Tea of Summer - Chapter 13 & 14: Autumn Tale 3.1 & 3.2

Chapter 13

Autumn Tale 3.1

“Shixiong, where are we going?”  Xia Liang, who had been in a daze so far, and finally spoke after she had already gotten into his car.  She turned her head to look at Song Qiyan.  Then she found that his face from the side was…...flawless.

“I won’t kidnap you.” He said, “You will know when we get there.”

Other people would have said those words jokingly.  But he was exceptionally serious when he spoke.  Even his eyes were inexplicably calm as he looked forward, as if he had just stated a fact.

Xia Liang suppressed her curiosity and said “Oh”.

What to do.  She truly felt that Bei Yan Da Da…...Song Shixiong, huh, was too adorkable.

Xia Liang looked around  after they had parked car.  There were many restaurants there and since it was around noon, there was a large volume of people.  She followed Song Qiyan as he turned into a small restaurant at the corner.  She surprisingly found that the sign was in Chinese? Oh, maybe it was Japanese?

Because the sign had only one character------“Noodles”.

Xia Liang blinked.  It was very simple and straightforward.

Xia Liang walked into the restaurant behind Song Qiyan.  The restaurant was not as busy compared with the restaurants along the roadside.  But there were still some customers sitting inside.  Song Qiyan looked back to make sure that Xia Liang was still following him closely.  He slowed down a bit and waited for her to catch up before they walked to a quiet table in the corner.

After they sat down, Song Qiyan took off his cap and placed it on the table.  He softly introduced the restaurant to Xia Liang, “This was a noodle house owned by a couple from Lanzhou.  The taste is very authentic.”  He took out a menu from the shelf on the side and passed it to her.  “See what you want to eat.”

In the end they each ordered a bowl of beef noodle soup, with a small bowl of wonton, plate of jelly fish, and another plate of chicken feet as side orders.

Xia Liang’s eyes sparkled when the piping hot bowls of noodle soup were brought to the table.  She glanced over at Song Qiyan who was slowly breaking apart a pair of chopsticks.  So she decisively picked up her chopsticks and started eating.  It’s so delicious……

Xia Liang felt bliss after the first bite.  The chewy noodles, the melting beef, and the medium spicy rich soup……to be able to have such a bowl of authentic noodle soup simply made her whole body warm up.

“Delicious?”  Song Qiyan looked at her through the rising vapor mist.

Xia Liang nodded vigorously.

Song Qiyan seemed to breath a sigh of relief.  He put down his chopsticks, used the spoon from the wonton bowl to scoop up two wontons, and dropped them into Xia Liang’s bowl. “The filling is celery and pork.  They taste really good, too.”

Xia Liang cheerfully ate them.

Song Qiyan had already finished as Xia Liang chowed down her whole bowl of noodle.  He looked up at her.  “Want more?”  He felt a warmth in his chest when he saw Xia Liang’s red face after eating.  He pushed the bowl of wontons towards her  “There are still two more wontons.”

Xia Liang straightened her back.  She felt that she was almost full so she hesitated and rubbed her tummy.

Song Qiyan gave a short chuckle after seeing her reaction, “That’s alright.  Just leave it there if you cannot finish.  Let me go pay the bill.”

Chapter 14

Autumn Tale 3.2

They walked out of the noodle house.  The boss’ wife warmly said behind them, “Thanks for coming.”  Xia Liang gave the boss’ wife a sweet smile.  Hearing one’s native language outside of school was really touching especially after such a delicious noodle.

She moved quickly to catch up with Song Qiyan who stood at the front waiting for her.  She smiled to him,  “Thank you Shixiong.  The noodles were really delicious.”

“As long as you enjoyed it.”

Xia Liang: “……” Xia Liang suppressed the her rampant imagination and silently blamed herself for thinking too much.  Shixiong was just being friendly, taking her out to eat; Xia Liang told herself not to think too deeply about it.  “Then, Shixiong, this noodle house is hidden in the corner.  How did you find it?”  Xia Liang was curious.

Song Qiyan turned his head and looked at her.  “There was one time when I finished a lab experiment and went out to eat with my classmates.  We drove out here but found all the restaurants were full.  So we walked around after we got our number.  We happened to walk here and saw that they still had some tables available, so we walked in to eat.  Since then I come here occasionally to eat.”

Xia Liang distractedly found that Song Qiyan would earnestly look straight at the other person's eyes whenever he talked to others as long as he was not driving.  Though his beautiful almond eyes were hidden underneath the cap most of the time, others could still feel his earnestness.

It felt……he’s well mannered.

“Is that so…...The noodles are very good.” Xia Liang praised again.

Song Qiyan broke out into a smile.  “Then I will take you here again next time if you like it.”

Xia Liang blinked her eyes, so……there’s a next time?

Xia Liang, who had no sense of direction, finally noticed something after following Song Qiyan for a while. “Shixiong, where are we going?  The parking lot seems to be at the other side…..”

“I am taking you on a walk, helps with digestion.  Later I will take you to another place.” Song Qiyan replied. Then he looked at her.  “You don’t seem to have a good sense of direction?”  After all, she didn’t find out they were heading the wrong direction after walking for so long.

Xia Liang puckered up her mouth.  He didn’t have to be so blunt……

Song Qiyan pushed down his cap.  He tried hard to suppress the edges of his mouth that threatened to break into a smile.  His almond eyes underneath the cap happily sparkled.