Chapter 248: What should I write? (Begging for monthly votes!) Also

After filling his lunchbox with fish noodles, Li Heng was still thinking about Zhou Shihe on his way back to Lushan Village.

What on earth did that girl mean?

He even thought happily: If she paid for another semester once these 40 cents were used up, that would be great. I'd be making a killing; I definitely wouldn't be losing out.

Lost in his daydreams, he arrived at the No. 25 small building without realizing it.

Li Heng braked his bicycle with his feet and shouted toward the courtyard: "Yu Laoshi, breakfast."

Yu Shuheng opened the door and walked out, holding a letter in her hand, which she handed to him.

"A letter from Wang Laoshi?"

"Yes, she asked me to pass it on to you."

"Oh, okay, thank you."

"It's already the tenth lunar month. She also sent you some cured meat and pork blood balls. They're quite oily and dirty, so you can pick them up yourself in the courtyard."

"Really? That's great! Wang Laoshi really understands me; this is exactly what I love." Li Heng tucked the letter into his pocket, shoved the breakfast into her hand, and walked into the courtyard of the No. 25 small building in high spirits.

The remark "Wang Laoshi really understands me" made Yu Shuheng stare at his back for quite a while.

Afterward, she followed him in and asked: "These pork blood balls are so black, what are they made of? Are they delicious?"

"Tofu, pork blood, and pork belly mixed together, then smoked just like the cured meat. Teacher, didn't Wang Laoshi ever treat you to some?"

"No."

"Then I'll make a dish for dinner, and you can have a taste then."

"Okay."

Seeing that he was about to leave, Yu Shuheng suddenly pointed to the table and chairs in the courtyard and said elegantly: "Let's eat together here."

Huh?

Today, she wasn't using her invisible techniques to chase him away?

This was truly the first time in history!

Could it be that she felt bad about eating his free breakfast and decided to keep him for a meal?

Yu Shuheng seemed to guess his thoughts and said softly: "I have something to ask you."

Li Heng didn't act coy and sat down as told.

Watching him lower his head and eat the noodles intently, Yu Shuheng said: "You and Mai Sui seem to always eat noodles. Is the nutrition enough?"

Li Heng grinned: "I've never thought about whether it's enough; I just think it's delicious, and we both love eating it."

Yu Shuheng nodded: "What does Mai Sui's family do?"

Li Heng replied: "They do business. It's hard to say exactly what kind, because it's quite complicated."

Yu Shuheng understood: "So, they just follow the trend and do whatever makes money?"

Li Heng said: "That's about the gist of it."

Yu Shuheng asked: "How many siblings does she have?"

Li Heng said: "I think she's an only child. I haven't asked, but I've heard people say she's an only daughter."

He only told half the story: Mai Sui's mother had originally been pregnant with a second child, but she almost died and was only saved after a difficult rescue at the Municipal People's Hospital. Afterward, Mai Dong felt so bad for his wife that he never mentioned having a second child again.

This was something Sun Manning had once told him.

After briefly finishing the topic of Mai Sui, the conversation veered and turned back to the high school English teacher.

Yu Shuheng asked: "Has Runwen been very good to you since your first year of high school?"

Li Heng recalled and nodded.

Yu Shuheng said: "Runwen mentioned in her letter that you used to be quite resistant to her. Is that true?"

"Ah, I suppose so."

Li Heng didn't defend himself: "I wasn't very used to it back then."

Yu Shuheng smiled: "Not used to a female teacher being too good to you?"

"Yes, and no."

Li Heng sighed and said: "Compared to other subjects, English was my weakest one at the time, and there were classmates behind my back spreading rumors, so I..."

Yu Shuheng asked: "Afraid it would reach Chen Zijin's ears, afraid she'd be jealous?"

Li Heng admitted: "That was indeed the case."

Yu Shuheng continued to ask: "Afraid that Runwen was actually interested in you?"

Li Heng waved his hand: "No, I didn't have that thought back then; I was just purely shy and didn't know how to interact with a teacher in private.

Every time she gave me extra tutoring, I felt it was a particularly unbearable disaster."

Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, and Yu Shuheng didn't continue to delve into the Runwen matter, but teased: "Then is Chen Zijin not jealous now?"

Her words were pointed, referring to Xiao Han.

At this point, Li Heng finally raised his head and looked at Yu Laoshi, who was sitting across the table.

Damn it!

Why did it always feel a bit strange? She never used to ask about his affairs before.

Receiving his puzzled look, Yu Shuheng saw through his thoughts at a glance, but she didn't offer any explanation, instead saying meaningfully: "What? What are you afraid of?"

Afraid of what? They both knew perfectly well.

Li Heng: "..."

After a while, he said: "Zijin and Xiao Han, to me, are different from other women."

Yu Shuheng glanced at him, didn't ask further, didn't speak again, and ate her breakfast in small bites with great manners.

He slurped down the fish noodles in one go, drank two mouthfuls of soup, and finally asked: "Teacher, is there anything else?"

"No."

"Then I'll go first; I still have things to finish today."

"Mm."

Yu Shuheng didn't look up, still chewing her rice cake slowly. Ever since she got used to eating this stuff with Runwen, she had completely fallen in love with it.

Returning to the study, Li Heng stood in front of the bed and looked out the window at the courtyard opposite for a while.

He couldn't help but go over the conversation just now and what happened last night, but he didn't find anything unusual.

The only unusual thing was that his relationship with Yu Laoshi seemed to have become a bit closer overnight.

However, for him, this was a good thing.

After all, considering it with an adult's mindset, the other party had a large family and a big business; having such a friend, in case he encountered an insurmountable obstacle in the future, could be considered a fallback.

Although no one wants to reach a dead end, life is sometimes just that screwed up; you never know whether good luck or bad luck will come first tomorrow, so it's always good to be prepared.

He stood by the window for about 10 minutes, and only when Yu Shuheng appeared on the attic opposite did he come to the desk and sit down quietly.

Same old routine: read books, at least for an hour.

Then it was writing. Today he started writing the 38th chapter. Since he had things to do in the afternoon, he planned to write as much as he could, not seeking quantity, only quality.

Doing what you love makes time fly. Before he knew it, he had only filled six and a half pages of paper when the familiar chattering sounds came from downstairs.

Without even looking, he knew Sun Manning had arrived.

Since this girl was here, Mai Sui must be there too.

1, 2, 3... 27.

He counted the time with interest, and when he reached 27, the study door creaked open a crack, and a pair of charming eyes appeared in his line of sight.

Li Heng grinned at her, which immediately made Mai Sui laugh. She asked softly: "Were you waiting for us to come up?"

"Yes, I missed you both." Li Heng was very sweet-tongued and said it right away.

"Tsk tsk, please remove the 'both'; just missing Mai Sui is enough." Sun Manning laughed outside.

Li Heng opened the door and joked: "Missing both, missing both. Anyway, I'm not exactly a gentleman in your hearts."

"Pah! Don't miss me, I can't handle it. You have so many beautiful wives, and I'm stuck in the middle like a maid; how embarrassing." Sun Manning put her hands on her hips in protest.

Li Heng circled around her and nodded solemnly: "Fine, fine, fine, I won't force you. From now on, you can be Mai Sui's maid, the head maid at that."

"Yo, I can be a maid if I want, but what title are you planning to give Mai Sui? Empress? Or Imperial Noble Consort? If it's anything less than Imperial Noble Consort, I'm not serving. I'm a Fudan University student, after all; it's too demeaning." Sun Manning grabbed Mai Sui's arm, her mouth full of wild words.

"Imperial Noble Consort?"

Li Heng walked toward the stairs boldly: "Our Comrade Mai Sui is the reincarnation of Su Daji; she was born to be an Empress."

Sun Manning winked at Mai Sui: "Did you hear that? This kid promised to make you Empress in the future. Sui Sui, you have to show some spirit and drive those Xiao and Chen Imperial Noble Consorts out of the palace."

Li Heng: "."

Mai Sui: "."

Leaving the school gate and arriving at the vegetable market, the three of them went on a crazy shopping spree and bought a lot of vegetables to take home.

As soon as they entered the kitchen, Li Heng assigned tasks to the two women: "Manning, help wash the cured meat and pork blood balls. Mai Sui, help me prepare the ginger, scallions, garlic, and other seasonings."

Sun Manning was dissatisfied: "Why? All the dirty and tiring work goes to me, while Mai Sui gets all the easy tasks?"

Li Heng said righteously: "Why? You just said Mai Sui is the Empress; can you let the Empress do manual labor? Can you, as a maid, have some awareness?"

Mai Sui smiled charmingly when she heard this. Regarding the struggle between these two, she didn't interject, indicating she wouldn't help either side.

Li Heng habitually shouted: "Come, Empress, help me tie my apron; let that maid be jealous."

As soon as he shouted, he regretted it, remembering the incident where the two of them had rubbed against each other through their pants.

Mai Sui seemed to have thought of it too, couldn't help but look at Li Heng, then silently took down the apron hanging on the wall and really tied it for him.

Seeing their actions, Sun Manning was stunned, and after a long while, she muttered to herself: "I'm going to tell Song Yu, I'm going to call Song Yu over. You two are colluding to bully me."

Mai Sui didn't say anything when she heard this. After tying the apron, she went to prepare the seasonings on her own.

Li Heng couldn't take it and kicked Sun Manning secretly. The girl turned back and glared at him, her style being purely fierce.

About 20 minutes later, there was movement outside the door again; Zhou Shihe and Ye Ning had arrived.

Li Heng asked Ye Ning: "Classmate Ye, do you know how to cook?"

Ye Ning replied brightly: "No, I only know how to wrap dumplings, and how to eat."

Li Heng was speechless and immediately sent her to pick and wash vegetables.

Ye Ning rolled up her sleeves: "Li Heng, you're unfair. Why didn't you ask Shihe? Why didn't you arrange work for her?"

Li Heng was busy chopping vegetables intensely, *duang duang duang*, and didn't look back: "If you also played the piano, I wouldn't arrange for you to do work either."

Hearing this, Sun Manning and Ye Ning looked at Zhou Shihe's slender and well-proportioned fingers in unison, sighed together, and felt too frustrated to say anything.

However, Zhou Shihe didn't stay idle. After observing the kitchen, she came to Mai Sui's side a moment later to help with the work.

Ye Ning asked: "Great talent, how many dishes are you preparing today? Give us a heads-up; I can eat a lot."

"Are 10 enough?" Li Heng said.

"Small bowls definitely aren't enough; large bowls would be about right." Ye Ning patted her stomach to indicate.

Li Heng waved his hand boldly: "Small matter, I'll definitely make sure you eat well and are full. Can you and Shihe eat spicy food?"

"My grandmother is from Chengdu, and my mother is also from Chengdu, so I can eat very spicy food." Ye Ning raised her hand: "Shihe is from Suzhou and Hangzhou; I don't seem to have seen her eat spicy dishes."

Li Heng turned to ask Zhou Shihe: "Not even a little bit?"

Zhou Shihe shook her head gently: "I haven't eaten it much."

Li Heng immediately joked: "Is that so? Oh my, then you must never find a partner from Xiangnan, Chuan, Yu, or Guizhou in the future, otherwise you'll be fighting every day over what to eat."

Zhou Shihe smiled cleverly and didn't respond.

Ye Ning curled her lips, standing up for her friend: "Yeah! Li Heng, does what you're saying make sense? Whoever can marry our Shihe would laugh in their dreams. Wouldn't their ancestral graves have to smoke green smoke to be able to marry her? And they'd argue with her over a chili dish?"

"Uh, what you said makes a lot of sense. There are still quite a lot of people in this world who are good to their wives." Chatting with female compatriots requires learning to concede at the right time; Li Heng had the most experience in this.

Ye Ning asked: "Then will you be good to your wife in the future?"

"Me? I can be considered half a good man, but usually, it's my wife who coaxes me." Li Heng said shamelessly.

All the women laughed. Sun Manning asked: "When you and Xiao Han are in love, is she the one who spoils you?"

Li Heng said: "That's not entirely true; we spoil each other."

Ye Ning pondered for a long time without getting the point: "Why do you call yourself half a good man?"

Li Heng said: "This, well, wait until we've been together for ten years or so, and you should understand."

Ye Ning was even more confused: "Why ten years?"

Li Heng said mysteriously: "Because 'distance tests a horse's strength, and time reveals a person's heart.' Many things can't be faked for 10 years."

Ye Ning didn't believe it: "Pah! How old are you, talking about 10 years at every turn."

Mai Sui looked at him, but she knew clearly that everything he said today was the truth; it seemed absurd, but in reality, it was all heartfelt words.

They say three women make a play; with four women in the kitchen, according to permutations and combinations, there were many plays. For a while, it was lively, and the room was full of vitality.

After 5:00 PM, the 10 dishes were ready, filling the table. Among them were 5 spicy dishes and 5 non-spicy ones, which could be considered as properly taking care of everyone.

Li Heng instructed Mai Sui: "Comrade Mai Sui, go call Yu Laoshi."

"Okay." Mai Sui put down the dry rag, washed her hands, and went out to the No. 25 small building.

Taking advantage of the time Sun Manning and Ye Ning were washing their hands in the kitchen, Li Heng asked Zhou Shihe next to him: "Classmate Shihe, why did you prepay 40 cents for my noodles in the cafeteria?"

Zhou Shihe just smiled gently and didn't say anything.

Li Heng raised an eyebrow: "Were you trying to draw a line between us at the time?"

"No." Zhou Shihe said quietly: "Mainly because I was afraid someone would misunderstand, and at the same time, I heard you love eating noodles, so I thought it was quite convenient."

Li Heng asked: "Afraid Xiao Han would misunderstand?"

Zhou Shihe smiled knowingly, neither denying nor confirming this answer.

Li Heng teased her: "If I give you 20 cents in cash now, how should you respond? Refuse? Or accept?"

Zhou Shihe's smile didn't diminish as she looked at him.

After looking at each other for a long while, Li Heng really counted out two 10-cent notes from his pocket and placed them in front of her.

In an instant, the fake became real.

Zhou Shihe's smile widened a bit more; she stretched out her delicate hand, picked up the money, and put it into her pocket.

Just at this moment, Mai Sui and Yu Shuheng arrived.

He had originally thought this teacher would bring wine like in the past, but he didn't expect her to bring a violin in her hand.

Honestly speaking, he hadn't heard her play the violin yet and didn't know how her level was.

When everyone was present, the 6 people sat down in turn.

Before eating, he specifically went to the door to see if Old Fu from diagonally opposite had returned, but the gate was tightly shut, and not even a ghost shadow could be seen.

"Wow! Li Heng, your cooking skills are truly good, top-notch!" Ye Ning tasted a piece of stir-fried yellow beef and immediately gave a thumbs up in praise: "I was skeptical when Mai Sui and Manning said your skills were good before, but now I'm completely convinced. From now on, you are my mentor on the road of being a foodie."

Li Heng laughed: "If it's delicious, eat more."

Ye Ning tasted the other 4 dishes in one go, and finally sighed with envy: "Oh my, if only I were Xiao Han, having such a partner; she seems so happy."

Yu Laoshi's attention was on the pork blood balls. She picked up a piece to try the flavor, then picked up another, and then picked up several more in succession.

Since the start of school, Sun Manning had already sponged many meals off him, eating everything. Once she sat at the table, she didn't want to talk anymore; her mouth and chopsticks were full of food, and she only occasionally took time to drink some soda.

Li Heng greeted Mai Sui and Zhou Shihe, who hadn't moved their chopsticks: "Don't just watch, you two eat too."

Hearing this, Zhou Shihe looked over all the dishes, first trying the stir-fried pork with garlic sprouts. After eating a few small bites, she, like Yu Laoshi, kept her chopsticks in the bowl of stir-fried pork.

Li Heng said: "Comrade Shihe, try the other dishes too, and see if they suit your taste?"

Zhou Shihe smiled gently and said okay, and she really started eating the other dishes.

Li Heng finally said to Mai Sui next to him: "Mai Sui, you've worked hard. Let's use soda instead of wine and clink glasses."

"Mm." Mai Sui picked up the soda, clinked it twice with his, and then took a big gulp.

With a table full of good dishes, as they ate, Sun Manning and Ye Ning finally couldn't hold back; soda couldn't satisfy them anymore, so they ran to the kitchen and brought out beer.

The two asked: "Are you drinking?"

Zhou Shihe and Yu Shuheng both refused; they had serious business to do later.

Li Heng also refused, but he persuaded Mai Sui to drink with them.

With many people, and everyone being relatively familiar, not to mention Sun Manning and Ye Ning belonging to the lively and cheerful type of women, with them shouting and yelling, the atmosphere at the table couldn't be bad.

During this time, Li Heng and Zhou Shihe's chopsticks met in the dish bowl unintentionally once. Unlike in the past, this girl just smiled and didn't struggle with whether to change chopsticks again.

Actually, it was true; as long as it wasn't a public serving chopstick, when chatting to the point of excitement, one wouldn't pay that much attention, and occasional chopstick collisions were unavoidable. It seemed the other party had already treated him as a friend.

Seeing Li Heng and Mai Sui whispering and talking from time to time, Ye Ning across the table suddenly said loudly: "Li Heng, if I didn't know you had Xiao Han, and if I didn't know you and Mai Sui were friends for many years and had a very good relationship, I would have thought you two were dating several times. Sitting together, you really, really look like a match!"

Hearing this, Yu Shuheng glanced at the two, smiled, and continued to eat and drink. Today's dishes, whether spicy or non-spicy, were quite to her taste, and she ate half a bowl of rice more than usual.

Zhou Shihe also smiled, looked at the two, and remained reserved and silent.

Sun Manning specifically stopped her chopsticks, her gaze lingering on the two for a long time, and finally asked: "Ye Ning, you have this feeling too?"

"Yes, I feel they have a very husband-and-wife look." Ye Ning insisted.

Mai Sui's lips were like hibiscus, and her smile was charming. Under her deliberately generous appearance, she was actually still a bit reserved. She didn't look at Li Heng beside her, picked up a piece of food for Ye Ning, and said: "Eat, eat more delicious food, and shut your mouth."

Li Heng didn't have much of a reaction, eating and drinking as usual, listening to their giggling and teasing, and sighing that being young was really good.

PS: Begging for subscriptions! Begging for monthly votes!

(More to come)

(End of chapter)