Together Forever - Chapter 33
Volume 2, Chapter 33: No More Past (3)
On the last day before the start of the semester, the dorm came alive again.
As she pulled her suitcase down the hallway, she saw Amy and Shen Yao talking in front of Room 104. Shen Yao had apparently been on another trip; her face was peeling from a winter suntan. Seeing Tong Yan approach, Amy grinned. “Your dorm is so weird. It’s the last night before classes start, and Shen Yao’s the only one here.”
“Why did you come downstairs?”
“Gossiping,” Amy said mysteriously. “You know Wen Jing Jing, the one who transferred out of your dorm? Guess who she has a crush on?” Shen Yao pouted. “Don't keep us in suspense. Tell her already. It’s that student council president, the one Wang Xiao Ru stole and then dumped.”
“It’s so strange,” Amy traced the wall with her finger, analyzing the situation. “Why would Zhou Qing Chen even be interested in Wen Jing Jing? … I’m not trying to be mean, but his last girlfriend was that gorgeous girl from the Broadcasting Department, and this one’s the flower of your department. I don’t see anything special about Wen Jing Jing.”
Tong Yan suddenly felt like everything was back to normal.
Girl talk, a bit of harmless cattiness, trivial gossip…
After finally shooing Amy away, Shen Yao slammed the door shut, grabbed Tong Yan’s right hand, and stared at the ring. “Stop hiding it! I saw it when you were walking down the hall. Whose is it? Whose is it?”
Tong Yan was debating whether to tell her when Shen Yao’s eyes widened. “Teacher Gu?”
“How did you know?” Tong Yan was truly shocked.
“Really?!”
“…Really,” she decided there was no point hiding it from Shen Yao. “He’s not teaching this semester, so technically, he’s not our teacher anymore.”
“Last semester, Wang Xiao Ru said she saw you and Gu Pingsheng together on Christmas Eve. I didn't believe her, but she was right!” Shen Yao exhaled. “Tong Yan, I swear, getting Teacher Gu is the best thing you’ve ever done.”
She laughed, but before she could say anything, Shen Yao, brimming with excitement, grabbed her phone. “I have to text my man! This is so exciting!” She typed a few words, then stopped. “No… I can’t tell him.”
Tong Yan knew her “man” was Cheng Yu and that the reason she couldn’t share the news was because of Lu Bei.
They both avoided the topic. Shen Yao continued her interrogation, demanding details, even clinging to Tong Yan, giggling and whispering questions about their intimacy… Just as Tong Yan was about to lose her patience, someone called her name from outside the balcony. She opened the door and stepped out to see, surprisingly, Zhou Qing Chen.
“What’s up?” She looked at the student council president in surprise, then, remembering the earlier gossip, smiled. “Wen Jing Jing doesn’t live here anymore. If you’re looking for her, she’s in Room 206.”
Zhou Qing Chen hesitated, then handed her a beautifully wrapped gift box through the balcony railing. “Give this to Xiao Ru.”
She was even more surprised, taking the box. “Didn’t you break up with Xiao Ru? I heard you’re with Jing Jing now.”
“Wen Jing Jing is… nice, really nice,” Zhou Qing Chen replied. “This is a birthday gift for Xiao Ru, nothing more.”
His answer was ambiguous, and she couldn’t quite decipher its meaning. She returned to the room and closed the balcony door.
“So, continue!” Shen Yao tossed the gift box onto Wang Xiao Ru’s desk, still fixated on Tong Yan and Gu Pingsheng.
Tong Yan omitted many details, such as their first encounter years ago and the events in Beijing. With so much left out, their story sounded like a classic tale of love at first sight… As she spoke, Shen Yao, protesting the lack of information, finally changed the subject.
“Why is the president still giving Xiao Ru gifts?”
“Don’t be surprised. Jing Jing knows he likes Xiao Ru. She’s completely willing to play along.”
Tong Yan glanced at the gift on Wang Xiao Ru's desk.
That night in the hospital emergency room, Wen Jing Jing had told her so much.
Some of it she had forgotten; some she remembered vividly. Jing Jing had mostly talked about the “unfairness” of life, but wasn't this kind of emotional “unfairness” just as significant?
“You get what you ask for,” Shen Yao said, opening a bag of cucumber-flavored chips. “Some people just want the feeling, like me. Others want to climb the social ladder, regardless of who they step on to get there, like Wang Xiao Ru. Wen Jing Jing needs someone to completely change her life. It doesn’t matter who Zhou Qing Chen likes; what matters is that his girlfriend is Jing Jing, which means she’s the most likely to go abroad with him.”
It felt like everyone had grown up over the break.
Tong Yan took a bite of the chip Shen Yao offered.
“Of course, you’re the type blessed by the heavens, the kind who has handsome men falling at your feet without even trying.” Shen Yao concluded, then handed her the entire bag of chips. “Oh, I forgot, I’m on a diet. You finish them.”
Tong Yan made a face and began unpacking her suitcase.
If this was truly a blessing from the heavens, then some aspects of it were rather bittersweet. If he hadn’t shared a similar experience, if he hadn’t gone through that trauma, perhaps they would never have met. Or perhaps, even if they had, they wouldn't have ended up together, defying their teacher-student roles.
Apart from three core courses, the rest of their second semester of junior year consisted of makeup classes.
That morning, their class had no scheduled lectures. During the routine class meeting, the advisor casually mentioned that Gu Pingsheng was taking a sabbatical and would no longer be teaching Maritime Law.
The classroom erupted in groans.
With a deliberately nonchalant expression, Shen Yao scribbled a note: Your man is popular. I swear someone in our class has a crush on him.
Tong Yan picked up her pen and wrote back jokingly: As long as it’s not you, I’ll eliminate all threats.
Shen Yao raised an eyebrow and scribbled back: The official girlfriend has spoken! Too bad your man is too hot to handle; with all the admirers throwing themselves at him, I bet you’ll have your hands full.
Tong Yan looked at her and said firmly, “He won’t.” Then, realizing the implication of Shen Yao’s words, she asked, “What kind of thinking is that?”
“Normal thinking,” Shen Yao whispered. “For example, take someone like Jay Chou. He’s incredibly popular. He might be able to resist one young model climbing into his bed, but what about hundreds of them? One after another, lining up at his door, filling the stairwell, crowding his bedroom…”
“So, if that happened to you, you’d just turn a blind eye?”
Shen Yao frowned. “I’ve already planned it out. I can tolerate it once, but if I find out a second time… I’ll pretend I don’t know, then secretly feed him estrogen for three months to completely eliminate his… abilities.”
Tong Yan was speechless. “Where did you learn that? My future star of the American legal world, still aiming for Yale? That’s completely illegal, you know!”
“I read it on a Tianya forum during my trip,” Shen Yao said smugly. “Actually, there’s a legal method too. For example, you can continuously feed him cilantro, then…”
Shen Yao launched into a detailed explanation involving various foods and medications, making Tong Yan’s hair stand on end. She ripped out the page from her notebook, crumpled it into a ball, and tuned out Shen Yao’s enthusiastic sharing of internet wisdom.
The class meeting devolved into a “Teacher Gu appreciation session.”
Pressured by the students, the advisor finally revealed that Gu Pingsheng was at the department office that day, handling paperwork. The class president, energized, quickly rallied the class to go say goodbye…
Tong Yan was trying to figure out how to avoid the situation when Shen Yao whispered that it would be fine; she’d cover for her. Then, pointing at the ring on Tong Yan’s finger, she asked, “Should you take it off?”
Tong Yan shook her head, feeling like that would be bad luck.
“I can just put my hand in my pocket,” she demonstrated.
Shen Yao considered for a moment. “That works. Besides, people give rings to each other all the time; it’s not a big deal. Look at our class president; his girlfriend made him wear one. Yours is simple; no one will notice.”
However, due to the students' enthusiasm, she and Shen Yao ended up on the outskirts of the crowd gathered outside the department office, watching him from afar.
They watched as students put their arms around him for photos, as he signed books and notebooks.
As he took a notebook, he carefully removed one of his black lambskin gloves before accepting the pen and writing his name on the title page with a flourish. Just as he was returning the pen, a few sharp-eyed girls noticed the ring on his finger.
“Teacher Gu, are you married?” one of them blurted out.
Everyone turned to look.
Shen Yao grabbed Tong Yan’s arm, a mischievous glint in her eyes…
Tong Yan suddenly felt nervous. From this angle, she could only see the side of his face. Then she heard him say, “Yes, I got married during the winter break.”
The students erupted in a chorus of surprised exclamations.
They bombarded him with questions: who was his wife, was she beautiful, where was she from… Tong Yan squirmed under their scrutiny, while Shen Yao seemed to enjoy the spectacle. Gu Pingsheng simply smiled, deflecting their questions.
Finally, as the class president called for a group photo, Gu Pingsheng looked in her direction. Shen Yao immediately understood, pulling Tong Yan through the crowd and pushing her towards him.
Shen Yao pushed a little too hard, and Tong Yan almost stumbled into his arms.
He steadied her, and she quickly murmured, “Thank you, Teacher Gu.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she cringed inwardly.
This whole situation felt like a scene from a spy movie…
Gu Pingsheng, clearly more committed to the charade, casually put his arm around her shoulder, while Shen Yao protectively linked her arm through his other arm, preventing any other girls from getting too close.
“You two,” the class president chuckled, holding up the camera. “Acting all shy just now, but now you’re fighting for position like seasoned warriors. Alright, alright, one, two…”
Tong Yan felt his gaze and instinctively looked at him.
“Three!”
Their eyes met as the class president snapped the photo.
“Tong Yan Wu Ji…” the president looked at the picture, then sighed dramatically. “Could you at least try to focus? Teacher Gu is married! Please restrain your admiration…”
He spoke while looking down at the camera, so Gu Pingsheng didn’t hear him.
The surrounding students murmured in agreement, much like they had during Gu Pingsheng’s first pop quiz. Everyone was teasing her, but making sure he didn't hear.
“Damn,” someone whispered. “Tong Wu Ji, I knew you were up to something.” “Tong Yan, you’re too late! Way too late.” “Mei Ren Sha (Gu Pingsheng's nickname), such a great guy, snatched up by an outsider…”
Tong Yan remained silent, pretending not to hear.
“Teacher Gu, let’s retake that,” the president finally looked up, grinning at Gu Pingsheng. “This time, no matter what Tong Yan does, just ignore her…”
Tong Yan wanted to cry.
“Alright,” Gu Pingsheng readily agreed, smiling. “I’ll temporarily ignore her.”
Only they understood the double meaning of his words.
Shen Yao pinched Tong Yan’s waist hard, her message clear:
You sly dog! I’m so jealous!
Tong Yan winced but, under the class president’s exasperated gaze, quickly forced a smile, perfectly capturing the moment in the photo.
The Law School Class of 2008 with Gu Pingsheng.
It was also her and his second photo together.
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