1987 My Era

Chapter 595, A Slap
Li Heng took the wine glass, raised it to her and said, "We're in a foreign land, but we're as close as family. Come on! Cheers!"

Zhou Shihe smiled, picked up her wine glass with her right hand and gently clinked it against his, then took a small sip.

Li Heng also took a sip, savored it, and said, "It's strange, it tastes very good, the aroma is unique and charming, but I can't describe the specific taste."

After tasting it carefully, Zhou Shihe said, "It has aromas of strawberry, fig, mushroom and dried flowers, with a hint of meat. The wine is full-bodied yet refined, with silky tannins. The quality is indeed quite good."

Li Heng was dumbfounded: "You got so much information from just one sip? A professional sommelier?"

Zhou Shihe smiled knowingly: "I've seen it, heard it, and memorized it before."

Li Heng couldn't immediately tell whether what he said was true or false.
Was she trying to save face for herself?
But he didn't care about all that, and jokingly remarked, "This trip abroad made me realize one thing: if a man can marry a woman from a wealthy family who is also intelligent, his offspring will have a much higher starting point, and may even rise to great heights."

After listening, Zhou Shihe lowered her head and quietly looked at the red wine in her glass, without saying a word.

Li Heng realized he had said something insightful, so he slowly shut his mouth and then wandered around the room with a glass of red wine in his hand.

He has stayed in many five-star hotels, but this is the first time he has stayed in a hotel like Raffles City, which has a strong sense of history.

Moreover, it was an honor that this suite would be named after "Li Heng" from now on, and he examined it with even greater seriousness.

He inspected every corner of the house, from the eaves to the walls.

When he came to the old record player again, Li Heng stopped in his tracks. He examined it carefully for a while, and then asked without turning his head, "Do you mind if I fiddle with it?"

After waiting for a long time, I still didn't receive a reply.

Finally, unable to resist the urge, Li Heng picked out a record from the many vinyl records, put it on the record player, and after a few tries, a series of soothing music pieces filled the room:

Shanghai at night, Shanghai at night

you are a city that never sleeps
The city lights come on, cars hum, and music and dancing fill the air.
She greeted us with a smile.

...

...

An ancient voice sang out, transcending time and space. Li Heng was stunned for a moment and subconsciously turned to look at her.

Zhou Shihe seemed to sense something and looked at him as well.

After gazing at each other for a moment, Li Heng asked slowly and deliberately, "How do you feel?"

Zhou Shihe thought for a moment and said, "It feels like a long time ago, like going back to the Republican era."

"The lights come on, cars hum, and songs and dances fill the air..." Li Heng murmured the lyrics as he strolled up to her.

Then, under her gaze, he gracefully extended his right hand: "I never expected to hear this song in Singapore, thousands of miles away. My heart is pounding. How about we dance together?"

Zhou Shihe tightened her grip on the wine glass in her hand. "I'm not very good at dancing."

Li Heng raised an eyebrow: "You didn't jump over it?"

Zhou Shihe said, "I'll skip this with my cousin."

Her cousin used to have her practice with her at home when she needed to attend dances.

Well, these days there are many dances, they are extremely popular. Whether it's at school or workplace, people often dance and socialize on weekends.

Among them, ballroom dancing is the most popular.

The default setting is ballroom dancing.

I remember that not long after the start of my freshman year, Liu An and Li Guoyi had their first conflict at the school dance, which later escalated out of control.

However, he did not see Zhou Shihe and Mai Sui at the school dance.

Mai Sui, everyone knows why she doesn't participate in the school dance. Who is she doing it for?

Therefore, when the student council holds dances, they don't invite Mai Sui to participate, as they don't want to make a fool of themselves.

As for Zhou Shihe, hey! This stunning beauty is someone most people wouldn't dare to approach.

Or rather, deep down, most men don't want to desecrate her; they genuinely believe that it's right for Fudan University's "King of Fudan" not to appear at the ball, as that aligns with their fantasies and aspirations.

This is their goddess.

After all, it's a ball, and men and women alike come with all sorts of ulterior motives. If you were to run into Zhou Shihe in a place like this, that would be truly disappointing.

Fortunately, Zhou Shihe remained composed and did not disappoint everyone.

Li Heng had loved playing musical instruments and singing since he was a child, so how could he miss out on something as fun as dancing? He immediately grabbed her hand with great enthusiasm, "Come on, relax and dance with me."

Sensing his genuine desire to relax, his joyful mood, and the warmth in his eyes, Zhou Shihe's emotions were gradually affected. She glanced at his hand holding hers, hesitated for a moment, and finally gave in, no longer refusing.

The two men put down their wine glasses at the same time, their eyes met briefly, and Li Heng reached out his hand.

He first took her right hand with his left hand, and then gentlemanly half-wrapped his right hand around her waist.

Just this one grasp, just this half-hug…!
Zhou Shihe's body stiffened instantly, her pearly teeth clenched, and she stood there extremely unnaturally.

Li Heng asked softly, "Are you nervous?"

Zhou Shihe avoided his gaze and gave a barely perceptible "hmm".

Li Heng comforted her, "Look at me, take a deep breath, don't think of me as Li Heng, imagine me as your cousin."

Zhou Shihe didn't listen to him and remained silent.

After waiting a while, seeing that she still hadn't relaxed, Li Heng said apologetically, "Never mind, never mind, I was being presumptuous. Let's continue drinking, this wine is quite good..."

But before he could finish speaking, Zhou Shihe took a deep breath and placed her free left hand on his right shoulder.

At this point, the two had completed their initial basic movements.

Li Heng looked at her with surprise in his eyes.

He had originally planned to give up, but unexpectedly, at the last moment, the girl reached out her left hand to him.

Being so close, Zhou Shihe, feeling a little awkward, still avoided eye contact with him, tilting her head slightly to the side.

After a while, Li Heng asked for his opinion: "Is it okay now?"

Zhou Shihe hummed in agreement again.

With her permission, Li Heng started to move.

Although Zhou Shihe was on edge, she didn't hold back; on the contrary, she jumped exceptionally well.

Four minutes later, Li Heng, whose dance moves had been completely outmatched, stared wide-eyed, sweat beading on his back, and stammered, "My God! This... this is what you mean by not being very good at dancing? If this isn't considered very good, then what am I?"

His expression was one of surprise mixed with exaggeration.

He was genuinely surprised.

He genuinely wanted to help her let go of her burdens.

Zhou Shihe smiled knowingly, her whole body inexplicably relaxing, and she said calmly:
"Compared to my older cousin, I'm still far behind. At first, she always looked down on me."

Li Heng pressed further, "And then what happened?"

Zhou Shihe blinked slightly: "Later, I didn't expect you to be like this..."

Li Heng was displeased: "Terrible? I didn't expect I to be this bad!!! Right?"

That's the gist of it, but she won't say it out loud.

Zhou Shihe's smile widened even more.

The smile, set against the backdrop of the ancient songs, possesses an indescribable charm and a breathtaking beauty.

Li Heng's heart was inexplicably stirred, his eyes glazed over, and an indescribable aura instantly spread across him.

The aura spread at a speed that gradually increased, eventually entangling her and lingering between the two of them.

Noticing his change, sensing his odd behavior, and realizing that her emotions were gradually being drawn into a web of unknowns, Zhou Shihe felt a little flustered.

But she tried her best to remain calm, not wanting him to find any flaws in her expression.

only…

The two were just standing too close together.

No, their bodies were almost touching; they could even feel each other's body temperature and smell each other's breath.

As the dance moves swiftly forward, and their bodies rub against each other, at one point she can even clearly feel his body begin to burn, scalding hot!

As a result, his breathing became irregular and disordered.

At some point, Zhou Shihe, who was initially unwilling to look him in the eye, found herself unable to resist doing so as the ballroom dancing progressed.

Zhou Shihe, who had been looking at him for some time, was now afraid to look him in the eye again.

The record player continued playing songs on repeat, creating a peaceful and joyful atmosphere, but the room grew increasingly quiet.

It grew eerily quieter and quieter…

For a moment, the two looked at each other, their eyes meeting sensitively, both cautious, afraid that they might lose control if they made a mistake.

When the indescribable aura thickened to the point of almost dissolving into water, for a fleeting moment, they seemed to have entered a secluded and mysterious world, where only he and she existed. It was as if they could no longer hear the song, as if they could no longer feel the outside world.

In this enclosed space, Li Heng stared intently at the woman so close to him, at the woman he was half-embracing.

Um, I don't know when it started, but the half-hug turned into a full hug, and silently, the embrace became tighter and tighter.

Without a sound, their bodies pressed together seamlessly.

In the silence, Li Heng could no longer suppress the impulse in his blood. After a long, drawn-out stare, to Zhou Shihe's astonishment, he suddenly kissed those cherry-red lips that seemed within his grasp.

Ignoring everything else, in a moment of impulsiveness, he kissed her fiercely.

In the pure, clear black and white light, someone's head suddenly shoved in, like a rocket.

Zhou Shihe instantly realized what he was about to do.

My heart was filled with even more panic and trepidation!

But the two were already standing close together, and with him holding her waist in his arms, Zhou Shihe's instinctive reaction to this sudden movement was to turn her head to the left.

Don't let him kiss you.

Unfortunately, the two were too close.

She didn't have enough time to react. Even though she tried to avoid him immediately, he still kissed the corner of her right mouth.

I got a full kiss!

Feeling the strange sensation at the corner of her mouth, Zhou Shihe, whose defenses had been breached by a member of the opposite sex for the first time, couldn't help but tremble slightly.

Although he kissed me on the lips last year in Northeast China, the feeling was completely different then.

It all started with a skiing accident. The two fell, unconsciously embracing each other, and their lips accidentally brushed together. Afterwards, they separated at lightning speed, leaving each other no time to reminisce.

This time, however, he kissed himself openly, with deep emotion; he did it on purpose.

After kissing himself, he not only didn't let go, but also greedily sucked on her lips. This left the anxious Zhou Shihe at a loss.

Her lips were delicate, soft, and warm, and there was an extraordinary sensation stimulating Li Heng's senses.

At this moment, he tasted the heavenly wine, his blood boiling, it was so intoxicating.

Zhou Shihe's mind went blank, but her body instincts compelled her to make another escape move, turning her head to the right.

Unfortunately, they were pressed close together, with only about 10 centimeters of space to move left or right. In his embrace, no matter how much she tried to dodge, the space was limited. Sure enough, even though she turned her head sharply to the right, she still got kissed.

However, this time it wasn't the right corner of the mouth, but the left corner.

Her small red lips were incredibly alluring. Once Li Heng kissed her, he didn't want to let go. He wanted to go further and have her whole mouth filled with a truly romantic kiss.

Snapped!
Suddenly there was a loud noise!
Just as his lips moved inch by inch, conquering and expanding, just as he quickened his pace to ravage her entire mouth, a sound suddenly rang out in the room.

The voice was very loud.

Li Heng was hit; he was slapped on the right cheek!

Although the sound of the slap didn't completely drown out the sound of the record player, it was sharp, piercing, and powerful enough.

The slap felt incredibly hot on his face.

After raising her right hand to hit him, Zhou Shihe withdrew her left hand from his shoulder, and then subconsciously struggled to break free from his embrace.

Then she took a step back.

They took another step back.

Then, still feeling uneasy, he took another big step back, knocking over the two glasses of red wine that were on the table.

In a flurry of splashing, not only did two glasses of red wine spill, but the half-full bottle of Pingus next to it rolled down the corner of the table and onto the carpet.

Surprisingly, the wine bottle didn't shatter completely; it simply broke into two pieces with a dull thud.

In an instant, the red liquid on the table dripped down in fine lines, while the red wine on the ground slowly moved forward along the carpet, leaving a trail of blood-like blood in its wake—a tragic scene, yet also carrying a touch of mystery.

Zhou Shihe stood in the red liquid, her lips tightly pursed, staring intently into his eyes.

Li Heng was so badly beaten he was stunned!

It took him a while to realize what absurd thing he had just done in his passion.

If it's just a kiss on the left corner of someone's mouth, that's one thing; it can be explained as youthful impulsiveness!

The problem is that he then kissed her right lip and greedily tried to kiss her entire mouth. How could she possibly tolerate that?
They couldn't take it anymore and slapped him across the face!

They faced each other, the air deathly still.

This was the first time in Li Heng's life that a woman had slapped him, but he made no attempt to defend his absurd behavior and simply stared at her blankly.

My brain short-circuited, and I stared at her in a daze.

In his previous life, he had three beautiful women, including a celestial beauty like Song Yu, but he had never experienced being beaten by a woman.

At this moment, Zhou Shihe's emotions were fluctuating wildly.

She lost her first kiss just like that, without any warning.

Looking at the man opposite her, she felt extremely conflicted.

At Xiyuan, when he first tried to help her brush the hair behind her ear, she gave in, she tolerated it, and later she compromised.

Last night in Lushan Village, he brushed the hair behind her ear for the second time. He succeeded by surprise and even stroked her right cheek for a couple of seconds.

In the end, she still gave in.

Some things can be done once or twice, but not a third time.

This is the third time today.

As expected, something bad happened today.

She knew that her second compromise had indeed become a danger signal.

Instead of backing down as she wished, he boldly launched a fierce attack. This kiss directly shattered the barrier between them.

For the first time, his long-suppressed emotions were laid bare before the two of them, leaving no room for maneuver whatsoever.

In silence.

After about two minutes of staring at each other, Zhou Shihe broke the silence, asking irritably, "Are you happy now?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was very accusatory.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Li Heng remained silent.

About 30 seconds later, Zhou Shihe, still feeling unsettled, asked, "Don't you have anything to say to me?"

Li Heng opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

Under her almost indifferent gaze, he finally mustered the courage to speak: "Shihe, I..."

"enough."

"Enough!" she seemed to squeeze out through gritted teeth, and as she spoke, she abruptly turned her back, ruthlessly interrupting him.

All that was left for her was a pitiful, frail silhouette.

With a single, sharp remark, Zhou Shihe, who had just exuded a cold and fierce aura, seemed to transform into a completely different person. Her aura seemed to leak out, and she instantly became listless.

The air fell silent once more.

The atmosphere was deadlocked again.

She seemed to know what he was about to say.
She seemed to know what words followed his "Shihe, I..."
For a fleeting moment, she even felt a faint sense of anticipation.

She didn't even know what she was expecting.
She didn't know whether she should have any expectations or not.

But after a brief period of anticipation, a deep fear welled up inside her.

She was scared, she backed down, and she felt like a complete stranger to herself.

Is this still her?

Is she still Zhou Shihe, who has never shown any interest in men since childhood?
Li Heng is not a good man and is not worthy of any expectation from me, not even the slightest one.

She knew this man was very cunning and good at deceiving women; she had almost been ensnared by him in a slow, insidious way.

She even suspected that, in order to create this scene and capture her, the man had spent a year and a half meticulously weaving an intangible and invisible web of love for her.

The reason for using the unpleasant word "capture" is...

Because he was too much of a womanizer.

Not content with Xiao Han and Mai Sui, she also stole Teacher Yu's heart.

Xiao Han, Mai Sui, and Teacher Yu—aren't these three top-tier beauties in the world? Any one of them could cause a frenzy of pursuit among men. But he had the wicked intention to have all three of them in his pocket, yet he still tried to take advantage of him.

If…!
If he didn't have Xiao Han, Mai Sui, or his ambiguous relationship with Teacher Yu.

If his romantic history is completely clean and spotless.

She might have made him finish what he said after "Shihe, I..."

Whether she will accept it or consider it after I've said it is another matter entirely.

As time passed, Zhou Shihe, who came from a prominent family, eventually let reason prevail, and her inner turmoil subsided once again.

She didn't make a scene like most women would.

There was no hysteria.

She didn't slam the door and leave, or ignore him as Li Heng had expected.

Instead.

Instead, after suppressing her emotions with reason, she chose to prioritize the bigger picture and the concert that her teacher valued highly the next day. With her back to him, she slowly squatted down and began to clean up the mess on the floor with her hands, which were even whiter and more delicate than scallions.

Clean up the broken wine bottle. Patiently find all the shards of glass and put them in the trash can.

Clean up the red wine on the floor.

After sweeping the floor clean, she stood up, picked up the wine glasses on the table, and carefully wiped away the residue with a tissue.

After doing all this, she checked the carpet and chairs again, then washed her hands, filled two bowls with rice, one for herself and the other for the person opposite her on the table.

Finally, take two pairs of chopsticks and place one pair on the opposite side of the table.

Then, under her gaze, she calmly sat down, picked up a piece of Cantonese roast goose with her chopsticks, and quietly began to eat.

Halfway through the meal, seeing that Li Heng was still standing there and hadn't come over, Zhou Shihe hesitated with her right hand, swung her chopsticks around, and finally looked up at him.

Their eyes met, and Li Heng sighed inwardly. This Miss Zhou was indeed from a wealthy family; she handled things with such composure and ease.

To be honest, I can't compare to her.

Li Heng walked over as if on cue, shamelessly sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and started eating Cantonese dishes, French cuisine, and steak, all by himself.

He didn't like foie gras, but she cut him half, and Li Heng couldn't bring himself to refuse. He ate it with relish.

Zhou Shihe ate early, and since she didn't eat much, she ate relatively quickly.

After she finished eating, she waited there calmly and quietly, her face expressionless and showing no sign of anything unusual.

She seemed unaffected before and after the incident, quietly watching him eat.

She even used a knife and fork to cut his steak, foie gras, and snails.

The snails were limp and so-so, but the rosemary had a wonderful aroma that really appealed to my taste buds.

Knowing he loved steak, Zhou Shihe cut it quite evenly and meticulously.

Knowing he didn't like foie gras, she tested him with half a piece and then put the other half on his plate.

Li Heng sighed, his mouth still full of food, and protested groggily, "It's all fatty liver, can I skip this half piece?"

Zhou Shihe acted as if she hadn't heard him, showing no reaction, and stared at him steadily across the table.

After a long while, Li Heng gave in and surrendered. After swallowing the rest of the food in his mouth, he ate the other half of the foie gras.

Her gaze lingered on his mouth, then moved to his throat, and only after he finished eating the half-eaten foie gras did Zhou Shihe make her next move.

She got up and took out two pens and a notebook from her bag.

Then she sat back down at the table.

Zhou Shihe handed him a pen and a piece of paper, and said gently, "We've been together for over a year and a half. Write down what you want to say to me, just one sentence."

Before he could reply, she continued, "I'll write you a sentence too."

Li Heng looked directly into her eyes and after a long while said, "Aren't you afraid I'll do something reckless?"

Zhou Shihe glanced at him and quietly asked, "What do you mean by 'reckless'?"

What she was implying was: Is your affection for me just a fling? Is it all an act?
Li Heng: "..."

After a moment of quiet waiting, Zhou Shihe said gently, "You can do whatever you want, you can write whatever you want, or you can write seriously. But you only have one chance, so please do what you write in this life. Please be sure to keep your word."

P.S.: Updated first, revised later.

10800 words have been updated.

P.S.: Well, I've always felt that the 93 version of Wen Hui was incomplete; it was too rushed and didn't capture what I wanted. This version of Zhou Shihe is all setup; the real plot tension comes later, offering a completely different experience. Please give March some time; I think I can write a well-rounded character. Anyway, when it comes to writing about women, you can trust March; it might be slow, but it will definitely work.

As for the new book, I'll be writing about the new century in March. It's still about urban rebirth, with completely new characters. I've been polishing the outline for almost two years now, so I guess I'll be able to write comfortably. (Okay, before starting this book, I originally wanted to write a completely new outline, but I felt it wasn't perfect, so I wrote this one instead. But don't worry, everyone, I'll definitely finish this book perfectly in March, writing it carefully and meticulously.)
(End of this chapter)