Lu Bojing sat on his knees, trembling and shaking. He had his head lowered with tears popping out of his eyes.
Lihua looked at him up and down and sighed.
He is so easy to bully…
His medium build already gave him a look as if he would fly away with just one punch to his face. Crying on top of that only made things worse. It wasn't only his body. He had a little bit of feminine features.
Lu Bojing gave Lihua the feeling as if he was a helpless younger brother she needed to protect. He was cute, but he was a crybaby.
"I wasn't scolding you for tending to the garden. Of course, you can do it. You also live at this apartment complex now, so this garden is just as yours as it's us. So, don't apologize."
"O-Oh…"
"Yes. Also, stop apologizing for existing too. Your mother gave birth to you, and she has borne a lot of pain for that. Don't disrespect the things she has gone through to bring you into this world. She wouldn't want you saying things like you should be dead."
Lu Bojing blinked his teary eyes. With courage, he finally lifted his gaze. "R-really?"
"Of course."
He bit his lip hard. "P-people say...she must be embarrassed to give birth to me... Because I look... girlish."
Lihua tilted her head. "So? You are cute."
He widened his eyes.
"A mother will never be embarrassed by her child. Did she ever say that?"
"I... don't know...I never lived with my mother."
Her lips parted in a small O. "Oh...I am sorry."
Guess he has his own family circumstances, she thought.
"Even if you never lived with her, I am sure that she must have felt proud to give birth to you. So, hold your head and live with pride. Having a feminine face for a man isn't a crime."
Lu Bojing didn't know why, but he felt a fluffy feeling engulf his chest. The tears from his eyes stopped flowing.
Lihua looked stern. "So if you say sorry one more time for existing, I will beat you up."
Lu Bojing nodded. "O-okay…"
"En. Now the next part. Why do you cry so easily?"
Asking that question brought another flood of tears.
"..."
He sniffled and wiped his tears. "I don't know...I was always like that. Easily spooked. Easily afraid...I don't like people…"
"..."
What does he mean by that?
"Talking to people makes me... anxious…" his fingers fiddled together. "So I don't like people…"
I see. He has social anxiety.
"I don't know what to talk about...or how to talk. I always make mistakes," he sobbed. "I don't want to...cause trouble by talking to others...So I don't talk at all."
"..."
He burst into tears again. "Living with people is hard. I don't want to talk."
"You-"
Then he suddenly jerked his head but didn't look at her. Wei's warning scared him shitless.
No eye contact.
"But I will try my best to talk to you because you are pregnant! I am your doctor! So please, please call me the moment you feel sick or in trouble! I beg you!"
Otherwise, Boss and Mr. Jiang will kill me together!
"Please call me, okay?" He bowed one-eighty degrees.
Lihua's mouth twitched. "T-thank you, but it's okay. It's not like I hired you to be my personal doctor-"
He paled. "Why not? Please hire me. I beg you, please hire me!" He wiped his cheeks. "I don't want your money. Just let me be your doctor!"
She was dumbfounded.
"Why are you so eager to help me?"
Lu Bojing stiffened.
As if I can tell that Boss sent me!
"A-as a d-doctor, it's my m-moral responsibility…" he babbled something that he saw in a movie once.
"So you go help all the pregnant women out there?"
"No...I live here. You live here…"
Lihua sighed. She still didn't understand his reason, but it was better to agree rather than make him cry again.
"Alright. I will call you if I feel sick."
Lu Bojing heaved a sigh of relief.
Lihua then patted his head. "Don't be so nervous. Nobody is perfect, so you don't have to think too hard about making mistakes. Even if you fumble, it's okay. Don't think about how other people will think about you. Ignore people who laugh at you. They don't have anything better to do anyway."
Lu Bojing's eyes teared up again. Lihua was speechless. "Why are you crying now?"
"They used to laugh because I like flowers…It's not manly to like flowers…" he whispered.
Lihua harrumphed. "They are idiots! Flowers are beautiful. What is wrong with liking flowers? You don't need to pay attention to them," she smiled, "In fact…"
Her eyelids slightly trembled as she spoke, "My sister used to like flowers too."
Lu Bojing stiffened.
S-Song Jia…
Suddenly, he averted his gaze again, feeling guilty.
"Sis would have been really happy to meet you. You tended the plants and flowers so well. She used to like gardening a little bit. Not a pro, but however she could."
She bit her lip to stop herself from crying, but her eyes turned wet nevertheless.
"She is no more now…"
Lu Bojing gulped.
Actually, she is…
But he didn't dare say it out loud. Mingshen's threat was fresh in his mind.
Not a word about Song Jia to Lihua.
Lu Bojing peeked at her, and somehow, the sight of her crying made him feel anxious. All the more because he knew that her sister was alive.
"You... really loved her?"
She faintly smiled. "I really, really loved her. She raised me when our parents died early on. She has done a lot of things for me. When she was here, she used to look after this small garden a lot. I wanted to carry on after her, but life has been hectic since I rejoined college. That's why I am more thankful to you for doing this. Hehe, you are like my sister minus the crying part."