1987 My Era

Chapter 550, It is impolite not to reciprocate.

Song Yu said, "The snow is getting heavier. Let's call Xiao Feng and Liu Li to Xila Hutong. Liu Li probably has something to talk to you about."

She was asking for his opinion and taking Xiao Feng to the courtyard house to familiarize herself with it.

Originally, Xiao Feng and Xiao Han were best friends, but since Xiao Feng came to Peking University, her relationship with Song Yu has grown rapidly. They meet regularly every week and have now become one of the best of friends.

Li Heng figured out what she was thinking, so how could he disagree? He readily agreed.

After leaving the school, the four of them arrived at Xila Hutong.

As soon as Xiao Feng entered the courtyard, she was amazed by the rows of winter plum blossoms in the yard. She couldn't help but shout to Song Yu, "These flowers are so beautiful! Song Yu, quickly get the camera out, let's take pictures."

Song Yu smiled and said okay.

Seeing Song Yu and Xiao Feng taking pictures in the courtyard, Li Heng brought Liu Li into the house, boiled a pot of tea, and said, "Liu Li, we've been friends for many years. Just say what you want to say, don't beat around the bush."

Liu Li, who had been wanting to speak but didn't know how, mustered up her courage upon hearing this and asked, "Lao Heng, does Chen Lijun have a crush on you?"

It really is about Chen Lijun.

Li Heng didn't react much. He poured the other person a steaming cup of tea and said, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

Liu Li sat opposite him: "Let's hear the truth first."

Li Heng hesitated for a moment, then said, "Sun Manning once joked with me about Chen Lijun, saying that Chen Lijun had a crush on me for all three years of high school."

Upon hearing this, Liu Li's face paled slightly. She clutched the cup tightly with both hands, staring at the ground for a long time without uttering a sound.

Liu Li remained silent, and Li Heng also kept quiet, his mind still replaying Chen Zitong's words, feeling inexplicably choked up.

After a while, Liu Li raised her head, scratched her head with her right hand, and said bitterly, "Sigh, I knew it would be like this. Back then, Li Jun didn't go home for several of her monthly holidays, probably just to spend more time with you."

During high school, Li Heng and Que Xinyan would only go home once a semester at most, because they both got carsick and wanted to save the 12 yuan round-trip bus fare. Chen Lijun also basically didn't go home during the three-day holiday that month, and stayed with Li Heng and the others.

Liu Li asked in turn, "What is a lie?"

Li Heng said, "Actually, whether you believe it or not, I didn't pay much attention to Chen Lijun's affairs in high school. I didn't even realize it at the time."

Liu Li scratched her head and thought for a long time before saying dejectedly, "I understand. At that time, your mind was entirely on Song Yu and Chen Zijin, so it's perfectly normal that you didn't pay attention to her."

Li Heng asked, "So, what are you doing today...?"

Liu Li asked, "She wrote you a letter a while ago, what's the story behind it?"

Li Heng nodded: "Yes."

Liu Li asked, "Didn't you dismantle it?"

Li Heng said, "It definitely wasn't demolished. How did you know?"

Liu Li said with her head down, "How do I need to know? You didn't even open many of your love letters in high school. If I can guess, Chen Lijun can naturally guess too."

Li Heng smiled and waited for him to continue.

After a brief standoff, Liu Li pulled out a bracelet and tremblingly handed it to him: "Chen Lijun knows you'll open her letter, and even if you do, she won't reply. She asked me to give you this bracelet."

Li Heng frowned. "This bracelet looks familiar?"

Liu Li said, "Of course it looks familiar. Li Jun carried it with her for all three years of high school."

Li Heng was speechless. He looked up and said, "Is there anything else? Just say it all at once."

Unexpectedly, Liu Li fell silent, plunging into a long silence.

Li Heng's patience wore thin, and he asked, "You came all this way just for this bracelet?"

Liu Li said listlessly, "What's wrong? You're complaining now? I'm really envious of this bracelet, why don't you give it to me?"

Li Heng snatched the bracelet away and goaded her, "Fine, if you don't want to tell me, I'll ask her when I see her in person next time."

The provocation was ineffective; Liu Li seemed not to have heard him.

As they sipped their tea, the two grown men looked at each other, sensing something was off. Finally, Liu Li asked flirtatiously, "Do you still remember our class monitor, Liu Hui?"

Li Heng nodded, "Of course I remember."

Liu Li said, "Liu Hui and Chen Dan are both studying in Changsha now. Chen Dan has a boyfriend in college. Once, when they were having dinner by the Xiangjiang River, Liu Hui, who had drunk half a jin of liquor, jumped into the river, but was rescued in time by Zou Aiming and others."

Li Heng had never heard of this in his previous life, but he still had a deep impression of Chen Dan. She had wanted to be his deskmate many times in high school, but Sun Manning had always chased her away.

He asked, knowing the answer already, "Is the person alright?"

The reason he asked the question when he already knew the answer was that he had attended Liu Hui's wedding banquet in his previous life.

Liu Li said, "I'm fine, I just drank a lot of water. I used to think I was miserable, but compared to Liu Hui, I'm quite lucky. At least Chen Lijun wrote me a letter this time."

Li Heng didn't know how to respond, fearing that his words would be misunderstood as boasting and that Liu Li would chase after him and beat him up.

He asked, "Back in high school, Zou Aiming and you both had a crush on Chen Lijun. You even competed to apply to Renmin University, but he missed it by a few points. How is Lao Zou doing now?"

Liu Li said, "Aiming and I have been corresponding, and he often asks about you guys, but now that you're in such a high position, he's embarrassed to contact you directly. He's living a pretty good life now, he has a girlfriend in the city, they rent a place outside, and they secretly have sex in their spare time. I heard that his girlfriend pays the rent."

Towards the end, Liu Li's words were clearly tinged with bitterness.

The sour taste was too strong, and Li Heng chuckled, "You need to eat more. It's hard to find a partner if you always look like a skin and bones."

"Bullshit! I can eat two bowls in one meal and it won't make me any stronger. I eat way more than you, but I just don't gain weight. My mom even asked me if life at Renmin University is tough, and if I should slaughter a pig, sell it, and send the money to me for food expenses." Liu Li rolled up her clothes, revealing her ribs, and complained in a low voice.

Having timed it perfectly, Song Yu came in and called the two of them to go outside and take a group photo together.

That night, Xiao Feng and Liu Li didn't leave. The four of them played cards together for a while, specifically a card game called "Upgrading".

During this time, Xiao Feng also said, "Li Heng, you won't blame us, will you? They say a moment of passion is worth a thousand pieces of gold, and tonight we've made you waste your time."

Li Heng chuckled and said, "You're being too polite."

After midnight, Xiao Feng and Liu Li returned to their respective rooms.

Li Heng stayed in his bedroom for a while. About an hour later, he opened his bedroom door and went to Song Yu's room.

After hesitating for a moment, he tried to push Song Yu's door, but unsurprisingly, it was locked from the inside.

Undeterred, I tried again, but the result was the same.

Song Yu inside the door was not asleep. When she heard footsteps outside, she opened her eyes.

When someone tried to push the door open, she slowly sat up, leaning against the headboard and staring intently at the door.

After a while, just as Li Heng was about to leave, the wooden door slowly creaked open, opening a crack.

Through the narrow crack in the door, he saw a figure inside.

They stared at each other silently for a long time through the door, using the light from the white snow outside the window. After a while, Song Yu turned around and went back to bed, leaning against the headboard once again.

Li Heng paused for a moment, then squeezed through the crack in the door, closed it, and followed to the bedside.

Instead of getting into bed, he sat on the edge of the bed and asked, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Song Yu looked at him quietly without saying a word.

Li Heng said to himself, "I couldn't sleep, so I came to check on you."

Song Yu remained silent. After a while, seeing that she didn't react, Li Heng stood up and said, "Then you should get some rest. I'm going over there."

Song Yu's gaze fell on him, following his back as he moved, until he was about to open the door, at which point she asked softly, "Have you ever slept in Mai Sui's bed?"

Li Heng stood stiffly with his back to her, never expecting her to ask that question.

But he kept his promise and didn't lie to her: "I slept with her, but we didn't have sex."

It doesn't count if it's through pants, right...?

Without pants, it doesn't really count as zero-distance, right...?

After all, it's only broken open a little bit; there's no real negative distance yet...?

That's how he comforted himself.

Song Yu thought of the night she and he spent at the Dongting Lake Hotel, where they slept in the same bed but did not have sex.

She asked, "Zijin, you couldn't hold back, Xiaohan, you couldn't hold back, so why did you hold back when it came to Maisui?"

Li Heng said, "I don't want to force her."

Upon hearing this, Song Yu roughly understood why the two of them hadn't ended up having sex. She figured it was because of her; Mai Sui had a hurdle in her heart that she couldn't let go of.

Song Yu asked, "Where is Teacher Yu?"

Li Heng said, "No."

Song Yu asked, "Where is Zhou Shihe?"

Li Heng replied, "We are friends."

Song Yu wasn't surprised at all that he was just a friend.

Although she had never met Zhou Shihe, she could tell from his appearance on the Spring Festival Gala stage that he was an arrogant person who would never accept the fact that he had other women, unless…

Unless he pursues Zhou Shihe as he pursued himself, and over a long period of time, he gradually erodes her heart, there is absolutely no possibility of it happening.

At this point, Song Yu deduced a basic fact: Xiao Han and Zi Jin led her to Shanghai perhaps to prevent a potential relationship between him and Zhou Shihe in the future.

After gaining some insights, she then asked, "Where is Teacher Wang?"

Li Heng turned around to face her: "What Teacher Wang?"

Song Yu said, "A high school English teacher."

Li Heng was stunned: "Why would you suspect her?"

Song Yu said, "She once accompanied you on a trip across most of China. I used to think there wouldn't be anything between you two, but Teacher Yu is a living example, isn't she?"

Li Heng felt ashamed, "Teacher Wang is still teaching at Shaoyang No. 1 Middle School."

Song Yu pondered for a moment, then asked, "With so many women, each one of whom is enviable on their own, why are you so insistent on marrying me?"

Li Heng answered from the bottom of his heart: "There is no reason. I just wanted to marry you the moment I saw you."

They looked at each other across the distance. Song Yu stared at him intently for a long while before finally speaking, "Come on up."

The reason that has no reason is the simplest, best, purest, and most powerful reason.

Song Yu was moved by what she heard.

She knew this man wouldn't lie to her; what he said must be true. So, she loosened her grip on the thread and let him into bed.

Li Heng thought he had misheard, and immediately leaned forward excitedly like a child, asking with great joy, "What did you just say? Say it again."

Seeing how adorable he was, Song Yu smiled and said, "It's getting late, you should go back to your room and sleep early too."

"Oh dear, that won't do." Li Heng said, rubbing his hands together as he walked to the bedside, took off his shoes, and got into bed.

After he lay down, Song Yu took a rubber band off her wrist, placed it in the center of the bed sheet, and then lay down as well.

Li Heng stared at the rubber band and asked, "Is this the dividing line on our school desks when we were kids, the Chu River and Han border?"

Song Yu said yes.

Li Heng asked, "What if I fall asleep and cross the boundary?"

Song Yu smiled beautifully and said, "Then I will write a letter to Mai Sui."

Li Heng felt dizzy and immediately dared not cheat anymore.

They lay down side by side, and he stared at the ceiling for a long time before suddenly asking, "Why did you soften your heart towards me?"

Ask her why she allowed herself to go to bed with him?

Song Yu also stared at the ceiling, "You went to great lengths to come see me. If I don't give you something in return, I'm afraid your new book won't perform well."

Upon hearing this, Li Heng turned to look at her.

At first, Song Yu remained calm and did not react. However, after being stared at by him for a long time, her ears gradually became hot. Finally, she turned to the side, facing the wall and closing her eyes with her back to him.

For a fleeting moment, Li Heng had the urge to reach out and hug her, but his hand hesitated as soon as it crossed the rubber band, and then he pulled it back.

The two remained silent for the rest of the time.

Time passed slowly, and she didn't know how much time had gone by. When she heard even breathing behind her, Song Yu's body finally softened. She turned over again to face him, quietly looking at his face, and all her distracting thoughts slowly dissipated.

Many times when I had free time, I wondered what would have happened if I had met him in junior high school? Would he have always only had me by his side?
...

The night passed.

The next day, when Li Heng opened his eyes, Song Yu was gone; she was no longer in the room.

He subconsciously reached out and touched the spot where she had slept the night before; the sheets were still warm, indicating she hadn't been up for long.

Somewhat surprisingly, the rubber band was still in the center of the bed, intact and untouched.

He picked up the rubber band and played with it in his palm for a while, then got out of bed and put on his shoes.

His clothes are still in the next room; he came over in his pajamas last night.

When he stretched and opened the door, he was stunned. All three pairs of eyes in the main room were staring at him.

Li Heng left without making a sound, called out "Good morning" and went to the next room.

Once the door closed, Xiao Feng snapped out of her daze and looked at Song Yu. Had she seen that right? Li Heng had actually come out of Song Yu's room, and he was even wearing pajamas.

Although she knew the two were dating, the fact that they slept in the same bed shattered Xiao Feng's perception. Was this still the breathtakingly beautiful Song Yu who could only be admired from afar?
Liu Li was no better than Xiao Feng, and she also stared blankly at Song Yu, her mind a little confused.

Despite their surprised looks, Song Yu remained calm. They were close friends, so she didn't try to hide anything.

At the same time, it would be impolite not to reciprocate, so she also wanted to use Xiao Feng's words to pass on the message to Xiao Han.

As for the meaning to be conveyed, let Xiao Han imagine it himself.

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(End of this chapter)