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After sending Tao Xihong away, Xu Jiangtong found a ring.

The setting is a silhouette of an elk with ruby ​​eyes, and the shank is made of two interlaced hoops, imitating the tracks left by a sledge.

This is a small gadget that he sharpened in his college metalworking class. Nine years later, the luster of the metal is still bright, but the design is a little childish.Xu Jiangtong looked at it for a moment and put it on the index finger of his left hand.

As the end of the term approaches, time always flies by. Students review their homework and the teacher prepares for the end of the year. No one seems to notice what he is holding.

The volleyball team's training also became the next day. Tao Xihong took the time to read the courseware after going back to bed, and didn't go to bed until early in the morning.

But he was not in a hurry to sleep, but turned on the class playback and sucked up the little beauty happily.

Since obtaining an account, Xu Jiangtong's recorded lessons have replaced the website he browses irregularly, and it has become an unshakable habit every night.

Xu Jiangtong speaks English much more fluently than Chinese, and sounds confident and unrestrained.Tao Xihong likes to see his daily outfits, he likes to hear his steady voice, and he likes to watch his fingers flying in front of the podium holding the page presenter.

Especially after sharing the same room with him, every detail of Xu Jiangtong's well-proportioned breathing, slightly frowning brows, and helpless eyes when awakened by nightmares can make Tao Xihong's body congested.

But today, Tao Xihong discovered another difference.Under the light of the projector, Xu Jiangtong's left hand was somewhat reflective.

ring?He smelled something special, pressed the pause button, and clicked to zoom in.

The video can only be magnified twice, and the picture quality is already very blurry, and only a little silver can be vaguely seen on his finger.

Tao Xihong read it several times and was sure it was the index finger of his left hand, indicating that the owner is still single, and in China it seems that he still has the meaning of seeking peach blossoms.

In an instant, he only felt his body tense, being bound by the cold ring, like an animal's courtship signal.

On the weekend, Xu Jiangtong received a call from Tao Xihong.

"Teacher, are you home?"

"What's the matter?" Xu Jiangtong was making coffee, but he didn't know that the other party had already walked around his office and asked the question knowingly.

"My computer is broken," Tao Xihong said anxiously, "The master said it was a hardware problem, and it would take two days to fix it after sending it back to the factory. But I have a deadline tonight..."

"So you want to borrow a computer from me?"

"Well, sir, do you have a spare?"

Xu Jiangtong did have a spare computer. Seeing that Tao Xihong was in such a hurry, he agreed without thinking too much: "Come to my house and get it."

"That's great!" He thanked excitedly, "Mr. Xiao Jiang, you are really a kind person."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Jiangtong took out a spare computer, switched the system to Chinese, baked a plate of bread, and had a simple lunch.

About 10 minutes later, the doorbell rang, and it was a call to the head of the household.Xu Jiangtong passed the permission, and soon there was a knock on the door.

Xu Jiangtong opened the door for him, and Tela, who was having lunch, also ran to the door, saw the "acquaintance", and called out a few times in dissatisfaction.

Samoyed's cry gave Tao Xihong a sense of accomplishment. He glanced at Xu Jiangtong's left hand and said tentatively, "I'll hand in my homework at midnight tonight. If the teacher doesn't mind, I'll finish it at your home before leaving."

Anyway, it wasn't the first time he was allowed to enter the house. Xu Jiangtong pointed to the computer on the dining table and said, "I'm going to work, you can do what you want."

"Okay." Tao Xihong thanked repeatedly, and made a face at Tela while he was not paying attention.

The dog food in Tela's mouth suddenly tasted bad, and he followed Xu Jiangtong aggrievedly.

"Go to your own room." Xu Jiangtong led it into another room.

Tao Xihong turned on the computer contentedly, and found that there were several Russian folders on the desktop, but when the USB flash drive was inserted, the system displayed Chinese.

so careful.He was flattered to open the half-written thesis - the final assignment of Introduction to Logistics, accounting for 50%.

In order to write this thesis, he has read the materials for a week piecemeal, but the school's public computer is difficult to reserve, and the Internet cafe is noisy, which makes him exhausted.

In contrast, Xu Jiangtong's home is a paradise.The decoration is simple and elegant, the interior is spacious and bright, and the glass cabinet in the living room is still lit with aromatherapy, which smells refreshing and brainwashing.

Tao Xihong wrote the rest of the essay in just a few hours, sorted out the reference materials, and uploaded them to the course selection system.

"My wife's things are easy to use." After handing in his homework, he blew a kiss to Xu Jiangtong's computer and sent a message asking him what he would like for dinner.

Xu Jiangtong didn't reply, probably still busy with work.Tao Xihong sat quietly in the living room for a while, when he heard intermittent bird calls coming from the room.

Does he have birds?Tao Xihong walked over curiously and turned the doorknob slightly.

The light in the room illuminated the narrow corridor, and as the door was pushed open, Tao Xihong finally saw everything inside clearly.

This is Xu Jiangtong's studio.

The room was well lit, and the walls were so bright white that it could even be described as dazzling.There are several clusters of dried flowers on the ground, mostly yellow, sealed in test tubes intact.

The window was opened a crack, and the white gauze curtain fluttered in the wind.On the half-person-high canvas is the work he just finished. There is an abstract flesh color in the middle. It looks like a girl's body, wrapped in grass and flowers. It is unconventional and unconventional.

And the owner of this painting is lying on his back in the sofa chair in the center of the room at this moment, with his slender legs resting on the back of the chair, and the dark blue pajama pants slipped down, exposing the muscles of his ankles and calves.

He covered his eyes with a layer of white gauze, and a cockatiel rested on his curled fingers.Seeing the sound, the parrot croaked and flew back to the cage with its wings fluttering.

"You disturbed my garden." In the next second, Xu Jiangtong folded his legs, straightened his body skillfully, and sat cross-legged on the sofa.

"Teacher..." Tao Xihong stood stupidly at the door, holding his breath.

Xu Jiangtong lowered his head gracefully, trying to untie his eyes.For some reason, Tao Xihong strode forward, grabbed his dangling wrist, and pushed it onto the back of the chair.

"What are you doing?" His voice trembled visibly.

"Aren't you afraid?" Tao Xihong squeezed the bones of his wrist, "How dare you show such a defenseless posture when you are in the same room with a stranger."

Xu Jiangtong straightened his waist, but his hands were bound above his head by Tao Xihong, so he couldn't use his waist strength alone.

But he didn't panic at all: "You are not a stranger."

"what is that?"

"What do you think?" Xu Jiangtong asked back.

Tao Xihong's breathing was disturbed by his rising end note, looking at the little beauty below him who actively covered his eyes, he could hardly control the thought of stripping him naked on the spot.

"It's getting late, let's go eat." Finally, he let go of his hand in a daze.

Xu Jiangtong flexed his wrist and asked, "Have you finished your homework?"

"Yeah." Tao Xihong responded sullenly, rushed into the bathroom, and washed his face with cold water.

Xu Jiangtong lay down for a while, and waited for the effect of the eye drops to wear off before taking off the gauze and going to the study to get his cell phone.

The moment the screen turned on, he froze severely.

15 minutes ago, Tao Xihong sent himself a message: Wife, do you have dinner?

Xu Jiangtong held his mobile phone in surprise, and went to the living room to look for him: "Tao Xihong?"

"What's wrong?" He twisted his dripping bangs, and poked his head out of the bathroom in embarrassment.

Xu Jiangtong pointed the screen in front of his eyes, and Tao Xihong's smile froze instantly.He remembered very clearly that at that time he had just finished his homework and was addressing Xu Jiangtong's computer as "wife", unexpectedly he sent it.

"I made a typo." He smiled awkwardly, "It's all due to the garbage input method, Mr. Jiang, don't mind."

Xu Jiangtong took back the phone in doubt.

Tao Xihong finally saw his ring clearly, and changed the topic: "Wearing a ring on the index finger, is the teacher still single?"

Xu Jiangtong touched his left hand subconsciously and nodded.

Tao Xihong asked again: "You are 28 years old, should you have been in love?"

When talking about his student days, Xu Jiangtong only had endless homework in his mind and the lingering haze of that year, so he shook his head and said, "No."

Tao Xihong's eyes lit up.

"What about you?" Unexpectedly, Xu Jiangtong asked him in the next second, "Have you found a girlfriend yet?"

Hearing this word, Tao Xihong's long-prepared words stuck in his throat—Xu Jiangtong seemed to have misunderstood his sexual orientation.

"I..." The moment he opened his mouth to explain, he flinched.

He is aware of the disparity in economic status between the two of them. If he wants to stay in the fairy tale world for a while, it is a better choice to use the umbrella of a "straight man" to approach him.

"Same as you." Concealing his emotions, Tao Xihong returned to his usual hippie smile.

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This period of ambiguity will be a little longer.