Chapter 305: Chapter 305: Oh My, Is This a New Trend?
Hey, what are you trying to do? A sense of foreboding washed over Shen Yibin. ’Don’t tell me it’s going to put one on me too? Uh... I’d better pass. Handsome guys like C Luo and Hah’Er are supposed to wear flowers, but an ugly person like me doesn’t need one, right?’ Shen Yibin quickly held Maphario down. "Honey, you should just keep it for yourself. Don’t worry about me!"
"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" But Maphario insisted, apparently taking Shen Yibin’s refusal as mere politeness. It struggled free from his grasp and continued to climb.
"Haha, Boss, just give in to Maphario! Look how handsome Hah’Er is with a flower. You should get one too!" Xia Shixuan, who had just stood up, squatted back down again, clutching her stomach in laughter. The other three girls weren’t as bold; they turned away, covering their mouths to stifle their giggles. It seemed they were just as eager to see Shen Yibin wearing a flower.
"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!" Hah’Er joined in on the fun, reaching out a paw to help Maphario. It lifted the little creature straight onto Shen Yibin’s shoulder. Standing there, Maphario held the morning glory in its front paws, ready to stick it just above Shen Yibin’s ear.
’Oh, come on, and it’s pink!’ Shen Yibin thought. ’That’s even more mortifying than the purple one!’ He didn’t dare move, and with a look of utter exasperation, he let Maphario stick the pink morning glory above his ear.
"Boss, you’re so adorable with that flower, I just want to give you a kiss!" Xia Shixuan started teasing Shen Yibin again. She pulled out her phone, sidled up to him, and took a series of selfies. CLICK, CLICK, CLICK. "I’m posting this to my Moments."
"Hey, wait a minute! Damaging the boss’s image is grounds for a pay cut!" Shen Yibin hurriedly tried to grab her phone, but Xia Shixuan spun around, blocking his hand with her chest. This left Shen Yibin completely flustered, and he could only watch helplessly as she posted the photo of him wearing the flower on WeChat.
’It’s over. My image is ruined,’ Shen Yibin thought. ’Xia Shixuan is WeChat friends with Sun Qian, Bai Yanni, Xu Ye, and Qin Qing. Now my entire social circle will see this embarrassing picture of me!’
However, that wasn’t the end of it. Maphario looked at the pink morning glory above Shen Yibin’s ear, let out a few satisfied squeaks, then climbed back down. It ran to the garden patch, bit off a blue morning glory, and began to climb up Xia Shixuan’s dress. It seemed to be planning on giving a flower to everyone in the store!
"Haha, Shi Xuan, don’t you move! Let Maphario give you a flower too!" Shen Yibin said, gloating. "And Shi Qing, Nannan, Gao Shu, you three aren’t allowed to move, either! Everyone gets a flower!" ’You all laughed at me just now. Now it’s your turn! Let’s see if you’re still laughing in a minute!’
"I don’t mind wearing it. I think it looks pretty good," Xia Shixuan said. Unfortunately for Shen Yibin’s plan, she had tried all sorts of bizarre styles before. Why would a single morning glory faze her? Not only that, but she also reached out and lifted Maphario directly onto her shoulder, tilting her head to make it easier for the little creature to place the flower. "Blue really complements my hairstyle today."
She even used her phone as a mirror to direct Maphario. "A little more to the left... yes, yes, that’s the spot. Now down a bit... good! It’s absolutely perfect!" This left Shen Yibin and the others dumbfounded. This girl really didn’t care about a thing, did she?
"I’m on my day off today, and I have plans to go shopping with a classmate. I’m heading out!" Li Shiqing, who wasn’t nearly as uninhibited as Xia Shixuan, quickly tried to make an excuse to escape.
"You’re not going anywhere! If you want to leave, you have to wear the flower first. ’Sharing the good times’ is our store’s corporate culture, so you can’t be the exception!" Gao Shu wasn’t on break today, so there was no escape for her. She decided she might as well keep Li Shiqing there with her.
’Sharing the good times? This is clearly suffering together, isn’t it?’ Seeing her chance, Xia Shixuan quickly put Maphario down next to the morning glories. The moment it bit off a flower, she scooped up Maphario and placed it on Li Shiqing’s shoulder. Now Li Shiqing didn’t dare to move, terrified of accidentally dropping and hurting Maphario.
And so, with a pained expression, she could only stand there motionless and let Maphario stick the red morning glory above her left ear. After her, Xie Nannan and Gao Shu received the same treatment. Finally, Maphario cheerfully put a flower on itself, and just like that, there were seven flower-adorned youths in the store.
For the rest of the day, whether they were cooking, eating, or greeting customers, the morning glories had to stay above their ears. If anyone tried to remove one, Maphario would immediately run over and protest vehemently, forcing them to put the flower back in its place.
"Boss, what is... all this?" Every customer who entered the shop looked completely baffled upon seeing the flower-adorned staff. ’What in the world is going on here?’
"Uh, this? It’s the latest trend. We’re just following it, just following it!" Shen Yibin said with an awkward laugh.
"This is a trend now?" the customer asked, clearly finding it hard to believe.
"Of course! Wasn’t wearing little plant sprouts on your head the trend last year? So it’s perfectly normal for wearing a flower on your ear to be popular this year. Haven’t you seen C Luo do it a few years back? The trend probably just hit the country!" Xia Shixuan said with absolute conviction. ’The little sprout-shaped hair clips were super popular last year, so this is pretty much the same thing, right?’ she thought.
"Hey, that’s actually pretty interesting. Boss, do you have any more flowers? Can you put one on me?" The customer had actually bought Xia Shixuan’s story.
"Maphario, get to work!" Shen Yibin snapped his fingers. ’Hmm, if one or two people do this, it’s just embarrassing,’ he thought. ’But if a lot of people do it, it’s a trend!’
There were plenty of blooming morning glories anyway. Hearing the command, Maphario zipped over in a flash, bit off a flower, and, with Shen Yibin’s help, climbed onto the customer’s shoulder to place it above her left ear.
"Hmm, it actually looks pretty good." The customer happily took a few photos with her phone and posted them to her Moments.
And so it went. Every curious customer who came into Shen Yibin’s store asked about the flowers, and Maphario busily put one on each of them. This continued until, to its great regret, all the morning glories were gone.
In the days that followed, a flower-wearing craze swept through Yunzhong City. Countless trendsetters began sticking all sorts of flowers above their ears, spreading the style to their social circles through Weibo and Moments. Starting from Yunzhong City, the fad began to spread across the entire country. Maphario and Hah’Er had inadvertently started another fashion craze.
Just as this trend was sweeping the nation, Shen Yibin received a phone call. After exchanging a few words, he hung up and said, "Hah’Er, you’re about to get very busy!"
