Xi Gua shook his head though. "No, the others aren’t as talkative as the aunties and uncles over here. Well, maybe the shrub fairies at the side of the garden. But everyone else isn’t that extreme. If you’re lucky, then Grandfather Tree will also scold them for talking too much but right now, he has probably gone to take a nap. Just wait until I bring you over to introduce you. Then he will definitely make sure that nobody is harassing you anymore."

Ying Tao nodded, eager to finally meet this Grandfather Tree. "Can’t we go over immediately?" That definitely sounded like the best thing to do. In any case, he was afraid that some of the others would still try to tell him all the stories about their lives and want to know every detail of his life from the day he had been born to now. He just wouldn’t be able to take it again!

Unfortunately, Xi Gua shook his head. "Grandfather Tree is already very old so he always insists on having this nap. Unless everyone is too excited and wakes him up, he probably won’t come out for a while. He will also be a bit gruff if you disturb him at that time so you’d better be careful. Let’s go greet the rest first and then go to Grandfather Tree after he’s woken up by himself."

Well, Ying Tao could understand this much. After all, while there hadn’t been that many older fairies around at the market garden, some of the others had had contact with old ones before. So in theory, he already knew that older fairies were often a little more tired and would take naps and such things. "Well, then who are we going to see next?"

Xi Gua didn’t say anything and pulled at his arm to take him down the other side of the tower. At this place, there were some plants that looked quite plain at first sight. Xi Gua framed his mouth with his hands and called out. "Big sister carrot, big brother potato! Come on out! There’s a new addition to our garden!"

Silence answered him and Ying Tao already believed that this big brother and that big sister had no interest in getting to know anyone new. Xi Gua didn’t leave though and just waited, intently staring at the ground. After a moment, a bit of dirt was thrown into the air, and a head with wild red hair emerged from underground. "What?" The fairy in question furrowed her brows, and wrinkled her nose, squinting up at them as if she couldn’t see because of the bright spring sun.

Xi Gua gave a dissatisfied harrumph and turned to Ying Tao. "Big sister carrot and big brother potato are living underground most of the time. When you call them out in the day, they’ll be all squinty and can’t even see you right. They are also not that good at hearing."

Ying Tao nodded, not sure what to say.

Xi Gua immediately grabbed him again, and pulled him further down, so that they were in front of the fairy with the wild red hair. "Good afternoon, big sister carrot. I said that there’s a new member in our garden. This is little brother Ying Tao."

The carrot fairy squinted at him, trying to get a clearer picture. After a moment, she finally gave an 'oh' and then slowly nodded. "So you’re Ying Tao. Well, welcome to the garden. If there’s something you want, it’s better to tell me at night. In the middle of the day, I’m still too tired."

Ying Tao nodded politely and promised to do so.

As for that older brother potato … well, he didn’t even come out. Xi Gua shook his head and then led Ying Tao away, not bothering to wait for him any longer. "If big brother potato needs longer than big sister carrot to come out, then he likely won’t come out at all. He’s one lazy bean. Not that beans were lazy but I heard the Madam say that to the Master once. Anyway, if you ever need help with something, don’t rely on him. It’s always better to come to me or one of the others. Big sister carrot would still try but with how shortsighted she is, she’d still have trouble getting anything done."

Ying Tao continued to nod and then followed him over to the other side of the garden where he finally met the shrub fairies that Xi Gua had talked about before. The fairies immediately circled around them, talking almost as excitedly as the aunties and uncles from the herb row in the vegetable field. Ying Tao smiled wryly and tried not to let it get to him but he also had to say that this was quite scary. If he could, he’d rather stay somewhere silent.

Xi Gua finally managed to pull him out of the encirclement of fairies and the two of them went to sit down close to the roots of an old oak tree.

Breathing heavily, Ying Tao collapsed on the ground, feeling like he really couldn’t go on to meet any more fairies. "Is anyone else left?"

Xi Gua shook his head. "Just Grandfather Tree. But we’ll still have to wait a bit longer to meet him. He probably went to sleep just when you arrived and when we went to see the shrub fairies just now, I noticed that he was still fast asleep."

Ying Tao nodded, not overly concerned with that. "It’s alright. In any case, I also feel like a break would be nice. There are so many fairies in this garden. Even at the place where I was before, I felt like there were a lot fewer fairies around. At the very least, I never met all of them in a day." In fact, most of his time had been spent with big sister Ping Guo and the other fruit fairies from the trees close by.

Xi Gua nodded, not surprised at all. "I’ve heard from fairies coming by that most places don’t have as many fairies. Originally, this garden also didn’t have as many. At the very least, that’s what Grandfather Tree said. Originally, there was just him and Grandmother Tree. Then Grandmother Tree withered and he was all left alone. But then, some man and woman couple bought the house that this garden is attached to. And from then on, things slowly got better. They first planted the shrubs over there so a few more fairies were introduced. Then in the last couple of years, they started the vegetable and herb field. Now, the whole garden is full of fairies. They really do have a good grasp of how to take care of our plants. In any case, it’s a good place to live. You don’t have to worry."

Ying Tao nodded and looked over to his tree that did look quite small compared to the orange trees behind it and the big oak tree that they were currently sitting under. Would his tree also be able to grow this big one day? He really couldn’t imagine it.

Xi Gua excitedly pulled at his sleeve. "Hey! My plant is right below your tree so from now on, the two of us can hang out every day."

Ying Tao looked over to where Xi Gua was pointing and got excited. Since big sister Ping Guo hadn’t been able to come with him, he had been worried that he would be left all alone. Now, it seemed he had been worrying too much. Having a big brother Xi Gua was also good. Thus, he enthusiastically nodded and held onto Xi Gua’s hand. "Then in the future, you have to take care of me well!"

Xi Gua’s face turned red in response. "Take care of you? Well … if that is what you want, then … then I guess I should do it."

Ying Tao had no idea what the other fairy was thinking about and just happily hugged him. It was good to gain a big brother that would take care of him. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about anything at all. With somebody to guide you, the world wasn’t as scary. He would be able to get used to this new place very, very soon. And if there was something that he was about to do wrong, then he was sure that big brother Xi Gua would be able to tell him. Yes, nothing could go wrong at all.

The two of them continued to sit below the tree until they heard a yawn coming from above them. Ying Tao was startled and looked up. A fuzzy white head appeared from a knothole in the trunk of the tree. Ying Tao immediately clung to Xi Gua, afraid of whatever it was that was going to come out. Was it a big bird? He had heard a lot about those! Big sister Ping Guo had said that they were eating small fairies like them.

Xi Gua also looked up but wasn’t worried at all. "Don’t be afraid. That’s just Grandfather Tree. Come on, I’ll bring you up." He grabbed Ying Tao’s hand again and then flew up into the air, tilting his whole person to look at Grandfather Tree who was slowly climbing out of his little cave in the tree. "Grandfather Tree, look here! We actually got another fruit fairy! This is Ying Tao."

Grandfather Tree slowly raised his head and gave the new fairy a scrutinizing look. Finally, he nodded, and then patted Xi Gua’s shoulder. "Ah, it’s good that you finally found yourself a girlfriend. It was about time. I already thought that you weren’t interested in getting a partner at all."

This time, not just Xi Gua but also Ying Tao’s face got red. The little fruit fairy couldn’t help but lower his head and purse his lips. "What girlfriend? Clearly, I would be his boyfriend!" He obviously wasn’t a female fairy at all, ah!

Grandfather Tree looked over when he heard him mumble, and after looking for some time more, he finally realized his mistake. "Ah, so it was Xi Gua’s boyfriend. Well, it doesn’t matter. Girlfriend, boyfriend, or some other kind of partner, you don’t worry about it. Grandfather Tree will beat anyone who dares to say something bad about the fairies of our garden." Seeing that this wasn’t a girl at all, he happily patted his shoulder as well and then motioned over to the grass. "You young ones, ah, you’d better go and play a bit by yourselves. In any case, Grandfather Tree isn’t that young anymore and can’t always accompany you. Just come back and tell me if you experience something exciting or run into a problem that you need me to solve for you." Saying it like this, Grandfather Tree took out a small twig, and landed on a branch of his tree, slowly walking forward instead of using his wings to fly.

Ying Tao watched him and then turned to Xi Gua, wondering what this was about.

Xi Gua shushed him and then pulled him over to the spot that Grandfather Tree had motioned at before he explained in a low voice. "You know, Grandfather Tree isn’t just old, he also got injured previously. Thus, his wings don’t work that well anymore. While he can still fly short distances, he isn’t able to do so for a long time. So he often walks on two legs like those humans. Unfortunately, he’s also too old to do that easily so he uses a twig as help."

"Ah. Well, at least he seems really nice."

Xi Gua nodded happily, feeling that this was a given. "Among all the fairies here, Grandfather Tree is definitely the best." In any case, Grandfather Tree had always spoken up for him, even when those orange fairies had made fun of him and brother pumpkin before. So he felt that Grandfather Tree was the nicest of them all.

Ying Tao looked back and then pursed his lips. "Well, about what Grandfather Tree said …"

Xi Gua’s face turned red again when he was reminded of that and he looked down, twiddling his thumbs. "Well, that … you don’t have to take it so seriously. If you do not want to, then I also won’t say anything. But in any case, if you don’t mind, then I also don’t mind being your boyfriend. Whether it’s being a friend or a boyfriend, the difference doesn’t seem to be that big."

Ying Tao pondered, not quite sure what exactly a boyfriend was but just like Xi Gua said between a boyfriend and a friend, there indeed didn’t seem to be that much of a difference. So most likely, being a boyfriend was just better. Before he could agree, he figured that it might be better to ask about it though. "So if you are boyfriends and not just friends, then what do you do differently?"

Xi Gua pondered for a bit. In any case, he had also never had a boyfriend or a girlfriend before. So he couldn’t speak from experience there. "Well, auntie thyme said that if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, then you will do more things together with them than you would with just your friends. You will be much closer."

Ying Tao nodded, feeling that that really sounded much better than just being friends. "Then, let’s be boyfriends." He was so excited, he grabbed Xi Gua’s arm again, and a small blossom popped up on his head, swaying gently between the pink strands of his hair.

Xi Gua looked up, not quite sure what to make of that but he felt that it looked quite cute. He squinted at his own head but couldn’t see anything. Well, he’d wait for the next rain to see if he also had one.

Meanwhile, Ying Tao was excitedly making plans for them. "We can ask auntie thyme about it later. She seems to know quite a lot about it." In any case, even though those aunties and uncles herb fairies were chatting quite a lot, he would surely get used to it in the future. Maybe they could even make her come out from the field so they could ask her about it away from the others. Or maybe if they asked the question, the others would quiet down. It was worth a try.

Xi Gua didn’t think about the little pink cherry blossom anymore and just nodded.

With that, it was decided. On that beautiful spring day, the two young fairies officially entered a relationship, making the aunties and uncles that had been quietly listening in laugh quite a bit.