Tea of Summer Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Spring Suns.h.i.+ne 2.1

“It’ll be spring break after next week.  Do you want to go anywhere?”  They had been sitting on the couch for a while before Song Qiyan broke the silence.

Xia Liang moved a little in his arms to find the most comfortable position.  She then rubbed against his neck. “I don’t know……”

Song Qiyan poked her nose. “Do you want to travel?”

Xia Liang tilted her head. “Sure, but where to?”

Song Qiyan suggested, “How about Florida?”

Xia Liang still looked at him with her head tilted. “Just the two of us?”

Song Qiyan replied, “You can ask your roommate and I…...can ask Jeffery to come along.”

Thus, on the following Sat.u.r.day, the four of them were standing at an airport in Florida.

They rented a jeep at the airport and dumped all of their luggage onto the back. The two men occupied the front row, Lin Qin and Xia Liang in the back seats.

They were excited about the difference in temperature from the north to the south. Wei Jian, who was sitting on the pa.s.senger side, rolled down his window, letting the spring air blow into the car.

They drove for about an hour until they reached the private island. There were many privately owned vacation cabins on the island. Song Qiyan drove into a village and eventually stopped in front of a cabin right next to the beach.

Lin Qin pushed Xia Liang who had fallen asleep against the window. “We’re here!”

Xia Liang opened her eyes in confusion, still half asleep.

Lin Qin shrugged towards Song Qiyan, silently telling him: she’s your problem now.

Song Qinyan got off the car and moved to the side to open the door for Xia Liang. He bent over to release the seat belt for her and rubbed her hair. “We’re here. You can get out now.”

Xia Liang got off holding Song Qiyan’s arm. With the fresh sea breeze blowing on her face, Xia Liang’s mind finally cleared a bit. “Weren’t we staying in hotel?”

Song Qiyan smoothed out the hair that was sticking to her forehead. “This is Xia yi’s cabin. They will come to stay for a while every winter or spring break. There is private beach around here, less crowded than the tourist spots.”

Xia Liang wasn’t completely awake. She just nodded then leaned on Song Qiyan’s shoulder again. “Tired……”

Song Qiyan smiled and spoke in an indulgent tone, “We’ll go for dinner right after we put all the luggage in. Then we can walk around here. You won’t be able to sleep tonight if you sleep too much now. En?”

“Oh……”

Song Qiyan held her hand and walked in.  He let her sit in the living room.  Then he walked to the car and took out his and Xia Liang’s luggage from the back of the jeep.  Lin Qian stood at the door and sighed sadly, “This is the benefit a single person doesn’t have!”

Wei Jian happened to walk by.  He laughed and recommended himself, “I’ll get it, I’ll get it. My lady, you take a rest.  I’m willing to work like a dog for a beauty without a single complaint.”  Lin Qian accepted his services and went into the living room to sit next to Xia Liang.  She started to look around the cabin which was about 650 square feet in size.

The house was not large, as it was used only occasionally for vacations.  It was essentially two rooms separated by a small door in between.  Then there was a living room, an open kitchen area, and one bathroom.  But there was a sliding door dividing the living room into two halves.  It formed another small area which could be used as a bedroom.  Only the master bedroom had a queen size bed.  The other two rooms were relatively empty with only a sofa and several chairs as furnis.h.i.+ngs.

The two men finished carrying in all the luggage as she was looking around.

Song Qiyan pointed to the master bedroom and told the two girls to room there.  Then he and Wei Jian each took up one of the other two rooms.  They would blow up the airbeds at night to sleep on.

After was.h.i.+ng and unpacking briefly, they walked out together.

Among the four, only Song Qiyan was familiar with the area, so they all followed him.  Song Qiyan held Xia Liang’s hand and led them to a local seafood restaurant outside the village.  The restaurant was built on the beach with half of it hanging above the ocean. It was an open area to allow the sea breeze to blow in. People often threw bread crumb out of the railing, so there were many sea gulls flying above the ocean near the restaurant.

Lin Qian and Xia Liang stood next to the railing and threw cornbread to feed the sea gulls.  The ocean breeze blew their hair up from behind.

Wei Jian and Song Qiyan sat next to the table watching the two girls.  He then turned to Song Qiyan and raised his eyebrows. “I was always curious before about what kind of girlfriend you would find, whether she’s a smart and shrewd girl, or a gentle and dutiful one.  But I never thought that you’d finally tricked such a cute and good looking one.”  Wei Jian had been in undergraduate for 4 years and in the medical school for 4 years.  Then he was in the PhD program.  Though he was the youngest among his peers, he was still 6 years older than Xia Liang and Lin Qian.  Granted he had selectively ignored the fact that Song Qiyan, who went to school earlier, skipped grades, finished his undergrad earlier and was admitted to the special program.

Perhaps it was because they were on vacation and he knew Jeffrey very well, Song Qiyan didn’t have the silent poker face as usual.  He relaxedly leaned back against the chair and sipped the ice water in front of him.  He looked at Xia Liang’s back with great interest and tenderness. “She is very nice.”

Wei Jian saw the…...gentle look on Song Qiyan’s face. He muttered, “You’re truly captivated by her. Seeing a person in love, makes me really jealous.”

Song Qiyan just smiled, but didn’t respond.

For love, it was enough for the person who was in love knew how it felt .

The lavish dinner was shortly served.  Xia Liang and Lin Qian both had returned to their seats.  Xia Liang had a weak stomach and couldn’t eat much raw or cold food.  So Song Qiyan ordered mostly hot dishes, such as fried squid.  Xia Liang naturally ate happily.

Song Qiyan took his time eating; he even picked a few pieces of the cuttlefish nuggets with  a toothpick to put onto her plate.

Though the sky was still bright, it was already past 7 o’clock. They had been quite hungry since they had been on road for more than half a day. The food was just too alluring, they ended up eating too much.  So they had to walk back alongside the beach slowly to digest the food.

Initially, Lin Qian and Xia Liang walked side by side at the front.  The two men walked at the back.  After they had walked for about half an hour, Lin Qian accidentally turned her head back and happened to see Song Qiyan’s eyes focused entirely on Xia Liang’s back.  Being Lin Qian, she gave Wei Jin a brilliant smile, “Come, Wei s.h.i.+xiong, let’s get to know each other better.”

Wei Jian watched as the beautiful Lin Qian hook her arm around his.  But then she dropped it without hesitation after Song Qiyan had walked up to stroll side by side with Xia Liang.

Wei Jian, “……Young lady, did you just discard me after you using me?”

Lin Qian gave him a sideways glance. “You’re not thanking me for the favor?”

Wei Jian, “…..long live the empress dowager for ten thousand years.”

At the front, Xia Liang turned to look at the man next to her. “Is it alright that we just deserted Wei s.h.i.+xiong and Qian Qian?”

Song Qiyan’s calmly replied,  “They need time to get to know each other better.”

Xia Liang surprisingly opened her eyes widely. “Wei s.h.i.+xiong, he……hey, does he like Qian Qian?”   It was Wei Minghui before, then now came Wei Jian……Uhm, did Lin Qian have a special fate with men with last name of Wei?”

Song Qiyan kept his silence without an ounce of guilt.  Xia Liang thought it was true after she saw his expression.