After The Honest Person Was Discovered For Simultaneously Pursuing Three People - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: When Did You fall in Love With Me?

Xu Jun’s home was in the Conghua district, which was very far from the school. The two of them took a few subway transfers. During this time, Xu Jun was carrying his luggage. People came and went all around them, and the vehicles were bustling. Xu Jun’s hand and Tao Ning’s hand touched again and again. Finally, he held his hand and led him home.

Tao Ning looked at him. The man’s expression was calm, and he couldn’t see anything on his face. He calmly told him: “The subway is very crowded during rush hour, and you don’t have a phone. I’m afraid you’ll get lost.”

“Oh.”

The two of them finally got off at an urban village station. Xu Jun held his hand and led him out of the station. As soon as they came out, a middle-aged man with a gentle face and wearing a housecoat waved at them. “Juan’er, son, over here!”

Xu Jun held Tao Ning’s hand and walked over. He called out: “Dad.” He raised the hand he was holding with the boy and introduced him: “This is my… friend.”

Xu Jun said the word “friend” slowly and deliberately.

Xu Jun’s appearance was nine-tenths like the middle-aged man’s. It was the first time Tao Ning had met his good friend’s parents. He was nervous and awkward, but he still said obediently: “Hello, Uncle. I’m Xu Jun’s friend. My name is Tao Ning.”

Father Xu’s face was gentle and kind. His eyes were narrowed in a smile. Surprisingly, he asked Xu Jun almost the exact same question, asking which characters made up “Tao Ning.”

Tao Ning was stunned. He couldn’t help but turn his head to look at Xu Jun. As if they had a telepathic connection, a light breeze blew by, and Xu Jun also looked at him. There was a faint smile in his indifferent eyes.

“Tao from ‘earthenware,’ Ning from ‘lemon.'”

The boy said crisply.

Along the way, Father Xu insisted on helping them with their luggage and kept asking Tao Ning what he liked to eat and what he didn’t like to eat. So, a third of what they bought were light dishes, but for the other two-thirds, Father Xu bought a lot of chili peppers to make heavily spiced and oily dishes.

Father Xu’s gentle face was flushed, and his eyes were overflowing with love: “Lingling heard that you’re coming back these two days and is finally willing to come home to see me, an empty nester. I’ll make more of her favorite dishes. Son, don’t blame me for being biased.”

Lingling was Xu Jun’s mother’s name. In the end, he also bought a bouquet of roses.

Xu Jun followed and took a bouquet of sunflowers. He squeezed the boy’s slender fingers in his palm, his gaze calm: “I don’t.”

Last night, Xu Jun not only learned all of Tao Ning’s information, but Tao Ning also learned about Xu Jun’s family situation. He was indeed born into a very ordinary family. His father, Father Xu, was an elementary school math teacher, and his mother, Mother Xu, was a manager at a company. The two of them were childhood sweethearts from C City. C City’s hot pot was very famous, and Mother Xu loved it.

Later, they came to Haizhou to work hard, settled down here, got married, had a child, and had Xu Jun.

The two of them followed behind Father Xu, turned a few corners, and finally stopped in an old-fashioned neighborhood. This old-fashioned neighborhood was full of magnolia trees. White flowers swayed in the breeze. Under the shade of the trees, there were almost always old men playing chess and old ladies dancing. Occasionally, there would be a few noisy children playing on the slide.

Time passed slowly, just as Xu Jun walked slowly, holding Tao Ning’s hand, following behind Father Xu.

Some of the old ladies recognized Xu Jun and called out to him in a mix of Cantonese and Mandarin: “J-Jun’er, are you back from school?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, who’s the boy next to you? He’s so pretty.”

This time, however, Xu Jun didn’t answer, but his grip on Tao Ning’s hand became tighter.

As they went upstairs, Xu Jun suddenly stopped and handed the sunflowers with dewdrops on them to Tao Ning, who was next to him. In the somewhat dim stairwell, Tao Ning looked up and met his gentle gaze behind his glasses. A dark current was surging in that gaze, as if the same feeling that Father Xu had when he mentioned Mother Xu was taking root and sprouting.

Tao Ning was stunned and took the beautiful sunflowers.

“Are they for me?”

“Yes. Do you like them?”

“I do.”

Xu Jun’s home was a three-bedroom apartment with a living room. It was clean and tidy, just as spotless as the dorm. A breeze blew the curtains, and bright light shone on the bright floor. Xu Jun squatted down and took out a pair of slippers for Tao Ning. “These are the ones I wore in middle school.”

Tao Ning was a little embarrassed. “My feet are big!” But when he put them on, they fit surprisingly well. Now, the little lemon had turned into a little red lemon.

Xu Jun looked at his blushing cheeks and smiled faintly.

On the other side, Father Xu had already put on an apron with a bear pattern and was cutting and washing vegetables in the kitchen. He also cut a lot of fruit and called out to the people outside: “J-Jian’er, take the fruit out for Ningning to eat.”

Xu Jun told Tao Ning to sit on the sofa, went to the kitchen to get a fruit platter for him, and then turned on the TV to a children’s channel. Ultraman was playing. He told him: “I’ll go help my dad cook. You eat the fruit and watch TV here, okay?”

Tao Ning didn’t know when the man had found out that he liked Ultraman. The tone of his instruction was as if he had become a child and the man was very worried about him. He was a little embarrassed: “Thank you…”

The corner of Xu Jun’s mouth curved up: “Hmm.”

After he left, Tao Ning seriously started watching TV. Like a normal boy, he liked Ultraman and all kinds of superhero-type heroes, but he still liked Ultraman the most, because they could break through the clouds and go into space.

When he was young, the summer was hot. There was no air conditioner at home, not even a fan, only a few old palm-leaf fans. Tao Yuan would take him outside to sleep on a makeshift bed on the ground and fan him with a palm-leaf fan.

Tao Ning, only six or seven years old, rested his head on his sister’s arm, looked up at the stars in the sky, and asked in a childish voice: “Sister, are there really immortals in the sky? Do immortals have to feed Little White too? Do they feed Little White with the grass from the back of our house?”

Little White was the big white fat pig they raised at home. Tao Ning named him “Little White.”

At that time, Tao Yuan was so sleepy she couldn’t move. She patted the round head in her arms with the palm-leaf fan. “You brat… there are no immortals in the world… go to sleep.”

“Oh.”

But ever since then, Tao Ning seemed to be aware of something and often looked up at the starry sky. It wasn’t until many years later that the system, which claimed to be from a highly advanced civilization in the universe, latched onto him. Everything was so clever and coincidental.

Tao Ning stared intently at the TV. Suddenly, the sound of a key turning was heard outside the door. The door opened. Before Tao Ning could get up or Xu Jun could come out, Father Xu hurriedly washed his hands, picked up the roses he had bought, and rushed to the door. His gentle face was flushed beyond belief: “Lingling, the flower shop downstairs has new roses. I bought a bouquet. Do you like them?”

The woman who was presented with the roses was not tall, but her features were cold. With a sharp short haircut and a capable suit, she had a strong presence. She took the roses, glanced at Xu Jun and Tao Ning next to him, and without saying anything, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Father Xu’s cheek. Her voice was low: “Hmm, I like them very much.”

Tao Ning stood next to Xu Jun. When he saw this scene, his eyes widened. The hand that had just taken the sunflowers felt as if it was on fire. But Xu Jun seemed to be used to it. He called out to his mother: “Mom, I’m home.”

Mother Xu’s cold gaze fell on him. Her tone was serious: “Don’t slack off even when you’re home. Your grades this semester should be better than last semester. Be disciplined.” Then she softened her voice and looked at the awkward Tao Ning. “Is it Tao Ning? Xu Jun has already told me. You can stay for these two days. If there’s anything you want to eat or play, tell Xu Jun.”

“T-Thank you, Auntie.”

Tao Ning finally knew who Xu Jun inherited his occasional “dean of students” serious aura from. He looked like his father, but his demeanor was very much like his mother’s.

The dining table was full of dishes that looked and smelled delicious. The light dishes were placed in front of Tao Ning and Xu Jun, while all the slightly oily and salty ones were placed in front of Mother Xu. Father Xu was serving Mother Xu dishes the entire time, and his eyes only saw her.

The dining table was very quiet. Tao Ning ate silently. Occasionally, there would be green vegetables and boiled shrimp tails in his bowl that Xu Jun had put there—he had carefully peeled them one by one with gloves on. Halfway through the meal, Mother Xu looked at Xu Jun and asked him about his recent schoolwork. She also told him some survival rules.

She said that the school was a miniature society and told him not to be lazy, not to be careless, and to learn to read the room. Father Xu was next to her, serving her dishes and soup, and never interrupted.

After dinner, Father Xu and Xu Jun both put on the bear aprons and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

Tao Ning sat on the sofa, while Mother Xu sat next to him, drinking tea and handling work matters. Ultraman was still playing on the TV. The room was very quiet, with only the dialogue from the TV.

It wasn’t until Mother Xu put down her work that she suddenly said: “Xu Jun has been precocious and aloof since he was a child. He doesn’t like to make friends with his peers. You must be his first friend.”

Without the seriousness from the dinner table, a faint smile finally appeared on Mother Xu’s cold face: “I’m very happy to see that you two get along so well.” Her eyes showed the unique motherly love. When she looked at Tao Ning, it was like she was looking at her own child.

Mother Xu smiled faintly. “If he dares to bully you, remember to tell me.”

Tao Ning nodded and then shook his head: “He won’t, Auntie. He’s a very good person.”

The two people outside the kitchen were talking in low voices. Inside the kitchen, Father Xu was cleaning up the dishes. He was smiling gently, and his voice was very low: “J-Jian’er, you like that child, don’t you?”

The hand that was wiping the cabinet paused. Xu Jun lowered his eyelids and gave a faint “hmm.”

“When did you start liking him?” Father Xu’s voice had an undisguised teasing laugh.

Xu Jun answered truthfully: “He said his name was Lemon.”

Father Xu couldn’t help but laugh, but he didn’t ask any more questions.

After they were done cleaning, Father Xu hugged Mother Xu’s waist and wouldn’t let go. He asked her if she would like to go for a walk, and then said a little aggrieved: “You haven’t gone for a walk with me in five days.” Mother Xu’s face was cold, but she took his hand and went out.

Before leaving, Father Xu turned back and winked at Xu Jun.

Xu Jun: “…”

The sound of the door closing echoed. He turned his head. The little lemon on the sofa was flipping through his childhood photo album. Father Xu had smiled and handed it to Tao Ning. As the boy looked at it, he suddenly smiled with his eyes curved: “How old were you in this photo?”

Xu Jun stared at his bright smile for a while and silently moved closer to him. He saw that the boy was holding a photo of a “female doll” wearing a skirt and a red dot on her forehead. The “female doll,” however, was expressionless and looked a little unwilling. Next to it was a line of elegant handwriting—

“Lingling thinks Jian’er is a mischievous boy, so let’s give him a nickname, Jian’er.”

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