[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-1987-my-era":3,"chapter-1987-my-era-1987-my-era-chapter-121":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","1987: My Era",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2259281,4409,"Chapter 121: Arriving in Lancheng, a Speechless Family (Requesting Subscription!)","1987-my-era-chapter-121",121,"\u003Cp>July 21, 7:45 a.m.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beijing Railway Station.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As station staff began calling out through a small loudspeaker for passengers to line up and board, Chen Zijin, who had remained calm until then, suddenly cracked a little; ignoring the stares around her, she grabbed Li Heng’s hand and said with deep reluctance:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stay safe on the road, and remember to think of me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Okay.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng, equally reluctant, pulled her into a hug: “When I get there, I’ll call you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm.” After such a brief reunion, they were parting again—right then, Chen Zijin’s eyes grew damp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After they said their goodbyes, Chen Xiaomi handed him some official introduction letters:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know you probably have your own preparations, but these might come in handy in Gansu—take them as backups.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The English teacher had indeed prepared some, but under Chen Zijin’s gaze, Li Heng still accepted them, thanked her, then walked with her and Zhang Zhiyong toward the ticket checkpoint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After passing the checkpoint, Li Heng turned back and locked eyes with Chen Zijin among the crowd for a moment, then waved vigorously; only after she waved back did he turn and board the train.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought Shaodong County Railway Station was packed, but compared to Beijing Railway Station? Holy shit, that was nothing—absolute child’s play, nothing but a drop in the ocean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After struggling mightily to find their hard sleeper berth, Zhang Zhiyong collapsed onto it and groaned: “Big Boss Heng, how long’s the ride from Beijing to Gansu?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng replied: “About the same distance as from Shaodong to Beijing—around twenty-some hours.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Zhang Zhiyong slumped helplessly onto the bunk; he was naturally energetic and couldn’t sit still, and the thought of being trapped in a cramped, sealed space for so long felt like torture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The English teacher, by contrast, was perfectly at ease—perhaps due to her parents’ divorce, she was used to solitude, and spent the journey calmly watching the scenery outside until nightfall, when she finally rested briefly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At midnight, Li Heng, fast asleep, was woken by the English teacher; she sat on the edge of his bunk, shaking him gently and whispering: “Wake up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng hadn’t been deeply asleep; startled by the disturbance, he snapped awake: “Teacher, what’s wrong?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The English teacher glanced outside, then lowered her voice further: “A few people kept wandering back and forth through this carriage—I felt something was off.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Li Heng silently got up, observed briefly in the narrow aisle, and indeed spotted three people engaged in pickpocketing: two men and one woman, the woman reaching into an elderly woman’s bag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Li Heng suddenly appear in the middle of the night, the three froze and turned to stare; after a few seconds of tense silence, seeing he hadn’t moved, the woman retracted her hand and left the carriage with her accomplices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The English teacher, watching from the side, felt her heart pounding; she’d even woken up the clueless one: “Aren’t you afraid they’ll come after you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng shook his head: “Usually not. Even if they do, I’m not worried.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Zhiyong rubbed his head, chiming in: “Exactly! We’ve been fighting our way through since first grade—what’s there to fear?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now fully awake, Zhang Zhiyong volunteered to keep watch, sat on a small stool outside, clutching a bag, his eyes darting everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Run also couldn’t sleep; she pushed her hair back and asked him: “I used to not understand why you said if you didn’t get into Peking University, you’d go to Sun Yat-sen. Now I’m starting to get it—are you afraid Chen Zijin will hold you back? Or is there another girl besides Song Yu you like?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fuck, that’s incredible!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right on the nose!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Heng obviously couldn’t admit it; he only replied vaguely: “Honestly, for me, it doesn’t matter where I go to university—it won’t affect my writing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason I didn’t ask you for help is because I didn’t want you to owe your best friend a favor.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The English teacher scoffed: “Big deal. If you won’t go to Peking University, you’re just a coward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, I’m all alone—I’d rather owe someone, it’ll tie me closer to Yu Shuheng.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing her mention Yu Shuheng repeatedly, Li Heng couldn’t help asking curiously: “Where’s your best friend now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The English teacher shot back coldly: “Why do you care?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng was speechless: “I’m just curious.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The English teacher crossed her arms: “Stop being curious! Stop asking! She’s eight years older than you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng groaned, retorting: “What the hell are you talking about? With Song Yu and Zijin around, why would I even look at other women?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He silently added in his mind: Yeah, Xiao Han, bear with me for now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing him name two girls without blinking, the English teacher sneered: “Hmph, if I were Song Yu, I’d give you zero chance.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng stretched lazily: “Who’s the one who came all the way to Beijing with me? And not just Beijing—now she’s dragging herself all the way to Gansu?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The English teacher was speechless; after a long pause, she narrowed her eyes and snapped: “Don’t flatter yourself—I’m traveling now because I’m afraid I’ll never get another chance to go far once I’m older.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They chatted along the way, occasionally bickering, and time passed quickly; when the clock turned to noon the next day, the provincial capital, Lancheng, finally arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Zhiyong kept jumping up and down in the crowd: “Big Boss Heng, you said someone’s coming to pick you up—you’ve never met them before, how will you recognize them?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The English teacher had the same doubt but didn’t ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng said: “Don’t worry, they said they’ll wait at the exit—woman in red, man in gray traditional attire, both wearing glasses.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Zhang Zhiyong jumped even more frantically, muttering complaints as he bounced:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn it! What the hell do northerners eat? Everyone’s taller than me—even the women! I’ve seen so many girls taller than me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clueless one wasn’t short in the south, but in the north, he was downright undersized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng, at 178 cm, was tall even in the south, but up north? Meh—average. Many were shorter, many taller.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, Li Heng, are those two?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Li Heng and Zhang Zhiyong were chatting, Wang Run spotted a girl in red holding up a sign, raised high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sign read: LI HENG! LI HENG!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The name was large, written in thick black brushstroke characters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl in red was tall—170 cm—average-looking but radiating an untamed, wild energy; she was also surnamed Li, named Li Ran.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng had often wondered: had Zhao Jing married a man surnamed Li because she could never forget Li Jianguo?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his past life, he knew Li Ran well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How well? Once after a group dinner, she didn’t hand him a bottle of water as usual—she swapped it for a condom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng stared blankly, then asked: “What’s going on? Did you grab the wrong thing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ran said without hesitation: “No. Broke up with my ex. Can’t find a bed partner right now—I’ve got needs. Mind helping out?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng’s face twitched: “How many boyfriends have you had?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ran said brazenly: “Never counted, maybe seven or eight. Don’t look at me like that—I crave men like I crave news headlines: always chasing novelty, tired of one, move on.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, and her actual job was journalism; she also loved archaeology.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng fled in panic that night, and for years afterward, they never met again—until she sent him an invitation saying she was getting married, and he showed up for the wedding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That time, he brought Xiao Han with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Xiao Han, Li Ran joked openly: “Now I get it—I finally understand why you never touched me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyway, this girl was no saint; she’d probably had at least ten men before, and her husband, like her father, was chronically ill—a real walking medicine cabinet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Li Heng?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching Li Heng walk straight toward her, Li Ran waved the sign and asked with wide eyes:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s me.” Li Heng nodded, then recounted the details from their phone call as a password, then introduced the English teacher and Zhang Zhiyong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After greeting the English teacher and the clueless one, Li Ran pulled the man beside her with glasses: “My university senior, now my fiancé—Sun Ai-min.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Ai-min warmly greeted the three.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Li Heng shook his hand, he felt a pang of sympathy for him—he recognized Sun Ai-min. Li Ran had married him, but he’d never married anyone else; rumor had it he often led expeditions deep into remote forests for archaeology and wasn’t particularly interested in marriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ran’s family lived on the city’s outskirts, almost rural; when Li Heng arrived, it was nearly dark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You—you’re Li Heng?” Zhao Jing met them at the intersection, asking the unmistakable Li Heng in the crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng smiled: “Yeah, it’s me, Auntie, sharp eyes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Jing circled him once: “Sharp eyes? What’s sharp about that? You look just like your mother when she was young—I’d recognize you anywhere.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then came the usual introductions; once back inside, Zhao Jing said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve already prepared the meal—you’ve traveled so far, you must be hungry. Come, sit down and eat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The table held nine bowls: six Hunan dishes, three Gansu specialties—meat and vegetables, hearty and substantial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They ate rice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the meal, Zhao Jing asked Li Heng many questions about his well-being; when she learned Tian Rune had concealed Li Jianguo’s illness from her, she fell silent for a long time, then sighed:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rune’s still the same—only reports good news, hides the bad. Had I known Jian-guo was unwell, I’d have gone back to see him no matter what.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng silently thought: Forget it—my mom’s terrified you’ll go visit Dad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, she pressed him for details about Li Jianguo’s framing; Li Heng gave only partial truths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After dinner, Li Heng and the others went to the inner room to visit Li Li, Zhao Jing’s husband, who lay ill in bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing strangers enter, Li Li, who had been half-asleep, slowly opened his eyes and stared at Li Heng for a long time before saying: “You’re Jian-guo’s son, aren’t you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng nodded: “Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Li looked at him again, then weakly said: “You came just in time. If your father’s son visits me now, I can die without regrets. No regrets.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The remark made no sense; Li Heng’s mind was a fog.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only half an hour later, when they left the inner room, Li Ran explained: “My mom never forgot your dad. For years, she treated him like a backup—even in bed. That’s why he always felt he died in vain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He” referred to Li Li.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Li Heng might be unsettled, Li Ran added: “Don’t be awkward—I speak bluntly, no hiding things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’s been bedridden for years; we’ve gone through denial, despair, and now we’re numb. No real sadness left—don’t think it’s strange.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the saying goes: long illness breeds no filial sons. Li Heng understood their detachment and acceptance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Jing arranged rooms for the three, but they didn’t sleep at her house—they followed Li Ran to a neighboring building. She didn’t explain why; they didn’t ask either. A clean place to rest was enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: Please subscribe! Please vote for monthly tickets!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1887,"2026-06-19T15:27:33.982Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","0f4431ce4ce41ca7872d4765b7481dbacbc20c99bf2a468809115b4daeac8825","1987-my-era-chapter-122","1987-my-era-chapter-120",713,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002F1987-my-era-cover.jpg"]