A Lifetime of Peace and Care - Chapter 52
Chapter 52: Take Off
The art festival for the elementary school students in Haben International School smoothly came to an end in April.
Since Shi Xiang left, a new principal came and took his place. She was young, had a round baby face, and was much more open-minded than he was. She usually expressed her viewpoints concisely during meetings and her character was simple and transparent to the teachers and students. She was also very kind, which made everyone feel that the new headmaster was very cute.
Yi Ran had no class in the morning and stayed behind in the office to correct each student’s weekly journal. She saw that Gu Tai wrote:
I sat in front of the window and saw my mother came back from the airport.
My gift was an aerial camera.
I valued it, even though there was something that I liked more.
Because, outside, it was raining heavily.
Gales and strong winds are customary.
Yi Ran had mixed feelings in her heart. She hadn’t expected that the child would be so lyrical and literary, especially for one so young. It seemed that when he grows up, he just might take on Director Gu’s mantle.
At this time, Yao Juan, who was not far away, returned to his seat. She heard him gave a low sigh and saw his head droop, his back emitting helplessness.
She leaned sideways and asked, “What happened? Is there any trouble?”
Yao Juan turned his head slightly and saw her concerned look. He frowned and replied, “Every time something happened in class, you’ll ask to help. I don’t know what to say.”
Yao Juan was not only a male teacher but the head teacher as well. At this international school, the burden was already very heavy to begin with. However, Yi Ran felt that there should not be disputes among colleagues.
“There are many things happening with students now, and maybe I can help a little. Besides, I’m not too busy here.”
He seemed to be struggling internally, then he scratched his cheek and said, “There’s a classmate in the classroom…lifting girls’ skirts.”
Yi Ran heard this and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Oh wow. These little ones became hooligans at such a young age.”
“Yes. Your Gu Tai had such a strong sense of justice that he said a few words to the boy.”
Yi Ran raised her eyebrows proudly. “Of course. He’s a little gentleman.”
She tapped the pen against her chin, bit her bottom lip, and tried to think of a good solution. As she was thinking, her mobile phone rang.
Yi Ran took a look to see who had called and saw that the bright screen displayed Xiao Zhao’s name.
She couldn’t imagine why he might be calling her, but she had a bad feeling. Not wanting her suspicion to come true, she frowned and connected the call. “Hello, Xiao Zhao?”
Xiao Zhao didn’t respond at first, then he said in a low voice, “Yes, it’s me, Mrs. Gu. Is it convenient for you to talk now?”
Yi Ran slightly glanced around, her eyes dark. When she spoke, her voice was uneasy. “What happened?”
“Yes, just listen to me slowly, okay? This morning, Director Gu wanted to give an example to the actors and so…he climbed the roof himself but didn’t expect that the tile would not be secure and be slippery. He accidentally fell from the roof to the shed. Fortunately, he fell on a cardboard box. Now he’d just been sent to the hospital in town. ”
After listening to this, Yi Ran’s face became pale. Her forehead was beaded with sweat, and she couldn’t open her mouth for a moment, as if fearing that her mouth would leak out all her fears.
“So, that … how is he now?”
She almost bit her tongue and had to desperately appease her inner panic.
“The doctor said that, fortunately, when he fell down, there was a cardboard box. Mr. Gu was also still conscious at the time, but he had sprains and traumas on his shoulders and back. I’ve already contacted the nearest Nanfa Hospital and asked Mr. Gu to go there for a detailed examination and treatment. ”
Yi Ran’s heart was beating violently from uneasiness and anxiety. She couldn’t believe that this had happened.
“Okay, Xiao Zhao, please keep in touch with me at any time. I’ll rush there now. Can you send me the specific address?”
Xiao Zhao had guessed that she would respond like this and already made her travel arrangements. “Mrs Gu, you don’t need to worry. I already helped you book a ticket and would send a car to the airport to pick you up.”
Yi Ran nodded forcefully, only to realize that he wouldn’t be able to see her. The palms of her hands were sweaty, as if she was suffering from arrhythmia. Thus, she could only force herself to calm down.
She pursed her lips and listened as Xiao Zhao told her, “I’ll call back right away when Director Gu’s general situation becomes more stable.”
In the past 20 years of her life, Yi Ran had never experienced this. It made her feel both bewildered and at a loss. The moment she feared she might miss something, her heart was filled with anxiety and fear.
Yao Juan looked at Yi Ran sitting stiffly in her chair, her arms trembling slightly. He couldn’t help worrying immediately. “What happened?”
His voice brought Yi Ran back to her senses. Although she was still worried and anxious, she calmed enough to look at him and said, “I might be taking time off. Something happened to my husband.”
Yao Juan nodded immediately.
….
Xiao Zhao had described the whole incident on the phone, but those words and pictures kept emerging and circling in the Yi Ran’s mind.
That morning, the scene they were shooting was when Peng Shaohui’s character climbed to the roof alone to smoke.
It had rained the night before and was a bit slippery in various places. Gu Tingchuan wanted to get a sense of the scene being shot and to gain a good grasp of the character’s mood.
Once Xiao Zhao became aware that he was going to climb the roof, he was stunned. “It’s dangerous, Boss Gu. Are you sure you still want to go up in person?”
Lu Shan also agreed, but Gu Tingchuan insisted. He stepped up on the ladder and turned back to tell them, “If I do nothing due to concern for my own safety, why would the actor listen to me when I tell him to go up?”
He climbed up the roof with a ladder. As far as he could see, the scene before him was a green field of farmland, distant mountains, and chirping birds. The sun hovered in the middle of the sky, it’s light shrouding the small village beyond. His eyes narrowed slowly, and there was a faint feeling of awe. For a moment, he missed Yi Ran even more but she was, of course, still in the city.
Gu Tingchuan took out a cigarette from his pocket and held it between his long fingers. He brought the base up to his lips, tasting the slight bitter tobacco. He also tried to figure out the emotion and attitude of the character as he stood alone on the rooftop.
The females in the crew couldn’t help looking up at Director Gu. How could he be so handsome! Sure enough, it was worth to film in such a difficult place!
After a while, he got an idea and moved, planning to call Peng Shaohui up. But, as he walked a few steps forward, the bricks under his feet shifted. He feet slipped, and he tipped forward. He tried to grab the tiles around him but they were still too wet and he couldn’t grasp them. He suddenly fell on top of a cardboard box full of clothes on the ground.
A series of screams sounded while other staff members stood in shock. Xiao Zhao and Peng Shaohui were terrified.
The small hospital in the town made a preliminary examination of Gu Tingchuan. His right shoulder was sprained, and there were multiple bruises on his back and shoulders. Fortunately, there was no concussion, but there might be soft tissue contusions near the ribs.
Ninfa City was the nearest big city, and Director Gu was immediately sent to the city-level hospital by the crew car.
It will take two hours to fly from S City to Ninfa City. It was afternoon when she arrived at the airport. She had directly set off from the school and did not have any luggage except her shoulder bag.
At the airport entrance, she hurried to the parking garage and met one of Gu Tingchuan’s assistants. The girl was afraid she might worry and said, “Director Gu’s brother will also be leaving in the next flight.”
She nodded absently, listening to the little assistant saying, “Before I came here, Director Gu was still being examined…”
Yi Ran received a call from Gu Tingchuan before boarding the plane, and she almost burst into tears in an instant. Fortunately, she calmed herself but when she spoke, her voice was hoarse, “How are you? Does it hurt?”
Her tone was as if she was coaxing a child. Gu Tingchuan couldn’t help but hooked up his lips in a smile. Then, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, and he slowed his breath to say, “My older brother is also aware of this and will be coming to see me too. Don’t worry. I’m fine. As for my parents, they are in France and have not been notified. It’s better to save them on the worry of having to withstand more than a dozen hours on a flight back.”
Yi Ran finally understood what real distress was and felt as if she could not breathe. Her eyebrows were drawn together in anxiety and a burst of uncertainty washed over her.
“Then don’t say so much. Take a good rest and cooperate with the doctor during the examination. I will board the plane in a while and, when we meet, I’ll scold you so get ready for it.”
She sat down in her airport seat, covered her eyes with her palms, and tried to stop her tears from flowing down. However, she really didn’t want Gu Tingchuan to find that she was behaving abnormally and become worried about her so she asked a few more things and hung up the phone with a bit more peace of mind.
As they were driving to the hospital, the little assistant who came to pick her up saw that Yi Ran had no intention of speaking and didn’t bother her. Finally, after a long thirty minutes, she arrived at the hospital where Gu Tingchuan was staying.
She walked to the door of the VIP ward of the hospital. When she lightly pushed the door open, she saw the man lying on the bed. In that instant, the fatigue and anxiety in her heart disappeared, leaving on the sound of her own heartbeat lingering in her ears.
Yi Ran’s eyes were moist, wanting to hold this man tightly and never let go.
She just wanted to give this man in front of her all the best wishes and prayers.
