Chapter 16.2 (1/2)

Together Forever (至此终年) — Chapter 16.2

April 27, 2016 by hoju 1 Comment

Our Teacher Gu is a man of outstanding talent, and while it is not recognition that he seeks, he will do more than fine in more “high flying” settings.

Chapter 16.2 – My Mister Gu (2)

His words seemed to settle down into the depths of her heart.

So long as she was not occupied with anything, her thoughts would turn to these words of his.

According to his logic, she knew that her family had many issues, but she still decided to drag him into the messiness of it all.

If he had been healthy, perhaps he would have had the strength to bear all of this with her, but to make him, who was already in this condition, face this together with her, wasn’t that even more selfish?

“What did you think of your visit to the prison this morning?” Another intern opened the microwave, took off the lid of his lunch container, and put it inside. “Before I first went there, I thought for sure it would be really scary, but once I was actually there, I was fine with it.”

After hastily eating her lunch, she went downstairs to retrieve some written submissions filed by attorneys. In the main foyer of the courthouse were two dark-skinned elderly gentleman who were following behind a lawyer. One of them was pointing at the other one, grumbling incessantly, “It’s all your fault! You’ve made both sides have to take this to a lawsuit!” … When Tong Yan walked over and said that she needed to get some information, immediately, a friendly smile was received from both the fierce-looking individual and the party who was suppressing his objection and not daring to retort.

It was as if, so long as a person had come down from somewhere upstairs in this building, he or she would be able to take charge and stand up for them.

She could not adjust very well to this situation where people were misunderstanding her status, and right as she wanted to turn around to leave, she unexpectedly spied a seemingly familiar face. While she was still searching through her memory, that person had already approached her and smilingly greeted, “Miss Tong, do you still remember me? I’m the pharmaceutical rep who went to pick up a.s.sociate Chief Dong from the airport last time.”

With an “oh,” she responded, “I remember now. You are here because …?”

“I’m here helping a friend drop something off.” The pharmaceutical representative’s smile was very warm and amiable. “You work here? You just graduated?”

It was very easy to spot clues as to whether a person had ever worked before, and Tong Yan quickly explained, “Not graduated yet. I’m just on interns.h.i.+p here.”

“It’s a good job placement. This type of place is suitable for young girls. It’s not tiring, and you don’t need to ask people for help.” The middle-aged man very naturally turned the topic onto Dong Changting. “Last time I was in a hurry to take a.s.sociate Chief Dong to a seminar and did not have the time to meet your boyfriend. Is he a doctor as well, like a.s.sociate Chief Dong?”

Tong Yan shook her head. “He is a university teacher.”

“Oh, that’s great. Are he and a.s.sociate Chief Dong relatives? Based on their ages, their relations.h.i.+p should be uncle and nephew?”

Tong Yan did not want to say what their relations.h.i.+p was, but she unconsciously was not willing to deny their relations.h.i.+p either.

Sometimes, things were just this unfair. They were legitimately father and son, yet this could not be acknowledged. Gu Pingsheng’s unwillingness to be in contact with him was his choice. However, that man, as a father, should not reject his duties and responsibilities.

Perhaps all medical sales representatives were very capable of exchanging in social niceties for she unknowingly ended up talking to that person for a long time. Piecing together many of the words spoken in casual conversation, a picture of Gu Pingsheng’s father was gradually sketched out. He was an a.s.sociate chief physician for the nephrology department of a certain hospital and was very well known in professional circles. He had a wife who was also a doctor, the chief physician in the cardiology department of the same hospital.

Apart from having no children, his every aspect evoked envy in people.

That evening, the North Third Ring Road was congested for some time, and by the time she strode from the bus stop to the entrance to their community compound, she was just in time to see Gu Pingsheng at the doorway of the fresh fruits store selecting some fruit while he waited for her.

The storekeeper’s wife very much liked him. Every time, she would choose the freshest fruits for him, but they were not the ones that looked the brightest and most attractive to the point that they were scary. When she walked up behind him, she saw that the fruit store owner’s wife was competently teaching him how to select dragon fruit and mangosteen.

She took hold of his left hand, which was currently unoccupied. Gu Pingsheng knew it was her and did not turn around, continuing instead to watch the storekeeper’s wife speak.

When the storekeeper’s wife had finished weighing everything, he finally was willing to look at her.

“I don’t like to eat dragon fruit. Every time, I feel like there’s no flavour …” Tong Yan straightaway stated her central message by asking, “How about buying some mangoes?”

“Mangoes can cause excessive internal heat[1].” The storekeeper’s wife was filled with mirth. “Just now, I said as well that you liked mangoes, but your husband would not buy any.”

“Then let’s just buy the smaller type …”

“You’ve had mango this week already.” Gu Pingsheng’s answer was straight to the point. “I’ll buy some for you next week.”

She still wanted to make a last-ditch effort and throw in some words of protest, but Gu Pingsheng had already handed over the money and was pulling her towards their community compound, completely severing the last of those thoughts.

Later, after carefully mulling it over again and again, Tong Yan did not mention to him those things she had heard that day regarding his father. On the other hand, after a little more than half a month, Gu Pingsheng suddenly mentioned the topic of work to her.

He and Pingfan both had law backgrounds, so naturally, he had many friends in this field.

According to what he told her, at the time when he had come to China, the best work opportunity presented to him had actually been at a foreign-based law firm. However, because he had chosen to take a position in a university, needless to say, he had turned down the offer. However, that partner of the firm who had been interested in him was actually a schoolmate and alumnus of his university, and after him, another suitable candidate for the position had never been found. To date, the position was still unfilled.