Striving for Science C86 pt1

The assistant manager of the "Hundred Years of Harmony" flower shop, who also worked as a delivery boy, had been feeling a bit down lately. This was because Mr. Shen, who was fond of sending sunflowers, gladioli, and calla lilies—flowers representing friendship—to his friends, seemed to be growing dissatisfied with the selection at their shop and was considering patronizing other florists.

To keep this customer, he pulled out all the stops with his fiancée, even using the one hundred and eight styles of flower arrangement art, finally managing to dissuade him from changing stores.

November had quietly slipped away without notice, and December was already more than halfway gone. Over the course of this month, the flower delivery guy's opinion of Shen Chang'an had undergone a qualitative leap from bad to good.

Sometimes, when their shop received the best and freshest flowers, he wouldn't forget to call Shen Chang'an first, asking if he wanted to have some prepared for him, and he only charged a friendship price.

"Don't send flowers those two days of Christmas." One morning in mid-to-late December, the flower delivery guy saw Shen Chang'an ordering flowers again and couldn't help but say, "The flowers are especially expensive those days, and the quality isn't necessarily the best, it's not worth it. You're sending them to a friend, not a lover, anyway."

The flower delivery guy no longer understood the complex emotional entanglement between Shen Chang'an and Mr. Nian. He thought that Mr. Nian would be angry and refuse the flowers because of Shen Chang'an's rejection, but he didn't expect that the other party would accept them every time.

He thought that Mr. Shen was just trying to reject Mr. Nian's intentions by sending flowers, but he didn't expect that Mr. Shen would send flowers every few days, and he had been doing it for over a month. And looking at him, it didn't seem like he had any negative feelings towards Mr. Nian, but rather that he genuinely believed that Mr. Nian liked those flowers and was sending them for that reason.

It's chaotic, it's really too chaotic, chaotic to the point where you can't see clearly. The world of love in your circle is truly something that ordinary people can only look up to.

"It's fine." Shen Chang'an smiled, "Christmas only comes once a year, it's expensive, so be it."

"Are you being a little too good to your friend?"

"Because he's even better to me." Shen Chang'an skillfully took out his phone to scan the code for payment, "Still deliver to the same place, thanks, brother Ming."

"You're welcome." The flower delivery guy's name had a "Ming" in it, so after they became familiar, Shen Chang'an called him brother Ming.

According to brother Ming, he and his fiancée were both from the countryside, and they had saved some money working outside over the years, so they rented a storefront to sell flowers. They opened early and closed late every day, were enthusiastic and hardworking towards customers, and gradually their business got better and better. Their biggest dream was to buy a house in the city, so that their future children could attend a good kindergarten and elementary school.

They were planning to get married before the Spring Festival and had even invited Shen Chang'an.

Shen Chang'an took the 20% discount card the shopkeeper gave him and agreed on the spot, and in the end, he also took on the responsibility of being the best man.

Seeing that Shen Chang'an was determined to order flowers on Christmas Day, the flower delivery guy stopped trying to persuade him. He filled out the invoice and asked Shen Chang'an to come again next time.

***

It's not clear if it's because Christmas is approaching, but the Civil Service Department has been getting busier and busier. Today they're helping this department catch escaped animals, tomorrow they're helping that department do propaganda against illegal activities, and the day after tomorrow they're helping the security department patrol.

In recent days, a rumor has been circulating in Wuming City from somewhere, saying that someone dug up a zombie in the field, and this zombie secretly escaped while people weren't paying attention.

There are countless rumors about zombies, some say zombies are afraid of the sun, others say zombies are not afraid of the sun but are afraid of garlic, that if you are bitten by a zombie you will turn into a zombie, and the most terrifying claim is that zombies can disguise themselves as ordinary people, and when people are not paying attention, they will bite their necks and suck blood.

Shen Chang'an felt that these rumors were quite a mix of East and West, combining the advantages and disadvantages of zombies and vampires.

"Open up your Moments, everywhere you look there are rumors about zombies. I debunked it in my family group, and I was attacked by all my aunts and uncles, saying that it's better to believe than not to believe. My mom even said she was going to the temple to get a talisman for me." Chen Panpan slumped on the table, listlessly revising the debunking propaganda draft, "It's so easy to spread rumors, but it's so hard to debunk them. The work we've done these past two days has been in vain."

"These days, temples and Taoist temples have been bustling with incense. Those messy people who claim to be fairy maidens and half-saints have all come out, saying they have talismans to subdue zombies, and that the talismans are only given to those who are destined, etc." Ding Yang sent the information he had gathered about the scammers to the email addresses of several colleagues, "Some old men and women are in their seventies and eighties, and they don't have much money left. Those scammers cheat them out of their money, how can they live with their conscience?"

"People with a conscience wouldn't be scammers." Xu Ze clicked on the information Ding Yang sent, "The police will catch a few of the most notorious scammers these days, so that the public will know that these people have no real ability. What we need to do is cooperate with their work."

"I've divided Wuming City into four zones, and each of us is responsible for one zone. Do you have any objections?" Xu Ze sent everyone the areas they were responsible for.

"No problem."

"No problem."

"No problem for me either." Shen Chang'an glanced at the area he was responsible for, the residential complex where Dao Nian lived, which was also within his jurisdiction.

Was this a coincidence, or was Xu Ze intentionally taking care of him?

Seeing that everyone had no objections, Xu Ze said with a worried expression, "Then let's arrange it this way. We'll probably have to work overtime again these next few days."

"The Civil Service Department is for the people, after all." Ding Yang yawned. "It's okay to be busy for a few days. As long as we have time to rest during the New Year's Day holiday."

"Chang'an, what are your plans for the New Year's Day?" Ding Yang turned to ask Shen Chang'an. "If you're free, let's go out for barbecue together on New Year's Day."

"No, I've already made plans to go to the provincial capital with a friend on New Year's Day." Shen Chang'an got up and poured himself a glass of water. "Happy holidays in advance."

"That good friend of yours again?" Ding Yang asked with a smile.

"Yeah." Shen Chang'an nodded. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's good." Ding Yang thought that being too talkative and nosy at the wrong time would make people dislike him, and he didn't want to be that kind of person.

"Oh." Seeing that he wouldn't say anything, Shen Chang'an lowered his head and picked up his teacup, continuing to drink.

Xu Ze looked up at the two of them, then buried his head back down.

In order to do a good job of debunking the zombie rumors, everyone in the Civil Service Department was working tirelessly, even Director Du, who usually didn't like using computers, was typing with his "one-finger Zen" technique.

When Shen Chang'an got off work that night, it was already past eleven o'clock.

He had driven to work that morning, so he didn't ask Shen Tu and the others to pick him up. He drove slowly back home.

The weather was getting colder and colder, and there were fewer and fewer people walking outside at night. Many shops had already closed. As he passed by the "Hundred Years of Harmony" flower shop, he saw that the front door was wide open, and two hanging baskets had fallen at the entrance, which seemed a bit strange.

Turning off the engine, Shen Chang'an cautiously approached the flower shop entrance. He heard a faint sound coming from inside. He looked down and stuffed the broken pieces of the flowerpot into his jacket. "Is anyone there?"

"Where's the owner? Why is the door open but you're not doing business?"

"What do you want?" A man wearing a black down jacket came out of the small utility room inside the flower shop. He was a complete stranger.

"What else could I want? I'm just here to buy flowers, of course." Shen Chang'an shivered, pretending to be a scoundrel. "I had a fight with my wife, and she kicked me out. She won't let me back in. If I don't buy some flowers to appease her, I might have to freeze outside all night."

The man frowned and looked at the flowers in the shop. "What kind do you want?"

"Just pick a few red roses. Look, these flowers are a bit wilted. Give me a discount." Shen Chang'an pulled out a few dozen yuan from his pocket. "I only brought this much money with me. How many roses can I get?"

The man casually picked out a few roses and handed them to Shen Chang'an. "Take them."

He was eager to get Shen Chang'an to leave.

"Aren't you going to wrap them for me?" Shen Chang'an pointed to the sample bouquets displayed in the shop to attract customers. "Look how nice those are."

The man, with a sullen face, took a sample bouquet and shoved it into Shen Chang'an's arms. "Take it."

"How could I be so shameless?" He said he was embarrassed, but his face showed greed.

A look of disdain flashed in the man's eyes, but it quickly disappeared. "It's fine, anyway, this shop is closing tomorrow. Take them to appease your wife. A big man like you, afraid of women like that, are you even a man?"

"There's no shame in being afraid of your wife." Shen Chang'an turned and walked out with the flowers. As he reached the door, he turned back and called out to the man who was about to return to the storage room. "By the way, boss, you have so many flowers in your shop, what are you going to do with them tomorrow when you're not open?"

"What else can I do, I'm giving them away." The man's face showed impatience when he saw Shen Chang'an still hadn't left. "If you want more, take another bouquet. It's getting late, I need to close up shop."

"Then wait for me, I'll put this bouquet in the car and then come back for the other one." Shen Chang'an chuckled. "Boss, you're so generous."

The man sneered. He walked to the store entrance, saw Shen Chang'an's car still parked across the street, and went back to the storage room. Looking at the young couple tied together in the corner, he smiled faintly: "How does it feel? Knowing that someone is just a wall away, yet you can only watch them leave and then quietly await death? Isn't it despairing?"

With their mouths gagged and tightly bound, the store manager and brother Ming could only stare wide-eyed at the crazed man.

"To see vibrant life heading towards a terrifying death, the feeling is truly beautiful..." The man's emotional outburst hadn't ended when he heard footsteps outside again.

The twisted smile on his face vanished instantly. He put his index finger to his lips: "Shhh, let your hearts quiet down and listen to how the last hope leaves with a greedy heart."

As the man came out, he saw Shen Chang'an holding two large bouquets of flowers. The bouquets were so big that he struggled to hold both at the same time without help.

Seeing the man come out, he awkwardly put down one of the bouquets. "I just... I just wanted to see how heavy these flowers were."

"Alright," the man said impatiently. "Take your things and get out, don't bother me."

Shen Chang'an turned and walked away with the flowers. Just when the man thought he wouldn't come back and was about to slowly torture the two people locked in the storage room, Shen Chang'an returned.

The man's face was dark, barely concealing his crazed emotions.

He wanted to kill this annoying guy.

"I still feel a little embarrassed after taking so many flowers from you. This is a small gift in return." Shen Chang'an placed a bag of gifts on the table. It was a box of toothpaste and a cheap towel that a supermarket had given away during its grand opening.

The man walked to the counter, his hand trembling slightly as he touched the drawer.

He couldn't control his desire to hurt people. He wanted to make this nagging, greedy man disappear from the world.

It's a pity for such a good-looking exterior. He's so handsome, but he doesn't have a heart that makes people like him.

Only sincere people are beautiful when they are desperate.