Chapter 540: Oh no! A Four-Time Married Man Caught Red-Handed by His Family!

Left the cafeteria.

Li Heng asked, "Why are you alone? Where are Mai Sui and the others?"

Zhou Shihe said, "Tomorrow's weekend, the school has a freshman sports meet—the Student Union is in a meeting."

Li Heng sighed, "So that's why. Time really flies—we've already been at Fudan for over a year."

Zhou Shihe gave a soft hum.

On the way back to Lushan Village, Li Heng feared the silence would grow stiff, so he started making small talk: "When's the guy coming to install the phone?"

Zhou Shihe answered, "Tomorrow morning."

Li Heng joked, "You better watch out for me—remember to lock your door. I've got a habit of freeloading phone calls."

Zhou Shihe smiled knowingly, "I'll give you a spare key to the house—you can call anytime."

Li Heng was surprised, "Really? Then I can call from morning till night."

Zhou Shihe smiled but said nothing.

As they reached the end of Lushan Village's alley and hadn't yet pulled out their key, Yu Shuheng called out from the attic: "Li Heng, Shihe, come up here for a moment."

Li Heng and Zhou Shihe exchanged glances, opened the gate of No. 25, and stepped inside.

As soon as they entered, Yu Shuheng had already come down from the second floor, holding several remittance slips; she handed two of them to Zhou Shihe:

"Shihe, this is yours—1. million."

"Thank you, Teacher," Zhou Shihe accepted it calmly, glanced at it briefly, and tucked it away.

Yu Shuheng then extended the remaining slips to Li Heng: "This is 9. million."

Li Heng didn't take them: "Isn't this meant to be capital injection into Hengyuan Investment? I'd rather not bother—I'd appreciate it if you'd just transfer it directly into the company."

Upon hearing "Hengyuan Investment," Zhou Shihe's gaze flickered between the two, then she offered Yu Shuheng a faint smile and turned to leave first.

Yu Shuheng caught every subtle movement in her peripheral vision and smiled slightly, "Fine."

She continued, "Professor Fu has successfully resigned."

Li Heng asked, "Did the president agree?"

Yu Shuheng said, "His heart's no longer here—keeping him would be meaningless."

Li Heng asked, "When will Fu and his family move out?"

Yu Shuheng said, "Within half a month. Siya said they'll all get together then—invite Mai Sui and the others."

"Sure thing," Li Heng readily agreed.

Yu Shuheng glanced at the rice bowl in his hand, "Ate in the cafeteria today?"

Li Heng said, "I ate with some classmates. Did you eat yet, Teacher?"

Yu Shuheng said with meaning, "Your Aunt Shen Xin will bring me lunch soon—would you like to stay and join us?"

Li Heng immediately thought of an excuse: "I'm going to Xuhui later."

Yu Shuheng asked, "Today? Didn't you usually go only on weekends?"

Li Heng replied without hesitation, "There's something I need to take care of at your place."

Yu Shuheng half-closed her eyes but didn't call him out on his excuse.

After chatting a while, Li Heng remembered what Mai Sui had said last night and asked, "Is my senior and Su Yun really together?"

Yu Shuheng stretched lazily, expressionless: "Your senior is just a man of outward virtue."

Li Heng pressed, "What do you mean?"

Yu Shuheng said, "Half a month ago, after learning about Su Yun and Liao's affair, Jiao Jiao in Beijing sent someone to dig up your senior's past. Guess what? It shocked her."

"In the eight years since Liao's wife passed away, your senior has been involved with four women—all highly educated women, concentrated in television and customs. All aged between thirty-five and forty."

Li Heng was stunned, blurted out: "My senior's that bad?"

A strange glint flashed in Yu Shuheng's deep eyes as she stared at him, half-smiling.

Li Heng realized his slip and blinked: "Oops, my bad—don't misunderstand. My senior's actually quite decent."

Yu Shuheng mocked, "He's decent—charming, dashing. Jiao Jiao told me every woman still has feelings for him."

Li Heng winced: "Digging into someone's private life isn't a good habit."

Yu Shuheng leaned in, voice soft and sweet: "Little man, who are you talking about?"

Li Heng frowned, "You've always wanted to marry me—why keep calling me 'little man'? It sounds awful."

Yu Shuheng smiled, "So you're agreeing to marry me? I'll quit tomorrow."

Li Heng kissed her lips, then fell silent.

Yu Shuheng traced her lips with her finger, saying thoughtfully, "For that kiss, I'll let you off easy. Actually, even without Jiao Jiao's investigation, Su Yun's family would've looked into him. Their resistance is strong."

Li Heng widened his eyes, still surprised: "So they really are together?"

Yu Shuheng gave a slight nod: "Su Yun confirmed it herself—they got together before leaving A'ba a month ago."

At this, the two, lost in their own thoughts, fell silent.

After a moment of mutual gaze, Li Heng sighed, "My senior really has charisma—I was blind before."

Yu Shuheng teased, "That's why you're brothers."

Li Heng: "..."

He said, "Once I called him and heard a woman in bed with him—I thought it was his wife."

Yu Shuheng gave him a strange look: "You're that close to him and you didn't even know if he had a wife?"

Li Heng sighed, "Don't bring it up—I never asked, never visited his home. He and Zou Ping misled me. Zou Ping once mentioned 'sister-in-law' right in front of me, and my senior never denied it—I just assumed his first wife was still alive."

Yu Shuheng said, "Today, Su Yun's older brother and his wife contacted me—they're also probing into your senior's background."

Li Heng asked, "What did you say?"

Yu Shuheng said, "I didn't answer directly. They might come to Shanghai soon."

Li Heng thought—he'd better tell Liao the editor-in-chief.

Judging by the time, Aunt Shen Xin should be arriving soon—he took his leave: "Teacher, I'll go now—I need to get to Xiao Lin's before dinner."

Yu Shuheng said nothing, walking him out to the courtyard.

Back home, as Li Heng finished washing the rice bowl, Zhou Shihe stepped in lightly, palm holding a set of keys—from the gate of No. 27 to the house itself.

She placed the keys in his hand, gently: "Don't look at me like that—it's just reciprocity."

Reciprocity meant: during summer break, Li Heng had given her the key to No. 26; now she returned the favor, mainly to make it easier for him to use the phone.

Of course, unconsciously, she also had a small selfish motive: she didn't want him running over to the opposite No. 25 every chance he got—each visit reduced the chance for Suisui and him to correct their progress.

Especially after hearing "Hengyuan Investment," she felt deep worry for her best friend. Without realizing it, Yu Teacher and he had become so tightly entangled—not just emotionally, but financially too. That combination was terrifying.

Li Heng weighed the keys in his hand, asked, "What look? Happy beyond words? Or rolling my eyes?"

Zhou Shihe smiled softly, then walked away quietly.

After a quick tidy-up, Li Heng didn't linger—he left Lushan Village before Aunt Shen Xin arrived.

While waiting for the bus, he ran into Wei Xiaozhu, Liu Yanling, and Le Yao.

Wei Xiaozhu and Liu Yanling chatted quietly.

Le Yao stood aside, silent, her brow heavy with worry.

Seeing him, Liu Yanling, clutching her 36D, asked, "Hey, genius, where are you going?"

Li Heng answered, "To Xuhui."

Upon hearing "Xuhui," the three girls understood—he was going to see his official girlfriend.

They used the term "official girlfriend" because everyone at Fudan was speculating about Li Heng and Mai Sui's real relationship.

Some said they were just close friends.

Others said they were soulmates.

Some claimed Mai Sui was Li Heng's mistress.

Others said Mai Sui and Xiao Han were competing for Li Heng.

Rumors about them were endless, spawning hundreds of versions—after all, Li Heng was famous; everyone loved gossiping over tea and meals.

But no matter the version, Mai Sui had been permanently branded as "Li Heng's"—no one dared to bother or harass her at Fudan. Though not a top leader in the Student Union, she held a superior status.

Both former chair Zhao Menglong and current chair He Xiao treated Mai Sui with great respect.

As Sun Manning and Ye Ning put it: "Hmph, Suisui's got someone backing her—she can walk all over the place. Even Chair He Xiao always chats with her before every meeting."

The bus arrived. Li Heng noticed the three girls paid for Jing'an and asked, "You're going this far too?"

Liu Yanling said, "My second sister studies there. Xiaozhu and Le Yao are coming with me to visit."

Perhaps because some afternoon classes were still in session, few boarded—the four easily found window seats.

Liu Yanling and Le Yao sat together up front.

Behind them, Wei Xiaozhu didn't avoid proximity—she sat right beside him, then pulled out a few mint candies from her bag and offered them: "Li Heng, want one?"

Li Heng grabbed one at random: "You like these? Did I miss something?" Wei Xiaozhu explained, "I never eat candy normally, but I get car sick on buses—these help."

The four ate candy and chatted as the bus moved.

Well, really, only three chatted—Le Yao hadn't spoken a word since they met.

As the bus passed near Tongji University, an unexpected person boarded: Wu Siyao.

Well, that's not quite right—it wasn't unexpected. This girl has been stalking him on buses for over a year; it's only normal when she doesn't show up.

As usual, Wu Siyao scanned the bus the moment she boarded. When she spotted Li Heng, her eyes lit up.

But when she saw Wei Xiaozhu sitting beside him, her lips twitched slightly. After a few seconds of hesitation, she walked toward Li Heng's area.

Wu Siyao sat in the seat directly in front of Li Heng, then steeled her expression. When her face broke into a radiant smile, she turned and greeted him: "Hello, again."

Again? Seriously? You're clearly scheming, you know.

But you don't hit someone who smiles at you, so Li Heng calmly replied, "Hello."

Driven by feminine intuition, Wei Xiaozhu, Liu Yanling, and Le Yao secretly observed Wu Siyao with unusual glances.

Wu Siyao sensed someone sneaking glances at her, so she abandoned verbal communication, bit her cute cheeks, pulled out a pen and sticky note from her bag, gathered her courage, and wrote a note, then shoved it straight into Li Heng's hand.

The three women's gazes followed it down to Li Heng's hand.

The colorful little sticky note stood out sharply, drawing every eye from the back corner of the bus.

Li Heng looked down.

On the paper were four characters: "Chapter Eleven."

He instantly understood—the girl in front told him they had met on the bus eleven times.

He had expected Wu Siyao to keep passing notes, but to everyone's surprise, she became well-behaved and never disturbed Li Heng again for the rest of the ride.

Only when they reached Hongkou did Wu Siyao hand him another note, then lowered her head, avoiding his eyes, and rushed out the back door like a typhoon.

The second note lay palm-up in his hand; he couldn't see what was written on the front. Liu Yanling leaned forward, her eyes bulging as she kept glancing at the paper, then asked Li Heng, "Aren't you going to look?"

Li Heng said, "Nothing worth seeing."

Le Yao urged him, "Look! She's pretty—I and Xiaozhu are both curious."

Wei Xiaozhu laughed and clarified, "Don't drag me in—I'm not curious."

Under the three women's stares, Li Heng flipped the note over—and immediately smiled.

Written on it: "Li Heng, why are you always surrounded by such beautiful girls? Do you even leave room for anyone else to live? Next time, can you ride alone?"

The "beautiful girl" clearly referred to Wei Xiaozhu.

Clearly, Wu Siyao had decided today was hopeless and got off at Hongkou early.

Indeed, as soon as she stepped off, she ran across the street to wait for a bus back to Yangpu.

Her plan was: if she happened to meet Li Heng on the bus, she could follow him all the way to Xuhui, where she had a fellow townsman at the Medical University and could spend the night. If she could ride with him again the next day or the day after, that would be perfect.

But then Wei Xiaozhu, a beauty with a legendary reputation, appeared out of nowhere. Realizing she had no chance today, Wu Siyao had to give up.

Liu Yanling stretched her neck out. "What do you mean 'always surrounded by beautiful girls'? Li the Great Writer, did you used to take Mai Sui to Xuhui all the time?"

Li Heng didn't want to go there. He turned to Dai Qing: "Did Dai Qing go to the meeting today?"

Wei Xiaozhu said, "Yes."

"She's amazing—she's already vice chair of the student union. If she keeps this up, next year she'll be chair." Li Heng still couldn't reconcile the petite girl he saw outside with the title of vice chair.

Of course, "petite" was relative.

Dai Qing's real height was said to be 160 cm—tall by the standards of Shaoguan's rural villages, even considered tall.

But compared to the girls from Lushan Village, she seemed short: the shortest among them, Zhou Shihe, stood a full 164 cm.

Sun Man was 166, Mai Sui 168, Yu Guang 174, Ye Ning 176. —each taller than Dai Qing.

Liu Yanling said, "You've put a filter lens on our Qingqing. She's been secretly in love with you but can't have you. So she's always careful around you—but her abilities are truly outstanding."

Li Heng, Wei Xiaozhu, and Liu Yanling chatted all the way. Le Yao leaned against the window, listless and silent from start to finish.

When the bus reached Jing'an, the three women got off.

Watching Li Heng leave, Wei Xiaozhu asked Le Yao, "Are you okay?"

Le Yao instinctively pressed her hand to her lower abdomen: "I'm fine."

Liu Yanling said, "Xiaozhu, you take care of Le Yao—I'll flag down a cab."

Wei Xiaozhu nodded, took Le Yao's arm, and kept comforting her.

In truth, all three women had planned to go to Xuhui, but after bumping into Li Heng at the school gate, they changed their minds and got off at Jing'an.

The bus continued forward. As it neared Shanghai Medical University, Li Heng got off and bought snacks and fruit that Xiao Han liked at a nearby department store.

He also bought treats for Xiao Han's roommates in 303: chocolates, canned goods, candies, and so on.

His cunning wife, like Song Yu, had high emotional intelligence and knew how to handle people well. She got along excellently with her roommates. Every time he visited, he had to bribe them slightly to leave a good impression—good for Xiao Han.

Entering the campus, he walked straight to the girls' dormitory. Before he could speak, the dorm supervisor's loudspeaker blared automatically:

"Xiao Han from 303! Xiao Han from 303! Someone's looking for you downstairs!"

"Xiao Han from 303! Xiao Han from 303! Someone's looking for you downstairs!"

At that moment, besides Liu Xinyue, Chen Yi, Liu Xin, and Xiao Han, two visitors were in 303: Wei Shiman and Xiao Qing.

Xiao Qing had been working at Huaxi Hospital in Shu Province and was sent to Shanghai for exchange and study. When she learned her eldest daughter was going to Shanghai, Wei Shiman dropped everything and followed her to visit Xiao Han.

Hearing the loudspeaker, the previously lively 303 dorm fell silent. The other girls all turned to look at Xiao Han.

Liu Xin, blunt and outspoken, teased, "Hanhann, it's definitely your boyfriend."

Liu Xin was so sure because no male student at Shanghai Medical University ever visited Xiao Han—how could anyone compare to Li Heng? Who had his talent? His wealth?

No one did. No male student at Shanghai Medical University could match him in every way.

Even if you lowered the standard by half, still no one.

If no one could match him, who would dare bother Xiao Han?

Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?

Boys didn't dare approach Xiao Han. Girls who wanted to see her just walked right into the dorm—no need for the supervisor to shout.

So when the loudspeaker rang, the girls in 303 instantly knew who was downstairs.

Liu Xin was delighted. Xiao Han, however, was speechless, blinking rapidly to signal her roommates not to mention "boyfriend."

She hadn't expected Li Heng to return from Aba so soon—and worse, her mother and older sister had just arrived.

The word "boyfriend" struck a nerve with Wei Shiman. She turned instantly from tidying her daughter's desk and asked, "Boyfriend? What boyfriend? Xiao Han, have you found a boyfriend here?"

At once, the air in 303 froze.

Liu Xin finally realized she'd messed up—and understood why Xiao Han had been subtly winking at her. So Xiao Han and Li Heng were dating… and her family didn't know?

The girls in 303 were baffled. How could Xiao Han hide such an amazing boyfriend?

Especially since their relationship was so deep—shouldn't she have told her family long ago?

With confusion in their hearts, the girls in 303 fell silent, watching the situation unfold.

Xiao Han glanced at her older sister for help, then forced herself to clear her throat: "Mom, I'll explain this to you later."

Saying that, Xiao Han stood up and walked toward the door.

Wei Shiman watched her daughter's back, thought for a moment, then followed her out.

Seeing this, Xiao Qing had no choice but to follow closely behind.

As the three women left, the girls in 303 finally exhaled.

Liu Xin looked crestfallen: "Did I just drag Hanhan down?"

Chen Yi said, "Clearly."

Liu Xinyue asked, "With a boyfriend this impressive, why would Xiao Han hide him from her family?"

Chen Yi analyzed: "Probably her family is strict—doesn't allow dating this early."

Liu Xinyue countered, "Strict or not, it depends on who the guy is. If I had a boyfriend like Li Heng, I'd parade him back to the village in a palanquin."

Chen Yi smiled and asked, "Should we go down and check?"

Guilty, Liu Xin shook her head violently: "You go—I'm not going."

Hearing that, Chen Yi and Liu Xinyue, who had been tempted, gave up.

From the third floor to the first was only four steps. Xiao Han walked down without her usual cheerfulness—her feet felt like they were filled with lead, her mind racing for a solution.

At the same time, she prayed desperately that the person downstairs wasn't her honey—but Professor Wen Yan.

She couldn't think of any good excuse to tell her mother: "My husband is a remarried man—I took half of him away from Chen Zijin."

Because she'd only taken half, she feared the explanation.

After all, everyone back in her old town knew about his past with Chen Zijin—and knew Li Heng and Chen Zijin hadn't broken up yet. Suddenly this…

She couldn't bear to think further…

Xiao Han cut off the thought, gritted her teeth, and descended to the first floor. She crossed the long dormitory lobby and finally saw her honey.

No wonder she'd pined for him six years—he was still so beautiful, still smiled so healing…

But the next second—oh no! His face changed. He must have seen the demon behind me…

PS: First draft, to be revised later.

(End of Chapter)