"Ah Liang, come down, lunch is ready!"
Xia Liang was sprawled on the sofa watching a soap opera when she heard her grandmother. She lept out of the sofa immediately and ran downstairs.
It was July. Cicadas were singing outside the window. It was much cooler inside the brick house in the peaceful countryside than in the city. The air felt fresh and cool without the need of an air conditioner.
Grandma Lin had already set the table on the mahogany square table. Though there were a few simple dishes in celadon bowls, they looked absolutely appetizing.
"Where's grandpa?" Xia Liang filled up two bowls of rice beside the stove before carrying them to the table. Then she pulled out the long bench and sat down.
"The old man ate an early lunch and went out to play mahjong." Grandma Lin took a rice bowl, "We grow all these vegetables in our own field. Eat more. You'll get a cold very easily. You haven't moved at all, even when I asked you to. You just hide upstairs every day."
"Hehe...," Xia Liang guiltily touched her nose and grabbed a chopstick full of vegetables.
As a matter of fact, she hadn't fully recovered from her cold for the half month since she had come back to China. She first got sick from the poor air quality. When she had almost recovered fully, she then got sick because she stayed in the air conditioned room every day. Her mom simply sent her to the countryside with the words, "Breathe the fresh air of the countryside."
The air indeed was fresher than inside the city of Shanghai. But unfortunately, it was in a remote area, only an old couple lived here. So there was no internet. Her phone didn't have good reception here either. Xia Liang's only entertainment was watching TV every day.
"Delicious!" Xia Liang exclaimed with grains of rice around her lips.
Grandma Lin raised her chin. "Of course, the rice and dishes cooked on an old fashioned stove tastes much better. The electric rice cooker in the city could never produce any guoba[1]!"
Xia Liang quickly nodded in agreement...Umm, it was alright as long as she had good food to eat.
After her meal and washing the dishes, Xia Liang sat on a small stool at the corridor of the main door. There were wisp of cool breeze in the corridor's shadow. The cicadas sang in rhythm, especially so in the afternoon. Her head started to droop down, sleep slowly encroaching upon her.
Something cold brushed over her face as she was half awake and half dreaming. She also seemed to hear granny talking to somebody. She was in a daze...until her head fell down, then she woke up finally.
She yawned. Her eyes floated through a layer of mist. She badly wanted to rub her eyes but just as she lifted her hand up to her eyes, another hand grabbed hers.
A thick, wide and slightly cold hand.
She looked up in shock. She looked through her misty eyes and saw a tall handsome man shielding her from the glaring sun. She looked at him foolishly.
The man watched her in tender bemusement. He crouched down, placing his bag down on the floor. He stroked her face with one hand and in a low, magnetic voice spoke, "Awake sleepyhead?"
Xia Liang blinked her eyes for a few times. After a while, she outstretched her little hand and stabbed his face. She muttered, "It's alive..."
Song Qiyan laughed lightly. He could not resist pulling the little girl that he had not seen for half a month into his arms.
He had patiently waited for an entire year in the past but this half month was intolerable. He wanted to see her every morning. He remembered the soft little hand which tied the apron for him when he was cooking. He remembered her voice, sometimes crisp and sometimes soft, when he was recording for games in the studio...
The most difficult thing to forget was that ancient poem. Lovesickness was most contemptible.
That was from a song he listened before. He deeply agreed. He thought that he, with his cold, quiet personality, would probably never like somebody so strongly. But it was like his nemesis. He met her. This girl brought color and a dash of style into his life, which he had been living on a schedule for 20 years of his life.
His girl...
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...
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