Chapter 98 - 95: Bougainvillea Planting Base

Chapter 98: Chapter 95: Bougainvillea Planting Base

Zhou Manlin’s home wasn’t actually far from here. It was also in North City, just at the other end of North Ring Road in Yuhu Villa. It was only about five or six kilometers away. The e-bike could handle it easily.

At 11:30 p.m., Jiangbei was still brightly lit. However, traffic on the road was significantly lighter than during the day. It was quiet and chilly, with only a few figures and the occasional noise coming from the late-night snack stalls on both sides of the street. The night breeze was a bit chilly.

Zhou Manlin rested her forehead against Li Beixing’s back and asked, "When was the last time we went for an e-bike ride together?"

Li Beixing wasn’t riding fast. She thought for a moment and replied, "If I remember correctly, it was the summer of our junior year? It’s been quite a few years, anyway."

"That’s so nice!" Zhou Manlin let out a drunk hiccup.

Startled, Li Beixing wobbled the handlebars. "Hey, don’t you throw up on me!"

"Relax, it’s just a hiccup. I didn’t drink that much."

Laughing and joking, they arrived at Zhou Manlin’s residential community on the e-bike. She greeted the security guard at the gate and was let through without a hitch.

Zhou Manlin’s home was also a villa, but it was a townhouse with a relatively modest floor plan.

The e-bike stopped in front of her courtyard. Seeing no lights on inside, Li Beixing asked curiously, "Are your parents asleep?"

"No, they went traveling in Hedong. The Little Western Heaven and places like that are trending right now, so they went to join the fun. They probably won’t be back until next week."

Zhou Manlin hopped off and stomped her feet. The e-bike was too low, which was quite torturous for her long legs.

"Uh, okay. You just drank, so don’t take a shower yet. Wait until you wake up," Li Beixing reminded her.

"I know!"

"Yeah, I’m heading off then."

Zhou Manlin waved. "Be safe on your way back, and send me a message when you get home."

"Will do!"

Watching the e-bike disappear around the corner, Zhou Manlin let out a heavy sigh. She could still ask Li Beixing out for late-night snacks now, but once she started dating, got married, and had kids, it would probably be difficult. At this moment, she suddenly felt that growing up—something she had always longed for as a child—wasn’t all that wonderful.

She entered the house, turned on the lights, and locked the door behind her. Too lazy to go back to her room to sleep, Zhou Manlin kicked off her shoes, lay down on the chaise lounge in the living room, pulled a thin blanket over her stomach, and spaced out. It wasn’t until a few minutes later, when she received a message that Li Beixing had gotten home safely, that she finally relaxed. Yawning, she rolled over and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, after returning home, Li Beixing took another shower. Having spent so much time at the restaurant, she felt like she was covered in the smell of food, especially barbecue. Even though the night breeze had blown most of it away, a lingering scent remained. She wouldn’t be able to sleep comfortably without washing it off. When she stepped out of the shower, she realized it was almost midnight. Not bad, it wasn’t extremely late. She looked up and happened to see Chen Jingle’s painting of "Beidaihe" hanging on the wall of the partitioned study. She shook her head and chuckled.

"Time to sleep. I have to wake up early for class tomorrow."

...

A new day.

As usual, Chen Jingle woke up early and went to the Teacher College’s sports field for a run. His physical fitness was gradually improving; jogging five kilometers now only took him thirty minutes. This was a pace that provided an excellent full-body workout without placing too much strain on his heart.

The girl holding a book on the bleachers appeared on time again, like a mysterious NPC respawning on a timer.

"It’s a pity she doesn’t have an exclamation mark over her head," Chen Jingle thought whimsically. Otherwise, he might have chosen to go up and strike up a conversation to see if it would trigger a quest.

For breakfast today, he suitably increased his portion: two meat buns, two steamed buns, and a cup of soy milk. It left him eighty percent full.

Many students at the Teacher College were already quite familiar with this outsider, Brother Running. However, they would just take an extra glance when they saw him—everyone had curiosity, after all. Eyes belonged to others, and Chen Jingle couldn’t possibly stop them from looking. When he bumped into enthusiastic students who proactively lent him their meal cards, he gladly accepted. If he didn’t want to be stared at like a monkey in a zoo, he just had to finish his food early and slip away.

Moreover, after several days, he ran into Chen Xiuyun at the campus gate again. Sister Xiu was riding her e-bike in a great hurry. This time, Chen Jingle spotted her first, perhaps because his eyesight had improved. BEEP BEEP. He honked his horn twice, and only then did she look up and notice him. Seeing that it was Chen Jingle, she immediately beamed and waved.

"Oi!"

Sister Xiu was always so full of energy. However, always cutting it this close to clock in for work was truly risky.

Aside from going to the supermarket to buy ingredients for cooking and continuing to study culinary arts, Chen Jingle also planned to take a trip to a bougainvillea seedling base in Jiangbei today. He had given away many pots of the bougainvillea grown at his house previously. Although the newly taken cuttings had successfully survived, it would take at least a year for them to grow and bloom. After all, his cheat was a Growth System, not Celestial Venerable Han’s little green bottle.

Jiangbei’s climate was perfect for planting bougainvillea. As a result, numerous seedling bases making a living off growing bougainvillea had sprung up. The nurseries that originally sold eucalyptus saplings had also mostly switched to selling bougainvillea now. Most offered online ordering and shipping, but locals could also pick up the plants in person. Another advantage of picking them up in person was being able to handpick the plants.

Chen Jingle didn’t know Jiangbei had bougainvillea seedling bases at first. He only found out after scrolling through videos of people selecting seedlings on Doushou. These planting bases were all located along the county roads heading from the East Suburb toward the lower townships, quite a distance from his home. He didn’t go immediately but instead chose to go during his practical class time. He took advantage of a loophole; selecting seedlings also counted as practical content for [Planting].

...

Southern Country Garden Seedling Base.

After Chen Jingle explained his purpose for coming, the staff immediately welcomed him and introduced the various prices of the seedlings at the base. From one-year to five-year stumps, as well as pre-grafted old stumps and lollipop shapes, the varieties included Angus Purple, Double Red, Zhang Hongying, and others, all at different prices.

The cheapest bare-root seedlings were five yuan each, while the small seedlings with soil were ten yuan. Chen Jingle’s target was seedlings over three years old with soil. Spending a bit more money didn’t matter. The key was to pick ones he liked, then slowly prune and shape them.

Even though they were called three-year stumps, there was actually some exaggeration involved. Because ground-planted bougainvillea grew very fast, many one-year grafted branches grown in the ground were passed off as three-year stumps, and ordinary buyers couldn’t tell the difference. However, deceiving Chen Jingle wasn’t easy. Unless it was a plant that looked particularly pleasing to the eye, he tried his best to choose seedlings that had genuinely reached the advertised age.

As for those pre-grafted into shapes, he passed on them. First, he didn’t need them. Second, in Chen Jingle’s eyes, they really couldn’t be considered landscaping and would still require a massive amount of time to maintain.

The staff member led him to the seedling field and left. He would just calculate the cost together after finishing his selection anyway. Chen Jingle began searching for suitable seedlings in the spacious nursery.

After an unknown amount of time, a voice suddenly rang out from behind him:

"Oh my, handsome, the seedlings you’ve picked are excellent!"

Chen Jingle turned around to see two older women, dressed elegantly like high-society ladies, standing nearby and looking in surprise at the pots of bougainvillea beside him. It was well-known that Lingnan people were very casual about their attire, but this did not apply to women—especially older women from well-off families. The two ladies before him were wearing sun-protective clothing, sun hats, and sunglasses. Although he couldn’t recognize the brands they wore, their skin looked well-maintained and their auras were extraordinary. They were definitely wealthy or prestigious.

Chen Jingle froze for a moment, then smiled. "I just picked them at random."

The slightly older, round-faced lady waved her hand. "You’re too modest! I can see that the ones you chose are much better than ours. You really have a great eye; you’re truly impressive!"

She had been growing bougainvilleas for two years now. While she couldn’t be called a veteran enthusiast, she had some understanding of them. The other oval-faced lady smiled and asked, "Could you help take a look at ours too? How are these pots we’ve chosen?"

Chen Jingle looked at the two pots they had selected. Both were three-year stumps like his. He asked, "Are you planning to buy them to grow yourselves?"

"Yes, indeed."

"Will you place them on a balcony or in a courtyard? Will they be potted or planted in the ground?"

"I know potted and ground-planted are different, but does it matter if they’re on a balcony or in a courtyard?" the round-faced lady asked in surprise.

Chen Jingle explained, "It does. Balconies typically have limited space. Considering that we get a lot of typhoons here in Jiangbei during the summer, it’s more suitable to choose varieties that aren’t as tall or thick, but can easily produce an explosion of blooms—like this one, for example. If they’re for a courtyard, either planted in the ground or easily transplanted into a large pot later, you can consider ones with well-developed root systems and thick branches, like these two."

The round-faced lady realized, "So that’s how it is! You know so much, handsome. I’ve been growing them for two years and still hadn’t figured this out. No wonder I thought it was strange—they were all bougainvilleas, but when I put them together on my balcony, they always felt a bit uncoordinated. Some bloomed profusely, while others just loved growing taller and longer. Turns out I bought the wrong ones."

The oval-faced lady looked slightly embarrassed as she said, "Could you please help us pick a few more pots? I’m a beginner and just started growing these. Mine will be planted in the courtyard, so ordinary small seedlings are fine. I prefer nurturing them slowly."

Chen Jingle nodded. "Sure, I’m almost done picking mine anyway." He had chosen several flower colors. After taking them back, pruning them, and nursing them for a period, he guaranteed they would completely transform.

"Thank you so much!" the two women hurriedly expressed their gratitude.

The result was that more and more elegant high-society ladies began following behind Chen Jingle. They were all friends of the two women from earlier. They all wanted him to help pick a few pots to take home and grow. Their requirements varied greatly: some wanted bonsai for their offices, some wanted plants for their studies, some wanted to plant them in their courtyards, and some wanted to hang them on the security grilles of their balconies.

The staff of the nursery stood by, dazed as they watched Chen Jingle continuously explain various bougainvillea facts to the ladies. They thought, "Bro, anyone who didn’t know better would think you were the employee of our base."

In the end, the ladies were finally satisfied. The original round-faced lady checked the time and hastily said, "Sisters, it’s time to take photos." "Sigh, they really have to take photos no matter where they go," Chen Jingle thought.

"Handsome, is it convenient for you to take a picture for us?"

Standing nearby, Chen Jingle was instantly entrusted with this heavy responsibility.

"No problem."

Although Chen Jingle had never studied photography, he had studied painting; his basic sense of aesthetics was still there. With their phone parameters already adjusted and a little bit of assistance from his system, snapping a few photos was no issue at all. CLICK CLICK CLICK, he operated the camera in rapid succession.

They gathered around to look and chorused, "These are taken so well!"

Chen Jingle hastily waved his hand. "Not at all, I’ve never studied photography. Clearly, it’s because of the beauty of you ladies."