Chapter 678

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the month, and the final exams were getting closer and closer.

Li Heng was still the same, going to the playground to run and play basketball in the morning; during the day, he reviewed his lessons with Mai Sui and the others, and would go for a walk after dinner.

Overall, life was not much different from before, doing whatever he pleased.

If one had to find a difference, it was that Miss Zhou hadn't spoken to him for a long time, nor did she come to the small building at No. 26 to visit.

Even if they occasionally bumped into each other in the teaching building, the library, or the alleys of Lushan Village, she would pretend not to see Li Heng, walking past with a blank face, not even sparing him a glance from the corner of her eye.

And so, Li Heng had just planned to go to the Quexinyan Noodle Shop for lunch, and not long after leaving the house, he ran into Zhou Shihe. He stood in the middle of the road without moving, staring fixedly at her.

As a result, seeing that the road was blocked by him, the girl simply stood against the wall holding her books, tilting her head to examine the ivy on the wall, as if the ivy had flowers growing on it and looked better than him.

From her birthday until now, the two had had nearly twenty days of silence. This time, Li Heng finally couldn't hold back and asked directly: "Comrade Shihe, why are you back alone today? Where is Mai Sui?"

Unexpectedly, Zhou Shihe completely ignored him, making no sound and paying no attention.

Damn it! Ignored again, damn it.

Li Heng thought gloomily, then took two steps forward, getting closer to her, but didn't speak, just silently staring at her profile.

For a time, you look at the wall, I look at you, and the two remained in a stalemate, neither breaking this eerie silence.

Suddenly, someone approached from the other end of the alley. Li Heng looked toward the sound and found it was a female professor living in Lushan Village returning with her daughter. He immediately stepped back two steps without a sound, making way.

Taking advantage of this gap, Zhou Shihe nimbly bypassed him and left with a light gait, without joy or sorrow, her movements free and clean.

Li Heng glanced back at her slender back, then headed toward the exit of Lushan Village.

He was pondering: Mai Sui, Sun Manning, and Ye Ning hadn't returned; it was likely the Student Union had something going on, otherwise, they wouldn't be so uniform.

Arriving at Chunhua Noodle Shop, Li Heng first teased the little girl for a while, then asked Quexinyan: "Old Yong, I have my final exams tomorrow. Are you going home for the summer vacation?"

Zhang Zhiyong scratched his head and then refused with a grin: "The child is still too young, and it's not good to take such a long car ride. Chunhua and I have discussed it and decided to stay in Shanghai. When the child is older, we'll take her back to our hometown."

Li Heng nodded upon hearing this: "That makes sense; the child is the most important."

Mother Zhang wanted to speak from the side, but couldn't get it out several times.

Li Heng noticed this phenomenon and asked: "Auntie, do you want to go back with us?"

Mother Zhang did indeed want to go back, but looking at her son and daughter-in-law, she finally shook her head and said: "I'm most afraid of riding in cars, so forget it. If you are going home, please help me bring 500 yuan to Yongzi's maternal grandparents."

As she spoke, Mother Zhang took out 500 yuan and handed it over.

"Eh, okay." Li Heng responded, took the money, and tucked it into his pocket.

The beef noodles were served, along with three side dishes for drinking. Quexinyan brought a few bottles of beer and shouted happily: "Big Brother Heng, we haven't had a drink together in a long time. Come, let's finish a few bottles to satisfy our cravings."

Li Heng smiled and said: "It's rare that you're in such a good mood today; I'll naturally keep you company."

Each drank two bottles of beer. Because the shop was busy, he didn't sit for long and returned directly to Lushan Village.

Yu Shuheng had returned. She found Li Heng and said in a consultative tone: "I have something to do in mid-July, so I'll adjust my time and go to your hometown on July 1st."

Li Heng muttered to himself, it seemed he had to go to the Xiao family on the 29th. "Okay, no problem."

Yu Shuheng suggested: "If you have time during the summer vacation, you can go to Tokyo and take a look at Hengyuan Investment."

Li Heng didn't give a definite answer: "We'll see. If I have time, I'll go, but it's highly likely I won't have time."

After all, he would be staying at Dongting Lake in August, and there wasn't much room for him to maneuver.

Yu Shuheng seemed to guess where he wanted to go, so she stopped at that and didn't go deep: "Is Mai Sui not at home?"

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Before Li Heng could speak, Mai Sui appeared at the door.

Yu Shuheng stood up and said to Mai Sui: "Mai Sui, come with me for a moment; I have something to find you for."

Mai Sui responded okay, handed her books to someone, and without even changing her shoes, followed Teacher Yu to the small building at No. 25 across the street.

Li Heng shamelessly slandered: In the future, you will all be my wives; what can't be said in front of me? Why make it so mysterious?

*Dust Settles* was released.

Once serialized in *Harvest* magazine, the market exploded instantly.

According to Chief Editor Liao: What is gold content? This is gold content! *Harvest* magazine hadn't reached the top spot for ten full months, but as soon as the junior brother's work returned, sales climbed steadily, surpassing *People's Literature* to regain the number one spot.

However, although the market exploded, literary reviews were mixed.

How to put it? Many of Li Heng's die-hard readers sang his praises, instantly turning the long-calm literary world upside down; but some university professors bluntly stated that while *Dust Settles* was good, it was far from as brilliant as *Bai Luyuan*.

Using the excuse that it was far from as brilliant as *Bai Luyuan*, many people who were envious and jealous of him began to emerge and loudly sing his downfall, saying his talent was exhausted and *Bai Luyuan* was the peak of the writer December.

Watching the literary reviews that occasionally popped up in the newspaper singing Li Heng's downfall, Sun Manning cursed: "What kind of words are you pulling? If you have the ability, you write a book that can rival *Dust Settles*! Stop pretending!"

"Exactly! I hate this kind of person the most; they have no ability, they only know how to hide in dark corners and harm people." Ye Ning echoed, baring her teeth.

Mai Sui looked at him with a worried face.

Li Heng smiled to himself, patted her hand, and said: "It's okay, it's okay. The overall evaluation is still fine; it's positive, and that's enough. I'm not the Renminbi; how can I make everyone like me?"

Hearing him say this, Mai Sui breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced at the watch on her right wrist and said: "Exams are coming soon; let's go to the teaching building."

Li Heng hummed, greeted the others, and hurried toward the teaching building. ===== CHAPTER 679 =====