Together Forever - Chapter 62
Volume 3, Chapter 62: Your Mrs. Gu (2)
The day she got her driver's license was also the day her internship at the court ended.
The big red stamp on the internship evaluation form felt incredibly relieving to hold.
The afternoon sun in the central park was warm, even a bit scorching. She had accompanied her grandmother to feed the stray cats, but in the end, since she had nothing to do in the afternoon, she forced her grandmother to go back for a nap while she stayed behind for an extra half hour.
She held a large cola bottle, pouring water into an empty plate.
A dozen or so cats, already thirsty, waited in an orderly manner, a few at a time, for their turn to drink. Around Tong Yan were seven or eight young children, brought by their aunts or grandparents. The elderly sat on benches watching from a distance, and except for one or two parents who were concerned about hygiene, no one stopped the children from gathering behind Tong Yan to watch the cats drink.
In front of her was a circle of cats, and behind her, a circle of children.
To an outsider, it might have looked like she was a kindergarten teacher, taking the kids on a life experience outing.
Gu Pingsheng sent her intermittent messages, still tied up with the hedge fund project investing in the European market. He had to leave for a business trip tonight, and it was quite sudden.
This news caught her off guard, and she absentmindedly held her phone, forgetting to refill the water bottle.
The children, seeing that some cats had finished drinking but Tong Yan hadn't moved, urged her anxiously: "Sister, pour the water."
"Sister, can you take care of the cats for me?"
The children, who had been itching to help, nodded eagerly.
She handed the water bottle to the oldest girl and walked over to sit on a bench a few steps away, starting to carefully ask and discuss what he might need to bring. Gu Pingsheng, because he had to enter the ICU, hurriedly said a few words and then turned off his phone. According to his estimate, he would need at least half a month. She silently calculated how much luggage to pack but, lacking experience, felt she might forget something.
Lost in thought, someone sat down beside her.
It was her father, who only visited her grandmother every two weeks.
"I bought some fruit and left it at home. Your grandmother said you were here feeding the cats," her father said, trying to sound close, clearly having thought about this opening line for a while.
She hesitated for a few seconds, then smiled.
Perhaps influenced by Gu Pingsheng, she had finally started to soften toward her long-distant father.
Father and daughter sat side by side, with little in common to talk about. Mostly, her father asked a few questions, and she responded with a "hmm" or a few short words. The atmosphere was awkward but not unbearable. After a while, the stray cats had drunk their fill and scattered into the grass. The little girl finally carefully carried the empty water bottle back to Tong Yan.
She took it with both hands and solemnly said thank you.
"Here's three thousand yuan," her father suddenly handed her an envelope as the little girl ran off.
Tong Yan was stunned: "No, we're not short on money."
"Last time I came, you weren't home. Xiao Gu is really good," her father said vaguely. "The first thirty thousand will take two years. Once I make a comeback in the stock market, I'll take out all the money and give it to you. This is to repay the last loan. It's not much, but slowly earning, I'll pay it all back. Recently, all the stocks have been rising..."
Her father's eyes lit up with rare excitement as he talked about the bright future of the stock market.
But she sensed something and interrupted: "When I wasn't home, did he give you money?"
"Two people were pressing me for money. I borrowed from Xiao Gu to pay them back. It's not like I really wanted your money," her father said, handing her the brown envelope again. "This time, two stocks have risen really well..."
"Did you borrow money from someone again? Did he help you pay it back?"
Tong Yan looked at her father in disbelief.
This face, not yet fifty, was already half gray. His cautious smile, always believing that he could win back money and the lost family ties through gambling.
She had tried before, seriously talking to her father, even threatening to cut off their relationship.
But in the end, her father always believed that the family's breakdown and his daughter's distance were because he was poor, because he had no money. The more he lost, the more he invested. Decades of setbacks had shaped his extreme mindset, making communication impossible. Any attempt to persuade him was seen as looking down on him.
She couldn't even imagine the possibility of change.
Until the events of the past few months made her think there was hope, that there would be no more endless debts, no more uncertain future...
Her father had fallen into his own world, passionately talking about the stocks he held. She just felt sad. Sad, and her heart gradually emptied.
For some reason, two of the cats she had just fed jumped onto the bench and nestled obediently by her legs.
She petted the cat, unconsciously scratching its chin.
This city was where she was born and raised. From a young age, the schools she attended had classmates with unpredictable backgrounds, like Fang Yunyun, who was only doing "okay." In her teens, she didn't fully grasp the disparities, only feeling the pain of her parents' divorce and the shame of her mother's moral standards not aligning with her own.
Later, with Lu Bei's accident, she finally understood the real differences between families.
Too fragile, so unable to bear the weight.
Going to Shanghai for school became her only escape.
Unfortunately, she had always believed life would get better, forgetting the harshness of reality.
"In this world, you have the right to choose anything, except your parents. You can't choose them, and you can't give up on them." When Gu Pingsheng said this, how much of it was out of responsibility, and how much was helplessness?
The cat, enjoying the scratching, let out a soft meow.
After her father finished speaking, as expected, he used a desperate tone to say: "Yanyan, do you have thirty thousand yuan? I need to pay the interest first." He then quickly added, "Your mother and I have been fighting over the old house. When I'm old, it will all be left to you."
Tong Yan patted the cat's head, said nothing, and got up to leave.
"Or Xiao Gu..."
She immediately stopped in her tracks.
"We broke up," she heard herself say. "It happened a few days ago. Don't look for him anymore. I'll slowly pay back the money he lent you, but I can't help you with anything else."
When she got home, she locked herself in the bedroom and started packing his clothes for the trip.
Estimating that he would need about half a month, she pulled out the largest suitcase from the balcony and began taking out suits, shirts, and ties from the wardrobe, tossing them onto the bed. Being in law was convenient—formal occasions always required black suits, and the shirts and ties were never flashy, so there were no major issues with matching.
Gu Pingsheng had once said that if he was staying in a hotel, four sets would be enough.
She silently counted the number of items, her mind so sluggish that she counted three or four times. She folded the shirts carefully, using her fingers to crease them from the back, folding them in half and smoothing out the sleeves. Her phone rang a few times, but she didn't notice until she had neatly packed four shirts into the suitcase. Suddenly, tears started streaming down her face.
Big drops fell onto the clothes.
She had always tried her best to take care of him, never letting him eat anything he didn't like, staying up late to iron his clothes for the next day, diligently learning about medicinal diets and massage to keep him healthy. Even learning to drive was out of fear that if he suddenly fell ill, she could rush him to the hospital.
But the person she cared for so deeply...
Was also under more pressure than most because of her. Even with a high salary, he needed more money to deal with future illnesses. If he stayed with her, he would have to keep earning money only to have it drained away. And then there was her grandmother's health to consider and manage...
As she thought about this, her tears dried up.
She continued packing the rest of his things and went to the bathroom to take a hot shower. When she came out, Gu Pingsheng suddenly walked in, and she stood there naked, dumbfounded as he approached.
"Why are you showering with the lights off? If Grandma hadn't told me you were home, I wouldn't have known you were here," Gu Pingsheng's voice whispered in her ear, his hand resting on her back.
Tong Yan reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, rubbing her wet hair against his chest: "I really don't want you to go."
"Were you talking bad about me?" His voice was playful as he grabbed a towel from behind the door and gently dried her hair.
The bathroom was still steamy from the shower. She had forgotten to turn on the light or the exhaust fan, but she stubbornly refused to leave, pressing her body tightly against his. He was wearing a pure black shirt, probably having just returned home and not yet removed his tie, which gave him an irresistibly tempting aura.
"I kept emphasizing to them that I'm in the middle of my honeymoon and not suitable for long trips," Gu Pingsheng continued to coax her with a smile. "So it shouldn't take fifteen days. Probably around ten days, and I'll be back."
She nodded slightly.
His flight was at 7:30 pm, and he had to leave without dinner.
Tong Yan made an excuse not to take him to the airport, only helping him carry his luggage to the elevator. For some reason, the elevator took forever to arrive. Gu Pingsheng checked his watch: "Let's take the stairs." As soon as he said this, someone pushed open the stairwell door, complaining, "Don't wait. The elevator suddenly broke. Good thing it's only five floors. Let's take the stairs."
The stairwell lights were motion-activated.
Every time they descended a floor, she stomped her foot to light up the next set of lights.
As the path ahead lit up, the lights behind them gradually turned off. When they passed the steps where she had once sat and cried, Tong Yan glanced at the words she had scratched into the wall with her fingernail. The faint marks were barely noticeable unless you looked closely.
When they reached the bottom, Tong Yan suddenly clenched her hand into a small fist and placed it in his palm.
"I remember the first time you came to class, you were wearing a white shirt and light brown trousers, with your shirt sleeves rolled up, showing your tattoo," she pursed her lips. "You looked so good. I must have fallen in love with you right then."
Gu Pingsheng smiled, holding her clenched fist: "Don't be so clingy. I'll be back soon."
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