Tea of Summer

Chapter 38

Winter Warmth 4.3

After her last final, Xia Liang stood at the door of the lecture hall and stretched.  Finally it was Christmas break.  When the cold and damp December breeze blew over, she tucked her neck in, pulled her coat tightly around herself, and was ready to go back into her apartment.

“Summer!” Somebody called her from behind.

Xia Liang stopped.  She turned back and saw a Chinese student walked towards her.

Xia Liang tilted her head and thought for a while. She believed that he was a Chinese student in the same grade as her.  It seemed that he was also from Shanghai.  She met him in a Shanghai student party.

The man walked to her and smiled at her. “It’s going to be second semester soon.  Have you decided your major yet?”

In America, the first two years of college are for general requirement courses.  Most students chose their majors in the second semester of sophomore year.

Xia Liang earnestly answered. “Since I already have enough credits, I already decided on double majoring in Finance and International Trade in the second semester of freshman year.”

The man choked. “Second semester of freshman year?”  The man was disappointed silently……He was hoping to find out what her major was going to be, then he could choose the same courses as her, so they could be in same classes……after all, he……

“Anything else?”  Xia Liang asked him.  She pulled her collar closer.  She felt cold since she wasn’t dressed warm enough, especially since she was standing right at a drafty place.

The man cleared his throat. “Uhm, well, do you have any plan for the break?”

Xia Liang shook her head. “Just staying at home.”  She had been thinking about going somewhere, but then she gave up on the idea when she thought about all the work which was stacking up in her mailbox. It included work for voice recording, planning, and script writing that she owed to various people because she had been busy studying for her finals for past few weeks.

She had better stay in her room to clear all her debts.  Otherwise they would chase after her to no end……

The man seemed relieved. “Then, then, on Christmas Eve, do you……”  While he was still trying to organize his words to ask Xia Liang out, someone had already interrupted him.

Lin Qian came out of the lecture hall.  She put her hand on Xia Liang’s shoulder and interrupted the man, “Our Summer already has a date on Christmas Eve.  Sorry.”

Xia Liang looked at her suspiciously.  She was going to ask, but stopped when she saw Lin Qian’s murderous glare and kept her mouth shut.

Until Lin Qian pulled Xia Liang away from the man and started to walk back, did Xia Liang raise her hand quietly. “Can I ask a question?”

Lin Qian responded with a “hmph” like a dominating queen, “you may.”

Xia Liang looked at her in confusion. “When did I have a date on Christmas Eve?”

Lin Qian still looked at her apathetically.  “Xu Qian obviously was looking for an excuse to ask you out.  You are not interested in him, then naturally you should find an excuse to refuse him.”

Xia Liang was still confused. “Xu Qian……who’s that?”

Lin Qian also choked.  She felt like she was banging her head against a concrete wall.  If she ever interfered in Xia Liang’s business again except for this one time, then she would write her name upside down!

Lin Qian was frustrated and stretched her hand out to Xia Liang. “Lend me your phone!”

“Ah?” Xia Liang was puzzled.

“My phone’s out of battery.  Lend me yours so I can send a text message.”

“Oh……”  Xia Liang obediently gave her the cell.

Lin Qian typed Xia Liang’s password on the phone as if it was her own.  She turned the phone aside after she unlocked the phone to make sure that Xia Liang could not see the screen.  Then she quickly touch opened Xia Liang’s contact list.  She found Song Qiyan’s contact information and sent it to her own phone first.  Then she quickly touch opened the messages.  She sent out a text message and quickly deleted the log after the message was sent successfully.  Finally she lightly swiped her finger to shut down any background apps.  She did all of this quickly in one fluid motion.

Xia Liang was an honest girl.  Naturally she would not suspect that Lin Qian would do something to her phone.  She took the phone back without a drop of suspicion and put it back into her bag.

But now, Lin Qian’s almond eyes shone brilliantly from successfully fooling Xia Liang.  It made her already mature, elegant face bloom even more beautifully.  Any white male passersby could not help but eye this Asian girl’s face.