Chapter 149

On the way to Passing Passing Wujiaochang, Li Heng couldn't help but wonder: Is the school charging him 40 yuan in rent just to show other professors?

After all, he had occupied Building 26 the very first day he parachuted into Fudan University; it was almost impossible that other professors had no resentment.

Perhaps...

So the school charged him rent?

For the entire Fudan University, what was a mere 40 yuan?

But for individual faculty and staff, it was different. 40 yuan in expenses in this day and age was a large sum of money. Perhaps this would make those people feel better.

However, regardless, as the person who received him said to the instructor: someone with a net worth of over 100,000 yuan really wasn't short of this little bit of money.

When he hurried to the hotel, Zou Ping had already returned and was chatting with Mai Sui's family of three.

Seeing Li Heng appear, Zou Ping stood up with a whoosh and shouted happily at him:

"Old Li, you're finally back. I found a quiet and safe rental house. I'll take you to see it now; maybe you'll be satisfied."

Hearing this, a warmth flowed in Li Heng's heart. The man had truly taken his affairs to heart. He immediately expressed his gratitude, then without wasting words, told him about Building 26 in Lushan Village.

Hearing this, Zou Ping's mouth hung open. He stared at him fixedly, and it was a long time before he could speak with difficulty:

"No way, Old Li, I even specifically asked Editor-in-Chief Sister Sister Liao about Lushan Village last night. When Editor-in-Chief Sister Sister Liao heard we were looking for a rental there, he laughed at us for not knowing the situation. You really rented it?"

Li Heng took the key out of his pocket, shook it, and said, "It's the real deal, I just paid the rent."

Zou Ping blankly took the key and stared at it for a long time, finally saying, "Old Li, you're still the best, but it's to be expected."

At first, Mai Dong and the others didn't understand the difficulty and status symbol involved. After Zou Ping explained the ins and outs to them, the way Mai Dong and his wife looked at Li Heng changed and they had a new understanding: Is this the gold content of a genius? Coming to Shanghai and Fudan for the first time, he received this level of attention; this is a symbol of status. The couple felt admiration.

Mai Sui, who was on the side, offered her blessings: "Li Heng, congratulations."

Li Heng said in a voice only the two of them could hear: "I thought you were going to praise me for being amazing."

Mai Sui smiled softly, "No need to praise, you are indeed very amazing."

Li Heng said casually, "Remember, Building 26, Lushan Village. I'll take you to recognize the place later. In the future, if you have a chance, come home and stir-fry a few Xiangnan dishes so I can satisfy my cravings..."

At this point, he paused and asked with an expectant face: "By the way, you can cook, right?"

Mai Sui shook her head: "I can boil rice, and I can fry eggs."

Li Heng was stunned and asked, unwilling to give up: "You only know how to fry eggs? Anything else?"

Mai Sui looked at him and smiled embarrassedly; everything went without saying.

Li Heng was speechless and waved his hand: "Forget it, forget it. It's my expectations for you that were too high. Just pretend I didn't say anything just now.

Hey, actually, in our village, children usually start learning to cook in the third grade. If they don't, they get beaten. I thought you would too."

After speaking, he asked again with a fluke mentality: "Then does Comrade Sun Manning know how to cook?"

Seeing him tirelessly asking about food, Mai Sui said amusingly: "She's about the same as me."

Convinced, Li Heng gave up completely and stopped mentioning satisfying his cravings.

They were all grown women, and they didn't even know how to cook. How would they coax their husbands in the future? How would they get married? It was really too unseemly.

After grumbling to himself, Li Heng took Zou Ping to all the major grocery stores in Passing Passing Wujiaochang and bought many daily necessities.

Well, Mai Dong's family of three was bored at the hotel, so they also came to help.

Like pots, pans, bedding, fans, writing supplies, mosquito repellent, mosquito coils, cockroach medicine—whatever they encountered, they took. In no time, the minibus was full.

It wasn't that he liked to show off or waste money, but he couldn't accept things others had used; he had to replace them with new ones, otherwise, he wouldn't feel comfortable living there.

Finally, Li Heng gritted his teeth and bought a sofa, spending all the cash he had on him.

Zou Ping seemed very observant; he temporarily called a small truck to help lift the sofa and said:

"Old Li, I'll bring you the royalty draft tomorrow. Leaving it at the magazine office isn't a good idea."

It just so happened he had to go to the bank to withdraw money tomorrow, so he could handle this matter together to save trouble. Li Heng readily agreed.

They ran two trips in a row: one for daily necessities and furniture, and one for the 140 books and documents.

After four o'clock in the afternoon, braving the scorching sun, the five of them finally moved everything to Building 26. By this time, everyone was unbearably hot, their whole bodies soaked as if they had just come out of the water.

Mai Sui was wearing a light purple top today. At this moment, the clothes clung seamlessly to her delicate body, exposing her perfect 168cm silhouette. Her two mounds were hazy as if covered by a thin mist, now near, now far, like sweet poison, silently winding around, making one unable to notice, unable to extricate oneself, extremely seductive.

She was like a human crowd-controller; just standing there casually, the surrounding space would be filled with an indescribable aura.

In the study, feeling Li Heng's gaze, she paused, her whole body burning, and continued to lower her head to help organize the books.

Li Heng looked back at Mai Dong, Mai's mother, and Zou Ping, who were arranging the sofa in the living room, walked over, and whispered to her:

"The shower head can be used. Your clothes and luggage were also brought from the hotel, so go take a shower. I'll arrange the rest of the books, and we'll go to dinner later."

These words made Mai Sui breathe a sigh of relief. She didn't act coy, got up, found her change of clothes, and went to the shower room.

There's a reason why a rose is a rose, why inner charm is inner charm. Even if she bloomed silently and didn't deliberately try to be seductive, her every word and action was always full of a strange appeal, making one want to get close involuntarily.

Li Heng sighed to himself.

He had seen peerless beauties and possessed such ultimate human beauty as Song Yu and Xiao Han. He considered his willpower and self-control to be among the best, but he had still instinctively glanced at Mai Sui several times just now. If this were someone else, if Mai Sui were allowed to mature for a few more years... Oh, forget it! He dared not imagine what kind of charm that would be.

He realized for the first time: ultimate seduction is just a symbol; it really has nothing to do with age. Those that need to be displayed through acquired effort are inferior; this is true high-level beauty.

Having a detached house is great. Compared to the bedroom, the study is relatively small, but that's only relatively speaking. The 140 books and documents only occupied a small corner.

If he filled all four walls, he could hold at least 2,500 books.

However, he wasn't particularly satisfied with this bookshelf; the style and color were always lacking something. He pursued an antique artistic atmosphere, and it looked like he would have to go out and hunt for one when he had time.

Shanghai is so big; he believed he could always find something that satisfied him. After all, he had to live here for four years; he absolutely couldn't be sloppy.

After sorting the books, when Li Heng walked out of the study, the living room had also been tidied up by the enthusiastic trio. Walking around, he was very happy and said to Mai Sui and Mai's mother:

"Uncle, Aunt, why don't you just stay here tonight? It's close to Mai Sui, and you can take a walk in the campus together in the evening."

The couple looked at each other, moved. Mai Dong showed the straightforwardness of a Shaodong man and didn't act polite, laughing: "Okay, then we'll stay here for the night."

Li Heng was so impressive. Although Mai Dong, who was used to thinking with a businessman's mindset, didn't think about sucking up, he still intended to build a good relationship. Faced with such an opportunity, how could he refuse?

Covered in grease, Li Heng only called everyone to eat after taking a shower.

He originally wanted to call Sun Manning and her daughter, but after searching, he couldn't find them. Everyone was guessing that they were probably at the vice president's house, having been kept for dinner.

A small restaurant on the street outside the school.

After ordering, while waiting, Li Heng asked Mai Sui, "What do you think of Building 26?"

She had already toured it seriously before and said from the bottom of her heart: "Better than I imagined. You've moved into a villa ahead of schedule."

"Not really."

Li Heng shook his head, but then said: "However, a villa has the spaciousness of a villa, and an attic has the exquisiteness of an attic. I am truly satisfied."

The food and wine arrived. Li Heng filled everyone's glasses first and raised his glass, saying:

"Uncle, Aunt, Old Zou, Comrade Mai Sui, thank you for your hard work today. If it weren't for you, I don't know when I would have finished moving all those things. Come! I toast you with this glass."

"Cheers!" Everyone was a veteran of the world, old friends, with no distance or awkwardness. Amidst laughter and wine, they became one.

Halfway through the meal, Li Heng drank alone with Mai Sui, "We are college students now. Come, let's wish for our daily rise.

Wishing you and Manning become more and more beautiful."

"Thank you." Mai Sui tapped her glass lightly, tilted her head, and finished the beer in one gulp.

After drinking, Mai Sui asked, "I heard your class is having a class meeting tonight?"

Li Heng was surprised, "Your news is so fast?"

Mai Sui blinked, "Don't forget we are both in the School of Management. The girls in your class are on the same floor as our dormitory, not far away."

"That's true. The instructor said to gather at the Third Teaching Building at 6:30," Li Heng said.

Mai Sui asked with concern, "You've been busy for the past two days and haven't toured the campus. Do you know where the Third Teaching Building is?"

Li Heng shook his head slowly, "I really haven't had the time. I was thinking of asking my way there."

Mai Sui smiled softly: "After dinner, I'll take you there."

"Eh, good. For that sentence, we can have another drink." Li Heng laughed and filled her glass again, then filled his own.

Mai Sui looked at the wine in the glass, "I feel like you just want to find an excuse to drink with me."

Li Heng laughed and said, "I remember you have a natural constitution for drinking. Last time during the Lantern Festival, you and the English teacher were evenly matched. I was deeply impressed."

Mai Sui didn't deny it, "My parents and grandparents drink rice wine at every meal at home. Sometimes during festivals, I join in the fun, and I didn't expect to adapt to alcohol."

Actually, drinking is a very common thing in Shao City. In his memory, the surrounding neighbors drank a cup of rice wine morning, noon, and night. Some heavy drinkers could even go without food, but never without wine at every meal. The impressive ones could drink a jin of rice wine at a meal—that was just a small matter.

Li Heng had been drinking since he was a child, especially during weddings and funerals, when he would often argue and compete with his friends to drink a large bowl of wine, after which everyone would fall asleep.

This was also the origin of how the blockhead used to sleep in the pigsty with a sow and a dozen piglets for an afternoon.

How should he put it? His hometown was definitely a disaster area when it came to drinking; men, women, old, and young all knew how to drink, and every now and then, a few heroic drinkers who couldn't be drunk after a thousand cups would appear.

Of course, that was just the countryside in those days.

In later generations, it slowly became different. Everyone was busy going out to earn money for a living, and once they left, it was for many years. The inheritance of the wine table, like many customs, gradually faded with the changes in the world.

Mai Sui asked, "Then aren't you going to find Xiao Han today?"

Li Heng sighed, "I was originally going in the afternoon, but the instructor's rental matter disrupted my plan. After the class meeting, it will probably be dark, so I definitely can't go tonight. I can only go tomorrow."

He had no choice. While Zou Ping and Mai Sui's family of three were there to help, and while the minibus was there, he had to change his mind and arrange the rental house first, otherwise, he would really be exhausted if he did it alone.

PS: Oh my, who said I only update once a day? Hmph, the monthly average is 8,000 words, okay? Look below.

(More to come)

(End of chapter)