The gardener warmly smiled. "No worries, dear. I was just cleaning my way to go to the other side. Do you want to join ?" He expectantly asked.
She blinked her eyes. "M-?"
"Yes. Do you like flowers?"
"Yes…"
He bead. "Oh great! Then let's go."
His hands were slightly dirty because of the soil that got stained onto her hand a bit. Her brow slightly twitched, feeling a little ssy.
There was a water sprinkler pot at a distance where they stopped. "It's ti to water these flowers. Do you want to do it?"
Jiang Ruiling awkwardly smiled. "I have never done gardening…"
He blinked. "It's just watering the plants. It's not so difficult. Look, I will show you."
He turned, but his foot fell on a sickle lying on the ground, and he almost stubbed his toe with it. "Ouch!"
Jiang Ruiling widened her eyes. "A-are you okay?"
He grinned in embarrassnt. "I forgot I put the sickle there…I am glad it didn't hurt you."
He coughed and hastily put the sickle back in his toolbox. As he got up, his knee crashed onto the bucket full of water lying beside the water sprinkler. He tumbled down with the bucket. He wanted to balance, but his foot slipped because of the water, and it splashed all over his clothes, making them even ssier than before. He crashed on the ground with a thud.
"Oww…" he rubbed his back in pain.
Jiang Ruiling was horrified.
This gardener... shouldn't be really gardening at all! He will kill himself one day like this. How can anybody be so clumsy?
He smiled. "It's okay. Accidents happen…"
Why does it feel it happens too many tis with you? You seem to be used to it.
Jiang Ruiling offered to help him, but he dismissed it. "It's alright, dear. I can get up by myself."
He supported his arm on the ground when a figure ca to his side and held his shoulders. The gardener turned and brightened. "i!"
Cheng i nodded. "I will help you."
Jiang Ruiling rapidly blinked her eyes.
Huh?
He leaned on her support and slowly stood on his feet. Cheng i stated. "Your back hurts."
"Not really-"
"I will call the doctor."
"No it really doesn't-"
She glanced at him, and he promptly took his words back. "Yes. I need a doctor."
"Hm."
Cheng i then looked at Jiang Ruiling for a second. Then she held the gardener's arm. "You need to rest."
Jiang Ruiling's jaw dropped. "T-The gardener…"
Cheng i stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Gardener?"
Just at that ti, Mrs. Zhang rrily ca in, holding a tray with two tea cups on it.
"Here, Ruiling. Hope you like my tea. Oh Ling, you are here too. Wait, what happened to you?"
Cheng i plainly said, "He fell. Back hurts now."
Mrs. Zhang's mouth twitched. "Ling is always so irresponsible. Tell again. Why are we allowing him to do gardening?"
"Because I love gardening," he indignantly said.
"So much that your hobby hurts you more than letting you enjoy it. Nice."
His face flushed in embarrassnt. "It's not like that!"
Mrs. Zhang looked at Jiang Ruiling. "Oh! I forgot to introduce you two. Ling, she is Jiang Ruiling."
He smiled. "Yes, the one our Xue brought ho."
"Yes. And Ruiling. He is Cheng Ling. Lihua and Xue's father."
She froze. She stared at him as if thunder struck her. Her mouth opened and closed multiple tis.
"Y-You…"
Cheng i said without much emotion, "He is my husband, not a gardener."
She stiffened. Embarrassnt filled her from head to toe. "I...I am so sorry! I really didn't know…Please forgive for the misunderstanding."
She said nothing. Mrs. Zhang laughed. "Oh! No wonder you look as if you saw a ghost. You don't need to be sorry, dear. Anybody would have mistaken him to be a gardener. And it's not completely a lie. He is the gardener of this residence, haha."
Jiang Ruiling really wanted to bury herself in this garden now!
I mistook sister-in-law's father to be a servant!
Cheng i looked expressionless, but Jiang Ruiling could sense that she really didn't like this misunderstanding.
"I…"
Cheng Ling waved his hand in dismissal. "It's not your fault. Anybody would have mistaken ."
Cheng i plainly added, "I wouldn't have."
"T-that's because you know ."
"I wouldn't have judged so other stranger either," she stated.
Silence.
Jiang Ruiling felt the pressure in the air and Cheng i's strong gaze at her.
I-I have really offended her now, have I not?
Cheng i held his arm. "Let's go."
Cheng Ling exclaid. "No, no, wait. I need to talk to her about Lihua! I haven't heard anything about my daughter…" His tone was emotional.
But she crushed all his hopes. "Later. Treatnt first."
"Lihua-"
"L.A.T.E.R."
Cheng Ling imdiately straightened up. "Yes."
As they left, Jiang Ruiling awkwardly said, "She really doesn't like , right?"
"Who? Oh, i? Well, she loves Ling a lot and is very sensitive if anybody says or assus sothing about him. But honestly, nobody can bla you."
She furrowed her brows. "Is it really only that? Even in the room before when we t for the first ti, she seed a little distant…"
"Ah…" Mrs. Zhang scratched her chin. "Firstly, it's her nature. She is a calm and quiet type of person. And secondly...um well...there is another reason I might know for her behavior, but I will tell that later. Let's first finish our tea, or it will get cold!"
Jiang Ruiling worriedly said, "I should apologize to her."
Mrs. Zhang shook her head. "It's really alright. Plus, it takes a bit of ti for her to bond with new people she ets. The Cheng family generally stays out of the lilight. They don't expose themselves so easily. As such, they mostly stay within their residence and don't et others that much. But she will warm up to you soon, trust ."
Jiang Ruiling wondered if that would really happen....
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