How boring. This was Tao Ling’s first thought.
Click in. This was Tao Ling’s first reaction.
The main post was a very, very long accusation, but after reading it, it was like it said nothing at all. If the expressions of anger and sadness are removed, the whole post can be summed up in one sentence—
Wen Qingying is a scumbag.
Someone on the second comment floor immediately followed up: “Hurry up, OP. I won’t sue you if you don’t have evidence. Are you pretending to be a woman, seeking revenge because our boss gege is more popular than you?”
OP: “Don’t worry, I’m just venting first, so that the fans can be prepared. Would I randomly say these things without pictures?”
Fans…. can?
Tao Ling: “……”
After being urged by several floors to post, the photos really were revealed. It was still in the flower shop. Wen Qingying stood at the door, while a girl threw herself at him.
It was a series of photos, so the five or six photos together were exactly the process of hugging.
In the last photo, Wen Qingying and the girl hugged each other. He bent his waist slightly to match her height, his actions revealing obvious doting. Although the girl had her back to the camera, Tao Ling could tell at a glance that she wasn’t Wen Qingying’s sister.
Because this girl had short hair.
The few familiar usernames in the forum already went crazy. After talking nonsense for some time, someone asked: “Let’s calm down a bit. Maybe the beautiful girl got her hair cut?”
Someone replied below: “You’re selectively blind. Can you mistake a mature woman for a cute girl?”
Like a farce, the 48th floor said: “I declare the fan club dissolved. Let’s each go back to our own homes and find our mothers.1in Chinese, “his mom” is cussing. This is kind of a play on that The scumbag isn’t worth our time.”
The 49th floor: “Wuwuwu2crying no wonder he didn’t open the shop on Saturdays. He must’ve been going on dates. Ahh, my heart is broken.”
Seeing this, Tao Ling was stunned. So the flower shop wasn’t open on Saturdays?
But it was open on the Saturday of Tao Jun’s memorial day. The two of them went to the cemetery together, and after returning, Wen Qingying clearly opened up shop.
Continuing to scroll down, the 50th floor said: “But he’s so handsome. Can’t I just be a dog for looks and ignore his character?”
51st floor: “Ptoo! No moral compass! Beggar dogs will never have a home!”
52nd floor: “Let me be fair. Since the handsome guy is already two-timing, then I don’t mind being the third one.”
53rd floor: “I knew it would be you again, so deep in the closet that you’re now coming out? Damn gay!”
The post was new and the thread wasn’t too long yet, so Tao Ling scrolled down to the bottom and then back up, carefully looking at the few photos.
He had to admit, there was something really special about Wen Qingying’s demeanor. The blend of masculinity and youthful charm was just right, and this was unmistakable when he stood close to women.
The girl was petite, and even on tiptoes, she looked like she was tucked into his embrace. His well-defined hands rested on her back, exuding an indescribable beauty.
Zooming in on the pictures. They were both smiling, and it was effortless to spot his little tiger teeth.
The last one was an older sister, this one couldn’t be a younger sister, right?
Tao Ling self-deprecatingly curled his lips. Yeah, Wen Qingying said he was afraid of his misunderstanding, but he was probably just afraid of him thinking he was two-timing, nothing to do with whether he was single or not.
Moreover, with Wen Qingying’s emotional situation, there was no need to ask him for clarification.
Tao Ling didn’t continue to follow the post. His stomach hurt badly, and the medicine he had taken just vanished into his throat without taking any effect.
Useless and irresponsible.
He threw his phone off to the side, took off his glasses, leaned against the back of the sofa, and curled up even tighter.
For the next half week, Tao Ling no longer lingered in the flower shop. He only greeted him briefly as he passed by each day, and there was no other communication with Wen Qingying.
This situation continued until Thursday afternoon.
Passing by after work, there was no one in the shop, and Wen Qingying stood at the door. Tao Ling waved and immediately left, but Wen Qingying took a few quick steps with his long legs and turned to block his way.
“Is something wrong?” Tao Ling raised his eyes inquiringly.
Wen Qingying pursed his lips and held his phone up to Tao Ling’s eyes. On it was an already typed message: “Sir, are the hoary stocks still blooming? This flower tends to lose its petals.”
Tao Ling took out his phone to reply: “They’re about to wither, the petals are all over the table.” He was originally going to say “all over the pot.”
Wen Qingying asked again: “Sir, have you been busy these days?”
Tao Ling lowered his eyes, knowing that his deliberate actions had been noticed, but he continued to type without changing his expression: “Ya, I’ve been working overtime lately.”
Wen Qingying mouthed an “oh” and nodded.
After a moment of silence, Tao Ling typed, “Then I’ll leave first?”
Wen Qingying seemed like he still wanted to say something, so Tao Ling forced himself to patiently wait. After a while, he finally received a sentence: “Then can I still attend sir’s class tomorrow?”
Tao Ling was taken aback, feeling that his “unreasonable” distance was excessive.
Wen Qingying was very sensitive, and this wasn’t the first day that he knew about it. These few days of pretending to be busy all fell into his eyes. Who knew if it would make him think he had done something wrong.
To prevent him from continuing to misunderstand, Tao Ling replied, “Of course.”
Wen Qingying smiled, but not as brightly as before. Even his little tiger teeth seemed aggrieved, only half revealed.
Tao Ling inwardly sighed, lowered his head, and wrote again, “You don’t need to ask such questions. If you want to listen to my class then you can, and it’s okay even if you don’t.”
It would’ve been better if he didn’t say those words. As soon as it was said, Wen Qingying became nervous. He gestured a few times, then suddenly remembered that Tao Ling didn’t understand sign language, so he had to continue typing: “Sir, I never don’t want to attend your class. I’ll always go, no matter what time it’s at. I really like your class, really.”
Tao Ling thought “Then you really love studying.” On the surface, though, he simply smiled and waved.
Wen Qingying stood in place and watched as he left.
On Friday night, Tao Ling pretty much arrived punctually at the classroom. Within the time frame of plugging in the USB, he raised his head and glanced around, but Wen Qingying hadn’t arrived yet.
For the past two weeks, he would see him as soon as he looked up.
It wasn’t until he said “class is starting” that Wen Qingying entered through the back door and sat in a seat near the edge.
Tao Ling suddenly felt at ease.
As the class progressed into its third week, the decrease in attendance was visible to the naked eye. Tao Ling knew that many people had come to the first two sessions just out of curiosity, but he didn’t really mind.
Once Wen Qingying settled into his seat, he cleared his throat and started the slideshow: “Today, we’ll continue the topic from the last class and discuss personal religion as well as religious groups…”
After class, two girls came up to ask a few questions. During this time, Tao Ling restrained himself from looking up. He was afraid that Wen Qingying was waiting for him.
But he was also afraid that he wasn’t waiting for him.
It could be seen that the students were taking the class seriously. Although their questions weren’t very in-depth, they were all relevant, so the discussion took a little longer.
By the time class ended, the cleaning auntie had already come in with a water bucket. Tao Ling nodded and smiled at her, then looked up.
The classroom was completely empty.
Tao Ling couldn’t describe his feelings at that moment, and neither did he want to delve into them. He just descended from the platform as usual and walked towards the back door.
However, as soon as he stepped out of the classroom, he saw someone leaning against the railing not far away.
Outside the classroom was a short corridor, with a small pond with some water lilies planted in it at the end. Wen Qingying leaned against the railing, his gaze on the pond illuminated by the lights, but his face was slightly turned in the direction of the classroom.
As Tao Ling emerged, he slowly straightened up, and smiled.
The lights in the corridor weren’t very bright, at least not as bright as the streetlights outside. But it was enough for Tao Ling to see his face clearly, as well as his eyes.
Wen Qingying started walking towards him, and suddenly he felt like he was suffocating.
This scene was like the one two weeks ago, when the two of them descended the stairs together, left the graduate school building, and slowly made their way towards the west gate, going past half of the campus.
When they reached the flower store, Tao Ling instinctively wanted to stop, but Wen Qingying showed no intention of going in.
When they approached the community, Tao Ling couldn’t hold back any longer and typed: “You don’t have any questions today?”
Tao Ling shook his head, then immediately nodded.
Seeing Tao Ling raise an eyebrow in the light of the streetlamp, he took out his phone: “I think sir is feeling tired, so I’ll save my questions for next time. Is that okay?”
Tao Ling didn’t know what expression to put on his face. After struggling for a moment, he simply nodded, then pointed at the entrance of the community, indicating that he was going to leave.
Tao Ling raised his index finger. Tao Ling guessed it meant he wanted one more minute.
So he waited, and soon Wen Qingying’s phone came back into view. It said: “Sir, I’m thinking of going to see my mom tomorrow. Will you go visit your older brother?”
