'Till Death Do Us Apart 長相守

Chapter 3

III

Apparently, Shen Liangsheng had been joking when he had told Ch'in Ching to introduce his full name next time. The night after the show, he asked Secretary Chou to search through the staff records at Sheng Kung. Chou did not disappoint either, delivering the information he had obtained to his boss's desk by the next afternoon. Not only did it include Ch'in Ching's name, age and class schedule, it also contained his family background, education and past social interactions.
Shen Liangsheng skimmed through it. While he did want to get this man into bed, he didn't have any plans for the long run. There was no need to delve so deeply.

His plan was to get this man but he couldn't rush, since it might backfire on him if he pushed too hard. Shen Liangsheng was of the opinion that although the man did show some reluctance to befriend him at first, he did not harbour any dislike, judging from careful observation of his reactions. Hence, Shen Liangsheng had purposely left the theatre that night without notifying the man. It was not unlike casting a line into the water, a line that took two weeks to reach Sheng Kung Girl's Secondary in hopes to catch the man after his lessons and invite him to dinner.
Sheng Kung was situated on Yich'ing- li in the French concession while Shen Liangsheng's office was on Bristow Road in the English concession. The two were not far from each other and were easily accessible by motor car. The lessons had not finished when he arrived, and he parked across from the gates. He rolled down the windows and lit a smoke, planning to wait for him in the car. After a cigarette, however, he changed his mind and headed into the school.
Noticing the sedan, the gatekeeper let the well-dressed gentleman in after only a brief questioning. Shen Liangsheng had Ch'in Ching's schedule so finding the classroom in the moderately sized school ground did not prove difficult. He stopped by the windows and peered in.
He had been wondering while puffing on the cigarette earlier, how the man would look on the podium. Now that he was looking right at it, the sight was close to his imagination but also a bit off.
It was mid-September but the Indian summer was especially notorious, leaving the weather hot and humid. Ch'in Ching had the black-framed glasses sitting on his face, as always, but was dressed in Western attire. Due to the heat, it only consisted of a white collared shirt and black dress pants. His shirt was not buttoned up completely and the sleeves were rolled up until the elbows. The tucked-in shirt accentuated his slim waist and legs. Shen Liangsheng's gaze lingered on the figure standing on the podium with a textbook in hand, lecturing about what might have been a work in Classical Chinese. As for which piece it was, it was beyond Shen Liangsheng for his mastery of the Chinese arts was far behind that of the English. All that was going through his mind was that, like this city of which he had been an inhabitant for four years, the man was a distinctive blend of the East and West. The ancient incantations coming from his mouth didn't seem odd with the imported fashion on his body.

Shen Liangsheng was not directly by the windows, but once one girl's eyes wandered and caught sight of him, she would tap on the girl in front of her after a short moment of surprise. Like dominoes, this quickly spread through the window-side rows and soon, none of them were listening to their instructor anymore. All they would do was sneak glances out the window.
At this point, Ch'in Ching could no longer pretend not to see Shen Liangsheng. He nodded at him with a light smile and then tapped the book against the podium.
"Focus, girls," he warned.
Unfortunate as it may be, the smile had not disappeared in time and made it sound more like a suggestion than a warning. What it did succeed in doing was alert the rest of the students that had been paying attention to divert it out the window.
The students were not interested in the lesson and the teacher's mind was not entirely on it either. Ever since Shen Liangsheng left without a peep, it was as though his heart was a kite flying in the air. On that end were his museful ideas, swaying unsteadily far from solid ground.
Although no farewells were exchanged, he was of the opinion that Shen Liangsheng would come for him again. And thus, the kite flew higher and higher, his spirits riding along the wind into the crisp, autumn sky.
However, after a week without any news, it occurred to him that the man could have merely said it in passing. They belonged to different classes after all. The fact that Shen Liangsheng had been enthusiastic meant little and he most likely forgot about this matter afterwards. And thus, the current disappeared and Ch'in Ching's heart, drifting along weakly, threatened to take a dive.
If the person in question happened to be a lady, Ch'in Ching would have thought this to be a wrong love at the wrong time. But instead, it was a man. Ch'in Ching could only ask himself one question: You wanted nothing to do with him at first and now you want to be his friend this badly. What's going on in that head of yours?