Upon reading this sentence, Wen Qingying hesitated noticeably.
Eventually, he answered honestly, “I used to attend a university in Beijing, a regular one, but I didn’t finish. I only completed a bit of my senior year, maybe just a week.”
Tao Ling looked somewhat surprised, observed for a moment, and noticed that Wen Qingying’s expression had returned to normal. He didn’t press further but expressed his surprise, “You were in your final year but didn’t finish.”
Wen Qingying smiled and replied, “I studied architecture, it’s a five-year program.”
“No wonder your drawings are so good,” Tao Ling remarked, glancing at his phone screen. It was already past eleven.
Seeing him checking the time, Wen Qingying stood up.
It was like the two of them had reached some kind of understanding in a very short period of time, so much so that even the individuals involved weren’t aware of it. It wasn’t until they were walking together on the street, with the night breeze blowing, that Tao Ling suddenly felt a sense of deja vu.
The city center at night was always bustling, even more so in recent years. Despite it being nearly midnight, the car lights were still flashing continuously.
As they walked to the intersection, there was an auntie1A general term to refer to middle aged women selling pineapples from a three-wheeled cart by the roadside, with small triangular slices of pineapple skewered on sticks and soaked in a glass jar.
It was scenes like this that made Wu City feel the same as it always had been.
Tao Ling was stunned. The light had already turned green, but he still stood there, staring at the auntie’s cart. It wasn’t until Wen Qingying lightly patted him on the shoulder that he returned to his senses.
“Do you want pineapples? I’ll buy it for sir.” Wen Qingying handed over his phone.
Tao Ling didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The tone Wen Qingying used was like he was talking to a three year-old.
He shook his head unhappily. Wen Qingying obviously meant it as a joke when he asked the question, so he curled up the corners of his mouth in response.
They both took a few steps, but the green light had already started to flash, so they could only exit out of the intersection and return to the sidewalk.
Tao Ling looked back at the pineapples, then raised his gaze, saw the auntie’s somewhat messy hair at the temples, and prepared to take out his phone.
There was a small blackboard next to the cart, with the unit price and a QR code on it. Wen Qingying walked over and scanned the code to pay before Tao Ling could.
Tao Ling only took out his phone halfway before he put it back in.
There were still three pieces of pineapple left in the glass jar. The auntie wanted to pack it in a bag, but Tao Ling said, “No need, auntie. We can just eat it like this.”
They each held a stick of pineapple in their hands, and there was still one left in the jar. The auntie smiled, but still prepared to pack it for them. Tao Ling then realized that Wen Qingying paid more than what was needed.
He turned his head, and Wen Qingying also happened to look over. After glancing at each other, Tao Ling understood and said, “Auntie, this piece is for you.”
The light turned green just as he said that. The two of them headed across the street together. The auntie behind them called out, and Tao Ling looked back, and gave a smile.
They crossed the intersection while eating pineapples, and turned to enter the quiet residential area side by side.
Wen Qingying.
Tao Ling unconsciously recited this name in his mind. When he came to his senses again, he found that they had already arrived at the gate of his community.
Half of the pineapple was still left in his hand.
As usual, he just waved goodbye. Seeing the other person head towards the zebra crossing, Tao Ling turned around to enter the community. He took two steps and prepared to swipe his card, but his hand paused, and the next moment he couldn’t help but take a few steps back.
Looking sideways, Wen Qingying also just looked back, so he had to pretend nothing happened and waved again.
Under the distant lights, Wen Qingying smiled, then turned and walked away.
At 12:12, the door softly creaked.
A warm yellow light spread out, illuminating the small living room. It was very clean. There weren’t too many things, so their layout wasn’t messy. But it also wasn’t perfectly organized, carrying with it a hint of carelessness.
He had walked too slowly and taken a huge detour, so it was already late. But Wen Qingying didn’t plan on sleeping just yet.
After washing up, he sat cross-legged on the sofa, took a slow breath, and put his fingers on his throat to feel it. After a few seconds, he tried to raise his head, opened his mouth, then slowly closed it, gritted his teeth, and then slowly relaxed.
After completing four eight-beat rehabilitation movements, he made an “ah” mouth shape, but no sound came out.
After trying several times, his forehead was already covered with fine sweat.
He forced himself to relax. His thoughts came and went, and suddenly they fell on Tao Ling’s fingers while typing. The chaos in his mind gradually calmed down, as if he had encountered some unobservable magic.
After taking a deep breath and trying a few more times, the clock on the wall clicked softly and pointed to one o’clock. At the same time, a hoarse and almost breathy “ah” came out, breaking the silence of the night.
At two o’clock in the middle of the night, Tao Ling turned over and sat up angrily.
He ruffled his hair with both hands, covered his face in despair for a moment, then slammed his hand down on the bed before getting up and leaving the bedroom.
If he really couldn’t fall asleep, then he might as well not sleep.
After turning on the computer and revising his paper for a while, Tao Ling suddenly remembered what happened before coming home. After sitting there for a while, he opened the coursework for the platform class, and began adding text page by page.
The influence of autumn was deep.2秋意深, “heart of autumn”. Taken more literally and in the context of Tao Jun’s death, could also have autumn being seen as a symbolism for Tao Ling’s depression. Just my thoughts though, this could be interpreted either way.
After staying up for several nights, Tao Ling submitted a paper that he had revised several times to a journal. When the ginkgo leaves turned golden, he finally felt a little relieved.
On Friday, the second platform class of the second half of the semester, the PowerPoint had many more keywords and phrases than last week, and no one among the students seemed to notice. But it was not a pity at all, just a little tiring——
Because Wen Qingying had more questions, this time the two chatted until twelve o’clock.
“God, it’s already midnight.” Tao Ling said as he stretched.
Wen Qingying looked a little embarrassed and typed: “Sir, do I have too many questions? You’ve been talking to me for so long when you could’ve been doing other things.”
Tao Ling replied: “Telling you things is also doing things.”
Wen Qingying’s smile dwindled: “Then I’ll treat you to a midnight snack? Do you want some?”
He was a little hungry. Tao Ling thought for a moment and asked, “What do you want to eat?”
Wen Qingying: “It’s not good to eat too much at night. I’ll treat you to porridge?”
Tao Ling agreed.
After closing up the store, Wen Qingying led Tao Ling in the opposite direction from usual, twisting and turning, and finally entered a small alley.
Tao Ling was a little surprised. He had grown up in Wu City and was very familiar with this area, but he had never been to this place.
After walking for a while, he suddenly realized that he was not in a familiar area. It wasn’t until Wen Qingying took him through a small alley that he recognized the place as soon as he looked into the distance. The other end of the alley was connected to the main street. There was a small square at the corner of the street, with several famous bars outside.
After eating, he could go home from there.
He didn’t know how Wen Qingying found this shop. Although it was located in a small alley, the preserved egg and lean meat porridge was so delicious, and it didn’t even close in the middle of the night.
Tao Ling gave a thumbs up several times while eating. Every time he praised, Wen Qingying smiled, ans his little tiger teeth kept showing, so Tao Ling could only stare at the bowl.
Judging from the various “information” sources, Wen Qingying might really be in a relationship already. Tao Ling was afraid that if he really fell in love with him, all of their current exchanges would turn into covetousness instead.
Yes, Tao Ling had known he was homosexual ever since he was a child.
After eating and leaving the porridge shop, Wen Qingying took Tao Ling to the other end of the alley.
The world of lights and wine was shining outside. The two of them walked by the small square and passed by the door of a bar called “Pirate Ship” when a woman suddenly rushed out.
Tao Ling couldn’t help but pause when he saw the woman holding the lamppost, as if she were drunk and looking for support.
Two men chased after her, seeming like they wanted to drag the woman away as they shouted, “Keep drinking.”
“Let go!” The woman struggled hard, then raised her head suddenly, causing her long hair to be spread back. Tao Ling was able to see her face clearly, she looked a bit familiar.
Before he could react, Wen Qingying had already strode forward.
