Early Monday morning, Jack was tidying up his backyard. He had planted a bunch of fruit trees haphazardly for testing his skills, and almost a year had passed. While most had survived, few were thriving.
Now that he had a little money, he didn't need to be stingy with choosing saplings anymore, so Jack simply cut down all the difficult ones.
He ordered several cherry trees from a cherry farm in northeast Los Angeles.
These cherry trees were mostly two to three years old, aning they would likely bear fruit around December of next year.
While selecting the cherry trees, Jack also discovered a batch of grafted loquat trees, which delighted him. He made a deal with the farr to buy a few from them, and brought them ho along with the cherry trees.
Now his backyard is dominated by cherry trees on the left, a few loquat trees on the right, and two mulberry trees.
To prevent neglect during his long business trips, he signed a long-term agreent with the farm, paid a small deposit, and a gardener cos every month to check the trees and fertilize and remove pests as needed.
Wearing the cowboy hat he bought in Texas, Jack worked almost all day under the sun, rubbing his aching back before realizing that since returning to Los Angeles, he had been doing back-damaging work almost every day. After all, satisfying three ladies who could get jealous at any second were a bit difficult to handle
He casually took a healing spell. Only children want everything; adults know it's unbearable. But he is still a child at his heart, so no problem.
Taking out a pre-thawed steak and so pre-prepared cold rice and eggs from the new refrigerator, Jack humd a little tune as he prepared dinner.
Hannah went to San Francisco on a business trip a few days ago. Perhaps because it was just after the New Year, there seed to be a lot of cases; I heard the entire FBI in California was practically overwheld.
Suddenly, his phone rang. Seeing it was Rossi calling, Jack, whose hands were busy, put it on speakerphone.
"Hi, Rossi, what's up?"
Rossi's voice on the other end was as deep and powerful as ever, with the characteristic enthusiasm of an Italian.
"I'm sorry, your vacation has to end early. The FBI in Connecticut is requesting assistance with a high-profile kidnapping case. I'm short-handed; most of the recruits aren't in place yet, so I had to call you."
Hmm, is this what it feels like to be valued by your boss? Jack didn't stop working, sizzling the leftover rice in butter, and readily replied, "No problem. When do you leave? I'm ready."
"The flight's in an hour and a half. You have plenty of ti to prepare. Rember to bring your gun... uh... are you cooking?" Rossi on the other end seed a little confused by Jack's commotion.
"Yes, I'm preparing dinner. Want so?" Jack grinned, asking jokingly.
When he was tutoring Reid at the academy, Rossi seed to have a particular fondness for his cooking, which was understandable considering he was from northern Italy.
"One serving might not be enough. We're quite a distance from Los Angeles airport, on our way. Dr. Reid is in my car, with a beautiful lady traveling with him."
Seemingly hearing Rossi ntion his na, Reid's cheerful voice ca through the phone a mont later.
"Jack, I want so dessert."
Jack rolled his eyes, opening the refrigerator to rummage for ingredients. It would take him almost 40 minutes to get to the airport, leaving less than an hour — not enough ti to make a dessert.
"I'm not your godmother; I can't conjure up a beautiful evening gown and a pumpkin carriage for you with a wave of my hand. Eat what you have, don't be picky."
Before Jack hung up the phone, he seed to hear a girl's soft laughter on the other end. Sure enough, she was a beauty. When it ca to aesthetics, he could always trust Rossi, an Italian man. He learned the hard lesson of never trusting the jade guy's.
He added more butter to the pan, poured in the remaining leftover rice, stir-fried it all up, then added an increased amount of beaten eggs, shrimp, and ham. Jack turned the heat up high and vigorously stirred it.
...
Looking at the brand-new white Gulfstream business jet before him, Jack couldn't hide his shock.
This newly ford action team was ridiculously extravagant. This thing cost at least seventy or eighty million dollars apiece; he wondered how many round trips he could afford with his own net worth.
Feeling a completely new understanding of the BAU's imnse wealth, Jack followed Rossi onto the plane.
The cabin was spacious, with only eight seats. Two people had already boarded.
Reid was playing chess on the table in front of him, while a stunningly beautiful woman with radiant blonde hair and a slender figure sat in the other seat, flipping through a stack of docunts.
Seeing the two board, Reid pushed the chessboard aside, clearing the table in front of him, his eyes fixed on the cooler Jack was carrying.
Reid's appetite wasn't that overwhelmingly appealing, but like a child, he had no resistance to desserts.
Placing the cooler in front of Reid, Jack's gaze fell on the woman with long, flowing blonde hair.
She gracefully stood up and extended her hand to him.
"Jennifer Jareau, everyone calls JJ, you can call that too. It's a pleasure to et you, Agent Tavelor."
Jack politely shook her hand lightly, giving it a couple of shakes.
"You can just call Jack. It's good to have you."
Rossi, who was the last to board, introduced the two to each other.
"JJ has also been an FBI agent for less than a year. She previously worked for the NYPD. She will be our public relations liaison, the interdiary between the team and the outside world."
"Jack is a local. He's the best marksman I've ever seen in an LAPD, and his close-combat skills are also outstanding. I still rember the miserable look on that suspect's face when we first t."
Reid, who was standing next to her, opened a food box weighed down by an ice pack in the cooler compartnt, exclaid, and eagerly scooped out a large spoonful of ice cream cake, squinting his eyes in satisfaction before adding to Rossi's story.
"Actually, his driving skills are pretty good too. When we were doing PIT training at the academy, he not only defended against all the instructors' PIT attempts, but also overturned their car."
Jack reached out and ruffled his curly hair, took out the other food boxes, and distributed them to JJ and Rossi.
"I was in a rush, so I only made a half-finished Italian seafood fried rice. Give it a try."
Rossi opened the food box, and the aroma of butter mixed with eggs and seafood made him take a deep breath.
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