【Mi Ying】that side

"Flower garden?"

Honda, who was mowing the lawn at the gate of the apartment building, struggled to stand up straight.He looked young, but he always acted like an old man. After thumping his back, he continued: "There is an area on the top floor of this apartment. It is considered a public area and there is no extra charge. If Mr. Arthur is interested in gardening, it is true. Consider using the space over there."

The Honda information made Arthur really happy. He was about to thank him, but the Oriental shook his head: "But there are other residents using it now. I should call him first."

"Then I'll trouble you." Arthur felt a little relieved, "Can I ask who is using it?"

"Ivan Braginsky."

There was a slightly awkward silence.

Honda's dark pupils looked straight at him: "Maybe you don't know him yet."

No, I've already met him.Arthur replied inwardly.Recalling the scene of meeting the Russians, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart, and his mood that had just been relaxed became uneasy again.

Honda signaled Arthur to wait in place. After a short phone call and the concluding remarks of "Yes. It seems that you have no objection to this, that's great", he turned to Arthur and smiled: "Mr. Ivan said I look forward to sharing the flower garden with you."

"Yes, is it?" The response of the British could be called dumbfounding.

But that's good news anyway.

Facing the first rotation of his new job, Arthur had already made arrangements.He first went to the Portuguese shop for breakfast, and then walked to the small mall in the center of town for shopping.

After simply picking out practical daily necessities, he found some unique bookmarks in the stationery department, which could just be used to clip among the books he brought with him when he moved.

After purchasing, he started looking for a flower shop, and unexpectedly found a small flower shop in the corner of the mall.

The owner of the store is a blond girl with a ribbon, looking young and lovely.Seeing Arthur hovering in front of the display counter of rose seedlings, the girl came up with a smile and introduced varieties suitable for local planting to the British.

Arthur carefully distinguished and selected three varieties among them, and bought simple gardening tools by the way.He has a small budget, but fortunately, the price of this florist is also very reasonable.

After successfully completing the purchase plan, Arthur returned to the apartment full of joy, took the elevator and went straight to the top floor of the apartment.

Arthur was taken aback when the elevator door opened.

There is a half-waist-high fence around the roof, and a tall Russian stands at the corner of one of the fences.When the elevator sounded, he turned his head and met Arthur's shrinking eyes, with a smile on his face: "Hello, Mr. Lovely."

"Please don't call me that." Although the other party had a smile on his face, Arthur still felt uncomfortable. He couldn't describe the unnatural feeling, so he could only correct him with his lips curled up, "My name is Arthur Kirkland."

"So, Mr. Arthur." Ivan reached out to adjust the position of the long scarf around his neck, and walked towards Arthur, "I said we would meet again. Look, I didn't lie, did I?" The face is innocent.

The weather was still very hot, but the Russians still looked cool in that thick scarf, which made Arthur even more disturbed.He nodded hesitantly, as a response to the other party.

This was the first time he had a face-to-face conversation with Ivan Braginsky alone.

His original idea was to quietly cultivate a small piece of his own flower garden on the rooftop, and he didn't intend to have too much communication and contact with other people.

Ivan's smiling gaze made Arthur very uncomfortable, and he kept shifting his gaze.A few sparse plant seedlings in the side flowerbed caught his attention: "The flowers and plants over there...are you planting them?"

Ivan followed his line of sight, his expression darkened obviously: "Yes. Those are the sunflowers I've planted for several months, but they haven't been able to grow smoothly. Maybe the climate is not right."

The Russian's frustration was palpable, a far cry from the almost fake smile he had shown earlier.Arthur couldn't help comforting him: "Sunflowers have high requirements for soil and pollination, and it is difficult to grow in ordinary flower beds."

"Well," Ivan looked down at him, "I heard from Honda that you plan to use the flower garden here."

"Yes, I want to plant some roses."

"Rose, that's a good choice. Will it be difficult to grow?"

"It's a bit of a waste of energy."

Seeing that the other party seemed very interested, Arthur walked towards the flowerbed on the other side: "First of all, we need to protect the bare roots of the roses. After the seedlings enter the soil, we should regularly wash away the aphids with water mist. But the amount of water should not be too much, otherwise Rose stems and subsequent buds will be spotted."

Ivan obediently followed Arthur's footsteps, nodding from time to time, listening very seriously.

The British squatted down next to the flowerbed, took out the rose seedlings and tools bought from the flower shop one by one, and continued to explain: "After the rose seedlings start to grow, you can use bark, pine needles, cotton seeds and oak leaves to make root hedges. Putting a hedge around the roots of the roses will keep the soil hydrated," he said, picking up a small trowel and starting to loosen the soil.

Ivan also squatted down, and his expression was like a primary school student who was listening to the class seriously. Arthur couldn't help laughing: "In autumn, the soil is easy to dry out. At that time, you can add some peat or compost to increase the nutrients of the soil." He began to move the rose seedlings with soil to the flowerbed.

"Mr. Arthur knows a lot. Then, can I also take care of roses together? Only occasionally." Ivan tilted his head and looked at Arthur.

The request caught Arthur by surprise.

He carefully figured out the expression of the Russian, whose face was quite earnest.

Although his first impression of the Russians was not very good, Alfred once advised him to keep a distance from the Russians... But after some communication, he felt that the big man in front of him might be a bit strange, but probably Not a bad guy.

Arthur generally knew that his hobbies in gardening were considered partial among homosexuals, and it was rare to meet someone with the same interest—let’s judge it this way—it was really hard for him to refuse.

"...No problem." After a moment of silence, he replied.

The expression on Ivan's face widened, and he shyly buried his chin in the thick long scarf.

It looks so hot.Arthur looked at Ivan helplessly.But how to dress is the freedom of others after all, and it does not hinder their communication, so he naturally has no intention of asking.

Arthur's idea was very simple. He and the Russian were neighbors. If they could get along well, it would be more comfortable to tidy up the flower garden in the future.

As for the reason why Ivan's attitude is so different from the first meeting, Arthur is not sure whether it has something to do with Alfred's absence.

Ivan tilted his head to look at him again, and his voice was still soft: "Mr. Arthur, you and Mr. Jones have such a good relationship." As if he could see through his thoughts, Arthur couldn't help but "click" in his heart.

He faltered and said, "It's just... okay." It's not clear whether it's because of guilty conscience or nervousness.

"I don't mean anything malicious." Ivan waved his hand, "I just feel that, as expected." He propped his chin with his hand while smiling.

"What does that mean..." Arthur looked at him in bewilderment.

The Russian shook his head: "We will meet often in the future, I really look forward to it."

Completely irrelevant.

After speaking, he stood up and walked towards the elevator, leaving Arthur alone by the flowerbed on the top floor.

"...What a weirdo." Seeing Ivan's disappearing back, Arthur muttered in a low voice.

Initially arranging the rose garden consumed him all afternoon, but Arthur didn't feel tired.Looking at the neatly arranged plant seedlings, he felt a sense of accomplishment in his heart.

When he returned to his residence in the evening, he happened to meet Alfred carrying a sports bag.The other party looked like he came back from school, holding a shopping bag from a supermarket in his hand, and the raised marks revealed a faint green color.

"This is for you!" The college student raised his arm and shook the shopping bag.

"Is it a green apple again?" Arthur couldn't laugh or cry.

"Yes." The other party smiled brightly at him.

"Thank you for your kindness," Arthur folded his arms across his chest, "but this method of gifting doesn't suit me well. I'm a social person after all, and I'd rather buy it myself." He stared at the American seriously.

"Oh——" Alfred seemed to wake up, he scratched his hair, "I didn't think about it that much. Sorry."

"I don't want you to apologize..." The other party's reaction was very frank, which made Arthur feel guilty instead.

"Well then," Alfred took out two green apples from the bag, wiped them on his clothes, and stuffed one of them directly into Arthur's hand, "I invite you to eat this, is that okay?"

His palms are thick and warm.

The British held the apple shyly, withdrew his hand, and subconsciously looked away: "Then...thanks."

"You're welcome!" Alfred bit down the apple in his hand, "I heard from Honda that you will plant flowers on the roof, can I go and see it later?"

Arthur looked at each other in surprise.He thought that a person like Alfred who likes technology and machinery would definitely not be interested in activities such as gardening.

The Americans still looked sincere: "I promise not to destroy them. Are you still unwilling?"

"...how could it be." The British couldn't help chuckling.

For Arthur, this was quite a fulfilling short vacation.

Because there is a lot of free time, every time I go in and out of the apartment, I have the opportunity to appreciate the more casual appearance of several neighbors.

On the last day of his rotation, he met Alfred who was walking up and down the stairs with dumbbells and doing weight-bearing exercises early in the morning, and greeted him while sweating.

When he ran into Honda at the door of the apartment, he was also surprised by his relaxed appearance in a scruffy maroon tracksuit and glasses.In the evening, Ivan Braginsky wore a tank top and shorts but still didn’t take off his scarf when he erected a roof for the rose garden on the roof, and his insistence on watering those sunflowers that didn’t know whether they would grow smoothly with a smile. It is also a wonderful sight at sunset.

Later, he went to Francis's coffee shop to buy food, and Gilbert, as always, shared with him the recent trivia of life.

On the way back to the residence, he met Matthew who had just finished work. The young man kindly distributed some of the newly bought tea to him.

What the hell is going on with the people of this small town.It's full of people with distinct personalities, all seeming odd, but all incredibly accommodating.It seems that everyone has good intentions and only concentrates on running their own lives.

It was a very peaceful, reassuring feeling.Arthur thought so.

He complained secretly when he was assigned to a small town at first, but now he feels that it may be a kind of luck to live here.

In the evening, he made himself a simple and not-so-delicious dinner at his residence, and prepared to go to bed early.

He turned on the night light, leaned against the newly decorated bedside, took out the thick selection of Shakespeare's plays from the bookcase, and slowly flipped through them.

Arthur likes books, even if they are literary books that take up space and may be quite boring in the eyes of outsiders, he is willing to carry them on the long journey of moving.

Familiar words slipped past his eyes, and he distractedly dreamed: When he gets older or gets tired of the police career, maybe he can use his savings to open a small bookstore like Francis or Feliciano did. , selling carefully selected books.It must not make much money, and life will probably be more monotonous.

But if it is in this small town, it seems to be able to live well.What an incredible town.

The British rubbed the slightly old paper in his hand, his brows and eyes stretched, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

The summer night was full of coolness, and the refreshing wind blew into the house through the window, gently brushing the hair on Arthur's forehead.Although it is difficult to tell where the fragrance of flowers mixed in the wind comes from, there is a wonderful nostalgia in my heart, like the breath of my hometown.

Yes, hometown.

England, London, his home country and hometown.Kind and distant.About when things in my hometown started, I seldom recall them.

In the dim light of the night light, Arthur slowly closed his eyes.