The sun was setting, and the afternoon crowd of people returning to their houses after work filled the streets. Shen Wei was walking home, his thoughts shifting through the events of a typical, monotonous academic day.
He was passing by the Florist's and a small girl, five years at most, drew his attention. She was holding a bunch of roses and walking from one person to the other she was trying her best to sell them.
"Do you want to buy flowers?" she asked in her tiny voice. People were rushing by, and nobody paid much attention to the child.
Shen Wei looked into the flower shop and saw through the store windows a young, smiling woman, busy with clients. She probably didn't even know that her daughter was trying to help.
The girl finally gave up, went to the side of the street, sat down, pulled her knees to her chest and lowered her head. Shen Wei smiled lightly and approached her slowly. He knelt down and gently poked the girl's head with his finger. She looked up with tears in her eyes.
"Do you want to buy flowers?" she asked hopefully.
"Yes," the man responded.
"How many?" she inquired, and his index finger made a couple of circles above the slightly wilted roses.
"All of them."
"Ok," The child gave him the flowers and instantly extended a tiny hand, waiting for payment. Shen Wei smiled, reached into the inside pocket of his suit and took out some folded banknotes. He handed them all to the girl, and she squeezed them tightly.
"Wait," she said, getting up. She reached out and tore two red petals from one of the roses with her free hand. Then she turned to go.
"Hey?" Shen Wei called after her, intrigued. "What are these for?" he pointed to the petals. The girl smiled happily.
"These are for a person I love the most," she said and ran back to the flower shop. Shen Wei watched as the child ran up to her mother with both hands outstretched. Then he turned away and briskly walked home.
He was unlocking the door to his apartment when Zhao Yunlan's head popped out from behind the other door.
"I thought I heard your steps," he said with a happy grin. "Oh, are these for me? You shouldn't have." He came out to the corridor beaming.
Shen Wei moved the flowers protectively to his own chest. "These are actually mine," he said. Then he smiled subtly. "But I guess..." He pulled out two red petals and handed then to surprised Zaho. "These two are yours."
Then he simply turned away, went to his apartment and closed the door, leaving his stunned neighbour alone in the corridor.
Zhao looked down at the palm of his hand, where the two petals sat.
"That's it?" he asked, clearly disappointed, and returned to his place.
*****
Hello dear readers.
Thank you very much for reading.
To those of you who know the scene: yes, I just had to use it, and yes, I had changed the girl's words because it simply wouldn't be satisfying enough😉
To those who don't know: how come you still don't know? Phanta City, Zhu Yi Long. GO!
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"The Little Things"
Fanfiction*COMPLETE* Following the drama ending that we so hated, I decided to write a fix/continuation of the drama. Zhao Yunlan wakes up in his old body two years after he died. While looking for answers, he discovers that he is not the only one who's bac...
