After all, spending time with her alone usually led to things that she was not happy to do. The best thing to do now was to bring her outdoors.
“I don’t know, where did you usually go when you were still in school?” Jiang Yao did not know Jindo City that well. The tourist attractions would take too much time to check out, plus, she did not want Lu Xingzhi to feel too exhausted at the end of the day. “How about a place where we can eat and drink and also get some sunshine?”
After giving it some thought, Lu Xingzhi turned his car around and drove toward the entrance of an alley. Walking down the alley together with Jiang Yao, they came to the entrance of a tea shop which Lu Xingzhi had heard of but had never been to.
The tea shop was called “Deep Alley”. A simple piece of wood plank with the name boldly carved on hung at the entrance of the shop.
“It’s opened by the sister of an ex-schoolmate. I’ve not been here before.” Lu Xingzhi entered holding Jiang Yao’s hand.
The first thing Jiang Yao saw when she entered had her in awe.
It was a slightly old-fashioned compound, with a massive water tank placed in the center. The water tank was very commonly found back in Jiang Yao’s hometown; each family would have at least a few of them at home.
However, it was used to cultivate water lilies here. Not knowing which variety was planted here, yet a few water lilies were in bloom even out of season. The leaves were as green as ever, with dew clinging onto them.
The walls on either side were covered with a variety of colorful flowers. They all grew from the same stalk of plant, but it was amazing to see how the flowers were cultivated to grow into such distinct and vibrant hues.
A little further in front were flowers, as blue as the sky, planted in little flowerpots, hanging from the ceiling.
A few sets of old tables and chairs were placed right in front of the hanging flower pots; each one of them had an umbrella—closed and put down—beside it, perhaps only used during rainy days. Right now, the sun, radiating its warmth, was shining brightly into every corner of the compound.
“Where’s the owner?” Jiang Yao looked around puzzled.
Lu Xingzhi pointed to the second floor and motioned for Jiang Yao to look in the direction. She then saw a lady dressed in a black coat waving her hands toward them, pointing at where she currently stood and went off serving the other customers.
“The owner is a mute, apparently caused by an accident when she was still a teenager,” Lu Xingzhi explained, before going upstairs holding Jiang Yao’s hands.
It was obvious that the owner was a very tidy person and loved plants. Plenty of greens and flowers decorated the space on the second floor, with a little ceramic vase placed in the center of each table. A few stalks of vibrantly colored flowers were arranged in the vase.
The owner silently smiled at Lu Xingzhi and Jiang Yao after they sat down. Jiang Yao instantly felt a little better seeing her infectious smile.
They were going through the menu when Lu Xingzhi’s cell phone rang. Jiang Yao stole a glimpse at it and saw that it was Zhou Weiqi who called.