Chapter 40 (1/2)

Chapter 40

Spring Suns.h.i.+ne 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 embarra.s.sing.

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.