Together Forever

Chapter 4.2

Those Beautiful, Little Things

The university's Anniversary Gala was at six o'clock. By three o'clock, everyone was already beginning the preparations.

To allow the masters of ceremonies to have a peaceful and quiet atmosphere, the dressing room that she and Gu Pingsheng were to use was set-up inside the backstage waiting room. When she stepped out, Gu Pingsheng was leaning against the makeup table, reading a book. He had removed his silver-gray suit jacket and placed it on the empty chair beside him. Perhaps because he had seen Tong Yan out of the corner of his eye, he now raised his head to look at her. Tong Yan, however, hurriedly shifted her gaze away.

Since last Sunday on the metro, when she had discovered her little fancies and feelings, she was behaving more and more abnormally. The most obvious thing was, she had started to pay attention Teacher Gu's every little movement and gesture.

She discovered that when he was driving, he liked to hold the steering wheel with his left hand while resting his right hand on top of it. Such a pleasant sight to look at. She discovered that every time he held his microphone, he was very relaxed about it and would hold it loosely, unlike her tight grip on her own microphone. She discovered that the tattoo on his arm truly was an English name, and furthermore, it was written in his own handwriting...

Several girls, all junior schoolmates, suddenly ran up to their doorway, prattling on together at the same time and grinning, "Senior sister, senior sister, when you graduate, will you leave this dress behind?"

"Senior sister, may we come in just to watch?"

Before Tong Yan could reply, Gu Pingsheng had leaned over so that he was precisely blocking their view of more than half of her body, and then noiselessly and without drawing any attention, he helped her cover up for a little error of hers — he pulled up the open zipper that was at the waist of her evening gown.

It only took the space of two seconds and then seven or eight junior, female schoolmates came charging in. Tong Yan gazed dazedly at Gu Pingsheng, but he had already leaned back again against the edge of the table, picked up the book on it that was written in the language of some country she could not determine, and carried on with his reading. His expression seemed as if he was deep in contemplation...

When the two of them were standing in the wings behind the stage curtain, waiting for the event's start, Tong Yan at last looked at him and said, "Just now... thank you."

Seeing that a slight red had risen up in her cheeks, Gu Pingsheng tapped her on her head with his rolled up script and deliberately used a lighter tone to reply, "Student Tong Yan, there are some things that you need not, and should not, say thank you for."

Tong Yan had already been feeling embarrassed, and now, his little action caused her face to grow even hotter.

Fortunately, the opening music that by now they had listened to more than a dozen times was already echoing out. The auditorium that just a moment ago had still been bustling with boisterous activity, instantly quieted down. The quietness of 3500 people. Shutting her eyes, she allowed herself to set aside all other thoughts that might distract her.

"Tong Yan." In her in-ear monitor, Zhou Qingchen's voice sounded somewhat tight. "Go. Tonight, you're the prettiest."

In that moment when she opened her eyes again, the stage was already completely dark.

With one hand, she lifted up the skirt of her gown slightly and finally stepped out from behind the curtain. Under that dazzling spotlight, she could not see anything. Only the sound of Gu Pingsheng's footsteps behind her were still very clear and very distinct.