103 | Aged Examinee
Pang Pang, you can just hold the umbrella for me from now on.

Ever since Gu Mingxi decided to once again take the college entrance exam next year at the ‘ripe old age’ of 28, Pang Qian asked Teacher Dai to help gather teaching materials, practice questions, and mock exams for high school seniors in E City for Gu Mingxi to review.

In his last semester in Sanya, Gu Mingxi was very busy. One one hand, he had to teach math and English to his graduating cla.s.s. On the other hand, he also had to fulfill his publis.h.i.+ng deadlines. And then on yet another hand, he had to review the high school liberal arts courses.

His colleagues knew that he was planning on retaking the college entrance exam, so they helped him to review. But when they picked up the math and science questions from the school, each of them became dumbfounded.

“It’s too hard. It’s been so many years since I’ve studied it, I’ve already forgotten all the formulas.” Teacher Chen shook his head. “If you told me to take the entrance exam again, I’d go mad.”

Teacher Song said, “Thank goodness Teacher Gu can draw, so he can take the arts exam. He ought to be able to get into an art program without any problems.”

Gu Mingxi sighed. “Actually, the exam tests you on sketching and color, which I haven’t practiced in a long time either. The exam is at the start of next year. Being able to bring my skills up to par in half a year will be difficult too.”

Ji Xiu’er comforted him, “You can do it. I believe in you.”

In June, the Sanya weather grew hotter and the rain came in greater force. The sixth grade students were going to graduate.

Pang Qian had nearly taken care of all her work at Jialai. Zou Liwen turned a blind eye, and she quickly took her bags to Sanya to spend time with Gu Mingxi.

All of the graduating students at his school had been accepted to a junior high already. After their final exams, the school prepared a simple graduation ceremony for them. Pang Qian sat in the teacher’s quarters, out of the sun, eating ice cream and watching the teachers and students gathering on the courtyard under the scorching sun to take a graduation photo.

The students in the first row crouched down, and the teachers sat in chairs behind them. In the third row, students were standing up, and behind them were students standing on chairs.

Pang Qian looked into the distance at Gu Mingxi. He was wearing a white collared s.h.i.+rt with beige pants. Pang Qian had helped him b.u.t.ton his s.h.i.+rt, all the way up to the top. Gu Mingxi said that it looked more formal and official that way.

His hair was cut neatly and freshly and his clothes were clean and crisp. Sitting with the teachers between all the students, a light and gently smile remained on Gu Mingxi’s face. He taught art for all the students, so he took photos with all four of the graduating cla.s.ses. After photos were done, Pang Qian saw that a lot of kids were huddled around Gu Mingxi.

She curiously walked out and realized that they were crying. A lot of them were holding small trinkets, saying that it was a gift for their teacher because they’d heard he was leaving.

The gifts were handmade cards, notebooks and alb.u.ms, pens and paint, and other such items. The most shocking gift was a basket of eggs, and the student said his parents had told him to give it to Teacher Gu.

Gu Mingxi couldn’t bear to turn away the kids’ kind intentions, so he asked Pang Qian to help him collect the gifts. He crouched down and a lot of girls surrounded him, crying and whispering to him.

More than anyone else, Pang Qian could understand their feelings. She’d known from a young age that Gu Mingxi was a very good teacher. He was strict but not harsh, reasonable and filled with warmth. He was detailed and patient with his teaching, lively and interesting as well. He treated his students equally, encouraging them and also giving them criticisms. Most importantly, he didn’t give up on any students. Even the biggest troublemakers would slowly get better under his concern and guidance.

Actions speak louder than words. Under Gu Mingxi’s guidance, two cla.s.ses of students’ math and English scores were better than the other cla.s.ses, so not only the students, but their parents also felt especially fond of the no-armed Teacher Xiao Gu.

 

After the conclusion of the graduation ceremony, summer break started for the students. That evening, all the teachers packed up their things to head home. Usually at this time, Gu Mingxi also brought Dou Dou back to his house in Sanya Bay.

But this year, they would be parting. After Pang Qian came, she found that Dou Dou was utterly dejected, just like a frostbitten eggplant. The carefree summer vacation didn’t bring him any excitement, and instead, he hoped the school semester would never end.

Pang Qian didn’t try to talk to Dou Dou about it. One night after dinner, Gu Mingxi took Dou Dou out for a walk. They walked around for two hours, and when they returned, Dou Dou’s eyes were swollen up like peaches. He ran over to Pang Qian, sobbing and sniffling. “Auntie Crab, in two days, I-I’m going to go to my mom’s house. I-I’ll pro-probably stay there for school. Auntie Crab, after you bring Teacher Gu home, you can’t bully him. You promised me before that y-you would become his two hands.”

Pang Qian was suddenly brought to tears by his words. She crouched down and hugged Dou Dou. “I definitely won’t bully Teacher Gu. I promise. And Dou Dou, when you’re on vacations, you can come to our house to play. When you grow up, you can go to university in E City, and then you’ll be able to see Teacher Gu all the time.

Dou Dou cracked a smile, his mouth missing a few teeth. “Mm, Teacher Gu told me that.”

Two days later, Dou Dou’s mother came to Sanya to pick him up. Gu Mingxi packed up Dou Dou’s things, his clothes and toys and study materials… Dou Dou would be settling in Guangdong, and Pang Qian wondered if his stepfather would be able to accept him. In any case, he would probably suffer a little bit, but there really was no other option.

When it was time for him to leave, Dou Dou cried his heart out. He nearly started to roll around on the ground in a fit. He couldn’t hear anyone else’s words, just holding onto Gu Mingxi’s leg and crying out.

Gu Mingxi didn’t know how Dou Dou’s future would turn out either. He could only crouch down and make a promise with him.

“If you score 95 points or higher on your language, math, and English exams next semester, I’ll come pick you up to visit E City for two weeks. I promise, I keep my word.”

After being comforted for a long time, Dou Dou finally nodded as he continued crying. Eventually, he walked away and left Sanya to head home with his mother. Pang Qian wiped away her tears. When they could no longer see Dou Dou, Gu Mingxi walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead. He asked, “When I left before, did you cry like that too?”

Pang Qian looked at him with watery eyes and asked, “How did you know?”

He said, “I’m guessing.”

“You left me twice,” Pang Qian said. “Gu Mingxi, you can’t let this happen again in the future.”

He smiled, and his moist eyes were enough to appease her heart. “I promise, it won’t happen again.”

With Pang Qian’s help, Gu Mingxi finished up the procedure to leave the school. He set up with the property manager to take care of the utility fees for his property. He cancelled his bank cards and used up his supermarket credits. When he was cancelling his phone line, it finally hit him that he was leaving Sanya.

Packing up was a lot easier this time around with Pang Qian’s help. He didn’t have much luggage to bring along. He had very few clothes and shoes, and most of his belongings were books and paintings that filled up several boxes.

When she was helping him clear out the drawers, Pang Qian found a pen, dark blue, Hero brand. She pulled off the cap and saw that the tip was already broken.

“You still kept this? It’s already broken.” She laughed happily. “It’s been so many years, and you’ve run off so far away, but still, you didn’t lose this.”

Gu Mingxi sat down on the floor together with her. With his foot, he took the pen from her hand. He rubbed the pen gently and said, “Because of this pen, I scolded Dou Dou for the first and only time.”

Pang Qian’s eyes widened. “Ah?”

“Dou Dou’s the one who broke this pen.” He smiled. “When I saw him drop it, I couldn’t do anything to prevent it. I yelled at him and Dou Dou got really scared, so he cried for half the night. He was only 6 then. After that, I took him out to eat fried chicken and bought him a Transformers toy before he stopped ignoring me.”

Pang Qian couldn’t help laughing and Gu Mingxi shook his head helplessly. “Sometimes I really think that Dou Dou is just like you when you were younger. Likes eating and likes toys, not very petty and pretty good to comfort.”

Pang Qian pouted. “I’m not good to comfort now? (easy to placate)”

“Now, you’re… How could I say it.” He tilted his head, as if trying to weigh out his words. “You’re a bit greedy and insatiable.”

“Hey, Gu Mingxi! Do you know your idioms?!” Pang Qian called out angrily. “What do you mean ‘greedy and insatiably’?!”

“I mean…” He lowered his head and kissed her shoulder, biting gently. “In certain respects.”

Pang Qian mercilessly took a bite at his shoulder. Very satisfied with his cry of pain, she clenched her teeth and said, “Who’s the greedy and insatiable one? You’d better make it clear! Who’s the one who wants to study every night? Huh, who is it?!”

He closed his eyes and kissed her, as if he hadn’t heard anything.

Five minutes later, Pang Qian called out, “Gu Mingxi! We haven’t even finished packing yet!”

“If you don’t like studying at night, we can work on it in the afternoon,” he said. “After we’re done studying, we can pack again.”

She felt hopeless, but also quite happy inside.

To be honest, she was really quite easy to placate.

 

During the rainy season, the s.h.i.+ning sun could disappear behind dark clouds in an instant. The gentle breeze turned devastating. After the sky darkened, large raindrops would drop from the sky. The tropical trees would shake in the wind.

Pang Qian stood by the window in her nightgown, and curiously opened the window. The whirring wind and rain blew in, soaking her clothes. She quickly closed the window, and stood there, arms crossed, staring out in a daze.

This was their last night in Sanya. They’d be heading back to E City the next afternoon.

Gu Mingxi walked up to her and bent down slightly, his chest against her back. His shoulders rested on hers as if embracing her.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

“When the weather was like this and you were alone, how did you go out?” Pang Qian asked. “When it rains, who helps you hold the umbrella?”

He started, unsure of how to respond.

No one helped him hold an umbrella, and he’d gotten used to walking out into the wind and rain. Every rainy season during summer break, there would be the occasional typhoon. It was difficult for Gu Mingxi to go out, but he and Dou Dou still had to eat. If there was nothing to eat in the house, he just had to go out into the storm.

This was just a minor difficulty in his life, such that he didn’t even find it worth mentioning. Gu Mingxi whispered into Pang Qian’s ear, “Pang Pang, you can just hold the umbrella for me from now on.”

All the suffering had pa.s.sed, and all the sorrow had turned into a gust of wind. Pang Qian understood what Gu Mingxi meant. He wasn’t the kind of person who liked living in the past. It was just like his new book, ‘The Lonely Whale,’ which was a story about hopes and dreams. (Note: Such a plug, lol; this is the t.i.tle of Ostrich’s author’s upcoming novel.)

Pang Qian looked out the window at the pouring rain and said, “I wonder if the rain will slow tomorrow. I’m worried it will affect the flight.”

Next to her, Gu Mingxi said, “The weather report says there will be clear skies tomorrow.”

The next day, it was indeed windy and sunny. Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi had s.h.i.+pped several boxes, and so they boarded the plane back to E City with minimal baggage.

This time, he was genuinely heading home. When they exited the plane, Pang Shuisheng was already waiting at the airport. He drove Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi back to the Prosperous North. They got out of the car and Pang Qian insisted on showing Gu Mingxi their new house.

The renovations on the house were complete, and only the furniture and some appliances were missing. Compared to when they first bought the house, it looked much more s.p.a.cious, bright, and warm now.

Gu Mingxi followed Pang Qian to look through each of the rooms. He almost couldn’t bear stepping onto the clean floors as he looked around the place with hungry eyes. Aluminum shuttered windows, bright yellow kitchen cabinets, a marble wall for the TV and entertainment area, white ceilings, a balcony filled with sun… and the bathroom that surprised him.

The bathroom was very s.p.a.cious. There was a tall chair in front of the sink and counter, and also a bathtub and smart toilet. A towel bar was attached to the wall and the shower hooks were put it at waist level, obviously meant to be more convenient for Gu Mingxi.

He said, “Pang Pang, you don’t have to accommodate me that much.”

“It’s not about accommodating you,” Pang Qian said. “You’re the owner of the house, so everything should be designed to be easy to use for you. This isn’t a model house for showing to others.” Pang Qian wrapped her arms around him. “I want you to live comfortably, and I hope that we’ll be able to live here for a long time because I really don’t like moving house.”

He thought for a moment and said, “Mm, I don’t like moving house either.”

She smiled. “My dad said that our task for the next half month is to go shopping for furniture and appliances, and that we don’t have to do anything else. When we finish buying everything, we can start working hard.”

It was July 6th, 2011. There was just half a year left before the fine arts exam and grad school entrance exam, and only eleven months before the college entrance exam.

The aged examinee Gu Mingxi let out a deep breath. Indeed, he would have to work as if his life depended on it.