1987 My Era

Chapter 622, Return

"Honey, can't you sleep?"

Just as Xiao Han stood on the balcony lost in thought, Li Heng suddenly hugged her from behind.

Xiao Han recognized his scent immediately. She leaned back into his arms, glanced at him, and asked in a clear voice, "Why are you out alone in the middle of the night? Going out to have an affair?"

Li Heng rolled his eyes: "My wife's locked up and her dog let out, where am I supposed to cheat on her?"

They looked at each other for a moment, and then both smiled.

He leaned down and kissed her, asking, "Thinking about something?"

"OK."

"What are you thinking about?"

"I don't know, just guessing," she said.

Thinking wildly means thinking a lot and having many concerns. Based on his wife's habitual thinking, Li Heng came to this conclusion.

Thinking of this, he rested his chin on her forehead and hugged her even tighter.

Li Heng asked, "What did you and Mom talk about on the grass this evening? Why did you two have such a pleasant conversation?"

Xiao Han closed her eyes and said with a smile, "Auntie is trying to keep me in check so that I can give you two chubby sons in the future."

Li Heng pressed further, "So, did you agree?"

Xiao Han raised her curved eyebrows and said pitifully, "When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. If I don't agree, I'll be kicked out tonight. Sigh... My man is a troublemaker outside, and I can't afford to mess with him."

Li Heng held her quietly, then lowered his head and bit her lips, kissing her passionately for a while.

He's not stupid.

He understood that his cunning wife's seemingly sarcastic words actually revealed a point of view: whether facing Song Yu, Zi Jin, or other women, she needed a backup identity that would ensure her invincibility.

Although Li Heng didn't say it directly, he silently made a promise through this kiss.

Sensing his sincerity, Xiao Han looked up slightly and urged, "It's getting late, there's dew outside, let's go back inside and sleep."

“I’ll sleep with you tonight,” Li Heng said.

Xiao Han hesitated, subconsciously glancing at the bedroom where Li Jianguo and Tian Run'e lived, then lowered her head, pursed her lips, and acquiesced.

Since things had already come to this, and she had already given herself to him, and their parents had even met, she felt there was no need to keep burying her head in the sand. If her honey wanted to sleep with her, then so be it.

That night, the two chatted quietly in bed until dawn before finally closing their eyes.

That night, Tian Run'e and Li Jianguo didn't get much sleep either.

Hearing a series of doors opening and closing outside, Tian Run'e turned over and asked, "Jianguo, are you asleep?"

Li Jianguo stared at the ceiling: "You keep tossing and turning and sighing, how can I sleep peacefully?"

Tian Run'e nudged her husband's waist with her elbow and asked, "What do you think of Hanhan?"

Li Jianguo replied, "You asked this question before."

Tian Run'e said, "The past is the past, and the present is the present."

Li Jianguo thought for a moment and replied, "Based on my observations over the past two days, it's clear that Hanhan wants to marry our son."

Tian Run'e said, "I didn't ask you about that; I asked about her as a person."

Without hesitation, Li Jianguo said, "With Hanhan's qualities, our Li family can't find any fault with her. We've hit the jackpot."

Tian Run'e sighed, "That's right. I like Zijing and Hanhan very much. Every time I'm with them, I feel guilty. I, Tian Run'e, have done good deeds all my life, but I gave birth to such a child. Li Jianguo, you owe me."

Li Jianguo was sweating profusely, but he couldn't very well argue back now. He thought to himself that he had been ruined by Zhao Jing for the rest of his life.

The next day, the elderly couple got dressed and got out of bed very early.

However, Xiao Qing was earlier than them and was making breakfast in the kitchen.

After washing up, Tian Run'e also came into the kitchen. "Qingqing, why are you up so early?"

Xiao Qing turned around and smiled, saying, "I slept well last night, so I couldn't fall back asleep after waking up, and I just got up. Why didn't you and your aunt sleep a little longer?"

Tian Run'e helped out, saying, "We're getting old, and we can't sleep more than a few hours a day."

Then she asked, "Hanhan and the others haven't gotten up yet?"

Xiao Qing said, "I guess not yet."

At this point, the two suddenly ended the conversation.

Because both of them knew perfectly well that Li Heng and Xiao Han had slept together last night, and the implications of this were extremely significant.

Xiao Han and Li Heng got up a little after 8 a.m.

It was the first time Xiao Han had shared a bed with Li Heng in front of her elders. Even with her strong mental fortitude, she was a little shy and only dared to peek out of the bedroom door from behind Li Heng.

This scene made Xiao Qing, who was in the living room, secretly smile, thinking to herself that her younger sister actually had such a cute side.

Li Jianguo and Tian Run'e exchanged a glance, their unspoken understanding unspoken.

Remembering the promise she had made to Wei Shiman and Xiao Hai, Tian Run'e hesitated for a moment, then stood up, pulled Xiao Han over, and said with a smile, "Hanhan, come sit here with Mom and have breakfast with me."

The word "Mom" signifies a complete shift in Xiao Han's identity within the Li family.

Xiao Han, with her dimples showing, followed along, feeling both embarrassed and a little happy.

This breakfast was simple, but it was very meaningful.

Xiao Qing was happy for her younger sister, who had finally taken the lead and made up for all her shortcomings. Those women outside, even if they wanted to take her sister's current position in the future, would have to think twice before getting past Tian Run'e and Li Jianguo.

Li Heng didn't find his parents' words and actions abrupt; on the contrary, he felt it was perfectly natural. After all, Xiao Han was his legitimate wife in his previous life, and he and his mother had lived harmoniously at the same dinner table for decades. This was simply a reenactment of their past life.

He was in a daze, and very willing to see this scene, as if he had returned to his past life.

After breakfast, Li Heng accompanied his parents to the capital.

My trip to the capital was twofold: first, to see my parents off, and second, to visit Zijin.

Third, we inspected the New Future Tutoring School.

Before leaving, Xiao Han asked him, "When will you be back?"

Li Heng said, "It will take about three days if things go quickly, and a week if things go slowly."

Xiao Han cleared her throat and said, "Then I'll come to Lushan Village to see you this weekend."

Li Heng remembered that it was springtime and time to plant ginkgo trees, so he immediately nodded: "Okay, wait for my call."

"Mmm." Xiao Han obediently hummed twice, watching the family of three leave.

From Xuhui to the airport, and then from the airport to Beijing, it was already past 2 p.m. when I returned to the courtyard house in Gulou.

Chen Zijin had received advance notice from Li Lan and was already waiting at home with her second sister.

Upon seeing the three, Chen Zijin greeted the elderly couple with a smile, then embraced Li Heng with deep affection.

Seeing her son holding Hanhan one moment and Zijin the next, Tian Run'e felt a pang of guilt, realizing she had given birth to a terrible child. She felt inexplicably choked up. These days, wherever she goes, she's basically doing firefighting work, which is exhausting.

The only thing that comforted her was that Manzai had good taste; every girl was beautiful and outstanding, making her unwilling to let them down.

After embracing for a long time, Li Heng and Chen Zijin separated.

He asked with concern, "Are you busy with your studies now?"

Chen Zijin said, "It's alright."

It's alright, just quite busy. Li Heng gently stroked her long hair, "Being with me has made you suffer, I'm so sorry..."

Chen Zijin shook her head and sealed his lips with her hand. "Don't say sorry. I'm doing this willingly."

Li Heng remained silent, then pulled her back into his arms. After a while, he said, "Since I took the day off anyway, come with me to go shopping later and we'll buy a couple of outfits."

"Okay," Chen Zijin replied.

After lunch, Li Lan seized the opportunity to quietly ask him, "Do you have an illegitimate child outside?"

Li Heng was shocked and touched her forehead with his hand: "No, Second Sister, you don't have a fever, how can you say such nonsense?"

Li Lan pushed his hand away: "I recently had a dream that you had an illegitimate child outside of your marriage, who called me 'Auntie.' I even gave him a red envelope."

Li Heng: "..."

He rolled his eyes, too lazy to pay her any attention.

Seeing her younger brother about to run away, Li Lan grabbed him and then said more seriously, "If you don't plan to marry Zijing and Xiaohan, it would be best if they had the first child. It would be best if Xiaohan gave birth to the first boy for our family."

When her second sister said "best" twice, Li Heng knew that she had weighed the pros and cons.

Li Heng didn't ask why his wife was a cunning schemer, because he instantly understood the deeper meaning.

After all, the Chen and Li families didn't get along, and the first boy was the best way to appease the Xiao family.

After all, he now has a large and successful family, and being the eldest son of a large family gives him a certain advantage in many ways.

Li Heng did not give a clear answer to his second sister's question. Instead, he wondered if his second sister, who was even more cunning than a monkey, had found out some information.
Was my second sister's dream a hoax? Was she deliberately using the dream to test me?

Or does it mean that the second sister already knows about Consort Huang's existence?
Looking at Comrade Li Lan in front of him, Li Heng felt uneasy and seriously suspected that his second sister might be plotting against Huang Zhaoyi again.

Facing each other, Li Lan asked, "Do you have other ideas?"

Li Heng spread his hands and said, "They are all my women, and they are all my flesh and blood. As for who will give birth to my first child, I am not so biased. Let fate decide."

Li Lan scoffed, "Tsk tsk, what a fine 'go with the flow' attitude. Since you're going with the flow, then let's wait until graduation and put all your beauties on the same starting line. If none of them take any precautions, whoever gets pregnant first will be the one who gets pregnant."

Li Heng frowned, walked to the stone bench in the courtyard, sat down and said, "Just say it directly, don't beat around the bush."

Li Lan glanced back at Zijing, who was chatting enthusiastically with her mother, then sat down next to her younger brother and whispered, "Yesterday at noon, Consort Huang's mother came here." Li Heng's heart tightened. He was afraid his second sister was bluffing, but he tried his best to control his emotions and asked calmly, "Consort Huang's mother, what is she doing here?"

Li Lan sneered: "Even now, you're still pretending! If Huang Xuqing hadn't arrived and taken that old man away, I wouldn't have known that you had already slept with Consort Huang."

At this point, Li Lan scratched her head and said, "No, that's not right. Actually, I've suspected you two are having an affair for a long time. It's just that you two worked together so well and managed to distract me by giving me a sweet talk."

After thinking for about ten seconds, she looked up and asked, "If I'm not mistaken, last summer, Huang Zhaoyi drove you around alone. You two got together back then, right?"

After a brief standoff, Li Heng asked, "Has Huang's mother really come?"

Li Lan nodded solemnly: "Luckily, Mom wasn't home yesterday, or she would have fainted. Look at my favorite Peking Opera star suddenly transformed into a daughter-in-law! How delightful! How exciting! How thrilling!"

Li Heng ignored these words and asked, "What brings Mother Huang here?"

Li Lan tilted her head: "Are you admitting to your relationship with Consort Huang?"

Li Heng thought to himself, "Now that things have come to this, how can I still hide it?"

Seeing her brother's tacit agreement, Li Lan became interested. "Tell me, come on, tell your second sister how you got together with her? What tricks did you use to sleep with her, and she didn't say a word? Didn't she make a fuss?"

Faced with a series of questions, Li Heng had a headache and said dejectedly, "It's not as complicated as you say. My relationship with her was just an accident."

"What kind of accident? How did you manage to make Consort Huang so obediently become your woman? Share some experience with your second sister." Li Lan looked at her with an expression that said, "I'd be crazy to believe you."

After a moment's thought, Li Heng decided to tell the story of how Liu Yue had drugged him.

After hearing this, Li Lan looked on in disbelief, astonished: "Such an absurd thing exists in the world? That Liu Yue is even more unscrupulous than me?"

Li Heng remarked with emotion, "You know what, I've always felt that you guys are the same kind of people."

Li Lan asked, "Does Liu Yue like you?"

Li Heng shook his head: "I didn't feel anything."

Li Lan asked, "So it was purely to help her aunt?"

Li Heng recalled, "It was probably just a moment of impulse."

Li Lan circled around him, scrutinizing his two fists, and smiled meaningfully.

Li Heng pressed further, "Was Huang's mother really here for me?"

Li Lan said, "Yesterday at noon, the other party was wandering around this area. Later, they ran into me and asked me for a glass of water. Although they didn't say their purpose, I guessed that they were after you and Huang Zhaoyi."

Li Heng asked, relieved, "You haven't mistaken me for someone else?"

Li Lan stretched and said, "I once met Huang Xuqing in the capital. I was introduced to her by Consort Huang. Huang Xuqing called that old lady 'Mom.' Do you think she made a mistake?"

Li Heng persisted: "What exactly did Huang's mother say?"

Li Lan stopped teasing him: "I didn't say anything, we just chatted casually as strangers."

Before her younger brother could speak, Li Lan analyzed, "Given Huang's age and status, there's absolutely no way she would come here to wander around. It must be because you slept with her youngest daughter that she felt resentful and came here subconsciously."

Luckily, the other person didn't run into their parents yesterday; otherwise, it might have caused trouble.

Li Heng asked, "How long have you been here?"

Li Lan said, "It was about ten minutes later. She said she was lost. Then Huang Xuqing rushed over and took her away under the pretext that something had happened at home."

Li Heng pondered: "Your dream was fake too, wasn't it?"

Li Lan chuckled and patted his shoulder with her right hand: "Never mind whether my dream is real or not, just listen to your second sister, you won't go wrong. Don't let Consort Huang get pregnant too early. If Consort Huang's mother is not stable, then this is definitely a time bomb."

Li Heng did not respond.

Seeing this, Li Lan gave her a "do as you see fit" look, then left to accompany Zi Jin.

After lunch, Li Heng put aside his worries and mustered all his energy to take Zijing shopping for clothes.

Tian Run'e and Li Lan accompanied her throughout the entire process.

As it was getting dark, Li Lan asked her younger brother, "Little brother, are you going to New Future Tutoring School tomorrow?"

Li Heng is right.

Li Lan warned, "Since you've already taken Song Yu there, don't take any other women there in the future. There are too many people there, and it's easy for rumors to spread that could be detrimental to you and Song Yu."

Li Heng nodded: "I know."

That night, starving Li Heng transformed into a wolf, spending the entire night entwined with Zi Jin. And it must be said, after suppressing his desire to be with a woman for so long, he suddenly felt enlightened, his mind and spirit refreshed, and he felt lightheaded.

The next day, Chen Zijin went to school.

The semester has only just begun, and with so many law courses, she can't take too much leave.

Li Heng originally intended to visit Song Yu at Peking University, but changed his mind halfway there and went directly to New Future Training School.

Because he knew that Song Yu had a habit: in her previous life, if he had slept with Xiao Han or Chen Zijin the night before, she would give him the cold shoulder for five to seven days before she would be willing to share a room with him.

Although Song Yu doesn't yet have this unspoken rule in this life, he respects her.

"Boss, you're here."

As soon as he stepped into New Future Tutoring School, the security guard immediately notified Wang Ye, who promptly put down what he was doing and rushed over to greet him.

Li Heng nodded to the other party, then silently surveyed the six classes that were in session. Finally, he said with satisfaction, "Not bad, much better than last year."

This is much better; it refers to the learning environment and the classroom atmosphere.

Wang Ye followed closely behind him. When he heard the boss's positive evaluation, he just smiled and did not show any excessive excitement.

Or, for her, the next goal is to further enhance the reputation of "New Future," attract more students, and reach an annual profit of 5 million yuan.

Upon entering the office, Wang poured him a cup of tea and asked, "Boss, did you come alone this time?"

Li Heng countered, "Whom do you want me to bring?"

Wang didn't mince words: "Song Yu."

Li Heng stopped drinking half of his tea and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Wang didn't meet his gaze, but instead looked out the window, leaving him with only a side profile: "If Mr. Li gives this company to Song Yu as a gift in the future, I will have no complaints. As for anyone else, I will resign."

After thinking for a moment, Li Heng asked, "Are you very familiar with Song Yu now?"

"Because of Yang Yingwen, we've had relatively more contact over the past six months."

Wang didn't hide anything and continued frankly, "However, I personally admire Song Yu's temperament the most. As a woman, I really want to have her kind of beauty and temperament. If you give the company to her, I won't be jealous."

Li Heng was speechless.

Well, this woman is getting more and more direct these days, even bluntly saying things like "I'm jealous".

However, considering her previous audacious claim of wanting to "borrow sperm" from him, this statement doesn't seem too outrageous; in fact, it appears rather childish.

Li Heng asked, half-jokingly, "Are you trying to blackmail me?"

"I wouldn't dare. I remember last time, you subtly hinted at this to me, and I've kept it in mind ever since," Wang Ye said.

Li Heng stared at her for a while, then changed the subject and asked, "How are things at the other branch schools?"

When it came to business, Wang didn't mince words. He went to the desk, pulled out a stack of documents, and handed them to him. "This is a summary of information from six schools in February. Please take a look, boss."

Li Heng took the document and began to carefully peruse it while sipping tea.

Wang Ye pulled up a stool and stood guard beside him, explaining things promptly when Wang Ye had any questions.

After more than 40 minutes, Li Heng closed the last document, looked up and asked, "The second phase is only 13 days away from ending. When is the third phase planned?"

Wang also said, "In addition to the teaching and research group, teachers will be given a month's vacation before the third round of enrollment."

Li Heng asked, "How's the textbook compilation going with the teaching and research group?"

Wang Ye said, "After more than half a year of hard work, it is now basically complete and we are making final revisions. In addition to IELTS and other study abroad textbooks, there are also various teaching materials and test papers for the college entrance examination, which are expected to be officially launched nationwide in mid-April."

Li Heng asked, "Have the sales channels been established?"

Wang also said, "Last year, I sent out 10 sales teams to all parts of the country, aiming to contact bookstores and high schools in major cities. The feedback so far has been good, and we are very confident in the launch of our teaching materials."

Upon hearing this, Li Heng made a special trip to the teaching and research group, spending a day reviewing various supplementary teaching materials. During this time, he also pointed out 37 areas that needed improvement based on his rich experience from his previous life.

Listening to his advice, Wang Ye and the rest of the research group took notes while pondering: No wonder he's a boss at such a young age, while we're just employees. It seems that talent is something that makes people despair.

Staying in the teaching and research group, it was evening before I knew it. Yang Yingwen, who had finished his class, also rushed over from Tsinghua University.

After explaining the last part that needed to be revised and improved, Li Heng asked Yang Yingwen, "Old rag, it's so late, why are you still here?"

In public, Yang Yingwen couldn't stand the words "old rag," and glared at them, saying, "You're a capitalist, I'm offering myself up for you to exploit, and you're still not happy?"

Li Heng chuckled, realizing he had just blurted out the wrong thing, and immediately pulled her aside to a secluded spot, asking, "You haven't gone home, have you?"

“Go home? What home do I have? What does it matter to me whether that old man lives or dies?” Yang Yingwen said this without any joy or sorrow. He no longer wanted to call his father, and simply called him “old man”.

Li Heng thought for a moment and said, "Your father has a bit of a temper, and I completely understand why you don't want to go back, but your mother will definitely suffer. How about I send someone to bring your mother to the capital?"

Yang Yingwen said, "I had this idea before the New Year, and I talked to her about it several times. But she was stubborn and didn't want to come. She was like someone who would stay with her even in death. What a firm love! I was almost moved."

Li Heng: "..."

Yang Yingwen glared at him and said, "Laugh if you want. Don't be fooled by your current charm and the number of women you have. If you ever fall on hard times, I bet only Song Yu, Xiao Han, and Chen Zijin will be willing to stay by your side to the death."

Li Heng shoved her arm and said irritably, "Can't you speak properly? Are you hoping I'll fall into trouble?"

"Tch! I was just stating a fact, why are you so angry?" Yang Yingwen staggered and swayed, barely managing to steady himself by grabbing the railing.

For dinner, Li Heng paid for all the teachers to eat at a nearby restaurant, and they didn't leave until after 7 p.m.

ps: change first and then change

(End of this chapter)