Luo Lin's life quickly settled into a routine.
From Monday to Friday, Luo Lin taught a handicraft class to the children during the day, sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. When her schedule allowed, Luo Lin often also assisted in Ragnar's gardening class.
The remaining time was free, and Luo Lin would diligently study the courses assigned by Teacher Himeko while also reinforcing her knowledge in her current logistics and intelligence position. However, she didn't push herself as hard as she did at the Schicksal headquarters because Luo Lin truly needed relaxation and rest.
Ragnar had cleared a piece of land behind the orphanage for planting, and she guided the children to plant the flowers they received during class and the newly purchased seeds there.
Ragnar had the foresight to buy plastic boots and work pants for each child to prevent the soil from getting everywhere, although it didn't stop the playful children from making a mess with the soil. But at least it relieved the nun responsible for washing the clothes.
During this time, the weather in France was still quite good. The seeds planted by the children sprouted in just one week, with tender green sprouts, looking delicate and in need of care, which aroused the children's protective instincts.
Ragnar's gardening class was not just about gardening; she used the process of caring for plants to educate the children.
The children began to understand that plants also have preferences—some plants like direct sunlight, while others prefer to hide in the shade, surviving in moist soil. And they needed to provide suitable environments for the plants, adequate water, appropriate fertilizer, timely pest control, and pruning branches.
The children took care of their plants meticulously. Instead of playing recklessly every day, they now had other concerns, always wanting to go to the backyard to check on them, watching the tender green seedlings grow, branch out, and spread their leaves.
Then one day, it rained.
The raindrops pattered on the roof of the orphanage, and the children crowded around the windows where they could see the plants, eagerly watching the flowers swaying in the wind and rain.
When the rain stopped, the children couldn't wait to put on their boots, sleeves, and pants, and rushed into the backyard to find their flowers.
Some flowers were even more beautiful, while others couldn't withstand the wind and rain, their petals falling to the ground. The owners of these flowers sniffled with tears in their eyes.
At that moment, Ragnar appeared. She gently wiped the tears from the boy Joab's face and asked, "What's wrong, Joab?"
"The flowers... my flowers... are they going to die?"
The children were attracted by Joab's tears and gathered around. Seeing the fallen flowers on the ground, they understood and began to worry about their own flowers and plants.
The atmosphere suddenly became heavy.
"Joab, don't worry, plants are very resilient, and the falling flowers don't mean they will die," Ragnar said. "Luckily, Joab, look at this. What do you see?"
With that, Ragnar took the boy's hand and touched a green bud that was still budding next to the withered flower.
"You see, this is a budding flower. Perhaps in a few days, it will mature, and you will have another beautiful little flower."
Joab relaxed a little, but still felt sad. "But, but this is not my previous flower... If I could glue it back with glue, would it recover? Because when I was injured before, Sister Grandma put a band-aid on me, and soon I was fine..."
"Um..."
Ragnar didn't comfort Joab like Luo Lin thought she would, saying that the flower would be the same as before. Instead, she stated the facts clearly:
"The fallen flowers won't come back, even if you glue them back, it won't work, and it's likely to kill the plant... Joab, nothing in this world can last forever, unless..."
Ragnar took out an album from her pocket, pulled out a photo from it, and handed it to Joab—it was a photo of a blooming flower, shining in the sunlight.
"Ah, it's the little flower!"
Joab exclaimed in surprise, holding the photo, tears turning into smiles.
"Unless you use a camera to record it, so you can keep this unique memory!" Ragnar explained. "Children, if you want, you can draw with a brush or write a poem, let it become a unique memory."
The children pondered.
"Teacher Ragnar, do you have a photo of my little flower?" Joab wiped away his tears and asked.
"Oh, I only took this one photo... Children, I have a photo of each of your flowers, but only one photo each," Ragnar said, lifting the album in her hand, "because I'm not the owner of the flowers, I don't know which memory you want to remember, and once it's missed, it's gone..."
Suddenly, little Bianka thought of something. She gathered her courage and asked loudly, "Teacher Ragnar, can we borrow your camera to take pictures of the flowers?"
"Yes!" "Bianka, you're so smart!"
The children cheered.
"Of course, but each person can only take three photos, okay?"
"Okay!"
"Thank you, Teacher Ragnar!"
"I want to take a picture of this purple flower!"
"This is my flower! Yours is the one next to it!"
Watching from the side, Luo Lin felt that Ragnar's words were like a gentle rain, quietly penetrating into the hearts of the children.