OSL – Chapter Three
An Yin Zhu reads Gu Tian Tian’s diary. He’s disappointed she only wrote about the bad things he did to her. ‘Hey, why didn’t you write about all the good things I did for you?’
Gu Tian Tian scoffs, and grabs her diary from An Yin Zhu.
Gu Tian Tian admits An Yin Zhu did treat her good, but his torment of her washed away the good things he did like hold her hand when crossing the road, let her eat junk food after he bullied her, and he piggy backed her if she was tired of walking. But he always teased her like she ate too much rice and other carbs, which was why she was chubby.
During dinner, An Yin Zhu chats amicably with Gu Tian Tian.
‘After dinner, I’ll take you to my software company,’ An Yin Zhu says.
Gu Tian Tian nods. After graduating from college, An Yin Zhu helped manage his family’s hotel business, and he also setup a software company with his business partner, Chen Kai Hua who was two years older than him.
When Gu Tian Tian moved to the country town, An Yin Zhu interchanged every three months between helping the An Hotel in the city and the An Hotel in her country town.
At the software company, Chen Kai Hua is wearing gla.s.ses and busy working. To Gu Tian Tian, Cheng Kai Hua looks gullible, but a hardworking man.
An Yin Zhu introduces Gu Tian Tian to his employees, which is more than ten employees. She remembers Cheng Kai Hua’s girlfriend, Zhang Xiao Man, the software engineers Ye Qi Chang and Bai Lu.
‘Yin Zhu, is Tian Tian the little bride the An family raised since she was a little girl?’ Ye Qi Cheng teases.
Little bride? Gu Tian Tian wants to throw a hissy fit. She has parents who raised her, and she isn’t close with An Yin Zhu.
An Yin Zhu doesn’t deny or clarify his relationship with Gu Tian Tian. He smiles at his employees, promises to treat them dinner, and a group karaoke session after work.
An Yin Zhu takes Gu Tian Tian to his office, he gives her a spare laptop to play with while he works.
Gu Tian Tian feels uncomfortable being stared at by An Yin Zhu’s employees. ‘Yin Zhu, what did Qi Cheng mean by little bride?’
‘Qi Cheng and the others wanted to set me up on a blind date, but I told them I wasn’t interested because my family raised a little bride for me since she was a little girl,’ An Yin Zhu says.
‘Who’s your little bride?’ Gu Tian Tian asks.
‘You don’t need to be upset, I didn’t say my little bride is you,’ An Yin Zhu says, and smiles.
Gu Tian Tian feels it’s pointless to reason with An Yin Zhu. She lies on the sofa, and watches dramas online.
At five in the evening, An Yin Zhu takes Gu Tian Tian and his employees to eat at the An Hotel’s five star restaurant.
Like Mrs. Gu, Gu Tian Tian loves eating spicy food. In the past An Yin Zhu purposely pre-orders dishes Gu Tian Tian hates eating.
At the restaurant, An Yin Zhu behaves strangely by putting all of Gu Tian Tian’s favorite dishes into her bowl in front of his employees.
‘I didn’t expect Yin Zhu can be such a considerate man,’ Zhang Xiao Man teases.
‘Of course Yin Zhu treats his little bride differently than how he treats other people,’ Yi Qi Cheng adds.
Gu Tian Tian quietly eats, and pities An Yin Zhu’s employees being fooled by his fake gentle and caring act. She doesn’t clarify their relationship either, because it’ll only fuel the rumors. But as petty revenge, she puts spicy meat and vegetables into An Yin Zhu’s bowl, because he hates eating spicy food.
An Yin Zhu glances at Gu Tian Tian, and puts the spicy meat and vegetables back into her bowl. ‘I don’t eat spicy food.’
Gu Tian Tian smiles sweetly. ‘I know.’
‘Little girl, are you holding an old grudge?’ An Yin Zhu asks. ‘In the past I gave you vegetables because they’re good for your health.’
After dinner, An Yin Zhu takes Gu Tian Tian and his employees to a karaoke bar. When Gu Tian Tian went to the bathroom, she smiles politely at Bai Lu’s group.
‘Tian Tian, what’s your relationship with An Yin Zhu?’ Bai Lu asks.
Gu Tian Tian tries not to laugh at the thought of ‘Eating Dead Pig.’ She continues to smile politely at Bai Lu who clearly has a crush on ‘Eating Dead Pig.’
Gu Tian Tian’s birthday is in August. An Yin Zhu attended all her birthday parties, bought her gifts, and called Mrs. Gu, mother Gu, which made her friends misunderstand that she has a handsome boyfriend living in the city, and as a result her love life suffered. If a boy showed interest in her, An Yin Zhu threatened to snitch to Mrs. Gu if she didn’t reject the boy. It made her more curious to experience dating.
Gu Tian Tian hesitates whether to ruin An Yin Zhu’s love life like how he ruined her love life. But she reasons if he has a busy love life then he won’t interfere in her love life.
‘Yin Zhu is a neighboring big brother to me,’ Gu Tian Tian says.
‘Oh, then…’ Bai Lu says.
Gu Tian Tian is saved by Mrs. Gu’s phone call. ‘I’m sorry, my phone’s ringing.’
Gu Tian Tian escapes outside the bathroom, and answers Mrs. Gu’s phone call.
‘Did your mum call?’ An Yin Zhu asks.
‘Um,’ Gu Tian Tian says.
‘You were in the bathroom for half a day, I thought you were kidnapped,’ An Yin Zhu says.
An Yin Zhu is upset Gu Tian Tian didn’t consider all the times he treated her good like buying her ice-cream to cheer her up, and chasing away people who wanted to take advantage of her.
Later that night, An Yin Zhu drives Gu Tian Tian home.
‘Xiao Tian, where did An Yin Zhu take you out?’ Mrs. An asks. ‘Did you have fun? Did Yin Zhu bully you?’
An Yin Zhu silently plots his next move, which is taking Gu Tian Tian shopping for college books and stationery.
On Gu Tian Tian’s first day of college, An Yin Zhu carries Gu Tian Tian’s bag to the college campus. But the other students are curious why An Yin Zhu is with Gu Tian Tian instead of her parents like most of the first year students.
Gu Tian Tian feels like her parents are irresponsible by giving her to An Yin Zhu to take care of her. But she reasons An Yin Zhu is taking care of her to compensate for mistreating her in the past.
During college orientation, there’s a roll call for first year students.
‘Gu Tian Tian,’ a young man calls.
(Note: The second male lead enters the scene in Chapter Four)
End of Chapter Three