Tao Ling froze. The feeling of heartache grew stronger. He knew so well how it felt to have a birthday alone, not to mention that Wen Qingying didn’t have to spend his birthday alone.
Lifting his head, he saw Wen Qingying’s warm expression. Without any of the moods from a while ago, Tao Ling smiled and typed on his phone, “Happy birthday. Is there anything I can do for you?”
Seeing that message, a smile slowly appeared on Wen Qingying’s face. He took a moment to think, but eventually shook his head.
Tao Ling felt slightly disappointed and typed again, “Where are we going to eat?”
The two discussed it for a while, but neither had any ideas. Tao Ling usually ate casually and never had to eat anything, while Wen Qingying was always able to accept everything, so they were relatively silent at the end of the discussion.
After a while, Tao Ling wrote: “Didn’t you have any plans before?”
Wen Qingying replied: “I originally wanted to wait for my meimei to come and then cook for her, but the community notified this morning that the gas was cut off, and she left.”
“You can even cook?” Tao Ling said with a smile, and continued to write on his phone: “Why don’t we go to my house? Unfortunately, I can only boil noodles, mix noodles1While 拌面 can be interpreted as mixing noodles, it is also a noun for dry noodles. It’s basically a pun, and soak noodles2Also a pun, instant noodles. If we want to eat, you still have to cook.”
Wen Qingying showed two small canine teeth and nodded.
It was already dark when the flower store closed, and the two went to the supermarket together.
This was the first time that Tao Ling went to the supermarket with someone other than Tao Jun. He didn’t like to choose things, but walking through the shelves with Wen Qingying, he couldn’t help but become patient.
Buying vegetables wasn’t simple. Although he had to cook, Wen Qingying wasn’t very good at shopping. It could be estimated that he started to learn after he came out to live on his own.
The two men gathered together to look at the labels, and even gestured to discuss the types of vegetables and quantities needed. It was mainly Wen Qingying who decided, and Tao Ling was responsible for nodding and agreeing, not because he was unfamiliar with these things, but because he had no idea at all.
After selecting the raw materials with difficulty, they left the fresh food area and walked towards the exit. When passing the wine and beverage area, Wen Qingying stopped with a cart.
He turned his head to look at Tao Ling inquiringly. Tao Ling smiled, walked around the front of the cart, took two cans of alcohol from the shelf, paused, took two more cans, put them down, and walked forward.
Wen Qingying followed behind, but did not stop. He just picked up a bottle of red wine from the top shelf and gently put it in the cart.
Tao Ling didn’t see this action and only found out that there was an extra bottle of wine when he was checking out. He stood in front of the self-service checkout machine, holding the bottle and looking sideways at Wen Qingying, who looked back at him and blinked.
After a two-second pause, the two smiled together.
Tao Ling wanted to pay, but Wen Qingying had already taken out his phone.
Seeing Wen Qingying looking at him seriously, Tao Ling smiled and decided to respect his wishes. He stopped halfway through taking out his phone, stretched out his hand, and gestured to him with his palm facing up.
This action inexplicably gave him a sense of entrustment. Wen Qingying suddenly raised his hand, patted his hand lightly as if jokingly, and turned around to open the payment interface.
Tao Ling was stunned for a while and quietly clenched his fist.
He had gone home together with Wen Qingying several times, but had never invited him up. Tao Ling entered the apartment first, complaining about himself while looking for slippers. Finally, he stood up and found Wen Qingying looking into the house.
Tao Ling turned his head along his gaze and saw a washbasin on the coffee table with a bunch of withered Chinese roses in it.
He pointed in vain and said embarrassedly: “That, my flowerpot, ptoo, I accidentally broke the vase and didn’t have time to buy a new one.”
After saying this, he remembered that Wen Qingying couldn’t hear him. Just as he was about to type, Wen Qingying smiled cheerfully, gave him a thumbs up, and took the slippers from his hand and put them on.
After a moment of awkwardness, Tao Ling also smiled calmly and carried things into the kitchen.
Except for the occasional instant noodles, he hadn’t cooked properly at home for more than three years. Fortunately, he reminded Wen Qingying just now and didn’t forget to buy some seasonings.
Except for washing vegetables, Tao Ling couldn’t help at all. He stood in the kitchen for a while, and then he sat in the living room consciously.
Listening quietly to the sound of cooking inside, his eyes suddenly became very sore.
In order to suppress this strange emotion, he walked to the kitchen door again, leaned against the door frame, and watched Wen Qingying work seriously. After watching for a long time, the love in his heart almost burst out.
If only this were his daily life.
If only this were his, Tao Ling’s, daily life, it would’ve been great. But unfortunately, this was a one-time event.
After a while, seeing Wen Qingying lift the lid of the pot on the fire and look inside, Tao Ling became curious and walked in.
The ribs were stewed in the pot over a low fire, and Wen Qingying poked the meat with chopsticks. Tao Ling stood behind him and was about to lean over to look into the pot, but unexpectedly, Wen Qingying suddenly turned around.
The two of them almost bumped into each other, and Tao Ling was so scared that he immediately stepped back, but Wen Qingying frowned, put one hand around his waist to stop him from moving, and pressed the other hand on the back of his head.
Tao Ling’s mind was instantly empty, and he stared at the person in front of him motionlessly.
The distance was too close, and Wen Qingying’s face was more captivating than when it was far away. Those eyes were extremely clear, and the dark eyelashes almost trapped Tao Ling, making people forget to breathe for a moment.
While he was stunned, Wen Qingying moved his left hand that was holding his waist away and raised it up.
There was a slight bang, and Tao Ling turned his head to follow the sound, only to find that the cupboard door above him was not closed just now, and his back of the head almost hit it.
He turned, and Wen Qingying let go of the hand holding the back of his head, looking down at him with an apologetic look.
Tao Ling could no longer feel himself. He waved his hand to indicate that nothing was wrong, took two steps back, pointed at the fire, and while Wen Qingying went to check the situation in the pot, he turned around and left the kitchen.
He went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face in annoyance. While recalling the scene just now, he cursed his clumsiness.
It was like a reckless boy who was at a loss when facing his secret crush. Not only was he reckless, but he was also weak. He lived for so many years in vain.
When he came out after getting his mood in order, Wen Qingying’s last dish was already out of the pot. Tao Ling hurried over to wipe the table with a rag, arranged the table mat, and washed two wine glasses.
After setting up the three dishes and a soup, they sat down face-to-face. Wen Qingying seemed a little nervous, looking at the dishes and then at Tao Ling.
Tao Ling smiled and said, “I’ll try it.”
After picking up the dishes with chopsticks several times, Tao Ling gave a thumbs up and began to praise him non-stop.
Wen Qingying finally felt relieved after receiving the feedback, smiled restrainedly, and picked up the bowl.
“Ah, I forgot to buy a cake!” Tao Ling said, while eating, he took out his phone and asked, “Will you buy a cake later?”
Wen Qingying waved his hand after reading it, and also wrote, “No, sir, I don’t like sweets.”
Tao Ling thought about it and suddenly stood up. Wen Qingying put down her chopsticks and looked at him. He pressed Wen Qingying’s shoulder and told him to sit still.
Luckily, he had just bought some fruit. Tao Ling washed a bunch of grapes, found a large fruit plate that had not been used for a long time, and hurriedly flipped through several drawers to find a pair of small candles and a lighter.
Wen Qingying sat in the same place and watched him be busy. Finally, he cooperated and cleared a small side table.
Finally, after sorting out the props, Tao Ling sat back and took the phone and asked, “How old are you today?”
Wen Qingying wrote “24” in the air with his index finger. Tao Ling sighed, “So young,” thinking that it was really inconvenient to communicate like this. It would be great if he could also use sign language.
After arranging the numbers on the fruit plate with grapes, Tao Ling lit the small candles and turned off the lights.
![Cannon Fodder Scum Gong’s Whitewashing Manual [Quick Transmigration]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/CFSGWM.jpg "Cannon Fodder Scum Gong’s Whitewashing Manual [Quick Transmigration]")
