Tea of Summer - Chapter 40: Spring Sunshine 1.1

Chapter 40

Spring Sunshine 1.1

That night, he held her hand as they watched the fireworks light up the sky.  She then insisted on taking him to the shopping mall.  They pushed their way through the crowd.  Finally she bought him a gray scarf and bashfully put it on for him.  Then they walked, hands held together, for half of the night and watched the crowd gradually thin around them.

Finally, exhausted, she ended their late night wandering by using his own words, “Umm, girls shouldn’t stay up late.  It’s unhealthy.”

He looked at her with a smile in his eyes.  Suddenly, he bent down and pecked the corner of her mouth.  He then quickly straightened himself.

Both of their faces were flushed since this was the first time they had ever done something so intimate.  They were silent on the way back to her apartment.  They just let the night breeze cool the heat on their faces.

He took her back to her apartment.  There was a subtle change in atmosphere between them when they were about to part.  He bent down again and kissed her forehand.  He spoke next to her ear with the voice she never tired of, “Goodnight.”

“Ding dong------“ A notification pinged off her phone.  Xia Liang woke up from her deep sleep,  exhausted.

She watched the ceiling for two minutes.  Then she held the blanket and sat up.

Wow, this apparently was not her bedroom.

It was almost the end of March.  Xia Liang and Song Qiyan had been together for almost three months.  They were different from many young couples who would cling together every day.  They just went out to eat regularly on the weekends.  Sometimes when Song Qiyan had breaks from his lab experiments, he would take Xia Liang to search for good food around Seattle to eat.

Xia Liang scratched her hair.  She was disappointed in herself for falling asleep just like that.

Song Qiyan gave her a spare key to his apartment.  She usually came over here over the weekend.  Today Song Qiyan stayed in the lab late for an unfinished experiment.  She kept waiting, bored.  She went to get a book from the bookshelf in his room to read and unexpectedly fell asleep while she was reading.

So embarrassing.

She walked out of the room to find that Song Qiyan was already back.  The smell of food was floating in the apartment.  She could not resist taking a few deep breaths.

In the open kitchen, the man carefully poured the last dish into the plate.

Xia Liang walked around behind him, yawned, and reached around his waist like a koala hanging on a tree.

Song Qiyan turned off the gas.  He turned back to see her sleepy red cheeks and stretched the back of his left hand to touch her cheek.  His voice was soft. “Are you awake now?”

Xia Liang was still exhausted and rubbed the back of his hand. “Umm, I am still sleepy.  I worked on the essay too late last night……”  Then she opened her eyes wide looking at him innocently.  She argued, “Because the essay was due yesterday, so I stayed up late!  Don’t give me a lecture!’

Most of the time, Song Qiyan wouldn’t object to anything she did.  It was not an exaggeration to say that he spoiled and let her indulge herself.  But when it when it came to something like staying up late which would harm her health, then Song Qiyan always insisted firmly on the principles.

But facing Xia Liang’s innocent big eyes, Song Qiyan couldn’t really blame her.  He couldn’t say anything and just laughed as he turned around to hold her in his arms.  He pinched her cheek. “Wash your hands. Dinner’s ready.”

Xia Liang still leaned lazily into his chest.  She didn’t move.  She thought to herself that he spoiled her too much, causing her to become lazier and lazier.  This is not good, not good……

But Song Qiyan’s deep dark eyes were filled with tenderness, fully prepared to pamper her further.  His greatest happiness was to spoil her and made her happy.  He was happy to have her depend on him more and more.  He lowered his head and kissed her cheek. He deliberately spoke in a slightly deeper voice, which made his voice even more attractive. “Be good, let’s eat first.”

Xia Liang rubbed his chest again, enjoying the sensation of his body against hers.  She then obediently ran to wash her hands.  Song Qiyan had already set the table when she returned to dining room.

Xia Liang loved to eat and of course was a picky eater.  Though many restaurants in Seattle were delicious, they couldn’t compare to Chinese food in her mind.  The so called Chinese food in many Chinese restaurants were too Americanized.  They were very sweet and very greasy.  A few times, she even lost her appetite after eating such food.  But fortunately Xia Liang and Song Qiyan both were gourmets with styles.  They both were passable cooks.  They stayed in the apartment during the weekends to take turns cooking to satisfy their taste buds.  Both their cooking skills were far from amazing, but it was passable.  It was not a problem for them to cook some home style dishes.  Occasionally if they didn’t know how to cook a dish, they just followed the recipe from internet on their phone and the dish usually turned out to be quite acceptable.  After several months, their cooking skills had significantly improved.

They were very quiet when they ate.  They rarely spoke but the table was still filled with a warm atmosphere.

After dinner, Xia Liang cleaned the dishes as usual.  Then she went to the bathroom to wash her hands with hand soap.  When she came back to the living room, Song Qiyan was already sitting on the sofa looking at the cell phone in his hand.

Xia Liang walked to his side ready to sit down, but Song Qiyan already wrapped her waist with his arm and set her down on top of his lap, his arms wrapped around her waist.

Xia Liang blinked her eyes.  She was already accustomed to it.

They had grown to understand each other better after the past three months.  They felt more at ease with each other and more intimate. Xia Liang, without realizing it, had understood more about the many little habits of the man who was holding her now.

For example, he liked this posture the most.  He held her sitting on his lap with his head leaned on her hair.  He frequently cuddled her.

For example, he would expect a goodbye kiss or a goodnight kiss whenever they departed.  If she didn’t initiate it or she forgot and just left, then he would become very depressed.

For example, he was quiet most of the time; his actions spoke more than his words.  Even if he was sulking, a rare occurrence, he still wouldn’t express it.  He would just keep quiet until Xia Liang discovered it and coaxed him to talk about it.

For example, he wasn’t as prudent and mature as he looked.  Sometimes he had a childish side, especially in the couple of minutes just after waking up. Occasionally, he would be in a daze in those few moments which she found adorable.

For example, though he was conservative and insistent on some points, he was pretty open in other areas.  After they got together, he felt that the relationship between them was already perfectly clear and all kinds of little intimate behaviors came very naturally.  It often made her blush.

For example……

Without knowing it, she noticed and remembered his every little habit and they had become part of her life...

Without knowing it, the original crush in the beginning had changed to great fondness.