Chapter 526: Lu Fan: Booking the Entire Banquet Hall, a Floral Feast! Is This a Proposal?

The truck was already parked in the loading bay, packed with a full shipment of red roses air-freighted all the way from Kunming. They were of the “Carola” variety, boasting large blooms, thick petals, and a pure, vibrant red color.

Lu Fan arrived ten minutes after she did. He wore a dark T-shirt, sweatpants, and a pair of old sneakers, looking perfectly dressed for manual labor. Chen He trailed behind him, carrying two cases of bottled water.

“Why did you bring someone else?” Jiang Yixia asked, looking at Chen He in surprise.

“More hands make light work,” Lu Fan said cheerfully. “Don’t worry, there’s no extra charge.”

Jiang Yixia shot him a glance but didn’t say anything else.

The three of them carried the boxes of flowers into the banquet hall one by one. Jiang Yixia was in charge of the design, while Lu Fan and Chen He acted as her assistants. She cut the floral foam into blocks and soaked them in buckets of water, waiting for them to fully absorb the moisture before taking them out and placing them in their designated spots.

“Lu Fan, open that box of red roses. Strip the lower leaves and thorns, and just leave two or three leaves at the top,” Jiang Yixia instructed, crouching on the floor without even lifting her head.

“You got it.” Lu Fan pulled over a small stool and sat down. He picked up a rose and got to work.

He wasn’t exactly deft with his hands; it took him several snips of the scissors to scrape the thorns off cleanly, and he didn’t leave the leaves in quite the right places either. After watching him for a moment, Jiang Yixia couldn’t help but walk over. She took the stem from his hand to demonstrate.

“Look, trim it like this. Two leaves are enough, and strip everything below. You have to scrape the thorns with the back of the scissors, not cut them. Cutting will tear the bark.”

Lu Fan watched her movements and nodded. He took the stem back and mirrored her technique.

“Right, just like that.” Jiang Yixia nodded and turned back to her own tasks.

Jiang Yixia was designing a moon gate. She constructed an arched frame out of wire and floral foam, meticulously inserting the prepped roses one by one. The dense clusters of red blooms made it look like a solid wall of flowers from a distance.

“Boss Jiang, how big does this gate need to be?” Chen He asked.

“One point eight meters wide, two point two meters high,” Jiang Yixia replied. “People need to be able to walk under it, so it can’t be too short.”

Chen He measured out the dimensions and began building the frame. Lu Fan stood to the side passing the flowers, while Jiang Yixia arranged them. The three of them fell into a seamless rhythm, and the banquet hall steadily filled with blooms.

The moon gate at the entrance was finished.

Jiang Yixia stepped back to inspect it. Feeling that the left side was a bit sparse, she added a few more roses. Satisfied, she nodded and turned her attention to the main table. The main table sat right in the center of the banquet hall—a large round table draped in a pristine white tablecloth.

Jiang Yixia designed six floral pillars to surround the table, each eighty centimeters tall, packed with red roses, and accented with white baby’s breath. She crouched on the floor, securing the floral foam to the pillar bases and inserting the flowers one by one. Lu Fan squatted beside her, handing her the stems.

“Pack them a bit tighter here. Don’t let the floral foam show,” Jiang Yixia said, pointing to the side of a pillar.

Lu Fan followed her instructions, pressing the stems closer together. The two of them crouched closely, shoulders brushing. Strands of Jiang Yixia’s hair fell forward, brushing against Lu Fan’s arm and leaving a soft, ticklish sensation. He glanced at her, but she was too focused on the arrangement to notice. He smiled and continued passing her flowers.

By noon, the banquet hall had completely transformed.

The moon gate at the entrance was brilliantly red, resembling an arched bridge woven entirely of blossoms. The floral pillars surrounding the main table stood in neat, uniform rows, blazing like six fiery infernos. The floral garlands dangling from the ceiling were already in place—Chen He had climbed a ladder to hang them—cascading down from above like waterfalls of red roses. A thick carpet of red petals blanketed the floor, soft and yielding beneath their feet.

Standing in the center of the hall, Jiang Yixia spun in a slow circle. Looking at her own handiwork, she couldn’t help but smile.

Lu Fan stood beside her. “Does it look good?” he asked.

“It’s beautiful,” Jiang Yixia nodded, unable to hide the delight in her voice. She pulled out her phone and snapped several pictures. Wide shots, close-ups, and angles from the entrance looking in—she took each photo with meticulous care.

“Send me a copy,” Lu Fan said with a smile.

Jiang Yixia didn’t even look up. “Why would I send them to you?”

“For the memories,” Lu Fan chuckled. “This is my first time being a florist’s assistant. Don’t I need some proof?”

Jiang Yixia couldn’t suppress a laugh and forwarded the photos to him.

Chen He climbed down from the ladder, dusting off his hands. He walked over, surveyed the hall, and nodded. “Boss Jiang, your craftsmanship is lightyears ahead of the hotel’s in-house florists.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Jiang Yixia laughed. “They’re professionals. I just run a flower shop.”

“I’m telling the truth,” Chen He said earnestly.

Lu Fan glanced at Chen He and smirked. “You’re a smooth talker today.”

Chen He smiled but didn’t reply. As the three of them were chatting, Manager Zhou pushed the doors open and walked in.

She stopped at the entrance, staring blankly at the hall full of red roses for a long moment. Then, she hurried over to Jiang Yixia, grasped her hands, and gushed, “Boss Jiang, this is absolutely incredible! I’ve been doing banquets for years, and I’ve never seen such a stunning setup. When the client sees this, they will be utterly thrilled.”

Jiang Yixia smiled modestly. “As long as the client is happy.”

“They’ll be thrilled, absolutely thrilled,” Manager Zhou said with a beam. “Thank you for your hard work. You can leave the rest to us.”

Jiang Yixia checked her watch. It was a little after four in the afternoon; there were still three hours until the banquet began. She had Lu Fan and Chen He pack up the tools and prepared to leave.

Just then, several hotel staff members wheeled in a dining cart. Arranged on the cart were silver cutlery, goblets, candelabras, and a bottle of red wine.