1987 My Era

Chapter 634,

I came out of the reading room.

Li Heng stood at the entrance of the stairwell for a while, wondering if he was going upstairs to find Mai Sui.

Should we go downstairs and go back?

Thinking back to what had just happened between him and Miss Zhou, he finally gave up on going upstairs and walked down the stairs instead.

As soon as I got to the first floor, I ran into Zhao Menglong.

Seeing the other person walk straight towards him, Li Heng had a feeling that this senior might have come to find him on purpose.

Sure enough, Chen Menglong stopped in front of him. "It was so hard to find you. I went to so many places before I found out you were in the library."

Li Heng asked with a smile, "Senior, is there something you need from me?"

Chen Menglong extended a warm invitation: "It's almost lunchtime, how about we grab a bite to eat together?"

Li Heng thought about it and didn't refuse, so he went with him to Lao Li's Restaurant outside the school.

After ordering the food, Chen Menglong also ordered a dozen beers and a bottle of baijiu (Chinese liquor).

His eyes darted between beer and baijiu, and Li Heng joked to himself, "If I mix baijiu and beer, I'll probably get drunk."

Chen Menglong said, "Then you can have beer. I'm craving something sweet today, and I have nothing to do tonight, so I'd like to have a glass of baijiu."

While pouring the wine, Li Heng placed the glass in front of him and said, "Give me half a glass of baijiu too. It's not right for you to drink it all by yourself. But this is all the baijiu I can drink, so don't complain."

"Bright and spacious!" Chen Menglong gave a thumbs up.

The owner served a plate of peanuts.

The two didn't wait for the dishes; they ate peanuts and chatted as they ate.

Li Heng asked, "You'll be graduating and leaving school soon, right? Have you found a job yet?"

Chen Menglong hesitated for a moment, then said, "It might be in the General Office."

Li Heng asked, "From Shanghai?"

Chen Menglong is right.

Li Heng picked up his wine glass and said, "Amazing! This glass is for you. I wish you a bright future and all the best."

"It's nothing special. I was just lucky. I got to know the principal when I was the student council president, and he recommended me. But it hasn't been announced yet, so please keep it a secret," Chen Menglong said modestly.

Li Heng nodded, understanding the situation.

The two then chatted about various trivial matters at school and job assignments after graduation.

After a few rounds of drinks, Chen Menglong, who had finished a bottle of baijiu and four bottles of beer, leaned forward and suddenly asked nervously, "Do you still keep in touch with Zhan Yan?"

Knowing that the other party had contacted him about this matter, Li Heng shook his head: "It's been a long time since we last contacted each other."

Chen Menglong couldn't believe it: "She likes you so much, why didn't she write you a letter?"

Li Heng said, "She wrote me a letter last year, but I haven't heard from her since. However, I heard from her cousin Ye Ning that my senior is currently working at a top investment bank in the United States and is in a very good position."

Hearing this, Chen Menglong was somewhat disappointed, but also happy for Ye Zhanyan. He picked up a newly opened bottle of beer, tilted his head back, and chugged it down in one gulp.

Li Heng watched him chug the bottle, and when he finished, he couldn't help but praise him: "Senior, you really have a good capacity for alcohol. With this skill, you'll definitely thrive in the system in the future."

Chen Menglong shook the empty bottle. "I wasn't born with this talent; I developed it later by numbing myself with alcohol."

Remembering something, Li Heng asked, "I recall Dai Qing mentioning that you were planning to study in the United States. What's going on?"

Upon hearing this question, Chen Menglong fell silent for a long while before saying, "When I left my position as president of the student council, I did indeed plan to study in the United States. I think you know why, I just wanted to be with Zhan Yan. I took advantage of the winter break to go to the United States, and then I gave up on that idea."

Li Heng was surprised: "Everyone else is desperate to go abroad, even if it means breaking their heads and selling their possessions, but you, you just throw away the opportunity that's in your hands?"

Chen Menglong said, "That place is indeed very prosperous, but it's not suitable for me. Besides, Zhan Yan is moving too fast, and I can't keep up."

The second half of his sentence was his true feeling.

Ye Zhanyan has flown too high now, and the distance between them has grown too great. Chen Menglong knows that there is no possibility between him and Ye Zhanyan anymore, so he gave up going abroad and returned to work in China.

Li Heng listened with a sense of melancholy, then brought the last two bottles of beer to the table, one for each of them, and drank them down with his senior.

In the latter half, Chen Menglong poured out his heart, and after finishing a dozen beers, he ordered six more, drinking until there wasn't a drop left.

Leaving the restaurant, a slightly drunk Chen Menglong said to Li Heng, "I have a feeling that Zhan Yan will come looking for you again. If possible, I hope you can cherish her. She is a good woman."

Li Heng remained silent.

He didn't know Ye Zhanyan very well, and he didn't comment on whether she was a good woman.

As for good women, sigh! How many of the women who dare to get close to him aren't outstanding? How many aren't good women?

Cross the road and enter the school gate.

Li Heng ran into Mai Sui, Wei Xiaozhu, Sun Manning, and Ye Ning.

Upon seeing the four women, Chen Menglong greeted them and then tactfully left.

Mai Sui walked over and asked him, "Did you drink a lot?"

"Well, it's alright. My senior treated me to dinner, so I had some drinks with him."

Li Heng responded, then casually asked, "Why are there only four of you? Where is Comrade Zhou Shihe?"

Mai Sui said, "Shi He said she wasn't feeling well, so she didn't come out. We'll bring her some food later."

Li Heng asked, "Where does she feel unwell?"

Mai Sui told him, "Shi He didn't say anything, but she's not in good spirits and is resting at home now."

Upon hearing this, Li Heng instinctively felt that it was related to him, so he didn't ask any further questions.

He asked, "Would you like me to join you for dinner?"

Mai Sui shook her head: "No need. You've drunk so much, go home first. I'll come back and keep you company later."

“Okay, that works too.” Li Heng didn’t mince words.

After parting ways with the women, he went straight back to Lushan Village.

Before parting ways, Wei Xiaozhu suddenly turned around and quickly glanced at Li Heng's back.

At this time, the gate to the courtyard of building number 25 was locked, and Teacher Yu was not at home.

Li Heng stood in the middle of the alley, glancing at his own home and then at the small building at number 27.

After a moment's hesitation, he knocked on the door of building number 27.

"Dong dong dong...!"

"Dong dong dong...!"

After two knocks on the door, Zhou Shihe appeared in the attic on the second floor.

The southeast monsoon was blowing her long, black hair all over her face. She smoothed the stray strands of hair with her hand, looked down, and immediately saw him.

Li Heng looked up and gazed at her.

Their eyes met, and he asked with concern, "Mai Sui said you weren't feeling well. Is it serious? Should you go see a doctor?"

Her clear, black and white eyes were fixed on him, and Zhou Shihe remained silent.

Not receiving a reply, Li Heng asked again, "Can I open the door?"

Zhou Shihe paused for a moment, then looked away and silently turned away.

Less than three minutes later, she reappeared, the door to the first-floor apartment opened, and then the courtyard gate opened.

Looking at each other through the door, Li Heng asked in a low voice, "Are you really alright?"

Zhou Shihe stepped to the side of the door and said without any joy or sorrow, "It's nothing."

After observing her for a while without being able to glean any useful information from her face, Li Heng thought he might as well borrow her phone to ease the tension.

But seeing that her gaze drifted to the distant horizon and she never looked at him again, he gave up the idea.

Li Heng hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "Then you should rest more. I'm going home now."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shihe, who had just been staring blankly at the sunset, instantly took action, closed the courtyard gate, turned her back to him, and walked lightly into the house.

A moment later, as the door closed, she vanished completely from his world.

Wow, does this girl have to move so fast?

I'm not a tiger, I don't eat people.

Li Heng muttered a few words to himself and walked towards his home.

He unlocked the door, entered the yard, and stopped as he passed the half-dead ginkgo tree.

Ginkgo tree, oh ginkgo tree, can't you have some self-respect and come back to life?

At the very least, you should at least finish this semester. That way, I'll have an explanation after summer vacation, right?

The wind rustled the ginkgo trees, as if they were saying, "Don't beg me, I'm unlucky. Meeting you is my misfortune. Let me die sooner rather than later." The Buddha said, "The sooner you die, the sooner you'll be reincarnated." I couldn't stand staying here for even a day longer. They were constantly watering me with boiling water or salt water, sometimes seven or eight times a day. At this rate, even ten lives would have been ruined long ago!
Li Heng seemed to sense its suffering, reached out and patted the sapling, sighed: "Alas, no wonder there were stories of 'the prince being replaced by a cat' in ancient imperial palaces."

In this world, only money and human nature cannot be looked at directly; the ancients were truly not to be deceived.

This scene was witnessed by Zhou Shihe in the next attic. Originally troubled, she couldn't help but show a strange expression on her face.

She knew better than anyone that once his affair with three women was exposed, the relationship was doomed.

Upon returning home, Li Heng first rested with his eyes closed in his study for a while before starting to write a letter to Song Yu.

I had just written a letter to Song Yu last week, and according to our usual correspondence, I should write again in half a month.

But he suddenly had the urge to write.

The letter was two pages long, but the core message was the same: she should stay at school for the next six months and not get involved in any of those miscellaneous things.

Of course, given Song Yu's personality, she would know her limits even without his many instructions. But as her husband, he couldn't help but care about these things.

At the end of the letter, he also subtly pointed out that there was no need to come to Lushan Village for the Dragon Boat Festival; it wouldn't be too late to come during the junior year.

He's acting out of self-interest, trying to commute the immediate death sentence to a suspended death sentence. I wonder if Song Yu will see through his scheme?

He had no confidence that Song Yu would listen to him.

After writing the last word, Li Heng read the contents of the letter twice. Finding nothing wrong, he locked the door and rushed to the post office.

Somewhat unexpectedly, I ran into Liu Yanling near the post office. A boy with slicked-back hair was confessing his love to her.

When Li Heng suddenly appeared, a hint of unease flashed in Liu Yanling's eyes.

The greasy-looking boy recognized Li Heng, and reluctantly put away the love letter in his hand, lowered his head and quickly walked in another direction.

Li Heng intended to pretend he didn't see it and walk over directly.

But Liu Yanling spoke up, "Mr. Li, it's not what you see. I'm not half-hearted."

Li Heng smiled and said, "A beautiful lady is sought after by a gentleman, I understand. Is this boy from our school?"

Liu Yanling shook her head: "No, it's from Tongji University next door. It's someone from my hometown, someone I've known for two years. She keeps sending me love letters and gifts, and it's no use refusing her every time. It's driving me crazy."

Li Heng asked, "Does this guy know Lao Zhou?" "Yes, of course he does. To get rid of him, I even took Zhou Zhangming to a hostel near Tongji University for the night, but he's like a leech, he still sticks to me," Liu Yanling said.

Li Heng asked, "Does Old Zhou know about this person?"

Liu Yanling tilted her head and thought for a moment, then shook her head: "I dare not let Lao Zhou know. I'm afraid something like what happened to Li Guoyi and Liu An will happen. They fought to the death over Xiaozhu. It's terrifying."

Li Heng asked in surprise, "You knew all about it?"

Liu Yanling chuckled and said, "We got into Fudan University based on our real talent and hard work, you really think we're fools? We were kept in the dark before, but these past two months, Li Guoyi has been showing up at our law school from time to time. Considering the past grievances between Li Guoyi and Liu An, if we still can't figure it out, we'd really be insulting our intelligence."

That makes some sense.

Li Heng nodded and continued walking towards the green mailbox.

Liu Yanling followed behind, and after struggling for a moment, said, "Great writer, could you please not tell Zhou Zhangming about what happened today? He has a bad temper and has gotten into fights with people several times while eating out, and twice there was bloodshed. I'm really afraid something bad will happen."

It's a fact that Lao Zhou has a bad temper.

It's true that she got into a fight while eating out. But the reason was that people at the next table kept peeking at and gossiping about Liu Yanling's 36D bust.

Li Heng stuffed the envelope into the mailbox, turned to look at her and said, "Just pretend I was never here today."

His own love life is a mess, so he really has no right to interfere in other people's love lives.

So, when it comes to this kind of thing, whether the other person is male or female, his rule is to treat everyone equally and pretend he didn't see it.

Surprisingly, it turned out that Lao Zhou and Liu Yanling had booked a hotel room together. Lao Zhou was really good at hiding it; when his roommates asked him about it, he even said they had only held hands.

Liu Yanling, perhaps afraid that he would look down on her, breathed a sigh of relief and said fiercely, "If this guy comes to block me again next time, I'm prepared to slap him twice."

Ouch, a slap? Li Heng couldn't stand being slapped, so he made up an excuse and left.

After getting rid of Liu Yanling, he didn't go straight back to school. Instead, he found a grocery store and made a phone call, first calling the Drum Tower area in Beijing.

The phone rang twice before connecting; it was my second sister, Li Lan, who answered.

"Hello, who is this?" Li Lan asked.

Li Heng said, "Second sister, it's me."

"Oh, so it's you, you womanizer. What's up?" Li Lan asked.

Li Heng asked, "Are Mom and Dad home?"

Li Lan said, "I went out for a walk after dinner, and it will take at least half an hour before I come back."

Li Heng then asked, "Where is Zijin?"

Li Lan pouted and said, "If you had called 20 minutes earlier, Zijing would still be here. She has been picked up by Chen Xiaomi and taken back to the Chen family."

Li Heng explained, "I was busy 20 minutes ago."

Li Lan was skeptical: "You must be busy with other women, right?"

Li Heng was too lazy to waste time arguing with him and asked, "How is Zijing doing lately?"

Li Lan asked, "You haven't been in contact?"

Li Heng said, "Yes, one letter every two weeks."

Li Lan asked, "Then why are you asking me?"

Li Heng said, "Don't you know Zijing? She always reports good news and never bad news. I can't get anything out of her by asking her."

Li Lan said, "Ever since you spent a week with Zijin alone last time, she's been smiling more than before and in a good mood. When she doesn't have classes, she comes to our house to keep my parents company or helps me at the shop. You don't need to worry about her."

Hearing this, Li Heng was very happy. He then asked about some everyday matters and prepared to hang up.

Just before hanging up, Li Lan called out to him, "After you left the capital last time, did you go to Changshi?"

Li Heng lowered his voice and asked, "How did you know?"

"Don't do something you don't want others to know, unless you do it in the first place."

Li Lan, seemingly lost in thought, then asked, "When you slept with Consort Huang, did you take any precautions?"

Li Heng didn't want to answer the question, but instead asked, "What? Has Huang's mother come to our house again?"

“Not yet, but a few days ago when I accompanied my parents to the theater to see Huang Zhaoyi’s Peking Opera performance, I ran into Huang’s mother, who was sitting next to us,” Li Lan said.

Li Heng's heart tightened upon hearing this, and he quickly asked, "What happened next?"

Li Lan sensed his urgency and, unusually, didn't keep him in suspense: "There was no later. Huang's mother would occasionally glance at Mom and Dad, but she didn't speak to us. After watching the Peking Opera, Mom said that the old man in the next seat was acting strangely, secretly watching her, which gave her the creeps."

Li Heng: "..."

He asked, "What was Consort Huang's reaction?"

Li Lan thought for a moment and said, "I could tell your lover was a little nervous. He came down from the stage as soon as he finished singing Peking Opera, afraid that Huang's mother would cause trouble."

Then she asked, "Brother, what are you really thinking? If you want to marry Song Yu so badly, why do you keep going after people from families like Huang Zhaoyi's? If you really can't hold back anymore, don't you have Zijing and Xiao Han to help you relieve your desires?"

Li Heng rolled his eyes and decisively hung up the phone.

He wanted to call Huang Zhaoyi, but when he remembered the message Chen Jing had relayed a month ago—"Once you've settled things at home, Miss Huang will contact you"—he gave up and decided to wait and see, and talk to her later.

After paying the phone bill, Li Heng looked up at the sky; it was still early.

He then spent another day in Wujiaochang, going to a department store to buy two boxes of dark chocolate. This was Mai Sui's favorite snack, and since he had no stock at home, he suddenly thought of buying some to take home.

Holding a chocolate bar, he muttered to himself: "Mai Sui doesn't seem to mind eating high-calorie foods, so why isn't she fat? Is it because of her constitution that she can never gain weight?"
On the contrary, Zhou Shihe is a very particular girl when it comes to food. She will stop eating decisively after eating a certain amount at each meal, no matter how delicious the food on the table is. She is very self-disciplined.

When Li Heng passed by the braised food shop, he went over to take a look and found that the braised food had almost been sold out and there was not much business. Only Bai Wanying was helping customers make change.

After the customer left, Bai Wanying looked up, smiled sweetly, and asked, "Great writer, what would you like to eat?"

"I just stopped by to check on things. Where's Lao Zhang?" Li Heng asked.

Bai Wanying said, "Zhang Bing has gone home."

Li Heng asked in surprise, "Go home? How come I didn't know that?"

"Yes, his son fell from the second floor and broke his leg. He was taken to the hospital and passed away at noon today," Bai Wanying said.

Upon hearing that it was just a leg fracture, Li Heng felt inexplicably relieved. Children have strong self-healing abilities, so this wasn't a big problem and there wouldn't be any aftereffects. It was just that the child would suffer during the treatment.

Bai Wanying looked behind him. "Why are you alone? Isn't Mai Sui with you?"

Li Heng said, "Maisui is having dinner with her friends. I ate early, so I came here to buy some things."

Upon hearing this, Bai Wanying stared at the chocolate in his hand and suddenly asked, "Can I have a piece?"

Li Heng immediately opened a box and grabbed a handful for her. "I heard Zhou Min say before that you almost never eat snacks because you're afraid of gaining weight if you don't exercise, so..."

“So you never give me snacks,” Bai Wanying replied.

Li Heng nodded with a smile, "That's exactly right, don't take it personally."

Bai Wanying unwrapped a piece of chocolate. "Actually, I sometimes crave it and will secretly eat some, but I don't dare to eat too much."

Bai Wanying only took one piece of chocolate and returned the rest to him.

Li Heng said, "Keep these and eat them later."

Bai Wanying shook her head: "I can buy it myself if I want to eat it in the future, the department store is nearby anyway. I'm just curious what flavor the chocolate you bought for Mai Sui is? Is it tastier?"

Li Heng said, "Aren't they all chocolate flavored? What other flavors can you possibly taste?"

“You don’t understand,” Bai Wanying laughed.

Then another male customer came in and ordered two pig ears, two pig tails, and some large intestines.

Despite being in a wheelchair, Bai Wanying worked with remarkable efficiency, quickly and skillfully dismissing the customer.

Li Heng asked, "There's very little left. When are you closing the shop?"

“I’ll close the shop right now and go back to school with you. Can you push me to the Peking University campus?” Bai Wanying said.

Li Heng said, "Okay."

After closing the shop, Li Heng pushed the wheelchair behind him towards the school.

As he walked, he asked, "Old Zhang is gone, so will you come to the store tomorrow?"

Unexpectedly, Bai Wanying said, "Come on, why not come if there's money to be made? Li Guang and Xiaozhu will pick me up and drop me off."

Li Heng asked, "Have you made contact with them?"

Bai Wanying said, "Zhang Bing contacted them before he left, you..."

Halfway through the conversation, two people walked towards them from the road ahead; they were Li Guang and Tang Dailing.

Li Heng asked Li Guang, "Have you come to pick up Wanying?"

Li Guang took out a few biscuits from his pocket to bribe him, and said excitedly, "Damn it! Lao Heng, what are you doing here? Quick, go somewhere cool. I don't feel comfortable with you being so close to her, you're so handsome. Go away, go away!"

Li Heng was speechless. He glanced at the biscuit that had been forced into his hand and released the wheelchair: "Fine, am I guilty of being handsome? Let's go."

Just leave as soon as you say it, no sloppiness at all.

They also took Tang Dailing away with them.

Watching Li Heng and Tang Dailing walk away, Bai Wanying turned to look at Li Guang and asked after a while, "Have you had dinner?"

Facing Bai Wanying's eyes that seemed to pierce his soul, Li Guang suddenly stammered, "I...I haven't eaten yet, I'm waiting for you to...eat together."

Bai Wanying looked away. "When we get home, I'll cook a few dishes. You can help me with the cooking, and then we can have dinner at home."

Li Guang was overjoyed and readily agreed.

A moment later, Li Guang asked, "Hey, where did you get this chocolate?"

Bai Wanying put the half piece in her hand into her pocket. "I asked Li Heng for it. I dare not eat this half piece, I'm afraid I can't digest it."

Li Guang said, "If you like chocolate, I'll buy it for you tomorrow."

Bai Wanying politely declined: "Thank you, but no need. This piece is enough for me to eat several times. If I eat any more, I'll really get fat."

Li Guang said loudly, "It would be better if you gained some weight, you would be more beautiful, you are a bit too thin now."

Bai Wanying looked up at the sky, smiled, and said nothing.

As they approached the school, Li Guang suddenly said, "Um, um, I, I have something to tell you."

Bai Wanying said, "Go ahead."

Li Guang scratched his head, and after a while, he mustered up his courage to say, "Just half an hour ago, my family wired me a lot of money. Why don't you have the surgery first?"

Before she could reply, Li Guang, fearing she would refuse, added, "Consider this money a loan. You don't need to marry me as compensation. There are no conditions. As a friend, I just hope you can get back on your feet soon."

Bai Wanying was moved, but remained silent for a long time afterward.

This really worried Li Guang a lot.

After a long while, Bai Wanying said, "Li Guang, you are a good person, thank you! Thank you so much."

No matter how much Li Guang tried to persuade her, Bai Wanying wouldn't budge.

(End of this chapter)