Chapter 281: , Professor Yu's sudden offensive, a plot within a plot (

That evening, Tian Run'e and Li Jianguo didn't go to bed until very late.

At first, the Sihe Academy was quiet, with only the occasional sound drifting in from the street outside, but as time passed, the street and the alleyways also fell into silence.

Yet, just as the old couple intended to close their eyes and sleep, a faint, rhythmic tolling of a bell drifted from the next room. Though the sound wasn't loud, if one listened carefully, it had a distinct rhythm.

Tian Run'e and Li Jianguo exchanged a glance, neither speaking, pretending to be oblivious.

But after an hour or so had passed, Tian Run'e suddenly whispered:

"No wonder your son isn't satisfied with just one, he's got so many, sigh."

Li Jianguo was speechless, and after a long while, he said, "Let's go, let's change rooms; we'll go sleep in the outer room."

Tian Run'e nodded, and the two of them moved to the other room on tiptoe.

They were truly on tiptoe, terrified of making any noise that might disturb the two youngsters.

After lying down in the new room, Li Jianguo cautioned, "When you get up tomorrow morning, don't stare at Chen Zijin; it's easy to startle her."

"You don't need to tell me, I know what I'm doing," Tian Run'e replied.

At 3:30 in the morning, Li Heng and Chen Zijin finished showering and lay back down.

She rested her head on his arm and said, "Tomorrow we have to rest for a day, your wife is so tired."

Li Heng stroked her Amazon River and teased, "Useless, the arrow hasn't even left the sheath, and the target is already broken."

"Hmph hmph!"

Suddenly, she thought of something, looked up, and asked, "Do you think Uncle and Auntie heard the commotion tonight?"

Li Heng said, "No, you kept biting your handkerchief and didn't make a sound."

Chen Zijin pinched the flesh at his waist, "But you got carried away with excitement later on, I was so scared."

Li Heng asked, "What were you scared of?"

Chen Zijin said aggrievedly, "The family hasn't even agreed to us yet, and here I am, shamelessly clinging to you. I'm afraid Uncle and Auntie will look down on me."

Li Heng paused, lowered his head, and kissed her for a moment, "You've been with my parents for so long, and you knew them when you were little; don't you understand them? If they didn't genuinely like you, would they have deliberately made time for us this afternoon?"

Hearing this, Chen Zijin rubbed her face with both hands, her complexion turning even redder, "You stinky thing, you've made me lose all face."

Li Heng held her and comforted her with a laugh, "It's fine, you're my wife anyway. I'm touching my own wife; even if the Heavenly King himself came down, he couldn't say a word about it."

"Hmph hmph."

A night passed.

The next day, when Li Heng was dressed, Chen Zijin was too terrified to step out of the room, and in the end, he had to pull her out.

But even so, Chen Zijin still hid behind his back, not daring to breathe loudly.

Seeing this, Li Jianguo and Tian Run'e knew exactly what was going on, but they acted as usual, urging the two to wash up and eat.

Li Lan, however, who seemed completely indifferent, stared at the base of Chen Zijin's thighs for a short while when she turned to go to the washroom.

After breakfast, the family of five went to see the doctor; it wasn't very far, about a sixteen or seventeen-minute walk.

For this first visit, Li Heng had specially bought quite a few gifts, primarily to build rapport and strengthen their connection.

After watching the entire consultation with Comrade Li Jianguo, he also asked the doctor in detail about the situation. The result was much the same as what Chen Zijin had told him: the condition had improved significantly, and it was expected to be fully healed in another three months.

This made him grin with joy for a long time.

For the next two days, Li Heng followed Chen Zijin around to sightsee in Beijing, visiting Shichahai, going to Tiananmen to watch the flag-raising, and also visiting the Forbidden City and the Prince Gong Mansion.

As for the Drum Tower, ha! It was truly just like his own home; he could stand on the roof and take pictures with his back to it, it was that close.

On the morning of the 1st, the second sister got up early, rising at 5 o'clock to cook, preparing a table full of dishes just so her younger brother could have a hot meal of hometown food before catching his flight.

Chen Xiaomi also came, and would drive him later.

After eating, seizing a private moment, Li Heng took out 1,000 yuan and quietly stuffed it into his second sister's pocket.

Li Lan reached out and felt it, "Too much, too much."

Li Heng said with a laugh, "Not too much, not too much, we're family."

Li Lan looked at him, and a moment later, she realized, "Then this counts as hush money for the five of us."

Li Heng was speechless, turned around, and took Chen Zijin to the courtyard.

Tian Run'e was reluctant to let him go, giving him instructions at the doorway for a long time before finally letting him leave. Li Jianguo, being a man, didn't say much, just watched from the side, followed them to the entrance of the alley, and didn't sigh until the car had driven far away.

There were four of them when they arrived, and four when they left.

Upon learning that Li Heng was going to Changsha, Chen Zijin asked one question and didn't press further; after all, Xiao Han and Song Yu, her two great romantic rivals, weren't there, so she could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Wife, I'm leaving then. I'll find time to come see you during the rehearsals." Before parting, Li Heng took the initiative to hug Chen Zijin.

"Mm, practice the ocarina well, good luck with the Spring Festival Gala!"

"Okay."

After saying goodbye to Chen Xiaomi and his second sister, Li Heng turned and went to check in for his flight just in time.

The flight from Jingcheng to Changsha took over two hours, and having barely slept the night before, he dozed off for almost the entire trip.

After 11:00 in the morning, Li Heng got off the plane and followed the crowd toward the exit.

In truth, he was still in a daze, not knowing why Professor Yu had brought him to Changsha.

Yu Shuheng was 172cm tall, and with her stunning beauty and unparalleled scholarly temperament, she stood out in the crowd waiting for arrivals. Almost everyone who passed by had their gaze linger on her for at least two seconds.

Some even turned back to look three or four times.

One man, who considered himself quite the catch in every respect, had wanted to go over and strike up a conversation, hoping to see if he might be struck by the goddess of luck. As a result, whoa! As soon as he met Yu Shuheng's icy gaze, he slunk away in defeat.

Yu Shuheng hadn't come alone. Beside her was another woman, wearing a blue warm jacket, who also possessed a powerful aura.

The woman in blue glanced at the man slinking away and teased, "You're still the same, cold as ice. Men are terrified when they see you. I really can't believe you've actually taken a fancy to a man."

Yu Shuheng corrected her, "It's not that I took a fancy to him, it's that your Aunt Shen picked him out."

The woman in blue didn't believe it, "Aunt Shen really picked him out? You really didn't take a fancy to him? Who are you trying to fool?"

At this moment, Yu Shuheng saw Li Heng in the crowd and gave a concise instruction, "Don't give the game away later."

The woman in blue immediately straightened her posture and whispered in agreement, "Don't worry, I traveled thousands of miles from Xi'an just to help you pull off this act."

Yu Shuheng spotted Li Heng, and Li Heng also found her in the crowd at a glance, still dressed all in black, full of ladylike grace and the aura of a mature woman.

Fearing that Li Heng would call out "Professor Yu" the moment they met, Yu Shuheng shed her usual "keep people at a distance" image, took a scarf in her hand, walked toward him, and said with a smile:

"You're here, are you cold?"

As she spoke, she quickly lowered her voice to add, "From now on, don't call me Professor Yu, call me Shuheng. We are a couple, cooperate with me in this act."

Hearing this unusual request, Li Heng was a bit dumbfounded.

But when he glanced at the woman in blue walking over behind Professor Yu, his brain shifted into high gear, keeping the words in mind, and he replied:

"Cold, how could I not be? I was almost frozen into a living fossil in Jingcheng."

Yu Shuheng looked at the scarf around his neck, "Did you buy that in Jingcheng?"

Li Heng had wanted to say it was a gift from Chen Zijin, but when he saw the woman in blue beside them looking at him with curious eyes, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and changed his tune, "Just bought one at random, does it look good?"

Yu Shuheng didn't wait for him to finish, reaching out to take off the black and white checkered scarf, and then helped him put on the white one she was holding.

White, it was white again!

However, the style was different from the one Song Yu had given him, and Li Heng felt inexplicably more at ease.

Face to face, Yu Shuheng shed her usual icy demeanor, and while gently tying the scarf for him, she used lip-reading to silently say, "Hug me!"

Hug?

Hug her?

Li Heng was stunned!!!

Eye to eye, Yu Shuheng urged him again in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Hug me, say you missed me, hurry!"

Li Heng glanced at the suspicious-looking woman in blue beside them, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and hugged Yu Shuheng, "Shuheng, I missed you so much!"

"Mm, I missed you too."

As she spoke, Yu Shuheng wrapped her hands around his neck over the scarf and even affectionately pecked his right cheek.

*Smack! *

The sound wasn't loud, and the kiss was very light, but it truly gave him a huge fright.

It really was a huge fright! It scared his soul right out of him!

Professor Yu, oh Professor Yu, acting is one thing, but hugging is enough, don't kiss! This is going too far!

Li Heng took a deep breath and embraced Yu Shuheng, but his eyes met those of the woman in blue.

The woman in blue's acting was quite superb, appearing very curious—curious about what her best friend's partner looked like.

Well, her curiosity was 50% feigned, and 50% genuine—genuinely curious why Aunt Shen had taken a fancy to this man in front of her.

Curious what capital this man had to make Aunt Shen take a fancy to him?

However, just in terms of looks and temperament, this man in front of her was impeccable. It was just that his face seemed a bit young.

After hugging for a few seconds, Yu Shuheng took the initiative to let go of Li Heng, and then introduced them quite naturally:

"This is Li Heng, my partner."

"This is my good friend, Ye Qing, from Xi'an. She's here on some business and happened to hear you were coming, so she wanted to see you."

After hearing the introduction, Ye Qing, the woman in blue, reached out her hand, "Li Heng, hello, very happy to meet you."

"Very happy to meet you too," Li Heng also reached out his hand and gentlemanly shook the tips of her fingers.

Once the two had finished shaking hands, Yu Shuheng urged, "Alright, it's a bit cold, let's go back to the car first."

Li Heng nodded, followed the two women out of the airport, and got into a Mercedes-Benz.

Yu Shuheng drove, and Ye Qing sat in the passenger seat.

Li Heng sat in the back.

After the car had driven a few hundred meters, Ye Qing in the passenger seat couldn't hold back and turned around to ask, "Li Heng, how did you and Shuheng meet?"

How should he answer this?

Professor Yu hadn't briefed him beforehand!

Should he just make something up?

But if he made something up, wasn't he afraid of giving the game away?

Or was it that Professor Yu hadn't mentioned him in detail to her friend? Leaving him to improvise?

As for improvising? *Phew! * That was his old trade, he wasn't afraid at all.

He glanced at Professor Yu, who was concentrating on driving, thought for a moment, and said, "We are both ocarina enthusiasts, and we happened to meet at a friend's house by chance."

Ye Qing's eyes twinkled, "When you started dating, who made the first move?"

After waiting a moment and not hearing Yu Shuheng speak, Li Heng took over, "Me, I fell in love with Shuheng at first sight."

Ye Qing turned her head to look at Yu Shuheng, strongly suppressing a laugh, and asked again, "Shuheng is famous in our circle for being hard to pursue. I don't know how many young talents have crashed and burned before, and not one has succeeded. How long did it take you?"

Li Heng thought to himself, this friend is too gossipy, who asks so much the first time they meet?

But seeing that Professor Yu didn't stop her or interject, he had to bite the bullet and continue fabricating, "I started making my move in September this year, about half a year."

"Impressive! Truly impressive!"

Ye Qing gave a thumbs up, clicking her tongue in praise, and then said, "Do you know, there were three extremely outstanding men who pursued her for over five years, the longest for seven years, but in the end, it all came to nothing."

"Yet you won the beauty in just a few months, I have to say, you are super impressive!"

Li Heng said with a laugh, "Fate, this is fate. My fate with Shuheng has arrived."

Seeing him lie without a single flaw, his facial expression so natural while lying, if Ye Qing hadn't known beforehand that Aunt Shen was playing matchmaker between this man and Shuheng, she almost would have believed his nonsense.

Ye Qing became a bit interested and asked, "I see you have a bit of a literary aura, are you involved in artistic creation?"

Before Li Heng could speak, this time Yu Shuheng finally interjected, "He is a writer."

"A writer? Such a young writer?"

Ye Qing turned her head to look at her friend, "What works have you written?"

Yu Shuheng looked straight ahead and slowly spat out six words: "To Live, Cultural Bitter Journey."

"What?"

Ye Qing was somewhat surprised, no! She was very surprised!!!

She sat up straight and asked, "The writer 'December' who is being reported on everywhere in the newspapers these days, the legendary writer who was specially reported on by the People's Daily?"

"Legendary writer" was the term used by the People's Daily when it specially reported on him over the past two days.

Once this report came out, many local newspapers reprinted it one after another, seemingly plastering the grand reputation of "legendary writer" onto his forehead.

Along with it came the news of his 8% royalty rate, making the writer "December" explode in popularity once again, sweeping across the country like a tornado.

Yu Shuheng had also seen these reports and nodded, "It's him."

If anyone else had told her that such a young face was the writer "December," Ye Qing would have guaranteed she'd slap him across the face!

Slap him to death!

Do you think this young lady has so much time to waste?

But since these words came from Shuheng's mouth, she immediately believed it.

She had to believe it!

If this Li Heng didn't have some real ability, Aunt Shen couldn't have taken a fancy to him, and Shuheng wouldn't have asked her to come and help act in a play.

Taking half a minute to quickly digest this news, when Ye Qing turned back to Li Heng, her gaze had changed, becoming different—there was a strong desire to probe, and also a bit of admiration.

After all, "To Live" and "Cultural Bitter Journey" weren't just some cheap goods, not something any Tom, Dick, or Harry could write. Without some inner cultivation, an ordinary person wouldn't even be able to touch the edges in a lifetime.

Putting away her previous joking attitude, Ye Qing said, "So you are the deeply hidden writer 'December.' It really lives up to the saying, 'a true master doesn't show his face.' Li Heng, how old are you this year?"

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Posted first, edited later.

Already posted 10,200 words, continuing tomorrow.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 282 =====