Chapter 141

August 30, 1987.

Before dawn, Li Heng got up to organize his things.

Actually, there wasn't much to pack; his clothes, documents, and admission notice had all been sorted out last night, and now he was just checking them one more time to make sure nothing was missing.

Tian Run'e was even earlier than her son, and a table full of sumptuous food was steaming hot.

She wouldn't see her Manzai for half a year, so she really went all out this time; as long as it was something her son liked to eat and the family had it, she moved it all to the dining table.

While eating, Li Heng asked his father, "Dad, how is the effect of that plaster you're using?"

Li Jianguo said in a good mood, "It's alright, the pain is relieved compared to before, but I haven't finished using it yet, there's still more than half left."

As long as it was effective, Li Heng felt relieved and said, "When you finish using the plaster, let's go to Beijing and take the opportunity to cure it completely as soon as possible."

Seeing Tian Run'e unable to let go of her pride, Li Lan interjected, "Of course we have to go; in the face of life, what does face count for? I'll accompany Dad when the time comes."

Seeing her children express their stance again, Tian Run'e sighed, "We do need to make arrangements early."

Li Heng said, "Mom, actually we don't need to make any special arrangements, just go; your precious son isn't short of money, just buy whatever is needed when we get there, it's very convenient."

Now that Li Heng was someone with a fortune of over 100,000 yuan, the Li family felt much more at ease; after suffering for so many years, they finally didn't have to worry about money.

Receiving their son's promise, Li Jianguo and Tian Run'e felt both moved and gratified.

They were moved because: both of them had lived to a ripe old age and were intellectuals, yet they needed to rely on a son who wasn't even 20 years old to support the family, which made them feel very guilty.

They were gratified because: their son was sensible and talented; now he had not only made up for the losses of the past but had also achieved a turnaround in their reputation. The couple could hear compliments wherever they went, and they felt so comfortable inside; there was nothing better than this.

Halfway through the meal, his eldest sister and brother-in-law arrived in the dark.

Li Heng looked at his eldest sister, "Sister, why didn't you rest a bit more? I was afraid of disturbing you, so I didn't go to call you for dinner; Mom even saved some food for you."

"I came to see you off, little brother; Mom said you wouldn't be back until the end of the year, and we wouldn't see you for a long time." Although his eldest sister didn't have much ability, she sincerely took out a brand-new wool sweater for him to keep warm in the winter.

In Li Heng's eyes, this sweater was a bit rustic, but he happily accepted it, "Eldest sister, it's midsummer, and you've already thought about winter; when did you start knitting it?"

Seeing her brother happy, Li Yan was happy too, "I bought the wool when you were taking the college entrance exam; I knitted one for you and one for your second sister."

As she spoke, his eldest sister took out another red wool sweater.

Li Lan hesitated for a moment before taking it into her hands.

Zhang Zhiyong arrived. His cheapskate father was driving a hand-cranked tractor, and his mother was on it too.

Li Heng put down his bowl and chopsticks, washed his hands with soap, and then shouldered his bag to walk out.

Seeing this, the whole Li family followed him out the door.

Li Heng climbed into the tractor bucket using his hands and feet, turned his head to say goodbye, "Grandma, Dad, Mom, I'm leaving, take care of yourselves."

"Eh, alright." Grandma and Tian Run'e suddenly had moist eyes, staring at him blankly.

Li Jianguo followed him onto the tractor, along with his eldest brother-in-law, to see him off to the station.

Li Heng smiled at his eldest sister, who had come over to hold his hand, "Eldest sister, let go, I'm going to study, it's not like I'm not coming back, why are you crying?"

"Little brother, take care of yourself out there, add clothes when it gets cold, remember to write home if anything happens..." Li Yan wasn't very good at hiding her emotions and rattled off a lot of things, all of which were words of concern.

"Eldest sister, I know, don't worry." Li Heng patted the back of her hand, constantly comforting her.

After exchanging pleasantries, the tractor finally started.

Watching his brother leave, Li Lan suddenly felt a bit reluctant too.

This was the first time since she could remember that she had felt this kind of parting emotion toward her brother; she didn't know why it was like this, as if she had lost her backbone. You know, the earth-shaking changes in the Li family over the past six months, leaping to become a famous family in the ten miles and eight villages, giving her the confidence to go anywhere—wasn't it all thanks to this brother?

Li Lan took a deep breath and stared fixedly at the direction of the village entrance until the tractor completely disappeared around the corner.

Unlike the sadness in the village, the group on the road was laughing and joking, and they soon arrived at the station.

"You're going to university." The driver and conductor were old acquaintances, and especially when they learned they were already university students, they were even more enthusiastic when they met.

"Yes, going to catch the train today." Li Heng responded and followed Zhang Zhiyong onto the bus.

"Dad, brother-in-law, Uncle, Aunt, you all go back; Old Yong and I have traveled all over half of China, going to school is a small matter, don't worry." Li Heng found a seat and sat down, then poked his head out to say to the four people outside.

Believe it or not, the four of them really weren't worried; unlike other parents who personally accompanied their children to school, the two families' elders didn't even have that thought.

May I ask, in Shangwan Village or Qianzhen, who had traveled more places than Li Heng and Zhang Zhiyong? Who had seen more of the world?

No one!

Therefore, they wouldn't go and drag them down.

The bus started, and Li Heng was a bit surprised; he hadn't expected to wait for Yangcheng. Didn't this guy say he was also going to university in Shanghai? He didn't come.

Could it be tomorrow's train ticket?

With doubts, Li Heng closed his eyes to recharge; he would have to sit on the train for over 20 hours next, which wouldn't be easy to endure, so he had to prepare now.

Around one o'clock in the afternoon, the two arrived at the train station. The driver was a good person and had sent them directly this time, saving them the time of transferring.

"School is starting today, there are many thieves and pickpockets, Old Yong, watch the luggage, I'm going to make a phone call."

As soon as they got off the bus, Li Heng instructed him like this after the dim-witted one had finished vomiting.

"Go ahead, damn it! I'm feeling irritable right now, let's see which blind person dares to bump into me, I'll definitely stab their dog head."

Zhang Zhiyong sat on the suitcase, his right hand taking out a folding knife to spin around on his hand for fun.

Not wanting to bicker with this idiot, Li Heng found a public phone as fast as he could. However, there were 4 people in line ahead of him, and he had to wait for 10 minutes before it was his turn.

After hesitating for a moment, he first called the English teacher's home, but after dialing twice, it didn't go through, which made the people waiting in line behind him anxious, and they kept cursing.

"Are you fucking calling or not? If you're not, get lost, I'm waiting to fuck your mother..."

Seeing that the cursing behind him was getting worse and worse, and even included the word "mother," Li Heng narrowed his eyes, turned around, and gave a fierce kick.

"Damn! You dare hit me, I'll fuck your eighteen generations of ancestors, I'll kill you today..." The young man was kicked to the ground by the unexpected blow, and when he climbed up, he bared his teeth and wanted to fight for his life.

Li Heng had seen this kind of posturing since middle school, so how could he be intimidated?

With a few quick steps, he punched the young man squarely in the face; he had trained professionally in his previous life, and coupled with his rich experience in middle school fights, how could the other party avoid it when he was angry? One punch to the face, and the guy was immediately dizzy.

"You're very tough, aren't you? Your mouth is so foul, opening your mouth to curse my mother, opening your mouth to kill me; come on! Try acting tough in front of your grandpa again! Fuck!"

Li Heng said "fuck" while rushing over in anger; before the idiot could recover, he grabbed the young man's hair with both hands, pulled it down hard, followed with his right foot, and delivered a fierce knee strike to his cheekbone!

Then, like carrying a sheep, he slapped him a dozen times.

Each slap was louder and harder than the last, slapping the young man until he saw stars and begged for mercy, slapping him into a pig-headed mess, and slapping the onlookers into silence.

"Dog bastard! Where's your arrogance from just now? Come on! Try being tough-mouthed again." Li Heng couldn't let it go; he couldn't even bear to let his own mother be hurt, so how could he let an outsider curse her?

Another fierce blow, his right knee slammed into the young man's cheekbone.

The young man immediately cried out in pain, "Grandpa! I was wrong, let me go, treat me like a fart and let me go, woo woo..."

Shaoshi had always had a fierce folk custom; when someone with such a foul mouth was beaten, the people nearby didn't even think about breaking up the fight, and the bold ones even cheered loudly.

The young man rolled away, and Li Heng continued to make his call; this time it was quiet, and the people behind him lined up properly.

The English teacher's home didn't go through, so Li Heng turned to call Sun Manning's home.

"Ding-a-ling."

This time his luck was good, and it went through after one ring.

"Hello, who is this?" The voice on the other end was an elderly woman's.

Li Heng recognized it as Sun Manning's grandmother and immediately greeted her warmly, "Good afternoon, Grandma, I'm Sun Manning's classmate; we agreed to go to Fudan University together today, has she left yet?"

The voice on the other end paused and asked, "Are you Li Heng?"

It was no wonder the other party recognized him; he had been running to the English teacher's house too diligently, and coupled with his good relationship with Sun Manning, they had met many times, so how could she not distinguish his voice?

"Yes, I am Li Heng."

"It's you."

Sun's grandmother's voice immediately became kind, saying, "Manning has already left, quite a while ago; I heard she was going to Hongqi Road to meet up with her classmates, counting the time, she should be arriving at the train station soon, did you two agree on a place to meet?"

"Yes, at the entrance of the waiting room," Li Heng replied.

Sun's grandmother said, "Then hurry up, maybe she's already there."

"Eh, alright, thank you, Grandma."

After hanging up, Li Heng asked, "Boss, how much?"

The boss looked at the time recorded on the paper, calculated it, and said, "You talked for 1 minute and 38 seconds, two yuan."

Li Heng took out 2 yuan, "Here!"

After Li Heng left, the people behind him started discussing, "No wonder he had such confidence when hitting someone, it turns out he's a university student."

"That's right, he looks so good, and he fights so fiercely; my heart is trembling, I really couldn't tell."

"What's fierce about it? To deal with that kind of person, you have to be fierce! If it were me, I'd beat them until they knelt and kowtowed before stopping!"

"..."

Crossing the road again, Li Heng called to Zhang Zhiyong, "Let's go, Sun Manning and Seeing Mai Sui might already be waiting for us, let's go in first."

"Master Heng, you beating that guy just now was really satisfying! If it weren't for seeing how awesome you were, I would have run over to stab him," Zhang Zhiyong gestured wildly, indicating he had enjoyed watching it.

"Alright, alright, put your knife away, it's distracting." As they were about to reach the entrance, Li Heng gave him a kick to remind him.

PS: I'm really stuck on the writing today, sorry.

(End of chapter)