Chapter 50

In early October, as agreed, He He went back to the He family home on the weekend to collect her living expenses for October.

She came by bus from school, looking travel-worn.

The bus was crowded on the weekend, and the temperature hadn't dropped yet. He He felt uncomfortable because of the crowd and thought she must have picked up the sour smell of people. All she wanted to do was get her money and go home to take a shower.

A few days ago, Chen Jingbai had promised to take her back to the He family home, but yesterday afternoon he suddenly called their dormitory supervisor and said that he had something to do because the school teachers had suddenly announced that they would be leading a team to do practical work.

As a result, He He had no choice but to take the bus home by herself. She was initially a little resentful that Chen Jingbai had gone back on his word, but when he hurriedly called her, even though it cost him money, she suddenly stopped complaining.

Chen Jingbai was indeed busy. When she went to see him recently, she noticed that he had lost weight. He must be exhausted. Seeing this, He He couldn't help but be more understanding of him.

As soon as He He entered the courtyard, she was stopped by the nosy aunties. They asked her if she knew that He Shuying was going to marry Ye Minglang, and that Ye Minglang had brought his parents to the He family to propose marriage before returning to the army.

Another aunt chimed in, saying that He Shuying and Ye Minglang had already discussed that once they got married, they would clear out the house He Shuying was currently living in and give it to He He to live in. No matter whether He Shuying came back or not, the house would belong to her.

He He was so confused by He Shuying's kindness that she finally managed to escape the aunts' rambling questions and returned to the He family home.

Just like when she last came, He Zhongguo, Wang Fangrong, and He Shengli were all at home.

He Zhongguo anticipated that He He would come back in the next few days to collect her living expenses, so he prepared the money in advance.

After He He accepted the four large banknotes, He Zhongguo asked her a few more questions, inquiring about how she was doing at school, whether she was adapting well, and whether she liked the food in the cafeteria.

He He, having received the money, was not impatient and answered a few questions one by one.

At this point, Wang Fangrong brought up He Shuying again, saying that He Shuying and Ye Minglang had set a date and would get engaged next spring, and would get married after He Shuying graduated.

After she finished speaking, she glanced at He He out of the corner of her eye, trying to see some anger on He He's face. In the past, everyone in the compound knew that Ye Minglang used to chase after He He.

Now that Ye Minglang no longer likes He He and instead likes Shuying, Wang Fangrong is quite pleased with herself. However, she doesn't flaunt it, knowing that it's best to keep a low profile.

Whether she boasts or not is not important. After all, when Shuying and Minglang returned that day, they were stopped by the gossipy women in the compound. Minglang told them that he wanted to go to their house to propose marriage.

Sure enough, Ye Minglang brought his parents to her home the next day to propose marriage. They didn't try to hide it from people, and many people saw them. Even now, more than ten days later, she is still stopped and questioned by people in the compound when she goes out.

Shuying was lucky to be able to win over the only son of the Ye family, a highly sought-after prize. On the day of the marriage proposal, Ye Minglang revealed that he had made great contributions on this mission and would be promoted soon. Isn't the next rank above the deputy company commander?

To reach the position of company commander at such a young age is truly a promising future. Now that Shuying is with him, her mother can finally rest easy. Shuying will be destined for a life of happiness after marrying him.

Wang Fangrong was happy when she thought about Shuying's marriage. Her Shuying was capable and knew better than Hehe in finding a man. She knew that Hehe had chosen an educated youth as her partner, and she wondered what kind of future that would have.

When He He heard Wang Fangrong say that He Shuying and Ye Minglang had set a date to get married, her expression was the same as when she heard the aunties downstairs talking about it—indifferent and completely uninterested.

Seeing her like this made Wang Fangrong angry. She didn't believe that He He wasn't upset at all. After all, such an excellent man didn't want her anymore and chose her Shuying instead.

Wang Fangrong scoffed inwardly.

He He took the money and left without listening to He Zhongguo's request to stay for dinner.

After returning to the Cheng family home, she immediately took a shower to wash off the stickiness. When she went down to the living room, her aunt, who was helping out at home, brought her a bowl of lotus seed, lily bulb, and mung bean soup, as instructed by her grandmother.

He He felt much better after drinking it, and thought to herself that the Cheng family was the best.

He He stayed at Cheng's house for a day, but unlike last time, she didn't return to school on the day of class. Instead, she went back to school the evening before class.

After returning to school, she continued attending classes as usual and participating in club activities with her friends in her spare time.

The literary society is becoming increasingly popular. The president is a sophomore who organized a call for submissions titled "My Future".

He He also tried writing some, but found that she didn't have the talent for writing articles. She gave up halfway through, as she was more suited to reading other people's novels.

After her roommates finished writing, she read each one carefully with great interest. She had to admit that everyone was much more talented than her.

In addition to this call for submissions, the literary society has organized many other activities. The president also actively encourages everyone to be creative and to submit their work to the newspaper together.

Everyone discussed the works together. Although He He didn't like writing, she loved reading. She read a lot of books and read from a reader's perspective. After reading, she could even offer friendly suggestions on other people's works.

What's remarkable about He He is that her suggestions are always good, and the writers are willing to accept them. In fact, everyone has found that after revising their work with He He's guidance, the plot becomes more readable. As a result, more and more people come to He He to read their articles and offer their opinions.

Some people write utter nonsense, and He He couldn't even finish reading the beginning. However, there are also many well-written stories with plots that are truly amazing, just like how storytellers in ancient times would abruptly stop at the most exciting part, leaving the audience wondering what would happen next.

He He was still looking forward to them submitting their articles to the newspaper. She thought that those well-written articles would definitely be selected for publication, but the newspaper didn't reply so quickly.

Many people from the literary society submitted their work, and He He was waiting for their articles to be selected. If they became famous in the future, she could boast to others that so-and-so writer was her good friend and had even given her critique of her first work.

He He sometimes anticipates a reply from the newspaper even more than the people who submit articles.

During this period, she tried to contact Chen Jingbai several times, but he was unavailable seven or eight times out of ten.

He He found this relationship boring.

The only consolation was that she had novels and essays written by her classmates in the literary society to read. They would hand her piles of novels, which was more exciting than secretly reading underground literature in the Forward Brigade.

This year, literature has seen a revival, with many new writers emerging. Some books that were previously banned are now allowed to be read, but it's still not enough. There are too few good and interesting books. Not only is He He dissatisfied with what she reads, but everyone else is also not satisfied.

One day, when the literary society had some free time, her uncle brought her a large bag of guavas. He said that a guest had come to visit and brought a sack of guavas. Since they couldn't finish them all at home, he brought them to her while they were still fresh.

After receiving the guava, He He first shared some with her roommates, then with her close friends in the club, and then filled a bag with it, intending to go next door to get some for Chen Jingbai and Chen Jingyi to try.

She acted quickly, hurriedly finished distributing the gifts to her friends, and immediately went to Rongda.

It was afternoon, and He He happened to have no classes that afternoon. Her uncle had delivered the food early, around 2 p.m. After distributing it to her friends, she glanced at her watch and it was only 4:30 p.m.

She knew Chen Jingbai and Chen Jingyi's class schedules, and the classrooms for each major at Rongda University were also fixed.

This afternoon, Chen Jingyi's last class ended at 4:20. She wasn't sure if Chen Jingyi would go to the library to study, so she delivered the guavas she had prepared to her dormitory building and asked the dormitory supervisor to call her down.

She was right; Chen Jingyi was indeed not in the dormitory. She could only leave her things with the dormitory supervisor and ask her to give them to Chen Jingyi when she returned.

Chen Jingbai's class ended at 5:05 today. Chen Jingyi's dormitory is far from the architecture department's teaching building, so she ran back and forth and didn't arrive at Chen Jingbai's classroom until 5:10.

When she arrived, most of the students had already left. She was worried that Chen Jingbai would have left early and she would have made a wasted trip.

As she walked to the back door of their classroom, she spotted Chen Jingbai sitting in the first row, surrounded by a group of men and women, who seemed to be discussing something.

She walked to the front door, stood there looking through the glass window for a while.

Chen Jingbai looks so handsome when he's studying so diligently.

However, somewhat spoiling the mood, she noticed a female classmate standing very close to him, with her body almost touching Chen Jingbai's back.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Everyone, guess Xiaohe's future career! There's a prize for your guessing! [Sunglasses]