Chapter 711

It was raining outside.

The rain wasn’t heavy, but it was dense, hanging like threads across the entire sky, cooling the stifling heat.

After two straight nights of late-night labor, Li Heng slept deeply, only slowly opening his eyes around 3:30 p.m.

He stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking: Did Zhou Gu niang fully understand Li Ji’s words?

Logically speaking, with Shihe’s intelligence, she should have grasped it instantly.

To be honest, this was a test he’d given Zhou Gu niang—the answer lay in whether she would cook dinner.

If she cooked dinner, it proved she wasn’t just his one-sided fantasy; her heart still leaned toward him, meaning she fully understood.

If she refused to cook dinner, then his words today might have been too much—he’d need to consider his next move.

Lost in these thoughts, he rolled over, put on his shoes, and walked around the first and second floors.

The house was utterly quiet, not even a ghost to be seen, let alone any aroma of food from the kitchen.

Had he misunderstood?

Or was it too early—had Zhou Gu niang not arrived yet?

In fact, at this very moment, Zhou Shihe was at the library gathering wheat stalks, preparing to go to the outside market. Li Heng stood at the kitchen door, pondering for a long while, then went to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he returned to the second-floor study.

After a long, restorative nap, he felt refreshed, sat calmly in his chair, spread out ink and brush, and prepared to continue writing “The Book of the End.”

This time, inspiration surged—he wrote with fluid grace, the steel pen tip scratching continuously across the white paper without pause, writing over four thousand characters in one go.

Just as he finished the first chapter and began the second, the study door quietly cracked open, and Mai Sui’s head peeked in silently.

Seeing him lost in his writing, Mai Sui slipped back quietly and gently closed the study door.

Arriving at the sofa, Mai Sui told her best friend: “He’s writing.”

Hearing this, Zhou Shihe picked up a newspaper from the coffee table and began browsing idly.

Mai Sui sat down, thought for a moment, and asked: “Shihe, can I ask you something?”

“Mm.” Zhou Shihe gave a soft hum.

Mai Sui asked: “Has your mom guessed about you and Li Heng?”

This “mom” referred to Zhou’s mother.

Zhou Shihe nodded and hummed again.

Mai Sui asked: “Then why didn’t your mom stop you?”

She asked this because during the Dragon Boat Festival, Xiao Han, Yu Laoshi, and Song Yu were all there—even a fool could have seen the signs, that Li Heng was juggling multiple women.

This was what Mai Sui found curious and worrying.

Zhou Shihe fell silent, then lifted her gaze to meet her friend’s, speaking calmly: “The only condition is that he marries me.”

“Huh?” This answer surprised Mai Sui—and yet didn’t.

She was surprised because Zhou’s mom hadn’t stopped Shihe from being with Li Heng.

She wasn’t surprised because, given the Zhou family’s background, they would never let Shihe become Li Heng’s mistress.

Mai Sui said understandingly: “Then you need to decide soon—time might run out.”

Mai Sui spoke vaguely, without naming anyone, but the two girls understood each other perfectly.

Zhou Shihe said okay.

After a while, Zhou Shihe suddenly spoke: “How’s your relationship with his parents?”

Mai Sui shook her head: “Don’t you already know?”

Then Mai Sui realized, lowering her voice: “You want me to get closer to his parents?”

Zhou Shihe glanced toward the study, hesitated, then said: “My instinct tells me his parents don’t like me.”

Mai Sui exclaimed: “No way? The last two times they came to Lushan Village, they treated you well.”

Zhou Shihe said: “That was just politeness, the courtesy of elders. But deep down, they probably resent me.”

Mai Sui blurted out: “You’re so perfect—why? Why would they resent you?”

Zhou Shihe remained silent, but her expressive eyes seemed to say it all: precisely because she was too perfect, the elders felt she was too elusive, lacking in security.

In other words: the elders were slightly wary of her, felt uneasy around her.

Mai Sui read her friend’s eyes and understood her heart: she wanted Mai Sui to build a good relationship with Li Heng’s parents, and in doing so, create more opportunities for Shihe.

In dealing with Li Heng’s parents, Shihe was far behind Song Yu, Xiao Han, and Yu Laoshi.

So she needed to catch up.

And the breakthrough lay with Mai Sui.

Mai Sui sighed: “I don’t know how to get along with his parents.”

Zhou Shihe smiled gently: “Don’t rush—Li Heng will arrange it.”

She said only half—she didn’t say the full truth: now that you’ve become intimate, Li Heng will naturally find a way to introduce you to his parents.

Mai Sui took a deep breath: “You saying that makes me suddenly nervous.”

“Ding ling ling…”

“Ding ling ling…”

As the two were sharing heartfelt words, the landline on the coffee table rang.

Mai Sui and Zhou Shihe exchanged glances—the phone had been installed that morning, and hardly anyone even knew the number; why was someone calling now?

When the ringing reached the fourth ring, Mai Sui asked: “Should we answer?”

Zhou Shihe said nothing, looking toward the study.

Sure enough, the next second, the study door opened—Li Heng emerged, interrupted by the phone.

Seeing the two women on the sofa, Li Heng blinked in confusion: “You’re here? Then why didn’t you answer?”

Mai Sui said: “We didn’t know who it was.”

Li Heng paused, understood, then hurried over, plopping down beside Zhou Shihe and picking up the white receiver: “Hello, who’s this?”

“Manzai, have you had dinner yet?” Tian Rune’s voice came through.

To avoid worrying his mother, Li Heng replied instantly: “Yes, Mom. How did you find out I installed the phone?”

Tian Rune chuckled warmly: “Yu Laoshi told me. I just spoke with her—she’s in Tokyo now, says she wants to buy me clothes…”

This made sense—the landline had been installed by Yu Laoshi’s people, so of course she knew the number.

It was clear Tian Rune was in an excellent mood.

Especially since Yu Laoshi had voluntarily asked for her measurements and wanted to buy her clothes and gifts—it made the old lady feel slightly giddy.

The living room was utterly quiet, no noise at all; Mai Sui and Zhou Shihe had heard every word of their conversation.

Just moments ago, they’d been discussing how well others got along with Li Heng’s parents—and now they were proven wrong. Mai Sui reached over and clasped Shihe’s arm, quietly worried.

Sensing her friend’s heavy heart, Zhou Shihe gave Mai Sui a gentle smile, signaling it was fine.

“Cough cough.” Mentioning another woman in front of one was a major taboo—Li Heng feared bad luck and quickly coughed twice to interrupt his mother’s monologue.

Tian Rune immediately stopped boasting and asked with concern: “Manzai, what’s wrong? Is your throat sore?”

Li Heng replied: “No, just a sudden itch.”

Then he turned to Mai Sui: “Mai Sui, could you bring me a cup of tea?”

Mai Sui gave him a meaningful look, smiled softly, and got up to pour him tea.

Hearing Mai Sui was beside his son, Tian Rune instantly snapped back to reality, dropped the subject of Yu Laoshi, and asked instead: “How far have you and Mai Sui gone? Have you… slept together?”

But before she could finish the question, she heard her son’s voice again—only now he wasn’t speaking to her, but to Zhou Shihe.