Chapter 127

Chapter 127

The potted plants Wen Tangtang had bought from the flower and bird market were being delivered directly to the designated location.

So the four of them headed straight to Dr. Jia Lingyuan’s home.

Dr. Jia Lingyuan lived in a villa community in the outskirts. It was said that every house in this development was worth tens of millions.

When their car reached the entrance of the villa community, the small delivery truck carrying the potted plants was already parked outside the gate.

The property management here was very strict. First, they registered the license plate numbers of both vehicles and the visitors’ information. Then they called inside and confirmed the details of the visitors with Dr. Jia Lingyuan. Only after that did they open the gate and let the two vehicles in.

The car had only just stopped at the front door when they saw an elderly woman standing at the entrance to the villa. The moment she spotted Professor Hu, she smiled and came forward to greet him.

“Old Hu, long time no see.”

Professor Hu rolled down the window and stuck half his head out. “It really has been a long time. How come you haven’t aged at all? You’re still as beautiful as before.”

“Oh, stop it.” The elderly woman pointed at the corners of her eyes. “Look at these. What are they? Wrinkles everywhere. And you say I haven’t aged?”

Professor Hu laughed. “Are there? My eyes are already going farsighted, so I can’t see whether you have wrinkles or not. Anyway, to me, you look just as pretty as you did back when we were in school.”

The elderly woman burst into laughter at his teasing and directed him where to park.

In the car, Wen Tangtang raised an eyebrow. “Well, well, Teacher! I never would’ve guessed. I didn’t see this side of you at school. Turns out you’re actually such a smooth talker?”

Professor Hu was a little embarrassed by the teasing. “Old classmates. We’re old classmates. Jia Lingyuan, his wife, and I all went to the same university.”

“No wonder.”

The four of them got out of the car. Mrs. Jia already knew the potted plants on the truck behind them had been sent by Professor Hu, and she smiled as she chided him, “You could’ve just come. Why bring gifts? You’re always so polite!”

“I didn’t know what would be suitable to bring.” Professor Hu also took quite a few health supplements out of the car and smiled. “I remembered you used to like flowers and plants, so I specially got you some. Where’s Old Jia?”

“He’s in the tea room. As soon as he heard you were coming, he made tea and started waiting for you.”

“Then let’s hurry in. I’ve long heard that Old Jia has collected a lot of fine teas. Let’s see if I don’t drink him dry today.”

“Nothing would make me happier. He has so much tea we can’t even fit it all at home! Just looking at it gives me a headache.” Mrs. Jia was about to lead Professor Hu inside when she noticed the young people following behind him. “And these are?”

“Oh, my students.” Professor Hu glanced back, but did not explain in detail. He simply glossed over it with that one sentence. “Just tell them where to put the flowers and plants, so they can move everything in for you first.”

Mrs. Jia stood in the yard, looked around, and pointed to a spot. “Just put them here. Wait a moment. I’ll go inside and call property management, and have them send someone over to move them.”

“Oh, that would be such a hassle. Just let them move it. It’s no trouble. I brought them here precisely to move things.”

Mrs. Jia still wanted to say something, but Professor Hu pushed her through the door.

Professor Hu figured it was only a few pots of flowers and plants, so he didn’t think they would be all that heavy. He turned back and told Wen Tangtang to move everything to the designated spot, then eagerly pushed Mrs. Jia along to go see Jia Lingyuan.

In truth, at this moment, Wen Tangtang and Wen Miao still had no idea what they were about to face. They also thought it would just be three or five potted plants, probably a matter of three to five minutes.

The small truck delivering the potted plants only had one driver.

When Wen Tangtang had gone to the flower and bird market yesterday to buy the potted plants, the owner had told her that if she needed help unloading, two workers would have to come along with the truck, and it would cost an extra 150 yuan in labor fees.

If this had been any other time, Wen Tangtang definitely would have paid the money.
But for Wen Tangtang, wasn’t this the perfect built-in excuse to bring Wen Miao and Wen Xin along?

So she immediately said she wanted to save the teacher some money, so they didn’t need a mover to ride along. They could unload it themselves; all they needed was for the delivery driver to lend a hand when he arrived.

As it turned out, only when it came time to move the thing did Wen Tangtang realize just how heavy the potted plant was.

The plant she had bought was a fishtail palm, a large evergreen tree. Although the one she’d bought was only 1.5 meters tall, the owner had said this type of plant could grow to two or three meters, so she had chosen a purple clay flowerpot with a diameter of fifty centimeters.

Which meant the pot was already heavy as a rock and impossible to get a good grip on. Add to that the fact that the fishtail palm was tall and lush, forcing them to adjust the angle of their strength, and there was no way to lift it from the easiest position.

At first, Wen Xin climbed onto the truck, intending to carry the potted plant to the rear with the driver, then have Wen Miao and Wen Tangtang receive it from below.

But the moment he tried to lift it, he knew there was no way Wen Miao and Wen Tangtang could catch it.

“No, no way.” Wen Xin had barely lifted it before he stopped. “Why is this thing so heavy? You two definitely won’t be able to catch it.”

“It’s that heavy?” Half skeptical, Wen Tangtang climbed onto the truck and tried lifting it together with Wen Xin.

“Holy crap! It’s so heavy!”

She had practically used every ounce of strength in her body, but the bottom of the pot had only just barely left the floor.

Wen Miao stood below. “How about I go up and move it with the driver, and you two catch it from underneath?”

Wen Miao’s strength was about the same as Wen Tangtang’s, though if they really had to compare, Wen Miao was just the tiniest bit stronger.

“No.” Wen Xin shook his head. “The people catching it from below need to be stronger. It’s harder to exert force with your arms raised.”

“Then what if Tang Tang and I stay up there, and you and the driver catch it below?”

Wen Xin hesitated. “Then come up here and you two try first. See if you can lift it.”

Wen Miao climbed onto the truck, and Wen Xin stepped aside to give her his spot. The weight of the potted plant clearly exceeded her expectations too.

The two girls practically used all the strength they had, but the potted plant still wobbled unsteadily, barely leaving the floor.

The group stood on the truck, staring at one another. Wen Tangtang was dumbfounded. She truly hadn’t expected this thing to be so heavy.

The truck driver urged them, “Can you two do it or not? If not, why don’t you go inside and call someone else? Didn’t two people just go in? Call a guy out and that should probably be enough.”

Wen Tangtang stood there awkwardly. Call who? Her advisor?

Wen Xin saw her dilemma at a glance, so he walked up to the potted plant. “How about this? The driver and I carry it to the rear of the truck first. Then Wen Tangtang and I lower it down from up here, while Wen Miao and you, sir, catch it from below. Driver, you take Tang Tang’s side. Wen Miao, you just hold the pot up. I’ll help support it from above, and Tang Tang can quickly jump down to help Wen Miao catch it. That should work.”

The truck driver had no better idea, so he could only agree to give it a try.

Wen Tangtang and Wen Xin lowered the potted plant from above. The truck driver caught his end quickly. Although it wobbled a little, it was still fairly steady. Wen Miao held it up with all her might, and Wen Xin didn’t dare let go either, but he was bent over and couldn’t use his full strength.

As Wen Tangtang was getting down from the truck, the potted plant suddenly tilted because it was too tall. Wen Miao hurriedly tried to straighten it, but she didn’t have enough strength-and in truth, it was already too late.

Wen Miao let out a sharp cry, certain the potted plant was about to smash to pieces, when a hand suddenly reached out from behind her and firmly supported the pot.