Chapter 607: Red Ribbon, One Umbrella, Two People

Li Heng and Zhou Shihe exchanged glances, then both rose and followed back to the hotel.

After entering the hotel, Teacher Yu and Liu Bei hurried off, leaving only Li Heng and Zhou Shihe behind.

For some reason, when their gazes accidentally met, both grew pensive, then silently looked away, turning their eyes elsewhere.

To ease the gloomy atmosphere, Li Heng turned on the TV: “Can’t sleep in the room—let’s watch some TV together?”

Hearing this, Zhou Shihe sat quietly on the sofa, saying nothing, but her actions gave her answer.

After scanning every channel and finding nothing worth watching, Li Heng grew discouraged and handed her the remote:

“I’ve got bad luck with this TV—you’re always lucky. You try?”

Zhou Shihe smiled faintly, took the remote, flipped to a channel without commercials, then set it down.

During today’s performance, the music had stirred her emotions, causing her to slip up in front of him; now she didn’t want to meet his gaze, so she sought to distract them both:

“I want to call Suisui.”

Li Heng asked: “You want Suisui to come over sooner?”

Zhou Shihe didn’t hide it: “Yes, she’ll be bored alone at school.”

Li Heng asked: “It’s only the seventh tomorrow—won’t you go home?”

Zhou Shihe fell silent for a moment, then said yes.

Li Heng: “...”

These few short sentences seemed to say nothing, yet both understood everything.

But the words were spoken; there was nothing more to say now.

After a brief pause, Zhou Shihe turned off the TV and dialed the number.

Soon, the call connected—on the other end was Maidong’s voice: “Hello, who’s this?”

Zhou Shihe introduced herself: “Uncle, Happy New Year. This is Zhou Shihe—I’d like to speak with Suisui.”

Hearing it was a girl from the Zhou family, Maidong grew more solemn: “Suisui’s playing at a friend’s place. Wait five minutes and call back—I’ll go get her.”

Zhou Shihe politely replied and hung up.

Ten minutes later, she called again—this time it was Suisui’s voice.

Suisui asked: “Shihe?”

Zhou Shihe smiled: “It’s me.”

Suisui asked: “How was the performance today? Did it go well?”

Zhou Shihe glanced at him out of the corner of her eye: “It went well. We plan to return to China tomorrow morning—Suisui, would you and Mannings come earlier?”

Unexpectedly, Suisui said: “I can’t leave these few days—family relatives are getting married, I have to stay for the wedding feast.”

She added: “How about I come on the tenth?”

Zhou Shihe said: “Fine, I’ll book you and Mannings tickets for the afternoon of the tenth.”

“Mm.” Suisui hummed, and the two friends eagerly chatted about New Year festivities.

At first, Li Heng tried to guess their conversation from fragments, but soon he fell asleep unconsciously on the sofa.

After a while, Suisui finally asked about Li Heng: “Shihe, where’s Li Heng?”

Zhou Shihe said: “He’s asleep on the sofa—should I wake him?”

Suisui quickly replied: “No, he often stays up all night reading and writing. Let him sleep—he rarely gets to rest.”

“Cover him with a light blanket so he doesn’t catch a cold.”

Hearing her friend’s heartfelt words, Zhou Shihe felt a surge of emotion, then after a moment said: “Okay.”

After ending the call, Zhou Shihe placed the receiver back and turned to gaze fixedly at his face.

Long, long moments passed before she rose, found a blanket, and gently laid it over Li Heng’s stomach.

After finishing, she went to her bedroom, removed her makeup, took a shower, then slipped into a pure white nightgown and leaned half-reclined on the bed, reading.

Only reading could draw her into deep focus and make her forget the world outside.

Half an hour later, Yu Shuheng returned, opened the door, and saw Li Heng lying on the sofa, covered in a thin blanket.

Did Shihe cover him?

Yu Shuheng glanced at Zhou Shihe’s bedroom door, then changed her shoes, sat beside Li Heng, and stared at the sleeping young man—she felt a foreboding: peaceful days might not last much longer.

Li Heng didn’t wake until 2 a.m. that night.

When he opened his eyes, Teacher Yu, Zhou Shihe, and Wu Yili had all returned to their rooms; the living room was silent and empty.

After a shower, he found his sleep gone—he tossed and turned on the bed, unable to rest, so he got up to write, determined to refine Chapter 27 of “Dust Settles.”

But when he went to find his manuscript, he froze—the draft was still with Miss Zhou; he’d forgotten to take it during the day’s busyness.

Fine. After weighing his options, he gave up knocking on her door and instead spread out ink and paper, writing on a blank sheet: Chapter 28, Fate and Love.

The Ronggong chieftain chased his beautiful daughter out to the pasture.

When they arrived, I was dreaming—a loud, noisy dream. It was the flowers blooming wildly by the water, clamoring. Twice I nearly woke, faintly hearing someone say: “Let him sleep—being the young master of a powerful chieftain is exhausting.”

That night, Li Heng was in high spirits; he wrote with fluid grace until dawn, when he finally stopped.

If Yu Shuheng hadn’t interrupted him, he would’ve kept writing—he had no intention of stopping.

He looked up and asked: “Teacher, are we leaving?”

Yu Shuheng smiled and nodded, urging: “We depart in fifteen minutes—hurry and freshen up. I’ll pack your bags.”

“Alright.”

His luggage was light—just a few outfits and books—quickly done.

At 8:30 a.m., the flight from Singapore to Shanghai lifted off.

Watching Singapore shrink through the window, a sudden thought struck him: What if the plane crashes? Would all his hard-won fame and fortune vanish like smoke?

What about Huang Zhaoyi, with whom he’d been intimate?

He couldn’t bear to leave Suisui in this life.

Thinking of Suisui, he soon felt at peace—if the plane did crash, wouldn’t he return to his past life, resurrected right where he’d been struck by lightning?

Would Song Yu still be beside him?

Would Xiao Han, Zijin, and their four children still be waiting at home?

He would find Suisui—even if she were old. If the plane crashed, this thought took root in Li Heng’s mind.

Seeing him stare blankly out the window, Yu Shuheng followed his gaze and asked curiously: “What are you looking at?”

Li Heng hadn’t fully returned to reality—he answered instinctively: “I’m thinking.”

Yu Shuheng asked: “About what?”

Li Heng replied: “The plane crashing.”

The plane crashing? Yu Shuheng glanced again at the white clouds outside: “If the plane crashes, did you think of me?”

Li Heng answered: “No need to think—we’ll die together.”

Yu Shuheng smiled gently, wanting to cup his adorable face and kiss it twice.

Murphy’s Law did not strike this time—the plane landed safely in Shanghai Airport five hours later.

Wu Yili did not return to China.

Yu Shuheng dropped Zhou Shihe and Li Heng off at Fudan University and prepared to leave.

Before departing, Yu Shuheng spoke privately to Li Heng: “Siya fell ill suddenly—Fu Laoshi is overwhelmed caring for his wife and child, so I must go to Hengyuan Investment to hold things together.”

Li Heng asked anxiously: “What illness did Sister Chen get?”