Tea of Summer Chapter 22

Chapter 22  Autumn Tale 6.1

Song Qiyan waited for her to pack her stuff.  Then he slung his backpack over his left shoulder and took Xia Liang’s small bag on his right arm.  He walked away at a slower pace than usual.

Xia Liang felt a little uneasy.  “Uhm, s.h.i.+xiong, I can carry it myself.  Your backpack is heavier.”

Song Qiyan shook his head earnestly.  “I am a man.”

All right, one sentence sealed her mouth.  Xia Liang could not argue back.  But she felt very guilty for walking with Song Qiyan empty handed……

Song Qiyan slowly walked through the campus with Xia Liang.  He asked Xia Liang was somewhat taken back, then she lightly said, “Oh.”   She turned her attention back to the menu.  “Oh, how about fresh shrimp teppanyaki.  Uhm, with a fried rice and an order of wakame salad.”

“Do you want some sus.h.i.+?”

“Oh, I don’t know what to order……and I don’t like to eat the sus.h.i.+ here that comes with that mushy, slippery stuff inside.”

Song Qiyan was puzzled and looked at her.  Then he got it.  “I know.  It was avocado.  Umm, that’s all fat.  Tell them not to put it in if you don’t like it.  How about we order a house special sus.h.i.+?”

“Oh, ok.”  Xia Liang nodded obediently.  Then she stood up. “I am going to the restroom.”

her, “Do you like j.a.panese food?”

Xia Liang quickly nodded. “I like it.”

Song Qiyan curved up his mouth. “That’s good.”  They walked for another 10 minutes and arrived at a j.a.panese restaurant near school.  Since it was Sat.u.r.day, even though midterm week was coming up, there were still many young people going in to relax.  It just so happened that there was only one table left when they walked in.  It was next to the window.  They followed the hostess to the table.  Xia Liang looked around curiously and found that most customers were couples.  She felt a bit awkward and quietly followed Song Qiyan’s lead and sat down.

“It’s more crowded than I thought.  It’ll have to do.”  Song Qiyan put down the bags next to him,  then he took off his cap and set it on the table.

Xia Liang waived her hands uneasily.  “It’s ok. Thank you, s.h.i.+xiong for taking me out to eat.”

Song Qiyan watched her calmly.  It looked as if there was a light gleaming in his deep, dark eyes.  Finally he spoke slowly after a while when Xia Liang’s ears had turned red under his gaze.  “Don’t be so polite.  Let’s order.”

Xia Liang pretended to calmly flip through the menu.  Actually, nothing she read was registering in her head.

While Song Qiyan was looking at the menu, he raised his head to see the girl opposite of him.  The girl was obviously distracted.  He relaxed his mouth, there was a trace of an indulgent smile in his eyes.

“Are you ready?”  He asked Xia Liang after he had decided what to order.

In the restroom, Xia Liang concentrated on smearing the liquid hand soap on her hands.  Her brain for some reason replayed the time she and Lin Qian had gone out to eat in Shanghai during summer break.  She seemed to remember that it was a Korean restaurant.  The menu had an a.s.sortment of dishes.  She, who had difficulty making choices, flipped through the menu over and over again for more than 10 minutes and still couldn’t decide what to order.  It made Lin Qian go nuts.  Lin Qian rolled her eyes unhappily and knocked Xia Liang on the head.  What Lin Qian said to her afterwards was still fresh in her mind.

“Dear Summer, you can only marry two types of men in the future.  Either a total male chauvinist  who makes all the decisions for you, or a very caring man who understands you very well.  He can help you make decision at any time.  Otherwise, hah, all other men would be die from your indecisiveness.”

Xia Liang washed off the foam on her hands and looked at herself in mirror.

She began to remember the situation in the pastry store the other day.  It was the same situation this time.  Song Qiyan could always grasp her likes and dislikes.  He decisively made choices for her without pus.h.i.+ng her.  Then, was he the second type of man Cici talked about?

Then, suddenly, she realized what she was doing and her face blushed instantly.

What……How could she think about who to marry or not o(╯□╰)o