Tea of Summer - Chapter 18: Autumn Tale 4.3

Chapter 18

Autumn Tale 4.3

They hadn’t seen each other for over half a month since that day.

The ‘next time’ that Song Qiyan promised never materialized. It was not because he broke his promise but before he could carry out his next plan, he was assigned another lab experiment by the professor. During this half a month, Song Qiyan had been either in the laboratory or the library the whole day for that experiment. He had no time for any distractions.

As for Xia Liang, after she worked diligently for two weeks to catch up on her voice over projects, it was finally midterm week. For this------Lin Qian’s comment to Xia Liang was------You asked for it.

The original comment was actually: “It’s good enough just to be a normal college student. Who asked you to take two majors plus a minor. You’ll be lucky if you don’t die from exhaustion during sophomore year.”

Xia Liang’s dog-tired days had just begun. She shuffled between the Business School and Psychology department buildings. Once she returned to her apartment at night, she plunged headlong into her books to study and take notes. She also had to find time for recordings after 10 o’clock every night……she was too busy to remember anything else.

On this Saturday, it was rare that Xia Liang did not sleep in. She woke up at 7am and rushed to the school library after she had washed her face in a daze. She weaved through rows of bookshelves and shortly found books she needed.

Xia Liang was a student in the Business School majoring in Finance and International Trade, with a minor in Psychology. In the beginning she just thought psychology was very interesting and would be helpful for business negotiations. So she happily chose the class, but later found it to be quite different from what she expected once class started. Her old psychology professor was very knowledgeable and kind, but his lecture was so helplessly hypnotizing…...usually putting a big chunk of the class to sleep. The result was that everybody had to study very hard for the midterm exam. They needed to catch up on lectures and memorize concepts they had missed when they had fallen asleep in the first half of the semester.

It was so sad…….

Xia Liang spent the whole morning in the library. She went to a nearby coffee shop to buy a pastry and coffee to tide her over. Then she went back to a corner in the library and continued taking notes.

This Saturday was a rare sunny day. Sunlight was spreading everywhere in Seattle which was normally a rainy and wet city. The warm sunshine came in through the windows and made her drowsy.

Song Qiyan and his lab team finally finished their discussion about each individual's responsibilities for the final report. He rubbed the side of his head, he was very tired after running nonstop for three weeks. And next month, he was going to start an internship at a local hospital. It was really……

“Hey, Albert, are you ok?” A blonde beauty sitting at the opposite side from his lab team asked with concern.

Song Qiyan gave a slight nod. “I’m fine.” Then he stood up. “I am getting some drinks.”

“I’ll go with you.” The blonde beauty followed him attentively. Song Qiyan successfully earned a few weird looks from his other two male Chinese teammates.

Song Qiyan, with hands in the pockets of his pants and his usual cap, walked towards the coffee shop outside the library without any emotion on his face. He was not in good mood probably due to exhaustion. His eyes noticed a person sitting next to the window as he walked around the corner and he paused a bit.

“What’s up?” The blonde beauty noticed his pause. She could not tell what had attracted his attention because of the cap.

Song Qiyan looked back and shook his head. He continued to walk.

Under the warm afternoon sunlight, Xia Liang sat next to a window, with half closed eyes. Her head was getting closer and closer to the open book on the table.

After Song and the blonde lady walked to the coffee shop, she ordered herself a coffee first then stood aside waiting for Song Qiyan. The man glanced at the menu then spoke with a little hoarse voice, “Two black teas please.” He still remembered that she was next to him last time when he was ordering from a menu like this.

The blonde beauty standing next to him was a little bit confused after she heard his order. She kindly reminded him, “Albert, I already ordered mine.” Therefore, there’s no need to order another drink for her.

Song Qiyan did not bother to answer. He kept silent and took out his cellphone to browse Weibo, which he had not visited for quite some time. Then his finger moved and typed a name into the search box.

“Sir, your order is ready.” The waitress reminded him.

Song Qiyan put down his cell with a blank expression. He picked up the two cups of black tea from the counter, “Thanks.” He paid for the black teas and left.

The blonde beauty followed him closely. When she tried to drag Song Qiyan’s sleeve at an intersection, Song Qiyan moved away to avoid it without thinking.

The blonde beauty’s hand hung in the air with some embarrassment. “Sorry, I just….Albert, you are going the wrong way.”

Song Qiyan, “You can go back first.” Then he walked in another direction without looking back.

The blonde beauty lowered her eyes in disappointment. She was planning to go back to the team with her coffee, but she suddenly stopped walking.  She felt a bit curious and also a bit indignant.  Why did Albert go in that direction with two black teas? Was the tea for someone? A girl?

She could hardly believe it. That was Albert, the very same Albert of the medical school who was famed for his coldness. He would avoid physical contact with everyone. He was always perfunctory. He never lived in the dorms but rented an apartment off campus. He never went to any parties……

She saw Song Qiyan leisurely walked toward a small desk behind a large book shelf next to the window. Finally he stopped at the side of a girl resting her head on her arms on the desk sleeping. He stood there for a little while and quietly looked at the girl’s delicate sleeping eyes. His lips relaxed. Then he moved his hand to touch the coffee on her desk. The cup was almost empty and completely cold, just as he had expected. He put down the black tea, then threw the coffee cup into the a nearby trash can.

He did not return to her desk, but continued back to where his team was at.