Together Forever - Chapter 10
Volume 1, Chapter 10: Those Little Moments of Beauty (1)
Because of the importance of the anniversary celebration, most of the proposed performances were cut, replaced by numerous performances from the school orchestra.
Even the Sunshine Drama Club had invited a graduated professional drama actor to boost the excitement…
In short, the whole thing was getting increasingly complicated.
There were four dressing rooms backstage, two of which were designated as men's and women's changing rooms during rehearsals. Tong Yan constantly heard shrieks from outside: Where's my costume? Where are my props? … Fortunately, it wasn't the actual performance yet, and the girls were all wearing pants and sneakers under their skirts. She imagined that on the day of the actual performance, backstage would be absolute chaos.
She and Gu Pingsheng sat in the organizers' dressing room, constantly interrupted by people bursting in, apologizing profusely, and then hurrying out. They found it amusing and exchanged a glance.
Gu Pingsheng suddenly said, "I looked at your class's physics grades. It seems only your dorm mates aren't doing so well?"
The mention of physics wiped the smile off Tong Yan's face…
She explained glumly, "There are nineteen students in our class, and only we four in our dorm come from humanities backgrounds. The rest of them actually had higher entrance exam scores than other majors. They were all transferred from bioengineering to the law school." Seeing Gu Pingsheng's apparent interest, she continued, "Take our class monitor, for example. He scores above 95 on all his exams, perfect scores in physics and calculus, right? He's from Chengdu, Sichuan. He ranked third in the entire province on the entrance exam, and he supposedly didn't even perform well…"
Just thinking about it made her heart ache.
Comparing grades with these people, she felt like she had already lost at the starting line in elementary school.
Fortunately, the stage manager appeared, announcing that it was time for the hosts to rehearse.
As Tong Yan stood up, she almost tripped over her skirt.
Like the performers, she was wearing jeans with an evening gown borrowed from the Student Union over them. Because the gown was particularly long, she had to wear high heels.
They walked to the back of the stage, stood behind the massive curtain, and looked at the two or three rows of school leaders in the audience. Tong Yan suddenly felt nervous. Her heart beat faster, and her palms started to sweat… She instinctively looked at Gu Pingsheng. In the dim light, he seemed to sense her unease and looked down at her. "Nervous?"
Tong Yan nodded. This was so embarrassing.
She was supposed to be the experienced one, the one supporting Gu Pingsheng, but she was nervous during the first official rehearsal?
She heard the opening music start and took a deep breath. Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, it's just a few school leaders. She repeated her usual mantra, They're just watermelons, big, grinning watermelons…
Suddenly, her hand was squeezed, not too hard, not too soft, just the right amount of pressure.
A warm palm, a familiar feeling… She didn't even dare to breathe, let alone turn to look at him.
The music softened, and then the pressure on her hand was released. Gu Pingsheng's voice said, "It's okay, I'm here. If you forget your lines, just look at me."
They had developed a silent understanding during the previous informal rehearsals.
Whenever it was his turn to speak, she would look at him in advance, finishing her last two sentences so he could seamlessly pick up the cue.
"Tong Yan," Zhou Qingchen's voice came through her earpiece. "Go."
She quickly composed herself. This time, she had to be even more cautious. The program team could only communicate with the two hosts through her. If she made a mistake, Gu Pingsheng wouldn't have a chance to recover…
Because of this pressure, Tong Yan completely messed up the first rehearsal.
Every time she looked at Gu Pingsheng helplessly, she would see him smile faintly as he smoothly covered for her mistakes. His voice, projected through the microphone, sounded different from his usual lecturing voice, as if professionally trained. Clear and slightly low.
Like cool, refreshing spring water.
Fatal Beauty Gu's flawless performance only highlighted her own blunders.
Even Zhou Qingchen commented, "Tong Wuji, I strongly recommended you for this! Why are you acting like a complete newbie? Even your voice is trembling…" She sighed, covering her face with the script, her voice choked with tears. "I need to de-stress. The thought of having to carry double the responsibility makes me nervous."
Teacher Du was more forgiving. "It's okay. This is the first official rehearsal. There are two more. You'll get used to it." He looked at the back of Tong Yan's dress. "Zhou Qingchen, go with Tong Yan to buy a new dress. This is the school anniversary celebration, so don't wear those old hand-me-down gowns from previous students."
After he said this, everyone looked at Tong Yan's dress.
Indeed, because she was so thin, the back of the dress was held together with a dozen silver safety pins to cinch the waist.
Zhou Qingchen almost choked. "Teacher Du, my girlfriend will kill me! She keeps a record of every conversation I have with another girl…" Tong Yan was mortified. "Teacher Du, if the Student Union allows me to alter the size, I can take it back and resew it myself."
Many of the evening gowns in the Student Union's collection were donated by former hosts, often in their original sizes. It wasn't just Tong Yan; everyone had to adjust the dresses. It was common practice.
Fortunately, Teacher Du didn't insist.
Because of the rescheduled International Commercial Arbitration classes before National Day, and the rehearsals, all six Commercial Arbitration classes were moved to evenings, from Monday to Saturday, 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM.
So, Tong Yan and Gu Pingsheng would meet at the auditorium at 3:00 PM every day, rehearse, and then rush to class.
The most shocking moment was the first time they walked into the classroom, one after the other. Even Shen Yao's jaw dropped. As Tong Yan sat down, Shen Yao whispered, "Tong Yan, you're not even trying to hide it. The whole class was waiting for you two."
Tong Yan glared at her. "Do you want to switch places with me?"
As everyone got used to it, the classmates started joking openly, making strange noises to tease Tong Yan, who pretended to be unfazed. Since Fatal Beauty Gu couldn't hear, they were even more emboldened.
"Tong Wuji, for the sake of you and Fatal Beauty Gu, we're even having classes on Saturday!" "Yan Yan, keep it in the family, it's an ancestral motto!" "Tong Wuji, do you know how to spell 'jealousy'? Look at my face…"
Tong Yan, exhausted from rehearsals, ignored them and slumped on her desk, listening to the lecture.
After tomorrow, there would only be thirteen weeks, ninety-one days, left.
On Sunday morning, she was predictably late.
Fortunately, Miao Miao had covered for her at the cash register. Seeing her rush in, Miao Miao's first words were, "Tong Yan, quick, quick, I've been telling the manager you have diarrhea and are in the restroom."
Tong Yan was both grateful and amused.
She was a whole hour late. The French manager probably thought she had fallen into the toilet.
Because of the heavy rain, the store wasn't crowded.
By 11:00 AM, both Miao Miao and Tong Yan had been idle for a while, chatting across the cash register.
"I'm getting engaged," Miao Miao suddenly said mysteriously. "Don't give me a red envelope, just a kiss will do." Tong Yan looked at her in surprise. "How old are you? Nineteen, right?"
"Yes, so it's just an engagement. We'll get the marriage license next year when I reach the legal age."
Tong Yan, still half-asleep, saw Miao Miao point to a tall boy, over six feet, at the entrance. "Look, he's here."
She continued to stare blankly, greeting the handsome boy with the messenger bag, still in disbelief. "You're really getting married? At nineteen?"
Miao Miao laughed. "I've been working for more than three years. It's about time. What about you? When do you plan to get married?"
Marriage?
Tong Yan felt like that was a distant concept. She was still struggling to pass physics, and someone was asking her about marriage? She thought for a long time, making a rough estimate. "I'll graduate at twenty-one and a half. I need to work for at least five years to pay off my loans, then date for two or three years, so maybe around twenty-nine…"
Miao Miao was speechless. "By then, my kid will be in third or fourth grade…"
Thus, the two, with vastly different life goals, looked at each other like they were from different planets, ending their conversation.
She was packing up, preparing to go to lunch, when she heard a familiar voice call her name. Looking up, she saw someone completely unexpected.
Gu Pingfan, Teacher Gu's cousin.
Even more surprising, Gu Pingfan placed a paper bag on the counter and pulled out a sapphire blue evening gown. "I wore this to my graduation ceremony at King's College. TK said we're about the same size, so he asked me to bring it for you to try."
Tong Yan was stunned. Gu Pingfan smiled. "It's used, don't mind. I only wore it once."
Why would she mind?
…
Or was Teacher Gu worried she would refuse, so he specifically sent a used one?
"Do you need me to accompany you to the restroom to try it on?" Gu Pingfan asked with a smile.
"No, thank you." Tong Yan thanked her profusely, feeling flustered by the situation.
She was distracted the entire afternoon because of the dress.
When Miao Miao returned from lunch, she saw the paper bag at Tong Yan's feet, curiously took it out, and immediately looked envious. "This is definitely prettier than the dress I bought for my engagement. Did you buy it on Suzhou Wedding Dress Street? Do you have any recommendations?"
Tong Yan looked at her, speechless. "I'm not getting married, so how would I have any recommendations…"
Squeezed in the subway that evening, she finally remembered to thank him. She struggled to pull out her phone from her bag and sent him a message: Thank you, Teacher Gu.
After sending the five words, she felt she should say something more and quickly added: I got paid today. Can I return 500 yuan tomorrow?
He replied quickly: No worries. I remember Pingfan wearing that dress. Sapphire blue should complement your complexion. Don't worry about the money. TK
She stared at the short message, thinking for a long time without replying.
Or rather, she didn't know how to reply.
Exiting the message, she saw a long list of "Teacher Gu" in her inbox.
She had only bought a phone in case of emergencies at home. Aside from occasional contact with friends in Beijing, she rarely used it. Her classmates usually contacted her by shouting from downstairs or calling the dorm phone.
She stared at her phone for a long time, then opened each message from him, reading them all again.
A ding sounded, and the subway announcer started calling out the next stop. She suddenly snapped back to reality…
Wait a minute, Tong Yan, this is dangerous.
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