Together Forever - Chapter 16
Volume 1, Chapter 16: Silent Advances and Retreats (1)
"So, Jing Jing," Tong Yan held the last orange segment to Jing Jing's lips. "There's nothing to envy about me. I also get dumped, get sick, and have secrets I don't want anyone to know."
She glanced up. The IV bag was almost empty, and there was another full one hanging on the metal hook, waiting to be administered.
"I remember in elementary school, during PE class, someone stepped on my heel during the 800-meter run, and I fell hard. There were three or four classes on the field, and everyone saw it. I was so embarrassed. How could I be so clumsy? It was terrifying, like the sky was falling. Now that I think about it, it was just a fall."
She stood up, intending to find the nurse.
"You must have had similar experiences when you were young, feeling like the world was ending. Jing Jing, five years from now, looking back, it'll just be a fall. You get up, brush yourself off, and pretend nothing happened. Family background, talent, many things are predetermined. Everyone envies Liu Xiang for winning the world championship, but it's just envy."
That night, Tong Yan started showing signs of a cold.
By Monday, it had become a full-blown cold.
Wen Jing Jing had offered to pay for her medical expenses, but Tong Yan refused. That night, she hadn't had time to grab Jing Jing's student ID, so she had used her own. The university would reimburse her anyway.
However, when she went to the clinic on Monday, she found out the person in charge of reimbursements was skipping work.
It wasn't crowded at the campus clinic during lunchtime.
She got some cold medicine and was walking down the stairs when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, she saw Shen… the class representative. He was standing with another boy, who, as soon as Tong Yan turned, quickly looked away and said with a grin, "I'll wait for you outside." He gave a suggestive smile and ran off.
Shen Heng instinctively adjusted his glasses. "Are you sick? Is it serious?" Tong Yan smiled. "Just a cold."
"I watched the live stream of the gala in my dorm," Class Representative Shen seemed to be choosing his words carefully, pausing slightly. "You were a great host."
"Thank you."
Normally, she would make some small talk.
But she had been congested all night and hadn't slept well. She didn't have the energy for conversation.
Fortunately, the boy was also quite shy and walked downstairs with her in silence. Finally, as they reached the entrance of the clinic, he hesitantly asked, "You don't look so well. Do you want me to walk you back to your dorm?"
He was being polite, slightly tentative.
"No, I'm waiting for a friend."
Tong Yan pretended to be waiting for someone, watching as Shen Heng and his friend left. She breathed a sigh of relief, pulling out a neatly folded tissue to blow her nose…
Suddenly, a text message arrived.
It must be Shen Yao. The three of them had left together and were probably being lectured by Gu Pingsheng. Unexpectedly, when she took out her phone, it was a message from Gu Pingsheng: Are you sick? Is it serious? TK
Shen Heng had just asked her the same question.
But coming from him, it made her bite her lip.
Her dorm mates must have mentioned her during their lecture to divert the topic. The last message in her inbox was from him, three weeks ago. Standing at the entrance of the clinic, Tong Yan hesitated for three seconds, then, impulsively, replied: Yeah… it's a bit serious. The doctor said I should go to the off-campus hospital… but it's far, and I don't want to go.
After sending it, her heart started pounding. A nervous flutter.
Whenever Shen Yao was testing the waters with a boy, she would do this. Testing if he cared, if he was worried. If he reacted anxiously, it meant there was potential. If his response was indifferent, she would pretend nothing happened.
She always found it amusing watching Shen Yao send those messages with a lovesick grin.
But now, she was anxiously awaiting his response.
A few doctors walked by, chatting and laughing, seemingly heading to lunch.
After they left, disappearing from sight, her phone remained silent. No reply.
Tong Yan felt a slight pang of disappointment. She put her phone away and walked back towards the dorm.
It was lunchtime, the busiest time on campus.
She was debating whether to go to the cafeteria or just go back to the dorm and make instant noodles when someone tapped her on the shoulder again.
What was with all the familiar faces today?
Tong Yan turned and saw Shen Yao's beaming smile. "I was just about to go to the dorm to find you. Teacher Gu said he's treating us to lunch. Why is your phone dead?"
Standing a short distance behind Shen Yao were Wang Xiaoru, Jing Jing, and… Gu Pingsheng.
He wasn't teaching International Commercial Arbitration today and was dressed more casually, in faded blue jeans and a black shirt, looking nothing like someone who had just lectured three students. Wen Jing Jing was talking to him. He listened, then said something and turned to look at Tong Yan.
"Teacher Gu."
He nodded slightly, not speaking.
As if he had never sent her a message, as if he had never received one.
At the mention of Teacher Gu treating them to lunch, Shen Yao's face lit up. Tong Yan knew she was already plotting how to take advantage of him and quickly took her arm. "Let's go to the East Cafeteria. I'm feeling dizzy, I don't want to walk too far."
Shen Yao gasped, but before she could protest, Tong Yan dragged her towards the cafeteria.
Shen Yao had wanted to order stir-fries or hot pot, but Tong Yan reminded her that she and Jing Jing had colds. So, they settled for regular cafeteria food, nothing special, each choosing their own dishes. The only difference was the addition of the elegant Gu Pingsheng. Shen Yao was unusually talkative during the meal. Gu Pingsheng ate a few bites at the beginning, then put down his chopsticks and quietly watched them talk. Finally, Tong Yan couldn't take it anymore and nudged Shen Yao. "You're talking so much, how can Teacher Gu eat?"
"Huh? Oh…" Shen Yao suddenly realized. "Teacher Gu, you should eat more. You don't have to keep watching me talk."
He said it was fine and started sipping his water.
Tong Yan glanced at his food. He had barely touched it. She had eaten with him a few times, and he didn't eat a lot for a man, but he also didn't eat like a bird, picking at his food.
Shen Yao was about to say something more when she looked at her watch and gasped. "It's almost 1:00 PM! I have class! Oh no, I'm always late for calculus."
She grabbed her bag and ran, stopping after a few steps to say, "Teacher Gu, a single conversation with you is worth more than ten years of studying. Now that my studies are complete, I must go and conquer calculus. Farewell, farewell!"
Then she hurried off.
With her gone, the others put down their chopsticks, wondering how to excuse themselves.
"You two go ahead. I need to talk to Tong Yan," Gu Pingsheng finally put down his water bottle.
Wang Xiaoru quickly smiled and said she was going to the library. Jing Jing, however, gave Tong Yan a meaningful look.
Tong Yan remembered Jing Jing's words. However she had seen it, what Jing Jing said was true. Gu Pingsheng was indeed overly attentive to her… She suddenly remembered a classmate in her calculus class who was a relative of the professor.
The classmate had been ostracized and eventually transferred to the English department.
Looking back, the classmate had excellent grades, and the professor hadn't given him any special treatment, perhaps even holding him to a higher standard. But the other students had gossiped endlessly. At that age, when their lives revolved around textbooks, even those who disdained studying envied students with personal connections to the teachers.
An invisible advantage could solve so many problems. So, such people were often the target of resentment.
Her thoughts were a jumbled mess.
Like a bucket of cold water, she finally realized the path she was tentatively treading.
"I'll take you to the hospital this afternoon," he said.
So he had received her message?
She continued stirring her noodles with her chopsticks, though there were only a few strands left, mixed with the soup and chopped scallions.
"You received the message, why didn't you reply?" she murmured.
"Tong Yan?"
She looked up. "It's okay, I already got some medicine. I'll just take it when I get back."
"Let me see the medicine you got."
She took out the medicine from her bag, handing him two boxes and a bottle of cough syrup. He took them, turned the boxes over, and stared at the small print.
Tong Yan wondered what he was looking at, but sitting across from him, she couldn't peek.
He was studying the boxes so intently that, finally, Tong Yan, curious, waved her hand in front of his face. "What are you looking at?"
"The ingredients," he said. "Did you specifically ask the doctor for these particular medications?"
She nodded, surprised. "I catch colds and coughs easily. I'm used to these brands. They're the only ones that work for me."
He smiled. "I noticed. These are for serious cases." He picked up the cough syrup. "This one has a high codeine content."
Tong Yan paused, remembering Shen Yao's warnings about cough syrup addiction. "You mean the addictive ingredient? Shen Yao always says I'll get addicted if I drink cough syrup."
"It's not that serious," he looked at her, amused. "But if you drink dozens of bottles a day, maybe."
They were sitting at a long table, seats facing each other, enough for a dozen people.
After classes started, only they and another couple remained, sitting by the window. The sunlight streamed through the thick glass, warming her. Tong Yan, feeling studious, asked him a few questions, their conversation meandering without a central theme.
By the time the cleaning lady came to clear the table, they had been talking for quite a while.
"What did you want to talk to me about, Teacher Gu?" she remembered his initial reason for asking her to stay.
"I was going to take you to the hospital," he put away the medicine. "If it's just a common cold, don't rush to take medicine. Drink plenty of hot water. It usually clears up within a week. I'll bring you some suitable medicine tomorrow. Take it if you're not better in a week."
Tong Yan nodded, her heart suddenly feeling a warmth she couldn't explain.
She had always been the type to hide her worries. During the long period in junior high when she lived with her mother, she would rummage through the medicine cabinet, picking out anything that seemed to be for inflammation or colds and taking it. She usually recovered. She had never had any serious illnesses, just fevers and colds, so she always thought she could handle it herself.
This was the first time someone had looked at her medicine, carefully studying the ingredients.
Back in the dorm, she was alone. Tong Yan found her charger and plugged in her phone.
As soon as it turned on, she received several messages, one from Gu Pingsheng and the rest from an unknown number. She opened the messages from the unknown number first. They were missed call notifications. It was a service provided by China Mobile, but she had never used it and had forgotten about it.
One missed call from Shen Yao.
And five missed calls from Gu Pingsheng.
Most people, after hearing the "phone off" message, wouldn't call again. She sat there, staring at her phone, imagining Gu Pingsheng looking at the screen, checking if she had answered, unable to hear the repeated message, "Sorry, the subscriber you dialed is powered off…"
Laughter echoed from the hallway, but the dorm room was unusually quiet.
After a long time, she carefully opened his message. It was a short line:
Don't try to act tough. I'm taking you to the hospital. TK
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