🌧️Rain, Roses, and Reverence🌹
The rain came gently that morning — not the angry kind that beat against windows and flooded streets, but a soft, silvery curtain that whispered against leaves and left pearls of water trembling on rooftops.
Jia Lan pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders as the family car rolled through the narrow street beside the city's flower market. Mist hovered in the air like a dream that hadn't yet fully woken, and the scent of damp earth mingled with fresh lilies, magnolias, and chrysanthemums.
In the seat beside her, Xu Li clicked her tongue dramatically.
"Rain! Of all days, I thought we'd enjoy a little sun. But no, you had to tempt the heavens by wearing white."
Jia Lan smiled faintly, adjusting her collar. "White makes the flowers look brighter."
"You just like being dramatic," Xu Li muttered, but with affection. "Honestly, what's next? A poem recital in the mist?"
They stepped out beneath Xu Li's large umbrella, shoes clicking against the wet stone street. The sidewalks glistened, puddles forming between uneven bricks. Umbrellas bloomed like paper lanterns as people ducked between stalls. The world smelled of soaked soil and blooming petals — alive, and stubbornly beautiful.
Despite the drizzle, the flower market bustled. Vendors adjusted plastic tarps, customers browsed under umbrellas, and children splashed around the gutters.
Even in this muted weather, Jia Lan moved like a quiet melody — her every step unhurried, her presence soft but radiant.
---
A soft chime rang in her mind.
Ding! Check-in complete.
> 🪻 You have received:
"Atmospheric Grace" – In rain, fog, or wind, your beauty radiates a gentle allure. You seem like a living painting, both unreachable and real. Passive effect: Hearts open in quiet weather.
Jia Lan's lashes lowered slightly. She didn't need to check the system screen to understand. Even now, as she stood beside a stall of rain-speckled orchids, a stranger offered her a lily stem with a sheepish grin.
A child stared.
A vendor chuckled.
A young courier nearly tripped over a basket while staring at her face.
Xu Li narrowed her eyes. "Why does everyone look like they've seen a fairy?"
"I'm just blending in," Jia Lan said innocently, reaching for a pot of white narcissus. "What about these?"
"Too cold. You'll look like a bride."
"I'm already wearing white."
Xu Li rolled her eyes. "Let me guess. You'll walk home barefoot in the puddles like a tragic heroine?"
"If you carry my shoes."
---
At a stall filled with delicate violets and jasmine pots, an elderly woman leaned forward. "This girl has good hands. Refined bones. A scholar's temper."
Jia Lan blinked. "I just want two bundles of jasmine, Auntie."
"No need to pay. You're lucky. Pretty girls bring luck in the rain."
"No, no, I'll pay—"
"Let her gift you, Lanlan," Xu Li cut in. "She's clearly under your spell like the rest of the street."
Jia Lan finally smiled, accepting the flowers with a slight bow. "Thank you, Auntie. I'll care for them well."
At the next booth, Jia Lan paused beside a tray of lotus roots and lotus stems mixed in with wrapped flower bundles.
"Lotus root in a flower stall?" she asked curiously.
The vendor laughed. "My wife's idea. One side business feeds the other. Want some for your family stew?"
"Only if you throw in that bundle of sweet osmanthus for free," Jia Lan said smoothly.
"You drive a hard bargain, Miss Jia. Done!"
---
Their umbrella bumped another as a woman passed, and Xu Li stepped aside, linking arms with Jia Lan as they continued walking.
"I'm telling you," Xu Li said, voice lowered like a conspirator, "you should've seen the stares from that delivery boy. He nearly dropped a box of peonies. I think one man bowed."
"I'm cultivating Buddhist charm today," Jia Lan deadpanned.
"More like theatrical charm. Even the rain avoids ruining your hair. I, on the other hand, look like a soaked fox."
"You always look dramatic when wet," Jia Lan replied gently. "Like a fashion magazine during monsoon season."
Xu Li gasped, laughing. "I will write that in my diary."
---
As they continued through the rows of vendors, more faces turned. Jia Lan didn't say much — she only looked, smiled, occasionally asked questions about soil or bloom cycles. But people leaned in closer. Smiled back. Offered samples. Gave discounts.
A man offered a single long-stemmed red rose for just five cents.
Xu Li elbowed her playfully. "Should we start calling you Rain Fairy now?"
Jia Lan tucked the rose into her paper bag of jasmine, her expression unreadable.
"Rain Fairy is too obvious," she said. "I prefer... Flower Ghost."
"Elegant and terrifying. Perfect," Xu Li laughed.
🍵 Later That Day – The Warm Nest
The rain still whispered when they returned home — a soft, steady rhythm tapping across roof tiles and glass.
The house smelled of steamed rice, ginger oil, and damp chrysanthemums — the ones Jia Lan had bought now placed in a tall blue-and-white porcelain vase by the front entry.
She changed into a soft wool qipao and stepped into the sitting room, where the entire Jia family had gathered like birds returning to a warm nest.
Grandfather Jia sat tall in his armchair, newspaper folded in his lap, eyes sharp beneath bushy brows.
Grandmother knitted but hadn't finished a scarf in years. Her true hobby was eavesdropping with flair.
Father Jia Chenghai poured tea slowly, precisely, while Lin Shunhua adjusted the fine porcelain set.
Jia Wei and Yao Jing were sprawled across the carpet, locked in a dramatic Go match that involved more commentary than strategy.
---
"When I was your age," Grandfather declared, "we walked two li in the mud to buy vegetables. You return from the market like a poem."
Grandmother laughed. "You just like seeing her in that dress."
"She's graceful," he insisted. "Knows when to speak and when to smile."
"Then I should raise our sons again," Father muttered.
"Hey!" Jia Wei yelped. "I bring honor to this family every week!"
"You bring socks from Yao Jing's dorm," Xu Li said.
"They're warmer!"
"I knitted those!" Grandmother cried.
"Out of victory!" Yao Jing added, flipping her braid over her shoulder.
---
Jia Zhe, the eldest, finally spoke from where he sat reading calmly.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think the two of you were performing for an audience."
Jia Wei leaned in. "Oh? And the Bureau's most serious man speaks? What happened — did someone spike your tea?"
Jia Zhe raised an eyebrow. "I only speak when the room's I.Q. reaches dangerous lows."
"Oh?" Jia Wei said sweetly. "You married Xu Li. And she married you. That's dangerously brave."
"Correction," Jia Zhe said smoothly. "I survived courting Xu Li. Bravery was required."
Xu Li sipped her tea like a queen. "And I let you live. You're welcome."
---
Laughter rippled through the room, soft and full — like steam rising from the tea.
Jia Lan sat quietly near the window, a hot cup between her palms. Outside, the courtyard shimmered — wet stone paths, glistening leaves, soft candlelight from within.
She said little. She didn't need to. The warmth in the room was enough.
---
Across the room, Grandmother leaned toward Grandfather, her knitting needles paused in midair.
"Look at them," she said softly — eyes sweeping across the room. "Zhe with his calmness, Wei with all that fire, Jing running her mouth like a radio actress, and Lanlan... glowing like spring mist."
Grandfather's eyes warmed. "They're all different, but each one brings light in their own way."
"We didn't raise children," Grandmother murmured. "We grew a forest."
He nodded slowly. "When I think of all we endured, all the cold winters and long workdays... this noise, this peace — it's our reward."
She smiled. "The house is full. That's all I ever wanted."
His gaze settled on the steaming teacups, the laughter around the Go board, and Jia Lan by the window.
"This family," he said with deep pride, "is worth every sacrifice."
---
Jia Lan, silent and serene, looked out at the blurred garden beyond. The rain still tapped gently at the windows, a lullaby to her heart.
She hadn't been born into this life — but in moments like this, she belonged fully.
Some lives are lived once.
Others are honored by living them well.