoring in English, wore constant smiles greeting the first batch of curious customers, speaking English whenever possible. On the performance stage in the bar, a band of four were there playing the English song - Scarborough Fair. Sizable photos of landmarks in New York, Sydney, London, plastered on the walls, went very well with a general theme of ‘English’. Rows of shiny wine glasses were dangled upside down from a deck of ceilings, glinting with fluid hues and neon lights. And spaced evenly among the tables were the five stylish grass baskets on stand, each storing the bulk of English books. It was Peter’s idea to allow English lovers to easily reach and pick any of them for reading or browsing, under the focus ‘candlelight’ that can be switched on and off mirroring those in an aeroplane.
On the second floor, the English training centre had a total of thirty desks, each set up as a multimedia workstation equipped with headphones and computers and stationery. A large touch panel screen was installed in the place of a ‘blackboard’, and a long shelf full of books, like a complete aisle in a library, was installed against a wall, annexed by a floor area for the students to sit and read. Peter was planning to source hundreds more of English books, picture books or novels or else, to provide a subversive English learning environment.
Dressed in a suit, with a bow tie, and had his hair styled that made him look a few years ‘maturer’, Peter appeared on the day a totally different person. And his proud parents, Bob’s as well, had been shuffling about the place since early morning, smiling ear to ear, warmly welcoming guests and friends.
But Peter’s heart couldn’t be fulfilled until his true VIP had come. As soon as the Lily Girl got off the taxi, his heart burst, his eyes glittered. In a beautiful one-piece skirt, she looked so beautiful. She had also brought a flower basket full of lilies with her, and was trying to carry it over by herself. Peter, quickly floating out to her, gave her a hand, helping her sit the basket on the line. Meanwhile, being so close to her for the first time in six months, he couldn’t help but whisper a joke, “Are these lilies my previous gifts to you?” Then realising his blunder, he added hurriedly, “Oh, where is your boyfriend?”
“Eh… he is busy and can’t make it.”
‘Oh, this is even better,’ he meant to say, though his voice was quite the opposite, “Is he? Oh, what a pity...”
Then Peter guided Lily Girl into the bar and towards a table where Xiaobai and Ming were seated.
“Hey, Lily Girl,” Xiaobai stood up the moment he saw her coming, extending his hand, “Do you still remember me?”
“Yes, of course,” Lily Girl smiled, shaking the hand, “you and Peter, drunkards, haha..”
“Yes, yes,” said Xiaobai, sinking in the comfortable chair, “you know what, when Peter asked me about where your shop was, I had no idea, fortunately Ming had a better memory.”
Peter took a seat beside Lily Girl. A bartender came over to pour their wine glasses. Then, raising his glass he made a speech, “On that night, six months ago, four of us were in a fairytale flower shop, and today we were here again, in a fanciful English bar, isn’t it wonderful? I would say the two events are in a way fatefully connected, without the first I wouldn’t have known Lily Girl, and then, I wouldn’t have had my first English student, and then no such thing as an English Center would have ever happened ... So, I would like to thank Lily Girl, and also Ming, for remembering the address, and hope our good fortunes will just roll on and on...”
“Let me add something,” said Ming joyfully, “it was only because Peter was so drunk and tipsy that you had forgotten Chinese and spoke English, otherwise, how did Lily Girl know you could teach English?”
“Hang on a second,” ‘Lily Girl’ chimed in, “why do you guys keep calling me Lily Girl?”
“Well,” said Xiaobai, “that was Peter's invention. He asked, where was the Lily Girl? So…”
The Lily Girl’s face started to blush. How fresh and innocent, and beautiful she is, Peter sighed. “Anyway, I hope you don’t mind us giving you an English name, Lily?”
The ‘Lily Girl’ said nothing, only smiling, blinking her clever eyes.
“Thank you, we take it as Yes,” Peter said, emptying the glass, “And I promise, from today on, your shop will be our appointed flower supplier, and Xiaobai and Ming, your wedding flowers must also come from Lily.”
“Sure,” echoed Xiaobai, “and you also promise, any pork you eat must come from our pig farms, hahaha…”
“No problem, but are sure you want to be a butcher as well?”
“Why not, we are going to become a pork processing empire in China, even in the world. Raising pigs, slaughtering them, and delivering them to the shops, and eventually directly to households, why do we need intermediate supermarkets when we can deliver directly to end customers?’
“See, Xiaobai’s pig dream is never ending.”
Xiaobai, thus encouraged, continued his big-business talk, “your English dream, and Lily, your flower dream should also never be ending. Lily, do you have a website to sell your flowers?”
Lily said, “No, we are just a small shop…”
“But you can grow your business, in the way that anyone who wants to order flowers for Chengdu residents, will search you out. Your customers will then be from anywhere in China, even overseas.”
“Really?”
“Yes, yes, all you need is a website, and to promote it well.”
“Is there a kind of platform for such a purpose? I know in Australia, there is a flower platform, or a union, where orders from all over the world can be dispatched centrally to local shops, of course there is a fee for the membership.”
“That is one way, and the platform will take much of the profit. But if you have your own website, and have your own brand, you can do your own marketing, and keep the profits.”
“Well, there are pros and cons for the different ways of marketing,” said Peter conclusively, “But Lily, setting up a website is not difficult, I will help you with it.”
“Really? Thank you in advance.” Lily, after a few drinks, was presently seen more at ease, more like herself. Her slender body was relaxed in the chair, her clear eyes twinkling with a promising bright future. “Perhaps really, life events are playing out in good fortunes, starting from that midnight, haha, cheers…”
“Cheers,&rdqu