Flowers and Birthday Gift

Part 1

The morning sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains and spread all over the dining table at home. Mom finished breakfast in a hurry and left the house. In my childhood memories, her work was always busy and idle by turns—sometimes she only worked half a day, and other times she couldn’t come home for days on end.

I picked up the cold corn porridge that had been sitting for too long and stared intently at the replayed "The Dragon Club (A Chinese children's program produced and operated by the Disney Company, jointly launched by American Broadcasting Company and DIC Animation Company on September 19, 1994) " on TV. Though I had forgotten the names of most cartoons, those stories left a deep impression on my heart.

"I’m going out for a bit. Remember to wash the bowl after you finish drinking, okay?" Dad’s voice interrupted me. He seemed uneasy and reminded me again, "Did you hear me?"

"Yeah yeah yeah, got it." I replied perfunctorily.

"If you have time, don’t forget to water our vegetable plot." After his reminder, he left.

The yard was spacious back then, free from the noise of cars. People liked to grow some seasonal vegetables in the corner—cabbages, green onions, cowpeas and so on—to make the most of the land.

After washing the bowl, I took out my "watering can"—it was actually just a big beverage bottle. I had pricked a few small holes in the bottle cap, so it could be used to spray water. The hand pump in the yard had run dry, so I had to scoop a spoonful of water from home first, then use the handle to draw groundwater up.

Next to the vegetable plot grew flowers and grass I had plucked from somewhere casually. I even tried to build some lakes and rockeries in the garden in the style of a landscape park—they weren’t sturdy enough, though, and turned into a puddle of mud after every rain. After watering the vegetable plot, I started watering my own garden.

Suddenly, the rumble of a truck engine came from the distance, and I saw Dad coming back. But I didn’t care much about what he was doing, just focused on tending to my flowers and grass.

"It looks nice." I heard someone speak, and when I turned around, I saw a boy about my age standing behind me. He introduced himself: "My name is Brian. Mom and Dad are coming to work here, so we’ll be neighbors from now on."

As far as I could remember, there weren’t many residents nearby, and many people who had lived here before had moved away. So I nodded to show my friendliness: "Welcome. You can call me Nica."

Seeing he was interested in my garden, I asked: "Do you like flowers too?"

"There used to be a lot of flowers outside my old house, but I didn’t know their names."

"Alright, let me introduce the flowers here to you. This is a Chinese rose—I bought it from a flower shop, and it comes in four colors: orange, red, pink and white. This is balsam flower; the aunt who used to live here grew it in a flower pot, and I asked her for some seeds. This is dandelion—there are lots of them on the school playground, and Grandma likes to dry them to make tea. There’s also mint and aloe vera..."

He listened patiently as I told him the origin of all these plants.

"There was actually a peach tree here too. I threw a peach pit here once, and it grew up. It was even taller than me. But Dad thought it was in the way, saying we’d never live to see it grow and bear fruit, so he cut it down..."

"That’s such a shame—oh no, a wasp! Get out of the way quickly." We dropped to the ground at once. A wasp flew out from under the vegetable leaves, circled around us a few times, and then flew into the grass and disappeared. Brian brushed the dirt off my clothes and told me about his terrible experience of being stung by a wasp before.

I rambled on to him about the plan I had for the garden. When I went home, I saw Dad helping Brian’s dad carry furniture down from the truck and into the empty house next to ours, which had been unoccupied for a long time. During lunch, Dad said Brian’s family had moved here from the warm south.

Part 2

Summer came in the blink of an eye. One day at the end of May, I went to Brian’s house to find him after school. He was playing a red and white console game from a DVD disc, and when he saw me, he handed me a controller and pulled me to play with him.

"Thursday is my birthday. Come to my house to eat cake together then, okay?" I tried to invite him.

"Sure."

"It’s a deal then. What kind of cake do you like?"

"Chocolate cake, I guess." He tilted his head, as if thinking.

"Then I’ll ask Mom to buy one like that."

When I got home, Mom had just finished cooking. She saw me and said: "Sorry, Nica. Dad and I have been really busy lately, and I’m afraid we can’t stay home with you tomorrow. What birthday present do you want? Mom will buy you anything."

"Huh? Mom, didn’t you say you’d stay with me this year? Working overtime again? Alright... Well... I don’t really want anything, just make the birthday cake chocolate flavor this time." I was a little disappointed, but I was already used to it.

When I got home the next day, there was indeed a chocolate cake on the table, with a note left by Mom next to it, basically wishing me a happy birthday and another year older.

I waited like that, with only the tick-tock of the clock in the room. I felt a little sad. When I was very young, I was home alone once too, waiting until late at night for them to come back. So I took the family photo and looked at it, and I couldn’t help crying as I stared— not because I was scared, but because I couldn’t control the emotions in my heart. Later, I gradually forgot that feeling, until I left my hometown when I first went to university.

It was past six o’clock when Brian finally arrived, holding a black box in his hand.

"Uncle and Aunt aren’t home?"

"Sigh! They’re too busy to stay with me." I said helplessly.

"It’s okay, you have me then. Happy birthday, Nica! This is your gift."

"What is it?"

"Open it and you’ll know."

I untied the ribbon on the box and found a watering can inside.

"Now you don’t have to use a bottle to water the flowers anymore." he explained.

"Thanks. Let’s eat the cake. It’s the chocolate one you wanted—I specifically asked Mom to buy it."

I cut the cake into several pieces and gave half to Brian. It tasted pretty good.

Suddenly, the lights in the room went out, and the fan stopped spinning. The room was plunged into silent darkness, filled only with the unique swelter of summer.

Fortunately, I wasn’t alone this time.

"Sigh... Power cut again. How many times is this this month?"

"I think it’s the third time. The teacher said the Olympic Games will be held in just over two months, and they’re implementing power rationing here to ensure a stable power supply for Beijing. No one ever notifies us of the power cut time, though..."

"That’s ridiculous. Why don’t they have frequent power cuts in the city? By the way, do you want more cake? It’s way too hot inside; I want to go for a walk outside."

"I’m full. Let’s go."

We watered the flowers in the garden, then wandered around outside, chatting about the gossip we’d heard at school during the day.

As we passed a lawn, Brian suddenly squatted down and held his stomach with his hands.

"What’s wrong? You look really uncomfortable."

"Probably ate the cake too fast just now, my stomach hurts a little."

"Should we go back then?"

"It’s dark and stuffy at home; it’s better to stay here for a while." His voice was a little trembling, and the sweat on his face reflected the faint light of the waning moon. Seeing I was still worried, he changed the subject: "Look, there are little yellow flowers here. Why haven’t I seen them bloom before?"

"This is moonflower. It only blooms at night. We really wouldn’t have seen it if we hadn’t come out at this time."

The moon peeked in and out of the clouds, already rising halfway across the sky.

"By the way, Brian, when’s your birthday?"

"Exactly three months before yours."

"Three whole months? February 29th?!"

"That’s right." Brian nodded and said softly. By the moonlight, I noticed the sweat beads on his cheeks were already as big as the petals of the moonflower.

"Then you only get a quarter as many birthdays as everyone else?"

"Yeah."

"Worse still, this year’s already passed. The next one won’t be until 2012." I said regretfully.

"Ha, we’ll be big kids by then."

"We’ll celebrate it together then, okay? What birthday present do you want?"

"Birthday present... Maybe you can give me the flowers you grow?" he replied half-jokingly.

"I’ll remember... Um... Are you still feeling uncomfortable?"

"Better. But I want to rest a little longer." Though he pretended to be relaxed, his flushed cheeks told me he was lying. I knew he just didn’t want me to worry.

"What are you two doing here?" Mom, who had finished working overtime, appeared out of nowhere and bumped into us on the road. "The grass is full of mosquitoes—aren’t you afraid of being bitten?"

"There was a power cut, so we came out for a walk."

"Power cut? The lights are on at home."

I looked in the direction of home, and the lights had somehow come on.

"So the power’s back on... Mom, Brian’s not feeling well!" I said worriedly.

"What’s wrong with him?"

"Aunt, I..." Brian tried to put on a brave face, but his voice was weak and powerless.

We quickly helped him to his house, where Brian’s parents were watching TV. I told them exactly what had happened, and they immediately took him to the hospital.

Part 3

When I got home from school the next day, I didn’t see Brian in the yard, so I asked Mom what was wrong with him. Mom frowned and shook her head: "I don’t know either. He seems to be in the hospital."

"Then let’s go see him at the hospital this weekend." I tugged at Mom’s sleeve.

Mom agreed, but as expected, she had to work overtime on the weekend, so she asked Dad to take me instead. Early on Sunday morning, we first went to a store to buy some get-well gifts, then headed to the hospital.

The door of the ward was open. I saw Brian lying motionless on the bed with an IV needle in his hand—nothing like his usual lively self.

"Nica, you’re here." His voice was weak, but still warm.

"Are you okay? I..." I didn’t know what to say for a moment. Many words I had prepared got stuck in my throat.

"Thank you for coming to see me." In front of me, he still pretended to be energetic and forced a smile.

"No need to be polite! Aren’t we friends? Here, this is for you." I remembered the teddy bear I had specially picked out at the toy store and handed it to Brian.

"For me? But my birthday is still a long way off."

"Silly boy, today is Children’s Day. This is a holiday gift."

"Haha! I’m so muddled. Your birthday is so close to Children’s Day, Nica." He laughed.

"When I’m not here, you can look at it and think of me, so you won’t feel lonely. I hope you get better soon, though—I bought some new flowers from the flower shop the day before yesterday, and I haven’t shown them to you yet!"

I saw a light in Brian’s eyes, as if he had really regained a little of his usual spirit.

That night, I was lying in bed, almost falling asleep while thinking about the homework I had to hand in the next day, when I heard my parents talking outside the door.

"That boy’s illness is quite serious."

"It seems he needs surgery as soon as possible for treatment, but it’ll cost a lot of money, right?"

"Should we help them? He’s a good kid, and Nica likes him a lot."

"But we can’t afford that much money either."

My heart suddenly ached, so I buried my head in the quilt and cried my eyes out, without making a sound. I’d had a few playmates in the yard before, but they all left later. Would Brian leave too?

My worry didn’t last long, though. A few days later, I saw Brian again, looking just the same as usual. We both tacitly didn’t mention what had happened that day, and gradually forgot about it.

Once when we were playing together, Brian told me: "We learned Lin Ching-hsuan’s The Lily Blooms this week."

I remembered it was a text in the textbook—a story about a wild lily growing among weeds, which always believed it was a lily. Unfazed by the mockery of the other weeds, it finally bloomed beautiful flowers all over the mountains and plains.

"I don’t really like that lily, though. It feels like it likes to show off a little too much."

"What would you do if you were it?"

"Me? I think it’d be nice to be a weed quietly for a lifetime."

We both burst out laughing.

Part 4

Time passed before I knew it—one year, two years... One day in early May, Brian came to find me after school as usual.

"Brian, you’re here. Today’s the day to sign up for junior high school (Education in China before university typically includes six years of primary school, three years of junior high school, and three years of high school) ..." I cut myself off mid-sentence, sensing an unusual heavy atmosphere.

"I’m sorry." He said suddenly.

"Huh? What’s wrong? Why are you saying sorry all of a sudden?"

"I’m moving away." There was a catch in his voice.

"Why? You promised we’d have a birthday party together this year!" I was a little excited. I’d learned the word "party" in English class, which I only had a few times a semester. Because I liked to use Chinese characters as phonetic symbols, I pronounced it terribly incorrectly.

"Well... There’s really no other way." I saw Brian’s eyes welling up with tears, on the verge of crying.

"If you really have to go, then fine. But can you tell me when? I’ll come to see you off then."

"I’m not sure... Dad said it’ll be soon, maybe in a couple of days."

"Will we have a chance to see each other again?"

"Maybe. But we’ll definitely be grown-ups by then. By the way, Nica, this is your birthday gift for this year." He handed me a bag, his eyes filled with deep apology.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"It’s a secret! Promise me you won’t open it until your birthday."

I took the bag from him, nodded and agreed, then added: "Remember to keep in touch with me on QQ (A common instant messaging software in China) later!"

The next day, I was doing my homework at home when a car suddenly drove into the yard and stopped in front of Brian’s house. A moment later, Brian walked out of the house and got in the car without saying goodbye to me. I finally realized what was happening and hurried out of the yard, but I couldn’t catch up with the car. I could only watch its outline slowly disappear at the end of the road. I had imagined many scenes of our separation, but never this one.

On my birthday, I opened the bag as promised and found many paper packets inside, along with a letter. A key was wrapped in the letter paper, and there was a note on it that read:

[These are some flower seeds I asked someone to send from my hometown. You’ll plant them in your garden, won’t you? Also, this key is to my house—I’m leaving it with you for safekeeping after I’m gone. If we ever get the chance to meet again, I hope to see the flowers you grow from these seeds.]

I used the key Brian gave me to open the door of his house. The power switch had been turned off, and the huge room was pitch black. They must have left in a great hurry—none of the furniture was moved, just covered with plastic sheeting for dust protection.

On the wardrobe in front of his bed, the teddy bear I had given him was still hanging. I took it down and held it tightly in my arms, thinking about what I’d said to him in the hospital. Since he hadn’t even taken this with him, maybe he’d be back soon, I comforted myself. Or maybe I’d never see him again...

I didn’t dare to think any further, and once again, worthless tears fell down my cheeks. My sobs echoed in the quiet room. I couldn’t help but recall the silly things we’d done together: falling into an ice hole in the lake while ice skating in winter; wading in water with sandals after rain and swatting dragonflies with a broom; climbing through the school classroom window to draw on the ground with chalk... I kept thinking and thinking, and it wasn’t until half an hour later that I wiped the tears from my face with the corner of my clothes, put the teddy bear back in its place, locked the door and went home.

"Nica, what’s wrong?" Mom still noticed my sadness keenly.

"Nothing."

"Alright, don’t be too sad." She had probably guessed what had happened.

"I know." I rubbed my red, crying nose, and I didn’t know if what was dripping was snot or tears, or both.

"What are these?"

"These are the seeds Brian gave me."

Mom opened the envelope and looked at them: "This is butterfly orchid, this is hyacinth, and there’s also... But these are all southern flowers—they’re not suitable for the soil and climate here."

"I have to grow them anyway. Mom, for my birthday present this year, I want things for growing flowers. Can you go buy them with me? Just this once." I begged.

"Alright, I really can’t say no to you. Mom will go buy them with you in the street this afternoon."

"Great!" My mood lifted at once when I heard her agree.

"Let’s eat first." Mom said, standing up to make a phone call, probably to ask for leave. I wondered what excuse she used. The food today was still delicious, but this time, I ate it quickly.

"Mom, I’m done! Let’s go!"

Part 5

Mom took me to the bookstore in the town first. I asked the shop assistant sister for a flower illustrated handbook, opened it and flipped through the pages a few times, finally finding the introduction to hyacinths.

[Hyacinths like sunlight and are cold-hardy. They are suitable for growing in a cool and humid environment with loose, fertile sandy soil, and they hate waterlogging. They prefer a warm and humid environment in winter, a cool and slightly dry environment in summer, and plenty of sunlight or partial shade. They like fertilizer and grow best in fertile, well-drained sandy loam. They can be planted in the ground, in pots, or hydroponically.]

"It doesn’t seem that hard to grow." Mom stroked my head, and I continued reading.

[Flower meaning: Blue hyacinth — Life. Pale purple hyacinth — Gentle temperament, romantic feelings, sorrow. Pink hyacinth... Lucky constellations: Virgo, Libra, Pisces.]

"Mom, what constellation is February 29th?"

"I think it’s Pisces."

I thought to myself that this must be the flower Brian liked. Yes, this was it!

After paying the bill and asking the shop assistant sister to pack the book for me, we went to the flower shop. The flower shop owner was tending to the flowers in the hanging pots on the wall and put down his tools when he saw me.

"Nica, you’re here again! What do you want to buy this time?" He had known me for a long time because I came to look at the flowers often.

"I want to buy soil for growing flowers."

"What kind of flowers are you growing?"

"These ones. I want to give them to a very good friend. He... Well... He’s sick, and I think seeing the flowers might cheer him up, maybe he’ll get better sooner?" I pointed to the picture in the book for him. He looked a little confused at first, but after catching Mom’s eye, he seemed to understand something.

"Ah... hyacinths. Let me think—oh! I’ll mix a pot of soil for you as a gift."

"For me? Thank you, Uncle!"

With that, he turned around and took out several packets of different soils, then put them next to the flower pot on the ground. I squatted down and watched. He weighed the soil handful by handful, then added them together.

"What’s this?" I asked curiously.

"This is humus soil; it provides nutrients for plant growth."

"What about this?" I pointed curiously at another bag of soil.

"Sandy soil; it improves the air permeability of the roots."

"And this one?" I pointed at another bag of light white particles.

"This is perlite; it increases water permeability."

"It’s so complicated." I sighed.

"Growing flowers is a science too, haha. I’ve already mixed these soils in the right proportions. By the way, here’s a small bottle of growth hormone for you too." The owner handed me a mysterious little bottle, his eyes shining with wisdom.

"Thank you so much!" I bowed to the flower shop owner.

"You’re welcome, go back and plant them quickly!"

"Okay! I’m leaving then."

"Take care, Nica!"

I ran back home with the pot of soil in my arms, not caring about the soil that spilled along the way. In my mind, I was already imagining what the flowers would look like when they bloomed—they would be absolutely beautiful, and Brian would definitely like them. When I got home, I put the pot of soil on the windowsill of my bedroom and soaked the seeds Brian gave me in water mixed with growth hormone. After soaking them for half a day, I buried some of the seeds in the soil and watered them a little. But there was only this small pot of soil—what about the rest of the seeds? So I scattered them casually in the yard.

That night, I finished my homework, but Mom and Dad still hadn’t come home, so I had to go to bed. After washing up, I lay in bed with my eyes closed, but I was too excited to fall asleep, my mind filled with nothing but hyacinths, hyacinths. So much so that I still hadn’t slept when morning came, and sunlight streamed into the room, gilding the edges of my hair. I quickly threw off the quilt and jumped out of bed to check if the seeds I’d planted had sprouted.

They hadn’t. A few days later, they still hadn’t. The next spring, still no sign of them. By the time I graduated from junior high school, nothing had grown. And so, I waited for years, and my family finally moved away from that yard.

Finally, on another February 29th, I sent him a message to wish him a happy birthday. I knew he definitely wouldn’t see it—in fact, his QQ had never been online again.

I haven’t celebrated my birthday since I went to high school, even now. Partly because I don’t have the time, but more importantly, because no one is there to celebrate with me anymore.

I still keep the letter Brian wrote to me, tucked in the flower illustrated handbook along with the key to his house.

Part 6

Time flew by, and before I knew it, it was 2020.

Because of the COVID-19, the university didn’t let us go back after the winter vacation. It happened to be the second semester of my senior year at university, and I had already earned all my credits. Besides slacking off on my graduation project, I had no online classes to take. So I took the time to go back to my old home. As expected, the yard where Brian and I had lived had long been demolished, but to my surprise, there was a small patch of flowers growing in the middle of the grass—blue hyacinths, exactly as I had imagined them as a child.

The primary school was still there, though, so I hurried to the security room and asked the doorman uncle: "How did that patch of flowers get there?"

"Flowers? Oh, you mean that patch. It started growing seven or eight years ago, and it’s still thriving now. Everyone thinks it looks really nice, so we kept that spot." the uncle told me with a smile.

I squatted down, leaned in and tried to smell the flowers I had been looking forward to for so long. The floral fragrance was extremely strong, but I wasn’t satisfied. So I lay down on my back in this small sea of flowers, looked up and watched the black clouds gather in the sky, thinking about the things that had happened here before.

Suddenly, a raindrop fell and hit my face, blurring my vision. Then more raindrops pattered down. I jumped up abruptly and saw many hyacinth petals being knocked off by the heavy rain.

I desperately wanted to protect the flowers, but my body could only shield a few of them from the raindrops. That helpless feeling welled up in my heart again.

"You still like flowers so much." A familiar voice came from behind me. I turned around in surprise and saw my old friend holding a purple umbrella.

"It’s really you! You’re back too?" I wiped the water droplets off my glasses with a tissue and looked closely at his face. Though so many years had passed, I was absolutely sure it was him.

"Long time no see."

"Yeah, it’s been exactly ten years, hasn’t it?"

"How have you been all these years?"

"I went back to my hometown in the south."

"Why haven’t you been online on QQ?"

"Actually, I’m here to say goodbye. It seems you’ve kept your promise and grown the flowers well."

"Yeah, aren’t they beautiful?"

"Then I can rest assured. After I’m gone, I hope you’ll take good care of these flowers."

"After you’re gone?"

"These hyacinths were never supposed to take root and bloom, but now they’ve grown into such a sea of flowers. They have inherited my life force..."

"What are you talking about? No! I don’t want any flowers, I just want you to come back!" I collapsed powerlessly to the ground, tears blurring my vision.

I watched as Brian’s figure gradually became transparent, like the thin morning mist in summer, slowly dissipating into the rain curtain. Those memories of us as children, like hyacinth petals, fell one by one, only to bloom again in my heart. I reached out my hand, wanting to touch those petals, but could only feel the cold of the rain.

"Thank you for still caring about me, but you don’t have to worry about me anymore." Brian’s voice was as clear and distant as a wind chime far away.

The rain stopped, the sky turned blue again, and a rainbow hung over the tall buildings in the distance. The wind blew through this sea of flowers under the blue sky, swirling the blue petals around me. Gradually, everything around me seemed to disappear, leaving only this flower field and me.

......

"Nica! I’m off to work, breakfast is on the table—remember to eat it!" Mom’s voice roused me from my dream.

"Huh? Got it." I rubbed my eyes. Why were the corners of my eyes wet?

I looked at the windowsill. The hyacinth in the flower pot was swaying in the wind.