Chapter 78

"Hello, who is this?"

"Me!"

Hearing this calm, steady, and incomparably confident voice, hearing this familiar yet particularly annoying voice, Chen Xiaomi's instinct was to hang up the phone.

But when the receiver was in mid-air, she stopped.

She had to stop!

Because she wasn't the only one in the main room now; the Chen Laoyezi, her eldest brother, and Zijin were there too.

Because Li Heng was no longer the Li Heng he used to be. With Ba Jin and "Living" backing him, the other party was no longer someone she could manipulate.

Hanging up this call would be easy.

But once hung up, she and Li Heng would essentially become mortal enemies, the kind that could never be resolved.

Subconsciously, when facing this person again, she lost her usual sharpness, confidence, and unstoppable momentum; she hesitated.

And in that hesitation, the voice came from the receiver again: "Is Zijin there?"

"Yes."

With that simple "Yes," a trace of inexplicable loss and discomfort surged in Chen Xiaomi's heart, even a bit of awkwardness. She felt that she had changed.

Could it be for the sake of her own career, that she still wanted to cooperate with him in the future?

While comforting herself like this, she turned to look at her eldest niece, "It's Li Heng on the phone."

Hearing it was Li Heng on the phone, the second aunt and uncle, who were still in the dark, looked at each other, a bit confused. A question simultaneously arose in their hearts: Since when was their youngest sister so easy to talk to?

She didn't even hang up the phone directly?

Also in the dark was Chen Gaoyuan, who hadn't been home long. However, he was deep-thinking and didn't show any abnormality. After his gaze lingered on his youngest sister's face, he had already guessed that something had happened at home, and something big at that.

Zhong Lan and Chen Laoyezi Chen were also somewhat surprised.

But the most surprised person was Chen Zitong. Hearing the name "Li Heng," she didn't even think and turned off the TV.

The moment she turned off the TV, she felt afraid, but looking at her mother, then at her grandpa and father, then at her aunt and second aunt, hmm, no one was looking at me?

Chen Zitong stuck out her tongue, sat down dejectedly, and her gaze, like all the elders in the family, naturally gathered on her sister.

She was thinking: Will Mom snatch the phone and cut it off first?

As it turned out, no. The receiver successfully landed in her sister's hand.

She thought again: Will Mom angrily leave the main room?

As it turned out, still no. Zhong Lan made a move to get up, but in the end, she didn't stand up and sat there motionless, suppressing her anger. She felt she couldn't leave; if she left like this, she would completely lose control over this matter from now on.

Seeing that the elders in the family hadn't moved and instead had their ears pricked up high, Chen Zitong thought again: Li Heng is so bold, what will his first sentence be: Zijin? Jinjin? Chen Zijin?

As it turned out, she guessed wrong about everything. Li Heng's address to her sister shocked her into an exclamation!

Li Heng held the receiver and called out emotionally: "Wife."

"Mm." Chen Zijin pursed her lips, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes. Under the gaze of eight or nine pairs of eyes, she lowered her head and responded with a blushing face.

After more than half a year, hearing his voice again, hearing this unprecedented address of "Wife," Chen Zijin felt that everything was worth it.

In the face of this "Wife," she didn't care about the grievances she had suffered; her heart was hot, incomparably scorching!

After the TV was turned off, the main room was very quiet, quiet enough for Li Heng's voice to clearly reach everyone's ears.

Zhong Lan was very irritable. Her intuition told her that the little brat was deliberately calling for her to hear, deliberately provoking her, provoking everyone in the Chen family who opposed and looked down on him.

If it were a few hours ago, she would definitely have snatched the receiver and unleashed a verbal barrage, scolding the shameless little brat severely.

But now, Zhong Lan didn't take any action. She knew Li Heng had already become a force to be reckoned with; she couldn't suppress him by herself.

The sister-in-law didn't move, the youngest sister didn't move, and the second aunt, who was eager to move, also extinguished her impulse, telling herself: Wait and see, wait and see again.

Li Heng asked: "Have you had dinner yet?"

Chen Zijin said "Mm": "Yes, just finished not long ago."

It was indeed not long ago, because the whole family was waiting for the second aunt and father.

Then she asked: "How about you, have you eaten?"

Li Heng said happily: "I have, ate until I was full, even ate your share. Heh, now that I'm full, I miss you a bit."

Chen Zijin pursed her lips, "Mm."

Li Heng asked: "Then do you miss me?"

Being flirtatious in front of the whole family, Chen Zijin felt scorching hot all over, but she still summoned the courage to say "Mm."

At this critical moment, she cheered herself on: Can't retreat! Must stand on the same front as him!

Li Heng chatted as usual, "How is it in Beijing? Are you used to it? Have you lost weight?"

Chen Zijin replied crisply: "It's okay, I've already gotten used to the environment here, but I did lose two jin."

Li Heng frowned, "Lost so much? You must have suffered a lot of grievances for me."

Hearing this, everyone in the room exchanged glances, but in the end, no one said anything, listening with bated breath.

Chen Zijin choked up, but her strength kept her standing, "No, you don't need to worry."

Knowing that these words were insincere, Li Heng was silent for a long time. When he spoke again, he said: "You just keep holding on. After the college entrance exam, I'll come to Beijing to see you."

Chen Zijin was overjoyed, her tone involuntarily rising by several decibels: "Really?"

Li Heng said: "Mm, I miss you, I want to see you with my own eyes."

Chen Zijin was charmed by this love talk, dizzy and sweet as if she had drunk honey, the whole person immersed in happiness, completely ignoring the existence of a room full of people at this moment: "Okay, I miss you too, I'll wait for you."

Hearing this conversation, which was even more mushy than on TV, Chen Zitong, who had never seen the world or experienced romance, opened her eyes wide and her mouth agape:

Huh? Ah! Sister, is this the feeling of being in a relationship? But you're so unscrupulous, aren't you really afraid of being beaten by Mom?

Mom, thinking of Mom, Chen Zitong even leaned forward to observe Zhong Lan's expression, but was met with a "glare"!

Li Heng said: "By the way, I have two pieces of good news to tell you."

Chen Zijin asked: "What good news?"

Li Heng said: "This time I got the special scholarship."

Chen Zijin replied: "Mm, Song Yu told me."

Li Heng said again: "I wrote a novel and successfully published it in 'Harvest' magazine. The pen name is December. Remember to read it when you have time."

Chen Zijin replied: "Mm, Song Yu told me that too."

Li Heng was depressed, "No, how can you be so indifferent? Aren't you happy for me?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Zijin's eyes were full of smiles, and her smiles were full of affection, "I'm proud of you!"

Li Heng asked: "How proud are you of me?"

Chen Zijin smiled for a moment, smiling from the bottom of her heart. Since the incident last summer, she had never been this happy.

There was a feeling of parting the clouds to see the sun, of finally being able to hold her head high.

Who said my judgment was bad?

Who said my man was no good?

From now on, let's see who still dares to look down on the person I chose?

Li Heng asked: "Are you still proud?"

Chen Zijin chuckled: "Yes."

Li Heng said: "As long as you are, after the college entrance exam, I'll write another novel to keep you proud."

Chen Zijin said happily: "Okay."

"Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding..."

Just at this moment, the bell for the end of class rang outside. Li Heng looked at the time, feeling suffocated with heartache. This call had been going on for a bit too long without him realizing it. He didn't know if the English teacher would really charge him?

Estimating, he felt the timing should be about right; he couldn't keep "beating a dead horse," or the group of people in the Chen family would soon be unable to sit still.

He could ignore the others, like Zhong Lan.

Like that Chen Xiaomi, Chen Xiaohong, Chen Xiaoyun, and others.

And like Chen Zitong.

He could ignore them all, could completely disregard their feelings.

But Chen Gaoyuan was an exception; this uncle had always been quite good to him, and one had to have a conscience in life.

Thinking of this, Li Heng asked sincerely: "How are Grandpa and Uncle's health?"

Chen Zijin looked at her grandpa and father and replied: "They're quite good, you don't need to worry about them."

Then she asked: "How are Uncle and Aunt? Has Uncle's spine improved?"

Li Heng said: "You know my mom, she's a rough country woman, she can do anything in the fields, her health is great. My dad is the same as always, can do light work, can't exert force."

The two chatted for about another 10 minutes about family and daily life, as well as school matters. When the bell for the second evening class rang outside, Chen Zijin asked: "Is this the bell for the second class?"

Li Heng said yes.

Chen Zijin recalled: "It's 10 minutes earlier than our school. Having been away from No. 1 High School for so long, I've almost forgotten their class schedule."

Without waiting for him to reply, she urged: "Li Heng, you've been delayed for a long time, go to class. Let's chat until here today, I'll write to you another day."

"Alright, I'm hanging up. Take care of yourself, don't get too tired studying, wait for me to come see you during the summer vacation."

"Mm-mm, okay!"

Although they were thousands of miles apart, the two had a tacit understanding, knowing that it was time to end the call now; after all, too much of a good thing can be bad.

Putting the receiver back, Chen Zijin secretly let out a long sigh of relief. When she looked up again, she was met with the gaze of the whole family.

Chen Zitong was secretly sizing everyone up: Li Heng only asked about Grandpa and Dad's health on the phone, and didn't mention anyone else at all. Was it intentional? Won't Mom be even angrier?

Suddenly, the phone sound was gone, and the main room suddenly felt very dull, so much so that even the usually lively Chen Zitong sensed that something was wrong and was too scared to speak.

But the first one unable to hold back was the second aunt, Chen Xiaohong, who was completely unaware beforehand. She took the "Harvest" from in front of the Chen Laoyezi and asked solemnly:

"Zijin, is the 'Living' in this written by Li Heng?"

Chen Zijin said proudly: "He said it is."

Chen Xiaohong's conditioned reflex was not to believe it, "No! How old is this Li Heng? Can he write something so amazing?

A colleague in my unit was reading 'Living' today, and even forgot the things the leader ordered. He thought the leader would criticize him, but it turned out the leader was also reading it behind closed doors, so engrossed that he also forgot his work."

Chen Zijin looked at her aunt and didn't make any defense. She trusted her man and didn't need to make any defense.

Chen Xiaohong followed her gaze and asked Chen Xiaomi: "Youngest sister, could it be?"

Under everyone's gaze, especially with her eldest niece present, Chen Xiaomi was very conflicted and really didn't want to admit this matter.

But thinking of Li Heng's words on the phone just now, "After the college entrance exam, I'll write another one to make you proud," Chen Xiaomi finally bit the bullet and nodded, "It really is him."

Chen Gaoyuan seemed to see his youngest sister's embarrassment, reached out to take the "Harvest," flipped through it, and praised:

"'Living' is heard very frequently today; you can occasionally hear people discussing it on the road. Dad, have you finished reading it?"

Chen Laoyezi Chen didn't answer the question, took a sip of tea, stood up, walked toward his room with his hands behind his back, and said leisurely as he walked:

"There's no big deal outside of life and death; living is hope, living has infinite possibilities. 'Living' is written well; this work is going to be a huge hit. You should all put aside your prejudices and read it."

The Chen Laoyezi's words contained philosophy: they both pointed out the entire essence of the novel "Living" and also subtly warned them not to look at people with old eyes, not to look down on the little people of today, for those who are living have infinite possibilities.

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(End of chapter)