Chapter 43: The Telegram

Egg fried rice with an extra egg!
In this day and age, such a willful request was something not even the English teacher had ever witnessed, let alone the fried rice vendor.
Seeing him bow his head and devour it with such relish, shoveling spoonful after spoonful into his mouth without pause, Wang Runwen, who lacked any appetite, could not help asking, "Does adding an extra egg really make it taste that much better?"
Although this woman looked tender, juicy, and temptingly alluring, she was a teacher after all—utterly useless and impossible to devour. Li Heng still felt that filling his stomach came first.
So he casually brushed her off: "No use asking, just taste it yourself and you'll know."
Hearing this, Wang Runwen glanced around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to their side, she actually used a spoon to scoop half a spoonful from the edge of his bowl and popped it into her mouth.
After chewing it carefully a few times, she frowned and said, "The egg flavor is too overpowering, it lacks the fresh fragrance of the rice. It's not even as good as the one I make."
Li Heng threw her a glance. "How is that possible? Doesn't my saliva have a bonus enhancing effect?"
Wang Runwen narrowed her eyes in a cold glare. "Is your saliva supposed to be fragrant?"
Li Heng went back to shoveling the egg fried rice. "Whether it's fragrant or not, I don't know, but everyone who's had it says it's good."
Wang Runwen laughed in exasperation. "Did you kiss Chen Ziqin?"
Since she already knew about the incident in the grove on the east side, Li Heng simply stopped pretending and shamelessly declared, "She likes swallows building nests with fresh mud, so she often actively seeks me out to build a nest together."
Wang Runwen tapped the rim of the bowl lightly with her spoon and said expressionlessly, "You're paying for this meal."
Li Heng immediately felt the food lose its appeal and looked up. "Huh?"
Wang Runwen ignored his hard-feigned look of innocence, paying him no more mind than if he were air.
Li Heng turned and called out to the vendor, "Boss, do you have vinegar here?"
The vendor asked in bewilderment, "I have vinegar. Are you going to put it in the fried rice?"
Li Heng said, "I want to try something sour, I have no appetite."
"Got it, hold on a second."
The vendor put down his work, wiped his hands haphazardly on his apron, bent down to grab a bottle of aged black vinegar, and as he approached them, suddenly said:
"Young man, settle your bill first."
I asked you for vinegar, and you're bringing up the check with me?
Wasn't this plot twist a bit too abrupt?
Li Heng froze for a few seconds. When he finally snapped back to his senses and turned around quickly—holy shit! He found that the English teacher had already silently reached the school gate.
Damn it, they were right—this vendor changed his face faster than turning a page. Turns out his financial backer had bolted, and he was afraid he'd be stuck with a dine-and-dasher.
Li Heng stared like an idiot at that mesmerizing retreating figure, his heart bleeding: Money, come back...!
Wang Runwen seemed to sense something and turned back to offer him a smile right before entering the security lodge.
That smile was not the least bit radiant; it was dripping with mockery!
An order of egg fried rice cost 28 fen. Adding an egg made it even more expensive, coming to 36 fen.
Put together, the two portions came to 64 fen.
How tragic! The living allowance he had left wasn't even enough for ten meals.
Damn it all! What a massive loss. Comrade Tian Run'e would have to sell five catties of rice just to break even on this 64 fen.
Counting the small denomination notes from his pocket, he handed them over dejectedly and complained, "Boss, if you do business like this, you won't have any repeat customers."
The vendor wore a fawning smile and offered an apologetic explanation, "I'm sorry, young man, people have been eating and drinking without paying lately, so I'm a bit scared. Their routine is always the same, walking off one by one. I'm getting old, my legs and feet aren't nimble, and I can't catch up..."
In a place like Shaoshi, where the local customs had been fierce since ancient times, could a good vendor survive without getting scammed by diners?
You just had to get used to it!
Li Heng muttered inwardly and emphasized, "She's an English teacher at No. 1 High."
The vendor shook his head. "My old lady used to run this stall, but she left recently, so I just took over. I don't recognize people..."
Li Heng's mouth opened slightly, feeling as though he were punching a pile of cotton—all strength and nowhere to apply it.
Sigh! We're all just miserable people.

Periods 5 and 6 in the afternoon were mathematics.
The mathematics teacher's surname was Pan, and he had a well-known habit: whenever it was Class 204's turn, he would arrive at the classroom 10 minutes early.
This habit was unwavering through wind or rain, rock-solid.
What was he here for?
To learn a lesson, of course, and to flip through Li Heng's math supplementary workbook.
Back in the second semester of sophomore year, the math teacher had spent an entire class period meticulously analyzing a very difficult comprehensive inequality problem.
During that class, Li Heng had felt dizzy and rested his head on his desk the whole time. As soon as the fourth-period bell rang, he, starving to death, instinctively sprang up from his seat, preparing to go eat.
At that moment, the math teacher was still a hair's breadth away from finishing his lecture, staring straight at the lunchbox in Li Heng's hand.
Li Heng had long harbored a grievance against this math teacher, feeling that he fell far short of their freshman math teacher and dragged things out too much.
So, acting on a sudden impulse and youthful arrogance, he used a shortcut to solve the problem on the blackboard.
Verbally, in four steps, he provided the answer in less than a minute.
The answer was greater than or equal to 2.
Li Heng still remembered the scene vividly: the math teacher first glanced at the answer in the lesson plan, and then smiled, though it was clearly somewhat unnatural.
The entire class had been dead silent at that time, all turning their heads in unison to look at him.
Even Zou Aiming, who was likewise deeply dissatisfied with the math teacher, blurted out neither too loudly nor too softly: When it comes to math, it still has to be our Lao Heng—now *that's* an expert!
Afterward, the head teacher, Wang Qi, specifically called Li Heng and Zou Aiming into the office to counsel them, urging them both to learn to respect their teachers and be mindful of their methods.
Ever since then, the math teacher had acquired the habit of arriving early in the classroom.
However, that was all ancient history.
Under the earnest and patient explanations of teacher Wang Qi, Class 204 gradually accepted this slow-paced teacher, and their relationship was currently fairly harmonious.
"Hark, how did you ever think of this method?" Flipping through the pages, the math teacher happily asked him about a parabola problem.
Faced with the teacher's question, he didn't panic in the slightest.
Li Heng had figured it out long ago during this period: being reborn simply meant gaining an extra few decades of life experience, while the knowledge originally stored in his mind had not been forgotten at all.
This was the foundation of his confidence in taking the college entrance examination.
And it was also the reason why he had dared to work overtime recently to finish *To Live*.
Li Heng leaned his head over to look and spent five minutes with the teacher discussing and resolving the problem.
When the warning bell for class rang, the math teacher smiled broadly and whispered to him, "There's something on page 186."
Hm?
In a daze, Li Heng flipped to page 186, and sure enough, there was something there—a folded heart-shaped piece of stationery.
Without even needing to open it, he could guess what the contents probably were.
Sun Manning in the front row stared fixedly at the letter paper and asked in puzzlement, "Who snuck this over right under my nose? How come I didn't see anyone?"
Seeing that Li Heng looked even more bewildered than she was, she turned to ask Mai Sui, "Mai Sui, did you see anyone approach his desk?"
Mai Sui shook her head with a charming smile.
Sun Manning looked toward Song Yu.
Song Yu smiled prettily and shook her head as well.
At this moment, Chen Lijun on the right chimed in, "It must be a girl from another class. I saw someone lingering around Li Heng's desk when I came to the classroom this morning."
Sun Manning sprang up instantly. "Lijun, do you recognize that person?"
Chen Lijun recalled for a moment and said, "She looked a bit familiar, I must have seen her around campus, but I don't know her name."
"If you see her next time, will you recognize her?"
"I probably can."
Sun Manning, loving nothing more than a bit of drama, rubbed her palms together and said, "After dinner, let's wander around the other classes."
Song Yu: "..."
Mai Sui: "..."
Li Heng: "..."
Chen Lijun: "..."
Sun Manning reached out her hand. "Li Heng, hand the love letter over, and I'll treat you to two stir-fries."
Li Heng was speechless. "This is my business, why are you so worked up?"
Sun Manning sophistically argued, "How can this just be your business? Chen Ziqin is my best friend, I have to keep an eye on you for her sake."
Li Heng said, "Song Yu is her best friend too, and she's my deskmate. Let her keep an eye on me instead, that's much more convenient."
Hearing this, Sun Manning and Mai Sui exchanged a simultaneous glance, their eyes full of smiles and their smiles full of profound meaning.
As for Song Yu, she acted as though she hadn't heard or seen a thing, quietly opening her textbook and unscrewing her fountain pen to prepare for the lecture.
Mathematics was relatively difficult for ordinary liberal arts students, but for him, it was a score-boosting item—easy and pleasant.
He continued to immerse himself in his own world, writing *To Live*, paying zero attention to what the teacher was lecturing about up front.
Song Yu had noticed his unusual behavior over the past few days and had tried to advise him tactfully, but unfortunately to no avail.
Right now, she was torn with hesitation: Should she report this situation to Ziqin?
Let Ziqin contact him personally?
After all, in the eyes of good students like them, the college entrance examination was the top priority right now, and novels could be written anytime.
Noticing that Song Yu had cast five covert glances at him over the course of a single class period, a thought stirred in Li Heng, and he directly passed that love letter over to her.
Along with it, he attached a note that read: Keep this safe for me.
Fearing that others would see and misunderstand, Song Yu covered the love letter with a book and, after a brief hesitation, replied with a note.
She asked him: When will you finish your novel?
Li Heng replied: Tomorrow, pretty much.
Having obtained her answer, Song Yu put away the note and continued to listen attentively to the lecture.
For the remainder of the time, Li Heng went all out in his sprint, making a final push toward the completion of *To Live*.
Right around his estimated time, at nine minutes past twelve noon the next day, he wrote the very last word.
Seeing him let out a long sigh of relief, his face filled with the expression of one liberated, Song Yu, understanding tacitly, quietly passed over a note: Finished writing?
He replied: Yup...
Just as he penned the word "Yup" and intended to write more, the class bell rang.
As if timed to the second, the English teacher appeared at the classroom door right on cue.
She called out, "Li Heng, you have a telegram."
Li Heng bolted out of the classroom immediately and pressed eagerly, "Teacher, where is it from?"
Before the assembled students, the English teacher didn't say much. It wasn't until they entered the head teacher's office that she handed him two telegram slips and said, "Look for yourself."
Li Heng took the telegram, lowered his head to look, and—whoa! His heart instantly blazed with fire.
The contents of the telegram, carrying the header "People's Literature", read: Our publishing house has accepted your submission. We have dispatched editor Chen Xiaomi to your location to discuss publication matters...
Well!
That stinking woman came in person?
To speak without hypocrisy, Li Heng had been waiting for this day for a very long time.
He was very eager to see what kind of expression those former high-and-mighty favorites who looked down on him would wear once they learned he was the author "December."
Li Heng never flaunted himself as a magnanimous person; in this chaotic society, just staying alive was already exhausting enough.
For those people he couldn't afford to cross, he had to endure—that was unavoidable, that was for survival.
Whereas if he faced an enemy, an enemy he could get even with, hesitating even for a moment would be doing a disservice to having lived two lives.