Chapter 46 Chapter 46 The sender’s note was “Old…”

After returning to the dormitory, Tao Ning used the dormitory's shared phone to call Tao Yuan and told her to pick up the package promptly. Tao Yuan's gruff voice came from the other end of the line: "Smelly boy, what did you send back again?"

And Xiao Meng's crying voice: "Uncle! I miss you so much."

Tao Ning's voice softened. "Xiao Meng, I miss you too... Sister, I sent a gold bracelet back."

"What?!" The voice on the other end of the line suddenly rose. "Tao Ning, where did you get that gold bracelet? Was it another gift from that bastard named Zhao?"

Xu Jun, reading nearby, keenly heard the words "again," "surname Zhao," and "scumbag," and paused as he turned the page. Tao Ning quickly lowered her voice, a little aggrieved, "Sister, it wasn't him who sent it. I haven't contacted him."

After hearing what he said, Tao Yuan started to nag him for half an hour about the dangers of men and the need to focus on studying.

Tao Ning lowered his head, revealing his soft, white neck. He agreed while buttoning his shirt with a guilty conscience. That was until Xu Jun said calmly from behind him, "Tao Ning, the hot water is ready."

The bathroom in Oxente didn't even need to be heated; hot water was available 24/7. Tao Ning, confused, stared blankly. Meanwhile, Tao Yuan, who had heard about the strange man next to her brother that day, was furious and demanded, "Who is this man? Ningning, you..."

Tao Ning hurriedly explained, "No, sister, he's my roommate."

"Roommate?" The person on the other end of the phone was skeptical.

Xu Jun circled Tao Ning's right shoulder from behind, his gentle breath gently exhaled, misting over the delicate earlobe of the person in his arms. "Hello, I'm Xu Jun, Xu, the gentle breeze, Jun, the wise words, and Tao Ning's roommate. The gold bracelet is a gift from the Song family to encourage Tao Ning's studies. I saw it with my own eyes, so don't worry."

Tao Yuan only had a third-grade education, so there was no way she could understand him explaining his name. However, Xu Jun spoke gently and slowly, and he could explain things clearly in just a few words, which made him very pleasing to people.

She let out a long "Oh", but perhaps because Zhao Jingqun's matter had too much of an impact on her, Tao Yuan still asked him about some other things, such as his family situation, or how he got along with Tao Ning.

Xu Jun spoke gently, answering each question in an orderly manner. Finally, he said calmly, "Your voice sounds very young. I thought you were a former classmate of Tao Ning's. However, your voice is a little hoarse. Have you had a cold recently? If so, I suggest you drink more rock sugar and snow pear water made with ginger slices. My maternal grandfather's family happens to be rich in snow pears. I'll send you three pounds someday."

The men in the Tao family are all taciturn and Tao Yuan's husband never comes home all year round. This is the first time she has seen such a coaxing gesture and she can't stand it at all. She is so happy that she immediately has no doubts and keeps praising Xu Jun as a good boy and a good roommate.

Until he was about to die, he did not forget to ask Tao Ning and Xu Jun to get along well with each other, and it would be best if he could bring them back to play during the holidays.

Tao Ning: “…”

He had no chance to interrupt and was stunned. It seemed that Xu Jun was not as gentle as he thought. At least he could lie without blinking. For example, the story that he saw the Song family giving him a gold bracelet was completely false.

What made Tao Ning feel even more bewildered was that Xu Jun seemed to see through his thoughts at a glance. He raised his lips slightly and explained to him: "This is the best way to dispel your sister's doubts."

People tend to be defensive towards unfamiliar things that they have never had, but if this thing is linked to an 'acquaintance', the probability of suspicion will be greatly reduced.

Tao Ning said "Oh" and fell silent. Xu Jun went to put away his pajamas and handed them to him, "The hot water is ready."

Tao Ning took a shower and sat on a stool while Xu Jun blew his hair. Although he felt it was a bit awkward, Xu Jun said it was what good friends should do. Tao Ning, lacking experience in making friends, believed him.

His five fingers slowly stroked through the wet hair, his eyes narrowed slightly behind the gold-rimmed glasses. Xu Jun enjoyed the feeling of being in control of all of Tao Ning's affairs, but perhaps he was a little too hasty today, and Little Lemon seemed to be suspicious of him.

But as uncontrollable events continued to unfold, Xu Jun's sense of crisis intensified. For example... who was this "bastard" Little Lemon's sister was talking about? Was his last name Zhao? Was he the one who gave Tao Ning her first phone? Judging from his sister's tone, this man surnamed Zhao seemed to have a history with Little Lemon, which was why he was so wary of him.

So what is this relationship...?

Xu Jun remained calm. After drying Tao Ning's hair, he continued to practice with him as usual. This time, however, Xu Jun replaced the math competition questions with physics textbooks. As expected, Tao Ning opened her clear eyes and asked softly, "Are we going to practice physics today?"

"Yeah." Xu Jun said lightly.

Tao Ning asked no more questions, and the two began to practice questions silently. An hour later, Xu Jun asked him one of the questions. The question was about a mobile phone whose battery was damaged due to being turned off for a long time, and they had to calculate its original operating power by using other conditions.

The question wasn't actually difficult, but Tao Ning read it a few times, his heart skipping a beat. He happened to have a cell phone that had been turned off for a long time—a gift from Zhao Jingqun. He was a little panicked. After all, he wasn't familiar with electronics. What if his phone was actually damaged?

He absentmindedly calculated the problem with a pen and explained it to Xu Jun.

When turning off the lights and going to sleep, Xu Jun closed his eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "Good night."

"Um...goodnight."

In fact, Tao Ning couldn't sleep at all. His mind was full of the physics problem he had just solved before falling asleep. He suppressed his sleepiness and around 1 a.m., he gently called out, "Xu Jun?"

He put on his clothes, tiptoed to the man's bedside, and called again: "Xu Jun?" But the man on the bed was breathing evenly and did not respond. Tao Ning felt relieved. He secretly took out the charger, took out the mobile phone that had not been turned on for a long time from under the pillow, and charged it.

After everything was done, Tao Ning kept guarding the phone. Sleepiness came over him like a tide. He nodded like a chick pecking at rice. After a while, he rubbed his eyes and thought that the phone should be fully charged.

His soft palms were sweating a little. Tao Ning carefully held the almost brand new phone and turned it on. The dazzling light of the phone instantly reflected his trembling eyelashes until the main interface of the phone lit up. After a while, the phone seemed to be stuck and slowly popped up the call and message from Jiujiujia.

There were ninety-nine missed calls and ninety-nine unreceived text messages on my cell phone.

Tao Ning was startled and quickly turned the light of his phone to the dimmest. Behind him was the sleeping Xu Jun, and the phone in his hand was given to him by Zhao Jingqun, whom he regarded as his first love. He didn't know anything at that time, and he really believed what the system said and dumped Zhao Jingqun.

But if he doesn't get rid of Zhao Jingqun, it will be difficult for him to attack Xu Jun and Song Yucong. It can be said that Tao Ning is in a dilemma.

So much so that now, he feels a little guilty.

Tao Ning took a peek at the text messages on her phone. The latest one was sent by her "husband" just two days ago.

【I hate you, Tao Ning.】

Tao Ning's heart skipped a beat and he felt sad again. Perhaps, as the system said, he had really become a bad guy. He wanted Zhao Jingqun to love him, but he also wanted to conquer Xu Jun and Song Yucong... He was too greedy.

Shaking his head, Tao Ning discarded these strange thoughts because they were just his own strategy mission. After completing the strategy mission, he would have a healthy body and would have nothing to do with these three people.

But he couldn't help feeling guilty. Tao Ning hesitated for a moment, and finally replied with a trembling voice:

【sorry. 】

Then he quickly turned off his phone and tucked it back under his pillow. Tao Ning tossed and turned and fell asleep. So he didn't know that the moment the phone light went out, Xu Jun's eyes suddenly opened, without a trace of sleep in them.

His little lemon is hooked, he thought.

The next morning, Tao Ning, with dark circles under his eyes, was dazed as Xu Jun led him to the classroom. Just like before, Xu Jun seemed to have endless troubles to deal with. He frowned after answering a few phone calls, but he still watched Tao Ning finish his medicine, gave him a few candies to coax him, and then hurried out.

Tao Ning was so sleepy that he fell asleep on the table after he left, his mind a blur. That was until the foreign teacher called on him to answer a question again, and everyone around him looked at him with anticipation.

Tao Ning was a little confused and forgot the pronunciation that Song Yucong taught him. He spoke in English haltingly. Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, there were a few subtle laughs in the classroom.

"Pfft, why does this bumpkin pronounce it so strangely?"

"Shh—keep your voice down. Didn't you see that it was Xu Jun who led him in? It's confirmed that Xu Jun's unlucky roommate is this country bumpkin, but it seems that they have a good relationship."

"You know what, this bumpkin looks familiar to me. I think I've seen him in the newspaper."

"Him? And put it in the newspaper? You must be kidding me!"

There were whispers of discussion all around. Tao Ning's fair face flushed crimson. She lowered her head, her timid appearance softening the foreign teacher's heart. He encouraged her, saying, "Tao, you've made progress this time. Keep up the good work next time. I hope you'll get even better."

Hearing this, Tao Ning breathed a sigh of relief, but he began to think that he still needed to improve his spoken English. He thought of Song Yucong, but he was really angry that day. If Song Yucong had not apologized and no task was issued, he would not have taken the initiative to ask Song Yucong to teach him spoken English.

Because Tao Ning has his own pride.

Conquering three men at the same time was the most shameful thing he had ever done.

After school, there was still no news from Xu Jun. Tao Ning was about to send a text message using the phone he had bought her when a cheerful voice rang out beside her: "Tao Ning, do you want to play ball together?"

He raised his beautiful eyes and saw Lu Jue, who had helped him a few days ago. He was holding a basketball and looking at him with a smile. Tao Ning quietly declined: "Sorry, I don't know how to play basketball."

“Okay,” Lu Jue said regretfully. Just as he was about to leave, someone behind him suddenly grabbed the corner of his clothes. He turned around and saw the young man asking him in a soft voice, “Do you… do you know where in the school there are more foreigners?”

"Foreigner?"

"Um."

Lu Jue had a soft spot for this gentle new classmate, and for a moment, he thought everyone else was blind to think he was unsophisticated. The new classmate was clearly very beautiful, and they simply assumed there was something wrong with their eyes because they hadn't seen her up close. He thought for a moment and told him, "There's an English corner in Sunset Square. There are a lot of foreigners there. You should go check it out."

Sunset Square is the largest square in Oxente. Tao Ning took note and said, "Thank you."

"They are all minor problems. You can come to me if you have any problems next time." Lu Jue scratched his head embarrassedly and left with the ball.

Tao Ning lowered her head and sent a text message to Xu Jun:

【How are you? 】

Meanwhile, the lights were off in the dormitory. Xu Jun's usually meticulous clothes were a bit disheveled. His face was expressionless, and in his hand was the phone Tao Ning had charged last night. The dim light cast a cold, dark arc on his lens.

He opened the phone full of secrets without hesitation. Tao Ning had not set a password, so he immediately entered the main interface. A dazzling ninety-nine calls and text messages came into view. Xu Jun opened it coldly, and countless ambiguous chat records appeared.

The sender's note was "husband".

Xu Jun clenched his hands suddenly. In fact, he had already guessed this result, but he still held on to a glimmer of hope, hoping that everything was not true. But now he saw with his own eyes, these glaring chat records, countless "Daibao" and "Miss you", and the "Husband" sent by Tao Ning, all turned into slaps, slammed hard on his usually indifferent face.

It hurts so much.

It was as if a huge stone was pressing on his heart, and Xu Jun was so uncomfortable that he couldn't breathe. Tao Ning seemed to be in front of him, holding a knife, cutting off the flesh of his heart piece by piece, telling him clearly: I already have someone I love.

Xu Jun felt like he was being soaked in a flood of sour water. Jealousy almost tortured him to the point where he couldn't hold his phone steady, his hands shaking constantly. But he continued to torture himself, like a rat in a gutter, peeking through the chat logs to learn about Tao Ning's intimate past with this man.

How far have they gotten? Will they hold hands all day like him and I? Will they hug? Will they kiss?

Or...did they make love?

These thoughts were just a thought, and my internal organs felt like they were being torn apart alive. Xu Jun took countless deep breaths until his phone rang. It was a text message from Tao Ning. He didn't reply. Instead, he scrolled down the chat history.

Last night, Xiao Ningmeng sent this man a message saying "I'm sorry," and after looking at the past chat history, Xu Jun calmly analyzed that they must have broken up, so he still had a chance.

Even from Tao Ning's attitude towards this mobile phone, he knew that Tao Ning still had unconscious feelings for this strange rival.

But it doesn’t matter, Xu Jun thought coldly, he will make Tao Ning love him.

He typed a few words expressionlessly:

[I will not get back together with you. I hope you can completely disappear. Don't call or text me anymore. Don't appear in my life in the future.]

Xu Jun calmly replied to Tao Ning: [I'm fine.]

Just as I was about to destroy the chat traces, the other party sent a question:

Who are you?

Xu Jun deleted it expressionlessly.