Chapter 287

Zhou Shihe had just been telling her best friend Mai Sui that the chance of being closer to the bowl was greatest, but the very next moment, the person holding the bowl appeared.

That's right, the four women had just walked out of the alley when they happened to run into Xiao Han at the entrance.

Xiao Han, who came walking through the morning sunlight, looked as if she were carved from white jade—exquisitely refined, like a plum blossom sketched with a few light strokes, with fine strands of hair behind her ears resembling flower stamens in the wind.

Very beautiful!

Even Zhou Shihe, who was a "King" among women, couldn't help but have the word "elf" pop into her mind upon seeing such a Xiao Han.

Xiao Han, who always presented herself to others as a cool, poised, and pretentious girl, completely changed her image upon seeing her two fellow townspeople, Mai Sui and Sun Manning. Her smile was as sweet as chocolate, and she took the initiative to greet them: "Mai Sui, Manning, good morning."

Mai Sui responded with a gentle smile, "Good morning."

Sun Manning then asked: "Oh! Xiao Han, you came secretly all by yourself so early?"

Xiao Han's eyes curved like a fox's as she joked sweetly: "Yes! I came secretly. Mr. Li hasn't come to see me for three weeks, so I came to see if he's been entangled by some beauty."

Sun Manning said with a grin: "Don't worry, if Li Heng does anything bad at Fudan University, I'll definitely notify you the first chance I get."

Xiao Han beamed and nodded twice.

Hearing their conversation, Mai Sui was speechless.

Zhou Shihe glanced at her best friend, then at Xiao Han, and stood to the side without a word.

Xiao Han smiled at Zhou Shihe and Ye Ning, which counted as a greeting.

Zhou Shihe smiled politely in return.

Ye Ning, however, remained motionless, just staring intently at Xiao Han.

Xiao Han asked Mai Sui: "Mai Sui, is Li Heng at home today?"

Mai Sui replied simply: "Yes."

Xiao Han showed a small dimple: "Then I won't disturb you all; I'll go in first."

"Okay." Mai Sui responded, watching her walk into the alley.

As the group passed by, the expressions on their faces slowly vanished the moment they turned their backs, returning to their usual appearance.

Zhou Shihe reached out to take her best friend's arm, said nothing, and walked forward quietly.

Ye Ning then asked Mai Sui: "Mai Sui, between Li Heng and Xiao Han, who chased whom?"

Sun Manning said: "Didn't we ask that last time?"

Ye Ning pouted: "Last time Xiao Han was there, so I didn't really believe what Li Heng said."

Mai Sui thought for a moment and said: "It should be Li Heng who took the initiative; he came to Fudan to study for her sake."

Hearing this, Zhou Shihe became thoughtful.

After a while, Mai Sui lowered her voice and asked: "What are you thinking about again?"

Zhou Shihe smiled cleverly: "I've discovered that what I said before might be wrong."

Mai Sui asked: "Where is it wrong?"

Zhou Shihe said gently: "When the person holding the bowl is too powerful, the only chance is to flip the table and reshuffle the cards."

Mai Sui was silent, unable to help but think of Song Yu.

She instinctively felt that only Song Yu had the ability to flip the table and reshuffle, but thinking of Xiao Han's beauty, she suddenly felt uncertain.

Zhou Shihe looked at her silent best friend and didn't speak again either.

Normally, given her temperament, she wouldn't have said any of this today, but she felt too much heartache, which is why she offered a subtle reminder.

They say the person involved is confused while the bystander is clear; Zhou Shihe felt this deeply regarding Sui Sui.

Was it just her imagination?

The moment Xiao Han saw Zhou Shihe and Mai Sui just now, a strong sense of crisis warned her in her heart.

It wasn't just Mai Sui, who had frequented the attic, giving her this feeling; even Zhou Shihe inexplicably did, which made her feel annoyed.

Could it be because she had been a hunter for too long?

Was she becoming paranoid?

Xiao Han comforted herself inwardly; in order to capture her beloved honey, she had not hesitated to lurk for as long as six years to earn her prey's attention and initiative.

It could also be that she had fought too much with Chen Zijin, keeping her nerves constantly on edge, making her sensitive when seeing extremely excellent peers. The next second, she began to mock herself.

She never doubted his ability and charm; the long-term obsession she and Chen Zijin had for him was proof enough of that.

Thinking this far, she touched her forehead, wondering what kind of answer she was hoping to get.

Was it just her imagination earlier?

Or was there really danger?

Xiao Han actually hoped honey was a deep-feeling person, yet she didn't want him to be deep-feeling toward Song Yu and Chen Zijin; it was truly contradictory.

Unknowingly, she had reached the end of the alley and found the front gate on the first floor was closed. She stood in the middle of the alley, looking up at the second-floor balcony.

Just then, the gate to courtyard No. 25 behind her opened, and Yu Shuheng walked out carrying a bag of household trash.

Hearing the movement, Xiao Han turned around to look and said: "Yu Laoshi, good morning."

"Good morning."

Yu Shuheng smiled slightly, threw the trash into the large bin outside, and then asked her: "Would you like to come to my place and sit for a while?"

The two women had eaten at the same table before and weren't strangers, which was why they had just nodded in greeting.

Before Xiao Han could reply, a voice full of pleasant surprise suddenly burst out from the attic at No. 26:

"Wife, you're here! I just finished washing my hair and was just about to go to your school to see you."

After speaking, Li Heng happily waved the dry hair towel in his hand to show he wasn't faking it.

Xiao Han looked back, pursing her lips without a word, but her eyes were full of smiles, and the smiles were full of deep affection.

After exchanging a glance across the air, Li Heng shouted "Wait for me," tossed the dry hair towel casually onto the clothes rack, hurried into the living room, rushed down the stairs, hurriedly opened the door, and then, under Xiao Han's gaze, happily pulled her into the room, kicked the door shut with his right foot, and then passionately picked her up.

"Hey, be careful, the door isn't closed tight."

Picked up by the waist, Xiao Han, with her body in mid-air, felt her ears burning and shyly reminded him in a low voice by his ear.

Li Heng looked back, and sure enough, there was still a crack in the door, through which he could see Yu Laoshi outside.

He smiled awkwardly; he had only had eyes for Xiao Han just now and hadn't paid much attention to Yu Laoshi, so he immediately asked: "Yu Laoshi, have you had breakfast yet?"

Yu Shuheng, standing at the courtyard entrance, looked at the two hugging each other and nodded: "I've already cooked noodles."

After speaking, Yu Laoshi walked into the courtyard, closed the gate, went into the house, and headed straight for the kitchen, intending to make breakfast.

But just as she lifted the pot lid, she stopped. A moment later, she put the lid down and went up to the second floor to call her mother.

Before long, the call went through.

Yu Shuheng asked: "Are you free?"

Shen Xin replied: "I'm free. If you miss me, come home."

Yu Shuheng glanced at the attic across the way: "Come to Lushan Village; I'll treat you to a show."

Shen Xin pondered for two seconds and refused: "I'm not coming."

Yu Shuheng said: "I haven't had breakfast."

Shen Xin still refused: "It's good not to have breakfast; you can maintain a sense of hunger and watch the show well. Maybe you'll be full just watching. If you're not full, go grab it yourself. In any case, you have hands and feet, so solve it yourself."

Having said that, she hung up the phone decisively.

Hearing the "beep-beep-beep" on the phone, Yu Shuheng didn't care at all. She put the receiver back, brewed a cup of coffee, and sat quietly on the sofa in deep thought.

"Mr. Li, let me ask you, why haven't you come to see me for three weeks? Do you still want to be with me?"

Seeing him hugging her and smiling like a little hamster that had successfully stolen grain, Xiao Han spoke before him.

Li Heng was stunned for a moment, and it took a while before he explained: "Didn't I go to Jingcheng for New Year's? Last weekend I was rehearsing 'The Original Scenery of Hometown' with Yu Laoshi and the others, so time was a bit tight."

Receiving his anxious, earnest gaze, Xiao Han's heart softened, and she whispered: "Alright, I forgive you, but such a situation is not allowed to happen again."

"Okay." Li Heng responded and kissed her on the chin.

She half-closed her eyes.

Two seconds later, Li Heng put her down and leaned in to kiss her cherry lips.

In Jingcheng, hasn't that Chen woman fed you enough yet? How exactly do you act as a woman? Xiao Han questioned inwardly, but didn't dare to say it out loud. In the end, she closed her eyes helplessly and sadly, wrapping her arms around his waist to keep him from falling to the ground from kissing too hard.

Green and red intertwined, lingering and lingering.

When breathing could no longer proceed normally, Li Heng finally released her greedy mouth: "Did you come alone?"

"Yes."

"What about Liu Haiyan?"

"She has something to do and couldn't get away."

"Didn't I say you weren't allowed to take the bus alone?"

"I'm sorry, I missed you." She interrupted gently.

Li Heng paused, then pressed his forehead against hers and said slowly and heavily: "It's me who's sorry to you!"

Xiao Han smiled sweetly, tilted her head slightly and asked: "Sorry for what? Did you see Lady Song and Lady Chen behind my back again?"

Asked to his face, Li Heng was very embarrassed.

Looking into each other's eyes, Xiao Han said pitifully: "Mr. Li, if you really like me, don't just treat me like a beautiful painting hanging on the wall; you should appreciate it with your heart and understand its inner meaning."

Li Heng took a deep breath and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly, with not a sliver of space between them.

After hugging for a long time, Xiao Han said with a dark heart: "I don't know why you have such great ambition to chase three at once?

I've been here for so long, and you haven't thought about giving me a drink of water, but instead, you've eaten quite a bit of my saliva. Do you really know how to chase girls?"

Li Heng kissed her lips, laughed, pulled her to the second floor, pressed her onto the sofa, and then respectfully poured a cup of tea and sent it to her palm.

Looking at the teacup in her hand, Xiao Han sighed and smiled: "Talking about love really affects IQ; I should have rushed into every room the moment I entered to check if you were hiding any beauties."

Li Heng said: "It's not too late to check now."

Xiao Han cleared her throat and said crisply: "Forget it, I was kissed so hard by you just now that I have no strength left. Next time I'll wear a mask."

Li Heng laughed out loud.

This wife of his only had this one good point: she was always humorous, and getting along with her didn't feel tiring, nor would he ever get bored.

He looked at her seriously and sighed: "I haven't seen you for a few weeks, and my wife has become even more beautiful."

"That's right, that's right! Having a good foundation is really useful; it doesn't matter if you're plain-faced usually, but at critical moments, applying a little skincare makes you stunning." Xiao Han, saying this, lowered her head and pursed her lips, hooking someone's eyes straight.

Li Heng couldn't hold back his thoughts and went straight over to pick her up horizontally.

Xiao Han shouted inwardly: Mr. Li, hurry and carry me to the attic outside; let everyone see.

But she said shyly: "Don't be like this; people will see in broad daylight."

Hearing this, Li Heng subconsciously looked toward the small building at No. 25 across the way and sure enough saw Yu Laoshi's figure. The latter was holding a cup of coffee, sitting in the attic and savoring it carefully.

Seeming to notice Li Heng's gaze, Yu Shuheng glanced over, then moved away and looked elsewhere. It wasn't until he withdrew his gaze that she used her peripheral vision to observe the two hugging each other.

Xiao Han asked: "Is there someone?"

Li Heng said: "Yu Laoshi is in the attic across the way."

Xiao Han pouted: "Oh, I said so; you're always so impatient."

Without needing to cut open her stomach, she knew the little person in her heart was laughing slyly; at least she hadn't been hugged for nothing.

After she finished half a cup of tea, Li Heng shared with her what had happened in the last three weeks.

She asked about the situation at the Li family home, and he cared about her life at school.

Xiao Han said: "I've been getting closer to a mentor recently and often go to her house for meals."

Hearing this, a female professor came to Li Heng's mind; her name was Wen Yan.

This professor's husband had eloped with a student to the United States, and she never remarried, always treating Xiao Han like her own daughter.

The reason his wife did so well later and became a famous internal medicine expert in the country was all thanks to Professor Wen's dedicated cultivation.

In his previous life, when he was around 50, he had even accompanied his wife to Professor Wen's funeral.

Li Heng asked a question he already knew the answer to: "What is the mentor's name?"

Xiao Han told him: "Wen Yan, 41 years old this year."

It was indeed her. Li Heng was very happy and felt very relieved. With this professor around, he basically didn't have to worry about his wife being wronged at Shanghai Medical University.

Li Heng instructed: "Maintain a good relationship with your mentor; it will be beneficial for you in the future."

Xiao Han nodded: "I know, Teacher Wen likes me quite a bit."

They say a short separation is better than a new marriage; the two hadn't seen each other for three weeks and had endless things to say and endless chats.

And just like that, it was noon before they knew it.

Li Heng asked: "Should I cook for you, or shall we eat out?"

"I don't want to move; I want to eat hometown food. I'll trouble Mr. Li," Xiao Han said happily.

"Okay, you wait for me at home; I'll go buy groceries." Li Heng stood up.

"Okay, go ahead."

After Li Heng left, Xiao Han put down the teacup in her hand and wandered around the house curiously, going to the study, the master bedroom, and the kitchen, but she stopped at the door of the second bedroom.

After staring at the second bedroom door for a long time, hesitating, she finally walked in. As expected, she had only just turned on the light when she saw a woman's hair on the bed.

There was no need to look for it at all; a long, black, shiny hair was lying conspicuously on the bedsheet.

Xiao Han bent down to pick it up, put it in her palm to examine it carefully, and found it wasn't Mai Sui's; it looked a bit like Yu Laoshi's from across the way.

Was it Yu Laoshi's?

She couldn't accurately judge for a moment.

Because she hadn't been there many times, and in the past, she only had a deep impression of Zhou Shihe and Mai Sui; Yu Laoshi Shuheng's identity as a teacher had blinded her.

After pondering for a moment, she threw the long hair into the trash can, turned off the light, and stopped checking.

One Song Yu and one Chen Zijin were already enough to worry her for a long time; without actual evidence, she didn't want to scare herself or create panic.

Perhaps, Yu Laoshi sleeping here couldn't be considered a bad thing for the time being; it might achieve the effect of driving a tiger to swallow a wolf.

As for why the teacher had to sleep here?

She thought of sleep paralysis, a matter she had heard of.

Thinking and thinking, Xiao Han walked out of the living room and came to the attic outside, inadvertently bumping into Yu Shuheng's gaze from across the way.

The hair looked a bit similar, especially the length, which matched perfectly. Unfortunately, the distance was a bit far, so she couldn't see the hair quality clearly.

Xiao Han automatically evaluated it in her heart, then pursed her lips and called out: "Yu Laoshi, are you free at noon? Let's have lunch together; he went to buy groceries."

Without being pretentious, Yu Shuheng smiled and agreed. That little boy still owed her a beef hotpot, and in the blink of an eye, more than a week had passed.

The swing was still there, and when she flicked the purple bell with her hand, it rang ding-dang, ding-dang.

For no reason, she thought of Song Yu.

Had the other party ever suspected why Li Heng came to Fudan University?

Had the other party ever thought that Mai Sui was becoming more charming by the day?

It's not good to find a man who is too excellent; Xiao Han suddenly felt that true happiness was often accompanied by fear.

At this moment, she became a bit sentimental.

Thinking of the established fact that Chen Zijin and Li Heng had slept together, and thinking of the rumors about his crazy pursuit of Song Yu on the eve of the college entrance examination, those six years of time and those six years of feelings did not belong to her.

However, she was a person who didn't believe in fate. A moment later, she adjusted herself; even if time had gone wrong, she had returned after all, returned to the most correct track. As for those grievances and causal connections of honey, she could choose to delay them.

Because a woman's intuition, which had never gone wrong, told her that she was now surrounded by wolves, and one careless move could lead to the danger of becoming the next Chen Zijin.

She let her gaze linger on the swing for a while, but she didn't go to sit on it, nor would she, because it was meaningless.

In her creed, if you can't kill a woman with one blow, then keep her; while she attracts firepower, she can also help act as a goalkeeper, blocking those swarming bees and butterflies outside.

Although, she hadn't confirmed whether Mai Sui had an affair with him yet?

However, her own Mr. Li had a hobby, which was a unique love for beauties!

After breathing fresh air for a while, Xiao Han turned and went to the study, found some reader letters in a burlap bag in the corner, and began to read them with relish.

Half an hour later, Li Heng returned, his hands full of various vegetables. He invited Yu Shuheng to eat at home again in the alley.

As for Mai Sui, Zhou Shihe, and the other women, they hadn't returned yet, and he didn't know when they would. In this day and age, without mobile phones or telephones, it was really inconvenient.

After thinking about it, he decided it was better to prepare more.

Hearing the dang-dang-dang sound of cutting vegetables from the kitchen, Xiao Han stopped reading letters and leaned against the kitchen door, staring blankly at his every vegetable-cutting movement, delicate yet fast. She felt she could watch like this forever, until the end of time.

After a long time, Li Heng, who had come back to his senses, turned his head and asked: "Why did you come down?"

"Mr. Li is making a love lunch, so of course I have to come and cheer him on. Do you need my help?" The wonderful balance was broken, and she walked in smiling and asked.

Li Heng lowered his head and glanced at his waist: "See my waist?"

Some words were understood as soon as they were heard. Xiao Han blushed and confronted him for a while, but in the end, she couldn't beat him, so she finally walked behind him and hugged him gently: "Is this okay?"

Li Heng was very satisfied: "Okay! Quite good."

Xiao Han asked slowly by his ear: "Between me and Lady Chen, whose hand strength is more powerful?"

Li Heng's body stiffened, and he almost finished himself off with a knife.

"Wow! You two are so romantic."

Just as the two were teasing each other intimately, suddenly, a woman ran over to the kitchen door, holding her cheeks with both hands, looking envious. Who else could it be but Sun Manning?

Seen by someone, Xiao Han felt a bit awkward, but only for a moment. Then she let go of him generously, turned her head, and looked at the four women who had suddenly appeared at the kitchen door with a smile.

Exchanging a glance with Mai Sui, Li Heng stopped the kitchen knife he was using to mince meat and asked: "No, why didn't you make a sound when you came back?"

"Who said we didn't make a sound? It's you who were mincing meat, right? You couldn't hear it, we were all speaking quite loudly." Ye Ning said, but her eyes were fixed on Xiao Han.

Sun Manning added with a grin: "You two were being lovey-dovey, of course you couldn't hear us coming back."

Li Heng shouted habitually: "Comrade Mai Sui, Comrade Shihe, same as usual, come in and help me."

Mai Sui smiled and said okay.

Zhou Shihe put down the things in her hand and followed her in.

Only picking the two pretty ones? Not even a word of cheap talk for the other two who were passable? As expected of the man I took a fancy to, his taste is picky, Xiao Han thought to herself with a dark heart.

Before long, Yu Laoshi also came over.

Xiao Han thought to herself, you come in too; we beauties gathering together can be considered a warm-up in advance. If one day we fight for a man, we can look at the current incense-burning friendship and not tear our faces.

Alright, with just one glance, she identified that the hair on the bedsheet belonged to this Yu Laoshi, who had a very rich scholarly temperament.

Yu Shuheng was a germaphobe; although she usually cooked, she belonged to the type who would avoid the kitchen if she could.

Because every time she finished cooking, she not only had to take a bath but also wash her hair, rinse her mouth, and change all the clothes on her body. Otherwise, she always felt that her whole body was full of oily smoke, greasy and uncomfortable.

Yu Shuheng, as usual, didn't come in but stood at the door to chat with the others.

During this time, the oily smoke from Li Heng making beef hotpot was too strong, and she walked away instantly.

Standing at the stairwell, Yu Shuheng thought for a while, then went up to the second floor, entered the second bedroom, pulled open the light, and cast her gaze onto the bedsheet.

At first, she didn't find anything, but when she lifted the quilt, a waist-length hair was lying there brightly. She instinctively reached out and picked it up.

But after a while, she put the hair back.

Yu Shuheng didn't know if Xiao Han had discovered the hair?

If she had discovered it but didn't move the hair, then it was worth investigating—fishing with a line?

After weighing it, she finally took the long hair into her palm. She didn't care what kind of person Xiao Han was; she just acted according to her own heart.

Along the way, Yu Shuheng also cleaned up the trash can in the second bedroom, which contained some fine debris she usually threw away.

The kitchen and the stairs were opposite each other, and they could see each other.

When Yu Laoshi walked down the stairs, Xiao Han in the kitchen saw everything clearly, including the trash can in the other party's hand.

Honestly, she was quite surprised; she didn't expect Yu Laoshi to act so openly and honestly.

Doing this, either the other party was full of confidence and didn't fear anyone.

Or the other party was clean and innocent with Li Heng.

However, analyzing the current situation, Xiao Han was more inclined to the latter: clean.

But she kept an eye on it, because she always felt something was wrong. What kind of hall was it for a teacher like you to like coming to a student's house to stay?

Moreover, this teacher looked very cold on the outside, even more pretentious than her, a pretentious girl; it didn't make sense.

For this lunch, Xiao Han ate with tears in her eyes; just like the beef in the beef hotpot, it was salty, fragrant, sour, and spicy—it could be said to be a mix of five flavors.

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(End of chapter)