Chapter 335: , I Don't Think Much of It (Please subscribe!)
Hearing Yu Shuheng's words, the scene of Yu Laoshi staring blankly at Li Heng's profile in the study surfaced instinctively in Mai Sui's mind.
Li Heng looked at Yu Laoshi and expressed his gratitude.
Because there were many people, the dinner Zhou Shihe prepared was quite sufficient, and adding one Yu Laoshi could still fully supply it.
However, Yu Shuheng didn't eat for free; she brought two bottles of red wine. As they enjoyed the wine and conversation, the atmosphere at the table remained very good.
After the meal, just as everyone was drinking tea and resting on the sofa, an unexpected visitor came to the 26th small building: Chief Editor Liao.
Li Heng was surprised, "Senior Brother, why are you here at this hour?"
Mai Sui got up and poured a cup of tea for the other party.
Chief Editor Liao took the tea, said thank you to Mai Sui, and then said: "Looking for you for something."
Li Heng understood and walked toward the study first.
Chief Editor Liao followed.
Entering the study and closing the door, Li Heng pointed to the sofa by the window, "Senior Brother, sit."
After Chief Editor Liao sat down, he took out a stack of manuscripts from his briefcase: "These manuscripts have been seen by someone."
Li Heng pondered these words and understood their meaning: "Huang Zhaoyi?"
Chief Editor Liao nodded: "I just came from the Huang family. These manuscripts were not only seen by Zhaoyi, but old Master Huang probably also read them."
Li Heng took the original manuscript, didn't make a sound, and waited quietly for the rest.
He felt that Chief Editor Liao coming over in the dark wasn't just as simple as delivering the manuscript.
Sure enough, Chief Editor Liao continued: "You don't ask why I care so much about Zhaoyi and the Huang family?"
Li Heng said: "I remember Senior Brother once said that 20-plus years ago, Huang Zhaoyi's father did you a favor."
"Not just a favor, but a great favor. Otherwise, my parents wouldn't have been around 20 years ago, and I wouldn't have everything I have now."
Chief Editor Liao finished speaking with emotion, paused, and then apologized: "I originally hoped that the relationship between our fellow disciples would be purer, not mixed with matters of children, but sometimes I cannot refuse."
Li Heng was silent for a while, then laughed jokingly, "Did you sell me out again?"
Chief Editor Liao followed with a smile and said frankly: "I told them you were going to Bai Luyuan."
Li Heng said: "That doesn't count as a secret. If someone really has the heart, it's very easy to check where I went."
Thinking that she could follow him from Beijing to Changsha, if she really wanted to know his whereabouts, it wouldn't be difficult for the other party at all.
Chief Editor Liao shook his head, "It's different, after all, I was the one who said it."
Li Heng asked: "Senior Brother, can you understand this kind of emotion?"
Chief Editor Liao asked: "Zhaoyi?"
"Mm," Li Heng hummed.
Chief Editor Liao said: "Although you have achieved high success now, you have been in the industry for too short a time and haven't experienced much. Actually, readers falling in love with authors is not considered strange in the cultural circle; there are too many examples, just grab a handful."
Li Heng asked: "Have you seen one so stubborn?"
Chief Editor Liao grinned, then said seriously: "Yes, quite a few. I won't mention the modern ones, it's taboo and not good. Let's talk about *The Peony Pavilion* of the Ming Dynasty; there were two such women, one was Yu Erniang from Loujiang, one was Jin Xidian from Yangzhou, both of whom wrote letters to the author Tang Xianzu after reading *The Peony Pavilion*, entrusting their longing in the letters and expressing their willingness to commit themselves to the other party."
This was the first time Li Heng heard this strange anecdote. "And then?"
Chief Editor Liao said: "After the letters were sent, they fell ill from longing day and night and passed away before receiving Tang Xianzu's reply. Later, Tang Xianzu felt deep regret and funded the construction of their tombs."
Li Heng was speechless. In the vast world, there are all kinds of people.
This reminded him of the reports that after Zhang X-rong left in later generations, about 20 fans committed suicide for him within a week. Most of them were overly sad and chose to jump into the river or fall from a building.
Seeing him not make a sound, Chief Editor Liao said: "Actually, readers and authors producing love is not rare in the literary world all over the world, and many have even become stories."
Li Heng nodded, put the original manuscript into the drawer, and asked: "Senior Brother, tell me about the Huang family." 【3
Some words are understood as soon as they are heard. Chief Editor Liao opened his mouth: "I don't know what Zhaoyi and old Master Huang said, but old Master Huang's attitude was much gentler than I imagined. He only made one request: let me try my best to help Zhaoyi."
Li Heng joked half-truthfully: "You've already shown your cards to me, how can you help?"
Chief Editor Liao spread his hands, expressing helplessness: "This kind of thing depends on mutual willingness. Isn't showing your cards a choice? In the future, whether Zhaoyi's feelings end in nothing or you combine together, for you as the parties involved, the influence of external forces is actually minimal. The key is to look at your respective charms."
Li Heng understood; Chief Editor Liao had come with guilt, aiming to give him an explanation.
After a while, he asked: "I saw news reports saying *Harvest* magazine goes on sale tomorrow, is everything ready?"
"Stayed up for two nights in a row, everything is ready, just waiting for your new work to explode." Chief Editor Liao, who said this, had full expectation in his eyes, as if he saw the situation where this little junior brother helped *Harvest* magazine suppress *People's Literature* with his own strength.
Regarding the success and influence of *Bai Luyuan*, Li Heng wasn't worried. With the deep accumulation of *To Live* and *Cultural Bitter Travel*, and the extreme publicity of *Harvest* magazine, the starting point now was much higher than old Chen's in his previous life; there was no reason to fail.
After chatting for about half an hour, Chief Editor Liao left.
Not long after, Yu Shuheng walked into the study and asked him: "Chapter 7 finished?"
Li Heng replied: "Still missing about 1,200 characters."
Yu Shuheng instructed: "You promised to be the best man for old Fu, we have to set off early tomorrow morning to go over and put on makeup, don't stay up late tonight."
"Okay."
Li Heng responded and asked: "Teacher, what time do we set off?"
Yu Shuheng said: "Set off at 5:00, it takes about 40 minutes to drive, just right when we get there."
"Done." Li Heng agreed.
He understood that for this kind of happy event, it was better early than late; he would rather go over early and wait than drag old Fu down.
Speaking of this, Li Heng sat in the chair, pondering and brewing emotions, preparing to finish Chapter 7 tonight and then sleep.
Seeing this, Yu Shuheng didn't disturb him and quietly left the study.
*Bai Luyuan* Chapter 7 mainly talks about Zilins collecting taxes to harm the people and Jiaxuan scattering wealth to save the monk. After Li Heng organized his thoughts, he picked up his pen and finished the last part in one go.
Originally planned for about 1,200 characters, but after finishing and roughly counting, *damn*, there were even 1,400 characters.
Putting down the pen, Li Heng breathed a sigh of relief, and while the inspiration was good, he began to read and review from beginning to end, using a critical eye to find faults and pick problems.
If he encountered wrong or awkward paragraphs, he would repeatedly modify and ponder them.
Even for a certain dialogue in the text, sometimes he would get serious with himself, simulating the context more than 10 times, and wouldn't stop until he felt comfortable.
Holding this spirit, the first fine-tuning of the 14,000-plus characters of Chapter 7 took a full four-plus hours.
At this time, his wrist began to ache. Just as he was drinking a cup of water and preparing to continue the second fine-tuning, the study door opened, and Mai Sui walked in gently.
Li Heng turned his head to look over.
Mai Sui asked: "Did I disturb you?"
Li Heng shook his head: "No, I just relaxed for a while. Is it very late? Are you here to urge me to sleep?"
Mai Sui gave a tender smile, "Mm, Yu Laoshi instructed me to urge you to rest before 1:00."
Li Heng didn't like wearing a watch when writing, as it would distract him. Hearing this, he found his watch from the drawer and looked down: 12:46.
It was already past midnight, indeed not very early.
He asked: "Are they all asleep?"
Mai Sui said: "Shihe and the others went over after 10:00, and Yu Laoshi also entered the bedroom around 12:00."
Li Heng glanced at the opposite side, "Teacher returned to her own home?"
Mai Sui smiled and said: "No, at our place."
With the words "our place," Mai Sui realized what she had said, immediately restrained her smile, turned, and walked toward the door, "Rest early, have to hurry early tomorrow."
"Mm, okay."
Watching her swaying back full of charming aura, Li Heng secretly sighed that this girl was becoming more and more charming.
Honestly speaking, being with her at close range every day, for him who knew the taste of the marrow, it was really a big test.
Fortunately, there were Yu Laoshi and Miss Zhou helping to distract his attention. If he could only see Mai Sui all day long, as time accumulated, he estimated that he wouldn't go crazy mentally, and his body would rebel.
How did that saying go? If sex isn't released for a long time, as long as you meet a woman, you will have crimson fantasies, not to mention a natural stunner like Mai Sui with a full inner allure attribute.
Putting the pen cap on, covering the ink bottle, and tidying up the desk, Li Heng also walked out of the study. Passing by the guest bedroom next door, he subconsciously glanced at the guest bedroom door, and a picture surfaced in his mind, a picture of changing clothes full of color and fragrance.
*Damn it! *
How long had it been since he separated from Zijin, why was he starting to mutter again? Li Heng patted his head with his right hand, feeling that it wasn't good for his body to be too strong; *damn it, it's simply insatiable desire. *
Lying on the bed, Li Heng tossed and turned, his mind full of carnal thoughts. Finally, he had no choice but to take a cold shower before falling asleep.
The next day.
It wasn't dawn yet outside, and he was woken up by Mai Sui.
"Li Heng, wake up, get up, have to go to Fu Laoshi's house."
Upon hearing Fu Laoshi's house, Li Heng, who was originally muddled, instantly lost all sleepiness, sat up abruptly, and almost kissed Mai Sui, who was bending over to shake him awake.
Mai Sui stepped back, stood straight, and said: "Yu Laoshi and Shihe have already washed up and are waiting for you on the first floor."
"Mm, what about you?" Li Heng asked.
Mai Sui said: "I've also washed up."
Hearing this, Li Heng didn't say any more nonsense, quickly put on his clothes, got out of bed, and ran to the washroom.
At this time, Mai Sui had not only squeezed toothpaste for him but even prepared warm water for washing his face.
Handing him the toothbrush and gargle cup, Mai Sui pointed to the stool in front of the mirror: "You sit there and gargle, I'll help you tidy up your hair."
"Mm, Mai Sui is still the best to me." Li Heng sat down obediently, gargling while looking at her appearance of seriously helping him comb his hair through the mirror.
Occasionally, the two looked at each other through the mirror, she smiled, and continued to lower her head and get busy.
"Is my hair greasy?"
"Didn't you take a shower at 1:30 last night? It's quite refreshing."
"You heard it?"
"Mm."
Looking at each other, the two suddenly didn't speak, because they were both adults and knew clearly why they took a shower?
After all, after all, he had taken a shower once after dinner last night.
Silently finishing gargling, silently washing his face, he asked: "Is it done?"
"Done." Mai Sui stepped back, stepped back again, and said so after observing.
Li Heng turned around, the two looked at each other for a while, and he said: "Let's go down, don't let them wait too long."
"Mm." Mai Sui walked in front with a calm face.
Setting off early, the group of four ran to the fake Daoist's house.
As soon as they entered the door, the Fu family and a group of relatives and friends recognized Li Heng, Yu Laoshi, and Zhou Shihe. Don't know who shouted "The one on the Spring Festival Gala is here," and then the three were surrounded.
Old Fu pointed at Li Heng and said to the makeup artist: "A-Xiang, make this handsome guy a bit uglier, he can't be too eye-catching today."
The makeup artist A-Xiang sized Li Heng up, her eyes shining, and teased: "The foundation is too good, it might be a bit difficult."
Old Fu and the other party should be friends, speaking quite casually: "I don't care, this kid is already eye-catching enough, if he dresses up better, I..."
Speaking of this, old Fu tilted his head and stared, "Seems like I can't swear today."
Li Heng rolled his eyes: "Can I walk at the very end?"
"Done, it's a deal, try not to stand by my side." Old Fu laughed and patted him on the shoulder, then greeted Yu Laoshi and the three women.
Saying he was dressed up uglier, but after makeup, he was even more refreshing. Old Fu's eyes widened, and he said to Li Heng: "I say you kid, you're doing this on purpose, right? Has Xiao Han come to Shanghai? Why don't you get married today too."
Li Heng said: "Xiao Han didn't come, how to get married? Forget it, say two words and that's it, I didn't see you say Yu Laoshi."
After speaking, he turned left and right and asked: "Eh, where is Yu Laoshi?"
Old Fu reached out and patted his back: "You're muddled, Yu Laoshi is the bridesmaid today, after sending you off, she went to Siya's side."
Li Heng realized and asked: "Is Sister Chen's house far from here?"
"Not particularly far, it takes 20 minutes to drive."
Old Fu said, handing him the best man's clothes and asking him to change into them.
Including Li Heng, there were four best men today. Those were all older, and two were teachers from Fudan University.
The last best man was old Fu's classmate who studied in the United States, said to be DINK, currently working at an investment bank in the United States.
After 7:00 AM, Li Heng, as a member of the groom's family, set off with the motorcade, crossed half of Huangpu, and arrived at Chen Siya's house.
Drinking road wine, stuffing red envelopes, smashing doors, begging bridesmaids to let people go—these activities were carried out one by one according to the process.
When drinking road wine, old Fu wasn't polite at all, using the four best men as cattle and horses, and forcefully pushed through with his massive capacity.
Li Heng didn't know how much he drank, anyway, half of a cup of wine was on the ground, another small half was on his clothes, and only a little bit fell into his mouth.
But *damn it*, he couldn't stand the amount of wine, and in the end, his stomach was still a bit bloated.
Seeing the other three best men playing happily, Li Heng couldn't be too far behind, right? He was an absolute master at activating the atmosphere, smashing doors when he should, shouting when he should, very festive.
After some tossing, the bridesmaid group couldn't resist and came up with the last difficult problem: let old Fu say the names of 38 ancient Chinese emperors in one breath.
The reason it was 38 was because old Fu was 38 years old this year.
This was going to kill him. The best man group, and old Fu, were all science students, and so many years had passed. *Damn it*, they only knew Qin, Han, Tang, Song, plus Genghis Khan and a few emperors of Ming and Qing.
As a result, after calculating left and right, racking their brains, they only gathered 17 emperors, still far from 38.
Old Fu muttered: "Who came up with this question? It's too much."
Then old Fu aimed at Li Heng: "We old guys have forgotten everything, it's all up to you kid."
Li Heng rubbed his head, let his alcohol capacity sober up a bit, and then said: "I don't know the distant ones either, let's start from the Shang Dynasty and Western Zhou, I'll recite one in a low voice, you report it in a loud voice."
Seeing him say this, old Fu suddenly gained confidence.
Li Heng recited: "Taijia, Xiaojia, Wojia, Yangjia, Zujia..."
The best men were dumbfounded. Old Fu grinned and said: "Really or fake, don't you kid talk nonsense."
Li Heng raised his eyebrows: "The Shang Dynasty had 31 emperors, I just remember a few with 'Jia', what? Don't believe me? If you don't believe me, you do it yourself."
Old Fu was half-believing, treating a dead horse as a living horse, and shouted toward the door. *Hey! * As a result, it was really correct, and the people outside who came to pick up the bride were excited.
Li Heng continued to recite: "Cheng Wang, Kang Wang, Zhao Wang, Mu Wang, Gong Wang, Xiao Wang, Li Wang, You Wang, these are all Western Zhou."
Old Fu didn't dare to question him this time, excitedly following and reporting.
With Li Heng as a cheating device, the problem that could have stumped the groom finally collapsed, and amidst a burst of noise from the crowd, they finally entered the Chen family door.
The Chen family wasn't big, a large group of people surged in like a sea wave, and soon there was no place to stand. Li Heng finally caught his breath, but turned his head and found Yu Shuheng standing behind him, "Teacher."
"Not bad, the limelight of you wearing this set of clothes covered the groom," Yu Shuheng said meaningfully.
Li Heng blinked, "Teacher, you can speak softly, old Fu has a big opinion of me today."
Yu Shuheng gave a refined smile, her gaze circulated on him twice, and whispered in his ear: "Go, come with Teacher to take two photos."
"Huh?"
Li Heng said "Huh": "Everyone is joining in the fun, it's not good for us to leave."
Yu Shuheng said: "Just next door."
*Done. * Li Heng didn't disobey her face. For the sake of Comrade Zhou Shihe, how could he refuse?
So the group entered the study.
"Whoa! It really is the writer December." Entering the study, the aunt saw the single volumes of *To Live* and *Cultural Bitter Travel* on the bookshelf at a glance and exclaimed immediately.
These were samples sent by *Harvest* magazine, all of which had Li Heng's autograph.
Especially the three newest *Cultural Bitter Travel* books, he hadn't sent them to Xiao Han, Song Yu, and Zijin yet, wanting to wait until school started to send them together, but the signatures on them were already done, and even the serial numbers were the same: No. 1.
The aunt held a copy of *To Live* in her left hand and picked up a copy of *Cultural Bitter Travel* in her right hand, then stood beside Li Heng facing the camera lens: "Sister-in-law, how is my pose?"
"Very good." Zhou's mother and the other three stood still, and with a *click*, took two group photos for this aunt who hadn't completely "grown up."
Saying she hadn't grown up, in fact, the aunt was only 36 years old this year. Except for being relatively rigorous at work, she was used to doing whatever she wanted in her daily life and was very lazy.
After taking the photos, the group returned to the dining table.
This made Li Heng breathe a sigh of relief. If they had asked for one of his books just now, how awkward would that be? They were all signed and belonged to someone else. If he wanted to give them away, he would have to go to the Xinhua Bookstore to buy new ones.
Fortunately, they were born into a big family, knew how to advance and retreat, and didn't make this request. Even because Zhou's mother urged them to eat, they didn't even flip through the pages much.
"Mm, the heat of this pork kidney is just right, sister-in-law, you try it too, it's no worse than what you make." Once the chopsticks started moving, the aunt tried the dishes one after another: "Mm, this stinky mandarin fish is also not bad, it's made with moldy tofu, right?"
Li Heng nodded, "Yes, over in our Xiangnan, we all use moldy tofu, which is considered a characteristic way of making Xiang cuisine."
After tasting them, the aunt said: "They are all quite delicious, but I love the winter bamboo shoot slices and the cured wild rabbit the most. How did you make these two dishes? Teach me."
Seeing everyone looking over, Li Heng didn't hide anything and talked about the way of making Jianghu cuisine.
After speaking, he pointed to the dog meat with winter bamboo shoots, stir-fried pork kidney, and cured wild rabbit, and asked: "These three dishes all have some chili, are you used to it?"
The uncle laughed and said: "You are already taking care of us, right? The chili should be much less than usual. Although it's a bit spicy, I'm a bit hooked now, the more I eat, the more I want to eat, I can't stop at all."
With wine and dishes, the slight spiciness was even more enjoyable, and the table of people ate happily.
Don't look at how Zhou's mother didn't speak much, but from the frequency of her chopsticks, it could be seen that she still recognized her daughter's statement. Li Heng was very good at cooking. Although these dishes couldn't be counted as big or famous dishes, they were very appetizing and delicious.
The aunt reminded her husband: "We still have to drive in the afternoon, drink less wine."
"It's okay, I know what I'm doing." The uncle said it was okay, but his mouth reduced the amount of wine he drank, instead accelerating the speed of eating.
This meal had good food and good wine, and chatting while eating lasted for about an hour before it ended.
After the meal, the couple, the aunt and uncle, hurriedly washed their hands and huddled on the sofa again, not mentioning going home at all, which made it hard for Zhou's mother to urge them.
Zhou's mother said to her daughter: "Take Mom to your place to see."
Zhou Shihe said okay.
As the mother and daughter left, Mai Sui thoughtfully said to Li Heng: "You go to the study to do your work, I'll wash the dishes, I'll take good care of Shihe's family."
"Mm, okay." Li Heng entered the study and got busy with today's task.
Writing is like pounding rice cakes; you have to keep pounding and pounding, you have to pound in one go, otherwise, if you stop in the middle, you will develop a sense of slackness for a long time, and then you won't be able to persist, and you will become impotent early.
Li Heng had too much experience with this kind of thing; he didn't dare not touch the book all day long, because if he did, he would definitely want to play the next day, and if he played and played, he would be ruined.
Next door, the 26th small building.
Zhou's mother went around every room on the first and second floors, and suddenly asked: "Are Mai Sui and Li Heng dating?"
Zhou Shihe replied: "No."
Zhou's mother turned her head, "Oh? Did Mom see it wrong?"
Zhou Shihe said: "Li Heng has someone else."
Zhou's mother asked: "Yu Laoshi?"
Zhou Shihe was between laughter and tears: "Why did you guess Yu Laoshi?"
Zhou's mother said: "During the winter vacation, fearing that you would have an accident, the family did a little investigation on Yu Laoshi and found that Yu Laoshi seems to rarely be so attentive to the opposite sex."
Zhou Shihe smiled, "The Yu family should have taken a fancy to Li Heng, but Li Heng's partner is studying at Shanghai Medical College."
Zhou's mother was stunned: "The Yu family took a fancy to Li Heng?"
"Mm, specifically speaking, it should be Yu Laoshi's mother." Zhou Shihe told her everything.
The reason for doing this was so that she didn't want her mother to think too much.
Women love gossip, regardless of wealth or status; they are born with a heart for gossip. Zhou's mother became interested: "Tell Mom in detail."
Zhou Shihe pondered for a while and briefly described Shen Xin's performance when she came to Lushan Village.
After listening patiently, Zhou's mother pondered and said: "In that case, it explains it."
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(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 336 =====
Chen Siya continued, "Regarding your program on the Spring Festival Gala, Old Fu and I watched the rebroadcast three times. Li Heng and Zhou Shihe looked at each other with such tacit understanding five times during the performance. How should I put it? I can't quite describe it for a moment, but if you have time—"
"Siya, come here for a second."
Before Chen Siya could finish her sentence, her father called her from over there. She said, "I'll go over first; let's chat more later."
Yu Shuheng nodded. After watching her best friend leave, her gaze fell once again on Li Heng, Mai Sui, and Zhou Shihe.
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