OSL – Chapter Seven
Mrs. An is annoyed by An Yin Zhu’s impatience. She reluctantly sits next to Gu Tian Tian on the sofa. ‘Xiao Tian, how was your day? You look like you got sunburn.’
Gu Tian Tian looks at her arms and legs. ‘Mummy An, it was a hot day, but I had a good day.’
Mrs. An makes small talk with Gu Tian Tian before broaching An Yin Zhu’s question. ‘Xiao Tian, you’re eighteen now. Do you have a boyfriend?’
Gu Tian Tian is surprised by Mrs. An’s question, but she shakes her head.
‘Xiao Tian, in absence of your mummy Gu, mummy An will help you sought out your love life,’ Mrs. An says. ‘Do you have a crush on someone?’
Gu Tian Tian contemplates for a while. In the past, Lam Cheng was the only guy she liked, but they only got to progress up to the friends stage. She shakes her head again.
Mrs. An can read Gu Tian Tian’s thoughts on Gu Tian Tian’s face. Mrs. An knows Gu Tian Tian hesitated, because there is someone Gu Tian Tian likes but hasn’t progressed to the lovers stage.
‘Xiao Tian, are you interested in a guy?’ Mrs. An asks. ‘Let mummy An do a background check on him. I don’t want anyone to deceive my Xiao Tian.’
Gu Tian Tian doesn’t see herself as a gullible person, but everyone around her worries that she’ll be deceived because she has no dating experiences.
‘When I was in primary school, there was a cla.s.smate who sat next to me but he transferred school,’ Gu Tian Tian says. ‘We met again at college. I want to see if we’re meant to be more than friends.’
‘Xiao Tian, I want you to have a good boyfriend,’ Mrs. An says. ‘There’s no rush. Take your time to get to know him better.’
After the heart to heart talk with Gu Tian Tian, Mrs. An went to report the news to An Yin Zhu.
‘Yin Zhu, do you think you have a chance?’ Mrs. An asks, and pats An Yin Zhu’s shoulder. ‘The moment Xiao Tian was born, you wanted to bully her. It’s no wonder, she has a good impression of her cla.s.smate, and doesn’t like you.’
An Yin Zhu looks at the absence of sympathy on Mrs. An’s face, which makes him really miss Mrs. Gu.
In the evening, Gu Tian Tian receives a text from Lam Cheng. Lam Cheng wants to have a meal with her and Hao Ting. She texts to Lam Cheng that she’s not at the college dorm, she’s at a relative’s home.
The An family aren’t related to the Gu family, but they’re no longer neighbors. It’s easier for Gu Tian Tian to say she’s at a relative’s home than explaining the complex relationship between the An family and the Gu family. Although Mrs. An hasn’t adopted her, Mrs. An treats her like a daughter.
The next day, An Yin Zhu offers Gu Tian Tian a lift to college.
‘I can make my own way to college,’ Gu Tian Tian declines. ‘I don’t want to inconvenient you.’
Mrs. An laughs in the same way as Mrs. Gu, making Gu Tian Tian almost mistake Mrs. An for Mrs. Gu.
‘Xiao Tian, let Yin Zhu drive you to college,’ Mrs. An says. ‘It’s hard to catch public transport during peak times.’
‘Yes mummy An,’ Gu Tian Tian agrees. ‘But I only want him to drive me to the college front gate. Not to the college dorms.’
An Yin Zhu drives Gu Tian Tian to the college visitors’ parking lot.
‘Bye,’ Gu Tian Tian says, and jumps out of the car.
‘I’ll walk you to your cla.s.s,’ An Yin Zhu says, and catches up to Gu Tian Tian.
Gu Tian Tian doesn’t want her cla.s.smates to see An Yin Zhu, and make them mistake him for her boyfriend too.
‘No,’ Gu Tian Tian rejects.
‘Why?’ An Yin Zhu asks.
‘Because I don’t want you to,’ Gu Tian Tian says.
‘But I want to,’ An Yin Zhu says.
Gu Tian Tian doesn’t know what to say to get rid of An Yin Zhu.
An Yin Zhu is still popular at the college, which is why many students are surrounding him and Gu Tian Tian while they bicker with each other.
Gu Tian Tian stomps her foot, and strides to cla.s.s. She regrets her foot can’t stomp An Yin Zhu down to h.e.l.l.
An Yin Zhu follows Gu Tian Tian to her cla.s.s, and occasionally nods his head at students who he has met before.
Near Gu Tian Tian’s lecture theatre, she notices Hao Ting walking toward the lecture theatre too.
‘I’m here,’ Gu Tian Tian says grumpily to An Yin Zhu.
Gu Tian Tian hopes An Yin Zhu understands her tone, for him to hurry up and leave.
‘Um,’ An Yin Zhu says, and plays dumb.
Gu Tian Tian gives up, and walks toward the lecture theatre door. But she didn’t expect An Yin Zhu to keep following her.
‘What do you want?’ Gu Tian Tian asks.
‘I want to see how you’re coping in cla.s.s,’ An Yin Zhu says in parental tone.
Gu Tian Tian and An Yin Zhu bicker again in front of the lecture theatre.
The professor arrives, and notices An Yin Zhu. All the professors admires An Yin Zhu, because he’s a hard working student who maintains top grades while helping manage the An Hotel. The professors are also scared to be on bad terms with An Yin Zhu.
The professor glances at Gu Tian Tian, and smiles at An Yin Zhu.
‘It’s good to be young,’ the professor says.
An Yin Zhu smiles politely at the professor while Gu Tian Tian hopes the professor doesn’t misunderstand her relationship with An Yin Zhu.
Since the professor is here, Gu Tian Tian can’t stand idle in front of the lecture theatre. She walks into the lecture theatre, and is surprised to see An Yin Zhu walks into lecture theatre too.
Gu Tian Tian suffers during the hour lecture.
After the lecture, Gu Tian Tian receives a phone call from Lam Cheng, and glares at An Yin Zhu.
‘Tian Tian, do you want to perform a duet with me tonight at the official welcoming ceremony?’ Lam Cheng asks.
Gu Tian Tian remembers when she was a little girl, Mrs. Gu forced her to learn how to play the piano like An Yin Zhu, even though she wanted to learn how to play the cello. After playing the piano for a few years, it came in handy. She performed a duet with Lam Cheng at a concert and they won a prize.
Gu Tian Tian isn’t interested in playing the piano in public again, but she doesn’t want to disappoint Lam Cheng.
‘OK,’ Gu Tian Tian says, and hangs up her phone.
‘Do you want to perform at the welcoming ceremony tonight?’ An Yin Zhu asks.
Gu Tian Tian ignores An Yin Zhu, and walks out of the lecture theatre.
‘Do you want to invite me as your guest?’ An Yin Zhu asks.
Gu Tian Tian lifts her chin. She knows An Yin Zhu’s good intentions are never good.
Gu Tian Tian heads in the direction of the female dorms, where An Yin Zhu can’t enter.
An Yin Zhu leaves for work, and Gu Tian Tian attends her afternoon tutorial cla.s.s.
After cla.s.s, Gu Tian Tian meets up with Lam Cheng. It’s been a long time since they can catch up alone. So there are a lot of things they can talk about.
‘Did you receive my letter?’ Lam Cheng asks shyly.
Lam Cheng sees Gu Tian Tian looking at him confusedly, and knows she didn’t receive the love letter he wrote to her. Even though he knew she has An Yin Zhu in her life, he wanted to give her a love letter before transferring primary schools. After transferring primary schools, he called her phone number, but she changed phone numbers and they lost contact. During high school, he was burdened by academic studies so he didn’t have free time to find ways to get in touch with her again.
Lam Cheng remembers how his heart raced on orientation day when he saw Gu Tian Tian again. He’s not brave enough to make public declarations, but that day he called out Gu Tian Tian’s name confidently.
Lam Cheng used to call out Gu Tian Tian in his dreams. So when he reunited with her in college, he’s hopeful they’re fated to be together.
End of Chapter Seven