Together Forever - Chapter 52
Volume 3, Chapter 52: Slice of Life (1)
The lively atmosphere reminded her of her freshman year, when the New Year’s gala had similarly teased and challenged the teachers. It seemed that only in university did teachers become less like authority figures and more like friends, willing to share their experiences and stories.
The faculty members present were mostly young professors who seemed amused by the students’ antics.
Gu Pingsheng knew he couldn’t refuse again. He turned to her.
“What should we do? Should I rescue you?” she mouthed.
His elegant hand brushed her hair from her shoulder as he leaned closer and whispered, “Yes.”
He seemed to have relaxed, his expression and demeanor more casual, caught up in the festive atmosphere. Since starting his new job, he had always seemed busy, slightly tired.
Now, however, his gaze was calm and serene, a familiar warmth she hadn’t seen in a while.
A pang of guilt tugged at her heart. He was already working so hard, and she was adding to his burdens. She stood up and, amidst the cheers, borrowed a guitar from a student, sitting down on the chair offered to her.
“Can I scream? Are you really married?” the emcee asked enviously, then turned to the audience. “Junior girls, take note! If you want to capture Teacher Gu’s heart, you have to learn how to play the guitar!”
The audience cheered in response.
“Teacher Gu is tone-deaf, so I’ll perform in his stead,” Tong Yan joked.
“Hmm… that works,” the emcee considered for a moment. “But not entirely… How about this, you and Teacher Gu each answer a question, and we’ll let him off the hook.”
Answer a question?
She hesitated; who knew what they might ask…?
“We promise to keep it PG,” the emcee said, walking over to Gu Pingsheng with a microphone. “Teacher Gu, would you like to go first?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
“Describe Mrs. Gu in two words.” A fairly innocuous question.
“Pretty,” he said, then, after a moment’s thought, looked at Tong Yan, his smile dazzling. “Naughty.”
Admiration, affection, even a hint of playful indulgence, all conveyed in those two words.
“Woohoo!” Cheers erupted from various corners of the room.
Although they spent every day together, that single word, “naughty,” still sent a thrill through her.
The emcee returned to Tong Yan, her expression still full of envy, and asked, her voice a mixture of curiosity and playful teasing, “What’s the most touching thing Teacher Gu has ever said to you?”
“A song lyric.”
“A lyric?”
Tong Yan nodded, adjusting the microphone stand, then looked at him and said, “‘I am in my sleepless solitude tonight.’”
After a moment of stunned silence, gasps and giggles rippled through the audience. It was so cheesy… A girl in the back excitedly grabbed her friend's arm, exclaiming, “‘My All’! It’s from ‘My All’! My favorite song!”
It was Tong Yan’s favorite song too.
Because of Gu Pingsheng.
Compared to the song that had electrified the entire campus at the anniversary gala, she preferred this one, the quiet intimacy of it. She remembered the train journey from Shanghai to Beijing, late at night, surrounded by sleeping passengers, softly singing and playing the guitar for a few admiring juniors. It was the first time she had been away from him since they got together.
I am in my sleepless solitude tonight.
I am… in my sleepless solitude tonight.
Experiencing separation for the first time, she hadn’t known how to express her longing, and he had replied with that single lyric.
As Tong Yan began to sing, the hall gradually quieted down.
The colorful stage lights shifted and swirled.
Determined to make up for the time he hadn't been able to see her perform, she kept her gaze fixed on him as she sang. Having not played the guitar in a while, and focusing on enunciating clearly for him, she inevitably missed a few notes. Thankfully, those who could hear were mostly impressed by her singing and didn’t notice the minor mistakes.
As she finished, still holding the guitar, a few students rushed forward with notebooks, asking for her autograph. She smiled wryly at their playful antics, while Gu Pingsheng, sitting nearby, watched her with amusement.
Years later, his students would still remember her impromptu performance of “My All” at the New Year’s gala.
During the New Year's break, her grandmother woke up early, prepared breakfast, and announced she was going out to visit some friends.
Tong Yan saw her grandmother off, giving her a hundred yuan for the taxi fare, and returned to the apartment. Gu Pingsheng, for once, was still asleep. She crouched beside the bed, watching him sleep, reluctant to wake him. He was usually up by six; it seemed he was truly exhausted if he was still sleeping at almost nine.
She covered his breakfast with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator.
The bathtub was filled with clothes soaking in water. She filled a basin with warm water, took out a shirt, and sat on a small stool, carefully washing it by hand.
After a while, still hearing no sounds from the bedroom, she felt a flicker of concern.
Even at her slow pace, it had been at least thirty or forty minutes. Why was he still asleep?
Worried, she wrung out the shirt, tossed it into the basin, and stood up to check on him. In her haste, she forgot about the wet floor and slipped, falling with a loud crash. A sharp pain shot through her head, her vision momentarily white, before returning to normal.
She had hit the bathtub.
She felt around; thankfully, there were no cuts, just the cold, wet tiles against her skin. It hurt, but it didn't seem serious. As she tried to push herself up, she realized the pain wasn't in her head, but in her tailbone.
An excruciating pain that made it impossible to move.
She carefully touched her tailbone, the sharp, stabbing pain bringing tears to her eyes. Could anything be more ridiculous? Slipping in her own bathroom and injuring herself so badly she couldn’t move…
She couldn’t even think of a way to get out.
Unable to move, unable to even crawl out, she leaned against the bathtub, rubbing her head, gathering the remaining clothes and tossing them into the basin.
She waited for the pain to subside, but minutes passed, and the pain only intensified.
Finally, she heard footsteps approaching, slow and languid, the soft padding of slippers.
And so, the first thing Gu Pingsheng saw when he entered the bathroom was Tong Yan, her eyes red-rimmed, sitting on the wet floor, her face pale.
“I’m doomed. I fell, and I can’t get up. Gu Pingsheng, did I break something? Or did I hit my head and damage something…?” she rambled incoherently.
He had already crouched beside her before she finished speaking. “Where did you fall?” he asked, his voice still thick with sleep, a hint of urgency beneath the calm façade.
“I think… my tailbone,” she said, trying not to alarm him. “I touched it; it really hurts. Did I break it?”
He gently pulled down her pajama pants to examine the area, then looked up. “Put your arms around my neck; I’ll carry you out.” Tong Yan obeyed.
She gasped as he lifted her, then noticed his slight struggle, his slower pace.
He hadn’t carried her like this since his surgery. She hadn’t realized before, but this short distance revealed her deepest fear. No matter what, having the same surgery on the same area would have consequences.
Lost in thought, she barely registered him gently placing her on the bed, facedown.
Their rare day off was spent at the hospital. The doctor, after examining the X-ray, chuckled, saying she had managed to injure herself in a rather… unique way. It was a fractured tailbone, requiring at least a month of rest.
He added that it seemed to be a common injury among young women these days, often caused by falling in high heels. He had seen four or five similar cases this month alone.
Tong Yan managed a weak smile, feeling incredibly unlucky.
Gu Pingsheng, while attentive and caring, remained visibly concerned, as if it were a major crisis. Back at the apartment, she lay on the bed, watching him anxiously pacing by her side, trying to make him smile, but her attempts were futile.
“I’m thirsty,” she said, batting her eyelashes playfully.
He brought her a glass of water.
Tong Yan, pleased, took a couple of sips, then used his shirt sleeve to wipe her mouth, before turning back to face the pillows. “I want candy.”
They always had White Rabbit candy at home, in various flavors.
After patiently unwrapping four candies for her, Gu Pingsheng finally sat down on the floor beside the bed, opening his laptop, so he could see her when she spoke.
Tong Yan, after finishing her candy, leaned over the edge of the bed and poked his shoulder. He looked up, and she smiled sweetly. “I want a kiss.”
He was silent for a moment, looking at her bright, expectant eyes, then sighed and smiled. He gently lifted her chin and kissed her, a soft, lingering kiss that chased away the sweetness of the candy. The heater warmed the room, and she felt a wave of heat, the lingering pain in her tailbone intensifying, the kiss deepening…
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