Chapter Seventeen: Feelings Like a Wax Apple

  After the sports meeting, it's the May Day holiday. Xia Meng plans to spend the first day of the holiday at home reading books and reviewing her lessons, finishing the homework assigned by her teacher, and then planning where to go for fun on the next two days.

  Xia Meng didn't study hard when she was young, most of her time was spent playing, extracurricular activities and hobbies, but her academic performance has always been among the best. Perhaps those classmates who studied hard would think that she is a legendary genius, but in fact, she knows that she is absolutely not that kind of self-taught genius, it's just that her acceptance ability, concentration and memory are stronger than others.

  She has been very clear since childhood that learning is the primary task as a student, and only after completing the primary task can she have the right to enjoy other things. Moreover, her playmates and friends around her are almost all good classmates who love learning.

  "People who are incompatible will not get along, while those who are compatible will click immediately." Summer's father knew this well and had always kept a close eye on her friendships. Before high school, there was Li Han, who stuck to her like a ghost and whom she couldn't shake off no matter what. His academic performance was poor, and he was sloppy in his daily life. It was impossible for Summer, who pursued perfection and was as proud as a princess, to have a deep relationship with him.

  It was already late in the evening, Xia Meng took off her glasses and finally completed all her study plans. Only then did she realize that she hadn't eaten anything all day, her stomach growling with hunger.

  Chen Yumeng called Xia Meng and said that they would go to the countryside together to pick bayberries tomorrow, and asked Xia Meng to invite Li Han, Zhang Li and Sun Biao.

  Xia Meng hung up Chen Yu Meng's phone and was about to call Zhang Li, when the phone rang, it was Zhang Li calling. He asked if she had any plans for the holiday, Xia Meng asked him if he could go to the countryside with her tomorrow to pick bayberries. "Pick? Okay!" Zhang Li readily agreed.

  Xia Meng sent a text message to Sun Biao and Li Han separately. Sun Biao quickly replied, saying there was no problem, but Li Han delayed responding.

  Xia Meng waited for a while, then called Li Han. The phone connected, but no one answered. Xia Meng knew that Chen Yu Meng had gone to great lengths just to have the opportunity to be with Li Han.

  She continued to make countless calls, but still no one answered. Xia Meng was so hungry that she felt tired of walking, and suddenly a fire burst out in her heart. She wanted to vent it out, "If you don't answer the phone, see how I'll deal with you!" Xia Meng said through gritted teeth into the phone. At this moment, the doorbell rang, Xia Meng opened the door and saw Li Han standing outside.

  "I brought you some food!" Li Han squeezed in sideways, "Braised pork, eggplant with garlic sauce, cola chicken wings and milk fragrance buns."

  Starving Xia Meng had already forgotten all the unpleasant things, opened the lunchbox and pulled Li Han to the dinner table together, gobbling down food. After eating his fill, Xia Meng suddenly remembered: "Why didn't you answer the phone?"

  "When I went out, I was in too much of a hurry and forgot to bring it from home!" Li Han wiped his mouth, "What's up? Is Chen Yumeng going to ask you to invite me somewhere again?" Li Han knew that Xia Meng calling him on her own initiative must be for the purpose of completing the "task" assigned by Chen Yumeng.

  "Yeah, let's go pick bayberries together tomorrow! Wang Qi, Zhang Li and Sun Biao are coming too!" Xia Meng said.

  Li Han fell silent for a moment before speaking: "That... Chen Yu Meng is indeed quite cute, but..."

  "Isn't she lovely? If I were a man, I would like her too!" Xia Meng said with a smile, her eyebrows and eyes curved in a way that made Li Han want to touch. Li Han's love for Xia Meng was very specific: he loved her eyes, which were as clear as those of a seven-year-old child, yet mysterious and made him feel uneasy; he loved her lips, the subtle and sensitive lines of which made him want to kiss them; he loved her eyebrows and eyes, which curved into a smile that made him want to reach out and caress.

  Such thoughts made him feel a little embarrassed, but he couldn't help it, he really did. Xia Meng had a kind of vigor on her body, full of vitality, surging upwards, attracting people, making them want to get close to her, and admire her. Li Han was infatuated with the kind of: liveliness on Xia Meng's body. Maybe she wasn't a standard beauty, but she had such a unique temperament that made people unforgettable at first sight.

  "Are you going or not?" Xia Meng kicked Li Han's foot.

  "Your order, dare I disobey?!" Li Han glanced at her sideways, "Zhang Li is someone you insisted on inviting, isn't he?"

  "What's wrong with that? I like him!" Xia Meng didn't need to evade.

  Li Han's face sank as he asked: "What exactly do you like about Zhang Li?"

  "I like everything about him! You don't understand!" Xia Meng pushed Li Han, "You go now, it's too late, I need to rest. Remember to gather at the school gate at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning!"

  Li Han was pushed out of the door by Xia Meng, feeling frustrated and said, "If it were in ancient times, girls would have to listen to their parents' orders and matchmakers' words. I would have proposed early on and directly brought you into our family, saving so much trouble!"

  The next morning, everyone gathered at the school gate and prepared to take a large bus directly to Wang Qi's grandmother's house in the countryside to pick bayberries.

  "In May, the yangmei is already full in the forest, at first I suspected it was worth a thousand pieces of gold. The flavor surpasses the grapes from the riverbank, the color is deeper than the lychee from Lushan." This is a poem "Yangmei" by Song Dynasty poet Ping Kezheng. It's now the season when yangmei has just come onto the market.

  The Yangmei forest of Wang Qi's grandma's home is just behind the mountain not far from her home. From Grandma's house, turn into the long and winding mountain road, follow a small stream to the top of the mountain, about one or two miles away.

  Although the sky is drizzling, the fragrance of ripe waxberries wafts through the air, making people's mouths water and their hearts itch with longing. They can't help but want to rush into the waxberry forest and eat their fill.

  At this time, Xia Meng and the others finally felt the feeling of quenching their thirst by looking at plums. However, they didn't need to "look" anymore, as Li Han easily picked a plum from the roadside Chinese plum tree and directly threw it into his mouth without caring about its quality.

  "How's the taste?" Chen Yu Meng asked.

  "Wow!" Li Han narrowed his eyes and smacked his lips, saying: "Sour with a hint of sweetness, the flavor is extremely beautiful!"

  Grandma Wang saw them coming from afar and smiled as she took a few small baskets from under the tree and handed them to Xia Meng, who was secretly comparing which Yangmei tree had bigger grains while pretending to be reserved. As soon as Grandma turned around and walked away, Xia Meng and her friends scattered into the forest like birds and beasts.

  Xia Meng carried a basket, climbed up the biggest tree with a rustling sound, and climbed to the top of the tree. Zhang Li was under the tree, looking up at Xia Meng who was like a monkey, picking the plumpest bayberries.

  "Summer, I didn't think you'd still be climbing trees!" Zhang Li said with a smile, "Even more surprising, you can climb so high!"

  "Next, I'll throw down the most delicious bayberry for you!" Xia Meng said mischievously from the tree and intentionally threw a bayberry onto Zhang Li's head.

  "Look! A ripe Chinese bayberry has fallen from the sky!" Zhang Li exclaimed happily.

  Before long, Xia Meng picked a full basket of fruit from the tree and her belly was already filled with yangmei as she tasted them while picking. She saw Li Han making rustling sounds on the big tree beside her, and upon closer inspection, he was eating enthusiastically on the tree.

  Xia Meng picked a Chinese bayberry and aimed at Li Han's head. Li Han turned around, "Little guy, preparing to launch a sneak attack!" Xia Meng was hit on the forehead by a Chinese bayberry thrown by Li Han. Xia Meng looked at the heavily laden Chinese bayberry tree and suddenly had an idea, "Hey, has anyone seen Chinese bayberry flowers? Do Chinese bayberries bloom? Are they red or white?"

  Li Han deliberately put on a mysterious face and said in a hushed tone, "Yangmei flowers bloom at midnight when no one is looking, just like evening primroses, they wither as soon as they open. Girls must not see them, or they will immediately become dark and ugly!"

  Of course, Xia Meng knew it was nonsense. Zhang Li spoke under the tree: "However, I have heard of a legend like this: In the past, there was a woman who was extremely skilled with her hands and could embroider any flower, making them look lifelike and beautiful. But she couldn't embroider plum blossoms, which filled her heart with deep regret. To embroider plum blossoms, she would guard the plum tree every night. Finally, on a quiet night, the plum blossoms bloomed, very beautifully. The woman was overjoyed, finally able to embroider plum blossoms. But before she could even pick up her embroidery needle, she fell down beside the plum tree. Despite this, when she died, there was a satisfied and sweet smile on her face... It's said that plum blossoms bloom in the first month of the lunar calendar, with extremely small flowers that are hard to see. Moreover, they bloom at midnight and wilt by dawn, so even if you stay up all night to watch them, it's difficult to see their beauty.

  "Wow, Yangmei is still so mysterious!" Xia Meng was amazed, "Zhang Li, you really know a lot of things!"

  Zhang Li smiled and continued, "When I was a kid eating bayberries, my grandma would always tell me to swallow the seeds too, saying that this way of eating wouldn't cause internal heat. Of course, I didn't understand if there was any scientific basis for it, but later when I looked up information, I found out that it wasn't entirely unreasonable. Bayberry fruit, kernel, root, and skin can all be used as medicine. Especially in the summer, drinking a glass of iced bayberry tea makes you feel refreshed and cool, dispelling the heat and relieving greasiness. Sometimes when you have heatstroke, stomach pain, and diarrhea, drinking a bowl of sour bayberry soup can stop the symptoms."