Chapter 213: The Romantic Rose (Subscription Request!)

After seeing off Editor Sister Sister Liao and Zou Ping, Li Heng briefly washed up, then closed the door and went upstairs to his study to read, letting the alcohol haze fade.

Only after three hours, when his mind became exceptionally clear, did he sit in quiet astonishment, gazing at the faint starlight streaming through the window, realizing night had deepened; he quickly put down his book, spread out notebook and ink, and began writing.

Chapter 34, Afterword.

He wrote six large characters at the top of the notebook, then launched into a flood of inspiration, hunched over his desk, writing line after line across the white paper without pause.

He wrote seven full pages before taking a brief rest.

Suddenly thirsty, he reached out blindly toward his left.

His hand met empty air.

Li Heng blinked, turning his head to the empty space on his left—he'd grown used to being waited on hand and foot during summer vacation, and now nearly two months had passed, yet his subconscious still hadn't adjusted.

Sighing quietly, he thought of his English teacher's health.

He got up, poured himself a cup of tea, and stood by the window gazing into the distance—the 1980s night sky was so clear and bright, stars woven together; was that the Big Dipper? Was that a shooting star? It all carried the scent of childhood, and he stared, entranced.

He didn't know how long he'd stood there until he felt the coolness seeping into his palm—he realized the boiling water had turned cold; reluctantly, he poured out half the chilled tea and refilled it with hot tea to balance the temperature, then drank it all in one gulp.

Hm?

As he set down the cup, he noticed a figure on the opposite rooftop; he squinted hard—wow! Wasn't that Yu Laoshi? And there, before her, stood a telescope.

Still awake at this hour? Or just woke up?

Li Heng instinctively glanced at the time: 5:07.

Probably just woken up and came out to gaze at the Milky Way.

Indeed, some things are contagious—Ma Sui had been tinkering with the telescope on the rooftop occasionally, no doubt making Yu Laoshi envious, so she bought one too.

As if sensing Li Heng by the window, Yu Yu Yu Shuheng cast a few glances his way, then returned to peering through the telescope, ignoring him.

Suddenly, Li Heng blurted out: "Yu Laoshi, have you been in touch with Teacher Wang? How's his health lately?"

Instantly he regretted it, darting glances at nearby buildings, terrified someone might wake up and yell at some reckless idiot shouting in the middle of the night!

But then he remembered—they were at the dead end of an alley; to the left stood a thick, high wall, and only four small buildings bordered them; Professor Guo and his wife from Building 27 were away, so the only one who might be woken was the fake Daoist.

As for the fake Daoist—pfft! No need to worry; we're so familiar by now, I'll have a little outburst now and then, just forgive me, okay?

Yu Yu Yu Shuheng hadn't expected him to speak up; after thinking a moment, she replied: "Don't worry, he's recovering well."

Seeing Li Heng show no reaction, Yu Laoshi realized her voice had been too soft, so she raised it slightly and repeated herself.

Li Heng waved his hand to show he'd heard—this time he didn't shout; he truly feared the fake Daoist might come out and beat him.

Yu Laoshi gazed at the night sky; Li Heng watched her for a while.

After two or three minutes, he sat back down at his desk and, while his energy still held, hurried to finish the last few hundred characters of this chapter.

They say time loses meaning in the mountains, and winter ends without notice of the year; Li Heng was utterly lost in his written world, and before he knew it, it was past ten in the morning.

When warm sunlight touched his face, he suddenly snapped to—he leapt up in panic, hastily putting down his pen; damn it! He'd promised to meet his girlfriend, and now it was this late?

He rushed through a shower, skipped breakfast, and ran outside just in time to catch a bus, shoving his way aboard; only when his butt touched the seat did he finally catch his breath.

To his surprise, he spotted Zhang Bing, Li Guang, and Bai Bai Bai Wanying; the latter struggled to board her wheelchair, so Zhang Bing and Li Guang helped her.

Bai Bai Bai Wanying saw him first and greeted warmly: "Li Heng, where are you headed?"

"Holy shit! Boss Li, you're here too!" Li Guang, a strong kid, grabbed Li Heng's arm in excitement.

"Hey hey, easy! Easy! You're squeezing so hard, you're gonna break my arm!"

Li Heng pried off Li Guang's hand and asked: "I'm going to Xu Hui. Where are you three headed?"

Bai Bai Bai Wanying said: "I'm going downtown to buy clothes; they're accompanying me."

Li Guang chimed in: "I'm buying too."

Zhang Bing pulled out a pouch of tobacco and asked: "Old Li, want one?"

In this era, smoking on the bus was common; of ten men, at least six or seven had cigarettes between their fingers.

Li Heng waved off: "I'm meeting a classmate today—I won't smoke. You smoke, Old Zhang."

Bai Bai Bai Wanying teased: "So particular? Going to meet a girl classmate?"

Li Heng smiled and said yes.

Li Guang leaned in, blithely asking: "Girlfriend?"

Li Heng still smiled and said yes.

"Damn it! Boss Li, you're not serious, are you? We all thought you were just fooling around with girls who liked you!" Li Guang sounded genuinely depressed.

Li Heng knew why he was depressed.

Room 325—Li Lady Li Yi and Yue Yao were officially dating, Tang Tang Tang Diling and Wei Wei Wei Sisi were hot and heavy, Zhang Bing was already married, and Zhou Zhang had finally succeeded in taking Liu Liu Liu Yanling ice skating.

As for Hu Ping—well, even if he'd made no progress with Wei Wei Wei Xiaozhu, he was a damn good-looking guy; girls never stopped flirting with him, didn't you see the letters piling up?

If Li Heng really had a girlfriend, Li Guang felt he couldn't stay in the dorm anymore—damn it! It was maddening.

Li Heng comforted him: "Don't worry—us good-looking guys having girlfriends is better; then no one will compete with you for girls' attention."

Hearing this, Zhang Bing, who was smoking, choked badly, bending over and coughing violently several times.

Bai Bai Bai Wanying covered her mouth and laughed.

Li Guang jumped up in fury, shaking Li Heng's shoulders hard: "Ahh! Is that even human speech? Is that human speech? Do you think I'm ugly? No way! Boss Li, you have to stay single with me—no dating girls!"

Zhang Bing, beside them, said dryly: "Old Li can't stay single even if he wanted to—girls won't let him. Li Guang, you'd better face reality."

Bai Bai Bai Wanying nodded in agreement: "I agree. Li Heng falling in love is easier than drinking egg soup—he's the most talked-about guy in our school's female dorms."

"A single 'Erquan Erquan Erquan Yingyue,' and one original 'The Original Breeze of My Hometown'—how many girls' hearts did they capture?"

Li Guang shook him harder, still grumbling: "Bai Bai Bai Wanying, you don't have a crush on Old Li too, do you?"

Bai Bai Bai Wanying laughed: "What are you thinking? My body has long since given up any fantasy about romance."

At this, Li Guang's expression changed faster than flipping a page—he slapped his own face hard with his right hand and quickly apologized: "Sorry! I was just being an idiot—don't take it to heart."

Li Guang was just a wild, lively goofball—everyone in class knew that; no one held it against him.

Li Heng asked gently: "Is there no chance of recovery?"

Bai Bai Bai Wanying tucked her hair behind her ear: "The doctors say China's current medical conditions are limited—if I went abroad, there might be a slim chance, but even that's not great."

"Besides, my family has already spent nearly all our money on my treatment—there's nothing left."

Looking at this young girl before them, Li Heng, Zhang Bing, and Li Guang—all grown men—fell silent, unsure how to comfort her.

But Bai Bai Bai Wanying remained unusually cheerful, turning to comfort them instead: "Don't look so down, you three."

"Even if we can't conquer heaven as books say, things are still good now. Though I'm disabled, you've shown me how warm humanity can be—I'm happy every day."

As they talked about her condition, the atmosphere between the four gradually improved.

Even as they parted, Li Heng couldn't help recalling Bai Bai Bai Wanying's healing smile—this girl's resilience and strength truly inspired admiration; no wonder Zhang Bing and Li Guang didn't care about gossip and helped care for her.

After wandering around, he finally arrived in Xu Hui around noon.

Li Heng first found a flower shop, bought a bouquet of red roses, then walked into Shanghai Medical University under the astonished stares of many passersby.

"Auntie, could you call Xiao Han from Room 303?" He walked straight to the female dormitory and spoke to the dorm supervisor.

The supervisor looked at the flowers in his hand and said: "The girl you're looking for isn't in the dorm—she's at the cafeteria eating."

No wonder the supervisor remembered so clearly—Xiao Han was simply unforgettable.

Li Heng asked which cafeteria, then hurried over immediately.

It was lunchtime—damn, the cafeteria was packed, people jammed shoulder to shoulder, louder than a market.

Fortunately, cafeterias back then weren't as cramped as later ones; Li Heng wasn't in a rush, patiently scanning row after row.

The roses were dazzling; a boy carrying them openly through the cafeteria was even more eye-catching—soon, half the cafeteria's gaze fixed on him.

Liu Liu Liu Xinyue, Xiao Han's roommate facing him, saw him too—she instantly recognized him; her eyes widened, spoon halfway to her mouth, forgotten, staring at him.

Coincidentally, as Liu Liu Liu Xinyue spotted Li Heng, Li Heng also spotted her in the crowd and walked over.

Xiao Han, facing away from the entrance, was hungry and focused on eating, unaware of the commotion.

Seeing Liu Liu Liu Xinyue about to wave, Li Heng quickly pressed a finger to his lips: "Shh."

Liu Liu Liu Xinyue understood, lowered her hand with a grin, and Chen Yi and Zhang Zhang Zhang Haiyan beside her watched silently, enjoying the show.

Xiao Han still didn't notice, eating while chatting with Liu Xin, the closest person to her.

Amid all eyes, suddenly, a bouquet of roses dropped from above, landing right before Xiao Han, blocking her view—her eyes filled entirely with vivid red, romantic roses.

Xiao Han was momentarily stunned, but when she recognized the hand holding the roses, joy instantly flooded her face; she dropped her chopsticks and instinctively turned and threw herself into his arms.

His left hand was unmistakable—small scars from chopping pig feed as a child; so Xiao Han launched herself without hesitation.

Only—

Only as she threw herself into him did she feel her ears burn!

She felt her whole body flush!

Her heart screamed: Xiao Han, what are you doing! Be composed! Be composed! You're a beauty! How could you be so easily won by a bouquet of roses? So embarrassing!

Embarrassment spread; she buried her head in his chest, afraid of being seen, yet her heart pounded wildly, her brows and eyes overflowing with uncontainable happiness.

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(End of Chapter)