OSL – Chapter Seventeen
‘Come to my bedroom, I want to talk with you privately,’ Gu Tian Tian says.
An Yin Zhu follows Gu Tian Tian to her pink bedroom, and she firmly closes the door.
‘What do you want?’ Gu Tian Tian asks.
An Yin Zhu sits on a pink sofa, and crosses his legs.
‘I want to marry you,’ An Yin Zhu says.
Marry? If Gu Tian Tian’s hands aren’t small compared to An Yin Zhu’s big pig head then she would slap him.
‘Did I say yes?’ Gu Tian Tian asks.
‘Didn’t you wear the engagement ring yourself?’ An Yin Zhu asks.
Gu Tian Tian takes off the diamond ring, and puts it on a table.
‘Hurry up and explain the truth to your mum,’ Gu Tian Tian says.
‘You can explain to my mum yourself,’ An Yin Zhu says.
Gu Tian Tian looks down at An Yin Zhu.
‘Do you hate me?’ An Yin Zhu asks.
Gu Tian Tian looks at An Yin Zhu pursing his lips, creasing his forehead and his eyes looking straight into her eyes like he wants to see what she’s thinking. Does she hate or love him? The truth is she needs time to figure out what her feelings are toward him.
‘I…’ Gu Tian Tian says.
Gu Tian Tian thinks she’s hallucinating because there’s a second flicker of heartbreak on An Yin Zhu’s face.
‘It’s your choice,’ An Yin Zhu says, and stands up.
Gu Tian Tian watches An Yin Zhu leave. She flops onto the pink bed, and doesn’t know how to explain to Mrs. An. It’s unlike An Yin Zhu to let her make the final decision.
Now that Mr. and Mrs. An, Mr. and Mrs. Gu knows about An Yin Zhu’s proposal, Gu Tian Tian is worried the relationship between the two families will suffer if Gu Tian Tian explains the truth.
Mrs. An calls Gu Tian Tian downstairs to eat dinner.
During dinner, Mrs. An talks animatedly about Gu Tian Tian and An Yin Zhu’s wedding plans. But An Yin Zhu eats dinner quietly like he’s not the future groom.
‘Xiao Tian, when do you want to marry Yin Zhu?’ Mrs. An asks. ‘Xiao Tian, the sooner you marry Yin Zhu, the sooner you can have babies. When yours and Yin Zhu’s babies grow up, you’ll still be a young mother, and people will think you’re their older sister. There’s plenty of time for you and Yin Zhu to get married since you’re both young.’
‘Mummy An, I feel I’m too young…’ Gu Tian Tian says.
‘Not too young to get married and have babies,’ Mrs. An says. ‘I got married and had this little boy when I was seventeen. If you and Yin Zhu get married soon and have babies, no one will think I’m a young forty-year-old grandma, and they’ll mistake me for their aunt.’
Gu Tian Tian agrees Mrs. An looks like a young woman who turned thirty instead of forty because Mrs. An has youthful looks and wears stylish clothes. Mrs. Gu is younger than Mrs. An by seven years, but Mrs. Gu looks older because of illness.
Gu Tian Tian considers the benefits of being a young mum if she marries An Yin Zhu soon. Gu Tian Tian shakes her irrational head. Even if Mrs. An will be a doting grandma, and Gu Tian Tian won’t need to hire a babysitter, Gu Tian Tian feels she’s too young to get married.
Gu Tian Tian feels exhausted after dinner. She walks to her bedroom, and calls Mrs. Gu’s phone.
‘Mum, I don’t want to get married at a young age,’ Gu Tian Tian says.
‘Tian Tian, I agree you’re too young to get married,’ Mrs. Gu says. ‘You need to graduate from college. But mummy An is right that if you and Xiao Zhu get married, mummy An will take care of yours and Yin Zhu’s babies, and you and Xiao Zhu can study and work.’
‘Mum, what’s important is that I don’t know if I want to marry An Yin Zhu,’ Gu Tian Tian says.
‘Gu Tian Tian, what are you saying?’ Mrs. Gu asks. ‘Are you and Xiao Zhu fighting? A minute ago, mummy An called and told me the good news about yours and Xiao Zhu’s engagement. But a minute later, you’re saying you don’t want to get married. Little girl, marriage isn’t a joke.’
Gu Tian Tian explains her doubts about marrying An Yin Zhu to Mrs. Gu.
‘Tian Tian, you’re young, you don’t know what is good and bad for you,’ Mrs. Gu says. ‘Think about it, I watched Xiao Zhu grow up. If Xiao Zhu’s a bad man, do you think I’ll give my blessing to let him marry you?’
‘Mum, I’m not saying An Yin Zhu’s a bad man,’ Gu Tian Tian says.
Gu Tian Tian feels like Mrs. Gu cherishes An Yin Zhu more than Mrs. Gu cherishes Gu Tian Tian.
‘Then why don’t you want to marry Xiao Zhu?’ Mrs. Gu asks.
‘Mum, I don’t feel my feelings toward An Yin Zhu is at the stage where I want to marry him,’ Gu Tian Tian says.
‘Oh, you’re saying you don’t want to marry Xiao Zhu soon,’ Mrs. Gu says. ‘Little girl, where are you going to find a good man like Xiao Zhu? It’s OK, if you and Xiao Zhu have an engagement first.’
Gu Tian Tian looks at her phone, and old feelings resurface like jealousy toward An Yin Zhu monopolising Mrs. Gu’s love.
Gu Tian Tian hangs up the phone, and lies on her bed. She doesn’t hate An Yin Zhu. Her heart felt uneasy when An Yin Zhu didn’t say anything during dinner.
Gu Tian Tian jumps off the bed, and walks to the living room to find An Yin Zhu, but he’s not there. She looks for him in his bedroom, he’s not there either. She calls his phone, no one picks up. She resorts to asking Mrs. An where he is.
‘Mummy An, where’s big brother Yin Zhu?’ Gu Tian Tian asks.
‘Isn’t he in his room?’ Mrs. An asks.
Gu Tian Tian knows she needs to explain the truth to Mrs. An, but she doesn’t know how.
Gu Tian Tian walks to An Yin Zhu’s bedroom again. She hears running water from the bathroom. She walks to the bathroom door, and it suddenly opens. She closes her eyes, and denies seeing anything.
End of Chapter Seventeen