Chapter 393: , An Unexpected Encounter

Opening the door to Zhou Shihe's strange gaze, Li Heng felt a bit awkward.

But he was only awkward for a fleeting moment; the next second, he greeted her like nothing had happened: "Comrade Shihe, good evening."

Zhou Shihe looked at his mouth, then at the corner of his clothes covered in red marks, and then handed him Mai Sui's bag, saying gently: "There's a handkerchief in the bag. The restroom is over there in the hallway."

Her voice was not loud, nor was it sharp, yet it pierced straight to the heart.

Li Heng: "..."

He took the bag, retrieved the handkerchief, went to the restroom, and facing the mirror, used his palms to cup water and thoroughly washed his mouth.

Damn it, what is this lipstick stuff? Kissing gets it everywhere.

After cleaning up, Li Heng returned to the hallway and asked Zhou Shihe: "Are you waiting for me?"

Zhou Shihe nodded slightly, "There are still seats in the corner of the front row of the auditorium. Do you want to go sit?"

She was entrusted by Mai Sui to wait for him here specifically.

Li Heng shook his head, "No, I have no interest in this art performance. You go watch it; I'll just head back to Lushan Village."

Zhou Shihe gave him another strange look, understanding that he had come specifically to find Mai Sui, and now that he had succeeded, he couldn't wait to leave.

She pondered for a moment and said: "I'll go back with you."

"Huh? You're not watching it? It's a rare event once a semester," Li Heng asked.

Zhou Shihe walked in front, heading toward the exit of the hallway, "It's not good."

Seeing this, Li Heng paused in place for a few seconds, then followed after her.

It had rained heavily last night, but tonight the sky was interwoven with stars, incomparably brilliant.

After leaving Xianghui Hall, Zhou Shihe walked straight toward Lushan Village. When they were about to reach the alley entrance, she, who had been quiet the whole way, suddenly asked: "Li Heng, can I ask you a question?"

Li Heng, who had been strolling leisurely behind her looking around, gathered his focus and said: "Go ahead."

Zhou Shihe thought for a moment and asked: "Will you be responsible for Mai Sui in the future?"

With his gaze falling on her slender back, Li Heng barely hesitated: "I will!"

Zhou Shihe asked again: "Then will you marry her?"

This was the first time the two had openly pierced the window paper. In the past, Zhou Shihe had always avoided talking about him and Mai Sui, pretending not to see.

But today, she couldn't keep pretending, because to continue pretending would be an insult to the intelligence of all three of them, which is why she asked this unprecedented question.

She was very curious: he was blatantly provoking two beautiful women, how would he end this later?

Wasn't he afraid of Xiao Han making a scene?

At the same time, she always felt something was wrong in her heart; he seemed to have alternative thoughts about her. Once or twice, she could deceive herself and pretend not to know.

But after it happened many times, she couldn't comfort herself anymore.

After all, when they were alone, the look he inadvertently cast at her couldn't be fake.

For this reason, she was now a bit confused and also a bit worried.

If it were an ordinary girl, being favored by such an outstanding boy, her heart would be very delighted.

But she wasn't; she felt more depressed, helpless, and lost.

Because she was now caught between him and Mai Sui—on one side was a good sister, and on the other was a talented young scholar. Honestly speaking, putting aside the occasional strange atmosphere, she actually quite liked being with both of them.

Fortunately, whenever Li Heng realized he was losing his composure, he would decisively withdraw and not pester her; this was the only thing that made Zhou Shihe feel at ease.

Because of this, in her heart, Li Heng was still considered an upright gentleman.

From beginning to end, he would never make excuses for losing his composure, nor would he try to explain anything to her, but instead acted in a carefree and clean-cut manner. This was, in its own way, a kind of character.

Seeing him silent, Zhou Shihe glanced at him from the corner of her eye, then stopped asking, walking with a steady, light pace through the alley.

She didn't know if it was an illusion.

At this very moment, she felt as if she had merged with the surrounding environment. Looking at her thin back, Li Heng felt very peaceful in his heart.

Walking to the end of the alley, Li Heng casually offered a polite remark: "Do you want to go to my place and sit for a while?"

Zhou Shihe pondered for a short while and actually agreed.

Li Heng took out his keys to open the small building at No. 26 and smiled: "You're here for the sequel to 'Bai Luyuan', right?"

With her little secret exposed, Zhou Shihe smiled knowingly and admitted it generously: "Yes. I only read up to Chapter 31. I wanted to find you to read the book yesterday afternoon, but you were busy then."

Li Heng pushed open the main gate and turned on the electric light, "How does it feel?"

"It's quite good." Zhou Shihe had always felt in her heart that 'Bai Luyuan' would push the literary status of the man in front of her to a new height.

Her reason for this judgment was that she hadn't had such a strong desire to chase after a book like this in a long time.

However, she was an introverted person and wouldn't easily express these thoughts.

It was precisely because of her love for 'Bai Luyuan' and his super talent in music that Zhou Shihe was much more tolerant of him than other men.

Changing shoes and going up to the second floor, Li Heng asked her, "Go to my study? Or read on the sofa?"

Zhou Shihe said, "The sofa."

The answer was completely within expectations. After Li Heng went to the study to take out the manuscript for Chapters 31 to 38, he went back into the study and started working on his own things.

Quietly watching him leave, quietly listening to the door close, Zhou Shihe then lowered her head to look at the manuscript in her hand, then chose the most familiar spot to sit down and began to flip through the book manuscript.

Time immersed in the world of a book often passes very quickly. Just as she was lost in thought, a knock on the door came from the first floor.

Hearing the sound, Zhou Shihe subconsciously raised her head to look at the study. Seeing no movement, she put down the manuscript and walked to the balcony outside, leaning out to look down.

Hmm? Is it her?

Coming at this hour?

Zhou Shihe raised her right wrist to check the time, 7:12.

In this season, it usually doesn't get dark until around 8 o'clock. Zhou Shihe lowered her right hand and cast her gaze down again.

Almost at the same time, the knocking below stopped, and Xiao Han, who felt something, also raised her head, looking up at the balcony.

In an instant, the two women looked at each other across the air.

One stood on the balcony, the other stood at the courtyard gate, looking at each other, neither making a sound.

After a while, Zhou Shihe, who had reacted, smiled gently at Xiao Han, then walked back to the living room, headed toward the stairwell, and in a short while reached the courtyard, opening the courtyard gate.

Just now it was looking at each other across the air; now it became looking at each other across the gate, sizing up each other's appearance and attire.

After a long while, Xiao Han made a crisp sound, smiled sweetly, and asked: "Is my man here?"

"He is." While Zhou Shihe spoke politely, she stepped aside.

Xiao Han stepped into the courtyard and asked again: "Is there anyone else upstairs?"

"He is in the study." Zhou Shihe answered the question indirectly, not following the other party's way of speaking.

Xiao Han's delicate nose wrinkled imperceptibly, thinking to herself that the other party was not an easy person to deal with. At the same time, she sighed secretly: Mr. Li is just this kind of man, always loving big beauties, and never lacking beauties around him.

PS: Have some things to deal with, that's all for today.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 394 =====