“Should we go now?” Tao Ling asked. But after remembering that Wen Qingying couldn’t hear, he pointed at the road in front and casually made a welcoming gesture.
Wen Qingying looked at him, and nodded lightly. However, he didn’t move.
The pathway between the gravestones could only be used by one person. Tao Ling hesitated for a second, before deciding to walk ahead first.
In one line, the two of them made their way through the cedar trees and passed by one grave after another. Upon setting foot on the illuminated avenue, Tao Ling politely slowed down his footsteps. Wen Qingying then caught up to him.
They walked down the steps built on the hill. The sky had long become completely dark. Only the sounds of the wind were present, as if the only remaining people alive in this cemetery were the two of them.
Tao Ling felt a little uneasy in the beginning. After all, the other party was a stranger to him. He disliked having small talks, while staying silent seemed very weird too. However, he then suddenly remembered that Wen Qingying was a deaf-mute. His quietness is different from other people, so at least there was no awkwardness between them.
Thinking about this, Tao Ling loosened himself up.
When they were about to reach the exit, Tao Ling walked to the far right out of habit, far away from the booth where the security guard of the graveyard was on duty. Wen Qingying did not pay much heed to it, and simply followed him.
After Tao Ling stood by the street, it was only then that he came up with a question.
Somehow, a funny scene started playing in his head. When Wen Qingying took the metro and had the back of his blouse stuck in the door because he couldn’t hear the door closing chime, his two long arms swayed in the air to no avail. And meanwhile, gloominess was showing from the helpless look on his face.
“Is it convenient for you to take public transportations?” Tao Ling raised his phone to him. But in that same very instant, he suddenly realized that Wen Qingying was very tall. He could estimate with his eyes that the other party was half a head taller than him.
Wen Qingying nodded upon finishing reading the question. He took out his phone as well, writing: “But I’m not returning to the city today. Shengnuxiang is very close to here, so I will be heading there tomorrow morning to replenish stock.”
Shengnuxiang was the largest flower farm within the city. An old town with a very huge flower market lied in the back; it could be regarded as an interesting scenic area. Tao Ling would too sometimes go there to look around after visiting Tao Jun.
Currently, he wasn’t wearing any expression on his face, but just thought to himself, impaired in body yet firm in spirit.
Wen Qingying seemed to have read his thoughts, thus wrote a few more words and raised his phone to him: “I’m doing fine and still living a very comfortable life. Thank you mister for your concern.”
Tao Ling raised a polite smile.
Following the end of this silent conversation, both parties waved goodbye to each other.
Tao Ling turned to the road on the right to take the bus. Upon arriving at the bus stop, he turned his head and happened to see Wen Qingying waiting at the traffic light nearby.
The young man stood under the street light of the crosswalk. His side-profile looked gentle, posture tall and straight, while a layer of dim light was casting on his entire body.
After returning to the city, Tao Ling hastily ate some food downstairs. As he turned on the lights upon returning home, he shouted, “I’m back.”
Of course, no one in the room responded.
He first dealt with the emails from work – like always – and then ironed the clothes for the following day after getting out of the shower. When he got himself under the covers, his phone suddenly vibrated.
It was a colleague of the same class working at the foreign language school. The other party wrote, “Ling-ge1, lend me your ID and ATM card numbers. I need to submit the expense account for a project.”
[Just a suffix meaning “older brother” to show respect or closeness towards guys older than you but in the same age group]
Tao Ling glanced at it, before replying, “I won’t.”
He casually scrolled down through Weibo and skimmed through his entire Moments on Wechat to ensure that he was still a modern man with sources of information—although there were many things he couldn’t understand.
He then turned off his phone and laid down motionless.
Two hours later, Tao Ling threw off the covers and sat up violently, annoyed.
He felt too sleepy. So sleepy that the tears he yawned surged out wildly. However, he just couldn’t fall asleep.
He even thought he would get a good night’s sleep after making such a tiring trip to the cemetery. Yet the many words he’d said to Tao Jun all became pointless in the end.
“Tao Jun, you suck.” Tao Ling swore as he turned on the lights, put on his glasses, got off the bed, and grabbed two books from the table before getting back under the covers again.
He did not look at the book covers either, but just casually flipped open one and saw a sentence he wrote in the past: “One struggles from pursuing ambitions, but also from living a meaningless life.”
Bullshit.
He tossed it and flipped open the other book. Another marked sentence entered his sight: “Some people use loneliness to live in this human world.”
Tao Ling held the book and stared vacantly at it for a good while, before spitting out, “Why do I like to scribble so much?”
He pondered for a moment, tiredly threw the books back on the table, heaved a sigh, and put on his slippers to look for his sleeping pills.
The next day, he still had to deal with the matters of the second stage of the postgraduate admission exam. He will need to publish the scores after finishing collating them, and then send out an online notice to students in order to confirm the admission list and upcoming related matters.
Before going to work this afternoon, Tao Ling headed to the school clinic first. The neurology doctor he was familiar with would come to work just every once a week; while the rest of the days were spent in the hospital outside of the school. Going back and forth would be too troublesome.
But to his surprise, the doctor wasn’t here yet, thus Tao Ling had to face a different doctor first.
Upon hearing that he wants to prescribe sleeping pills, the young doctor waved off his hands. “Teacher, the school clinic is only this big. I don’t dare to prescribe sleeping pills so rashly for you. How about you come back again once Dr. Bai arrives at work?”
Tao Ling said, “I need to go to work soon. I’ll just come back next week. But you can help me prescribe the pills first; I will discuss it with her next time.”
The doctor pondered. “How about I prescribe heat-clearing medicine for you first?”
“…”
Seeing the other party’s questioning expression, he helplessly adjusted his glasses. “Just give me medicine for cold then—I got sick.”
Upon finishing a day of torturous work, Tao Ling went to the restroom before packing his bags. He roamed towards the back of the religion studies hall out of habit after coming out, and looked outside the window from the end of the corridor.
The flower shop on the street corner was open. Just as Tao Ling looked over, a sports car had parked in front of the shop. A beautiful young lady got out of the car, and stepped inside the shop with her stilettos.
Tao Ling leaned against the window and rotated the ring with one hand while he gazed idly at the flower shop. Relatively speaking, the place he stood was a bit tall. As such, his sight was blocked by the awning of the shop, and Tao Ling could only see the lower bodies of the two figures.
Perhaps Wen Qingying was currently spending great effort in wrapping flowers for the girl.
After standing for a while, Tao Ling turned around, and thus was unable to witness the next scene——that girl stormed out of the shop in a rage, even managing to knock off a few pots of little daisies at the doorway during her departure.
Tao Ling packed his bags and walked downstairs with a pile of random pills. Then, he was stopped by another teacher who needed to ask him questions. He could finally exit the school gate only twenty minutes later.
Tao Ling crossed the street, stepped on the sidewalk, and immediately saw Wen Qinging crouching by the flower shop entrance.
Wen Qingying was holding a trowel, scooping a pile of soil into several small flower pots. Next to him, were Chinese roses with their roots covered in soil as well as a pile of broken pieces of pottery.
“What happened?” Tao Ling walked up to him, asking.
Wen Qingying naturally didn’t react, and still had his back turned to him, minding his own business. Because his legs were too long, his kneecaps appeared more prominent when he crouched down.
Tao Ling lifted his trouser legs and crouched down next to him.
Wen Qingying blinked his eyes upon the arrival of the other’s figure. He raised his head, but seeing that it was him, he remained motionless for two seconds before suddenly raising a smile.
This was the first time that Tao Ling saw Wen Qingying smile.
He’d originally thought the majority of extremely good-looking people couldn’t smile or else it would break apart the overall look of their facial features. It’d either be a fairy who descended to this mortal world, or a tragedy of disillusionment.
However, Wen Qingying was different.
Wen Qingying looked peaceful when not smiling, but somehow a little unique too. Right now, however, his eyes had curved into a crescent moon shape with the eyebrows raised, while the corner of his lips drew back slightly, revealing two small eyeteeth. He seemed more alive when smiling.
Meanwhile, Tao Ling suddenly felt that his eyes had been shaken by light.
This could be regarded as an exchange of greetings——very informal and casual, yet Tao Ling felt that it was done in a relaxing manner.
Wen Qingying lowered his head and went back to work. Tao Ling’s gaze followed his movements. It’d already traveled past his neck rapidly, yet it shifted back in the next second.
There were a few deep red marks on the side of his neck. The skin has been torn, and even a tiny amount of blood clots could be seen on a closer look. It seemed like it was scratched by someone.
Screw the heat-clearing medicine. He should have bought antibiotic ointments today.
Tao Ling couldn’t help extending out his hand.
Author’s Note:
That sentence, “pursuing ambitions,” is from the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters. It’s found in the Highest Clarity scriptures too. And that sentence about “loneliness” is from Shenxian Zhuan (Biographies of the Deities and Immortals).
T/N: I forgot to mention that YWYG is an intellectual, the true woman of letters, haha. There will be more references and quoted texts from books/poems etc. in the upcoming chapters as well!
“Should we go now?” Tao Ling asked. But after remembering that Wen Qingying couldn’t hear, he pointed at the road in front and casually made a welcoming gesture.
Wen Qingying looked at him, and nodded lightly. However, he didn’t move.
The pathway between the gravestones could only be used by one person. Tao Ling hesitated for a second, before deciding to walk ahead first.
In one line, the two of them made their way through the cedar trees and passed by one grave after another. Upon setting foot on the illuminated avenue, Tao Ling politely slowed down his footsteps. Wen Qingying then caught up to him.
They walked down the steps built on the hill. The sky had long become completely dark. Only the sounds of the wind were present, as if the only remaining people alive in this cemetery were the two of them.
Tao Ling felt a little uneasy in the beginning. After all, the other party was a stranger to him. He disliked having small talks, while staying silent seemed very weird too. However, he then suddenly remembered that Wen Qingying was a deaf-mute. His quietness is different from other people, so at least there was no awkwardness between them.
Thinking about this, Tao Ling loosened himself up.
When they were about to reach the exit, Tao Ling walked to the far right out of habit, far away from the booth where the security guard of the graveyard was on duty. Wen Qingying did not pay much heed to it, and simply followed him.
After Tao Ling stood by the street, it was only then that he came up with a question.
Somehow, a funny scene started playing in his head. When Wen Qingying took the metro and had the back of his blouse stuck in the door because he couldn’t hear the door closing chime, his two long arms swayed in the air to no avail. And meanwhile, gloominess was showing from the helpless look on his face.
“Is it convenient for you to take public transportations?” Tao Ling raised his phone to him. But in that same very instant, he suddenly realized that Wen Qingying was very tall. He could estimate with his eyes that the other party was half a head taller than him.
Wen Qingying nodded upon finishing reading the question. He took out his phone as well, writing: “But I’m not returning to the city today. Shengnuxiang is very close to here, so I will be heading there tomorrow morning to replenish stock.”
Shengnuxiang was the largest flower farm within the city. An old town with a very huge flower market lied in the back; it could be regarded as an interesting scenic area. Tao Ling would too sometimes go there to look around after visiting Tao Jun.
Currently, he wasn’t wearing any expression on his face, but just thought to himself, impaired in body yet firm in spirit.
Wen Qingying seemed to have read his thoughts, thus wrote a few more words and raised his phone to him: “I’m doing fine and still living a very comfortable life. Thank you mister for your concern.”
Tao Ling raised a polite smile.
Following the end of this silent conversation, both parties waved goodbye to each other.
Tao Ling turned to the road on the right to take the bus. Upon arriving at the bus stop, he turned his head and happened to see Wen Qingying waiting at the traffic light nearby.
The young man stood under the street light of the crosswalk. His side-profile looked gentle, posture tall and straight, while a layer of dim light was casting on his entire body.
After returning to the city, Tao Ling hastily ate some food downstairs. As he turned on the lights upon returning home, he shouted, “I’m back.”
Of course, no one in the room responded.
He first dealt with the emails from work – like always – and then ironed the clothes for the following day after getting out of the shower. When he got himself under the covers, his phone suddenly vibrated.
It was a colleague of the same class working at the foreign language school. The other party wrote, “Ling-ge1, lend me your ID and ATM card numbers. I need to submit the expense account for a project.”
[Just a suffix meaning “older brother” to show respect or closeness towards guys older than you but in the same age group]
Tao Ling glanced at it, before replying, “I won’t.”
He casually scrolled down through Weibo and skimmed through his entire Moments on Wechat to ensure that he was still a modern man with sources of information—although there were many things he couldn’t understand.
He then turned off his phone and laid down motionless.
Two hours later, Tao Ling threw off the covers and sat up violently, annoyed.
He felt too sleepy. So sleepy that the tears he yawned surged out wildly. However, he just couldn’t fall asleep.
He even thought he would get a good night’s sleep after making such a tiring trip to the cemetery. Yet the many words he’d said to Tao Jun all became pointless in the end.
“Tao Jun, you suck.” Tao Ling swore as he turned on the lights, put on his glasses, got off the bed, and grabbed two books from the table before getting back under the covers again.
He did not look at the book covers either, but just casually flipped open one and saw a sentence he wrote in the past: “One struggles from pursuing ambitions, but also from living a meaningless life.”
Bullshit.
He tossed it and flipped open the other book. Another marked sentence entered his sight: “Some people use loneliness to live in this human world.”
Tao Ling held the book and stared vacantly at it for a good while, before spitting out, “Why do I like to scribble so much?”
He pondered for a moment, tiredly threw the books back on the table, heaved a sigh, and put on his slippers to look for his sleeping pills.
The next day, he still had to deal with the matters of the second stage of the postgraduate admission exam. He will need to publish the scores after finishing collating them, and then send out an online notice to students in order to confirm the admission list and upcoming related matters.
Before going to work this afternoon, Tao Ling headed to the school clinic first. The neurology doctor he was familiar with would come to work just every once a week; while the rest of the days were spent in the hospital outside of the school. Going back and forth would be too troublesome.
But to his surprise, the doctor wasn’t here yet, thus Tao Ling had to face a different doctor first.
Upon hearing that he wants to prescribe sleeping pills, the young doctor waved off his hands. “Teacher, the school clinic is only this big. I don’t dare to prescribe sleeping pills so rashly for you. How about you come back again once Dr. Bai arrives at work?”
Tao Ling said, “I need to go to work soon. I’ll just come back next week. But you can help me prescribe the pills first; I will discuss it with her next time.”
The doctor pondered. “How about I prescribe heat-clearing medicine for you first?”
“…”
Seeing the other party’s questioning expression, he helplessly adjusted his glasses. “Just give me medicine for cold then—I got sick.”
Upon finishing a day of torturous work, Tao Ling went to the restroom before packing his bags. He roamed towards the back of the religion studies hall out of habit after coming out, and looked outside the window from the end of the corridor.
The flower shop on the street corner was open. Just as Tao Ling looked over, a sports car had parked in front of the shop. A beautiful young lady got out of the car, and stepped inside the shop with her stilettos.
Tao Ling leaned against the window and rotated the ring with one hand while he gazed idly at the flower shop. Relatively speaking, the place he stood was a bit tall. As such, his sight was blocked by the awning of the shop, and Tao Ling could only see the lower bodies of the two figures.
Perhaps Wen Qingying was currently spending great effort in wrapping flowers for the girl.
After standing for a while, Tao Ling turned around, and thus was unable to witness the next scene——that girl stormed out of the shop in a rage, even managing to knock off a few pots of little daisies at the doorway during her departure.
Tao Ling packed his bags and walked downstairs with a pile of random pills. Then, he was stopped by another teacher who needed to ask him questions. He could finally exit the school gate only twenty minutes later.
Tao Ling crossed the street, stepped on the sidewalk, and immediately saw Wen Qinging crouching by the flower shop entrance.
Wen Qingying was holding a trowel, scooping a pile of soil into several small flower pots. Next to him, were Chinese roses with their roots covered in soil as well as a pile of broken pieces of pottery.
“What happened?” Tao Ling walked up to him, asking.
Wen Qingying naturally didn’t react, and still had his back turned to him, minding his own business. Because his legs were too long, his kneecaps appeared more prominent when he crouched down.
Tao Ling lifted his trouser legs and crouched down next to him.
Wen Qingying blinked his eyes upon the arrival of the other’s figure. He raised his head, but seeing that it was him, he remained motionless for two seconds before suddenly raising a smile.
This was the first time that Tao Ling saw Wen Qingying smile.
He’d originally thought the majority of extremely good-looking people couldn’t smile or else it would break apart the overall look of their facial features. It’d either be a fairy who descended to this mortal world, or a tragedy of disillusionment.
However, Wen Qingying was different.
Wen Qingying looked peaceful when not smiling, but somehow a little unique too. Right now, however, his eyes had curved into a crescent moon shape with the eyebrows raised, while the corner of his lips drew back slightly, revealing two small eyeteeth. He seemed more alive when smiling.
Meanwhile, Tao Ling suddenly felt that his eyes had been shaken by light.
This could be regarded as an exchange of greetings——very informal and casual, yet Tao Ling felt that it was done in a relaxing manner.
Wen Qingying lowered his head and went back to work. Tao Ling’s gaze followed his movements. It’d already traveled past his neck rapidly, yet it shifted back in the next second.
There were a few deep red marks on the side of his neck. The skin has been torn, and even a tiny amount of blood clots could be seen on a closer look. It seemed like it was scratched by someone.
Screw the heat-clearing medicine. He should have bought antibiotic ointments today.
Tao Ling couldn’t help extending out his hand.
Author’s Note:
That sentence, “pursuing ambitions,” is from the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters. It’s found in the Highest Clarity scriptures too. And that sentence about “loneliness” is from Shenxian Zhuan (Biographies of the Deities and Immortals).
T/N: I forgot to mention that YWYG is an intellectual, the true woman of letters, haha. There will be more references and quoted texts from books/poems etc. in the upcoming chapters as well!
