Tao Ling suddenly reacted, then turned to look out the window and continued somewhat absentmindedly: “The most prominent consciousness in Taoism is the consciousness of immortals, which is inherently tied to the consciousness of longevity. In fact, the two are inseparable. The desire for longevity is essentially Taoism’s view of and insight into life. The concept of longevity permeates Taoism from beginning to end, and it could be said that the consciousness of life runs through it all.
Perhaps what makes Taoism consistently inclusive is this consciousness of life. From another perspective, while absorbing folk beliefs, Taoism continually enriches its own consciousness of life. Under the influence of this consciousness of life, people seek the immortals of Taoism, ultimately for their current lives, as I mentioned earlier, the ultimate purpose of religion.”
After saying this, without waiting for Yun Nan to open her mouth, Tao Ling added, “What I’ve said may not necessarily be right, and it’s just a tiny perspective, even somewhat biased. Keep an open mind to explore while also grounding yourself and seeking evidence.”
Yun Nan opened her eyes wide, then asked another question: “But teacher, You use theories of foreign religious studies to explain Chinese religions, does it even work? And, is this similar to comparative studies? What’s the difference?”
After hearing this, Tao Ling chuckled, “You hit the nail on the head with that question…”
Right after he said those words, Kou Huai waved towards Tao Ling from the doorway of the meeting room. “Tao Ling! What are you doing?”
Yun Nan quickly bowed, “Apologies for interrupting, teacher.”
“It’s fine, let’s talk again when we have the chance.” Tao Ling replied, turning around and heading back into the conference room.
Over the last couple years, things have been tightly regulated. Although the post-conference dinners were canceled, the teachers who were familiar with each other still made plans to go out to eat together privately, without submitting expense reports.
Kou Huai, along with several teachers from S University, had their schedules arranged together. After a long day of meetings, Tao Ling felt utterly exhausted but couldn’t back out. In the end, he ended up taking them to a restaurant near the north gate for dinner.
During the meal, someone praised Tao Ling’s academic thinking, but he only responded politely. Kou Huai, answering for him, said, “My shidi isn’t very good at socializing, he’s reserved.”
One of the teachers sighed, “That’s normal. Weren’t we like that when we first came out of school?”
Tao Ling just smiled.
After finally dropping everyone off at the hotel next to the school, the day was almost coming to an end.
Tao Ling walked through the school. However, just as he was about to reach the administrative building, he suddenly took a detour along the soccer field, slowly walking along its perimeter.
One lap, two laps, three laps, four laps.
Just how many stars were there in the sky?
Since he just had a few drinks, he walked for a while, feeling the slight drowsiness from the alcohol enveloping him, along with a sense of “I will definitely sleep well tonight.”
Tao Ling was always deceived by such premonitions, but each time the drowsiness set in, he remained cautious, afraid that he would miss the chance to actually fall asleep.
So, he left the soccer field.
His watch now showed that it was ten thirty at night. With his hands in his pockets, he took a shortcut behind Tibetan research labs, where he spotted a couple cuddling in the pavilion along the way. Afraid of disturbing the two, he could only take another turn.
In the end, he walked along the main road he wanted to avoid.
As Tao Ling left the west gate, his mind was filled with thoughts of last week’s bouquet of bluebells1I swear the type of flowers keep changing every chapter. I’ve even went back and checked but it really is different…. And, unconsciously, he found himself in front of the flower store. The store hadn’t closed yet, though it was more accurate to say it hadn’t finished closing.
The flower stands outside were empty, but the lights inside were still on. The glass door was closed, but the roller shutter was only pulled down a third of the way. Tao Ling peered inside, seeing various plants and flowers laid out on the ground, but also that there was no one inside.
After standing there for a moment, he prepared to leave, but as he turned around, he suddenly fiercely collided into someone.
The sudden pain shot through his forehead. Tao Ling took a step back, and saw Wen Qingying standing in front of himself, holding his nose.
The collision just now had been quite intense, and with the light streaming from the shop, Tao Ling could see tears welling up in his eyes, making his starry gaze shine even brighter than before.
The two locked eyes for a few moments before Tao Ling let out a “pfft” and laughed.
Wen Qingying rubbed his nose and smiled back. He gestured for Tao Ling to come in, then went to the door, pushing up the shutters with a push from his hands.
As they entered the flower shop, Tao Ling saw that Wen Qingying held an apple in his hand.
Wen Qingying motioned for him to sit, and went to the back of the store to wash the apple. Tao Ling turned his head and saw several vases behind the shelf of dried flowers.
He got up to look at the vases. After a while, Wen Qingying walked over and handed him a peeled half of the apple.
Tao Ling glanced at his own hand, and Wen Qingying smiled, pointing towards the bathroom. After Tao Ling finished washing his hands, the two of them sat silently at the table, nibbling on the apple.
Sitting in a row, nomming on a fruit, half for me, half for you…2A children’s song about sitting down and being obedient lmao
To hell with sitting in a row.
Wen Qingying pushed the phone over: “Sir, I thought you weren’t coming over today.”
Tao Ling: “There was a meeting today, and I took the teachers out for dinner.”
Seeing his response, Wen Qingying blinked gently, then pondered for a moment and typed again: “Did I say something wrong that upset you last week, sir?”
Tao Ling frowned. Wen Qingying seemed nervous, with his slender fingers pressed against the screen’s two edges, he slowly pulled back the phone, while his straight posture suddenly wilted a little.
“No, you didn’t.” Tao Ling shook his head.
He frowned because he was a little annoyed. Not at Wen Qingying, but at himself. But he didn’t know what he should say, and Wen Qingying’s character was too good, making him feel dejected at himself.
It wasn’t until he finished the apple that he started typing. “It’s nothing, sorry for the misunderstanding. It’s just that every year around this time, I… wouldn’t be in a good mood.”
After reading this, Wen Qingying smiled and continued: “Will looking at flowers make you feel better?”
A slight smile appeared at the corner of Tao Ling’s mouth: “The Chinese roses you gave me last time are still alive.”
Wen Qingying suddenly became happy, and Tao Ling feared that he might give him another pot of flowers. After exchanging a few more words and seeing that Wen Qingying didn’t exhibit this kind of intention, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
It was getting too late, so Tao Ling soon said that it was time for him to leave, prompting Wen Qingying to get up and close the shop door.
Just like last time, they walked together to Tao Ling’s house, exchanged goodbyes, and Wen Qingying continued on his way.
Walking past the silent zebra crossing at the intersection, Wen Qingying glanced back, and saw that there was no one at the entrance of the residential area.
After standing there for a moment, he turned around and walked back the way he came.
With the night breeze gently blowing, Wen Qingying bypassed the community where Tao Ling lived, walked all the way back to his flower store, and took a different direction at that intersection.
It was in a direction where he should’ve parted ways with Tao Ling long before.
In the blink of an eye, it was already the second half of the semester, and Tao Ling’s platform class was scheduled for this Friday. It was essentially a class with “culture” as its main theme, where practically anything could be discussed. All first-year graduate students in the institute were required to attend, and the teaching staff rotated each semester.
The previous post about Tao Ling had initially faded away, but as his class approached, it was suddenly brought back to attention. Someone fervently topped the thread again, but eventually, it was deleted overnight, possibly due to intervention from an administrator.
However, the next day, even more posts emerged. Some lamented the effort put into the previous thread, suggesting that the administrator must have a secret crush on Tao Ling to take such action. Others criticized Tao Ling for being cunning and not addressing issues face-to-face but rather behind people’s backs. Some silently retrieved the archived information, continuing to pry into who his fiancée was.
Fortunately, the discussions seemed to diverge from there, and none of the posts were as lively as before.
On Thursday after work, as usual, Tao Ling took a moment to catch his breath in the corridor at the back of the religion department.
After standing there for not even two minutes, he saw Wen Qingying coming out with a watering can, bending down to water the flowers at the entrance. Soon after, two girls arrived, picking out flowers for a long time, lingering without leaving.
After watching for a while, Tao Ling inexplicably felt a bit impatient. He took out his phone and opened the school’s online forum, wanting to see if there were any posts about Wen Qingying.
Scrolling down, he actually found one, and the title was still quite striking: “Reporting! Out of the blue! The boss gege of the flower shop across from the west gate has a girlfriend!”
The author has something to say:
【Note】 The most prominent consciousness in Taoism is the consciousness of immortals: This is a widely accepted view in Taoist studies, so there is no specific source to be found. The basis of this explanatory theory is still the research of Mr. Zhan Shichuang in the previous chapter. The synthesis and summarization with the concept of “consciousness of life” in foreign religious studies is my own. I am not sure if there are similar statements elsewhere.
