Chapter 25: These Canola Flowers Are So Beautiful

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: These Canola Flowers Are So Beautiful

Fu Yao: "Boss, does your farm have a Flower Sea of rapeseed blossoms?"

Seeing the girl’s inquiry, Zhang Lin replied, "Yes, it’ll be opening in a few days!"

Fu Yao: "Is it in You City?"

"Yes!" Zhang Lin confirmed.

After getting his confirmation, Fu Yao replied, "Boss, it’s amazing that you managed to create a Flower Sea of rapeseed blossoms in You City! I absolutely love them. Do you think I could be a model? I’ll do it for free."

Along with her message, she sent a selfie. In the photo, she wore her hair in a ponytail and looked exceptionally pure and pretty, radiating the bright, youthful energy of a high school girl.

He was starting to understand why so many angsty high school dramas were so popular, becoming one of the film industry’s most reliable ways to rake in cash.

On the balcony behind her, there were several pots of rapeseed flowers, which she had clearly planted herself, proving she really did love them.

Zhang Lin studied the girl’s fresh, pretty face. ’If she were the model,’ he thought, ’her look combined with the rapeseed Flower Sea would have a huge impact.’

However, there was one major hurdle.

Zhang Lin could only reply, "Pretty girl, you’re very beautiful, but we’ll need to use the videos and photos for promotion. That involves image rights, so a contract needs to be signed. Are you old enough to sign a contract yourself?"

「You City.」

Fu Yao flushed when she saw him call her "pretty girl." He had called her that at the fruit store before, too.

’So embarrassing.’

However, she quickly took out her ID card, took a picture of it, and sent it over.

Another message followed: "I’m seventeen by traditional age, but my birthday’s early in the year, so I’m legally sixteen. I can sign a contract! A free model, Boss. Think about it!"

When Zhang Lin saw this message, his eyes lit up. Sixteen was the legal threshold for many things. She could indeed sign a contract, and it wouldn’t be considered child labor.

With such a young, pretty, and ready-made model available, there was no point in wasting time looking for anyone else.

Thinking this, he replied, "Alright, you’ll work. So, pretty girl, when are you free?"

Fu Yao immediately replied, "Today’s Saturday, so I’m free all day. But I need to change my clothes and put on some makeup!"

"Sounds good. Send me your location, and I’ll come get you!" Zhang Lin replied. He rode his scooter back to his prefab building and downloaded a model employment contract from the internet.

Although the girl said she’d do it for free, he couldn’t actually let her work for free.

He downloaded the contract, made a few modifications, and soon had a simple modeling agreement ready to go.

He checked WeChat and saw that Fu Yao had already sent her location. It was Huajing District, of all places.

It was a new residential complex that had just gone on sale last year. He’d heard the landscaping was excellent. Before he passed away, his father had even said that once the farm was up and running and they’d earned some money, they would buy him an apartment there for when he got married.

Who would have thought that only a year later, everything would be different?

Zhang Lin replied "Got it" to the girl, then rode his scooter out of the farm. He first went into You City to print the contract, then headed straight for Huajing District.

When he arrived outside the main gate of the complex, he took a quick video of the entrance and sent it to Fu Yao, letting her know he was there.

Just as he put down his phone, Zhang Lin heard a clear voice call out, "Zhang Lin?"

Zhang Lin looked over, puzzled, and saw a beautiful woman with a great figure—and a rather impressive chest. She was wearing the kind of heavy makeup popular with internet celebrities, along with a short skirt set in the equally trendy "pure but sultry" style.

She was very pretty, but he had no interest in such cookie-cutter beauties. The main thing was, he didn’t know her.

"And you are?" Zhang Lin could only ask politely.

"Zhang Lin, are you playing dumb? Even if my mom said some nasty things back then to break us up and hurt your pride, you don’t have to pretend you don’t know me. How can a grown man be so petty?" Lin Xin was practically speechless, feeling almost offended.

"Huh? You’re Lin Xin?" Zhang Lin’s face showed his astonishment upon hearing her words.

Or rather, he was dumbfounded.

’This is my first love, Lin Xin?’ ℯℯ𝑙.

But how the hell did this internet-celebrity look match his memory of the shy, blushing girl in the hotel room?

So, he genuinely hadn’t recognized her just now.

"Just keep pretending! As if I don’t know what you men are like!" Lin Xin scrutinized Zhang Lin’s outfit, then her gaze fell on his old, mud-splattered scooter.

She suddenly felt a bit fortunate that she had listened to her mother back then.

’Puppy love really does end badly,’ she thought. ’How could I have let myself be fooled in high school just because a guy was handsome?’

"It’s been more than ten years. You’ve really changed," Zhang Lin said with a slight sigh, the words carrying a double meaning.

"Then let’s just go back to not seeing each other. And by the way, I have a boyfriend. He’s amazing, and he’s very strict. So, no adding me on WeChat, and no asking me out!" Lin Xin declared. She walked into the complex with her head held high, chest puffed out, feeling more certain than ever that her mother stopping their puppy love was the right call.

’At least I don’t have to sit on the back of a mud-splattered scooter and cry.’

Zhang Lin was floored by her outburst. ’What the hell was that?’ he thought. ’I didn’t even say anything, did I? Where did that rant come from?’

’And who is she trying to impress, sticking her chest out like that?’

’Maybe she owes the size of her chest to the diligent massages I gave her back in sophomore year.’

But to think that Lin Xin lived here too... Watching her disappear, he felt the pristine image of his idealized first love shatter into a million pieces.

’So much for the one that got away,’ he thought. ’It was just a filter I’d put on her, created by the innocence of first love.’

It was like the story of the future emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, who, while starving as a beggar, was served a simple soup he called "Pearl and White Jade Soup." He never forgot how delicious it was, refusing to believe it had been nothing more than a bowl of leftover cabbage soup.

But a filter is always destined to shatter.

It was just like that viral story about a tycoon who spent a fortune searching for his high school sweetheart, hoping to reconnect with his idealized first love. For a moment, it felt like the epitome of romance. But when a middle-aged woman with a figure like a water barrel showed up, he booked a flight out of the country overnight. The whole thing ended as a joke.

Zhang Lin felt something similar now. But for some reason, he also felt a sense of relief.

Inside the residential complex, Fu Yao had changed into a white, girlish dress and put on some light makeup. To be safe, she also brought her small makeup bag in case she needed to change her look.

To be honest, she never would have thought You City would have a Flower Sea of rapeseed blossoms.

She was really looking forward to it.

She truly loved rapeseed blossoms; they symbolized a positive attitude and cheerful optimism.

When her parents divorced, she had gone to live with her grandfather in their hometown for a while. Her grandfather had grown beautiful rapeseed flowers in his vegetable patch back then. Unfortunately, her grandfather was also gone now.

Just as Fu Yao was lost in thought, she saw her older sister return.

"Fu Yao, are you going out?" When Lin Xin saw her younger sister all dressed up with makeup on, her tone became serious. "Where do you think you’re going? I’m warning you, don’t get into some puppy-love relationship. You’ll regret it!"

"Lin Xin, I’ll say this one last time, and I’m being serious: I’m not as dumb as you were. I won’t be tricked by some immature boy." Fu Yao could only roll her eyes at her sister’s pointless meddling before turning and leaving without another word.

Once outside the complex gate, she saw Zhang Lin and walked up with a bright smile. "Boss, you haven’t been waiting long, have you?"

"Just got here. Hop on," Zhang Lin said with a smile, looking at the girl in her white dress.

’Truly pure and charming,’ he thought. ’The invincibility of youth.’

But now that the filter through which he viewed his first love was shattered, he was amazed to find he no longer saw any trace of her in Fu Yao.

In fact, she seemed far more cheerful than Lin Xin had ever been.

Fu Yao didn’t mind the mud-splattered scooter at all. After all, the boss ran a farm; it would be strange if his vehicle wasn’t muddy.

Zhang Lin started the scooter and headed toward the farm.

He chatted with the girl all the way to the farm. Their main topic of conversation was their high school—with a ten-year age gap, it was about the only thing they had in common.

"Is your grade’s dean still Director Cai? He was my grade’s dean back when I was in high school, too. We all nicknamed him ’The Mediterranean’!"

"PFFT! He’s completely bald now. He used to wear a toupee, but it got knocked off by a basketball once!"

"..."

As they chatted, Zhang Lin laughed. "Pretty girl, we’re getting more and more remote out here. Aren’t you worried I might be a kidnapper or something?"

But Fu Yao suddenly said, "Actually, I’m on a call with my classmate on WeChat right now!"

"Smart!" Zhang Lin praised her, genuinely surprised. ’This girl is way smarter than Lin Xin ever was,’ he thought. ’How could I have ever thought they were alike?’

This time, he took Fu Yao along the road by the Flower Sea. As they entered the farm, they saw the service center, its external frame already constructed.

Zhang Lin stopped the scooter for a moment. The overall service center could already be seen to have a full wooden structure with main support beams, somewhat resembling old-fashioned rural architecture.

But being an agricultural style, its design was sure to be distinctive.

Fu Yao was very surprised to see the service center under construction. "Boss, did you hire an architect for this? It looks like the minimalist agricultural design framework I’ve seen people talking about online!"

Zhang Lin was surprised to hear this. "You can tell!"

Fu Yao said with a bright smile, "I know a little bit. I like design and want to major in it in the future, so I’ve learned a little about various design styles!"

"That’s impressive. You’re way ahead of most people your age." Zhang Lin couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up before starting the scooter again and heading toward the rapeseed field.

’Honestly,’ he reflected, ’not many high schoolers think about their future career or what they want to major in, much less start studying the field in advance.’

The service center wasn’t far from the rapeseed fields. Sitting on the back of the scooter, Fu Yao could already see the vast planting area from a distance.

Only one section of the rapeseed was in bloom, but that patch alone spanned dozens of acres, a field of brilliant gold that was already a magnificent sight.

From a distance, she could only see a rough outline, but as they got closer, she found her eyes completely captivated, unable to look away.

"This is so beautiful," Fu Yao couldn’t help but exclaim as she got off the scooter.

It wasn’t as if she had never seen other seas of rapeseed blossoms before; she had even grown them herself. But she had never, ever seen any as beautiful as this. They captivated her at first sight, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away.