Chapter 624: A Small Step, A Great Meaning

Today, walking through campus, Mai Sui’s heart felt different from the past two days.

Although she had accompanied Tian Run’e and Li Jianguo for evening walks after meals those past two days, back then she had been anxious and cautious.

Back then, she constantly wondered: in the eyes of his parents, was her awkward status more a source of worry or of joy?

Today, Tian Yi seemed to have given her an answer.

In fact, Tian Run’e had linked arms with Mai Sui when leaving Building 26 for two reasons: first, her eyes were sharp—she had spotted the new Cartier diamond necklace on Mai Sui’s neck from afar, and without needing to think, she knew it was a gift from her son’s trip to Europe.

Second, upon returning from abroad, her son had not immediately greeted his parents, nor contacted Xiao Han or Song Yu, nor reached out to Zijin—instead, he had dragged Mai Sui straight into his bedroom for intimacy.

This left Tian Run’e deep in thought.

At that moment, Tian Run’e finally recognized the truth.

She recognized that her son would never abandon Mai Sui in the future, and that he truly loved Mai Sui.

Just as her son had once said: Song Yu is the woman I want to marry, but Mai Sui is the woman I want to carry with me wherever I go.

One is a legally wedded wife; the other is someone he wants always at his side. Frankly, Tian Run’e was astonished by the speed of Mai Sui’s rise.

She had not realized that, without her noticing, Mai Sui had already become so important in her son’s heart.

Coupled with the memory of Mai Sui living with her son at Fudan for so long, and of how she always yielded to Xiao Han by retreating to the neighboring room, even Tian Run’e’s iron heart was now warmed and softened.

Enough already! Since her son loved her so much, since he refused to let go of Mai Sui, and since Mai Sui was so gentle and sensible, Tian Run’e sighed inwardly and made a decision.

She would not play the villain—she would not make her son suffer, nor treat such a good girl as Mai Sui as an enemy.

So she chose to accept Mai Sui.

This was why Tian Run’e had reached out to link arms with Mai Sui.

Linking arms was a small step, but it carried great significance.

For Mai Sui, it was as momentous as scoring top honors on the college entrance exam.

Yet Tian Run’e did not overdo it—she held the right balance: after leaving Lushan Village, she coordinated with her husband and quietly released Mai Sui’s arm.

The reason was simple: at Fudan and Shanghai Medical University, Xiao Han was publicly recognized as her son’s girlfriend; if she now openly walked arm-in-arm with Mai Sui on campus, she would be slapping Xiao Han’s face directly.

How could a mother-in-law possibly do such a thing?

So after giving Mai Sui a reassuring assurance, she quietly let go—but even as she released her arm, the two women walked side by side, chatting and laughing, their bond unmistakably intimate in the eyes of outsiders.

Mai Sui had always been clever and perceptive; she quietly observed all of Tian Yi’s actions, thought for a moment, and immediately understood why she had acted that way.

Mai Sui felt no distress or disappointment; instead, she was happy for Xiao Han—and happy for herself—because it proved one thing: this future mother-in-law was a woman of deep feeling.

For Mai Sui, who had no intention of competing for the position of wife, this quality—deep feeling—was precisely what she most hoped to see in the Li family.

The three of them—two elders and one young woman—walked through campus, seen by many Fudan faculty and students, who secretly envied Li Heng: What incredible luck—he had such a beautiful girlfriend in Xiao Han, and now Mai Sui had firmly established herself as his beloved companion—who wouldn’t be jealous?

Because he had taken a shower and lingered in Building 27, Li Heng never caught up with the trio ahead, and instead took a wrong turn, stumbling upon Liu Yanling and Zhou Zhangming on a shaded path near Xi Garden.

Seeing someone approach, Liu Yanling and Zhou Zhangming immediately let go of each other’s hands.

But when they recognized Li Heng, Liu Yanling instinctively felt uneasy.

Zhou Zhangming, however, let out a deep sigh of relief and greeted him warmly: “Lao Heng, why are you walking alone?”

Li Heng smiled and replied: “I was chasing after my parents, but lost them.”

Liu Yanling chimed in: “Your parents and Mai Sui are over by Yan Garden.”

Li Heng asked: “Did you run into them?”

Liu Yanling said: “We just came from there.”

After a winter break apart, the three paused to chat for a while.

Liu Yanling said with self-deprecation: “Li the Great Writer, you’re really something—I heard even France’s number one beauty is chasing after you. No wonder you weren’t interested in any girls from our dorm.”

Back then, both she and Dai Qing had secretly liked Li Heng—but nothing came of it.

Li Heng rolled his eyes, glanced at Lao Zhou, and ignored her last remark: “Don’t take it seriously—she’s a celebrity, she needs attention.”

Liu Yanling tilted her head: “You mean it’s fake? But the newspapers say Agnès Jaoui herself confirmed it. Last night, our dorm stayed up all night discussing it—everyone thought you were too moral, that you should’ve slept with her before coming back.”

Li Heng: “...”

Pfft! A bunch of dirty-minded women.

About seven or eight minutes later, the three parted ways.

Once they were far enough away, Liu Yanling sighed: “The gap keeps widening—when we graduate and run into him again, will we even dare speak to him?”

Zhou Zhangming said: “Don’t say that.”