Chapter 613

The sixteenth day of the first lunar month, morning.

Zhou Shihe and Sun Manning returned to school.

Yu Shuheng also rushed back from Tokyo.

It was a coincidence that the two groups of people arrived at the entrance of the Lushan Village alley almost at the same time.

Facing each other from a distance, Zhou Shihe called out first: "Teacher."

Yu Shuheng asked with a smile, "Didn't you stay at school?"

Zhou Shihe gave a light hum, "I went home for a visit."

Yu Shuheng nodded: "We're going to the Netherlands tomorrow; let's practice for a while this afternoon, the three of us."

Zhou Shihe replied okay.

Following Yu Shuheng into the alley, Sun Manning, who hadn't spoken on the side, sneakily pulled Zhou Shihe's clothes and asked with a confused face: "Hey! Can you two be any faker when you greet each other? With fake smiles, why can't I feel a bit of sincerity?"

Zhou Shihe asked gently, "What is called sincerity?"

"Like me, full of enthusiasm." Sun Manning comically revealed her teeth and laughed loudly.

Zhou Shihe laughed along, and then also walked into the alley.

Sun Manning chased after her and asked: "I don't understand, how can you two have such a big conflict? Is it really just because of the differences in musical philosophy?"

Zhou Shihe was quiet and didn't make a sound, continuing to walk.

Sun Manning wouldn't give up: "Could it be that it fulfills that saying, opposites attract, likes repel? You are both too beautiful, so you can't stand each other?"

Zhou Shihe's cherry mouth moved, but then she calmed down again.

Arriving at the end of Lushan Village, Sun Manning shouted excitedly in the middle of the alley: "Li Heng, come out quickly to receive guests; this girl is back, and I brought you something delicious."

Unexpectedly, it was Mai Sui who walked out of the small building No. 26, "Li Heng is not at home."

Sun Manning asked casually: "Where did he go?"

Mai Sui said: "He went to Xu Hui this morning."

"Xu Hui? He left you behind to go see Xiao Han?" Sun Manning asked cheekily.

Mai Sui didn't fall for the provocation, directly walking past her and talking to Zhou Shihe: "Shihe, have you two eaten lunch?"

Zhou Shihe shook her head: "Not yet."

Mai Sui said: "Neither have I. Hurry into the house and put down your luggage; we'll go to the Old Li Restaurant to eat."

Zhou Shihe said okay.

Sun Manning kept asking: "Mai Sui, having been nourished by a man for so long, are you treating us today?"

Mai Sui smiled and reached out to pinch her arm, "The professors of Lushan Village are all back; keep your voice down, or I'll sweep you out the door."

"Oh my! I'm so scared! If you don't want me, and Li Heng doesn't want me, there's still Shihe; I'll live with Shihe." Sun Manning said so, but her voice automatically lowered a lot.

Before leaving, Mai Sui also thoughtfully invited Yu Laoshi to have lunch together, but was politely refused by the latter, who said she was a bit tired from the flight and wanted to nap for half an hour first.

Li Heng indeed went to find Xiao Han. It was originally agreed to go to the train station to pick up Xiao Han on the twelfth day of the first lunar month, but the eldest sister Xiao Qing had something to do, so it was delayed, and in the end, they simply spent the Lantern Festival at home before coming out.

Xiao Han was very worried about Zhou Shihe and Yu Shuheng at first, but after learning that Mai Sui had come out, she wasn't so anxious anymore. Anyway, in her view, Mai Sui was less aggressive and wouldn't pose a fatal threat to her; having such a woman by her honey's side could effectively prevent Zhou Shihe and Yu Shuheng.

Of course, Xiao Han now tacitly accepted Mai Sui's existence, and another important reason was that she didn't want to treat all the beautiful women around him as imaginary enemies; otherwise, she would be isolated herself in the future.

After thinking it over, filtering through all the confidantes around Mr. Li, the one Xiao Han could accept most was precisely Mai Sui.

As for how she knew Mai Sui was in Lushan Village?

One word, simple!

Didn't Zhang Zhiyong open a noodle shop at the entrance of Fudan University?

The simpleton feared Xiao Han from the bottom of his heart, and after being blackmailed by this smiling tiger, he accidentally fell into the trap and revealed Mai Sui.

Li Heng had lunch at Professor Wen Yan's house. Hindered by the presence of the eldest sister Xiao Qing, hindered by the fact that Professor Wen Yan had a mess of things to clean up, and hindered by the fact that he had an appointment with Yu Laoshi to practice the repertoire in the afternoon, Li Heng didn't stay in Xu Hui for long.

After lunch, he took the Xiao Han sisters to visit the newly bought villa, and then hurried back to Fudan University, timing it just right.

Once Li Heng left, Xiao Qing let her mind go and toured the villa again, "It's really big, how many square meters was it again?"

Xiao Han said: "More than 1,600."

Xiao Qing spread her hands and spun twice on the grass, saying: "He's really good to you, Li Heng is truly generous, so willing to spend!"

Xiao Han smiled sweetly: "Sister, you should also pick a bedroom on the second floor; I'll decorate the interior according to your style."

"I already aimed for it, in the room opposite your master bedroom, see? The one by the window, just right for watching the white orchids outside." Xiao Qing pointed with her finger.

Looking over following her sister's finger, Xiao Han said crisply: "Good eye, you picked the best secondary bedroom."

Xiao Qing said: "I'm going to live here for more than a month; I'll do the room style myself."

Xiao Han asked: "Do you have that much money?"

Xiao Qing retorted: "I've been working for a few years, I have some savings; surely you can't help me pay for it."

Xiao Han pulled a bankbook out of her pocket like a magic trick, dragging out her tone: "Naturally, I have it."

Xiao Qing stared at the bankbook and asked: "How much money is inside?"

Xiao Han said: "50,000."

Xiao Qing asked: "Pocket money Li Heng gave you?"

Xiao Han had a shallow dimple, "Of course, he's the only man I have."

At this moment, envy appeared in Xiao Qing's eyes.

Since she was a child, she knew her younger sister had a good life. Not to mention possessing exquisite facial features and beauty that surpassed the small town, she had loved a boy for six years, and in the end, it was exchanged for an incomparably happy reward.

If there was one drawback, it was that Li Heng was a bit of a playboy.

But thinking from another angle, if a man had Li Heng's conditions, or half of them, it would probably be difficult to be emotionally exclusive, right?

Even if Li Heng's love for her little sister remained unchanged, he couldn't stop the equally excellent women outside, couldn't stop those women from throwing themselves at him like moths to a flame?

Li Heng could refuse thousands for her little sister, but what if there was a fish that slipped through the net?

What if he met one who could defeat her little sister in every aspect?

What if he met a woman who could happen to touch Li Heng's heart?

Well, in reality, there were no more "what ifs."

Song Yu was that fish that slipped through the net, Mai Sui counted as half, Chen Zijin counted as half, and Yu Laoshi counted as one.

As for Zhou Shihe, Xiao Qing didn't dare to think; if this one also became a fish that slipped through the net, then whether her little sister's status could be preserved would be very hard to say.

Especially when walking the red carpet in Singapore, Li Heng held Zhou Shihe with his left hand and Yu Shuheng with his right, which made many people fantasize, but it was not easy to rashly verify with the parties involved.

However, she still chose to believe in Li Heng, betting that Li Heng was the type of person who cherished old feelings.

With her thoughts returning, Xiao Qing asked: "Is it because I'm here that Li Heng isn't convenient to be intimate with you, so he went back to school?"

Xiao Han reached out to hold her sister's hand, cleared her throat, and said: "That's not it; he's going to the Netherlands tomorrow, and he has to practice the repertoire with his partner this afternoon."

Xiao Qing understood, "So that's it; no wonder you didn't follow him to Fudan University this afternoon."

Xiao Han admitted, "Performing abroad is a big deal; I don't want to go over and distract him."

Distract him from what?

How to distract him?

The two sisters knew each other well: if she went to Fudan University, she would inevitably run into Li Heng's other confidantes, and she was afraid of making him embarrassed.

Small building No. 27.

Around 2:30 PM, Li Heng, who had rushed back from Xu Hui, hurried to the piano room with his ocarina and erhu.

He didn't expect that Yu Shuheng and Zhou Shihe were already waiting inside. One woman was sitting quietly in front of the piano, and the other was standing by the window, both holding scores to review, without any verbal conversation.

In fact, they were already quite familiar with the scores; even if they closed their eyes, they could recite them by heart. The reason they still held the scores was to have a layer of window paper as a cover between each other.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late." Li Heng ran to the door in one breath, breaking a certain balance inside with his voice.

Zhou Shihe looked at him.

Yu Shuheng also turned her head and said warmly, "Rest for a bit first; there's no rush today, there should be enough time."

"Eh, okay." Li Heng walked in, closed the piano room door on his way, and then sat on the sofa to adjust his emotions.

After sitting for only a while, he felt something wrong in the room, so he made small talk: "Teacher, have you bought the plane tickets?"

"Bought them, the 8 AM flight tomorrow," Yu Shuheng said.

"Then we have to leave early," Li Heng said.

Yu Shuheng said: "We have to leave before dawn."

After a few minutes of brief exchange, Li Heng also sat in his designated position, on the chair to the left of the piano.

Seeing this, Yu Shuheng also returned to her position, "Let's practice 'Hometown's Original Scenery' first."

She was an elder and also their real university teacher; since she spoke, Li Heng and Zhou Shihe naturally had no objections.

"Hometown's Original Scenery" had been practiced countless times before, and with the musical talent of the three being above the standard line, when the emotions were brewed to the right place, there was simply no such thing as being "unfamiliar."

The first practice was the starting point and also the peak.

After eight or nine times, the three of them had a plan in mind and tacitly switched to "The Street Where the Wind Lives." Needless to say, this piece had been successfully performed in Singapore 10 days ago; as soon as they started, it was explosive, without any unnecessary wasted movements.

When playing "The Street Where the Wind Lives," Yu Shuheng kept an eye out, secretly observing the interaction between Li Heng and Zhou Shihe, as well as their micro-expressions.

As someone who understood music, Yu Shuheng naturally knew the power of this piece. Even someone as calm as Zhou Shihe couldn't help but have emotional fluctuations every time she played this piece.

And every time she fluctuated, it meant Zhou Shihe's heart had become a bit more tolerant toward someone.

This was an extremely dangerous signal.

If she could, Yu Shuheng didn't want to perform "The Street Where the Wind Lives" at all; changing to any other piece would be fine, she was just worried about this one.

Even in her view, if Li Heng and Zhou Shihe really stepped out of the first layer of emotional shackles in the future, then this "The Street Where the Wind Lives" would definitely have "contributed significantly" and could definitely be counted as the two's love song, their "matchmaker."

Without any accident, when the piece reached its most intense stage, Li Heng couldn't help but look at Zhou Shihe. The latter seemed to have eyes on her forehead; as soon as he moved, she felt it.

However, Zhou Shihe didn't interact with him this time, using great willpower to suppress a certain calling from deep within her heart, always keeping her head down to play the piano, never raising it.

After one piece was finished, Yu Shuheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But the situation didn't let her relax for too long; when "The Street Where the Wind Lives" was practiced for the fifth time, Zhou Shihe suddenly interrupted.

You heard that right, literally, interrupted!!!

I saw that Zhou Shihe's hands had already left the black and white keys, her frail figure sitting upright in front of the grand piano, her eyelids drooping, and it was a long time before she apologized: "Let's practice until here; I'm a bit dizzy, a bit tired, and want to eat something and sleep for a while."

Yu Shuheng looked at Zhou Shihe, then at Li Heng; she knew better than anyone: Zhou Shihe wasn't physically exhausted, but mentally drained.

As for why she was mentally drained, and for whom? Did that even need to be asked?

Everyone was a smart person and could guess one or two.

Yu Shuheng looked at Zhou Shihe meaningfully again, glanced at her watch, and then, while packing up her violin, said: "Today's practice was very good; it's almost mealtime now, Shihe, you eat something and rest well. Li Heng, come with me for a moment."

After saying this, Yu Laoshi left the piano room with her violin on her back, scurrying down the stairs and leaving the small building No. 27.

Once Yu Laoshi was gone, Li Heng put down the erhu and walked forward to ask Zhou Shihe with concern: "What do you want to eat? I'll go buy it for you?"

She hadn't completely woken up from the world of the music yet, and his voice was, to a certain extent, like a dose of poison, very deadly.

Fortunately, Zhou Shihe had good willpower, looking down quietly at the score, her nimble little mouth pursed tightly, ignoring him.

There were only two people left in the piano room, and the air in the room slowly became heavy, the atmosphere gradually becoming a bit subtle. Li Heng unconsciously took another step closer, looking fixedly at the fine, broken hair by her ear, especially wanting to reach out and brush it behind her ear like last time.

But he didn't.

A voice in his mind struggled to tell him: You can't do this.

Zhou Shihe seemed to have perceived his thoughts, her chest heaving a few times, calming down, and then her right hand tucked the scattered black hair behind her ear, her body retreating half a step back nonchalantly.

Farther away from him.

Sensing her defensive move, Li Heng was silent, then said: "Yu Laoshi should have something for me; I'll go over first. I'll call Mai Sui in later; whatever you want to eat, just tell her."

Zhou Shihe, who was sitting like a sculpture, had a reaction this time, humming weakly.

From beginning to end, she never raised her head or looked at him.

Seeing this, Li Heng tactfully didn't stay long, turned around, left the piano room, and went down the stairs.

Hearing the footsteps gradually fade away, Zhou Shihe's tense heartstrings immediately relaxed, and then her body, like a deflated ball, slumped softly onto the piano.

She used to cherish the piano very much and would never press her body on it like this.

But today, she was physically and mentally exhausted and couldn't care about that much anymore, just wanting a place to store the hesitation in her heart.

Why did you have to break in?

Can't those three women satisfy you?

For the first time, she didn't dare to escape again, clarifying that shadow in the bottom of her heart.

But she wanted to wipe it away, wanted to drive him away.

Coming out of the small building No. 27, Li Heng returned to his home for the first time.

Upon entering, he said to Mai Sui, who was tidying the sofa: "Mai Sui, Comrade Shihe is feeling a bit unwell; go take care of her, I have something to do at Yu Laoshi's."

Mai Sui stopped her work, straightened her body, and asked worriedly: "Is she very uncomfortable?"

Li Heng shook his head: "She should be hungry, low blood sugar."

Whether it was low blood sugar was another matter; anyway, it was mealtime, so it would be good to have a meal on the way, he thought.

Mai Sui said: "Okay, I'll go over now, you go get busy."

Li Heng nodded, put the ocarina and erhu on the sofa, and turned to go to the opposite small building No. 25.

At this very moment, Yu Shuheng was brewing coffee on the second floor.

One cup for him, with three sugar cubes.

One cup for her, maintaining the original style.

Seeing him appear at the entrance of the hallway, Yu Shuheng's mouth curled up, saying with a smile that wasn't a smile: "I thought you would strike while the iron is hot and wouldn't come over so quickly."

Strike while the iron is hot on what?

Naturally, it was to launch a love offensive toward Zhou Shihe while taking advantage of this excellent opportunity!

As the old saying goes, if you miss this village, you won't find this shop; it's half the effort for twice the result, a rare opportunity.

Yu Shuheng was still quite worried that the young man wouldn't be able to resist the temptation and mess around.

Therefore, she left a sentence before she left, words asking him to come find her. As for the purpose, it went without saying.

Li Heng rolled his eyes and sat opposite her: "Hey, you're my teacher after all, act like a person, can you not set traps for me?"

"Teacher? Do you have someone who kisses their teacher and hugs their teacher like that?" Yu Shuheng's eyes were strange, full of pressure, as if she wanted to eat him alive.

The four eyes confronted each other, and two minutes later, Li Heng was defeated, blinking his dry eyeballs, and said: "Let's talk, what's the matter with you calling me here?"

Yu Shuheng nudged her chin toward the coffee, "Keep me company while I drink coffee."

Li Heng was dizzy, but still gave her face and picked up the coffee to drink a few mouthfuls.

Yu Shuheng asked: "How's the taste?"

Li Heng answered honestly: "Same as usual, quite good."

Yu Shuheng smiled contentedly, her right hand also picked up the coffee cup, and she drank elegantly.

For a time, the two seemed to have forgotten the time, forgotten the conversation, and enjoyed the coffee peacefully in the silence.

Slowly finishing half a cup, Yu Shuheng put down the cup, parted her red lips lightly, broke the silence, and said: "This time going to the Netherlands, you have two things to do. One is to accept an exclusive interview with 'Time Magazine,' and the second is to perform."

Li Heng asked: "Oh, what day is the interview scheduled for?"

Yu Shuheng said: "The day after tomorrow morning."

Li Heng asked: "Are you and Shihe accepting the interview together?"

Yu Shuheng said: "Together. But you are the protagonist, and there will be the most questions. Shihe and I are just foils."

Li Heng put down the coffee cup and asked the question he cared about most: "What questions will 'Time Magazine' arrange? Did Teacher see them? Otherwise, I won't accept the interview."

Western media generally wear colored glasses toward China, and they are best at double standards and digging holes. If he were to go on stage for an exclusive interview like this, he wouldn't even bother to pay attention to them.

So what if you are the famous 'Time Magazine'? If it doesn't suit my heart, who cares about you.

Yu Shuheng was clearly well-prepared, immediately taking a stack of documents from her bag and handing them to him, saying: "This was sent to me by the other party. I have carefully checked all the questions and consulted with professional lawyers and relevant people. Several sensitive topics have been crossed out by me in advance.

As for these questions, look at them carefully yourself; if you want to answer, answer, if you don't want to answer, bypass them. If anything happens, Teacher will help you bear it."

Bearing it meant covering the bottom.

Her meaning was very clear: you just answer as you please, and Teacher will guard the last barrier for you.

Li Heng felt warm in his heart, took the document, and began to check it seriously.

This process was relatively long, lasting about 10 minutes. Yu Shuheng observed his micro-expression changes calmly and leisurely, and finally asked: "How do you feel?"

Li Heng said: "It's okay, thank you, Teacher."

Hearing this, Yu Shuheng got up and moved to his side, sat next to him, and said: "To avoid accidents, for the sake of insurance, let's verify the questions and possible answers, and get our stories straight."

Li Heng knew she was doing it for his own good, so the two sat together to discuss, analyzing and pondering one question after another.