TGSS - Chapter 9
Chapter 9: Seventeen Years Old
Chu He arrived a step later than Tan Qing. When she got there, Tan Qing was clutching his left cheek, hunched over and staggering back two steps, while Gao Mingchen was still swinging his arm, his face contorted as if he wanted to throw another punch.
Wearing suede ankle boots, Chu He took a running start, vaulted past the security guards who had just reacted, flung her coat hard onto the ground, clenched her fist, and smashed the hand wearing the jeweled ring into Gao Mingchen's chin. The punch landed with full force, the ring smeared with blood.
Chu He shook her sore arm, wound up and drove a straight punch into Gao Mingchen's nose.
He clutched his face and stumbled back several steps in a daze, and it took a long moment to recover from the shock of being hit.
Chu He licked her lips, a wicked smile on her face. She swept all her hair behind her neck, extended her fair slender fingers and beckoned lightly, her phoenix eyes full of provocation.
"You fucking..." Gao Mingchen moved his hand from his face, his palm covered in blood. Seeing Chu He's gesture, his rage flared instantly, but before he could erupt the security guards who had rushed over pinned him hard to the ground. His greasy face pressed tight against the smooth floor, sweat soaking his temples, and he looked like a fish thrashing desperately on a chopping board.
Chu He pulled off the bloodstained ring and hurled it hard onto the floor. She smiled with brazen defiance, her cold gaze sweeping over Mother Liang and the man on the ground as if looking at something filthy. "Who do you think you hit?"
She yanked Tan Qing, who Liang Zhouyi was supporting, toward her, licked the corner of her lips and said sarcastically, "Tan Qing, can you be a little more capable? You tried to stand up for someone and got yourself taken down?"
"Who the hell are you... hiss, I'm calling the police, you crazy woman!" Gao Mingchen was pinned down, his eyes bulging as if they would pop out.
"Liang Zhouyi!" Mother Liang clutched her chest, swaying as if about to collapse, her voice shrill. "Why won't you have them let Xiao Chen go!"
"Let him go?" Chu He's strikingly beautiful face turned overbearing when tinged with anger. "Who do you think you are? Not to mention the one lying on the floor, even Liang Zhouyi herself, if she brings people to make trouble at the company, I will fire her as well. What, is your daughter the boss of the company? Auntie, I advise you to obediently shut your mouth, okay."
Chu He walked at a leisurely pace to pick up the coat not far away, then walked toward Liang Zhouyi. The expression on her face softened, and she reached out to pat Liang Zhouyi's cheek gently, saying softly, "I'm taking your blind date to the police station. You and Tan Qing have a good catch-up. Wait for me to come back."
Liang Zhouyi caught the coat Chu He tossed her with a blank expression and, together with Tan Qing, stared at the woman before them, sharp and dazzling like a sword drawn from its sheath.
The coat still held Chu He's scent. Liang Zhouyi hugged it tightly, as if she wanted to bury her whole self in it.
Tan Qing clutched his bruised face, limping as he tugged at Liang Zhouyi, who was out of sorts.
"They're gone, stop looking." Tan Qing gave a helpless bitter smile. He smoothed his trench coat, flattening the wrinkles. He had not expected that man to be so volatile, shouting at Liang Zhouyi for having a partner and still going on blind dates after only a couple of sentences. He had tried to reason with him politely and after just two sentences had been punched.
"Tan Qing, long time no see." The awkwardness of the reunion had been diluted quite a bit by the farce.
"Liang Zhouyi, why didn't you reply to my messages, and why did you delete me?" Tan Qing asked bluntly.
Liang Zhouyi felt a faint throbbing at her temples. Hugging the coat, she said, "Let me take you to put some medicine on that first."
Although she knew this conversation was unavoidable, Liang Zhouyi still shook her head with a bitter smile. She and Tan Qing had been classmates for three years in high school, and later kindred spirits who had talked about their dreams countless times.
Back then she had imagined many versions of her life seven years later, but she had never imagined it would be like this, a mess, with people and things no longer the same.
Seven years was too long, so long that she could hardly remember what she used to look like.
"Liang Zhouyi, look quick!" The voice of the teenage Tan Qing was still vivid in her ears.
"Coming, coming." Seventeen year old Liang Zhouyi, her school uniform jacket tied around her waist, ran out from the stairwell, holding up her phone as she dashed toward the rooftop.
Purplish red sunset glow set off the blue gray sky, light and shadow interweaving. The whole sky looked wondrous and colorful, with a few beams faintly piercing through thin clouds, splendid and gorgeous.
"Hurry up and shoot! What are you spacing out for?" Tan Qing gave her a push, his tone helpless and anxious.
Liang Zhouyi nodded hastily while holding up her phone, an excited smile on her lips, the sunset glow making her young face especially rosy.
"I told you the view from the rooftop is great, right?" Tan Qing put on the air of a good student, his uniform zipper pulled to the top, his handsome fair face full of youthful spirit. He braced himself on the railing and sat on the rooftop ledge, smiling at Liang Zhouyi. "See that? This is the kingdom I have conquered for you."
Hearing this corny line, Liang Zhouyi could not help rolling her eyes. She propped one leg on the railing and looked down at the school below. She turned her face to glance at Tan Qing, the breeze ruffling her hair, and said with a smile, "One day, I'm going to photograph the whole world!"
"Great ambition! Let's applaud this classmate Liang Zhouyi who has never even left the city." Tan Qing laughed as he clapped on his own.
"Piss off!" Liang Zhouyi clicked her tongue. Watching the stunning sunset gradually dim and disappear, beautiful things always fleeting, she gripped the phone that had cost just over a thousand tightly and smiled with confidence. "There is nothing I, Liang Zhouyi, set out to do that I cannot do. Just wait, classmate Tan Qing, to run into me all over the world in the future!"
"Okay, it's a deal!" Tan Qing jumped down, his young face brimming with high spirits. He held out his hand. "Seal it with a high five."
"You are so cringey!" Liang Zhouyi reached out with great disdain and slapped his hand.
"How dare you look down on your dad!" Tan Qing scolded her after the high five. "You are so dead!"
Liang Zhouyi tied the loose sleeves of the uniform around her waist, cursed at Tan Qing a couple of times, and ran quickly toward the stairwell, pulling the door shut behind her. "I'm slipping away first, you have fun by yourself!"
"Liang Zhouyi!" Tan Qing's voice, tinged with both anger and laughter, came from behind her, very loud yet very distant.
Sitting in the company pantry, Liang Zhouyi leaned against the window and pulled herself out of the memory, looking out at the city with its endless stream of cars. She asked in a distant, polite voice, "You're back?"
"Yeah." Tan Qing's fair fingertips could not help touching the medicated wound. "Got tired of staying outside, so I came back to H City to have a look."
"That's nice." Liang Zhouyi curved her eyes into a smile, her gaze unfocused. "Anyway, it's all up to what you like."
"Zhou Yi, what exactly happened back then?" Tan Qing could not stand her dry small talk any longer and could not help asking.
"Teacher Tan, which year are you talking about? I'm not that close with you." Liang Zhouyi turned her head, her expression very cold.
"Do you have to play dumb?" Tan Qing's temper was faintly provoked, a flush of annoyance coloring his handsome face.
"It's pretty boring. I just messed up the college entrance exam, picked a random school, and after graduation took a job that has nothing to do with my major. Isn't everyone like that? What's there to talk about?" Liang Zhouyi tucked her hair behind her ear, her tone very flat.
Tan Qing shot up from his chair. "You clearly said back then..."
"Teacher Tan, back then I was just a minor. I said so many things, do I have to make every single one come true?"
"Liang Zhouyi, you are not that kind of person. You would never give up on your dream."
"Dream?" Liang Zhouyi's tone was exaggerated, and she laughed out loud. "How much is a dream per pound? Can it fill my stomach?"
"If you're going to be like this, then we have nothing to talk about." Tan Qing's face darkened completely, agitated by Liang Zhouyi's impervious attitude.
"Let's end the reminiscing here. I'm very grateful that Teacher Tan was so friendly to me, your colleague, on your first day, but I think it's better if we keep a professional distance between colleagues, don't you think?" Liang Zhouyi's attitude of drawing a clear line was obvious.
"Fine. Just consider it me meddling and getting hit for nothing." Tan Qing stared hard at her, the cold words making his insides ache with anger.
He flicked his sleeve and was about to leave. When he reached the doorway he turned back. "Did you get the photo I sent you four years ago?"
Liang Zhouyi stood in place, expressionless. Knowing he would not get an answer, Tan Qing gave a self mocking smile and without further hesitation turned to go.
"I got it... it's beautiful."
After a long moment, Liang Zhouyi's lips moved, her voice barely audible even in the quiet pantry.
It was beautiful. It was a photo of the peaks at Zermatt, vast white snow covering the mountain range, the sky before sunrise faintly gilded where golden light touched the summits, dreamlike and ethereal.
Liang Zhouyi submitted a leave request on DingTalk, her phone nearly blown up by calls from her mother. She rubbed her temples and went to the lobby to look for the ring Chu He had thrown on the ground.
She picked up the bloodstained ring with a bitter smile and wiped it clean. Thinking of how fiercely brave Chu He had been just now, she let out a soft laugh, laughing until tears dripped onto the floor.
Meanwhile, the exceptionally fierce Chu He sat in the mediation room shivering from the cold.
"Officer, let's make a deal, how about turning on the heater first?" Chu He raised her hand.
"No need. I think you all still need to cool down a bit more." The police officer sitting opposite retorted irritably.
"Didn't I already agree to pay some compensation? What more do you want?" Chu He looked at Liang Zhouyi's mother and Gao Mingchen, her attitude still extremely arrogant.
"I don't want your measly money, I want you in jail," Gao Mingchen said through gritted teeth.
"Oh wow, jail, I'm so scared." Chu He smiled with narrowed eyes. "Don't you know who threw the first punch? I haven't even told you who you hit yet."
Chu He beckoned, signaling Mother Liang to come over. She stepped back half a step with fear in her eyes. Chu He pointed helplessly out the window and continued, "Do you see that building complex out there? That one, and the residential complex near our company, they all belong to President Tan. The one you hit is called Tan Qing. Why don't you search for a photo of President Tan?"
"So what?" Gao Mingchen sneered. "Are you now openly trying to use power to bully us?"
Chu He shook her head as if looking at an ignorant child. She hugged her arms and said softly, "Not you all, just you. Besides, how would I dare? What would I do if I crushed you to death?"
"I don't have time to trade barbs with you here. Unless I die here, I will never sign a settlement!" Gao Mingchen slammed his palm on the table, his tone ruthless.
"Then you better keep your word." Chu He was not flustered at all.
Five minutes later Gao Mingchen's phone rang. He hung up, and it immediately rang again urgently. He glanced at Chu He, and for some reason felt an ominous premonition. Seeing it was his father's call, he finally steeled himself and answered.
Before he could speak, a torrent of scolding poured from the other end. He was berated until he could hardly lift his head, glaring hatefully at Chu He as if he wanted to drink her blood and eat her flesh. However unwilling he was, for the sake of his parents' shop he still snatched the settlement agreement and signed it stroke by stroke.
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