1987 My Era

Chapter 620, Discovery

Lushan Village.

When Li Heng returned from his stroll on campus, he found the elderly couple already playing cards, accompanied by Sun Manning and Mai Sui.

Ye Ning sat next to Sun Manning, occasionally shouting and offering suggestions.

Zhou Shihe sat alone on the sofa reading a book and a newspaper.

Li Heng stood beside his mother and watched the card game for a while. Afterwards, he sat down on the sofa and asked Zhou Shihe, "Comrade Shihe, why don't you go and join in the fun?"

Zhou Shihe said gently, "Manning and Ningning won't give in."

Li Heng was taken aback, then realized what he meant: "You must have been sitting next to Mai Sui, because she had exceptionally good luck?"

Zhou Shihe smiled knowingly; that was indeed the case.

While the two were chatting on the sofa, Tian Run'e kept glancing at them, until Manzai got up and went into the study, at which point she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

She didn't know why, but she was very worried that her son would harass the Zhou family girl.

That evening, Li Heng was reading and writing in his study, working on Chapter 34 of "Dust Settles Down".

I lost track of time while writing and wrote more than 5100 words in one go, and didn't go to sleep until after 2 a.m.

the next day.

Early in the morning, Li Heng took the elderly couple away from Fudan University and headed to Shanghai Medical University.

Upon seeing Tian Run'e and Li Jianguo, Xiao Han was overjoyed and called out in a clear voice with her dimples, "Uncle, Aunt, what brings you here?"

Tian Run'e's face was full of kind smiles: "Your uncle and I are going to help out at Lanlan's cake shop in Beijing. We came to see you two before we left. Today is Monday, did we disturb your studies?"

As a medical student, and one personally supervised by Professor Wen Yan, Xiao Han is indeed very busy, much busier than ordinary students.

However, Xiao Han has always been able to distinguish between what is important and what is not. When it comes to love and career, she chooses love without any hesitation.

Xiao Han smiled sweetly and said, "No, school just started these past two days, so I'm not too busy yet. Have you had breakfast, Uncle and Aunt?"

Li Heng interjected, "Not yet. My mom said she's coming over to have breakfast with her daughter-in-law, but she hasn't even gone to that silly noodle shop."

These are Tian Run'e's original words; he only slightly modified them.

Seeing him explicitly refer to his wife as "daughter-in-law" in front of the Li family elders, Xiao Han felt very sweet. She immediately asked someone to ask the school for leave and then quickly took the elderly couple to a breakfast shop outside the school.

I had scallion oil noodles for breakfast, a local Shanghai specialty.

Li Jianguo tried it for the first time and ate more than half a bowl in just a few bites. Before leaving, he praised, "The taste is surprisingly good, better than I expected."

Tian Run'e chimed in, "It's actually quite good. I thought I wouldn't be able to eat it without chili peppers, but I can handle the flavor."

Xiao Han smiled, pleased with the elderly couple's words: "My mother has been here before and loves the food."

Tian Run'e asked, "Shiman?"

Xiao Han smiled and replied, "Yes."

When Wei Shiman was mentioned, the two women immediately started talking, from selling rice to the Xiao family and to their current situation. The two women, one old and one young, kept chatting and rambling until they paid the bill and left the store.

Looking at his wife and Xiao Han ahead of him, Li Jianguo, walking behind, asked his son, a rare occurrence: "Hanhan is nice. Your mother and I both like her very much. Why can't you marry her?"

Originally, Li Jianguo hoped his son would marry Chen Zijin, but he knew it was unrealistic, so he tentatively asked Xiao Han instead.

Xiao Han was his wife in his previous life. Li Heng's gaze fell on her back as he said earnestly, "To be able to marry her would certainly be wonderful."

Li Jianguo sensed the conflict and contradiction in his son's words, sighed inwardly, and then asked Mai Sui, "Does Mai Sui's family know about your cohabitation?"

Li Heng shook his head.

Li Jianguo was silent for a long time before saying, "When you graduate, Dad will go to Shaodong with you. Since Maisui has followed you, you have to take responsibility and show your appreciation. Now that things have come to this, even if her family wants to beat or scold you, you have to endure it."

Li Heng nodded: "Okay, I understand."

Li Jianguo didn't ask about Song Yu and Teacher Yu.

Li Jianguo felt extremely troubled by both Song Yu and Teacher Yu, and at this stage he had no idea how to deal with them.
After leaving the breakfast shop, Xiao Han first took the Li family of three for a stroll around the campus, making a strong impression on everyone.

Li Heng belatedly realized that his cunning wife was using this method to retaliate against the rumors in the newspapers.

As the news spread like wildfire in the newspapers, some people at Shanghai Medical University are now secretly gloating and speculating about how long Xiao Han can hold out against such formidable rivals as Yu Shuheng and Zhou Shihe, who is touted by busybodies as Shanghai's number one beauty.

In response, Zhang Haiyan secretly contacted her best friend, asking with concern, "Hanhan, are you alright?"

Xiao Han was inwardly muttering about her honey, but outwardly she remained calm, clearing her throat and pointing to the newspaper, cheerfully saying, "It's nothing, it's nothing. Look how charming my man is, all the pretty women are flocking to him, he really makes this beauty proud." Zhang Haiyan was both amused and relieved.

Around noon, the four left the medical university and headed to their new home on Wukang Road.

The couple was visiting their new house for the first time and were immediately captivated by its expansive 1600-square-meter space and historically significant architecture. Tian Run'e walked around looking at the house, praising it repeatedly: "It's great, it's great. When you have a baby in the future, Mom will come and help you take care of it. This lawn is perfect for taking care of the baby."

Upon hearing about having a baby, Xiao Han blushed slightly, but readily agreed, "Okay."

We originally planned to cook lunch at home, but somehow Sister Lin got wind of it and specially came over to take the four of us to Mr. Ba's house.

However, Mr. Ba is not at home today; he has gone to Nanjing to meet with friends.

After lunch, Sister Lin seized the opportunity to pull Li Heng aside and quietly asked, "Did Huang Zhaoyi also buy a house here?"

Li Heng looked at her and acquiesced.

Sister Lin frowned: "Don't look at me like that. I saw the Huang family's youngest daughter a couple of days ago and wanted to ask if you know anything about it?"

Li Heng said, "She helped me buy my new house."

Sister Lin suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. I was wondering why you were so quick to buy such a nice house. It turns out Huang Zhaoyi was involved."

Then she asked, "Xiao Han is your woman, and Huang Zhaoyi is also your woman. What do you mean by putting these two women together?"

Li Heng replied, "Zhaoyi and I have a tacit understanding not to get married."

Upon hearing this, Sister Lin looked incredulous, circling him three times before muttering, "Do you know any witchcraft or secret arts? Why would a woman from the Huang family be so devoted to you?"

If it were an ordinary woman, Sister Lin could understand, after all, this junior brother's appearance and talent are undoubtedly top-notch.

But what about the women of the Huang family?
That would be a huge blow. Let alone Li Heng, even Old Master Ba only put on a show of politeness when facing the powerful Huang family. If there were a serious conflict of interest, the other side wouldn't hesitate to kill without any scruples.

Li Heng gave an awkward laugh and remained silent.

Seeing that she couldn't get any answers from him, Sister Lin rolled her eyes at him and gave him a piece of advice: "You! You and Consort Huang may have a tacit understanding, but you still have to be careful. They say even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone the Huang family."

Li Heng sincerely expressed his gratitude: "Thank you, senior sister. I understand."

"It's good that you know what's going on." Sister Lin nodded, without asking about the things in the newspaper.

For people of their social standing, gossip in the newspapers is unimportant and unnecessary to take seriously. If it were, the Zhou and Yu families would have acted long ago, and the reports wouldn't have even appeared.

Of course, what Sister Lin didn't know was that the Zhou family really didn't take it seriously; they just tossed the newspaper aside after reading it.

Zhou's mother even speculated that Shen Xin was behind it all, with the aim of paving the way for Yu Shuheng and Li Heng's marriage, and that her own daughter was just a foil, used as a backdrop to distract from the outside world. So she generously didn't take it to heart.

Zhou's mother was right. The Yu family had been aware of the news in the newspaper from the beginning, and Shen Xin had even given her permission for the news to be published.

Shen Xin's intention was simple: while using this news to pave the way for her daughter and Li Heng, she was also subtly putting pressure on Li Heng's female confidantes.

The message was clear: you can stay by Li Heng's side, but don't get in his way.

In fact, after returning to China, Zhou Shihe immediately understood everything upon learning of the scandal in the newspapers, but given her quiet nature, she naturally didn't bother with other people's business. Even when Li Heng asked her about it later, she casually brushed it off.

With Xiao Han and Sister Lin accompanying them, Li Jianguo and Tian Run'e spent the next two days visiting most of the fun places in Shanghai.

Because Tian Run'e is a Buddhist, she made a special trip to Jing'an Temple.

Relying on her ample funds, Tian Run'e, who was deeply worried about her son's marriage, would spend money to offer incense and buy red ribbons to pray for her son whenever she visited a temple.

However, Xiao Han is now by her side, and the red prayer ribbon is filled with good news about her son and Han Han.

"It's written, Hanhan, go hang it up." Tian Run'e handed the written red ribbon to Xiao Han, making the soon-to-be daughter-in-law feel involved.

"Okay." Xiao Han smiled and took the red ribbon, tying it to the pillar in front of the Bodhisattva.

And so, we traveled from the Mahavira Hall and the Heavenly King Hall to the Guanyin Hall.

Inside the Guanyin Hall is a Guanyin statue carved from a single thousand-year-old camphor tree. It is 6.2 meters tall and weighs 5 tons. After bowing and kowtowing three times in front of the lifelike Buddha statue, Tian Run'e spent money to buy a red ribbon, wrote the message, and handed it to Xiao Han again.

Xiao Han reverently accepted the red ribbon with both hands, walked to the Buddha statue, chose a relatively secluded spot, and planned to tie it on.

The reason she chose a secluded place was, of course, because her husband's name was too conspicuous and easily discovered by outsiders, potentially causing a news story. However, that wasn't the main reason. Her primary concern was that someone might remove the red ribbon bearing the name "her and Li Heng."

Reaching the small pillar in the far corner, Xiao Han wrapped the red ribbon around it twice and tied a knot. But she had only tied halfway when she instinctively let out an "Eh!" and then…

Then she frowned, stood still for a few seconds, and leaned her upper body forward.

(End of this chapter)