Could you please put some flowers...,

[Silverobama]

Yesterday was the 4th anniversary of the plant scientist Yuan Long Ping. In order to remember him, I asked some students to buy some flowers and then put the flowers in front of his statue. (His statue is in a university. I asked the students there to do me the favor.) This year, a new student helped me because the old one graduated. I asked the new student:

Could you please put a bunch of flowers in front of Yuan's statue and tell me how much I owe you.

"Tell me how much I owe you" means they will buy the flowers first and then I'll pay them for the price of the flowers.

Please help me with a natural version of the italic sentence.

 

[emsr2d2]

To make the part about owing them make just a little more sense, I'd add in the request to pay for them.

Please buy a bunch of flowers, put them at the statue of Yuan for me and then let me know how much I owe you.

 

[Skrej]

It was the fourth anniversary of his death or his passing, I presume?

Simply stating it was his "fourth anniversary" sounds like you're celebrating his fourth year of marriage, which is sort of an odd thing for a member of the general public to celebrate.

 

[Silverobama]

It was the fourth anniversary of his death or his passing, I presume?

Simply stating it was his "fourth anniversary" sounds like you're celebrating his fourth year of marriage, which is sort of an odd thing for a member of the general public to celebrate.

I think I used the wrong word here but I don't know what word I can use. A great man died four years ago and people still remember him.

To make the part about owing them make just a little more sense, I'd add in the request to pay for them.

Please buy a bunch of flowers, put them at the statue of Yuan for me and then let me know how much I owe you.

I wonder if "how much I owe you" is natural here.

 

[Rover_KE]

If it wasn't natural emsr2d2 would have told you.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think I used the wrong word here but I don't know what word I can use. A great man died four years ago and people still remember him.

You simply needed to include the event for which it's an anniversary.

Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of the death of the plant scientist Yuan Long Ping.

 

[tedmc]

How about "putting a bunch of flowers to commemorate (as distinct from "celebrate") the 4th anniversary of the passing of Yuen"?