"Come to think of it," Xia Sanghuan said, holding a bunch of sunflowers that Leng Chuanjin had just bought for her.
"I haven't even got my visa yet.
"How could I enter the country directly?"
She looked up, squinting at the scorching sun overhead.
It was so hot.
She should have worn a short - sleeved top.
"Do you think you need to worry about such things with me around?" the man glanced back at her.
"Not to mention a visa. Even if you want a green card for this country now, I can get it for you."
"That's not necessary," the girl adjusted the two bracelets that had tangled around her wrist.
"I'm quite comfortable in Yuntan."
It wasn't that Leng Chuanjin was unwilling to help her. It was just that he was carrying all kinds of things, useful and useless, in his hands, all bought for her.
"There's an ice - cream truck up ahead," he said.
"Do you want some?"
Before the girl could answer, the man had already walked up to the ice - cream truck.
Xia Sanghuan sighed. This wasn't the first time he had bought things for her on this street.
"Wait for me!" she shouted his name and followed.
"One nut chocolate and one vanilla cookie ice - cream, please," he said to the vendor of the ice - cream truck.
The vendor was a friendly uncle with almost no hair on his head but a thick, bushy beard. The beard was reddish - brown, making people feel a wave of heat just looking at him in this weather.
"Sure thing," the uncle said and quickly started making the ice - creams. While waiting for the machine to grind the cookies, he glanced at Xia Sanghuan who had just walked over.
"Beautiful miss, what would you like?"
"I..."
"We're together," the man interrupted her.
"She's my girlfriend."
The uncle showed an expression of sudden realization and then laughed heartily.
"My wife was as beautiful as your girlfriend when she was young.
"She's the most beautiful woman in my eyes."
Looking at this somewhat unkempt uncle, Leng Chuanjin and Xia Sanghuan could hardly believe his words. Their doubt was dispelled when the uncle's wife came to bring him lunch. They found that the uncle's words were indeed hard to believe.
The uncle's wife had curly flaxen hair, and her face was a bit tanned. Maybe because she was middle - aged, she was a bit plump. But this didn't stop her bright smile, a smile that showed her great satisfaction with her current life.
They greeted each other like ordinary couples, asking how the other had spent the morning, and then the uncle's wife left. Before leaving, she happily complimented Xia Sanghuan and Leng Chuanjin on being such a well - matched couple.
Watching the woman's disappearing back, the girl couldn't help sighing.
"People in this country are as enthusiastic as the sun."
It was no wonder since this country was close to the equator.
"Here are your ice - creams, folks," the uncle handed over the ice - creams.
To make it easier for them to carry, the uncle put the ice - creams on a simple stand.
While the man was still sorting out the things in his hands, the girl took the ice - creams.
"Thank you."
"Let's find a place to sit down," she said after saying goodbye to the uncle. She looked around.
"There's a bench over there."
Leng Chuanjin was probably tired from shopping. He nodded in agreement.
They walked over and sat on the bench, both letting out a long breath.
"Which one do you want?" the girl took the vanilla cookie ice - cream off the stand.
"I'll have this one," the man tilted his head and licked the top of the ice - cream.
Seeing the face that suddenly got close, the girl instinctively leaned back, but he grabbed her wrist.
"It's quite delicious," he said with a smile.
"Then you can have this one," she held the ice - cream out to him.
"Don't you want this flavor?"
"How can I eat it after you've licked it?" the girl looked a bit frustrated.
"Why not?" he gave her a meaningful look.
"At this point, do we still need to care about such things?"
Sensing the implication in his words, she glared at him angrily. But thinking that they had been sleeping in each other's arms almost every day recently, she couldn't think of a retort. In the end, she just turned her head and started eating her ice - cream intently.
"Here," after she finished her ice - cream, he took out a handful of grains from his pocket.
"When did you buy these?" Xia Sanghuan widened her eyes slightly and took the grains.
"Just now when you were looking at the contract, I asked that old man for them," Leng Chuanjin said, waving to the old man sitting on the bench opposite, who was feeding the pigeons.
The old man greeted him warmly. After seeing the girl beside him, he showed her the pigeon standing on his palm, pecking at the grains.
The pure white pigeons' feathers seemed to shine under the sun.
Xia Sanghuan had a natural fondness for all things in nature. So when she saw this scene, her heart skipped a beat.
Seeing the sparkle in her eyes, Leng Chuanjin knew she was interested.
"Want to give it a try?"
The girl looked at him excitedly, biting her lip and nodding.
He wanted to take her to where there were the most pigeons, but before they got close, the pigeons fluttered away. A few even landed on the old man's shoulders. It seemed that the old man often came here to feed the pigeons.
"You can try putting the grains on the ground first," the old man shouted at them in his accented foreign language.
It was a bit difficult, but they understood.
The girl did as he said. She took out a small handful of grains and put them where the pigeons had just stood.
Sure enough, the pigeons that had flown away gradually started to take small steps back.
Xia Sanghuan squatted not far away, quietly watching the pigeons peck at the grains she had put down. Then she spread out her hands and waited for the pigeons to come.
Maybe it was her natural affinity for small animals that made the pigeons flock to her. When a gray - and - white pigeon walked onto her hand to peck at the grains, she excitedly looked at Leng Chuanjin.
The man looked at her indulgently but didn't move towards her for fear of disturbing her time with the pigeons.
After about ten minutes, there were several pigeons standing on the girl. When all the grains were eaten, the pigeons flew away.