1987 My Era

Chapter 574, It's good to be confused sometimes.

Mai Dong would rather be blind, would rather not have seen what just happened.

I'd rather be kept in the dark.

But he knew it was true.

The daughter has always been averse to certain foods, never touching leftovers or food scraps. But now, she shares a pair of chopsticks with Li Heng, her movements so natural, her eyes so attentive—she's probably fed Li Heng like this countless times in the past.

No wonder!
No wonder my daughter was initially planning to retake the college entrance exam when she missed getting into Peking University by two points two years ago. But after he and her teachers had already spoken to her, she suddenly changed her mind and decided not to retake it.

He was happy at the time, after all, Fudan University is also very prestigious, and it would be a great honor to attend Fudan University if he couldn't get into Peking University.

just now.

Looking back now, he realizes that's not quite the case.

...

Pickled fish isn't a particularly difficult dish to make. With a little skill in knife work and controlling the heat, it won't taste bad.

During dinner, Mai Dong secretly kept an eye on his daughter and Li Heng's every move. Although he had suspicions, he didn't tell anyone, including his wife and parents, and kept quiet about it.

He didn't talk to his daughter either.

Mai Dong felt that his daughter was grown up and had her own thoughts. He believed that acting rashly without concrete evidence would only damage their relationship.

At the same time, Mai Dong had a vague idea in his mind: even if his daughter had developed feelings for Li Heng, he didn't want to expose it and wanted to help keep the secret.

His daughter is a college student, a top student from a prestigious university, very beautiful, and has a bright future. He cannot ruin her reputation.

Dinner was sumptuous; Li Heng's culinary skills were truly impressive, earning high praise from everyone, and almost everything on the table was devoured. Even Grandpa Maisui drank several glasses of wine with him.

After dinner, the sky gradually darkened.

Mai Sui approached Li Heng and said, "Let's go for a walk to digest our food."

“Okay.” Li Heng readily agreed.

Later, he called Sun Manning, and the three of them left the courtyard and took a leisurely stroll on Maoma Road.

Mai Dong quietly appeared in a corner of the second-floor corridor, looking out at her daughter and Li Heng's backs.

About four or five minutes later, Mai's mother found her husband: "Dongzi, what are you doing here?"

Mai Dong turned around: "I'm bored, so I'm having a smoke."

Mai Mu pushed her husband aside, went to the window and looked out. Before leaving, she asked, "It's the dead of winter, and there's nothing to see except weeds everywhere."

Mai Dong laughed and said, "I already told you I was smoking, but you still didn't believe me."

Mai's mother changed the subject and brought up the reason for her visit: "Mom asked me to call you; she needs to talk to you about something."

The "mother" in "Mai Mu" refers to her mother-in-law, Mai Sui's grandmother.

Mai Dong asked, "Now?"

Mai Mu said, "Yes, she's waiting for you in the room."

Upon hearing this, Mai Dong took a deep drag on his cigarette, then twisted the butt against the wall to extinguish it. He then went downstairs.

Upon arriving at his mother's room, Maidong pushed open the door and asked, "Mom, did you need something?"

Grandma said, "Close the door."

Mai Dong was puzzled, but still closed the door.

After her son sat down, the grandmother suddenly asked, "Were you spying on Suibao from the second floor?"

Having her little scheme exposed, Mai Dong felt a bit awkward and forced a smile: "Mom, what are you saying? Do you think I'm just sitting around spying on my own daughter because I have nothing better to do?"

Grandma stared at her son for a long time. "Just now at the dinner table, you were observing Sui Bao and Li Heng's every move. Do you really think I'm old and my eyesight is failing?"

Ophiopogon japonicus is stubborn as a mule and refuses to admit it.

After a brief standoff, Grandma didn't say anything more, and finally turned around and picked up a calligraphy scroll from her desk and handed it to him.

Although my grandmother is a woman, she is a cultured person. She used to work in propaganda in the army and has beautiful calligraphy skills.

Mai Dong reached out and took the paper. Upon closer inspection, he saw four words written on it: "It's rare to be muddleheaded."

Mai Dong was taken aback, staring at the four words for a long time before asking, "Old woman, what is this?"

Grandma pointed to the door and said, "Think it over carefully, then go out."

Mai Dong was a well-known filial son, and he immediately did not disobey the old man. He took the calligraphy scroll and left dejectedly.

Once outside, he opened the calligraphy book again and stared blankly into space.

It seems that it wasn't just me who noticed something amiss; my mother had also sensed it long ago, but she never mentioned it to anyone.

The same is true.

Who was Grandma? She was a rare beauty in her youth, with countless suitors. Otherwise, she wouldn't have inherited such good genes from Mai Sui.

Having been pursued by so many men, Grandma was well-versed in matters of love and romance. When her beloved granddaughter first brought Li Heng into the house, she sensed something was amiss.

But instead of stopping them, she secretly had someone tell Li Heng and Mai Sui's fortunes.

The divination indicates that the two are destined for a calamity.

Grandma believed in these things very much. Since her granddaughter was destined to suffer such a calamity, she simply pretended to be blind, not disturbing her openly, but just watching silently.

...

Back from my walk.

Li Heng noticed that his uncle's house next door was very lively, with a group of people gathered around. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that someone was writing couplets.

Mai Sui explained, "My second cousin is getting married the day after tomorrow."

Sun Manning then said, "Sui Sui, why don't you take him away? If someone sees this, they'll definitely make him write couplets."

Mai Sui found this reasonable and immediately took Li Heng back to her home.

"I'm so bored. There's nothing to watch on your TV. Let's play cards," Sun Manning muttered to herself, unable to stay still.

Mai Sui asked, "How can three people fight?"

Li Heng said, "If you want to play, that's fine too. You can either play cards or play Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game)."

"What is Dou Dizhu?" the two women asked together.

Li Heng briefly explained the rules. Sun Manning, in high spirits, dragged the two of them into playing Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game) all night.

This girl was lucky today; she won a lot of small change.

Sun Manning exclaimed excitedly, "As long as I don't run into Shihe, I'm basically invincible when playing cards, hahaha."

Li Heng and Mai Sui exchanged a knowing smile, both understanding the situation and yielding to this idiot to avoid her complaining and grumbling.

As they were going to bed that night, Sun Manning whispered to Li Heng, "Shall we exchange a secret code?"

Li Heng asked, "What code?"

“After everyone is asleep, I’ll knock on your door. If it knocks three times long and three times short, then you should open it,” Sun Manning said.

Li Heng was confused: "Why are you knocking on my door? I only love beautiful women."

"You bastard, you're so annoying! Don't you want to sleep with Mai Sui? I'll switch beds with you then." Sun Manning was so angry she wanted to hit someone.

That left him speechless.

He waved his hand in refusal: "No, please don't. Mai Sui has already aroused her father's suspicion today. If we change rooms to sleep in, we might get caught and it will be hard to explain."

"You think you can still explain yourselves clearly now? Pah! What are you pretending for?" Sun Manning ranted.

Li Heng: "..."

He suppressed his short temper and said, "Alright, don't cause trouble now, get some rest."

After saying that, he went into the bedroom.

Sun Manning rolled her eyes and went inside to say to Mai Sui, "Li Heng came all this way to see you, aren't you going to sleep with him tonight?"

Mai Sui, while tidying the bed, said, "Manning, stop making a mess, Dad noticed me."

Upon hearing this, Sun Manning plopped down, her jokes fading, and asked, "So what are you going to do in the future? Do you have a plan?"

Mai Sui shook her head: "Let's take it one step at a time."

Sun Manning asked a question she'd been holding back for a long time: "What exactly did you and Song Yu talk about that day? It sounded like you were willing to be Song Yu's mistress?"

Upon hearing this, Mai Sui lay on the bed with her back to her and remained silent.

Later, Sun Manning pestered her for a long time before she finally spoke softly: "Whether it's Chen Zijin or me, we can't compete with Song Yu and Teacher Yu, so why bother?"

Sun Manning asked, "What about Xiao Han?"

Mai Sui hesitated for a moment and said, "I would rather face Zijing and Teacher Yu than Xiao Han."

Sun Manning asked, "Why?"

The wheat stalk did not explain the reason.

Sun Manning persisted: "Are you really accepting your fate?"

Mai Sui said, "Shi He asked me this question before, and I told her: I promised Li Heng that I would never get involved in his personal relationships in this lifetime."

Sun Manning was dumbfounded, then sighed and said, "Ugh! Ugh! Stubborn! It's infuriating! If I were you, if I had your looks, if I were as charming as you, I would sleep with him every day, pester him to use up all his energy on me, and let's see if he'd still be interested in other women then?"

Wheat Ear: "....."

At one o'clock in the morning, Sun Manning got up to go knock on the door next door.

Fortunately, Mai Sui stopped her in time: "Are you serious?"

Sun Manning asked in surprise, "Why aren't you asleep? Did I wake you up?"

Mai Sui was both amused and exasperated: "I've been on guard against you all along."

Sun Manning chuckled foolishly: "Oh dear, you guys are so unromantic, no fun at all."

Wheat Ear: "....."

The next day, after breakfast, Li Heng and the other two followed Mai Dong up the mountain to dig for winter bamboo shoots.

He looked around and wondered, "Why is there still so much snow that hasn't melted?"

Mai Dong said, "This terrain is shady, it will take at least ten days to half a month to win. By the way, Li Heng, have you ever dug bamboo shoots before?" Li Heng carried his hoe and looked around, "When I was a kid, I was good at all kinds of tricks except for not wanting to do hard labor. Uncle, let's have a competition today, let's see who digs more in two hours."

"Wow, this is fun! This is fun! The loser has to make lunch." Sun Manning jumped up and clapped her hands.

Mai Dong smiled and lit a cigarette: "Okay. I was just afraid you'd get the short end of the stick. I've been digging bamboo shoots in this bamboo forest for decades. You're new here, so you're not as familiar with it as I am."

Sun Manning interjected, "True masters always turn adversity into advantage. Mai Sui, you'll be Li Heng's follower, and I'll go with my uncle."

Hearing this, Mai Dong glanced at his daughter, then at Li Heng, and smiled as he led Sun Manning to another place.

Is it just her imagination? Mai Sui felt that her father's gaze was meaningful, and that leaving her and Li Heng alone here seemed to be intentional.

Li Heng had already found two large cracks and was happily wielding his hoe, completely unaware of all this.

Half a minute later, he excitedly shouted, "I dug it up! Two bamboo shoots and ears of wheat with one stroke of the hoe! Come and see!"

Mai Sui's thoughts were interrupted, and she happily ran over with the urea bag in her hand.

"There are really two, and they look quite big," she said, squatting down to examine them.

Li Heng reached out and pulled her away: "Don't stand in front of the hoe, be careful, I'm starting to dig."

"Okay," Maisui replied.

Two winter bamboo shoots were harvested from a single crack, each weighing about half a pound, which is not bad.

There was also a large winter bamboo shoot in the crack next door, probably weighing over a pound. After getting the bamboo shoot, Mai Sui used a machete to trim off some of the root end, and then put it into a urea bag.

Next, Li Heng chased after the bamboo shoots.

Wheat Ear wasn't idle either; it crouched down and searched the surrounding area for cracks to help him win the game.

Just as the two were happily finding seven or eight bamboo shoots, Sun Manning, that silly girl, shouted from the other side of the mountain: "Wow! Wow! Maisui, your dad dug up 13 bamboo shoots from one bamboo shoot rhizome! You're doomed to lose!"

Li Heng exclaimed in surprise, "Thirteen bamboo shoots? Is this the legendary luck of stepping in dog poop?"

The wheat stalks winked at him in a gesture of comfort.

Li Heng tilted his head and turned his face towards her.

Mai Sui smiled sweetly, tiptoed, and gave him a very obedient kiss.

Li Heng tilted his left cheek, then his right cheek.

Wheat kissed her again.

Li Heng hummed a little tune as he continued searching for bamboo shoots: "So what if I find 13 bamboo shoots at once? My uncle's daughter just kissed me twice. I'm the winner, okay?"

With a girlish shyness, Mai Sui lowered her head and repeatedly twisted the hem of her clothes with her fingers as she continued to search for bamboo shoots.

There were plenty of bamboo shoots in the mountains, and Li Heng was an expert in this field. He was so engrossed in it that two hours flew by. He asked, "How many bamboo shoots do we have?"

He counted the wheat ears as if they were his own: "37 ears."

By this time, Mai Dong had arrived, followed by Sun Manning, who was singing folk songs.

Li Heng said regretfully, "I'm still 3 short of 40. Oh well, I should be able to beat my father-in-law."

Mai Sui glanced at him but remained silent behind him.

"Uncle, how many stalks did you dig up?" Li Heng asked the approaching Ophiopogon japonicus.

Mai Dong said, "I didn't count, but it's probably more than 10 jin (5 kg)."

Sun Manning raised her hand: "I counted, 34 of them, and they're all huge."

Li Heng weighed the other party's urea bag in his hand, then weighed his own, and had a general idea of ​​what to expect.

Seeing this, Mai Dong also weighed it and then laughed and said, "No need to weigh it, I lost today, I guess I'll lose a pound or two."

When he got home and weighed himself, sure enough, Li Heng had dug 1.8 jin more bamboo shoots than he had expected.

Mai Dong, true to her word, asked Li Heng, "What do you want to eat for lunch?"

Sun Manning interjected, "Can I say no?"

Li Heng, Mai Sui, and Mai Dong looked at her.

Sun Manning pointed to the geese in the field and asked, "Can we eat the geese?"

Mai Dong readily agreed: "No problem, if you like it, Uncle will go buy it right away."

"Huh? It's not yours?" Sun Manning asked.

Mai Sui said, "It belongs to the fourth grandfather next door; you can buy it with money."

Mai Dong is the richest man in the surrounding area. Let alone buying a goose, he could probably find many women willing to secretly find a lover.

Sure enough, in less than half an hour, the Taibai goose that was just honking in the field was already lying on the chopping board, with several people plucking its feathers.

Grandma came over and asked Li Heng, "Does your hometown have bamboo mountains?"

Li Heng replied, "Yes, Grandma."

Grandma moved a low stool, sat down next to him, and said, "Everyone says you are the reincarnation of the God of Literature. Let me see your hands."

Li Heng obligingly extended his hand, "Grandma, you can read palms?"

"I'm not really sure, but I want to see how the palm lines of the God of Literature are different from those of ordinary people?" Grandma put on her reading glasses and bent down to examine them carefully.

Li Heng was speechless. Then, while talking to Mai Sui, he watched Mai Dong and her husband pluck goose feathers.

After a while, Grandma finished reading his palm and praised him repeatedly: "Not bad, not bad, he is a person who values ​​relationships."

Li Heng was confused, wondering what kind of riddle the old man was trying to solve.
Mai Dong, who was standing next to him, understood some of what he was hearing and felt that his mother was telling him.

Lunch was very plentiful, with goose, winter bamboo shoot and dog meat hot pot, and boiled fish. We ate several large bowls of it and had a very satisfying meal.

After the meal, Li Heng asked Mai Sui privately, "Grandma can read palms?"

Mai Sui said, "She probably knows a little bit; people in the village usually ask her to do their beatings."

"Da Shi" is a form of fortune telling. For example, if someone's cow, chicken, or child goes missing, they would come to her. Grandma would usually take a pair of iron tongs used for burning firewood and tap around in the ashes, then give a general direction.

Li Heng asked, "Is it accurate?"

Mai Sui replied irrelevantly, "What? Are you afraid Grandma will see something in your palm?"

"I'm not afraid of what they might see. I have many strengths and only one weakness, but my loyalty and sense of righteousness make up for it." Li Heng boasted to himself.

Mai Sui smiled gently, "Mom said she'll bring you 15 catties of winter bamboo shoots tomorrow, do you want some?"

Li Heng rubbed his hands a little embarrassedly: "How can we do that? We're bringing fish and bamboo shoots. Will we get beaten up later?"

Mai Sui found it amusing, "Then if my parents beat you in the future, will you be afraid?"

"I'm a little scared, but I feel like I can't escape this beating."

Li Heng shamelessly said, "So, I'll come to your house more often in the future to show my face and get along well with them. That way, even if they want to do something in the future, they won't be able to hurt me too badly because of our relationship."

Mai Sui's smile widened even more; she thought that although this man was incredibly thick-skinned, he was also quite adorable.

After staying at the Mai family's house for two nights, on the morning of the third day, Mai Dong drove his van to take Li Heng and Sun Manning back to Shao City.

Wheat ears accompanied them all the way.

After dropping Sun Manning off at No. 1 Middle School, Mai Dong asked him, "Li Heng, do you have anything else to do here? Or should I take you directly to Qianzhen?"

In the past, Mai Dong might have simply dropped him off at the bus station. But now, he inexplicably wanted to visit Li Heng's hometown, hence the question.

However, Mai Dong's wish was destined to be in vain. Li Heng said, "Uncle, just drop me off at Chengnan Park. I still need to wait for someone."

He didn't know why Teacher Yu chose Chengnan Park as the meeting place instead of No. 1 Middle School. Didn't Teacher Yu want to see Teacher Runwen?
Upon hearing this, Mai Dong immediately started the car and drove towards Chengnan Park.

On the way, Li Heng said to Mai Sui, "Teacher Yu is coming to my house today. Mai Sui, do you want to come and play with me for a few days?"

Mai Dong observed her daughter's expression through the rearview mirror.

Mai Sui pondered for a moment, then shook her head: "Never mind, Teacher Yu has something to discuss with you. The New Year is just a few days away, and I'm too lazy to bother with it."

Upon hearing this, Li Heng didn't insist: "Alright, see you next year then."

"Okay, see you next year," said Wheat.

It's not far from No. 1 Middle School to Chengnan Park; the car arrives quickly.

However, the father and daughter did not rush to leave. Instead, they bought some melon seeds and chatted in the car while keeping him company.

At 12:37 pm, two Mercedes-Benz cars drove from the direction of Hongqi Road and stopped at the entrance of Chengnan Park.

Mai Sui, with her sharp eyes, said, "Teacher Yu is here."

Li Heng followed her gaze, then opened the door and got out of the car.

The father and daughter got off the bus.

Mai Sui accompanied him. Mai Dong took two large grass carp and a bag of winter bamboo shoots from the car and followed behind.

Yu Shuheng also saw the three of them, got out of the car, and smiled at Mai Sui, saying, "Mai Sui, you're here too."

"Teacher!" Mai Sui called out happily.

Yu Shuheng nodded, and then smiled at Mai Dong as a greeting.

Mai Dong returned the greeting with a smile and stood aside watching the three exchange pleasantries and chat.

Yu Shuheng also extended an invitation to Mai Sui to go to Qianzhen together, but Mai Sui still politely declined.

About ten minutes later, Mai Sui took a photo with Yu Shuheng and left.

After the van had driven a distance, Mai Dong, who had been silent until now, asked curiously, "Sui Bao, what is the relationship between Teacher Yu and Li Heng?"

"It's a teacher-student relationship," Mai Sui replied.

Mai Dong nodded and then shook her head: "It looks somewhat like it, but something feels off."

Mai Sui said, "Dad, don't overthink it. Teacher Yu helps Li Heng with many things. They are both teacher and friend, and have a very close relationship. In addition, Teacher Yu is also quite familiar with Li Heng's parents."

Mai Dong said, "I know that. I remember Teacher Yu went to Qianzhen once before."

"Mmm," Mai Sui replied with a soft "Mmm."

Mai Dong wanted to ask some more questions, but she swallowed them back and ended up chatting with her daughter about other trivial matters.

P.S.: I had some urgent business to attend to outside today.

(End of this chapter)