Shen Weiyi hailed a cab to the high-speed train station, and no sooner had she entered the waiting hall than she received a call from Sheng Ting, "Where are you?"
"I’m at the high-speed train station now, sorry, I forgot to tell you," Shen Weiyi had only sent a message to Qin Zhen in the car and hadn’t notified anyone else.
She had been somewhat impulsive today.
Everyone had agreed to go out together, and her leaving abruptly on her own was somewhat impolite to the others. So, on the ride, she had sent a generous red envelope to Qin Zhen, asking them to treat everyone else to dinner that night as an apology from her.
"Come out!" said Sheng Ting.
Shen Weiyi couldn’t help but be startled for a moment, only to hear Sheng Ting’s voice once again, "I’m waiting for you at the exit."
Shen Weiyi, holding her phone, turned and looked towards the exit, a flicker of surprise crossing her mind. Moments later, she began walking toward the exit and saw Sheng Ting’s car parked nearby.
He leaned casually against his car, holding a cellphone, looking up when he heard footsteps and turning his gaze in her direction.
His eyes were gentle, yet seemed to conceal galaxies.
"How come you’re here?" Shen Weiyi put away her phone and walked towards him.
"Do you have any plans next?" Sheng Ting asked.
Shen Weiyi shook her head.
Going back had been a spur-of-the-moment decision; she hadn’t thought about any plans afterward at all.
Sheng Ting looked at her and said, "If you don’t mind, may I take you somewhere?"
Shen Weiyi looked at him, suspicious.
Sheng Ting opened the passenger door and said to her, "Get in for now, you’ll find out when we get there," indicating casually that they couldn’t stay parked there for long.
Shen Weiyi didn’t know where he planned to take her, but she chose to trust him.
Sheng Ting placed her luggage in the trunk and then got into the driver’s seat and drove away from the station.
About forty minutes later, the car entered a small town.
The town was by the sea, very quiet, and as it wasn’t a hotspot for social media check-ins, there weren’t many tourists from out of town.
Almost all were locals.
"Where is this?" Shen Weiyi asked.
"Home," Sheng Ting replied.
A few minutes later, the car stopped in front of an old western-style house that, although showing its age, appeared well-maintained and repaired, not looking worn at all.
Sheng Ting took out keys to unlock the garden gate while explaining to Shen Weiyi, "My grandparents used to live here; later on, the whole family moved out, but we would occasionally come back to pay respects to the ancestors."
"No one has lived inside for a long time. I’ll go open the windows to air it out, and you can take a stroll in the yard," Sheng Ting said before heading into the western-style house.
Shen Weiyi took a look around the yard and found that, although it wasn’t very big, there was a large peach orchard behind it. This time of year, the peach blossoms had long since fallen, and the peaches had been picked clean, so there wasn’t much to see.
But it must be beautiful in the spring.
When Sheng Ting came over, Shen Weiyi was standing under a peach tree, gazing dreamily at the orchard.
"My grandma loved peaches. My grandpa planted this whole area with peach trees. You can enjoy the peach blossoms in the spring, and eat fresh peaches in the summer," Sheng Ting explained.
This must be what they mean by "facing the sea, with the spring flowers blossoming."
"Grandpa Sheng and Grandma Sheng must have had a great relationship," Shen Weiyi withdrew her gaze, her words tinged with envy.
"Yes!" Sheng Ting smiled, curving the corners of his lips, "If there’s a chance, I’ll take you to meet them someday. They’re very easygoing people."
Shen Weiyi paused for a moment. This was a difficult topic to follow up on.