1987 My Era

Chapter 403, Wisdom

Lunch was eaten at the home of Principal Sun of No. 1 Middle School. Li Heng specially bought some gifts to visit his former head teacher and subject teachers.

After dinner, Mai Sui left, saying she was going to her grandmother's house, which was near Chengnan Park. Sun Manning personally helped her carry her luggage and sent her home.

After watching the two women leave, Yu Shuheng glanced at Li Heng, then opened the door of the cab and got in.

Li Heng thought about it and sat in the passenger seat.

When the car started, he suddenly said, "Go out of the school gate and drive to the right."

Yu Shuheng didn't know the way to Qianzhen, and thought he was giving directions, so she followed his direction.

But not long after we started, his voice came again: "Teacher, pull over."

Yu Shuheng looked puzzled, but still stopped.

After opening the car door, Li Heng sprinted up more than 20 stone steps, but was greatly disappointed by the result. The door of the Song family was closed, and there was a copper lock on it.

Yu Shuheng followed and looked around the two-story building. She suddenly asked, "Song Yu's house?"

Knowing that he couldn't hide it from her, Li Heng didn't deny it: "Yes."

Hearing this, Yu Shuheng looked at him thoughtfully, then walked around the Song family's house slowly. There were flowers and plants in front of the house and a vegetable field behind the house.

There are a lot of vegetables planted in the vegetable garden, and it is obvious that someone lived here some time ago.

Li Heng did not give up and asked around his neighbors, only to learn that Song Shi and Jiang Yue had returned to Dongting Lake.

Yu Shuheng reached into the wooden fence with his right hand, picked a red rose, put it to his nose and smelled it and said, "Mother Song Yu is a woman with great taste."

Jiang Yue is indeed a very tasteful person. Among her three mothers-in-law in her previous life, she had the gentlest personality, the least trouble, and the best attitude towards Li Heng.

Seeing that he remained silent, Yu Shuheng turned the rose in her hand and asked, "Is it beautiful?"

Li Heng knew that Teacher Yu was asking about Song Yu's mother, and replied: "Song Yu mainly inherited her beauty."

Yu Shuheng nodded and walked towards the stairs. "Let's go, or it will be dark by the time we get to your house."

"Teacher, don't worry. It will be dark for 100% of the time." Li Heng said from behind.

Yu Shuheng smiled, didn't turn around, and didn't answer.

The car started again, and this time, under Li Heng's guidance, the two took a shortcut out of the city.

Yu Shuheng asked: "How many years have you been in Shao City?"

Li Heng replied: "3 years."

Yu Shuheng said: "The teacher has been in Shanghai for 26 years and is not familiar with many places."

Along the way, the two chatted casually and it took them an hour to reach Longhui.

Li Heng said at this time: "Teacher, I want to buy some things."

Yu Shuheng didn't say anything and accompanied him to the county town. When they were on the road again, it was already 2: in the afternoon.

Passing by the flower gate, she asked, "How long will it take?"

Li Heng knows this route very well. "At this speed, it will take about 160 minutes if it is fast, and it may take 4 hours if it is slow. The road is winding and there are many mountains. You have to climb uphill all the time."

The 160 minutes he mentioned refers to the experienced drivers who specialize in this route. As for Mr. Yu, well, it’s good enough if he can get there in 4 hours.

The result was pretty much what he expected. After passing Liuduzhai, the car's speed dropped by more than half in an instant. There were high mountains on the left side of the road, and either rivers or cliffs on the right side. They had to drive very carefully.

He wanted to grab the steering wheel and drive himself many times, but when he thought about how he had never touched a car since he was reborn, if he suddenly learned how to drive, there would be many things he couldn't explain.

After weighing the pros and cons, they finally decided to give up.

After they crossed Qijiang, Li Heng begged, "Teacher, please teach me how to drive when you have time."

Yu Shuheng said: "I'll teach you when we get back to Shanghai."

She didn't dare teach in this kind of terrain, for fear that Li Heng would fall into the ditch if he lost his balance.

At 6:11 pm, the Mercedes finally arrived at Qianzhen after many twists and turns.

Now the sun has just set, and the western sky is filled with sunset glow, illuminating half of the sky in red, which is very beautiful.

Yu Shuheng lowered the car window, drove slowly, looked around, and finally asked, "Is this the town where you and Xiao Han were born and raised?"

Li Heng understood what she meant: This small town looks ordinary, how could it give birth to a delicate girl like Xiao Han?
How could a great writer like Li Heng be cultivated?

Li Heng pointed to the fork in the road ahead and said, "Go down the road on the left and you will reach Xiao Han's hometown. Oh, by the way, the former residence of Wei Yuan, who wrote "Haiguo Tuzhi", is also in that direction."

Some words were easy to understand. The boy used famous people in history to refute her doubts. Yu Shuheng smiled rarely, "This is the first time I see your vindictive side."

"No, I have been a vengeful person since I was a child." Li Heng replied.

Yu Shuheng was curious: "How do you say that?"

Li Heng recalled: "We have a tradition here that revenge never takes too long, and I followed this principle when I fought as a child."

Yu Shuheng had asked him about the fight in detail before, and there were some bad memories in it. She tactfully changed the subject, "Where is the Qian Yuejin Wonton Shop that you told Mai Sui about?"

"Teacher, are you hungry?"

"Well, there are some."

"It's right in front, next to the stone gate station."

Yu Shuheng drove forward as instructed and soon arrived at the entrance of the wonton shop.

Li Heng looked out and said happily, "We are lucky. There are still customers in the store and it is not closed yet."

Yu Shuheng opened the car door and said, "Let's go downstairs and eat something."

"Hey, okay."

As they entered the store one after the other, Li Heng called out skillfully, "Boss lady, two bowls of wontons, one big bowl, okay, two big bowls, one with chili, extra spicy, and the other with chili."

Yu Shuheng replied: "Slightly spicy."

When the charming proprietress saw Yu Shuheng, she felt inexplicably restrained. She thought to herself, what a hell! She had lived for more than 40 years and this was the first time she had encountered such a thing.

The proprietress forced a smile at Yu Shuheng and asked Li Heng, "Great writer, did you just get back from summer vacation today?"

"That's right. As soon as I arrived in town, I thought about your cooking skills, boss lady, and hurried over to have a bowl of it." Li Heng said with a smile.

I heard that the proprietress deliberately put in 10 extra wontons so that he would be full with just one.

It is said that a person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. When the proprietress called out the three words "great writer", the noisy store suddenly became quiet, and seven or eight customers inside turned their heads to look at the two of them.

At first, all these people were looking at Li Heng.

Before long, his eyes involuntarily fell on Yu Shuheng.

Yu Shuheng looked back. As soon as these people's eyes met hers, they immediately scattered, as if they had met their nemesis.

Seeing the whole scene, Li Heng teased in a low voice: "Teacher Yu, your aura is too strong. It scares us country folks."

Although Xiao Han is pretty, she has a very sweet smile and she was born and raised in this small town, so people don't feel afraid of her.

Yu Shuheng is different. She is beautiful, but her scholarly temperament is a dimensionality reduction blow to a person who has not seen much of the world. Especially the Mercedes parked at the door, which makes Teacher Yu's identity climb to a higher level and become quite mysterious.

The daughter of the wonton shop owner came back, looked at Yu Shuheng carefully, and then left again. She felt that this great writer was becoming more and more extraordinary, and the women he brought back were becoming more and more tasteful. At the beginning, her mother hoped that she could have a relationship with him, but now she felt ridiculous just thinking about it.

Li Heng asked quietly: "How does it taste?"

"It's worthy of your praise, it's good." It was the first time for Yu Shuheng to eat wontons of this flavor. It was very fresh and stimulated her taste buds.

Seeing the fiery red soup in his bowl, Yu Shuheng asked, "Can you eat this spicy food?"

Li Heng said: "We people in southern Hunan generally like spicy food. We can't live without it. The spicier the better."

Then he asked, "Teacher, do you want to try it?"

Yu Shuheng hesitated, but finally couldn't hold back the excitement in her heart. She reached into his bowl with her chopsticks, picked up a wonton, then brought it to her mouth and ate it.

Once, twice, when she chewed for the third time, Yu Shuheng covered her mouth with her right hand, her face slightly twisted, but she tried not to lose her composure. Li Heng quickly got up and bought her a bottle of soda, "Here, drink a few sips of soda to rinse your mouth."

Teacher Yu grabbed the soda and drank several gulps. At the end, he said, "It's so spicy, my whole mouth is on fire. How can you eat it?"

The lady boss next to them saw the whole scene and joked, "The spicy food here is so bad that many people can't stand it. Even wives from other places don't dare to marry in easily."

Although the wontons tasted good, Yu Shuheng still didn't finish a big bowl. When she left the store and returned to the car, she suddenly asked: "Do your family members like to eat such spicy food?"

Li Heng said: "Didn't Teacher Yu have dinner with my parents when we were in Beijing?"

Yu Shuheng said, "It's different. Your parents deliberately tried to please me during those two meals and didn't put much chili in them."

Li Heng said: "My mom likes salty, spicy and savory food. My dad is okay, he likes all kinds of food and is not very picky, but he still prefers spicy food to a certain extent."

Hearing this, Yu Shuheng asked with a half-smile, "So, your parents will prefer a daughter-in-law who can eat spicy food in the future?"

Hearing these suggestive words, Li Heng was stunned. After a long while, he spoke, "Actually, whether you can eat spicy food or not is not that important to me."

He was speaking from the heart. In his previous life, he worked in Guangzhou for so many years, and he ate Cantonese, Hunan and Sichuan cuisine in turn. What to eat depended on his mood and for convenience.

"Oh?" Teacher Yu tilted his head and stared at him with a meaningful look on his face.

When their eyes met, Li Heng couldn't stand it anymore, so he looked away and urged, "Teacher, it's getting dark soon, and the mountain road leading into the village is quite steep. We have to set off."

Yu Shuheng retracted her gaze, restarted the car, and under his guidance, turned off the main road and walked along a small path leading to a high mountain valley in the distance.

I don't know how far we walked, but when we turned a big bend in the mountain, Yu Shuheng suddenly asked, "Little boy, are you so timid in front of others?"

Li Heng: “.”

He didn't know how to respond?

But he is not a fool. Ever since he left Shao City, the woman beside him has been testing his bottom line.

After thinking for a while, Li Heng asked, "Teacher, what kind of scene do you think will happen if a lion breaks into a flock of sheep?"

Yu Shuheng replied: "Eat some sheep, drive some away, and leave some behind."

Li Heng asked: "Are the sheep left behind food to be eaten at any time?"

Yu Shuheng smiled elegantly, feeling inexplicably more cheerful, and did not answer him about this question.

It is about 10 miles from the town to the intersection of Shangwan Village. Because Yu Shuheng drove carefully, it took her 17 minutes to enter the village.

"Huh?" She exclaimed as she just passed the village entrance.

Li Heng asked: "What's wrong?"

Yu Shuheng asked back: "There are so many people standing on the road at this time. It's more lively than I thought. How many people are there in your village?"

Li Heng told her: "More than 3000. Now is not the busy farming season. After dinner, everyone has nothing to do. They usually gather by the roadside or on the rice drying ground to chat."

The Mercedes-Benz car was very eye-catching, and the beautiful woman driving the Mercedes-Benz was even more eye-catching. Soon, the news that the great writer brought the woman back spread throughout Shangwan Village like wings.

At one point, many people who had nothing better to do came to the intersection to join in the fun, making Li Heng miserable.

What the hell, if this goes on, if nothing unexpected happens, Xiao Han will know within three days that I brought Teacher Yu back.

Maybe, maybe this is the effect that Teacher Yu wants.

Seeing Yu Shuheng appear at the door of the main house in an incredible way with big and small bags of gifts in both hands, Tian Run'e, who rushed over from the backyard after hearing the news, was stunned.

Later, Li Jianguo also ran back from his neighbor's house and was also stunned at the door.

The couple thought it was their son who came back, but they didn't expect that their son would bring them a huge "surprise".

Although the couple had met Yu Shuheng when they were in Beijing, Beijing had a different meaning from their hometown. As experienced people, they always felt something was wrong.

As for what's wrong?
The couple looked at each other, decisively extinguished the burning thoughts, and tacitly agreed not to think too deeply. After all, the other party was a university teacher, and after all, their son already had a debt of love that he could not repay. How could they be so virtuous and capable, and how could they dare to be greedy again.

After the couple made eye contact and adjusted their attitudes, Tian Run'e came forward with a big smile on her face, helped to receive the gifts and said, "Teacher Yu is here, come in and sit down, you must be tired after such a long journey. Jianguo, quickly pour her some herbal tea."

"Hey." Li Jianguo said, but he was already preparing the herbal tea.

Yu Shuheng stepped over the threshold with her right foot, walked into the house, and said with a smile: "Li Heng said that the Xuefeng Mountains are the coolest in the summer. I followed him here out of curiosity to escape the heat. I hope you don't mind."

It's cool, but did I say that? Li Heng complained in his heart, but he didn't expose it, and let Teacher Yu express himself freely.

Yu Shuheng's seemingly insignificant words were actually meant to dispel the "misunderstanding" so that the couple would not think too much.

Speaking of coolness, this is one of the few advantages of Shangwan Village. In the whole summer, it is generally only hot for about half a month during the dog days. The rest of the time, even if the temperature is high during the day, it will drop at night. You don’t need to turn on the fan or air conditioner when sleeping, and sometimes you still need to cover yourself with a thin blanket.

There was nothing wrong with this statement, and Tian Run'e and Li Jianguo actually believed it. They really didn't dare to think too much, and couldn't imagine that someone of such status would like their boy.

When Yu Shuheng finished half a cup of tea, Tian Run'e asked enthusiastically: "Teacher Yu, have you had dinner?"

Yu Shuheng said: "We have eaten wontons in town."

Tian Run'e told her husband: "Wontons are useless. They won't fill you up at night. Jianguo, go light the fire. I'll cook some dishes for them."

As they talked, the couple went into the backyard kitchen in unison.

Yu Shuheng wanted to say no need to bother, but was stopped by Li Heng, who said, "This is our local custom of entertaining guests. When a distinguished guest comes to our house, we must prepare a meal for him. It doesn't matter if he eats a lot or a little. Teacher, I will take you to the bedroom upstairs first. You can take a bath later, and we can drink some rice wine to relieve your fatigue in the evening."

After hearing this, Yu Shuheng understood and followed him to the second floor with her suitcase.

Going up to the second floor, Li Heng pointed to the rightmost room and introduced: "This is the room I live in. The room next door is where my second sister lives. This is..."

Seeing that Teacher Yu didn't listen to him but stared at the coffin opposite without blinking, he was silent for a while and said, "The coffins for the elderly here are basically placed on the second floor, mainly to prevent moisture and insects. If you are afraid, teacher, I will go and ask someone to move it to the backyard now."

Yu Shuheng opened her red lips and said, "No need. It is said that the coffin is not easily moved. I will only stay for a few days. Don't make a big fuss."

There is indeed a saying that the coffin will not be moved easily, because it is only moved when someone dies, and the next step is to be coffined and buried.

However, there are exceptions to everything. For example, last year, when Mr. Li’s family built a new house, they had to move the coffin. At that time, they set off a string of firecrackers according to custom and ended the matter.

Well, "xipao" is firecrackers, it's just a different way of saying it to avoid taboos.

There are also those who do not believe in superstition and are not particular. They move their coffins whenever they want and still live to be old. Sometimes many things seem mysterious. And sometimes, all kinds of bullshit come out.

According to the old people, this is called doing things randomly!

Yu Shuheng asked: "I didn't hear it clearly just now, which room do you live in?"

Li Heng pointed to the room on the far right.

Yu Shuheng walked straight over, opened the door and looked around, then said, "The teacher lives in this room."

Li Heng reminded: "I have lived here before."

Yu Shuheng said: "This room is the farthest from the coffin."

Li Heng glanced back and had nothing to say.

Seeing that he was speechless, Yu Shuheng smiled and said, "Wait for me outside the door while I find some clothes to change into."

Li Heng walked out without saying a word, closing the door behind him.

About two minutes later, Yu Shuheng came out with a bag, walked past him and went to the corridor entrance. While walking, she kept glancing at the coffin from time to time, and it was obvious that she was extremely uncomfortable with this rural custom.

Li Heng knew that she had been troubled by ghost possession for half a year, so he followed her closely to prevent her from getting scared.

When we got down to the first floor, he suggested: "Teacher, why don't you live on the first floor?"

Yu Shuheng asked: "Are there any vacancies on the first floor?"

"No, but my grandma is not at home." His grandma is now at my aunt's house in Lengshuijiang. Li Heng found out about this from his biological mother who wrote to him.

Yu Shuheng doesn't like living in the old people's room, she always feels old and depressed, and she is a little clean freak and can't accept things that have been used by others. But there is one person who is an exception.

She shook her head slightly, walked towards the bathroom, and instructed: "You are outside the door, don't run too far."

"Okay, just let me know if you need anything." Li Heng responded, then grabbed a small stool and sat down.

Ps: Update first and then modify.

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(Including the chapter in the early morning, 18000 words have been updated today)
(End of this chapter)