INS Chapter 2

It was too strange.

After looking at each other inexplicably for a while, Tao Ling turned away and took another bunch of purple daisies from his side. After two seconds, he put them back and took two more light green ones.

He really liked this color. The green gradually spread and became lighter from the center of the flower to the petals. It had a vague meaning, but at first glance, it looked very pure.

Tao Jun would also like it. He was so coquettish, acting like he liked this kind of cleanliness. Seemingly simple, but was actually clever.

The boy came closer, as if to greet Tao Ling, and silently raised the corners of his mouth at him.

But Tao Ling was taking out his cell phone and didn’t notice his expression. Looking up again, Tao Ling only saw an overly handsome face with no expression, which was even more heart-stopping than when he looked at it from a distance.

What was this adjective called? Oh yes, sharp eyebrows and starry eyes.

Tao Ling asked, “Boss, how much for a bunch?”

The boy looked at his lips carefully, as if trying to discern the content of his words. After Tao Ling finished speaking, the boy raised his arms, held out his index finger with his right hand, and formed a circle with his left hand.

Tao Ling nodded. Thinking that he truly was deaf, but it was still a pity, he scanned the QR code on the glass door.

The money transfer page appeared. The recipient’s avatar was a handful of light green daisies, exactly like the one in his hand, with the ID “Wen Qingying.” The account should have been authenticated by a real name, so there were brackets. The first two characters were asterisks, and the last one was “ying”.

The clear reflection overlooks the limpid spring, while a solitary whistle ascends and vanishes within mountain peaks.¹清映临澄渊，孤啸跻绝岭。Wen Qingying’s given name, 清 (qing1 – clear, pure) 映 (ying4 – to reflect), takes its 2 characters from the beginning of this line from a poem.

If it was really Wen Qingying, it was indeed a good name.

After Tao Ling finished transferring the money, he saw that Wen Qingying had entered the store, looking like he didn’t care whether he paid or not.

There was a small table against the wall in the room, covered with flower-wrapping materials. Wen Qingying was rummaging for something. When he raised his hand, the shirt on his lower waist pulled out wrinkles along the muscle lines.

Yoshikawa Tadao had said that the mobility of social classes ultimately came down to people’s free will. Then, what about the mute who opened a flower shop and the healthy person who people call “teacher”?

Fuck your free will.

Tao Ling stood there for two seconds and was about to leave when Wen Qingying suddenly turned around with a piece of brown paper and shook it at him. The paper shook out of the breeze and made a slight sound.

Tao Ling paused, and Wen Qingying waved again, pointing to the flowers in his arms.

Judging from Wen Qingying’s proficiency in wrapping flowers, Tao Ling concluded that this was definitely his first time opening a flower shop, and that flower wrapping was above his current ability. Wen Qingying’s movements were not clumsy, but for just flower wrapping, his hand seemed too big. He pressed the flower branches and the wrapping paper, but when he pulled the transparent tape with one hand, he couldn’t pull it off properly. The tape got tangled up accidentally. When he finally pulled out the complete tape, the wrapping paper fell apart with a crash.

The more Tao Ling looked at it, the more he wanted to laugh, and finally he helped to hold down the flower stem. Wen Qingying spread his arms, raised both his hands, and finally bumpily wrapped the flowers.

The slender hands held dark yellow kraft paper, the veins on the back of the hands were faintly visible, and the knuckles were stretched and beautiful. Wen Qingying handed the flowers to Tao Ling, and at the same time, picked up a card on the table and showed it to him.

The card said, “Change the water frequently, and the flowers can live a long time.”

Wen Qingying still had a calm expression on his face. He wasn’t as embarrassed as Tao Ling imagined, without a trace of awkwardness. It was as if it were natural for him to open his own shop but not be able to arrange the flowers.

“Thank you,” Tao Ling said.

When he took the flowers, Wen Qingying turned around and took out a hydrangea to trim its branches and leaves.

Tao Ling raised the corner of his mouth, and walked out of the store.

The cemetery was in the suburbs. After taking the subway, he had to transfer to the bus. Even though he got off work a little early today, it was already 6:30 when he arrived at his destination.

The tomb he wanted to go to was a bit high. He had been very busy since the beginning of the semester. Tao Ling had less time to exercise. He actually felt a little tired when he climbed up.

Holding the flowers in one hand and hanging his coat on his wrist, he sat on a tomb platform and leaned his side against the cold monument.

The black-and-white photo on the tombstone was very clear. It showed a man in his thirties. He was handsome and elegant. At first glance, he looked almost exactly like Tao Ling, but his eyes were much calmer than Tao Ling’s.

“Tao Jun, I’m so fucking tired. What kind of place did you choose? Are you trying to torture me on purpose? Tao Ling complained.

Then he left the daisy on the side: “Here, some handsome man, no, some handsome boy… actually, no… A young, handsome guy packed this for you. It’s a little loose now, but don’t mind it since he’s so good-looking.”

A crowd of crows flew past; it was almost nightfall.

“But really, the environment here is nice, no need to worry about any dust allergies.” Tao Ling continued. “Look, even the crow here was so much bigger and fatter. They’re so fat, and I wonder if they taste good after roasting, but whatever, I don’t eat wild animals.”

“You’re asking, do we even have crows in the city? Of course there are, you know the little jungle next to the lotus pound? I saw some there. Why do I walk into the little jungle? What? I don’t fucking have a girlfriend, no boyfriend either. Stop trying to guess something weird or I’ll beat you to death. Nevermind, I don’t need to. You’re already dead.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you,” he was drawling his voice, “I went in there to think about my life. I was so stuck on my paper. You’re so close, really just so close, just by that tiny bit, to reunite with your brother in heaven after you die. I can’t understand any fucking book, how can I even research it? There are so many researchers, but none of them truly knows what they’re doing. Can you stop laughing at me? What about you getting a Ph.D. instead of insulting me here? Are you happy now that it’s so difficult that I can die? Watch me get a rope and hang myself with you.”

Afterwards, he felt thirsty, and Tao Ling realized that he had forgotten to buy water.

The wind was slightly cool, the curtain of night lowered slowly until the sky was fully dark, and he put on his jacket and sighed, “Fuck autumn, Tao Jun, I hate autumn so much.”

He raised his arm to look at his watch. It was already almost 8 o’clock.

“Since I accompanied you for so long today, you’d better pay up.” Tao Ling laughed to himself for a bit after saying this, then finally stood up and casually patted his trousers. “I’m leaving, I still have work tomorrow.”

As he turned around, he thought, as long as I don’t talk to Tao Jun, I’m the elegant Teacher Tao.

Just as he took two steps, there was a sudden sound of a branch snapping.

Tao Ling’s heart quivered, and he turned his head to look over, just in time to see a large juniper bush not far away swaying, and a person emerging from it.

He involuntarily took a half-step to the side.

The streetlight in the distance had been on for a long time, but it only shed a small amount of light. However, it was only because of this stingy light that Tao Ling was able to see the slight surprise on the face of the visitor.

“Wen Qingying?” he blurted out.

After saying that, he immediately frowned. He seemed to have read the name silently in the afternoon, more than once, but he shouted it out so naturally.

Fortunately, he was deaf… though he probably shouldn’t consider that as fortunate.

Wen Qingying blinked.

Tao Ling breathed a sigh of relief, bullying the person who couldn’t hear, and said softly, “I was so damn scared that I didn’t say anything. I thought it was a ghost. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not afraid of ghosts at all. I’m afraid of Tao Jun.”

Wen Qingying let go of the vines he held, walked up to him, and patted him casually.

“Why are you here?” Tao Ling said word by word.

Regardless of whether he can read lips or not, speaking slowly was the right thing to do.

After the initial shock, Wen Qingying quickly regained his composure. When he saw Tao Ling talking, he pointed to his side, and then took out his mobile phone to type.

The screen emitted a faint light that illuminated his face. Before Tao Ling could take a closer look, the phone was already in front of his eyes.

The notepad said, “What a coincidence, I remember you, the gentleman who bought flowers in the afternoon. I came to see my mom and went through a shortcut. I’m sorry, did I scare you? I thought no one would be in the cemetery at this time.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Tao Ling waved his hand at him.

The author has something to say:

The clear reflection overlooks the limpid spring, while a solitary whistle ascends and vanishes within mountain peaks: one of Zhou Mi’s “Ten Explanations of Feeling Autumn Miscellany”.

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  清映临澄渊，孤啸跻绝岭。Wen Qingying’s given name, 清 (qing1 – clear, pure) 映 (ying4 – to reflect), takes its 2 characters from the beginning of this line from a poem.