At noon the next day, the family finally had a meal together. The only absentees were Melissa and her husband. Sabrina’s attitude had changed completely after the dinner, and she was very much into her son-in-law’s well-being.
Monique felt extremely uncomfortable because of that. She stole a glance at Brucille from time to time.
Seeing that his wife was in a good mood, Tyrion took the opportunity to say, “Sabrina, Brucille and I would like to go to the flower market this afternoon. The flowers and plants in our yard are withering, so I’m going to replace them.”
“Fine, but now that you are retired, don’t splurge on your spending. If you buy a plant that is too expensive, I will kill them using boiling water!”
There were beads of sweat on Brucille’s forehead. He had never heard of anyone who would use boiling water to water a plant!
He looked at his father-in-law sympathetically. He finally understood why the room was not filled with the fragrance of the flowers. It turned out that his mother-in-law watered the flowers with boiling water!
After the meal, he and Tyrion made a trip to the flower market. It was the season of orchids. As soon as they entered the market, they could smell the fragrance of the flowers everywhere.
They found a delicate red camellia that was exceptionally beautiful. The main benefit of the red camellia was that it remained in bloom for a long time, flaunting its bright colors. It was also cheaper, at a price of only a few yuan.
However, Tyrion was a plant expert. He would not buy it as it was a cheap plant that attracted many insects.
Tyrion asked, “Brucille, I have never seen you tend to any plants. Do you hate them?”
“No, I think it’s because I don’t have the patience. Dad, what do you want to buy? I sometimes look up information about plants, so I have a basic understanding about flowers.”
It was Brucille’s modest way of putting it. The truth was that his uncle was a master of many arts: music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Therefore, it was easy for Brucille to pick up those skills.
Even with the basics of traditional medicine, he could mirror a high standard practise just by observing it. His Uncle Evan could tell an ordinary disease at a glance. When a person was ill, there would be changes in his tone of speaking, pitch, and even the rhythm of the person’s breathing.
As a medical practitioner from the Yip family generation who had received professional training, he had outstanding medical skills.
His uncle was a successful businessman. Ever since he was a child, he had been ingrained with the knowledge about flowers and antiques.
Tyrion squatted slowly as he saw a Boat Orchid. He simply couldn’t hide his excitement. After all, the Boat Orchid was luscious and regarded to be of the best quality.
Even Brucille admired it. It was indeed a top-grade orchid.
“How much is this?”
When the business owner saw someone was interested, he immediately walked over-enthusiastically. “Sir, it’s forty-five thousand. Very fair price! You won’t find another in this entire flower market.”
Brucille realized that he indeed could not find another Boat Orchid as beautiful as the one right in front of them.
Tyrion jumped in surprise when he heard the price. He hesitated as the price was too steep, almost ten percent of the five hundred thousand which Brucille brought home.
If Sabrina found out that he spent nearly fifty thousand on orchids, he would be over when he got back home.
In a dilemma, he turned to look at his son-in-law.
Without hesitation, Brucille advised, “Dad, if you like it, just buy it. It’s not every day that you can get things you adore with money. What matters is that you like it. Besides, it’s not that you can’t afford it.”
Tyrion originally could not afford it, but it wasn’t the case at that moment. Nevertheless, he was still hesitant whether to purchase it.
Brucille’s torch-like gaze browsed through the plants in the store. Finally, it landed on an object.
He tiptoed over and found a rather lackluster orchid among the lot.
Seeing the pot in his hand, the owner commented, “This is a Ghost Orchid. It should be beautiful, but this one looks a little weak. Looks like it’s because of malnutrition.”
Noticing that Brucille liked it, he added, “Sir, it’s been hard to find Ghost Orchids over the last two years. The better ones range between 20, 000 to 30, 000 yuan. I’ll sell this to you for a price of five thousand.”
When Tyrion heard that, he exclaimed, “Good heavens. It’s almost half dead! Yet you still want to sell it for five thousand?”
However, Brucille interjected, “Getting these two at fifty thousand is worth it. You like that one, and I like this one, right?”
Looking at Brucille’s smirking face, Tyrion couldn’t bring himself to feel angry. After all, Bruce had earned the money.
Still, spending five thousand for a half-dead orchid created a pit of dread in Tyrion’s heart.
“You’re really something else when it comes to spending money,” Tyrion huffed.
Brucille did not speak, but put on a sweet smile instead. He then swiped his card to pay for the flowers.
It was like buying antiques. As long as a person liked it, it would be fine, and it was not necessary to negotiate the price. The business was done. Brucille put the card back to his pocket, and then carefully touched the flower bud of his Ghost Orchid.
“Good, it’s good stuff!”
Tyrion thought that his son-in-law was talking about his flowers. Therefore, he embraced the flowers in his hands, and satisfaction was written all over his face.
“Yes, it’s really a good thing. However, don’t you ever mention the price to Sabrina no matter what. Just tell her we spent five thousand for all of these. Do you understand?”
Tyrion raised his head. Finally, he realized that Brucille wasn’t speaking to him earlier. He was muttering to himself while looking at the half-dead Ghost Orchid.
“Hey, I’m talking to you. Do you hear me?”
“What did you say, Dad?”
Tyrion knocked Brucille lightly on the head. “Aren’t you a little arrogant recently? I said you can’t mention the actual price when we are home later. Just say that it cost us five thousand for one plant.”
“Don’t worry, dad. I get it. Would you like to still take a look around?”
“Yes, but you have to stay close to me. You can’t buy anything else anymore. If we keep buying things the way you do, we’ll be at a loss.”
Brucille did not reply. Instead, grinning from ear to ear, he held the flower plant tightly as if it was a treasure.
Just as Tyrion took a few steps forward, he ran into an old friend. He greeted, “Alan, you’re here too!”
“Oh, Tyrion, that Boat Orchid you have there is really awesome. It’s beautiful, but it’s not as beautiful as the one I have here. Look, this Emerald Orchid is the best of the best. I spent ninety thousand for it.”
Tyrion’s mouth twitched when he heard the price. Alan Kwok was his old neighbor and a few years older than him. Because Alan’s son was the president of a listed company, he was filthy rich. Alan often showed off in front of Tyrion, flaunting his wealth to Tyrion.
Alan’s smile grew even brighter when he saw Tyrion’s dejected expression. There was a trace of mockery in his laughter.
At that moment, Brucille raised his Ghost Orchid and said lightly, “Your plant is good, but compared to mine, it is not a match at all!”