Crazy First Love

Rachel Mo woke up on time. It was exactly six o'clock. Outside, the sky was still gray and dull.

Ever since she opened her flower shop four years ago, she had never gotten up late. It was not because she didn't want to sleep; rather she was not willing to stay in bed. When she first opened her shop, Whisper of Flower, it occupied less than ten square meters. Four years later, she had more than ten employees working in her business. From the small stall she rented, she was able to expand it to the size of one hundred square meters. The streets and the alley ways of the city were filled with flowers that came from her shop. Thus, it was impossible for her to fall asleep with such amazing results from her hard work.

She had made a room on the second floor her bedroom. There was a small wooden bed, a desk and dresser, and a delicate chair on the side. The white wall was simple and was decorated with dried flowers that she handcrafted herself. When the sun shone its rays, the room was brightened and the shadow of flowers filled the room, as if she was in a dream world.

Her grandmother and brother were always asking her to sleep at home. They reprimanded her that it was not safe for a girl to live alone in her shop. But she knew that if she didn't stay there, then she would feel uneasy and worried that something bad might happen. Someone suggested that she hire a security guard, but most of the security guards were men. For her, it was awkward to let a clumsy man live in the Whisper of Flower. She felt uncomfortable just by thinking about it. Moreover, if she lived at home and came to work every morning, it would take her half an hour to arrive. She also didn't have a car and would have to take a taxi. In that case, she would not only waste a lot of money, but also had to get up earlier.

It was more practical for her to live in her shop.

At the same time, she was also worried about her grandma and brother. Her grandmother was already seventy-one years old. Her brother, on the other hand, was only twenty years old and in his sophomore year. Not a day went by without her thinking about how they were. She wondered, 'Did they eat well? Grandma is bored at home alone. Is she safe? How's my brother's studies? Are they healthy?' Fortunately for her, there was no problem with them. This was relieving for her as she was living away from them.

She drew back the green curtains, and the wind bell hanging on the window rang with a crisp sound. When she pushed the window open, a breath of fresh air came rushing in. She took in a few deep breaths, stretched out her arms, and smiled.

Today was Valentines' Day, so the roses she prepared had to be good. If she was able to earn a lot today, she would have enough money to buy a better guitar for her brother, Eric Mo, and give her employees their bonus pay.

She quickly freshened up and changed into her work clothes, ready for a busy day.

The display rack and the flowers would have to be rearranged in a different and more beautiful design. The small gifts would have to be placed in a convenient spot with posters decorating the wall in line with the Valentines' Day theme.

Well, there were a lot of things for her to do.

She was a very busy woman. Soon enough, small beads of sweat began to form on her delicate nose.

The morning sky gradually turned bright, as the crimson sun rose. The sunlight gently pierced the windows and illuminated the room. The red light shone in the room, its shadows looking like ethereal rose petals floating in the sky.

"Rachel, why did you get up so early? Didn't we say that we would tidy the shop together?"

A petite girl pushed the door open and looked at Rachel with dissatisfaction. While frowning, she grabbed the duster cloth from her boss's hand.

"I couldn't fall asleep." Rachel Mo pulled her messy long hair back and wiped the sweat on her forehead.

"Honestly, we get embarrassed to see you do this every single day."

"Oh, stop thinking that way! It's just my habit to get up this early. Think of this as my morning exercise!" Rachel Mo still wore a shining smile on her face.

"Then you must be doing a great job. However, from now on, please leave this opportunity to us." The girl wiped the counter and gave Rachel a serious look.

Rachel Mo looked at her employee with a gentle grin beaming on her face.

Soon enough, the shop assistants arrived at the shop, one after another.

"Why did you come in so early, Tess? Everything is already prepared."

A tall and thin girl looked around at the well-arranged shop and gaped in surprise.

"This is not my doing," replied Tess, pointing upstairs. "When I came here, Rachel already finished preparing."

"What? Why did Rachel get up so early again?" asked another girl with a round face in surprise.

"Yes." Tess nodded, a look of distress flashed on her face.

"Rachel, we will come early in the future!"

"Good morning, everyone. Happy Valentines' Day!" Rachel Mo greeted her employees as she descended the stairs.

"I need to come here earlier. At least before you get up, Rachel," said the tall girl.

"Forget it, Tina," the girl with round cheeks teased. "Even if you live here, you won't get up earlier than Rachel!"

"Nancy!" Tina Lu angrily frowned at her. She grabbed her bag and hit her with it. "Who says I can't get up? My mother always praises me for being the most diligent."

She chased Nancy all over the room. Nancy had nowhere to hide, so she ran upstairs and hid behind Rachel.

"Rachel, you should keep her here for one night and see how early she can get up. If she gets earlier than you, then I will stand in front of the entrance of our shop dressing like a monkey!"

"Remember what you just said. Don't go back on your word!" Tina stood in front of her boss. "All of you and Rachel will be my witness. I can't wait to see the monkey that Nancy will disguise as tomorrow."

"Okay, okay." "Leave me alone. Just follow the working hours," said Rachel, pulling Nancy behind her. "Hurry up and get ready. Today's a special occasion and we'll definitely gain a lot from our sales!"

"But, Rachel, should flower would we feature today?"

a girl suddenly asked.

"You are so stupid!" Nancy ran over to her and pretended to knock her head. "Today is Valentines' Day. What other flower will we feature other than the rose?"

The girl lowered her head in shame and muttered in a low voice, "It's my first time to celebrate Valentines' Day here."

They arranged the roses in two heart-shaped scaffoldings and placed them in the middle of the shop. It was a routine to write the meaning of the flowers in Whisper of Flower.

It said, "You know, I love you!"

They weren't open yet, but everything in Whisper of Flower was already prepared. The girls looked extraordinarily beautiful and complimented the beautiful scenery that was filled with bright roses.

"Happy Valentine's Day. Welcome to Whisper of Flower!"

Before a man entered the shop, he could hear the girls' sweet and chirping voices.

"Hello sir, what flowers would you like to buy? We can give you a twenty percent discount for all the flowers in our shop today."

"Roses."

"How many roses do you need?"

"Just one."

"Alright! One rose means 'You are the only one for me.'" Nancy smiled as she handed the rose and an exquisite card to the guest. "Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Thank you!"

The man paid the bill and happily walked out.

Customers came rushing in one after another. Some bought a rose, some bought three, some bought fifteen, and some bought twenty-seven.

"These men are so mean! If it were my boyfriend, he would have to send me nine hundred and ninety-nine roses!"

"But I've never seen a man send you flowers. I haven't even seen a single flower..."

"That's because I don't have a boyfriend. If I do..."

"If you do, then you should ask him to buy you nine hundred and ninety-nine roses from our shop and then you can sell them back to us."

"Well, not a bad idea..."

While the girls were gossiping, a blue convertible suddenly parked outside their shop. The car stopped at the entrance and a young man in a suit pushed the door open.

They could tell he was a rich man.

The girls' eyes lit up and they greeted him warmly.

"What? You want nine hundred and ninety-nine roses?"

When Tess, the receptionist heard this, she opened her mouth wide.

When Rachel saw this, she hurried forward to greet the customer.

"Please wait for a moment. We'll prepare the roses for you right away." She quickly pulled out a chair for the guest and served him tea.

The girls were excited and they carefully packed the man's order. It was a large bouquet of roses and definitely needed a very strong and powerful man to hold it.

"The roses are packed." Rachel smiled as she showed him the final product. "Since today is Valentine's Day, we'll be giving you a 20 percent discount. Your total bill is 7, 992."

The man took out a dozen one hundred dollar bills from his expensive wallet and handed it to the cashier without any expression.

"Here's your change of 8 dollars. Thank you once again for shopping here. Happy Valentine's Day!"

The man did not respond. His face was cold and didn't seem to be the type of person to send flowers to his girlfriend.

However, the girls didn't care about his expression. They took the money and carried the roses to his convertible.

When the man walked out of the flower shop and got in the car, Tess couldn't help but exclaim, "We made it to 999 roses!"

"Oh, I wonder who this lucky girl is! She has such a rich and romantic boyfriend." Nancy's eyes were filled with envy.

When Rachel heard that, she couldn't help but feel a little lonely. She didn't expect that someone would give her and her employees a single rose, even if it was the Valentine's Day.

For a while, they envied the people who got flowers and sighed. Regardless, they continued to greet their customers with their most beautiful smiles.

By noon time, all their roses were sold out.

"Thank you for all your hard work," Rachel happily exclaimed to her employees. "Let's go to the Love Garden tonight and have a great time!"

"The Love Garden?" The girls widened their eyes in surprise.

The Love Garden was the most famous entertainment venue in J City. It had a good environment, but was rather expensive. Rachel had never even been there before.

"Well, we've made a fortune today. Since it's Valentine's day, why can't we be happy as well?" Rachel couldn't stand the surprise on everyone's face.

"Wow, that's great!"

"Great!"

Dara, who liked to play around, happily jumped with joy.

Not long after lunch, the blue convertible slowly came into view.

"Look, it's the customer who bought 999 roses. I still remember the license plate number, 66866!" Nancy shouted excitedly, "He might buy another 999 roses, but unfortunately we don't have any roses left."

"You must be kidding! Why would be buy so many roses?"

"A rich man like him may have many women, right?" said Nancy. "I think it's possible that he'll buy another bunch of roses for his another woman!"

"Another woman? No way..."

"Shh." Rachel made a quiet gesture to silence the noisy girls before she walked outside.

"Ah, it's him!"

With a surprised look, the girls gawked at the person coming out of the car. However, what was more surprising was that the man struggled to move the large bouquet of roses out of his car. There was an exquisite card hanging from the bouquet. It was the same exact kind of card from Whisper of Flower.

Rachel frowned and didn't understand what was happening. She thought to herself, 'Is he returning it because there is something wrong with the roses?' This was a situation that she had never encountered before. Regardless of her confusion, she quickly walked over to help him place the roses in front of the entrance of her shop.

"Mr. Lin," she greeted with a smile. "Long time no see!"

"Long time no see, indeed."

Darcy Lin walked inside the store, his handsome face flushed from carrying the roses.

Ever since he bought a bunch of carnations from Whisper of Flower a year ago, he had been a loyal customer. He had bought flowers from the flower shop for himself and his company-TY Group.

"Is there something wrong with flowers?" Rachel asked hesitantly, a look of doubt evident in her smile.

Darcy Lin touched his nose unnaturally. "The flowers are very beautiful and packed very well."

Rachel softly let out a sigh of relief. As long as there wasn't a problem, then everything was okay.

Nancy pulled out a chair, poured tea, and respectfully invited Darcy Lin to sit down. After sitting down, Darcy Lin drank it all in one gulp. When he placed the cup on the table, Nancy refilled it immediately. He drank it all up again. After consecutively drinking four glasses of water, he finally stood up. Assuming that he was going to leave, Rachel was about to open the door for him.

"Miss Mo..." Darcy Lin stood in front of her and summoned up all his courage to look her in the eye. "These flowers are actually for you."

"What?" Rachel cried out in surprise.

Nancy, Tess, and the other girls widened their eyes and held their breath.

"You may think that I am too being rude," Darcy Lin said with an embarrassed expression. "However, I don't want to hide my feelings for you anymore. I have been in love with you for a long time. Please take my rose."

Before she could politely refuse, he took out a rose from the bouquet and handed it to her. Without saying anything else, he rushed out the door and drove away.

"That was so romantic!" Tess touched the roses with admiration.

"Yeah, it was so romantic. The largest bouquet of roses sold here in Whisper of Flower was for our boss!"

"But what should we do with so many roses? Rachel, are you going to sell them? If you do, it'll be a pity."

Of course, Rachel would not resell the roses. That would not only sell out Darcy's friendship with her, but would also be an insult to him. But could she accept the roses?

Darcy Lin was definitely a good man. He was handsome, easy-going, successful and gentle. She even felt that these words were not enough to describe him. Furthermore, he had always been very supportive of Whisper of Flower. She appreciated his efforts and was grateful for him. But red roses represented love. She couldn't afford it, let alone reciprocate his love.

Moreover, she would probably never have love in her life.

When she thought about this, her heart suddenly ached. She tried to calm herself down and thought about how she would respond to him.

The next day, Darcy's secretary had surprising news for him.

"Miss Mo sent us a lot of flowers today to express her gratitude for our continuous support. She also asked me to give these to you." The secretary handed him a bunch of lilies and a blue envelope.

Waves of emotions surged in Darcy's deep eyes. He tried his best to control his disordered heartbeat as he opened the tightly sealed letter. Rachel's graceful handwriting greeted his eyes.

"Thank you. I didn't say that to you yesterday, but thank you very much.

Thank you for all your support and for putting your trust in me for such a long time.

Thank you for making me have one more friend.

And thank you for sending me the roses.

I've heard people say that one of the greatest recognitions and praises that man can do for a girl is to give her a bouquet of roses. So, thank you.

However, please let me be your friend, okay? Like a lily, we should have a pure and bright friendship with each other, okay?"

Darcy Lin stared at the note for a very long time, his face contorting into a deep frown.

Spring arrived in March and brightened the beautiful sceneries in J City. There were all kinds of flowers and plants in Whisper of Flower. The warm and mellow fragrances of the flowers levitated in the air.

"Eric passed out?" Nancy grabbed the phone and shouted in panic.

"What?" Rachel rushed downstairs and snatched the phone. "How did he pass out? Did he get hurt? Please take care of him first. I'll be there soon."

She hung up in a hurry and rushed upstairs to retrieve her bag. With a worried look in her eyes, she told her shop assistants, "I have something to do. Please take care of the shop." Without another word, she ran out of the store.

"Be careful, Rachel. Call us if you need anything!" Nancy shouted as she raced towards the door.

Rachel stood on the side walk and was in a hurry to find a taxi. After a long while, she was finally able to hail a cab. She was so anxious, it was as if there was a flame burning in her heart.

"To J City University. Please drive as quickly as you can!" she said to the driver as soon as she opened the door.

When she arrived at Eric's dormitory, there were several boys nervously surrounding him.

Rachel walked toward the bed and looked at her brother, whose eyes were closed. Her heart ached uncontrollably.

"How did he faint?" she asked.

"I don't know what happened. We were just having fun. He suddenly started to cover his chest and then fell down on the floor,"

said a boy with dyed hair. He felt a lingering rush of fear.

"Did this happen before?"

"No, this was the first time."

Rachel sat down and gently brushed a strand of wet hair off her brother's forehead. He looked like a sleeping statue. His face was pale and his lips were a shade of dark purple.

'Eric, please be okay!' Rachel prayed painfully. 'How can I save you? If I can't save you, how will I be able to live on?'

Her tears silently fell on her brother's pale face. But the next second, she regained her composure.

"Please help me carry Eric downstairs. I will take him to the hospital."

"Okay."

A tall boy came over. "I'll carry him on my back."

Just as everyone was about to lift Eric up from the bed, his eyes started to flutter. He was awake.

"Rachel," he stammered as he saw his sister's the painful and flustered eyes. "I'm sorry..."

"How did you faint?" Rachel asked, holding her brother's hand tightly. "Why didn't you tell me that you were not feeling well?"

"Rachel, I'm fine, really." Eric struggled as he tried to sit up.

"Let's go to the hospital." Rachel picked up his coat and put it on her brother. "You need to have an examination."

"It's okay, Rachel." Eric shook his head. "Let's not go to the hospital, okay? I hate hospitals. I will get sick when I go there."

His expression was so innocent and fragile. Rachel gently held him in her arms and felt pain in her heart.

She knew that he hated hospitals. Six years ago, he had been admitted into the hospital for several months. After a long period of suffering, he developed a fear of hospitals.

"I just want you to do an examination. I believe that you are fine. But can you do this just so I am reassured that you're okay?"

"All right."

Eric obediently nodded.

They went to the hospital they often went to.

After finishing the formalities, Rachel watched her brother follow the doctor into the laboratory. She suddenly felt weak and powerless, as if all her strength had been taken away. She curled up on the chair and waited at the hospital's corridor. She prayed again and again, 'Please be okay.'

After a while, Eric came out. When he saw his sister, a bright smile bloomed on his face.

"See? Didn't I tell you? There's nothing wrong."

"Really? Did the doctor say there is nothing wrong?" Rachel asked nervously.

"Although the test result hasn't come out yet, the doctor said there would be no problem."

"Then, why did you faint?"

"Maybe it's because I've been exercising a lot recently." Eric held his sister's arm intimately. "I won't do any strenuous exercise anymore."

"Please come and get the test report in three days." A young nurse came over and smiled at them.

"Okay," Eric said and then turned to his sister. "I won't have class that day, so I can come and get the report."

"I'll be the one to get it." Rachel flashed him a look of concern. She would only be relieved when she saw the test results with her own eyes.

Unfortunately, there was something important that she had to do that day. Without a choice, she had to let Eric be the one to receive the report.

"I told you I'm fine!" Eric handed his sister the test report.

"Really?"

Rachel looked at the test report over and over again. After confirming that everything was normal, she finally felt relieved.

"But you must take care of yourself in the future. If you feel uncomfortable, you need to tell me immediately."

"I know."

"Go back to school. Don't work too hard. I'll cook delicious food for you and Grandma when you come home during weekend."

Rachel patted her brother on the shoulder and finally felt relaxed.

Eric walked over to a place where his sister couldn't see him. He covered his chest with his hand and his handsome face turned pale in confusion.

He took out another report from his pocket with trembling hands and fiercely looked at it. He frowned and stuffed it into his pocket again.

'I'm sorry, I lied to you, Rachel. But I really don't want you to suffer the pain again.'