Chapter 602

Wu Yili smiled and nodded, then asked with concern: "Have you called home yet?"

Zhou Shihe replied: "Not yet."

She had originally planned to call home, but a series of events had thrown her into disarray, and she'd simply put it off for now.

In truth, her purpose in giving him the blank paper was very simple: to refuse—to reject his feelings.

But that man had stared at the blank paper for hours, probably conjuring up countless thoughts—and yet she had no energy to call him out on it.

Wu Yili said: "Go call home and let them know you're safe. Your mother already called the concert venue."

"Mm."

Zhou Shihe murmured, picked up the landline on the nightstand, and dialed skillfully.

Soon, the line connected, and a voice came through: "Hello."

"Mom, it's me," Zhou Shihe said.

Seeing the mother and daughter were now connected, Wu Yili went to the living room, giving them space.

Zhou's mother asked: "How do you like Singapore?"

To be honest, Zhou Shihe's emotions were tangled and sour, but she was the type to only share good news—so she said: "It's fine, Mom, don't worry."

Zhou's mother said: "You haven't called in so long, I thought something had happened. Is Li Heng with you?"

Zhou Shihe said: "Yes."

Zhou's mother asked: "Wu teacher said Yu Shuheng hasn't arrived yet?"

Zhou Shihe said: "Teacher Yu has something to attend to—he'll arrive tomorrow."

At that moment, the phone line went silent.

After a long pause, Zhou's mother spoke: "If I'd known it would be like this, I should've dropped everything and come to Singapore with you."

Some words need no explanation.

Even though Zhou's mother never mentioned Li Heng outright, Zhou Shihe heard it clearly—her mother was uneasy about Li Heng.

But Zhou's mother was a civilized woman; she wouldn't name names without concrete evidence.

Of course, in the past, she would never have raised this issue at all.

But during her earlier call with Wu Yili, Wu had gushed over Li Heng—and subtly suggested matchmaking her beloved student with him, even hinting at seeking Zhou's mother's opinion?

That call from Wu Yili had plunged Zhou's mother into deep thought. In principle, she strongly resisted such matchmaking, for she knew the hidden emotional bond between Yu Shuheng and Li Heng—and that Li Heng already had an official girlfriend, Xiao Han, and a close confidante, Mai Sui.

These were all publicly known women.

At the same time, Wu Yili's subtle suggestion forced Zhou's mother to consider the worst possibility: Had her daughter developed feelings for Li Heng? Had Wu sensed something and proposed matchmaking because of it?

So her earlier remark wasn't really a warning to Li Heng—it was a test of her daughter.

A test to see whether her daughter had any emotional entanglement with Li Heng.

As sharp as Zhou Shihe was, she understood her mother's worry perfectly—she replied carefully: "If you want to come see the concert live, you still have time."

Zhou Shihe didn't mention Li Heng directly, but her tone was open and clear: Mom can come anytime to check for herself.

As expected, the response worked well—Zhou's mother's doubts vanished. It seemed Wu Yili had simply admired Li Heng so much that she wanted to pair him with her daughter.

But to be fair, in Zhou's mother's eyes: Li Heng was indeed outstanding—so outstanding that his humble rural origins could be overlooked. Yet this young man was no saint—he caused trouble wherever he went.

In just one and a half years in Shanghai, he'd tangled with several women—including his own university teacher, Yu Shuheng.

From a certain perspective, this was still quite bad—it severely damaged his reputation.

Finally, Zhou's mother asked curiously: "What is Li Heng doing?"

Zhou Shihe wasn't sure, because she'd gone straight to her room earlier, while that man had been sitting on the sofa staring at the blank paper.

Zhou Shihe said: "Probably writing in the study."

Zhou's mother was slightly surprised: "So hardworking? Even in Singapore, he's not going out to explore?"

Zhou Shihe said: "He's always diligent. Hmm… he might also be waiting for Teacher Yu."

Zhou's mother fully trusted her daughter and dropped the subject; after chatting for over ten minutes, she hung up.

After ending the call, Zhou Shihe stepped out of the room.

Wu Yili checked her watch and said to her student: "It's dinnertime. Let's call Li Heng and go out to eat together."

Zhou Shihe hesitated: "It might interrupt his writing flow."

Hearing this, Wu Yili said: "Then wait a bit longer. Call him in an hour—we still need to take you to the concert venue tonight to get familiar with the setting."

Zhou Shihe agreed.

While waiting, the teacher and student continued discussing piano technique.

An hour later, under her teacher's gaze, Zhou Shihe slowly rose and walked to Li Heng's door, knocking gently.

"Knock knock knock!"

"Knock knock knock!"

…

At that moment, Li Heng was writing the latter half of Chapter 27 of *The Dust Settles*:

Two servants came forward, one on each side, crouching beside me; I sat on their shoulders as we slowly returned to our camp.

…

He was in the thick of it, enjoying his writing, when the door suddenly knocked—he ignored it, as if he hadn't heard, and kept writing.

After two knocks with no response, Zhou Shihe decisively gave up knocking.

About ten minutes later, Li Heng finished the final paragraph of Chapter 27, rubbed his aching wrist, set down his pen, and opened the door.

He immediately saw Zhou Shihe in the living room, gazing out the window at the distant skyline.

He stared at her back for a long moment, then sighed silently and asked: "Where's Wu teacher? Hasn't she come back yet?"

Hearing his voice, Zhou Shihe half-turned and said gently: "Seeing you were busy, the teacher ordered food—hotel service will bring it up to the room."

Li Heng felt ashamed—he'd come to cheer them on, yet had gotten lost in writing.

After the brief exchange, the two fell silent.

Their eyes met—her gaze no longer avoided his as it had in the afternoon; she looked directly at him, neither speaking nor moving, yet everything was understood.

After a long while, he stretched, stepped out of the room, and stood before her, boldly whispering: "Do you think I overthought things this afternoon? That the blank paper was really just you not knowing what to write? Isn't that right?"

Before she could answer, he added: "Tell me the truth—I've got a splitting headache."

Zhou Shihe glanced at him, turned away, and looked back out the window—neither denying nor confirming his words.

Watching her, Li Heng ventured: "What if you give me the note back?"

Zhou Shihe said, "Okay," and walked straight to her own room without hesitation.

Seeing this, Li Heng hurried to backtrack: "Never mind, keep it. They probably already know exactly what kind of person I am… sigh…"

He was warning her: don't bother using that note against "them"—it won't work.

Zhou Shihe looked down at her toes, stopped walking, then quietly turned her gaze back to the window, treating him like air.

No more words. The living room fell utterly silent—until Wu Yili returned and broke the tension.

Wu Yili walked in and asked him: "Did I interrupt your writing?"

Of course she had—but since it was done, Li Heng denied it outright: "No, I just finished."