One Sweet Life c1

OSL – Chapter One

Gu Tian Tian’s plane lands. She runs off the plane like the wind. If she turns around, her hair will whip the faces of the two strangers following her.

‘Little sister, where are you going?’ a forty-year-old man asks. ‘I’m familiar with the CBD, I can drive you.’

‘Old man, you’re over forty,’ a twenty-eight-year-old man says. ‘It’s embarra.s.sing for you to pick up young women. Beautiful girl, give me your number or I can give you my number.’

‘Mr. Turning Thirty, you’re an old man too,’ Gu Tian Tian says. ‘It’s embarra.s.sing for you to pick up young women.’

Gu Tian Tian grabs her suitcase, and sees a familiar young man wearing a white T-shirt and jeans. Women around the young man are ogling him.

The young man is An Yin Zhu. He scans the crowd, and spots Gu Tian Tian. His inner laziness disappears, and his eyes brightens until he spots two old men hitting on Gu Tian Tian.

An Yin Zhu strides to Gu Tian Tian, he holds her hand, glares at the two old men, and leads her away from them.

‘Why must your flirt even after landing?’ An Yin Zhu scolds.

Gu Tian Tian retrieves her hand out of An Yin Zhu’s hand. ‘I can flirt with whoever I want. It has nothing to do with you.’

‘Of course it’s my business if you flirt,’ An Yin Zhu says. ‘Your mum ask me to take care of you. Look at those two dangerous old men you were flirting with.’

Gu Tian Tian rolls her eyes, and hmphs. She feels like An Yin Zhu is the bane of her existence. She wishes they weren’t childhood friends so he wouldn’t know everything about her life, especially about her weaknesses.

Gu Tian Tian gives An Yin Zhu her pastel blue suitcase.

‘Is this your only suitcase?’ An Yin Zhu asks.

‘I’m too lazy to pack everything,’ Gu Tian Tian says. ‘If I need anything that isn’t in my suitcase, I’ll buy it at the shops.’

An Yin Zhu carries Gu Tian Tian’s suitcase to the parking lot. He puts it in the boot of a white BMW, and gestures the pa.s.senger seat for her to sit.

Nine years ago, Gu Tian Tian’s family moved to a country town because of her mum’s poor health. Returning to the city after nine years, indeed the city has flourished.

It’s three in the afternoon, and hot outside the car. An Yin Zhu pa.s.ses a bottle of water to Gu Tian Tian. She drinks a sip of water, and he drinks from the same bottle of water.

An Yin Zhu drives Gu Tian Tian to a rich neighborhood, which has the prestigious eighty-eight condos. One of the condos belongs to his family.

An Yin Zhu parks the car, and Gu Tian Tian walks to his family condo first.

‘Xiao Tian, is that you at the door?’ Mrs. An asks.

A dog barks, and Gu Tian Tian knows why An Yin Zhu is laughing. He named the dog, Tian Tian.

When Gu Tian Tian was six, and An Yin Zhu was nine, his uncle gave him a puppy. The puppy’s fluffy with round watery eyes. The puppy loves Gu Tian Tian, runs around her, and licks her every time the puppy sees her, which was why An Yin Zhu named the puppy Tian Tian. During that period, Gu Tian Tian cried for the cute puppy for receiving such a bad name.

Even when Tian Tian wasn’t with An Yin Zhu, he would carry around a photo of Tian Tian, and call Tian Tian if Gu Tian Tian was with him.

Since Gu Tian Tian met An Yin Zhu, he hasn’t once called her Tian Tian. His nicknames for her is smelly little girl, deadly little girl, nth little girl or hey you. But in front of adults, he’ll call her Gu Xiao Zhu, because her name sounds like ‘I am a pig.’

Gu Tian Tian’s nickname for An Yin Zhu is Chi Si Zhu, because his name sounds like ‘Eating Dead Pig.’

‘Oh my Xiao Tian, look how big you’ve grown,’ Mrs. An says. ‘Come here, and let mummy An hug you.’

Gu Tian Tian and An Yi Zhu’s families used to be neighbors for ten years before Gu Tian Tian’s family moved to the country. Six years ago, his family vacationed at her family’s country home. Three years ago, her family visited his family’s city condo.

Mrs. An shows Gu Tian Tian the bedroom the An family built for Gu Tian Tian. Inside Gu Tian Tian’s bedroom is a walk-in-wardrobe full of new designer dresses, a bathroom and a vanity table full of makeup and jewellery. Gu Tian Tian sighs inwardly, she knows Mrs. An loves her like a daughter, but she’s not a teenager anymore.

After the tour, Mrs. An leaves Gu Tian Tian’s bedroom, and An Yin Zhu carries Gu Tian Tian’s suitcase into the bedroom.

An Yin Zhu looks at Gu Tian Tian’s pink bedroom. ‘Aren’t you an adult? Why do you still love pink?’

‘It’s obvious it’s your mum who loves pink,’ Gu Tian Tian says. ‘Besides, I just turned eighteen. I’m not an old woman yet.’

Gu Tian Tian unpacks her suitcase, showers, change clothes, and walks downstairs with damp hair.

‘Xiao Tian, go dry your hair,’ Mrs. An says. ‘If you don’t dry your hair, you’ll lose half your hair when you’re an old woman. Do you know where the hair dryer is? Yin Zhu, go get Xiao Tian the hair dryer.’

Tian Tian the dog isn’t a puppy anymore, but an old dog. Tian Tian recognises Gu Tian Tian, jumps off the sofa, runs around Gu Tian Tian and licks Gu Tian Tian.

Gu Tian Tian squats, picks up Tian Tian and Tian Tian licks Gu Tian Tian’s arms. Gu Tian Tian is sad Tian Tian is an old dog, and regrets Tian Tian couldn’t live with her for twelve years instead of living with An Yin Zhu. Tian Tian has aged a lot since she last saw Tian Tian three years ago.

An Yin Zhu returns to the living room with a hair dryer. He rubs Tian Tian’s head. ‘The vet said Tian Tian can live for at least another year. Isn’t it too soon for you to be grieving for Tian Tian?’

An Yin Zhu turns on the hair dryer. ‘Do you want me to blow dry your hair?’

Gu Tian Tian hmphs, grabs the hair dryer and blow dries her own hair.

Gu Tian Tian and An Yin Zhu’s families are close. Mrs. An loves Gu Tian Tian, and wishes to adopt Gu Tian Tian as a daughter. On the other hand, Mrs. Gu loves An Yin Zhu, and wishes to adopt An Yin Zhu as a son.

Since Mrs. Gu’s health is poor, and Mr. Gu is a busy businessman, Gu Tian Tian used to spend most of her childhood in An Yin Zhu’s family condo. Mrs. An always order An Yin Zhu to take care of Gu Tian Tian like his little sister, which is why An Yin Zhu used to blow dry Gu Tian Tian’s hair. When Mr. Gu was away on a business trip, Mrs. Gu and Gu Tian Tian used to eat dinner with An Yin Zhu’s family.

After dinner, Mrs. An chats with Gu Tian Tian about college.

‘Xiao Tian, now that you’re living here, you should study at the same college as Yin Zhu so he can drive you to college,’ Mrs. An suggests.

Gu Tian Tian suspects Mrs. An purposely avoids saying An Yin Zhu’s full name. After all, what mother wants to call their son, ‘Dead Pig’ or ‘Pig’s nude little bird?’

Gu Tian Tian smiles while remembering An Yin Zhu asking his teachers and cla.s.smates to call him Yin Zhu. An Yin Zhu’s pitiful birth name makes Gu Tian Tian feels better about her birth name.

End of Chapter One