SYLM Chapter 28
by VolareAfter finishing the dumplings and cleaning up, it was already late into the night when Gu Wan Jun returned to her room.
Although she had to get up early in a few hours to visit relatives for the New Year, Gu Wan Jun still took out the gift box Chen Lu had given her from her suitcase before going to bed.
What kind of gift could it be?
Even though Gu Wan Jun would like whatever Chen Lu gave her, she could still hear her heart pounding with anticipation and excitement in the moment before opening the gift.
After washing her hands, Gu Wan Jun carefully opened the gift box. On top was a card with delicate handwriting that read:
[Wishing Teacher Gu Wan Jun a Happy New Year, good health, and all the best.]
With just a short New Year’s greeting, Gu Wan Jun could even imagine the girl’s serious expression as she wrote it at her desk.
The smile and tenderness in her peach blossom eyes grew even more, Gu Wan Jun removed the card, and immediately a silver, shimmering fountain pen came into view.
After clearly seeing the fountain pen in the box, Gu Wan Jun was stunned for a few seconds. She picked up the pen and looked at it carefully several times, a look of disbelief and shock immediately appearing in her eyes.
As someone who often used fountain pens, Gu Wan Jun immediately recognized that this pen was a Parker Sonnet Sterling Silver Ciselé.
This fountain pen was made entirely of sterling silver, with an engraved shimmering barrel paired with a brass-colored grip, making the entire pen look very exquisite.
It sells for over two thousand yuan on the official website.
Gu Wan Jun had wanted to buy it for a long time, but she had always been reluctant.
But Chen Lu actually bought it for her.
Why was this child spending money recklessly?!
Besides the surprise, Gu Wan Jun frowned subconsciously. She felt very sorry that Chen Lu had used the money she had worked so hard to earn from writing to buy her this expensive pen. With this two thousand yuan, the girl could have bought so many practical things.
The more Gu Wan Jun thought about it, the more distressed she felt. She immediately picked up her phone and sent a message to “question” Chen Lu:
[You child, why did you buy such an expensive thing? You’re wasting money!]
Less than a minute after the message was sent, Chen Lu replied in seconds: [Does the teacher like it?]
[…]
It was that familiar rhetoric again.
Always remembering that the girl on the other end of the phone was a cunning little rabbit, Gu Wan Jun’s heart immediately sounded an alarm. She was considering how to reply when Chen Lu’s messages jumped on the chat box one after another:
[I don’t know what teacher you like, I just saw that there were many fountain pens in your office drawer, and thought you might like them, so I bought a fountain pen.]
[Gifts are originally meant to please others.]
[I especially like the two gifts the teacher gave me, whether it’s the priceless scarf or the expensive Kindle e-reader, these are all things I really wanted, and I’m very happy to receive them.]
[I also want to give the teacher a gift that you like, so as long as you like this fountain pen, then I won’t be wasting money. On the contrary, if the teacher doesn’t like it and refuses to accept this fountain pen, then this money will be wasted. Not only can I not return it to the official website, but I also have to re-select a new New Year’s gift for the teacher.]
[…]
Chen Lu said everything she could and couldn’t say. After all, she was a writer, and several times Gu Wan Jun wanted to insert a reply, but she couldn’t keep up with Chen Lu’s typing speed.
Seeing the last message, and seeing that the chat box still showed “The other party is typing…”, Gu Wan Jun, who couldn’t type fast enough, quickly sent a voice message to explain:
“No need to choose a new gift, it’s not that I don’t like it, I especially like this brand of fountain pen, it’s just too expensive, I’ve never been willing to buy it myself, who knew you would actually buy it for me, I’ll accept it this time, but you’re not allowed to buy such expensive gifts next time, it’s better to buy yourself more food, clothes, and things to use with the money, be good.”
After the voice message was sent, two or three minutes passed before Gu Wan Jun received Chen Lu’s reply: [If you like it, that’s good.]
Gu Wan Jun never thought that in these two or three minutes, Chen Lu had listened to her voice message several times, just to hear the sentence “be good” at the end.
Chen Lu was really frugal with herself, but for the people she cared about, she didn’t care how much money she spent, as long as the other person was happy, she was happy.
And Gu Wan Jun was that person.
…
Considering that it was the first day of the New Year tomorrow, and Gu Wan Jun might have to get up early to visit relatives, Chen Lu said good night first after chatting for a while.
After putting down her phone, Gu Wan Jun carefully examined the fountain pen in the box.
As much as she liked it, this gift was too precious, and she had to think of a way to return it without being noticed by Chen Lu.
If that didn’t work, she would treat Chen Lu to dinner at her house every day after she went back, one more meal was one more meal.
Just when Gu Wan Jun thought her idea was good and decided to do it that way, the next second, there were two knocks on the bedroom door—
“Wan Jun, are you asleep?”
It was her sister, Gu Wan Rong.
…
As soon as she entered the room, Gu Wan Rong saw the opened silver box on the table: “You’re opening a gift?”
“Yeah.”
“Chen Lu gave it to you?”
Gu Wan Jun was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile: “Yeah.”
“Wait, a Parker Sonnet fountain pen?” Recognizing the brand of the fountain pen, Gu Wan Rong widened her eyes. Obviously, she was also someone who knew her stuff.
A student giving a teacher a fountain pen worth more than two thousand yuan, that didn’t sound normal, publicly or privately, right?
Gu Wan Rong was about to speak when her eyes caught sight of the greeting card on the side.
Unlike the “short essay” that Gu Wan Rong had previously imagined to be something like a love letter, the greetings on the card were very simple, respectful and polite, and the handwriting was handsome. It looked completely like the purest and simplest blessings from a student to a teacher, and she couldn’t see anything inappropriate about it.
Gu Wan Rong was stunned, and suddenly couldn’t say anything.
It wasn’t the kind of “short essay” she thought it would be?
Was she overthinking it?
But this fountain pen was two thousand yuan, would a student really just give a teacher a fountain pen worth two thousand yuan as a New Year’s gift without any ulterior motives?
Gu Wan Rong couldn’t understand, and didn’t know which part had gone wrong.
Gu Wan Jun, who was on the side, didn’t know what her sister was thinking, and seeing that her sister kept staring at the card Chen Lu wrote for her, she inexplicably felt like she “didn’t want anyone to stare at things related to Chen Lu, even her own sister”.
Gu Wan Jun silently packed the fountain pen and greeting card into the box and quickly put it away, smiling and changing the subject:
“What’s wrong, Sister, why aren’t you asleep so late? Did you come to me for something?”
Gu Wan Jun’s words pulled Gu Wan Rong out of her thoughts.
Remembering the purpose of her coming, Gu Wan Rong came back to her senses, took out the hand that she had been holding behind her back, and handed a delicate red jewelry box to Gu Wan Jun:
“Here, a New Year’s gift for you.”
“There’s one this year too.” Gu Wan Jun curved her eyebrows and wasn’t surprised at all.
“Of course, when have you ever been without one?”
“Yes, yes, yes, I knew my sister was the best to me.”
Although she knew that her sister would prepare a gift for her every year, every time she actually received the gift, Gu Wan Jun’s face was still filled with undisguised surprise and happiness.
There was no need to be polite with her own sister, Gu Wan Jun generously took the jewelry box and gently shook it by her ear, thinking of the glass-like white jade bracelet she received during the New Year last year, Gu Wan Jun guessed with a smile:
“What is it this year?”
“You’ll know when you open it.”
“Wow, such a big gold necklace?!”
After opening the jewelry box, Gu Wan Jun let out an exaggerated exclamation. Gu Wan Rong was amused by her sister’s appearance and casually reached out and patted the person in front of her on the shoulder:
“Tsk, what are you doing? It’s just a necklace. If you really encounter something you can’t get over in the future, you can sell it for some money.”
“My gosh, it’s so heavy, you’re really my own sister, you’re really willing to spend money! Does my brother-in-law know?”
“I’m buying something for my own sister, what does it have to do with him? You don’t know what kind of person your brother-in-law is, his pockets are cleaner than his face.”
“…”
One Chen Lu, one older sister Gu Wan Rong.
This whole night, Gu Wan Jun was busy feeling sorry for other people’s wallets.
——
The two sisters hadn’t seen each other for a long time. Anyway, even if they slept now, they wouldn’t be able to sleep for more than a few hours before they had to get up. Since they were both able to stay up late, they simply lay on the bed and chatted like they did when they were little.
Talking about the future, Gu Wan Rong said that she was thirty-six years old this year, and was considered an elderly mother. After she finished this period of busyness, she planned to prepare for pregnancy with her husband.
Hearing this, as if she had heard something important, Gu Wan Jun flipped over and lay on the bed looking at her sister, and asked with a smile:
“Do you and your brother-in-law want a boy or a girl?”
“Both boys and girls are fine, but I want a daughter.”
Gu Wan Rong lay on her side, propping her head up with one hand, and said in a gentle tone:
“I’ve even thought of a nickname for my daughter, it’ll be Duoduo.”
“Duoduo?”
Gu Wan Jun repeated her sister’s words, and gentle ripples appeared in her peach blossom eyes:
“That’s good, when you have a daughter, then I’ll be an aunt. Sister, you guys should hurry up, I can’t wait to hold my little niece.”
“Hmm, a young, carefree, and unreliable aunt?”
“Tsk, what are you saying? You’re the one who’s unreliable.”
Gu Wan Jun said as she reached out and lightly flicked her sister on the forehead, adding a bit of seriousness to her gentle tone:
“Sister, I’m telling you, you can say whatever you want to say about me now, but after you have a child, don’t secretly say bad things about me, lest the child hate me after she’s born.”
“How could that be? We have the same parents, this aunt of yours is equivalent to her second mother, she will definitely love you so much that she won’t have time to hate you.”
“Really? Will she like me?”
“Yes, maybe by then, she will like you, this aunt, more than she likes me, her mother.”
“Hmm… If that’s the case, then I won’t get married in the future, your child will be my child. What a great thing to have a daughter for free.”
Gu Wan Jun had a look of longing on her face, but the next second, she was rewarded with a flick on the forehead from her own sister:
“Stop it, you girl is talking nonsense again, how can you not get married?”
“Why can’t I? Many young people don’t get married now.”
“Are you saying I’m old?” Gu Wan Rong pretended to be dissatisfied.
“Look at you, don’t make a mountain out of a molehill, can we still chat properly?”
“Alright, stop talking about me, what are your plans for the future?”
“Plans…”
Gu Wan Jun touched her forehead and propped her chin up with one hand:
“My current plan is to teach well, I haven’t thought about anything else yet, I’ll take it one step at a time.”
In fact, Gu Wan Jun wasn’t someone who didn’t have a plan, but from the moment she decided to teach at Ningcheng No. 1 High School, she knew that setting any grand goals couldn’t compare to teaching and educating people in a down-to-earth manner.
At least that’s how it was now.
…
Time passed quickly as the two sisters talked.
Gu Wan Jun looked forward to being able to hold her little niece as soon as possible, while secretly resolving to teach well.
However, Gu Wan Jun never thought that things were unpredictable, and plans could never keep up with changes. Some beautiful things were just reflections in the water and flowers in a mirror, and in the end, they were all in vain.