Chapter 11 Xu Ji, this scheming dog...
The air conditioner had been blowing cold air all night. When Tao Siyun got up, he felt dizzy and uncomfortable, as if he had a cold. It felt like his body was not his own, and his shoulders and neck were extremely sore, but fortunately he did not have a stiff neck.
In the afternoon, she finished reviewing the group assignments of two classes on behalf of a professor who was on a business trip. Although she was exhausted and thirsty, her gentle and patient personality earned her countless stares from her younger classmates.
Then I took advantage of the break to get a new student ID.
I finally made it to the end of the get out of class, and suddenly remembered that there was something important I had forgotten to tell you.
In the last class on Friday, although most of the students were sitting in the classroom, their minds were already wandering away.
Tao Siyun raised his hand and patted the podium, signaling the students who had already packed their bags and were whispering about where to go out that night to quiet down first.
She also informed everyone in the most tactful way possible about the professor's seemingly casual remark before his business trip, which was actually a specific message for her to convey: "Students with an attendance rate of less than 80% are not eligible to take my final exam."
After saying that, he waved his hand and asked them to leave the get out of class three minutes early.
After closing the courseware, Tao Siyun was packing his computer into his bag when he suddenly heard a weak "Senior" from the back of the classroom...
She used a little effort to zip up her computer bag which was half stuck, and when she looked up again, the owner of the voice was already standing next to the podium.
The short-haired girl in front of me had dark circles under her eyes and looked extremely tired.
Tao Siyun picked up the bottle of mineral water on the table, unscrewed it, and took two sips to moisten his dry throat. Then he asked in a gentle voice, "What's wrong? Is your attendance rate not good enough?"
The girl frowned and shook her head without saying anything.
At this time, the classmate in the denim skirt behind her said for her: "She is a member of the group. She has been slacking off since the beginning of the school year and has done nothing. She now wants to switch to another group. Senior sister, can you help talk to the teacher?"
"It's impossible to change it now. It was OK two weeks ago, but it's definitely not possible now that we're mid-way through the process."
The short-haired girl sighed, her voice sounding extremely helpless. She complained, "I knew it would be like this... She never completes the tasks I assign her. Last time, I asked her to find some pictures and do the layout, and I took care of the rest of the research. But she called in the day for the group review. In the end, she was sent back to redo the work, but she kept dragging her feet and refused to make any changes."
Tao Siyun had some impression of this incident. It seemed to have happened two weeks ago.
She remembered that the professor's criticism was quite harsh, and he didn't give the girl any face in front of the two classes.
"Senior, is group work required for this course? If I can't change groups, can I work in a group by myself?" The short-haired girl pouted and asked again without giving up.
"..." Tao Siyun supported himself on the podium and said awkwardly, "Group work requires at least two people. If there's only one person, can it still be called a group work?"
"But she didn't do anything!" The girl frowned and complained, "I shouldn't have been in the same group with her. The other groups had already found me, but she was left alone and asked me to join her, saying that we lived in the same dorm and communication would be convenient. Who knew she would... I think she just wanted to get something for free."
Group work in college is very important.
Especially for the course of design methodology, it usually requires several people to jointly decide on a theme and determine the design core of the project around this theme. In the early stage of product design, team members often need to do a lot of research work together, and then slowly mature their ideas from a cell, going through countless experiments and production processes in the middle.
The original intention was to cultivate students' teamwork ability, so it accounts for one-third of the final grade.
When I was studying abroad, I had to take at least two classes per semester that required group work. Although I got along well with most of my group members, I also encountered some unreliable people who didn't do anything and still wanted to take on homework at the end of the semester...
How should I put it? This is really a test of one's character. Sometimes it really depends entirely on luck what kind of teammates you meet. After all, everyone's score is the same in the end.
In this situation, it is normal for students who have contributed more to feel unbalanced, and she herself has experienced that feeling.
"Okay, let's go." Tao Siyun packed up his things and went downstairs with them. Suddenly, he remembered a method similar to hinting to the teacher that he and his team members had used before.
"Well, write your names on the bottom of each page of the PPT. Whoever did the work gets credited. I'll talk to the professor and have him inform the class that the final grade will be based on how much each of you contributed. Those who didn't participate will just have to retake the exam. Is that okay? This will also help avoid conflicts between you."
***
After a tiring day, I just got home and Qin Shu called me.
"An An, your brother's birthday is coming up. Can he come back next week? Mommy will book a plane ticket for you now?"
"Hmm..." Tao Siyun said awkwardly as he sat on a chair at the entrance, changing his shoes. "Last time, he got mad at me and blocked me on WeChat. He ignored me for a whole month."
"You two are so old, but you're still like kids. Your brother hasn't been in a good mood lately. I don't know if it's related to work. He rarely stays at home when he's busy. When you have time, pay him some attention. Be obedient, and when you get home, mom will make you something delicious."
"Oh, I see."
At night, Tao Siyun lay on his pillow playing Plants vs. Zombies. As the difficulty of the game increased, it became more and more difficult to pass the levels, and he always failed.
She rubbed her eyes, put down her iPad with some boredom, and started browsing her Moments. She liked the posts of Jiang Zhen, who was showing off his affection crazily and openly, and Li Huan, who was secretly complaining about his mentor.
After a while, I remembered something and clicked on Tao Qian's profile picture. When I entered his page, it showed -
"Friends only show the Moments of the last month."
“…”
It seems that Tao Qian is really in a bad mood recently. In the past, his circle of friends was all public, and he had never been so secretive...
Tao Siyun hesitated and opened the address book on his mobile phone, scrolled down, and finally his fingertips stopped on the word "brother".
After thinking about it, he pressed the button and prepared to have a heart-to-heart talk with Tao Qian.
Tao Qian picked up the phone after only one ring.
Tao Siyun buried his head in the quilt, blocking out the cold air from the air conditioner, and called out, "Brother?"
There was only the sound of very shallow breathing on the other end of the phone, but no one said anything.
Last time, it was someone who blocked her and then transferred her pocket money to buy a coffee machine and had it shipped to her home, and now he is ignoring her.
Tao Siyun pretended that he didn't hear her, and dragged out his tone, deliberately saying "Hello" several times.
Tao Qian: "..."
After a long while, Tao Qian finally couldn't help it and interrupted her impatiently: "Hello, what are you talking about? Why are you calling in the middle of the night?"
"It's not even eleven yet, how come it's already midnight? Is there a time difference between Shanghai West and Beijing Fuzhou?"
"Well, you live on American time." Tao Qian said indifferently.
"..." Tao Siyun rolled over in his quilt, and walked down the stairs on his own initiative, finding a random topic to talk about: "Mom asked me to go home next week to celebrate your birthday. Will you pick me up at the airport or will Dad pick me up?"
Tao Qian snorted and said coldly, "You don't have money? Can't you take a taxi yourself?"
After hearing this, Tao Siyun suddenly threw back the air-conditioned quilt covering his head and said in disbelief, "Mom booked me a flight for next Friday night. It will be almost eleven o'clock when I arrive in Beijing. You want me to take a taxi home from the airport alone in the middle of the night? Are you kidding me?"
Tao Qian said in a very provocative tone: "I'm sorry, I'm not mistaken, there's a time difference between you and me. I'll be asleep when you arrive, so I can't pick you up."
"What if I meet a bad guy on the road?!"
"Call the police, dial 110, and have them rescue you and take you, an older child, home, saving me and Dad from having to make another trip."
"you!!!"
Tao Siyun endured it again and again, and suddenly remembered what Qin Shu said in the afternoon, asking her to pay more attention to Tao Qian when she was free, so she forgave him as if she was tolerant, and boldly guessed: "Brother, are you so emotionally unstable because you've been heartbroken?"
Tao Qian, who was originally arguing with her, suddenly fell silent.
The next second, he hung up her phone without hesitation.
Is that so? Just one question broke your defense. Tao Siyun curled his lips and returned to the WeChat interface, secretly deciding to cut the budget for Tao Qian's birthday gift in half.
But suddenly I saw a small red circle in the friend circle column.
She clicked on it subconsciously, but found that these two messages had nothing to do with her.
It was just that after she liked Li Huan and Jiang Zhen’s Moments, Xu Ji also liked these two Moments...that’s all.
Tao Siyun felt a strange sensation in his heart and stared at the phone screen for a while.
Finally, with a bit of self-conceit, she silently deleted the two message notifications that had nothing to do with her.
At this time, Li Huan called the phone, and the sound of gnashing teeth exploded from the receiver like a firecracker.
"Tao Siyun and I have been on WeChat for years, like strangers, and we've barely exchanged a single word. And yet, out of nowhere, he liked my post??? WTF! You might not know what this means, but let me just say I've sent him private messages several times asking him to like my Moments to get a milk tea coupon, and he's never responded once!!!"
"……oh."
"No," Li Huan raised his voice, "You're done with just an 'oh'?"
Tao Siyun buried his face deeply in the pillow and said innocently, "What else? Maybe he slipped."
"Ugh! You thought I was checking Weibo and you slipped your hand? Xu Ji, that scheming bastard, has completely disregarded the lives of our mutual friends just to get your attention! Anyway, I don't care. You're fully responsible if I can't sleep tonight!"
“…”
Didn't I just give it a thumbs up?
Moreover, the message notifications from mutual friends also made her feel disturbed.
Tao Siyun lay on the bed, took a deep breath, moved his lips, and said cautiously with a repentant tone: "How about I cancel the like now?"
Li Huan chuckled twice: "No, I was planning to block Xu Ji from posting to Moments in the future, but now I've changed my mind. Remember to give me an instant like next time. I just want to see if he'll make a mistake again like you said!"
Tao Siyun turned over and stared at the ceiling in silence. The light was so bright that it was a bit dazzling. She stood up and turned it off, leaving only the night light on the bedside. She lay down and finally couldn't help but said, "You are so boring."
"It's not boring! I'm full of anticipation now!" Li Huan said happily.
“…”
Xu Ji's WeChat profile picture looks a bit careless and perfunctory compared to the others on the list, but because of its excessive "prominence", it can be noticed at first glance.
The two arcs drawn with a pencil on the pure white background are gently curved downwards, and the smooth lines at the corners of the mouth are slightly raised, revealing a nonchalant smile.
Judging from the color, cropping size, and placement, this should be the back of an ID photo.
The three arcs on the glossy photo paper are loose and the pencil color is neither dark nor light, just between gray and black, as if they were drawn casually when bored.
The last time he posted on WeChat Moments was in April, and the location was a park in Beijing.
Xu Ji is about 1.8 meters tall, and his figure is outlined by the sunlight. His shadow is clearly cast on the concrete floor, and the edges are so delicate that even the direction of his hair can be seen clearly. His two long legs alone take up most of the screen.
Although it's just a shadow and the way of taking the photo is a bit masculine, but looking at it this way, it seems... quite stylish.
The only exposed part of his body in the entire photo was his right hand, which was accidentally photographed when he was walking the dog with the leash. Tao Siyun stared at the photo silently for a while and unconsciously enlarged the photo a little.
Xu Ji was wearing a black watch, his nails were neatly trimmed, his skin was cold and pale, and the veins on the back of his hand were faintly visible because of holding the leash.
In the comment section, two friends, Jiang Zhen and Cao Wenzheng, joked: "Is this single, elderly father from Beijing taking his child for a walk again?" "Your son is becoming more and more like you," "The father-son relationship is deep," "If you don't give him sausage after a five-kilometer run, are you still a real father?"
Tao Siyun thought of the tone Jiang Zhen used when he said this, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Xu Ji let the two of them sing the same tune, always putting on a cold attitude of "I don't bother to pay attention to you two idiots", and didn't even reply to any of their messages.
Tao Siyun's gaze lingered for a long time on the shadow photo on the screen without any filter or modification.
Drifting to Beijing...
Xu Ji went to university in Beijing Fu. Has he been in Beijing Fu since graduation?
He rarely posts on WeChat Moments, and most of his photo albums are filled with pictures of his Alaskan dog being naughty. Apart from that, you can hardly see any other daily life of his.
Soon I reached the back page.
The first time he posted a circle of friends was more than two years ago.
Alaska was still a puppy at the time, lying obediently at Xu Ji's feet. Its big watery eyes appeared from between his fingers as he stroked the dog, and it looked at the camera curiously.
The copy only has four words - "Just call me Meng Meng."
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