Chapter 686

Picking up mushrooms is just a small project; the time spent cleaning the soil, dead branches, and leaves is far more than imagined. The three of them sat in the courtyard, busy until after 1:00 PM before finishing.

After washing a basket of milk-paste mushrooms, Li Heng said to Yu Shuheng, "I'll cook lunch myself; we'll have stir-fried cured meat."

Yu Shuheng had a relatively high level of physical activity today and was a bit hungry, "Okay, go ahead."

Over the next few days, the two would occasionally go up the mountain to look for mountain delicacies and wild goods, or go to the tea mountain opposite to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Yu Shuheng seemed to have a soft spot for the lush, terraced tea mountain; often, just by holding a camera and pulling him along, she could linger for an entire morning.

She sat on a rock and sighed, "Your village is especially suitable for retirement; I like it very much."

Li Heng sat down next to her: "Retirement is out of the question. You get tired of it after seeing it too much; occasionally coming back to stay for ten days or half a month is enough to keep the freshness."

Yu Shuheng glanced at him and said with a half-smile, "You're only 20 now and you're already tired of the hometown that raised you. By the time you're 40, will all the women currently following you have to be replaced?"

Li Heng: "..."

He argued: "You can't put it that way. This mountain village is in a remote location; it lacks everything. Medical care, hygiene, economy, culture, and hardware facilities all fall behind.

I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but if you accidentally get bitten by a venomous snake while doing farm work, you might not even be able to be saved. Over the past few years, almost every year there have been villagers bitten to death by venomous snakes. Thinking about it this way, do you still think this place is beautiful?"

Yu Shuheng was stunned and fell silent.

July 8th, early morning.

After breakfast, Li Heng and Yu Shuheng sat in the Mercedes-Benz.

Before leaving, Yu Shuheng specially took out two very precious luxury watches from her bag as gifts for the old couple: "Dad, Mom, I don't know what you like, so I just bought a little something. I hope you won't mind."

The watches were too valuable, and Li Jianguo and Tian Run'e felt a bit overwhelmed holding them. But thinking of this daughter-in-law's family background and immense financial resources, the old couple looked at Li Heng, and seeing that their son didn't object, they happily accepted them.

Tian Run'e held Yu Shuheng's hand and whispered, "Shuheng, come home to visit often when you have time, and remember to keep in touch. Also, you need to hurry up with the matter I discussed with you, while Mom is still young and can help you take care of the children."

Yu Shuheng felt bitter inside, but her face was full of smiles: "Okay, I will try my best."

The Mercedes-Benz drove away, and Yu Shuheng leaned out and waved.

The old couple followed them all the way to the road, also waving and watching them leave.

Back home, Li Jianguo asked: "Did you talk to Shuheng about having children again?"

Tian Run'e sat on a bamboo chair and sighed: "I guess this request was a waste of effort. This past week, I specifically kept an eye on Shuheng's underwear washing situation and also paid attention to the trash can. Let alone bleeding, there wasn't even a tissue in the trash can."

Li Jianguo found it hard to respond, so he took out a cigarette, lit it, and smoked it dryly.

Tian Run'e asked: "Tell me, Shuheng is beautiful and has an elegant, scholarly temperament that is very likable. By logic, she is a smart person, so what exactly is she thinking? Why is she not in a hurry at all?"

Li Jianguo exhaled a puff of smoke, "How could she not be in a hurry? She is in a hurry; otherwise, she wouldn't have followed our son back to his hometown. You, you still haven't grasped the key to the problem. If you ask me, we can't blame Shuheng for this; I suspect the problem lies with Manzai."

Tian Run'e realized, "It seems he is still determined to marry Song Yu?"

Li Jianguo said: "Nine times out of ten, that's the case."

Tian Run'e asked: "Then what about Shuheng?"

Li Jianguo had nothing more to say. Because he was also at a loss and didn't know what to do.

After a while, Tian Run'e thought of Wang Runwen and shook her head: "Shuheng still lacks backbone; she accommodates your son too much, which isn't necessarily a good thing."

Li Jianguo defied his wife for the first time and said a fair word: "Shuheng hasn't even entered the family yet, and she can be this tolerant; I think it's quite good. You say she lacks backbone, but you didn't even manage the child you gave birth to well, so how can you blame her?"

Tian Run'e widened her eyes: "Was Manzai born by me alone? Who does his philandering nature resemble? Doesn't it follow you?"

Li Jianguo had a headache, thinking that he didn't have affairs with other women either. He was always being framed, and it was truly a loss to have raised such a son, being nagged by Tian Run'e for no reason.

When the car passed through the county, Li Heng suddenly spoke: "I will explain the matter of the children to the old couple myself, don't worry."

Yu Shuheng felt relieved upon hearing this, "Okay."

Then she asked: "Where are you getting off?"

Li Heng said: "I'm going to Shaodong; let's go to the Chengnan Park."

Regarding the matter in Shaodong, Yu Shuheng didn't ask much. At the Sangesi intersection, she turned onto a small rural road to pick up Wang Runwen.

She asked: "Runwen has resigned; how do you plan to settle her?"

Li Heng understood her meaning, "Let's keep it like this for now; let Zijin get pregnant first."

Upon hearing this, Yu Shuheng smiled intellectually, and the jealousy in her heart vanished instantly.

She didn't know why, but in this regard, she always liked to compete with Runwen. She hoped that Li Heng would consummate the marriage with her first before considering Runwen.

The rural road wasn't far; after about two or three miles, they arrived at the Wang family's ancestral home. At this time, Wang Runwen had already packed her luggage and was waiting for the two of them.

Wang Runwen asked: "Are you hungry? Do you want to have lunch before leaving?"

Yu Shuheng shook her head: "Not hungry, let's go to Changshi first and eat there."

After resigning, Wang Runwen became relaxed, and her temperament became much more straightforward, "Okay, then let's go directly."

Upon entering Shaoshi, Li Heng got off the car at Chengnan Park.

Wang Runwen asked: "When are you returning to Hushi?"

Li Heng said: "Probably not until the start of the semester."

Wang Runwen glanced at her best friend and waved her hand: "You go ahead, then I'll wait for you in Hushi until September."

"Eh, okay." Li Heng replied.

It wasn't a life-and-death separation, so he turned and left without any hesitation.

Watching his back, Wang Runwen asked: "Was there any harvest this trip?"

Yu Shuheng said: "Changed the way he addresses them."

Wang Runwen turned her head abruptly: "Such a big harvest?"

Yu Shuheng nodded with a smile: "It's just a pity..."

Wang Runwen asked: "What's a pity?"

Yu Shuheng briefly explained his arrangements regarding the first child.

After listening patiently, Wang Runwen said: "If the first child is given to Chen Zijin, I fully agree, preferably a boy. This girl has suffered too much."

Yu Shuheng remained silent.

Wang Runwen tilted her head: "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

Yu Shuheng sneered: "Why should I feel uncomfortable? As long as it's not Song Yu or Zhou Shihe having the first child, I can accept it."

Wang Runwen thought for a moment and reminded: "Although that's what you say now, you still have to be on guard. In case Song Yu or Zhou Shihe don't play by the rules, it will be difficult to handle."

Yu Shuheng said: "Song Yu won't. But, as for Zhou Shihe, I can't be sure."

Wang Runwen asked: "You still haven't figured her out?"

Yu Shuheng shook her head and spoke her true thoughts for the first time: "Don't look at her young age and thin frame; she often doesn't show her emotions, and her schemes are very deep. Every time I face her, I feel a sense of dread for no reason. I've never had this feeling with anyone else."

Wang Runwen was surprised: "That magical?"

Yu Shuheng said: "As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. It's precisely because I'm not confident facing her alone that I chose to reach a tacit understanding with Song Yu for the time being."

Wang Runwen clicked her tongue twice and mocked: "You all are fighting over a man, it feels like you're fighting over an Empress. You're really not the Yu Shuheng I used to know. Good luck."

Yu Shuheng didn't care after hearing this, "When you face Zhou Shihe in the future, you'll know. Don't mock too early."

Wang Runwen crossed her arms: "What am I afraid of? I bet she won't be able to marry Li Heng. As long as she isn't the official lady of the Li family, she can't control me."

Chengnan Park.

When he arrived at the open area on the mountaintop with the gifts he had just bought, he saw Mai Dong and his daughter Mai Sui at a glance. At this time, they were watching an old man playing the suona under a big tree.

Li Heng walked over quietly, went behind Mai Sui, and tapped her shoulder lightly.

Mai Sui turned her head immediately. When she saw him, the surprise in her eyes flashed by, and she said softly: "You're here."

Hearing his daughter's voice, Mai Dong also looked over.

Li Heng greeted him enthusiastically: "Uncle."

"Eh, have you had lunch?" Mai Dong asked with a smile.

Li Heng shook his head, looked at his watch, and said: "I just had breakfast not long ago, not very hungry yet."

Mai Dong said: "Then let's go back to Shaodong first."

Li Heng said: "Okay, sorry to trouble you, Uncle."

"Small matter, you and Suibao are classmates and friends, don't be so polite." Saying this, Mai Dong led the two toward the direction where the van was parked.

The van was parked near the main entrance of the park. Li Heng opened the door, sat in, and then asked Mai Sui: "Are Shihe and Manning at your house?"

Mai Sui said softly: "The weather is too hot, so I didn't let them come over. The old house is at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by forests, bamboo groves, and rivers, so it's cooler to stay there."

Li Heng looked up at the blue sky and white clouds: "It is indeed hot. If there's nothing to do, I wouldn't want to go out in this kind of ghost weather either."

Mai Sui's old home wasn't in the county town, but in the countryside, just over an hour's drive from Shaoshi. The three chatted and laughed, and soon arrived.

Just after getting off the car and entering the house, Li Heng met Sun Manning, who was washing Zhou Shihe's hair under an osmanthus tree.

Seeing him, Sun Manning immediately shouted: "Hey! Big rich man, you're finally here. If you don't come again, the river snails will starve to death."

Li Heng realized: "You picked river snails?"

"Picked them, wow. Let me tell you, the river snails in the reservoir are piled up everywhere. We picked two big buckets that day, look! They are being kept in the pool over there with clean water." Sun Manning pouted, signaling him to look at the pool at the foot of the wall on the left.

Li Heng walked over to take a look, oh wow! Good heavens, at least 60 or 70 jin. The river snails were not only large in size but also very bright in color. At a glance, they were good goods raised in high-quality water.

Sun Manning asked: "So many, are we making them all into spicy snails?"

Li Heng rolled his eyes at her: "If we made them all, you wouldn't be able to finish them even if you were a pig."

Sun Manning said angrily: "Who said that? I could eat a whole pig."

After bickering, Li Heng paid his respects to Mai's mother and Mai Sui's grandmother respectively, presented the gifts, and accompanied them in chatting about household matters for a long time.

Mai's mother had already killed a rooster and said to her husband: "You come and cook, I'll help you with the fire."

Mai's mother felt that her cooking skills were not as good as her husband's, so she said this.

Thinking that they had spent half a day picking him up, Li Heng interjected: "Uncle, if you have business to attend to, go ahead, I can cook."

Mai Dong shook his head with a smile: "It's okay, business has been slow these past two days, I usually just stay at home."