Chapter 122: The Encounter of Former Lovers

"At the time, I was in the middle berth. He boarded the train from the provincial capital of Dongshan Province and happened to be in the same carriage as me. During the trip, someone wanted to swap berths with me, and it was actually him who turned that person down!"

Wen Wen Leyu used her eyes to question Li Ye, but before Li Ye could answer, Liu Liu Muhan explained it candidly.

"That person came to me to swap berths first. Mine was a lower berth; I didn't swap, and I turned him down in the process."

After Liu Liu Muhan finished speaking, Li Ye added a few words in an understated manner.

What he said sounded casual, but in reality, he was explaining to Wen Wen Leyu that he hadn't "drawn his sword to help a beauty" out of chivalry, but rather it was just a chance encounter where he acted accordingly.

Li Ye and Wen Wen Leyu were currently in a phase of deep affection and mutual attachment, and he didn't want any misunderstandings to affect the feelings of love between them.

Liu Liu Muhan suddenly found it somewhat amusing; Li Ye's performance on the train had left quite a deep impression on her.

Tough, decisive, and rational—but why did he seem a bit henpecked right now?

"No, not henpecked. He is carefully protecting something."

Liu Liu Muhan recalled the scene on the station platform where Li Ye "tricked" Wen Wen Leyu into taking the lightest piece of luggage, and she suddenly understood.

She remembered when they first enrolled last year, how He Xue and the others in the dormitory had incited Lu Lu Jingyao to write letters and send money to Li Ye.

Back then, in Lu Lu Jingyao's unintentional descriptions, Li Ye seemed to be exactly as that newspaper report had described: focused and single-minded!

Liu Liu Muhan, who had some understanding of human nature, knew very well that only a focused and single-minded person would care so immensely about another person's feelings and protect them with such care.

After hearing Li Ye and Liu Liu Muhan's words, Wen Wen Leyu's face showed neither joy nor anger, but her left hand grabbed Li Ye's hand and pulled him about ten centimeters closer to her side.

Then, the young girl used her right hand to pick up a book and asked Liu Liu Muhan, "Seven-Inch Blade has a new book out; would you like to take a look?"

Only then did Liu Liu Muhan notice that there were dozens of books lined up on the shelf, with Li Ye's pen name, "Seven-Inch Blade," printed on the spines.

Then she said happily, "《Beacon Fenghuo Taobing》, is this your new book, Li Ye?"

Wen Wen Leyu's eyes narrowed again, and there was even a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth, though it was a bit cold.

"I've read 《Lurking》; it's quite good. I'll buy a copy to read. I'll be going now; you two enjoy browsing."

Liu Liu Muhan picked up 《Beacon Fenghuo Taobing》, flipped through it, and decided to buy it.

Then she pulled Lu Lu Jingyao away.

She was afraid that if they didn't leave, this formidable young girl before them would make Lu Lu Jingyao's expression even uglier.

The sensitive Liu Liu Muhan was already certain that the Wen Wen Leyu before her and Lu Lu Jingyao knew each other.

The two had just had a clash of eyes, and Lu Lu Jingyao couldn't quite hold her own; there was a clear gap in their levels.

The reason Liu Liu Muhan insisted on staying in place for half a minute was to observe Li Ye and determine his current attitude toward Lu Lu Jingyao.

Even if Li Ye had a shred of lingering attachment, Liu Liu Muhan was confident it wouldn't escape her eyes.

But Li Ye's reaction was very strange; he seemed to have "swung his sword to sever the threads of love," forgetting all the past entirely.

Then why stay here? To seek abuse?

An accidental encounter between an ex and a current partner is truly one of the saddest things in the world.

Especially when the current partner is even more outstanding than the ex.

Watching Liu Liu Muhan's departing back, Wen Wen Leyu said faintly, "He not only knows your pen name, but he also knows your real name!"

Alright! So the young girl had handed the book to Liu Liu Muhan just now to test the level of familiarity between Li Ye and Liu Liu Muhan.

Li Ye smiled and said candidly, "I was also very surprised at the time. She had a copy of the Dongshan Education News in her hand, and just by the photo on it, she recognized me."

"I have that copy of the Dongshan Education News too. Unless you're an acquaintance, it's not easy to recognize someone,"

Wen Wen Leyu thought for a moment and said, "After she recognized you, what else did she say to you?"

Li Ye looked at Wen Wen Leyu in surprise, thinking she had overturned the vinegar jar and was about to throw a tantrum, but a closer look told him that wasn't the case.

The young girl was very calm and serious, as if she were... investigating a case.

"She said at the time that she had read my book. I asked her why she had the 《Dongshan Education News》, and she said her father..."

After Li Ye finished speaking, Wen Wen Leyu immediately pressed, "After you returned the newspaper to her, did she take the initiative to talk to you again?"

Li Ye was very surprised and nodded, "I happened to have taken out two copies; she asked me for one because she was bored on the road..."

But Wen Wen Leyu interrupted again, "When you got off the train, she didn't return that copy to you, right?"

Li Ye nodded slowly, not daring to hide even the slightest bit.

Wen Wen Leyu had guessed Liu Liu Muhan's subsequent actions based solely on his few sentences; she was indeed quite formidable.

"Phew~"

Wen Wen Leyu let out a breath and said relaxedly, "It's all her issue; it has nothing to do with you."

"She must have learned about your situation from Lu Lu Jingyao beforehand, knew your general appearance, and knew where you were from... that's why she half-guessed and half-recognized that you were Seven-Inch Blade."

"..."

Li Ye had a sudden epiphany.

This was the other side of Wen Wen Leyu. It was true that she was just a cute, naive little cat to Li Ye, but her parents were tigers.

The education Wen Wen Leyu had received since childhood and the skills she had inherited were not just for catching mice, but for hunting large animals.

Liu Liu Muhan pulled Lu Lu Jingyao out of the bookstore and wandered all the way back to school.

The Beijing Foreign Studies University was in the Haidian District, not far from here, only a fifteen or twenty-minute walk.

However, as they walked, Lu Lu Jingyao quickened her pace, as if she wanted to leave Liu Liu Muhan behind.

Liu Liu Muhan caught up quickly and looked at Lu Lu Jingyao's face.

She discovered that at this moment, Lu Lu Jingyao was hanging her head, gritting her teeth, and stiffening her face, her eyes vacant, walking quickly in a mechanical fashion.

Liu Liu Muhan grabbed Lu Lu Jingyao and said, "Lu Jingyao, don't let the past affect who you are now. Forget the unhappiness of the past; time will make you forget everything..."

"I want to forget. I dream of forgetting him every single day,"

Lu Lu Jingyao turned her head silently, looking at Liu Liu Muhan with unfocused eyes.

"But why did Heaven make me meet him again? I've already hidden so far away; why did it have to make me see him again?"

Liu Liu Muhan couldn't answer.

The world is so big; why did you have to meet him?

Lu Lu Jingyao looked at Liu Liu Muhan, who was speechless, and her vacant eyes suddenly flickered as she asked, "Liu Muhan, do you think... he is very outstanding?"

Liu Liu Muhan deliberated for a few seconds and said, "Objectively speaking, he is indeed much more outstanding than the average person. But since you've let go, you don't need to care too much."

"But he wasn't like this before. He wasn't like this... tell me, what should I do?"

Lu Lu Jingyao shook her head vigorously, shaking off two drops of tears. Her miserable and resentful appearance made even Liu Liu Muhan feel a trace of sorrow.

Lu Lu Jingyao simply couldn't forget the things from before. The former her must have felt inferior, but after getting into university, she had become confident.

But Li Ye had suddenly changed into a different person, shattering her confidence once again.

Unless Lu Lu Jingyao flies higher and becomes stronger in the future, far surpassing Li Ye.

If she can't, then her whole life will have to endure the stinging pain hidden in the bottom of her heart from time to time.

"Lu Jingyao, if you want to avoid Li Ye, why don't you strive to study abroad?"

"Study abroad?" Lu Lu Jingyao smiled bitterly, "How could that ever be my turn? It's too difficult."

"It's not difficult," Liu Liu Muhan said firmly, "As long as you do it with focus, it might not be that difficult. But... you have to let go of your aloofness."

Lu Lu Jingyao looked up at the sky blankly. After a long time, she murmured, "Aloofness... how much is that worth?"

The great Beijing is truly huge. Just the Haidian District alone kept Li Ye and Wen Wen Leyu busy for a whole day.

By four in the afternoon, Li Ye was driving Wen Wen Leyu back, "I made an appointment with Jin Peng to go look at houses today. I'll send you home for dinner, okay?"

"No. I want to eat at Fengzeyuan. Just drop me off there." An unexpected answer came from the back seat of the bicycle.

"..."

Li Ye turned his head back to see Wen Wen Leyu with a tight little face, her two little legs kicking hard one after another, not knowing what kind of leg technique she was practicing against the air.

"How about I buy you a big pork knuckle? And get some donkey-rolling-in-soybean-flour, then send you home..."

"I just want to eat at Fengzeyuan, using my own proofreading fees."

"Alright, alright. Tonight we eat at Fengzeyuan. My little Yu is angry, so I have to coax her well."

Li Ye twisted the handlebars and hurriedly accompanied the young girl to eat.

You can't afford to provoke a cat-person. If you really provoke her, let alone whether she'll let you pet her in the future, one swipe of her paw and she'll poke your eyes blind!

As he rode, Li Ye felt Wen Wen Leyu's little head slowly lean against his back.

She said softly, "I'm not angry. I'm just... not feeling very comfortable."

Wen Wen Leyu said these words with three parts resentment and seven parts embarrassment.

But Li Ye smiled and said, "It's okay if you're angry! If you don't believe me, go back and ask Teacher Ke; who in this life doesn't get angry?"

"..."

Wen Wen Leyu was stunned for a long time. Her little head, like a kitten, rubbed hard against Li Ye's back twice. Her little hands grabbed the hem of his shirt, and her two long legs began to swing again.

"Xiao Ye, look at the surroundings. I still feel that eight thousand is expensive."

Zaojunmiao, located between Haidian District and Xicheng District, belongs to the area inside the Third Ring Road in later generations, truly an area where every inch of land is worth an inch of gold.

However, in the Zaojunmiao of '82, there were no signs of prosperity to be seen—just a stretch of dirt and low, broken, small houses, which in Jin Peng's eyes were only slightly better than Qingshui County.

But Li Ye looked around and said, "You have to look at problems with a developmental perspective. This place is not bad."

There were indeed no tall buildings around Zaojunmiao at present, and its level of prosperity couldn't compare to the locations inside the Second Ring Road in later generations.

But there were quite a few universities around—Polytechnic, Aviation, Nationalities, Political Science and Law, Posts and Telecommunications—there were nearly ten of them, both famous and not.

Not far to the north was Renmin University, and it wasn't even a few kilometers away from Beijing University.

It could be said that this location of Zaojunmiao was exactly the central location of the schools where the eight-person group was located.

Not to mention how much this house would be worth in later generations; just based on this point alone, no matter how much money you offered, you might not find a suitable one.

"Alright then. The alley that turns left ahead is it. It's as narrow as a chicken intestine; I don't even know if a Dongfeng truck can drive in."

Jin Peng led Li Ye into the alley and walked all the way to a doorway in the middle.

The more Li Ye looked, the more satisfied he became.

This alley was certainly narrow compared to a "street," but as far as Beijing alleys went, it belonged to the "truly wide" type.

Moreover, this courtyard should have been renovated in the last few decades; the main body of the house and the bricks and tiles were all very neat.

The courtyard gate was open. Jin Peng went up and knocked on the door knocker first, then said, "Is Mr. Zhang at home? We made an appointment to come see the house."

A young voice replied, "Come in! We're home!"

Jin Peng whispered to Li Ye, "It's the landlord's son, seems to be called Zhang Rui. I heard he's also a university student. It's him who's biting down on eight thousand and won't let go."

Li Ye nodded. With such a large family estate, no one wanted to sell it cheaply; it was human nature.

But after entering the gate, Li Ye and Jin Peng were no longer calm.

Inside the courtyard, there was a small table set up, surrounded by a circle of small stools. Four people were sitting on the stools, and the looks they gave Jin Peng and Li Ye were quite unfriendly.

Li Ye whispered, "Which one is the landlord?"

Jin Peng frowned and shook his head, indicating none of them were.

Li Ye was somewhat worried. He was afraid that the ownership of this house would be problematic; there were too many cases of siblings fighting over a single house.

For example, in 1980, an actor surnamed Tian bought a courtyard house near the Forbidden City, and later, the children fought fiercely over the ownership of the house.

"Please sit! How should I address you, brother?"

"No need for formalities, my surname is Li," Li Ye picked a stool, sat down, and asked with a smile, "Are these few all relatives?"

"No, just like you, we're also here to buy the house."

Li Ye almost stood up and left directly.

Good heavens, house-shills in '82? Are you trying to teach me a lesson?

"This brother, where is your old gentleman? When I came yesterday, I remember you saying the old gentleman was the landlord."

Jin Peng was also full of displeasure. So your family is the one with all the problems, right? You want a high price, you want to meet people, and now that we're here, you're finding people to "bid up the price"?

Zhang Rui smiled gently, "My dad is resting inside. It's mainly because I need money recently, so how much the house sells for is mainly up to me."

Jin Peng was full of impatience and looked at Li Ye.

He had originally thought it was expensive, and he had some underworld air, feeling that this Zhang Rui was not straightforward.

Li Ye sat there without a word, staring blankly at an osmanthus tree by the courtyard wall.

In this day and age, to keep an osmanthus tree alive in the north, the landlord must have some meticulous skills.

Stay calm, don't rush.

Zhang Rui saw that neither of them was speaking, so he asked Li Ye, "I heard you're from Beijing University."

"Mm."

"Take out your admission letter and let me see!"

"No rush," Li Ye said lightly, "It won't be too late to look after the old gentleman is comfortable. Anyway, doesn't he have to sign it in the end?"

Don't try to bluff me; the landlord is your dad, why are you acting like a big shot?

Zhang Rui saw Li Ye's cold reaction and also stiffened his face, "Brother, don't be uncomfortable. I told your cousin eight thousand yesterday, and that shouldn't be reneged on.

However, someone said today that they'd take the furniture inside as well and give us ten thousand.

I'm waiting for money, so if you also offer ten thousand, I'll definitely sell it to you without a second word."

Li Ye pondered in his heart and asked Zhang Rui, "These four, are they not from Beijing?"

Zhang Rui nodded, "From the south, very generous."

Li Ye said, "Then let me go inside and take a look, okay?"

Zhang Rui smiled, "Of course, they are all good furniture, used for decades without a single broken piece."

Li Ye followed Zhang Rui into the house, took a simple look around, and then requested to go to the study to see the landlord.

The landlord was about fifty years old, with a clear scholarly air about him. He felt somewhat embarrassed to see Li Ye.

"Mr. Zhang, this is my admission letter. If you are willing, then ten thousand flat for the house and furniture, is that okay?"

Mr. Zhang and Zhang Rui were both stunned; they didn't expect Li Ye to be so crisp and quick.

Zhang Rui couldn't help but ask, "Brother, you're spending such a large sum of money without consulting your family?"

【Are you trying to ask me if the source of this ten thousand is legitimate?】

Li Ye smiled and took 《Beacon Fenghuo Taobing》 out of his satchel.

"I'm spending my own royalties; my family doesn't interfere."

Mr. Zhang took the book, looked at it, thought for a moment, and suddenly said, "You wrote 《Lurking》, right?"

Li Ye smiled, "I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed. It's popular literature, not fit for the refined."

But Mr. Zhang said, "It should be me who is ashamed. I made you see a joke today. I'll make the decision: eight thousand, not a penny more."

"No, ten thousand is fine. I think it's appropriate."

Hey, if you didn't sell this furniture to me, I'd feel like I'd lost a big wallet!

(End of chapter)