INS Chapter 37

Although Wen Qingying’s expression didn’t change greatly, and Tao Ling wasn’t bothered by his heartbeat this time, he suddenly felt Wen Qingying’s panic, even more than his own.

Wen Qingying approached, and he also stood up.

 

After standing face to face for a while, Tao Ling touched the clean pajamas on Wen Qingying’s body and felt the side of his neck with his fingers.

Two seconds later, both of them unilaterally came forward and hugged each other again.

 

“Wen Qingying, Wen Qingying, Wen Qingying.” Tao Ling couldn’t help but whisper. Their bodies that were stuck together were confiding in each other. It was much more powerful than words, but he still couldn’t help but want to call his name.

Regardless if he could hear it or not.

Wen Qingying hugged his shoulders tightly and gently shook his body from side to side, as if he were telling him to quickly go to sleep.

Tao Ling laughed and buried his face in his shoulder.

 

After finally letting go of the hug, Tao Ling entered the bathroom. Since they knew each other’s feelings already, Tao Ling wanted to kiss Wen Qingying more, but he also didn’t dare to.

After he came out of the shower, Wen Qingying was sitting by the bedside, just like the first day they came here.

 

Tao Ling walked to sit across from him and, repeating the action from that time— gently kicked his feet.

Wen Qingying raised his eyes and smiled. Tao Ling’s heart melted instantly.

He shifted forward, his knees against Wen Qingying’s knees. Wen Qingying raised a hand to hold his, and the two hands rested between their legs, fingers constantly stroking gently.

 

Tao Ling looked down at Wen Qingying’s hand while Wen Qingying lowered his eyes to look at him. They quietly sat there for a long time. Tao Ling brought up Wen Qingying’s hand and kissed the back of it.

“Let’s sleep.” He said.

 

Leaving a nightlight on, the two of them curled up under the same quilt, lying sideways facing each other, gazing at each other.

Tao Ling reached out to touch Wen Qingying’s face, then Wen Qingying grabbed his hand and kissed his palm. They hugged and caressed each other, using their lips to feel the other’s temperature with great care.

 

His body reacted. Tao Ling wanted to move his lips down, to kiss Wen Qingying’s Adam’s apple, collarbone, chest, and everything about him. But in the end, he just lingered on the lips and, at the same time, bent his legs to avoid the possibility of his own desire being bumped into by Wen Qingying.

On this point, they had almost the same tacit understanding.

 

They felt each other’s breathing and gazed at each other all night. Insomnia and unwillingness to sleep became a gift tonight, as if as long as the eyes were open, everything wouldn’t be a dream.

 

Tao Ling didn’t feel sleepy until dawn. Wen Qingying still seemed to be awake when he fell asleep, embracing Tao Ling in his arms. By the time they woke up, the posture of the two people was still the same.

Seeing that Wen Qingying was still asleep, he carefully took away the hands that wrapped around him. As soon as he moved, Wen Qingying woke up.

They smiled at each other, and Wen Qingying shrank down and rubbed his face on Tao Ling’s chest.

 

It was already noon when they got up and washed up. Tao Ling cleaned up first, and while he waited for Wen Qingying to wash his face, he followed him into the bathroom and gently leaned against his back.

Wen Qingying straightened up, dried his hands, then held Tao Ling’s two wrists and wrapped them around his own waist.

Tao Ling closed his eyes, placed his face against the back of the neck, and smelled his scent.

 

Everything happened naturally. The two of them didn’t say anything about it, and didn’t even discuss the matter of dating.

It was as if this was how things should be.

 

They left the hotel too late, so they just wandered around nearby. When they reached a crowded area, Tao Ling would put his hand in Wen Qingying’s pocket. Wen Qingying smiled at him, then put his hand in too. The two of them intertwined their fingers in a place that no one could see.

They still hugged each other at night, and entangled their lips and teeth before going to bed. Tireless and trapped in each other’s breath, they crossed to the new year together.

 

On New Year’s Day, the two of them returned to Wu City. Although they had already made preparations for the flower store before leaving, they still went to check it out first.

Most of the fresh-cut flowers were sold at a discount, and the rest were put in the flower refrigerator before leaving. They were all still alive.

Then Wen Qingying sent Tao Ling home.

 

It was late at night, and after visiting Tao Ling’s apartment for just a while, Wen Qingying had to leave. Tao Ling sent him to the door when he suddenly felt extremely sad.

He couldn’t bear to let him go.

He was afraid that the happiness of the past few days was limited only to the New Year. As soon as he went to work tomorrow, he would be back to square one, and his life would fall into a gray vortex again.

 

When Wen Qingying opened the door, Tao Ling suddenly raised his hand and held it in front of him, preventing him from turning the doorknob.

Wen Qingying pursed his lips, and a bit of forbearance appeared between his eyebrows. It seemed like he didn’t want to be apart either, but he didn’t want to show it just now.

Just like that, the two of them stood at the entrance and exchanged kiss after kiss.

Finally, Tao Ling sighed, turned his face away, and pushed Wen Qingying on the shoulder.

Wen Qingying took a deep breath, smiled at him, and finally hugged him, kissing him on the lips and forehead before turning to go out.

 

After he left, Tao Ling absentmindedly packed up his things and washed up. He had a premonition that he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, so he swallowed a tablet of sleeping pill.

As he climbed on the bed, he wanted to say goodnight to Wen Qingying when he saw that Wen Qingying had already sent a message: “Sir, I really miss you. I was already missing you when we didn’t even part. Will you still like me tomorrow?”

Tao Ling replied, “As long as you still like me.”

 

Wen Qingying: “I didn’t dare to say it. I didn’t dare to ask you when we were in Beijing the last few days. Even though I held your hand and could kiss you, I didn’t dare.”

Tao Ling’s heart trembled. He vaguely felt that their thoughts were almost exactly the same.

 

After a moment of silence, he began typing. Wen Qingying’s message came again: “Sir, I like you so much, the type that couldn’t be expressed with just words.”

Tao Ling took a tissue and blew his nose, deleting his original words and replying, “I like you too, with the same kind that can’t be expressed with just words.”

 

Wen Qingying: “Can you kiss me again?”

Tao Ling smiled, saying, “How?”

Wen Qingying: “As long as you imagine it. I already felt it just now.”

Tao Ling: “Me too.”

Wen Qingying: “Goodnight, sir. May you dream of what you want to dream.”

Tao Ling: “Then I’ll definitely dream of you.”

 

Maybe it was the effect of the sleeping pill or the fatigue from going all over the place, but Tao Ling fell asleep very quickly. He felt pretty energetic in the morning, and when he passed by the flower store, Wen Qingying was already there.

The two of them smiled at each other tacitly through the door, then Wen Qingying walked to the door.

Seeing that no one was around, they lightly hooked their index fingers together, and then Wen Qingying watched Tao Ling enter the campus.

 

As the end of the semester approached, coupled with the delays from business trips, things suddenly became more and more complicated.

Tao Ling had been busy the whole morning and finally got some free time. He went around to the corridor behind the religious department to look at the flower shop. There weren’t many fresh flowers at the door. Wen Qingying would probably go restock tomorrow morning.

As he watched, Tao Ling suddenly remembered something. Before going to Beijing, he had consulted about sign language classes online, and it seemed that the registration would be open in the next few days.

He returned to the office with a cup of water and was contacting the teacher of the sign language class to register when suddenly, someone added him on WeChat with the note “Yun Nan.”

 

Tao Ling was a little surprised, but remembering that she was Wen Qingying’s little sister, he clicked yes.

After a while, the other party sent a message: “Hello, Teacher Tao. I’m sorry for adding you without permission. I thought my ge goes to the cemetery with you because he considers you a good friend. We don’t know much about his current situation, so I wanted to ask you about it.”

Tao Ling: “It’s okay. What did you want to ask about?”

 

Yun Nan: “I secretly went to the flower shop on New Year’s but my ge wasn’t there. I asked him where he went, but he didn’t tell me directly.”

Tao Ling: “He usually adores you a lot. He didn’t tell you when he left?”

Yun Nan: “Yes,  and he didn’t tell me a lot of things. They all treat me like a child, so please forgive me, Teacher Tao.”

 

Since Wen Qingying didn’t say anything,  Tao Ling certainly couldn’t take over the matter, so he could only reply: “I don’t know either. I went on a business trip a few days ago.”

Yun Nan: “So that’s how it is. Thank you, Teacher Tao.”

After putting away his phone, Tao Ling began to feel hesitant. He didn’t know much about Wen Qingying’s affairs. Although it didn’t affect their relationship, he always felt that he was too far away from him.

 

After getting off work, he went to the flower shop. As soon as he crossed the road, he saw a familiar figure. Tao Ling shouted impulsively, “Bai Guan!”

He immediately felt a little regretful after shouting. Since Bai Guan was here,  Wen Qingying’s neurotic older sister might be here too.

But just as he finished talking, Bai Guan turned around, and seeing that it was Tao Ling, he stopped.

 

Tao Ling stepped forward and took a look at the entrance of the flower shop. No one was here. Wen Qingiying was probably in the store.

“Hello, Bai Guan,” he said.

Bai Guan nodded. Now that Yun Xin wasn’t here, he also seemed to be more polite than before.

 

Tao Ling pointed to the corner. Bai Guan understood, and the two of them walked over together, avoiding the area where Wen Qingying would be able to see them.

“Excuse me, are you here to see Wen Qingying today?” Tao Ling asked.

Bai Guan nodded, “Yes.”

 

Tao Ling hesitated for a few seconds, but Bai Guan didn’t seem to care about his inquiries and said directly, “It’s Uncle Yun’s birthday in a few days, so he asked me to call Qingying back.”

“So what did he say?” Tao Ling asked.

Bai Guan answered honestly, “He doesn’t really want to go, but Uncle Yun actually misses him, and Nannan misses him too.

Tao Ling wanted to ask about something else, but Bai Guan said, “Apologies. I need to go now.”

“Sorry,” Tao Ling said.

Bai Guan nodded slightly and walked along the street.

 

Tao Ling stood there for a while, turned the corner, then saw Wen Qingying standing at the door.

They saw each other from a distance. Wen Qingying smiled, took a few steps outside, and stood on the sidewalk waiting for him.

When they arrived in the store, they looked at each other for a moment. Wen Qingying sent a message and asked, “Sir, how did you get here from there? I was looking at the school gate just now but didn’t see you.”

Tao Ling replied, “I came out a few minutes earlier today. I just went to take a look around and thought about what to take you out to eat.”

 

Wen Qingying smiled brightly, with his little canine teeth exposed without any obstruction. It made Tao Ling want to go up and lick it.

After realizing his thoughts, Tao Ling quickly looked away, and found that the store was already filled with fresh flowers.

He was a little surprised. Surprised that the goods were received so quickly, and also surprised that the flowers were so lush and dazzling, and he didn’t even see them until now.

He turned to the inside of the shop and saw a glass on the table.

 

Wen Qingying typed, “Sir said he was too busy to eat at noon, so I went to Shengnuxiang. I restocked and bought you a vase.”

Tao Ling stared at him blankly for a long while, then walked into the store. He touched the vase and was speechless for a moment.

 

“It’s not the original one, sir. I’m sorry. I wish I could glue the broken glass back together.” Wen Qingying continued writing.

His eyes suddenly became dry. Tao Ling turned around and grabbed Wen Qingying’s hand.

 

At that moment, someone outside shouted, “Boss, I’m here for flowers!”

Tao Ling released his hand and signaled Wen Qingying that there was a guest outside.

Wen Qingying pursed his lips, blocked his gaze with his body, quickly released his hand, then turned to walk to the door.

 

Tao Ling sat down at the table, and saw Wen Qingying’s notebook lying there.

 

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TL: the dog food this chapter (≧▽≦)