Chapter 56 Miss Linden Tree Under the Stars and the Most Beautiful Star...

In a small red brick building in the northern part of Charles, Liang Siyu chose the window seat as usual.

Sitting down, you can see the ginkgo tree in the courtyard, its edges already tinged with a beautiful gold, while the center of its canopy remains green.

He stared blankly for a moment, then took out his notebook and continued drawing the brain partition map he had only half-finished last time.

This mechanical recollection allows him to briefly let go of his anxiety and quietly pass the next fifty minutes.

After several treatments, Ada "felt great" and he gradually felt relieved.

But the time a week ago was not a pleasant memory. When she came out, she moved slowly, like an exhausted seagull with its feathers wet from the wind and waves.

She was distracted when she got on the bus and almost bumped her head. She kept twisting her fingers and applying hand cream the whole way. Before entering the treatment room, she looked back at him twice.

His mind was filled with that look, and it felt like a blender was churning inside him. By the time he came to his senses, the brain map he had drawn was a complete mess.

He got up, took a walk around the courtyard, and came back in. Since he couldn't draw the brain region diagram, he simply started drawing the most tedious hatching. The basics that he was too lazy to practice back then have now become a little comfort.

The door opened, and he immediately looked up. It was a teenager, not her.

However, after checking the time, he simply put away his stationery.

Less than ten minutes later, through the glass in the door, he saw that familiar figure in the corridor.

He grabbed her trench coat from the back of the chair, pushed open the door, and strode out to meet her.

She walked slower than usual, as if her shoes didn't fit properly, but when she saw him, she slightly raised her right hand.

He immediately took her hand and helped her put her coat on.

"How about we go to the coffee shop next door for a hot drink?" He touched her hand; it was a little cold.

She shook her head, and after a two-second delay, she said, "No, let's go home."

As we neared home, she suddenly said, "Ned, how about we go sit in the park for a while? The sun is shining so brightly today."

After parking their car, they took a walk in a small park on nearby St. Paul's Road.

Although not as vibrant as the ginkgo trees, the linden trees were tinged with brownish-yellow. After circling around, as they were nearing home, she suddenly stopped, leaned against his arm, half-closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and felt the warmth of the afternoon sun.

After keeping her company while she stood quietly as punishment for a while, a strange thought popped into Liang Siyu's head: "Are you photosynthesizing, sweetie?"

"Shh, don't let the other trees find out I can talk. You have to pretend I'm an ordinary linden tree."

She opened her eyes, shook his arm, and started talking nonsense with a straight face.

“Yes, Miss Linden,” he replied with a smile.

However, looking at the tall linden trees on both sides, he couldn't help but pat her head: "However, judging from your height, you probably don't fit in very well with the group."

Xu Aida's eyes widened instantly, and he nudged him with his elbow.

How can someone be so annoying and discriminate against others based on their height!

Is being tall something to be proud of? He's not even as tall as a tree!

“If you like looking at autumn trees, how about we go to Shenandoah to see the fall foliage next weekend during fall break?” He put his arm around her and led her home.

“I don’t like trees at all, I only like shrubs now! Shrubs!” Xu Aida retorted.

“Miss Linden, I was wrong.” He tried his best to suppress a laugh. “Please forgive this foolish human. But why let it cause us to miss the most beautiful season?”

This guy's really putting on a show, acting all high and mighty, even mimicking a British accent. Hmph, he's definitely the kind of guy who became an actor later on.

She glanced at him and said, "Alright, go ahead, for the sake of Qiu Jing."

He continued, "You are a very intelligent lady; you have made a wise decision."

She couldn't take it anymore and punched him: "Speak properly to me."

He suddenly seemed to notice something: "Ada, clench your fist again, let me see?"

She clenched her fist in confusion. What's wrong? Is something amiss?

He reached out and cupped her small fist: "Your hands are so small."

She struggled a couple of times, but couldn't free her hand. She really wanted to punch him a few more times.

Less than fifteen minutes from the town of Washington, near Shenandoah National Park, Liang Siyu woke up the girl who was taking a nap in the passenger seat.

"Ada, Ada, we're almost there."

When Xu Aida woke up, he was a little groggy. Under the deep blue night sky, the winding country road was narrow and quiet, and the blue ridges on both sides looked like sleeping black beasts.

She felt a slight tightness in her chest and her breath hitched, so she opened the window a crack.

A rush of crisp, earthy air filled the room. She shivered and quickly closed the window, but by then she was fully awake.

He sighed, "Hurry up and have some hot tea, don't get cold."

She opened the thermos and slowly drank the jujube tea. The sweet taste gradually seeped into her, dispelling the slight fear she had felt earlier.

Sigh, she used to hike a lot when she was young, but only during the day; the mountains and forests at night are indeed a bit scary.

She finished the cup of jujube tea: "Ned, you're so kind, this jujube tea is wonderful."

A couple of days ago she casually mentioned wanting to drink jujube tea, so he specially brewed it today and took it with him on the way.

Soon, they saw vast farmlands. He turned a corner and saw a few scattered cottages among the grass.

They stopped near a small cabin, where a valet dressed in a plaid suit smiled at them.

As she got out of the car, she instinctively wrapped her trench coat tighter around herself, and the next second, a thick cashmere shawl was draped over her shoulders.

Her breath turned into a small puff of white mist: "It's so cold here."

“It is indeed a bit cold in the mountains at night.” He put his arm around her, blocking out a bit of the cold wind from the side.

The waiter, carrying an antique-style lamp, led the way from three or four steps ahead.

Opening the low fence, a lovely little red wooden house stands in the middle of the lawn, surrounded by fir, pine, and rowan trees behind it, and dotted with round shrubs in front. It's absolutely adorable.

He put his arm around her shoulder and led her into the house, where the living room was also decorated in a soft and elegant country style.

The staff gently placed the luggage at the door and quietly confirmed the dinner time with Liang Siyu.

Xu Aida was drawn to the cottage, with a fire burning in the stone fireplace, emitting the scent of pine, reminiscent of the English countryside in Austen's novels.

She paused for a moment in front of the fireplace, then happily continued inside.

In the center of the bedroom was a huge four-poster bed, draped with a cream-colored canopy embroidered with flowers and bees.

The bed was decorated with light green cushions and a pale yellow blanket, making everything feel vibrant.

The deep green Persian carpet underfoot was intricately patterned and as soft as the lawn in front of the door.

She looked around; the wallpaper, wall lamps, sofa, small desk, and floral arrangements were all in the English country style.

He kept it a secret so well. Of course, they had vacationed in many beautiful places in their past lives, but this natural retro style could still captivate the hearts of many young girls.

“Ned,” she turned to look at him, “I thought we were just here to see the autumn leaves, I never imagined we’d traveled back to the Regency period.”

Liang Siyu came in with a smile, turned off the bedroom light, took her hand, and walked straight to the glass door on the side.

"Come on, Ada, you didn't even look up, so you haven't noticed the most beautiful spot here yet."

She looked up blankly, like a little wooden puppet.

Far from the city's light pollution, the night sky unfolds like soft velvet, revealing itself without reservation. Countless stars, like diamonds scattered on velvet, are deep and dazzling.

It's already autumn, but you can still see the faint band of light of the Milky Way.

She held her breath. The last time she saw such a beautiful starry sky was on the Big Island of Hawaii, wasn't it?

That trip was also specially planned by him to celebrate our second wedding anniversary.

The Milky Way and starry sky in my memory gradually merged with the shimmering light before my eyes.

“This is so beautiful.” She couldn’t describe how she felt, she just took a deep breath.

The coolness of autumn, the soil beneath her feet, the smoke from the firewood in the house, and even the distant sounds of insects and birds all flowed through her body.

He looked down into her pupils, utterly focused: "Yes, very beautiful."

He saw an even more beautiful starry sky in her eyes.

They embraced quietly until she shivered again.

He carried her back into the house, back to the fireplace in the living room, to the soft, comfortable chaise lounge.

He helped her hang up her coat, and looking at the room's decor and her white knitted dress, a sudden idea struck him.

"Miss, after dinner, once you've rested, may I invite you to dance the first dance of the evening?"

She continued along this line of dialogue, but instead opened with a contradictory statement: "Excuse me, sir, I don't like balls."

He smiled and played along, saying, "It's quite unusual for a young and beautiful lady like you not to like balls. I thought everyone, whether in the city or the countryside, enjoyed dancing."

She almost lost her composure, but suppressed a laugh and said in a haughty and arrogant tone, "Not only civilized people can dance, but barbarians can too."

He didn't say anything, but simply took her hand and gently pressed his lips to the back of her hand in a very polite hand kiss.

She felt a warmth spreading from her fingertips to her heart.

His gaze deepened, and he slowly said, "It seems I have no choice but to become a savage."

A real, unavoidable kiss.

She felt warm and cozy in the fireplace, but her body trembled slightly from the kiss.

The only sounds in the room were their breathing and the clanging of firewood burning.

Just as she was about to become completely absorbed in it, "knock knock"—there was a sudden knock on the door.

"It's dinner." He released her, and in the firelight, her face was incredibly beautiful.

She nodded calmly, but as he went to open the door, she rushed into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her cheeks.

They ate dinner at a small round table by the fireplace. It was a simple French meal, with appropriate portions. The main course included a rare and very tender rabbit dish, and the dessert was also quite good.

"I'm starting to look forward to tomorrow night." Xu Aida sipped the last of her tea, smiling sweetly.

He said he had booked the hotel's main restaurant, a Michelin three-star restaurant, for tomorrow night.

Liang Siyu was putting a piece of firewood into the fireplace. He watched as the pine wood slowly caught fire, then turned around, grabbed the back of her chair, and looked down at her.

"But I'm more looking forward to tonight's private dance. After all, you still owe me a dance."

She glanced at him sideways and said, "It's settled then, just one."

She didn't want to miss seeing the autumn leaves tomorrow. Although she hadn't been in good physical condition lately, she was sure she could manage a simple hike of two or three hours.

He leaned down and placed his hand on her elbow: "Of course."

He had already planned the driving route for tomorrow afternoon and downloaded the offline maps—there are many areas without internet access inside Xanadu Park.

Xu Aida didn't wake up until almost noon. She stared at the floral embroidery on the bed curtains, feeling slightly annoyed.

The gentleman did keep his promise, but the dance was long and the steps were complicated, which was really exhausting.

He helped her get out of bed, gently saying he had prepared hot water. She was so angry she wanted to hit him again: "We promised to go see the red leaves early. It's all your fault!"

He patted her back: "We'll drive in and take a look today, and we'll go hiking tomorrow. We'll have enough time, don't worry."

"I don't believe you!" She pushed him, her voice rising slightly. "You just keep putting it off from today to tomorrow, and from tomorrow to the day after!"

It was like that in their past life. They went on vacation, and he would say all he wanted, but the next day he had no self-control and couldn't go on at least half of the planned trip.

"Babe, is my reputation score this low now?"

He felt he had been quite restrained lately. A while ago, she took advantage of her illness to deliberately tease him, and he could only endure it.

She paused slightly, realizing that he had never been so reckless in his life.

But she wouldn't admit it. She tilted her head back and said, "Hmm, reflect on yourself. You really went too far, you barbarian."

Oh no, looking at her vivid expression and spoiled tone, he actually wanted to be a barbarian again.

Liang Siyu took a deep breath, took two steps back, almost as if he was fleeing in panic: "Get up, lunch will be here soon. Be careful while you take a bath, I'll wait for you outside."

The autumn sky is an unreal blue, a mix of old green and new red, cool emerald and warm yellow, as if nature has splashed paint boldly across the hills.

They drove north along the skyline highway, as if they had plunged into a painting.

They got off at several viewpoints, stopped briefly, and took photos while enjoying the breeze.

Liang Siyu pointed to a hiking route on the map: "We'll take this route tomorrow afternoon. It'll take less than an hour to reach the top of the mountain, and it won't be too tiring."

Xu Aida carefully looked at the other routes. Although there was one river tracing route she wanted to check out, the slope was too steep, and she was afraid she couldn't manage it now, so she could only nod in agreement.

They returned early in the evening, and dinner lived up to its reputation, full of pleasant surprises.

Liang Siyu is scheduled to have primate surgery at the end of the month, so he naturally cannot drink alcohol.

But such a wonderful trip shouldn't be ruined; she had to be allowed to have a drink. Xu Aida sipped her red wine and smiled smugly at him.

Unfortunately, when she woke up the next day, her happiness turned into annoyance—she hadn't been wrong about him at all yesterday.

Since they couldn't go hiking, he hugged her and promised guiltily, "Wasn't that the canyoning route you wanted to go to the most? We'll come back next fall and go straight for that route."

Nonsense, next fall? Who knows where he'll go?

She slumped onto the pillow in anger, and he placed his hands on her back: "Come on, let me massage you, okay?"

She gave a soft "hmm," the last syllable of her voice carrying a hint of the sweetness of sparkling wine.

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Author's note: [Note] The ballroom dialogue pays homage to "Pride and Prejudice," which perfectly matches the room's decor; everyone should be able to tell.