Chapter 32: Working Overtime

"Really? Is it truly *Harvest* magazine?"

"Absolutely!"

Upon receiving the definitive confirmation, Li Heng was so delighted he nearly swept his English teacher off her feet. He quickly asked, "What did they say?"

Wang Runwen leaned against her desk, crossed her legs, and replied, "They were looking for you, so I didn't pry. It's set for a phone call tomorrow at 12:30 PM. You can come to my home then to discuss the details with them."

"Great! Thank you, Teacher," Li Heng said gratefully.

Wang Runwen tossed her long hair and teased, "If you really want to thank me, then study English hard, get higher marks on your exams, and stop putting all your focus on pretty female classmates."

Li Heng countered, "Teacher, you've misunderstood. It's not what you think; I simply appreciate Song Yu's beauty."

Wang Runwen asked, "And what about Chen Zijin from before? I saw you two secretly holding hands in the small grove on the east side when you were in your second year of high school. Don't tell me that was a misunderstanding too?"

Li Heng didn't miss a beat: "That really was a misunderstanding. Chen Zijin said her hands were cold, so I was just helping her warm them up."

Wang Runwen sneered, "It was summer, 37 degrees Celsius. Cold?"

*Was it? Was it really summer?*

He had certainly gotten up to more than enough mischief in that grove—damn it! He was starting to lose track of what was true and what wasn't. But he couldn't admit to it, not even if his life depended on it.

"She had a fever—a low-grade one. Her whole body was shivering from the chill. Surely a well-read person like you, Teacher, has heard of low-grade fevers?"

Wang Runwen laughed in frustration: "Low-grade fever? Let me tell you, if this were a few years ago, you'd be guilty of hooliganism, and one report would land you in serious trouble."

"Now, now, Teacher, I don't like to hear that. Look at the times we're in! Every village is dividing up the land and mountains; why are you still clinging to such stubborn ideas?"

After getting in his retort, Li Heng looked at her with an expression of feigned confusion and fear: "Teacher, why are you so interested in my private life? You don't... do you?"

Wang Runwen stared at him intensely, her chest heaving rapidly a dozen times. She pointed toward the door and squeezed the words out through gritted teeth:

"Get out! Get out right now! Get as far away from me as you can!"

Having seen her flustered state for the first time in this life, Li Heng left feeling thoroughly satisfied. *That’ll teach you to gossip! That’ll teach you to wag your tongue! After this lesson, you should be a bit more restrained, right?*

...

After a brief interval, he returned to the classroom to find that many had already arrived. Boys and girls alike were heads-down, diligently tackling problems and reading. It was very quiet.

Sometimes, one couldn't help but marvel at the intense atmosphere in an experimental class packed with the city's top students. Not a single person was mediocre; they barely needed supervision and possessed incredible self-discipline.

Occasionally, if a student didn't perform well, they would be conducting deep self-reflection and drafting even stricter study plans before the teacher even had a chance to offer comfort.

In short: chase your dreams and sprint forward! Everyone was competing to be at the front! They were all the pride of their families, and none of them would admit defeat. Even if there was a vast gap in natural intelligence, they would just compensate with double the diligence, like the early bird that catches the worm.

Mai Sui had arrived, and since there was no longer an empty seat next to Song Yu, Li Heng temporarily extinguished the urge to sit with her.

When he returned to his own desk, Sun Manning tore off a slip of paper.

She wrote: *I’ve already spoken to Mai Sui about the seat change.*

Li Heng let his gaze linger on the note for two seconds. Feeling no embarrassment, he picked up his pen and wrote: *Did she agree?*

Sun Manning replied: *I’ve known her since we were five; of course she agreed.*

Li Heng wrote: *Thank you!*

He didn't ask if Mai Sui was curious. In truth, anyone with half a brain could guess the reason for such a thing. And could Mai Sui, who had been trading the top spot in the class with Song Yu for so long, be anything less than sharp? The answer was obvious.

After sitting quietly for a while, seeing Sun Manning put the note away and return to her math problems, he didn't idle either. He pulled a new notebook from his drawer and spread it open. He was ready to write *To Live*.

After working diligently for some time, he had already written 80,000 words of *To Live*—a little over half. He only needed 50,000 more to finish.

Today's call from *Harvest* magazine had been a shot of adrenaline, but it had also sounded an alarm. Damn it, there wasn't much time left; he had to hurry and finish it.

Four days! He planned to work overtime for the next four days to complete the novel.

Once a person has hope and a sense of urgency, they generate infinite drive. And so, having entered the zone, Li Heng's inspiration was overflowing today. His fountain pen danced across the white paper, and he wrote for several hours without a break.

In one go, he filled five pages—nearly 4,500 words.

Damn it all! His fingers were deeply indented from holding the pen, and they were aching faintly.

"Li Heng, what are you writing? The cafeteria is almost out of food; aren't you going to eat?"

When she left earlier, Sun Manning had seen him buried in his work and assumed he was studying, so she hadn't bothered him. She hadn't expected that even after she and the others—Song Yu and Mai Sui—had finished eating and returned, her desk-mate was still in the same position. She leaned over to take a look.

Seeing this girl's head nearly touching his chin, he instinctively pulled back a little.

"Rich girl," he asked, "what time is it?"

Sun Manning’s nickname was "Rich Girl," as she was one of the few students in class who owned a digital watch.

Hearing this, she lifted her wrist to check. "6:28. It’s getting dark. The head teacher is going to reassign seats at 7:00, so you'd better hurry and eat."

"Oh, right."

Acknowledging her, Li Heng screwed the cap onto his fountain pen, placed his manuscript into his schoolbag, and carried it with him to the cafeteria.

Sun Manning glanced at his manuscript and bag, wondering why this guy was being so secretive. Why drag such a beat-up bag with him? Curiosity immediately welled up in her heart.

Li Heng didn't care what she was thinking. The manuscript was his treasure now; it was tied to the changing of his destiny. He wouldn't dare risk leaving it in his drawer—it was safer to keep it on his person. Peace of mind!

He scanned the classroom but couldn't find Liu Li or Zhang Zhiyong; those two must have stayed in the dorms. *Forget it, no time for that,* he thought, and jogged toward the cafeteria.

The student cafeteria wasn't far from the teaching building, separated only by a small rockery. The straight-line distance was probably no more than 300 meters. He arrived quickly.

Just as Sun Manning had said, the usually bustling cafeteria was empty at this hour. Counting him, there were only a handful of stragglers left getting food.

"Auntie, what dishes are left?"

"Just some radishes."

"What about the others?"

"You're late, they're gone."

Li Heng poked his head into the serving window and nearly fainted with frustration. The steamed eggs he liked were sold out, and of the delicious spicy chicken offal, only two bits of chicken remained at the bottom of the basin.

Seeing him standing there looking depressed, the cafeteria worker used her ladle to scoop up the last bits of radish floating in the broth.

She asked, "Do you want it? If not, I'm closing up."

He didn't like radishes at all, but he reluctantly held out his lunchbox.

"Auntie, how much?"

"Forget it, I won't charge you for this. If you don't take it, I'm just dumping it in the slop bucket anyway."

Li Heng felt a faint sense of melancholy, feeling even more dejected.