Chapter 52 - Tea of Summer Part 1.2

After a while, Xia Liang raised her head from his chest and tenderly rubbed his chin. She spoke playfully.  "Ah Yan, how did you come here? Wow, how did you know that I was here?"

Song Qiyan kissed her forehead and answered in an uncharacteristic indirect way. "What do you think?"

Xia Liang flattened her mouth. "I told you the name of the village...How did you find the house?  Ah, was it from Qian Qian?" Lin Qian visited twice with her last summer.

Song Qiyan admitted quietly.

Xia Liang pouted. "Traitor."

Sung Qiyan used his index finger to touch her lower lip. "Didn't you want to see me?"

Xia Liang raised her head abruptly and viciously nodded like a puppy while clinging his arm. "Hehe, I certainly do...I really missed Ah Yan~"  She fawned excessively.

Song Qiyan watched her silently, but his eyes were smiling.

Xia Liang looked aside-----His eyes were too intense...she couldn't bear it!

She rolled her eyes and looked around. "Well, where is granny?  Did you see her just now?"

"En." Song Qiyan nodded.  He combed her messy bed hair.  "Granny has gone to the field to pick vegetables."  He laughed lightly when he said this, "She said she plans to cook some tasty dishes for me tonight."

Xia Liang slanted her eyes at him.  He was calling her "Granny" quite naturally...

Song Qiyan touched his nose and didn't speak.  He stood up and helped Xia Liang up. He asked her, "Do you want to go back to sleep?"

Xia Liang shook her head.  After she saw him, she felt refreshed.

Xia Liang pulled his sleeve in high spirits.  "Let me show you around, ok?"

Song Qiyan looked up at the sun hanging high above in the sky.  Then he looked down at her crystal bright eyes. He couldn't refuse and nodded.

"My parents were busy when I was a child, I always spent my summer and winter breaks in the countryside."  Xia Liang held Song Qiyan's hand and walked around the village. This is the place she grew up. It was different from her home in the city; this place was filled with her childhood memories.

She led him to the woodshed at end of the road.  They walked to the large poplar tree near the river.  She excitedly pointed at the bird nest on the poplar tree.  "There weren't many girls in this area. I always played with boys when I was a child most of the time!  I climbed trees and dug bird eggs from the bird nest!"

For the whole afternoon, they walked around the curved countryside road wandering about.  They also went through the small trail in the bamboo forest. She led him through the reeds along the river shallows.  She talked about how she would sneak here to cook fish inside. But none of the boys had the courage to eat it after she cooked it.  Finally they had to feed it to a wild cat. She also took him to see the abandoned hut inside the bamboo forest. That was the best place for kids to play hide and seek.  They had given many names to it, both silly and mysterious. They passed through the bamboo forest and walked single file onto the ridge of the field. She turned around with a great smile and pointed to the field where granny planted her vegetables. She also showed him which field of mulberry trees belong to her family.

Song Qiyan was following her fingertips to take in the surrounding rustic scenery.

This is the place this girl grew up.  He couldn't experience those memories with her.  But he could listen to her reminiscence about the past and share those innocent moments of her childhood.

But most of the time, Song Qiyan just quietly looked at the side of her face illuminated by the sun. The corner of his lips were slightly curved upwards as he watched emotions dance across her face when she pointed to something familiar.

A tranquil and comfortable life should be just like this.

After they returned to the old house, an old style bike was already parked in the living room.  Grandpa, who had gone playing mahjong with friends after lunch, was already home. He was making a great racket as he prepared the ingredients for dinner next to the stove.  There was a huge bamboo basket in the corridor outside the door filled with freshly picked vegetables.

"Grandpa's back."  Xia Liang pinched Song Qiyan's hand, then slid her little hand out of his palm.

Ahem, better keep it low key in front of the older generation.

Song Qiyan subconsciously frowned and stared at the soft hand as it left his palm.

"Granny, grandpa."  Xia Liang energetically called them with her crisp voice toward the front hall.  To the busy elderly couple inside, they heard her before they even saw her.

"Ah~" Granny inside answered filled with vitality.

"You're back!"  Grandpa replied with his loud voice, "Bring the new son-in-law in and let me see him!"

Xia Liang almost tripped as she walked up the steps.  Fortunately, Song Qiyan quickly held her arm.

Xia Liang's looked at him abashedly and breathed a sigh of relief after she saw his calm expression.  She felt like she had just eaten an anti-anxiety pill.

What she didn't know was that the man who normally hides everything deep in the bottom of his heart was now already wound up like a spring ready to burst.  He couldn't make any other expression other than be stone-faced...