One Sweet Life

Chapter 13

Gu Tian Tian vows even if she hits rock bottom, she shouldn’t call An Yin Zhu and watch a movie with him in the middle of the night.

Gu Tian Tian struggles to take off the diamond ring from her ring finger. An Yin Zhu watches idly, and doesn’t stop her.

‘If you can’t take off the ring, wear it,’ An Yin Zhu says.

‘What do you mean?’ Gu Tian Tian asks.

‘I’m proposing,’ An Yin Zhu says.

An Yin Zhu hugs Gu Tian Tian who is in a state of shock.

‘Gu Xiao Zhu, don’t you feel anything toward me?’ An Yin Zhu asks.

Gu Tian Tian has flashback memories about An Yin Zhu. Before she was a nine-year-old, she and An Yin Zhu were a mischievous pair of kids. She admits, he took good care of her as well as teasing her. When they were neigbors, she spent more time with him than with her parents.

When the boy An Yin Zhu found out Gu Tian Tian was moving to a country town, he asked her if she wanted to move. She thought he wanted her to leave, and lied that she wanted to move and added that there wouldn’t be a bully like him in her life.

‘Little girl, you can stay with my family if you don’t want to go,’ the boy An Yin Zhu says. ‘I promise I won’t bully again.’

Gu Tian Tian didn’t want to separate from her parents, she shook her head and rejected the boy An Yin Zhu’s offer. Before she moved to the country town, he ignored her at school and they became strangers. She said farewell with her school friends, but it was An Yin Zhu who she missed when she moved to the country town.

In the country town, Gu Tian Tian didn’t have An Yin Zhu to hold her hand when crossing the road, buy snacks for her, tease and help brush her hair. She knew the country town was miles away from the city, and she couldn’t see him.

At the start, Gu Tian Tian was quiet in her new country town home. Mrs. Gu knew Gu Tian Tian was missing their old home. But Gu Tian Tian felt sad because she missed seeing An Yin Zhu every day, even if he used to tease her.

When Gu Tian Tian had trouble settling in her new home, she received a phone call from An Yin Zhu.

‘Gu Xiao Zhu, do you actually think you can escape me if you move to a country town?’ the boy An Yin Zhu asks. ‘Wipe that foolish thought away. You have to call me every day. Did you hear me?’

‘Why do I have to call you?’ the little girl Gu Tian Tian asks.

‘Little girl, you’re my servant,’ the boy An Yin Zhu says. ‘Of course you need to report to your master.’

Gu Tian Tian talked to An Yin Zhu on the phone every day until she graduated from primary school.

One day, An Yin Zhu appeared out of the blue in her living room, chatting with Mrs. Gu like old times. She didn’t expect An Yin Zhu would change into a tall, handsome and confident fifteen-year-old during the period they were separated. She thought An Yin Zhu looked more handsome than the most handsome boy in her primary school.

‘Tian Tian, come here,’ Mrs. Gu says. ‘Do you remember big brother Yin Zhu?’

Mrs. Gu didn’t know Gu Tian Tian secretly chatted with An Yin Zhu on the phone and video chatted with him online. When Gu Tian Tian video chatted with An Yin Zhu, she showed her face but he hid his face from the camera, which was why she didn’t immediately recognise the handsome fifteen-year-old An Yin Zhu.

Gu Tian Tian was excited to be see An Yin Zhu again, but she hid her excitement from Mrs. Gu, and replied she remembered An Yin Zhu indifferently. Since that day, An Yin Zhu spent at least one month at her country town home during school holidays. Gu Tian Tian’s classmates assumed An Yin Zhu was her boyfriend from the city. Gu Tian Tian said that An Yin Zhu wasn’t her boyfriend, and her classmates asked her what her relationship with him was if he wasn’t her boyfriend.

Gu Tian Tian didn’t know how to answer her classmates. She and An Yin Zhu grew up together. They used to fight and make up every day. She didn’t feel like it was accurate to say they were close friends. Then her classmates asked her if An Yin Zhu was her childhood sweetheart. She blushed, and denied An Yin Zhu was her childhood sweetheart.

When Lam Cheng appeared in the picture, An Yin Zhu kicked Lam Cheng out of the picture through tutoring sessions.

‘Chi Si Zhu, you’re not my mother,’ the little girl Gu Tian Tian says. ‘Why do I have to listen to you?’

An Yin Zhu smiled at Gu Tian Tian, and he persuaded Mrs. Gu to let him tutor her to help her get admitted into a private city college. Gu Tian Tian felt Mrs. Gu wasn’t her biological mother, and she was jealous Mrs. Gu loved An Yin Zhu more than her.

An Yin Zhu’s voice lured Gu Tian Tian out of past memories.

‘Gu Xiao Zhu, don’t you feel anything toward me?’ An Yin Zhu repeats.

‘Yes, I feel something toward you,’ Gu Tian Tian says.

An Yin Zhu’s eyes light up in anticipation.

‘I feel envy and resentment toward you,’ Gu Tian Tian says.

‘I’m not asking about that kind of feelings toward me,’ An Yin Zhu says.

‘What feelings are you asking about?’ Gu Tian Tian asks.

An Yin Zhu kisses Gu Tian Tian’s lips. ‘What do you feel toward me?’

‘I feel your shamelessness,’ Gu Tian Tian says.

An Yin Zhu looks frustrated for two seconds. Then he kisses Gu Tian Tian breathless.

‘What do you feel toward me now?’ An Yin Zhu asks.

‘I feel I need to report you to the police,’ Gu Tian Tian says.

An Yin Zhu passes his phone to Gu Tian Tian. ‘Go ahead and report me to the police.’

Gu Tian Tian should have known nothing she says can shock An Yin Zhu.

Gu Tian Tian returns An Yin Zhu’s phone. He pulls her onto his lap, and they watch the end of the movie. But she can’t recall one word from the movie.

‘I like you,’ An Yin Zhu whispers in Gu Tian Tian’s ear. ‘Do you like me?’

‘Do you propose to every one you like?’ Gu Tian Tian asks. ‘Do you buy a diamond ring for every one you like, and force them to wear it on their ring finger?’

An Yin Zhu’s hands cups Gu Tian Tian’s face. ‘I should have been more specific. Gu Xiao Zhu, I don’t like you, I love you. Gu Xiao Zhu, you’re the only person I love. This is my first time proposing. Wait here for me.’

Gu Tian Tian’s head spins again. She gasps, and wants to call An Yin Zhu to come back. But he runs out the cinema room too fast.