Before opening that post, Tao Ling was able to figure it out already. Perhaps the young beautiful lady he’d encountered before was looking for Wen Qingying again. And without a doubt, when the original poster finished howling, he was able to see the picture in the following comment.
The picture was a little blurry, appearing to have been taken in front of the street. He could see Wen Qingying’s tall slender silhouette inside the flower shop, and a woman with an attractive figure.
There were many pictures taken, all of the two people talking face to face to each other—except for the last one, which showed the woman pulling Wen Qingying’s wrist as the latter appeared to be furrowing his eyebrows.
Someone below said: “How can a few pictures mean anything?”
5th floor: “Looks like it’s a couple arguing with each other?”
6th floor: “Is the floor above dumb or what? How can the boss argue when he can’t even speak?”
8th floor: “He can’t speak? Is he a deaf-mute or only a mute? WTF! hiqHDUGQ亅；odhYE！(Due to extreme sadness resulting in sudden death, the message above was sent by the phone itself.)”
9th floor: “He’s a deaf mute, and I can attest that because I bought his flowers before.”
“…”
15th floor: “The girl is the one who is doing all the talking. Don’t you girls always behave like this whenever you fight? Even after getting blocked by men, you guys can still talk all day long.”
16th floor: “The floor above is the exact definition of straight man cancer.”
20th floor: “The 15th floor must denitely be a gay in disguise. I have seen your ID in many floors, so just confess already that you like the boss.”
The floors were getting more and more ridiculous. Meanwhile, the original poster who disappeared right after uploading the photos finally appeared again on the 30th floor: “They indeed had a falling-out moment. I was standing on the opposite street when they were arguing that day, and I think the boss ran away from home. The two of them are nothing more but just a couple. Actually, you guys will not get me unless you see it with your own eyes, but they look so damn good together! That girl is literally the Ms. Perfect, while my heart, on the other hand, has already broken into a million pieces.”
“…”
After reading for a while, his brain seemed to have stopped working. Before he could make sense of anything, he was already creating an account.
The next step was to set up an ID. Tao Ling stared at the interface for a moment. He then threw a look outside the window, lowered his head to type, and successfully got the account created.
Soon afterward, a new floor emerged inside this storied building——
The netizen with the ID, “First window at the left-hand side” said: “You guys are so boring. What’s even the point? Rather than obssessing over a stranger’s life, shouldn’t you be reading more?”
52nd floor: “What the fuck is wrong with the floor above? We are caring about the handsome guy, not you. My guess is that you came here to look for attention as you lack followers, right?”
He was jumped on by several floors in a row. A person said: “The floors above should calm down first. As for the “Left-hand side” user, looking at your ID, did you fail eighth grade or what? You have mingled with the wrong forum. Go back and do your homework.”
“…”
He used an inquisitive tone to type out those words, so he wasn’t ridiculing them either. However, he had no idea that his intention to probe became an act of a troublemaker in other people’s eyes.
The floors stacked up very quickly. “First window at the left-hand side” remained silent for a good while before making another comment: “Being obssesed over someone else’s life shows that you are being possesive over them. Don’t you find it unnatural to be possesive over a stranger?”
Fuck this new user verification code. Not to mention, they are all weird characters that cannot be read.
As soon as he finished posting it, Tao Ling logged off from his account.
He put his phone inside his pocket and got downstairs. When he was halfway down, he suddenly felt that he was not in his right mind.
Tao Ling crossed the street and arrived in front of the flower shop, the customers from before left already.
Wen Qingying raised the same usual smile upon seeing him, exposing his two eye teeth that would add extra youthfulness to his handsome appearance.
A slight discomfort was dwelling in his chest a moment ago, and now it has assuaged a lot. However, Tao Ling had yet to notice this change in his mood.
Wen Qingying lowered his head, allowing Tao Ling to see his speckless forehead and eyebrows in the most casual manner while he typed on his phone: “Mister, I made fruit juice a moment ago. Since you’re here now, would you like to try some?”
“Sure.” Tao Ling nodded and followed him to the shop.
The table at the back has been cleared out, and a juicer was placed in the middle. There was also a coffee pot with the lingering aroma of coffee.
Wen Qingying washed a cup and poured the juice beside him. Tao Ling raised his phone to type, and when the other finished filling a cup, he passed it to him: “Can I drink coffee?”
Wen Qingying put down his hands, replying: “The coffee is cold now. I brewed it this morning.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Tao Ling grabbed an empty cup.
Upon seeing this, Wen Qingying suddenly picked up the coffee pot and placed it on the highest shelf. He turned around again as if nothing happened and continued pouring the juice.
“…”
After pushing the cup to Tao Ling, he finally typed: “It’s not that I don’t want mister to drink it, but because it’s six o’clock already. You won’t be able to fall asleep tonight if you drink coffee now.”
Tao Ling smiled, although saying, “I won’t be able to sleep anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
He held the cup and took a sip of juice. making his lips purse and eyebrows furrow all at once. But when he raised his head, he was met with the innocent look on Wen Qingying’s face. Thus in the end, he still swallowed it with much difficulty.
The sourness was too much to bear. As such, the tips of his brows could not help quivering a little.
After watching for a moment, Wen Qingying suddenly spread a smile on his face, making a trace of mischievousness flash past his eyes.
“…Is this your revenge on me?”
This was uttered out loud. However, Wen Qingying typed, pretending to not get what he meant: “The juice that mister bought me last time had no sugar, so I thought you like to drink sour juices.”
Tao Ling had dug a pit for himself. Speechless, he lifted his eyelids and made a not-so-obvious eye roll.
The more Wen Qingying smiled, the happier he became, smiling to the point it managed to tickle Tao Ling off. He then regained his composure and took out a jar of honey from the cabinet, proceeding to add sugar into Tao Ling’s cup.
“You’re not a naive person either. Just like Tao Jun, you like to seek revenge, right?”
After sitting for a while, Tao Ling finally remembered what his purpose was for coming to the flower shop. As such, he took out a first-year class schedule from his bag and handed it over to Wen Qingying. The class schedules of postgraduate students are random and will need to be looked up online. This one, however, was copied out by hand by Tao Ling this afternoon.
His class was arranged to be on Friday night, starting at seven-thirty.
Wen Qingying took the schedule with his hands and moved his finger from Monday to Friday before stopping at the two characters, “Tao Ling.” He then looked at the person in front of him, questioning.
Because of this one look, Tao Ling realized in that instant that despite having known each other for such a long time, Wen Qingying doesn’t know his name at all.
Tao Jun’s gravestone had his name on it. However, the engraved characters were very slanted and small, so it’s likely that he didn’t read it.
Upon thinking about this matter, Tao Ling nodded.
Wen Qingying typed on his phone with a smiling face: “Is this the reason why mister likes chrysanthemum flowers? ‘Mount Xiegong remained the same, its chrysanthemums being still present.’“
Tao Ling was slightly amazed by these two lines of poem. Seeing that the other wasn’t trying to strike an attitude, he simply raised his thumb and said, “Well, my brother likes them. In fact, I don’t really like Autumn.”
Wen Qingying had a piece of white paper next to his hand. While Tao Ling was drinking his juice, he lowered his head, writing on the paper with the schedule next to it.
Seeing that his hand was moving on the paper, Tao Ling suddenly thought of the post from a moment ago. Then, everything before his eyes seemed to have become dull.
He rested his elbow on the table and touched the ring on his middle finger with his right hand, blindly taking it off midway before pushing it back, then twisted it in a perpetual motion. A moment later, he took it off again and repeated the same steps.
This was his habit whenever he daydreamed. Wen Qingying raised his eyes and looked at his face, then drooped them down to his hands.
Before Tao Ling could regain his senses, a customer was already standing outside. Wen Qingying thus got up to welcome them, causing Tao Ling to finally break his train of thought – which had driven up to some random mountain – and walked out of the shop with his bag.
The schedule and white paper were still laid on the table. Half of the schedule has already been copied down on the paper. The corner, however, was written with a stanza that Tao Ling had failed to notice: “Tao Ling is much sincere, longing for his one smile.”
Author’s Note:
“Mount Xiegong remained the same, its chrysanthemums being still present” is from Huangfu Ran’s poem, “和中丞奉使承恩还终南旧居.”
“Tao Ling is much sincere, longing for his one smile” is from Ling Yi’s poem, “酬陈明府舟中见赠.”
Before opening that post, Tao Ling was able to figure it out already. Perhaps the young beautiful lady he’d encountered before was looking for Wen Qingying again. And without a doubt, when the original poster finished howling, he was able to see the picture in the following comment.
The picture was a little blurry, appearing to have been taken in front of the street. He could see Wen Qingying’s tall slender silhouette inside the flower shop, and a woman with an attractive figure.
There were many pictures taken, all of the two people talking face to face to each other—except for the last one, which showed the woman pulling Wen Qingying’s wrist as the latter appeared to be furrowing his eyebrows.
Someone below said: “How can a few pictures mean anything?”
5th floor: “Looks like it’s a couple arguing with each other?”
6th floor: “Is the floor above dumb or what? How can the boss argue when he can’t even speak?”
8th floor: “He can’t speak? Is he a deaf-mute or only a mute? WTF! hiqHDUGQ亅；odhYE！(Due to extreme sadness resulting in sudden death, the message above was sent by the phone itself.)”
9th floor: “He’s a deaf mute, and I can attest that because I bought his flowers before.”
“…”
15th floor: “The girl is the one who is doing all the talking. Don’t you girls always behave like this whenever you fight? Even after getting blocked by men, you guys can still talk all day long.”
16th floor: “The floor above is the exact definition of straight man cancer.”
20th floor: “The 15th floor must denitely be a gay in disguise. I have seen your ID in many floors, so just confess already that you like the boss.”
The floors were getting more and more ridiculous. Meanwhile, the original poster who disappeared right after uploading the photos finally appeared again on the 30th floor: “They indeed had a falling-out moment. I was standing on the opposite street when they were arguing that day, and I think the boss ran away from home. The two of them are nothing more but just a couple. Actually, you guys will not get me unless you see it with your own eyes, but they look so damn good together! That girl is literally the Ms. Perfect, while my heart, on the other hand, has already broken into a million pieces.”
“…”
After reading for a while, his brain seemed to have stopped working. Before he could make sense of anything, he was already creating an account.
The next step was to set up an ID. Tao Ling stared at the interface for a moment. He then threw a look outside the window, lowered his head to type, and successfully got the account created.
Soon afterward, a new floor emerged inside this storied building——
The netizen with the ID, “First window at the left-hand side” said: “You guys are so boring. What’s even the point? Rather than obssessing over a stranger’s life, shouldn’t you be reading more?”
52nd floor: “What the fuck is wrong with the floor above? We are caring about the handsome guy, not you. My guess is that you came here to look for attention as you lack followers, right?”
He was jumped on by several floors in a row. A person said: “The floors above should calm down first. As for the “Left-hand side” user, looking at your ID, did you fail eighth grade or what? You have mingled with the wrong forum. Go back and do your homework.”
“…”
He used an inquisitive tone to type out those words, so he wasn’t ridiculing them either. However, he had no idea that his intention to probe became an act of a troublemaker in other people’s eyes.
The floors stacked up very quickly. “First window at the left-hand side” remained silent for a good while before making another comment: “Being obssesed over someone else’s life shows that you are being possesive over them. Don’t you find it unnatural to be possesive over a stranger?”
Fuck this new user verification code. Not to mention, they are all weird characters that cannot be read.
As soon as he finished posting it, Tao Ling logged off from his account.
He put his phone inside his pocket and got downstairs. When he was halfway down, he suddenly felt that he was not in his right mind.
Tao Ling crossed the street and arrived in front of the flower shop, the customers from before left already.
Wen Qingying raised the same usual smile upon seeing him, exposing his two eye teeth that would add extra youthfulness to his handsome appearance.
A slight discomfort was dwelling in his chest a moment ago, and now it has assuaged a lot. However, Tao Ling had yet to notice this change in his mood.
Wen Qingying lowered his head, allowing Tao Ling to see his speckless forehead and eyebrows in the most casual manner while he typed on his phone: “Mister, I made fruit juice a moment ago. Since you’re here now, would you like to try some?”
“Sure.” Tao Ling nodded and followed him to the shop.
The table at the back has been cleared out, and a juicer was placed in the middle. There was also a coffee pot with the lingering aroma of coffee.
Wen Qingying washed a cup and poured the juice beside him. Tao Ling raised his phone to type, and when the other finished filling a cup, he passed it to him: “Can I drink coffee?”
Wen Qingying put down his hands, replying: “The coffee is cold now. I brewed it this morning.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Tao Ling grabbed an empty cup.
Upon seeing this, Wen Qingying suddenly picked up the coffee pot and placed it on the highest shelf. He turned around again as if nothing happened and continued pouring the juice.
“…”
After pushing the cup to Tao Ling, he finally typed: “It’s not that I don’t want mister to drink it, but because it’s six o’clock already. You won’t be able to fall asleep tonight if you drink coffee now.”
Tao Ling smiled, although saying, “I won’t be able to sleep anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
He held the cup and took a sip of juice. making his lips purse and eyebrows furrow all at once. But when he raised his head, he was met with the innocent look on Wen Qingying’s face. Thus in the end, he still swallowed it with much difficulty.
The sourness was too much to bear. As such, the tips of his brows could not help quivering a little.
After watching for a moment, Wen Qingying suddenly spread a smile on his face, making a trace of mischievousness flash past his eyes.
“…Is this your revenge on me?”
This was uttered out loud. However, Wen Qingying typed, pretending to not get what he meant: “The juice that mister bought me last time had no sugar, so I thought you like to drink sour juices.”
Tao Ling had dug a pit for himself. Speechless, he lifted his eyelids and made a not-so-obvious eye roll.
The more Wen Qingying smiled, the happier he became, smiling to the point it managed to tickle Tao Ling off. He then regained his composure and took out a jar of honey from the cabinet, proceeding to add sugar into Tao Ling’s cup.
“You’re not a naive person either. Just like Tao Jun, you like to seek revenge, right?”
After sitting for a while, Tao Ling finally remembered what his purpose was for coming to the flower shop. As such, he took out a first-year class schedule from his bag and handed it over to Wen Qingying. The class schedules of postgraduate students are random and will need to be looked up online. This one, however, was copied out by hand by Tao Ling this afternoon.
His class was arranged to be on Friday night, starting at seven-thirty.
Wen Qingying took the schedule with his hands and moved his finger from Monday to Friday before stopping at the two characters, “Tao Ling.” He then looked at the person in front of him, questioning.
Because of this one look, Tao Ling realized in that instant that despite having known each other for such a long time, Wen Qingying doesn’t know his name at all.
Tao Jun’s gravestone had his name on it. However, the engraved characters were very slanted and small, so it’s likely that he didn’t read it.
Upon thinking about this matter, Tao Ling nodded.
Wen Qingying typed on his phone with a smiling face: “Is this the reason why mister likes chrysanthemum flowers? ‘Mount Xiegong remained the same, its chrysanthemums being still present.’“
Tao Ling was slightly amazed by these two lines of poem. Seeing that the other wasn’t trying to strike an attitude, he simply raised his thumb and said, “Well, my brother likes them. In fact, I don’t really like Autumn.”
Wen Qingying had a piece of white paper next to his hand. While Tao Ling was drinking his juice, he lowered his head, writing on the paper with the schedule next to it.
Seeing that his hand was moving on the paper, Tao Ling suddenly thought of the post from a moment ago. Then, everything before his eyes seemed to have become dull.
He rested his elbow on the table and touched the ring on his middle finger with his right hand, blindly taking it off midway before pushing it back, then twisted it in a perpetual motion. A moment later, he took it off again and repeated the same steps.
This was his habit whenever he daydreamed. Wen Qingying raised his eyes and looked at his face, then drooped them down to his hands.
Before Tao Ling could regain his senses, a customer was already standing outside. Wen Qingying thus got up to welcome them, causing Tao Ling to finally break his train of thought – which had driven up to some random mountain – and walked out of the shop with his bag.
The schedule and white paper were still laid on the table. Half of the schedule has already been copied down on the paper. The corner, however, was written with a stanza that Tao Ling had failed to notice: “Tao Ling is much sincere, longing for his one smile.”
Author’s Note:
“Mount Xiegong remained the same, its chrysanthemums being still present” is from Huangfu Ran’s poem, “和中丞奉使承恩还终南旧居.”
“Tao Ling is much sincere, longing for his one smile” is from Ling Yi’s poem, “酬陈明府舟中见赠.”
