Chapter Five: The Coffee Shop.

After the mouthwatering meal.

The family dispersed and each went to their respective rooms.

Yan Xinyi on the other side stood by the book shelf in the living room looking at the collection of books the Hu's loved to read.

She could only find books about business success and such stuff.

Hu Le Qi was just walking down the flight of stairs as he saw her flipping through books without reading them then just returning them back on the shelf.

He did not mind her and went to the wine drawers and helped himself a bottle of red wine in two chardonnay wine glasses.

He also poured some in a decanter and left the rest in the bottle drawer.

He took the second one to Yan Xinyi who was seated on the sofas as if she was waiting for him to deliver it to her.

He handed her the glass and went back for the decanter containing the red wine then sat down.

Their reflections were perfectly seen on the glass coffee table.

"Why does your family only read books about businesses? Is this how casually boring this house is?" She asked him but instead he first finished the wine he had poured down another glass.

"Go and ask my sister,she is always here all the time and perhaps what else could they read?" He replied.

They stayed there chit chatting over wine until it was no more then both went to their rooms as it was late.

.......

The day dawned crisp and clear.

The sun poured through the windows and another boring day had dawned, bringing with it new hopes and aspirations.

The light of dawn seeped into his room.

Huu Le Qi woke up ,rubbed his bleary eyes and walked to the window.

There was a pearly glow in the sky.

The first rays of sunlight lit up her cold room. The dawn chorus of melodic birdsong drifted in. The rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky. Golden fingers of sunlight lit up the scene.

The just-risen sun shone softly on the city streets, bringing with it a flurry of early-morning activity. Children voices could be as they headed to school.

That morning Hu Le Qi woke up, the same as everyday stretching his legs off his king sized bed and onto the floor and as usual putting on his indigo blue slippers on, his arms raised up grazing the ceiling fan spinning.

As any other day, he got out of bed and waltzed into the bathroom where he took a refreshing bath and went down stairs to the living room,he could smell the aroma of coffee being freshly brewed.

A bubble 2 curved sofa occupied the living room along with the most recent TV released. Hu Sun Meilin's mouth full of chocolate ice cream, a young girl devoured every word the TV presenter uttered. Next to her, an empty box of biscuits and a packet of crisps were thrown across the cushioned seats.

Hu Le Qi looked around and saw his mother was not there then at the empty box of biscuits,he walked over and lifted it and sat down while staring at his sister.

The area around her mouth accumulated with a brownish tint,biscuit crumbs and the smell of the crisps had filled the room.

"You wanna be chubby again?" Hu Le Qi asked his sister who was too concentrated on the television.

His sister had been bullied in school because of her chubby body and had decided to lose weight because nobody wanted to be associated with her and her brother was in a different school, although she had good grades, nobody cared.

Since then, nobody dared to bully her again.

Hu Sun Meilin glanced at him with a tear stroken face as she remembered her school years.

It was really a hard thing to forget considering that it had even affected her friendship.

Since that incident, all her friends disappeared.

"Don't bring that up,I'm leaving now. I'm better off forgetting it"She said as she picked up the remote control and switched off the television and then picked up the empty box of biscuits and the empty packet of crisps and exited the room.

........

Yan Xinyi woke up and sat on her bed staring at the curtains.

She stood up and drew them aside then went to take a bath.

Soon, she was already in the bathtub filled with foam and water with bubbles emerging from it. While kicking her legs up high, her hands collecting the foam and blowing it up and soon afterwards singing loudly using the shower head.

After sometime, she got out of the bathroom, wore her home clothes: a simple black knitted cardigan, white t-shirt , black cotton pants, white cloaks and her hair cascading freely on her back.

She took her phone from the charger and switched off the socket and then headed to the living room only to find Hu Le Qi sitted down with a pair of espadrilles, black pants, a black hoody and a simple white t-shirt. He was just sitted down staring at the television screen which was currently showing a movie.

She went and sat next to him and stared at the bowl of cookies on the table before picking one and eating it then turning to watch the movie together with Hu Le Qi.

"Are your parents at home?" Yan Xinyi inquired.

"No." Hu Le Qi answered blindly.

His parents were currently at their businesses and sometimes did not eat breakfast together so they ordered the maid servants to deliver the breakfast to each family member's room using the food trolley.

"Oh,can I go ahead and have breakfast outside then?"

"If you wish but first eat the one provided here unless the servants work will go to the drain. "Hu Le Qi said.

"Okay." She simply said and left for her room and halted before she started climbing up the stairs.

"Today in the morning I could hear some noises. What was the cause?" Yan Xinyi inquired.

"Nothing,when you head out,inform me. I want to come with you. "Hu Le Qi said.

"Okay. "Yan Xinyi said then went up.

.......

"My princess, may I come in." A lady's voice asked before Yan Xinyi woke up from her beanbag and pushed the door open.

A maid servant pushed in the food trolley with bread with butter and a glass ful of milk.

She placed the food on her table then curtsied and left.

Yan Xinyi sat down on the chair and picked up the glass of warm milk and took a sip.

It was so creamy and delicious.

She never knew that milk would taste so good early in the morning.

There was a glowing sense of sunlight with each bite of bread she took, as if the golden light that bathed the wheat is lighting up her dark core.

Golden bread appeared to have bloomed right there on the platter on the table, it's aroma conjuring the warmest of smiles.

The bread had a crunch to the crust that brought so many good memories, and the crumb was that wholesome taste of rustic grain.

She soon finished,wiped her mouth with the wipes and left for the living room.

She called Hu Le Qi on her mobile phone and placed it on her right ear while looking at her nails.

Hu Le Qi stopped scrolling on the laptop and checked his phone and pressed her forefinger on the green button and glided his finger across the screen.

Hu Le Qi cupped the phone on his left ear and spoke.

"Hello? Hu Le Qi,I'm in the living room wanting to go out. Please come down. "The other voice said.

"Mmm." He said before hanging up.

Yan Xinyi placed the phone back in her pants front side pocket and waited while counting.

Soon, Hu Le Qi came down together with his sister who was in a pink shirt dress, a white woven cardigan with white gladiator sandals.

They all walked out the gate and were now on the road heading to the coffee shop. The birds were merrily chirping and the trees stood erect alongside the road.

There were still some leaves on the ground which made crunching noises when they were stepped on.

The rainy seasons were just around the corner. It was Yan Xinyi's first time in the biggest coffee shop in the town.

She could see the cheerful and brilliant lighting of the shop as they walked across the vast parking lot.

There were tables outside the shop each with a brown vintage style umbrella. This particular coffee shop was not a cafe, it was a coffee shop literally.

They sold the finest coffee from all over the world according to the maid servants who had informed her.

It also had a book corner in the left hand side of the shop where the buyers could buy books. They made very good coffee as well. This place was an ideal place for students and employees and even parents or old people to release their stress.