I Deserve A Second Chance - Chapter 275

“So, how was Singapore?”

Shao Yan clasped the phone in between her cheek and shoulder, both of her hands were twisting open a bottle of sunscreen lotion. She placed the cap next to her knee and squeezed a small amount of the lotion onto her palm.

“I love it here!” She rubbed both of her palm together and then slathered the lotion on both of her upper arms, “I have explored the island for about a week now. We went to the Ubin island, this small island next to Singapore and Xiqing and I just rented a bicycle and circled around the island the whole day.”

“Wow! How exciting!” Qi Ling added, “And have you found out what’s the plan for tomorrow?”

Shao Yan rubbed her palm to other areas of her skin to clear the lotion on her hand, “Tomorrow? What will happen tomorrow?”

Qi Ling paused and stayed silent on the phone.

“Girl!!”

She exclaimed, “It’s your birthday!”

Shao Yan blinked as she tried to remember the date in her mind. She bit the inner of her cheek, thinking.

“Oh!”

“Wow! Has it always been a wild night this whole week, Yan Yan?” Shao Yan could hear Qi Ling was sneering at the other end.

Shao Yan chuckled. Her order of fresh squeezed orange juice had just arrived. She thanked the waiter before lounging back on the pool chaise lounge. The sun was shining very bright today. It was more humid than the days before, so Shao yan decided to laze around in the hotel.

“We talked about this. He has to work the whole week, so we will only celebrate on Friday, and then I’m flying back on the Sunday.”

Qi Ling clicked her tongue unhappily, “Lame!”

“So what is the plan for today then?” She continued to ask lazily.

Shao Yan was amused that her best friend was annoyed at her boring days, but yet curious at the same time. “We are going to the Lantern festival tonight.”

———-

When Shao Yan stepped out of the subway station, the whole Chinatown area was already crowded with people.

She glanced at her wristwatch and noticed that she had arrived much earlier than what was planned. She glanced up and started to look for an empty spot to stand near the exit so he could easily find her.

People walked past her, families with children or just a couple, everyone was carrying paper lanterns in their hands.

She scanned her surroundings and realized that all the shop houses along the street were selling the lanterns.

Colorful paper lanterns were hung outside the shops in different colors and shapes. For safety purposes, the biodegradable lanterns were sold with LED lights and some were not.

All of a sudden, another voice was heard from next to her, “What are you looking at?”

Shao Yan reflexively looked over to the side, and her cheek bumped into his immediately.

He was grinning while looking at her, “Have you been waiting long?”

Shao Yan beamed at his smile, “Not at all, I was ready to wait for you,” she raised her fingers and pointed at the colorful lanterns, “But they were distracting me.”

Li Xiqing patted her head, “Sure, you were.” His hand grabbed into hers, “Let’s go. It will get more crowded soon.”

Shao Yan nodded, and together they started to walk deeper into the alley shops.

———-

“Have you been to a lantern festival before?”

“Many years ago when Dad was still alive. He brought Mom and I along with him on his business trip one time”

“My lunar calendar birthday has always been easy to remember, because of the lantern festival, that was why we always celebrated it that way. And so for my birthday that time, he got me a bunny lantern.”

She raised her hand, and pointed at one lantern that was squeezed in among the other lanterns around it, “Just like that one.”

Li Xiqing also followed her fingers and saw the figure that she was pointing at.

He pulled her hand along, and walked towards the shop. He pointed at the rabbit that Shao Yan showed him earlier and said to the store manager, “Mam, that bunny lantern, please.”

When the store manager handed over the lantern to him, Li Xiqing passed it over to Shao Yan, “Here, hold this for me,” before he took out his wallet to pay.

Shao Yan looked at the lantern in her hands, and then looked at the man beside her.

Why did she feel as if she had traveled back in time, to those carefree moments when she was younger.

She could do whatever she wanted to do, say whatever she wanted to say, and she knew the man would stay loyally next to her no matter what.

When Li Xiqing looked at her again, Shao Yan flashed a silly grin at him, “Well, since you got me a present, let me buy you one, too!”

He grabbed her hand again and stepped out of the shop, “Sure, what do you want to buy?”

“A lantern,” She glanced to the side, “Since my Chinese animal horoscope is rabbit, yours must be a piglet?”

She looked around them, and dragged him to another shop at the end of the street.

———-

“Madam boss, please give me that pink piglet lantern,” Shao Yan pointed at a lone pig lantern that was hanging loose on the ceiling.

“Aye! Coming!” The cheerful store owner quickly walked over to pick up the pig lantern for her.

Shao Yan cheekily smiled at him, both of her hands were hugging the rabbit lantern in front of her.

“Here is your piglet lantern, Miss,” The store owner handed her the colorful pinkish lantern in the shape of a pig.

Shao Yan pointed her chin at Li Xiqing, “It’s his,” and then her hand handed over a paper money, “Here you go, Madam! Thank you.”

When they stepped out of the shops again, Shao Yan saw Li Xiqing was looking a little awkward while holding the cutesy lantern in his hands.

Shao Yan curled her lips and bit them to avoid her laughing out loud.

“Now that we are a couple, our lanterns are also a couple, we should start the celebration then?”

“Yes, yes, our lanterns are now a couple,” Li Xiqing chuckled along with her teasing, “Let’s watch the celebration now.”

They decided to walk further into the market towards the main street.

For the sake of the lantern festival, the whole Chinatown main street was closed for traffic.

Shao Yan was wondering why, but when she exited the alley towards the main street, she finally knew why.

Huge, intricate lanterns in many shapes and colorful lights were hung along the streets. Stretching from one end to another end, the streets were splashed in many rainbows of sparkles that lit up the night.

The strains of lights were dragged zig zagging along the street poles. The tiny light from the lanterns were all over them with many different themes.

One side was flowers. Lanterns with shapes of different flowers were hung along the shops’ ceiling. Another side was the Chinese twelve zodiac. They found one alley with Japanese theme lanterns, and another alley was of Korean themes.

The sea of people that was suffocating her just now was quickly forgotten when all these bright twinkling lanterns were decorating the night sky above them.