Together Forever

Chapter 16.3

My Mister Gu

He pulled her outside, catching her completely off guard.

In that space where many people were swarming forward with all their might, only the two of them were moving in the opposite direction.

"I have to go to work." Tong Yan could hear the people around her grumbling and complaining, but though she wanted to break free, she was unable to. "If there's anything, we can talk about it tonight, okay?"

"I drove. I'll drive you to your work. We'll talk on the way."

He stretched out an arm, fending off two men beside them who were trying to get on the bus.

"Eh? First thing in the morning and I get to run into a lunatic. What are you doing not getting on—" The obstruction incensed one of the men, but when that person whipped his head around and lashed out with a sentence, he was gradually frightened into silence by the look in Lu Bei's eyes.

Worried that he might cause trouble, Tong Yan quickly flipped her hand over and held him back by the arm. "These people are all just going to work. We're the ones in the wrong." Lu Bei did not utter a sound and merely wiped away at the rain on his face.

His vehicle was parked on the roadside not far from the bus stop. As she stepped out from the flow of people, she quickly pulled his coat back down from over her head and opened her umbrella above herself.

Lu Bei opened his car door and motioned for her to get inside. Tong Yan shook her head. "Let's just talk here. What is so important that you absolutely had to come find me now?"

Lu Bei had expected this insistence from her, and he did not force her. Or to be more exact, he had never known how to force her to do something.

"That day, I heard the people in the fruit shop call you Mrs. Gu. Are you married to that person?"

Tong Yan gave an "mm."

"He's your university teacher." Lu Bei was not asking; he merely stated this. "I remember last Christmas, I saw him in Shanghai."

As before, she answered with an "mm."

"With you in a relationship like this with your teacher, will that affect you from graduating?"

"It's just another year. After my internship, I'll be graduating."

"You and him are living here, in this community compound? And you're living together with Grandmother?"

"Yes. He's the one who bought the apartment."

The questions Lu Bei asked were all over the place and had no method or plan to them. But no matter what he asked, she provided a sincere answer to him, with no intentions at all of being perfunctory or half-hearted.

Eventually, Lu Bei could not make himself ask further but yet was also unwilling to get into the vehicle, so he stood beside his car door in silence. And she, holding her umbrella above her, stood with him. Many years ago, in one of their occasional arguments, Lu Bei had also stood awkwardly out in the thickly falling snow, unwilling to go home but also unwilling to admit he was wrong. She had also stood in the same way before him, wearing a thick knitted hat and gloves and remaining in a silent huff.

"It's about time now." She pressed her lips into a smile. "I really am going to be late."

"Is he unable to hear?" Lu Bei suddenly opened his mouth and spoke again. "He can't hear people speak? Can't hear any sounds at all?"

This question was rather unexpected, and Tong Yan did not answer straightaway. Then, she heard him say, "One night, I came here to sign the home purchase contract and saw him over in the fruit store selecting fruits. I had originally wanted to say hello to him but discovered that he actually could not hear me speak. And then you came home."