In the opening of the film *In the Heat of the Sun*, Ma Xiaojun says, "My story always happens in summer."
On the first day of June 2013, the sun shone brilliantly. Early that morning, Zhang Jikang arrived and thrust two gift boxes into Xia Yinuo’s hands, claiming they were this year’s Children’s Day gifts—one from himself and one from Mai Mai—before hurrying away. Xia Yinuo opened them to find a mini double-handled milk cup and two books: *The Art of Devilish Flirting* and *The Encyclopedia of Successful Romance*. Tucked inside the gift box was a note with Mai Shining’s flamboyant handwriting: "Babe, to thank you for that painting, *Mai is Crazy and Kang is a Fool, Lingering Together to the Ends of the Earth*, I spent an entire afternoon at Xinhua Bookstore picking out these two books for you. I hope you study them diligently, cite them as authority, and take down that certain someone. After this Children’s Day, I hope you finally grow up. From now on, the three of us won't celebrate Children’s Day anymore; we’ll celebrate Adult’s Day together!"
Honestly...
At noon, Liang Juejun called Xia Yinuo, asking her to stop by her office when she had a moment to pick something up. Because they were in different disciplines, their labs were far apart despite being in the same building—one on the seventh floor and the other on the ninth. Around five o'clock, Xia Yinuo arrived at Liang Juejun’s office door.
*Knock, knock, knock.* No answer.
Just as she was about to knock three more times, she felt a tap on her back. Xia Yinuo turned around to see Chen Diandian.
"Oh, Senior Xia, what brings you here?" It had been a while since they last met, and the young girl looked radiant.
Xia Yinuo replied, "I have some business with your boss."
"Oh, Professor Liang is in the lab. Why don't you sit in our lounge for a bit?" As she spoke, she tried to pull Xia Yinuo toward the graduate students' office.
Xia Yinuo quickly waved her off. "No need, I'll just go find her in the lab."
As soon as she stepped into the general lab next door, she ran into Liang Juejun. Seeing Xia Yinuo, Liang Juejun removed her gloves and mask, saying with a smile, "Perfect timing. I just finished up."
Some people possess a certain charm even when wearing a bulky white lab coat; it’s what people call 'aura.' If a lab coat counted as a uniform, then Liang Juejun’s 'uniform temptation' was incredibly lethal.
Xia Yinuo remarked, "As they say, arriving early isn't as good as arriving at the right time."
Liang Juejun unbuttoned her lab coat as she spoke. "The lab organized an outing yesterday. We went to a farm to pick strawberries. It turned out many people picked them but few ate them, so we brought back quite a lot. I saved two boxes for you. They also had homemade strawberry yogurt there; I figured you’d like it."
"Thank you, Senior!" Xia Yinuo said with a grin, taking the lab coat Liang Juejun had just shed and hanging it on a hook on the lab wall.
After washing her hands, Liang Juejun led Xia Yinuo back to the office and pointed to the two boxes of strawberries and a large jar of yogurt on the desk. "I wasn't sure if you even ate strawberries."
"Xiao Yan loves them."
"Is that so? What about you?"
"I'm indifferent."
"Me too."
"It happens to be Children’s Day today, and I’m going to my dad’s place for dinner tonight. I’ll tell Xiao Yan that these are a gift from Big Sister Liang."
"Haha, good. Wish him a happy holiday for me. I’ll treat you both to dinner another day."
"Really? Great, I’ll be waiting."
Returning to Xia Yan’s home that evening, Xia Yiyan happily told his sister about the activities at his kindergarten and the prizes he had won. Deng Rouyue had cooked many dishes. After dinner, the two siblings played on the sofa while Xia Yan joked, "Our Little Babe only comes back for Xiao Yan now. Old bones like us aren't welcome anymore."
Xia Yinuo protested, "Dad, how can you be jealous of your own son?"
Xia Yan looked at his children, his eyes filled with contentment and affection.
By the end of June, the undergraduates began their summer break, and the campus emptied out by more than half. However, the master’s and doctoral students still spent every day soaked in the lab. The eldest senior, Liu Zhe, was preparing to graduate and leave. After his defense, a celebratory dinner with the lab group was inevitable. Time is a slaughterhouse knife, and a degree is a razor. Liu Zhe lamented that after finishing his PhD, his hairline had receded significantly. But the lab was a fortress of iron while the people were like flowing water—the old leaving and the new arriving. It sounded a bit sentimental, but it was an unchanging law.
As the eldest senior headed toward a bright future, it also meant that Xia Yinuo suddenly became the "Eldest Senior Sister" among Professor Tang Shuliang’s dozen or so students. Liu Zhe teased, "The fresh little junior sister of back then has now become the Eldest Senior Sister. Will you eventually evolve into Abbotess Miejue?"
Ke Dinghao immediately spoke up for his own senior sister, debunking the myths about female PhDs. "Why does society have so much prejudice against female PhDs?! My senior and junior sisters are all lovely enough to make flowers bloom and tires burst at the sight of them. Where does this 'third gender' talk come from? Those who keep saying women don't need to study much and only need to care for husband and children are the truly ignorant and foolish ones. It’s because their deep-seated chauvinism won't allow their self-esteem to be bruised. As a good man of the new century, I just want to say: female PhDs, please contact me!"
The crowd laughed and asked, "Since you love female PhDs so much, does your Diandian know?"
That summer, Zhang Jikang also graduated and began wearing shirts and trousers to work at a company. Mai Shining’s photography studio was located in the west of the city, about a half-hour drive from C University, and she had been busy with renovations lately. The three doctors of the Li family remained busy every day, contributing to the medical cause. Xia Yiyan’s kindergarten was on summer break; the young boy was bored out of his mind at home, making a racket all day, so he was sent to a drawing class.
If Ma Xiaojun’s story was about the summer of that era—hormones mixed with sweat, flying and throbbing—then our story was about the summer campus, a place of reunions and partings, of beginnings and ends. And in these sunny days of memory, the thing that never fades is the sound of cicadas outside the window.
Midsummer had finally arrived.
Liang Juejun asked Xia Yinuo if she was free over the weekend to fulfill the promise of a meal. Xia Yinuo said Xiao Yan was in a tutoring class and probably couldn't come. *Dear brother, your sister is abandoning you just this once; you’ll forgive her, right?* To Xia Yinuo’s surprise, Liang Juejun said she would cook personally, which left her delighted. The time was set for Saturday evening. After some thought, Xia Yinuo visited a flower shop.
Following the house number Liang Juejun had given her, Xia Yinuo rang the doorbell of the Liang residence. When Liang Juejun opened the door, she saw Xia Yinuo holding a small cardboard box.
Xia Yinuo smiled radiantly. "Senior."
Liang Juejun said, "You're here. Come on in."
Xia Yinuo said, "Here, a housewarming gift."
"What is it?"
"Potted plants. A ball cactus and a Bear’s Paw. They block radiation, absorb formaldehyde, have a 'lazy person' care mode—essential for home and travel."
Liang Juejun took the box. Seeing the fleshy Bear’s Paw and the little hedgehog-like cactus, she couldn't help but smile. "Essential indeed. Thank you!"
Xia Yinuo let out a breath and fanned herself with her hand. "It’s really hot outside."
"Hurry inside then," Liang Juejun handed Xia Yinuo a pair of slippers. "Would you like a cold drink first?"
"No thanks. What delicious things are you planning to make tonight?" Xia Yinuo asked while changing her shoes.
"I only know how to make simple things. I hope you don't mind."
"How could I mind?"
She took a look around Liang Juejun’s little nest. It was a two-bedroom apartment, about seventy or eighty square meters, clean and tidy, with almost no superfluous items. But since it was her first time at someone’s home, she felt embarrassed to look around too blatantly.
Liang Juejun said, "Sit anywhere. I live alone, so things are quite simple."
"The sparrow is small but has all its vital organs," Xia Yinuo pointed to the plants and asked, "Where should I put these?"
"The study will do."
Liang Juejun led Xia Yinuo into the study. As soon as the door opened, she saw a large desk with a desktop computer and a laptop. Next to them were a printer and a paper shredder, with some papers and pens scattered about. The floor-to-ceiling bookshelf didn't have much on it—mostly textbooks and folders. Beside the bookshelf was a treadmill.
"I'll put them here then." Xia Yinuo pointed to the study's windowsill.
"Alright."
Returning to the living room, Liang Juejun said, "I don't know how to make many things. I'll make a salad, pasta for the main course, and dessert is an apple pie I bought outside. I don't know if you'll like it."
"Anything is fine. I eat everything."
"Oh? Why do I remember hearing from Grandma that you're a picky eater?"
"No way! That’s absolute slander. If it flies in the sky, runs on the ground, or swims in the water, I can eat it."
"Then what exactly do you *not* eat?"
"Um... carrots, cilantro, celery, organ meats... that’s about it."
"And you call that *not* being a picky eater?"
"Everyone has to have a few small preferences..."
Liang Juejun slipped into the kitchen, telling Xia Yinuo to wait obediently in the living room and watch TV.
The apartment belonged to the university. Liang Juejun had a three-year contract as a specially appointed researcher at C University; her future after those three years was undecided, so she hadn't put much effort into the apartment. Xia Yinuo scrutinized the living room. Aside from being clean and tidy, it was... just clean and tidy. It felt somewhat like a hotel room.
Liang Juejun finished everything in the kitchen within half an hour and was ready to start the meal. Unexpectedly, just as they sat down, the doorbell rang. Xia Yinuo and Liang Juejun locked eyes. Clearly, Liang Juejun was also surprised that someone would come looking for her at this hour. She got up to open the door.
"Surprise!"
*Ah, the reason an interloper is called an interloper...* Xia Yinuo facepalmed.
May stood outside the door, speaking excitedly to Liang J
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Cicada's Summer GL | Chapter 28 | Sunny Days of Summer | Novela.app | Novela.app
