Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 173 - 170: A Somewhat Silly Day

On February 2, 2012, Yan Yan arrived in Florence, the capital of Tuscany, Italy, on a slightly silly day.

Peretola International Airport in Florence, while called an international airport, actually has quite a small terminal, even smaller than many domestic airports in China.

Moreover, traveling from Melbourne to Florence requires at least two transfers, so it’s impossible for luggage to be checked through directly.

After much thought, Yan Yan decided that it didn’t make much of a difference whether she transferred in Rome and then took a train to Florence, so she ultimately chose to transfer twice: Melbourne—Hong Kong—Zurich—Florence.

It looks complicated, but in fact, it’s already the best option with the fewest transfers and the shortest duration.

This trip to Florence, Yan Yan brought four large suitcases; transferring them at the airport would definitely be easier than lugging them all on a train.

At that time, when Yan Ling said she would ask a friend to pick up Yan Yan upon arrival in Florence, Yan Yan thought it was a bit of an overkill, as taking a taxi couldn’t be that hard.

When Yan Yan set off from Melbourne, her parents and Bao Bao had seen her off at the airport, and she didn’t think much of it.

It was only when she had to transfer her luggage that Yan Yan realized how physically demanding it was to deal with four large suitcases alone.

This wasn’t Yan Yan’s first time traveling abroad alone, but Italy is not a country where English is particularly effective, and she didn’t know what situations she might encounter.

The safety of Melbourne is well acclaimed, but opinions on Italy vary.

Some say it’s quite good, while others say robberies are rampant everywhere.

Having never been to Italy before, Yan Yan didn’t know what the real situation was like.

Yan Ling said that a graduation gift should be a surprise, so to this day, he hasn’t given Yan Yan the exact address, not even a photo of what the inside of the house looks like.

Yan Yan was a bit worried at the moment. If Yan Ling had found her a place akin to a castle, something very stylish but without an elevator, she figured she would be completely baffled.

The first time Yan Yan went to Melbourne, all her luggage combined, she had only taken two suitcases.

This time, the excess baggage fee to Italy cost more than Yan Yan’s plane ticket.

Of the four suitcases Yan Yan brought, two were filled with shoe lasts and accessories she had made over the past two years in Melbourne and China, along with some design drafts.

Yan Yan was about to start her internship upon arrival in Florence, and although her portfolio had already been approved by the director, she had yet to showcase any of her actual handcrafted work.

Yan Yan had to not only present her works but also let the director see if there was anything that needed improvement.

In short, each of the four suitcases Yan Yan brought to Florence was indispensable.

Yan Yan stepped out of the airport and began looking for Yan Ling’s friend Allegro.

Facing the mountainous pile of luggage, Yan Yan eagerly hoped for a handsome guy, or at least a hunky guy, to take her to where she would be staying.

Yan Ling had given Yan Yan Allegro’s phone number, and Yan Yan planned to call Allegro as soon as she reached the exit.

At that moment, an enthusiast Italian girl with a stunning figure appeared in Yan Yan’s field of vision, waving at her.

Then, to Yan Yan’s great dismay, she discovered that Yan Ling’s friend Allegro turned out to be a girl.

It was bad enough that the person wasn’t a handsome guy, but she wasn’t even sturdy enough to help with the luggage.

At the time Yan Ling said he would find a friend to pick her up, Yan Yan had naturally assumed it would be a guy.

She had never bothered to ask Yan Ling about the gender of his friend.

Yan Yan was somewhat depressed; how could she have forgotten that her outstanding cousin, Yan Ling, had mainly female friends since childhood? It was such an obvious fact.

When Yan Ling was a child, his innermost genuine thought was probably something like this: Girls are for making friends, boys are for fighting.

When Yan Ling went to the United States, who knows how many girls in his class cried.

Allegro handed Yan Yan a key and a note, then asked if she wanted to be taken to the place she would be staying.

Fearful that her surprise might turn into a scare, Yan Yan promptly agreed; after all, two people were better than one, even if both were girls.

The two set off happily, but happiness only lasted for a brief two seconds.

After seeing Yan Yan’s four large suitcases, Allegro remarked that she had driven a sports car to pick up Yan Yan today, and no matter how she thought about it, it wouldn’t fit all four suitcases.

At this point, Yan Yan was somewhat on the verge of collapse.

The stylish and clearly tasteful Allegro, Yan Yan thought, should also have chosen a nice place for accommodation.

But beautiful women are usually the ones being picked up, and picking people up was clearly something Allegro lacked experience in.

What was the story behind driving a sports car to the airport to pick someone up?

Unless it was for a short business trip, even tourists would bring at least one or two large suitcases; how could a sports car accommodate them?

Although Allegro may not have had experience picking people up, she was a Wharton graduate and wasn’t short on problem-solving skills.

She quickly decided to find a larger taxi with Yan Yan, load the luggage into it, and have the taxi follow her sports car to Yan Yan’s place of residence.

This prevented Yan Yan’s meltdown from escalating further.

Yan Yan pushed her luggage a few steps forward when she heard a foreigner continually calling out "Wai-Wai," directing it at her.

For a moment, Yan Yan didn’t realize if the "Wai-Wai" was meant for her.

Yan Yan was somewhat face-blind; she didn’t remember having met a foreigner who knew her nickname, YY.

After a thorough mental search, she still came up empty.

Convinced she must have misheard, Yan Yan decided not to pay attention to the person.

Seeing no response, the foreigner walked straight up to Yan Yan and handed her a hot dog.

"Antonio?" Yan Yan finally had some inkling of who this hot dog enthusiast calling her Waiwai might be.

"Yep, that’s me." Antonio was Qi Yi’s roommate at Stanford, one of Qi Yi’s few close friends.

Yan Yan hadn’t expected to encounter the legendary hot dog enthusiast Antonio at the airport today.

Yan Yan had seen Antonio’s photos, but as someone always challenged with facial recognition, she thought most foreigners looked pretty similar.

Unless the person was very familiar, Yan Yan would have trouble recognizing someone right away.

Furthermore, Qi Yi hadn’t told her he would send his good friend to pick her up.

Qi Yi probably also wanted to surprise Yan Yan, but since he wasn’t the one coming in person, such a surprise was easily overlooked.