2 Mr Lian's favorite

Lei Yinying never attended a single day of class except for exams, but she was seen most often in the uniform. It was for one reason that she did this. The school uniform was the one piece of clothing she didn't mind sweating in. She spent several hours tending to various plants or sitting in her poorly air conditioned apartment. Or, she might go outside and walking from place to place caused her to sweat. Not to mention, like her flowers, Lei Yinying could function only in a select temperature range.

Specifically, she could function in 58 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit (14 to 18 degrees celsius.) She could never be fully satisfied due to the humidity in southern China and her near proximity to a river delta. Hence, everyone having seen her in a school uniform.

Lei Yinying pulled at the shirt as it stuck to her back and pressed her lips together. She faintly tasted the salt from her skin and frowned. She considered removing the shirt, but she disliked the thought that someone might drop in unexpectedly.

Mr Lian was one of those people. He would often knock on her door and Lei Yinying was often too lazy to answer. He, once, barged in on her plastered to her tile floor in nothing but her uniform skirt and undergarments. Mr Lian made sure that she held little desire to repeat that incident.

Lei Yinying considered locking her door and doing it as that day was particularly humid. Not to mention, she had stood outside for too long due to Mrs Xiao. She sucked in her lower lip and tasted salt once more. [It's too hot…] She complained and glanced at her half full watering can. She dipped her finger into the water and noted it was somewhat warm. [Hmm…] Lei Yinying lifted the can over her head and poured it over herself. The water soaked into her clothes and caused it to stick to her slim frame much worse then her sweat did.

It didn't bother her in the slightest as she turned her small table fan onto its highest setting. The moving breeze felt like an oasis on her sticky skin and Lei Yinying let out a breath of relief. [That's better…] She decided. When Mr Lian dropped by later there wouldn't be anything for him to yell at her about.

As if she summoned him, Mr Lian came trotting into her living room. "Little Yingying," he called with a smile in his voice.

Lei Yinying slowly turned away from the fan and offered him a smile. "Mr Lian, have you come for a cup of tea?" She asked.

"Yingying...why are you dripping wet?" Mr Lian inquired and blinked his knowing eyes at her.

She pointed dully at the empty watering pot. "It was hot," she declared.

"Go change and fix me some of your tea," he ordered in a gruff voice.

"But...but…" Lei Yinying began before Mr Lian tapped his cane on her titled floor.

"Change, Yingying," he scolded and pointed the cane in the direction of her bedroom.

Lei Yinying gave him her most petulant expression before she brushed her wet locks from her face. She had vowed to never allow for others to control her, but unknowingly select people broke their way into her closed off heart. Mr Lian had been one of the more recent ones. She treated him like the grandparent she had never had. And for her it meant that he was given more obedience and respect than other elders. She pampered him as such.

"It was hot," she replied as if to emphasize her point. Without another word, Lei Yinying walked down the short hallway from the living room to her bedroom. Once there she peeled the wet uniform from her slim frame. She took a second to stare at her face in the mirror. [In another life...I wasn't healthy at this point in time,] she mused to herself and ran a hand over the dresses hanging in her closet.

All of them were items she discovered from a poorly designed website. She had suspected it to be a scam, but when the dresses were incorrectly priced for such a low value and shipping was free in her city, Lei Yinying took the risk. Midway her musings, Lei Yinying paused on a frilled tulle dress. She pulled it out of the collection and held it up against her warming skin. The soft pink of the large flowers gave the drab cream of the background a more romantic feel. She held the dress close to her face and spotted the faint outline of swans amidst the lake of the background. It was a dress inspired by artistic wallpapers from the early 1900s in Europe. A study of swans and flowers.

Lei Yingying didn't hesitate much longer as she slipped it on. She grabbed a random hairband, grateful for her luck at pulling one in a matching shade of pink. She used it to hold back her wet hair before returning to the living room.

She spotted Mr Lian at her kitchen table, his gaze captivated by one of her newer plants. He brought his nose close to the plant and pulled back in surprise. Lei Yinying couldn't help but grin at him. "What did you smell?" She asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Incense at first," he answered, amazement in his voice. "Then it changed to the scent of your tea from last week."

"Dernier desir," she informed with a hum. "Right now, you want my tea or perhaps it's indicating how much you like keeping me company."

"Because of the scent?" He asked and took another faint whiff of the flower.

"It's a fake flower that I scented with a special mixture that invokes a sense of nostalgia in the brain. Whatever is most recent or most prevalent is what people claim to smell," she informed, her hands expertly preparing dried chrysanthemum flowers for consumption.

"More experiments?" He questioned with a touch of concern and laughter in his voice.

Lei Yinying told him that she made her living expenses by experimenting with scents and plants for a perfume company. And given that she still lived in a shithole of an apartment, he assumed that the company was taking advantage of her. Lei Yinying, once more, was too lazy to admit the company actually belonged to her. She had since gained a few shareholders and she gifted them percentages of shares based on their commitment to her. Person A had 12%, B had 5% and C had a mere 3%. The numbers had shifted over time, but she hadn't released more than 20% of her shares to them. In that instance, it was more likely to say that she was the one taking advantage of others.

"It's fun for me and it pays the bills," she reminded him gently and sat a pot on the center of the table. "Let's talk for a few moments more."

Mr Lian blew out a heavy breath, knowing any words of advice concerning her work would fall on deaf ears. "My brother wants me to return to the family," he informed in a heavy voice.

"I do find it odd that someone like you lives here," she admitted, not directly commenting on his situation.

"I still don't want to talk to the bastard. After what he did to my Shutan," he grumbled, his aged face turning sour.

"What about your niece? Did you return her call?" She inquired, wanting to prevent him from dwelling on the dead.

Mr Lian stilled at her question and blew out a heavy breath. "She...wants me to meet her youngest," he grumbled. "Said he liked flowers and stuff like that."

Lei Yinying thought he sounded like a child as he crossed his arms. "And are you going to meet him?" She asked and checked the condition of the tea.

"I've considered it," he admitted and glanced at the tea pot. "Is it finished? I don't care to discuss my bastard brother and his family any further."

Lei Yinying wanted to shake her head at him, but she knew that she would be overstepping her boundaries. She and Mr Lian had bonded over a shared contempt and disdain for their families. However, she was lucky to know that her family held no biological connection. That was a substantial relief for her when she decided to leave in the end. Mr Lian, on the other hand, had to deal with the complicated past between him and his older brother. A kind of past that left them estranged long enough for two generations to have been born.

She blew out a heavy breath and poured out the tea for him. The subtle scent of the tea wafted towards her nose and brought a measure of relaxation to her brow. She held the cup between her hands as felt them warm slightly. She always felt her entire body was too warm while her hands were too cold. A nice warm cup of tea between her hands brought a smile to her face. She took a slow drink from it. The first sip of tea was always like taking a deep breath. Refreshing and calming.

"How is my tea today?" She asked with a small smile on her lips. Lei Yinying felt she should only share her tea with her friends and family hence the several denied proposals for her corporation to branch out into the tea market.

"It's excellent as always," Mr Lian replied with a small smile back on his face. He was the kind of man who rarely, if ever, allowed for strangers to see him smile.

Lei Yinying felt that it was possible he warmed up to her as quickly as he did due to his own loneliness, something she had once been burdened with when her 'family' and those around her left her by herself.