Together Forever

Chapter 14.2

The Love At the Time

In the end, the person who was adjusting to jet lag thoroughly outlasted the person who was overly excited.

Over the following dozen or so days of chemotherapy treatments, during the daytime, he would be there, and then at night, he would keep her company using this same way. His excuse was always that he was still jet-lagged. Eventually, not wanting him to exhaust himself, she would tell him the entire time that she was going to sleep, that she honestly needed to sleep. Only after repeating this many times would she finally be able to end their lengthy exchange of text messages.

By the time Grandmother was discharged from the hospital, both of them had noticeably lost quite a bit of weight.

Upon seeing this, Grandmother's eyes reddened from heartache. The way she treated him was even obviously better than her own granddaughter.

"This grandson-in-law of mine is truly quite wonderful." Grandmother repeated this over and over again to Auntie Liu. "Truly wonderful."

Auntie Liu was very clear about Gu Pingsheng's health situation but never did she reveal any of it to Grandmother. Privately to Tong Yan, however, she had said many things. The general themes were that life was not easy for anyone, and that for calamities created by Heaven or man, she should accept them and then look to the best.

In a half-serious tone, Tong Yan had answered, "Auntie Liu, my biggest strength is that I am good at looking to the best."

When all the things at the hospital finally came to an end, he had also settled on which school he would be teaching at.

It turned out to be the one she had frequently gone to play at and hang out in when she was growing up.

With an inner sense of pride and self-satisfaction, she insisted on taking him to walk through the campus.

These two people, who at the moment neither needed to go to class nor work, went one weekday after lunch to that university. Prior to heading there, Tong Yan selected for him an outfit that was very student-like in style, including a white, short-sleeved shirt to deliberately expose his very intimidating tattoo.

The effect was very apparent. All along the way, regardless of whether it was from male or female students, the rate of head turns they received was astonishing.

When they were sitting in the stands of the university stadium, watching the two teams of students in the sun kicking the ball on the field below, he finally heaved a meaningful sigh. "Never have I regretted like I have today being young and rash at the time and adding this drawing onto my body."

Tong Yan was wearing the dress he bought for her. In the sunlight, its light blue colour offset the paleness of her complexion that was a result of this long period of, night after night, staying up into the late hours.

"Do you ever feel like you really look like a student?" Tong Yan leaned back against a railing, gazing at Gu Pingsheng, who was sitting on the concrete steps. "Actually, when you think about it, you really are a student. You haven't worked out in the real world for more than a year, so the vast majority of your time was still spent in school. The only difference between us is that I'm in my undergrad while you're a PhD, that's all."

"And so?" He leaned back on one elbow and smilingly looked at her. "What are you trying to say?"

"No real special meaning." She turned her head to the side. "It was just an offhanded thought, so I said it out just as offhandedly. But I suddenly thought, don't we seem particularly like one of those couples on a school campus? We don't seem at all ... like we're already ..."