Hello, How Long Has This Been Going On?

[HR: Oh yes! Doctor Tao, do you still remember the friend I mentioned yesterday?]

[HR: The one who came to my house abruptly at night.
]

After getting out of the car, Tao Zhi looked around vaguely before walking into a noodle shop next to him and ordered a bowl of simple yet refreshing beef ramen.
Eating rice and stir-fried vegetables every day was a bit boring, so he wanted to have a change for today.

He took a numbered plate from the waitress who ordered food and replied to the message.

[Tao: I remember.
Did he come to your house again? ]

[HR: He didn’t come, but he sent me a message.
]

[HR: I usually don’t read messages a lot and even if I do, there isn’t a guaranteed reply from me, but he said that he couldn’t find a bracelet of his and might have left it at my place.
After I saw the message, I searched for it but I couldn’t find it.
Therefore, I replied to him: I didn’t see it.
]

[HR: In the end, it almost seemed as if he was waiting for my reply and immediately said that he will look for it a bit more.
But then he apologised to me, saying that he was being too impulsive last night.
He also added that he will be more attentive in the future and will not do anything that would embarrass me.
Plus, he hoped that I wouldn’t hate him since everything was because he liked me too much…]

[HR: I had no choice but to reply to tell him that everything was okay.
But after that, he sent another voice message and seemed to be crying as his voice was very aggrieved.
Should I comfort him? ]

[HR: //tears//]

Tao Zhiyue’s eyes widened as he watched.
Unexpectedly, the old-fashioned Big Brother HR met a suitor who was actually a purebred green tea.

[Tao: …the taste of tea is so strong.
]

He was thinking about what advice he should give when HR immediately replied.

[HR: Is Doctor Tao drinking tea? ]

[HR: If it is too strong, don’t drink it, lest you suffer from insomnia at night.
]

Tao Zhi was stunned, not reacting until the waiter brought his order of steaming noodles in front of him.

He almost forgot that he was talking to a middle-aged man who didn’t have much access to the Internet.

[Tao: I’m not talking about the tea that’s for drinking.
It’s a catchphrase on the Internet— green tea or a tea with a strong flavour, are both phrases used to describe others.]

[HR: Ah, I seem to have heard my sister mention something about green tea before, so what does that mean?]

[Tao: I don’t know how to describe it exactly, let me think… You can say that it’s used for someone who pretends to be pitiful and innocent on the surface, but that person is actually one who schemes very well.
]

[Tao: For example, it was obviously this friend who harassed you and caused you trouble, right? But he apologised and admitted his mistake afterwards, putting his ego very low.
He blamed every single one of his actions on the excuse that he likes you too much and subtly transferred the responsibility to you.
In doing so, he looks very wronged and pitiful, which makes you want to comfort him.
From there, he will probably make some modest requests that you probably won’t say no to, marking his slow invasion into your life.
]

[Tao: It’s just a guess but I think that he didn’t lose anything at all.
He should be very familiar with your habit of replying to messages, which means that he knows that there are certain issues that you will most definitely reply to urgently.
Hence, I think he did this on purpose.
]

The dialogue box showed that the other party was typing for a long time, but it was merely an emoji with a sweat drop over a smiling face(1) that represented HR’s feelings.

(T/N: he means this)

[HR: //fail//fail//fail//]

Through the screen, Tao Zhiyue could feel the huge impact the revelation had on the heart of this simple middle-aged straight man.