Eva's Garden

Peony Words (2)

"When I first received the aunt three years ago, she was just as gentle and said with a smile, 'The flower shop I often visit has closed down. I think your shop is very beautiful and I want to buy some flowers for my daughter.'"

Alex asked about her preferences and purposes as usual, and the aunt said, "I miss my daughter and want to go to the beach."

"The beach?" Alex was puzzled. Seeing Alex's puzzled expression, the aunt did not elaborate, and took out a photo from her mobile phone to show Alex. The photo was a lively ballet girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old.

"Today is my daughter's death anniversary. She likes pink very much. Help me match a bouquet of pink flowers." The aunt added.

"Okay, ma'am. Don't worry, I will definitely match a satisfactory bouquet for you." Alex was stunned for a few seconds at first, and in order to avoid embarrassment, he quickly adjusted his mental state and matched flowers for her like treating ordinary customers. It is now April, the season of peonies. Alex used peonies as the main flowers and matched them with pink flowers of different depths.

It turned out that her daughter died five years ago. At that time, she had just celebrated her 16th birthday and came to the beach alone by train. The next day, a tourist who was watching the sunrise found a floating human-shaped object wrapped in a hazy gray-pink color floating with the waves, appearing and disappearing from time to time, so he immediately called the police. The tourist didn't know it was a corpse at the time, but later people in the city learned the whole story from the news. It turned out to be a ballet girl with bipolar disorder. Netizens followed the clues and dug out the girl's life experience. They found the girl's suicide note, which mentioned that her parents had strict requirements and high expectations for her. The marketing account ignored human nature and made a lot of hype, causing the parents to bear social accusations while suffering the pain of losing their children. Because the tourism industry near the incident site was affected for a month, the locals were deeply impressed. Alex learned about it from the nearby neighbors.

Later, every year when the peony blooms, the aunt always comes as scheduled.

When she came last year, the aunt watched Alex make flowers and said calmly, "My daughter is sleeping in this sea." Alex was glad that he had learned about the aunt's origins from the nearby neighbors. Although he was surprised, he was also mentally prepared.

Alex was startled and said, "Auntie, are you okay?"

"I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble." Seeing Alex's surprised look, the aunt hurriedly apologized.

"It's okay, it will be better if you say it out." In order to hide his embarrassment, Alex turned his attention back to the bouquet and accidentally pricked his finger with a branch.

"It's been three years, and I still miss her very much. After all, she is a piece of flesh that fell from my body."

"I understand." Alex responded carefully, but deliberately avoided the aunt's eyes.

"Maybe I am really too strict with her, but why is she so weak? I just want to cultivate her strong character. She doesn't know how much I have suffered to raise her alone, and I have to train her to learn ballet. Ballet, do you know how much it costs? Why doesn't she understand me?"

Because the workbench was full of scissors and other tools, Alex saw that the aunt was getting more and more excited and worried about accidents, so he hurriedly helped the aunt to the coffee area to sit down, let her calm down, and took a glass of lemonade and handed it to the aunt.

Alex finally wrapped a bouquet of pink flowers and solemnly handed it to the aunt. Alex saw a gentle smile on the other's thin and weathered face, and a pair of deep-socketed eyes slightly reddened, and she felt that all her hard work was worth it. After thanking her, the aunt left with the flowers, as if she was holding her daughter when she was a child.

When she returned home at night, she had moved to a new room. Although the house did not belong to her, her life belonged to her. She wanted to have a warm home, even if no one was waiting for her at home. From childhood to adulthood, there was not a single intact object in her home, and her parents quarreled for years.

Rebecca packed the remaining desserts from the store today and prepared them for dinner. After removing her makeup, Rebecca received a missed call, but she did not answer it. She rarely left a phone number, and it was an unfamiliar number.

But the phone rang again, and it was the same number just now, and Rebecca still answered it.

"Where are you? I'll find you."

"We're not suitable, let's just leave it at that."

"You're so disrespectful. How can I explain to my family if you just run away without saying anything?"

"Who is disrespectful? Did you ask for my opinion before meeting your parents? I'm not ready for you to introduce me to your parents directly. You know I don't want to get married yet."

"I will give you a complete home. Forget the past. Everyone is different. You can create your own life."

"Don't say it." Rebecca's mind reappeared the scene of her parents quarreling when she was a child. She couldn't forget it, not only because of this, but also because if her parents were not irresponsible, she would not be violated by a strange man. She hates her parents and she thinks there is no home for her.