In the evening, when He Yan came back from self-study, Su Ting called the two children to the living room and told them about buying a house.

Manman's eyes sparkled: "Is it the beautiful house we visited before?"

"Is it beautiful?" He Yan knew that his parents had gone to see the house, but he did not go with them because he had to attend classes, so he did not know what the house looked like.

"It's very beautiful," he nodded slowly, "It's more beautiful than our house, and there are flowers in the yard."

He Yan looked at his parents again: "Are we going to move to the new house?"

"Yes, but the house has not been occupied for a long time, so it needs to be cleaned. There is no furniture in it, so we need to find someone to move it." Su Ting kept it a secret, and only continued when she saw the disappointed expressions on the two children's faces, "But I can take you to see it tonight, and you can choose a room."

As Su Ting's voice fell, joy appeared in the eyes and eyebrows of the brother and sister. They could no longer sit still and stood up to ask, "When are we going?"

Su Ting smiled and asked, "Now?"

The brother and sister nodded vigorously. Su Ting took the key and asked everyone to go out.

When we got down to the first floor, we ran into the residents of 101 coming out. Seeing that the whole family was dressed neatly and seemed to be going out, we were surprised and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Let's go for a walk." Su Ting replied.

The other party looked out the window in confusion. It was dark at night. Even the lights in the building opposite were off. He turned back and asked, "Walking in the middle of the night?"

But none of the four members of the family were in the mood to answer seriously. They just hummed twice perfunctorily and walked out one after another, closing the door behind them.

He went home, scratching his head, threw back the quilt, lay down on the bed and asked his wife: "Do you know who I met when I went out just now?"

"who?"

"The He family upstairs wants to go out for a walk so late at night. Don't you think it's strange?"

"It's strange, but didn't you have to go to the bathroom? Why are you back so soon?"

"Oh! Yes, I need to go to the restroom. I almost forgot!" He quickly threw back the quilt and went out in his slippers.

The woman in the room looked at his back and couldn't help muttering, "So impatient."

Su Ting turned on the flashlight after they went out. The brother and sister loved to play and walked forward in the light. She and He Dongchuan walked behind them hand in hand. It was late at night, so they didn't have to worry about being seen.

After walking for five or six minutes, they arrived at number 67 and Su Ting took the key and went to open the door.

After returning from the Housing Authority today after the property transfer, the homeowner moved out with his son.

Su Ting was afraid that they had nowhere to stay, so she originally wanted them to stay for a few more days.

But the homeowner felt that since the house had been sold, it was not appropriate for them to continue living here. Besides, his son had worked on the floor with him in the hospital for a long time and slept on a door panel for half a month. Now that he had money in hand, he wanted to put the child to bed earlier.

He had calculated in his mind that after selling the house, he would have some money left over after paying off his debts and paying for his wife's surgery, so he wanted to ask the people on the street if he could rent a house to stay in.

Recently, the number of educated youth returning to the city has been increasing, and he also wants to take this opportunity to see if he can get a hukou. If possible, he will try to find a job after staying here, and send his children to school after his wife's illness is cured.

He believed that with this money their lives would get better and better.

Nowadays, it is difficult to rent a good house in an unfamiliar place, but Comrade Huang is a local. The officials of the street office were very sympathetic when they learned about his situation and were willing to help him.

So that afternoon, he found a cheap house and moved in with his son.

After entering the yard, He Yan looked up at the house. It was a bit similar to the exterior of the house they lived in now, with red brick walls, pointed eaves, large windows, and a small balcony on the second floor.

After looking at the house, He Yan lowered his head to look at the flower garden. It was late autumn, and the grass and trees were growing well, dotted with golden chrysanthemums, which looked very beautiful.

Passing through the courtyard filled with the fragrance of flowers, Su Ting took out the second key, opened the dark door, and turned on the light. As she moved, the orange light filled the small space of the lobby.

Su Ting led the two children in and turned on the lights in the living room.

"Wow!"

The brother and sister exclaimed in unison: "It's so empty!"

"There will be more furniture in the future," said Su Ting.

She slowly raised her head and asked, "Are all these our homes?" She knew that the house they lived in now was also very big, but there were many families living inside, so their home was very small.

But there are no small houses here, and my mother said this is their home.

Su Ting nodded: "Yes, this is all our home."

After looking at the first floor, Su Ting took the children to the second floor.

There are four rooms upstairs. The room near the stairs is the smallest, and Su Ting wants to turn it into a study. The innermost one is the master bedroom, which has the largest space and not only a bathroom, but also a small balcony.

The remaining two rooms were opposite each other. One had a better orientation and one was larger, but both rooms had bathrooms. Su Ting let the brother and sister choose where to live.

He Yan asked: "Do we have one room each?"

Man Man also looked over quickly, his expression a little panicked.

Every child goes through this stage, but many children sleep with their parents when they are young, so after they have their own room, they are reluctant to leave their parents.

And because she had always slept in the same room with her brother since she could remember, the person she was most reluctant to leave behind when they were going to live separately was her brother.

But Su Ting did not change her mind and said, "You and Manman are both older now. It's not good for you to live together all the time. Besides, it's good for you to live separately. You can decorate your room as you like, with whatever furniture you want and whatever color sheets you want on your bed."

The brother and sister, who were in low spirits just now, perked up after hearing this and looked up and asked, "Can we have whatever we want?"

Su Ting was afraid that the two children would have too wild ideas, so she quickly added: "Well... the premise is that they can be bought."

"I want a rocking chair that I can lie down on."

"I want beautiful sheets, pink and pretty."

"I want a cabinet with compartments that can hold a lot of things."

"I want a dressing table, like my mom's, with a mirror."

"I want……"

The brother and sister spoke one by one, and in less than a minute, they had raised seven or eight requests. Su Ting had to raise her hand to stop them: "Wait, don't worry about what you want. You can think about it slowly. Go back and make a list and give it to me before Sunday. The most urgent thing is that you quickly choose a room. Small rooms have good lighting and air circulation, and large rooms have larger areas. You can decide where to live."

But it was obvious that the two children didn't care much about lighting and air circulation. In their eyes, there was only one standard for a good room, and that was that it had to be big enough.

In the end, because she was young and short, Man Man gave the big room to her brother and chose the small room.

After the rooms were divided, He Yan promised: "When you grow up, I will exchange rooms with you."

"Can I grow older than you, brother?"

He Yan scratched his head: "Probably not."

Sighing slowly: "Okay."

…

In the next few days, not only were the brother and sister thinking about what furniture they wanted, Su Ting was also making a furniture list, and her list was much more difficult than that of the children.

The two children only need to consider what furniture they want, but Su Ting has to consider the color and size of the furniture, and whether the furniture will look good together.

For this reason, she went to No. 67 twice during the lunch break. On Sunday, He Dongchuan came over, and the couple stayed in the empty house for the whole day with a tape measure and three lists.

They worked until the evening before they finally decided on the furniture they wanted to make.

There are really a lot of furniture to be made. There are three beds, three wardrobes, two dressing tables, two desks, and there are also a sofa, coffee table, dining table and chest downstairs. It makes my eyes dizzy just thinking about it.

It is impossible to build so many pieces of furniture at once, so we have to build them in batches. But which furniture to build first and which to build later are all problems.

Where to make furniture is also a problem. The most convenient way is of course to find someone who has made furniture before, so that they can pay and buy wood directly from the other team. But after the furniture is made, it is not easy to drag it from the county to the city. If you find someone to make it in the city, where to buy wood is another problem.

Moreover, Su Ting plans to live in this house permanently, so she wants better furniture with styles that won’t be outdated easily. The carpenter she found before has good craftsmanship, but his aesthetic taste is average.

Su Ting was a little hesitant about whether to look for him.

Compared to Su Ting's hesitation, He Dongchuan didn't think this was a problem at all. He said, "I'll find time to ask someone if I can buy wood directly from their brigade. If I can, I'll try to transport the wood here. If you have an idea for the furniture pattern, you can draw a picture and I'll go to the woodworking cooperative to ask someone if they can make it."

Su Ting slapped her forehead and said, "Oh, right? I can draw the furniture style. Why didn't I think of this? How come you think so quickly?"

"You've been busy lately and didn't think about it for a while." He spoke modestly, but the raised corners of his lips revealed his secret joy.

"Okay, I'll draw the picture first, and then find someone to do it when it's done."

He Dongchuan said, "I've been asking people about lumber these past two days. If there's a team willing to sell it, we can just haul it over and leave it there." Anyway, the house they bought was empty, so they could just leave the lumber wherever they wanted after hauling it back.

After the discussion, the couple started to act separately.

Su Ting just finished a story during the summer vacation. Although she doesn't plan to publish it in the next few years because it is a martial arts theme, this is a theme she has never painted before and it is very emotionally exhausting.

So in the short term, Su Ting does not plan to draw any new stories. She simply devotes all her attention to furniture patterns. Although she is not a professional, she does not want to draw standard design drawings. It is fine as long as it is almost there. So she is very relaxed. In addition to attending classes and drawing, she also pays attention to the rehearsal of the drama in the class.

While she was busy looking for and buying a house, the class quickly decided on the play to be performed - "The White-Haired Girl".

The main reason for choosing "The White-Haired Girl" is that it is one of the eight model operas during the Great Movement. My classmates have watched it many times and are familiar with the story, which is conducive to adapting the script.

It's not that they want to be lazy, but there are many programs in the welcome party, and the time allocated to each program is not too long. If they want to perform, they must compress the script. If the program they choose is too unpopular, no one has heard of it, and they may not understand it, or feel that it has no beginning or end.

Moreover, the welcome party will be held at the end of the month, and they only have one month to write the script, memorize the lines and rehearse. In addition, they have to deal with a series of matters such as costumes and props. The time is too tight.

Relatively speaking, performing "The White-Haired Girl" requires much less consideration than performing less popular plays. For the performers, the script is easier to modify, the lines are easier to remember, the costumes are easier to borrow, and it is more friendly to the audience, so they will not be confused.

The leading roles were also quickly determined. Huang Shiren was played by the fattest boy in the class, and Yang Bailao was played by the shortest boy. There were many choices for Xier, as many girls in the class wanted to play the role. In order to be fair, Ma Yan specially arranged an audition and finally chose the girl who performed the role most naturally, while Dachun chose the most handsome boy in the class.

After the main cast was decided, the supporting roles with smaller parts were also quickly confirmed, while those who did not have any roles were responsible for logistical work.

Therefore, it would have been better if Su Ting did not ask. As soon as she asked, Ma Yan grabbed her and asked her to help improve the script.

Su Ting was helpless: "There are so many people in our class, they don't need me, right?" They are majoring in Chinese!

"Who made you write the best essay?" Ma Yan spread her hands and persuaded Su Ting, "This drama is the highlight of our class. All the students who didn't participate in the reading program have joined. Do you think it's appropriate for you to stay out alone? Besides, revising the script is already the easiest job. I didn't even let you be in the same group with Zhang Jie."

"What does Zhang Jie and her group do?"

"The props team prepares everything from the stage background, tables and chairs to the bowls, chopsticks and cups used for display. You can draw, so this job is suitable for you."

Su Ting smiled: "I think changing the script is more suitable for me."

Ma Yan quickly handed the script to Su Ting: "Two days, is that okay?"

Su Ting opened the script and took a quick look. It was not long, only seven or eight pages. She nodded and said, "It should be fine."

In order to participate in the group activities, Su Ting had to postpone the furniture painting. She was busy with this for two consecutive days.

In fact, there are not many places in the script that need to be revised. After all, whoever dares to write the script must be confident in his literary skills, and the script he wrote is indeed good and very readable. It’s just that some details need to be polished or deleted.

Although Ma Yan gave the task of revising the script to Su Ting, this was after all the hard work of other students. So after getting the script, even if she found problems, she couldn't modify it directly. She had to discuss it with others first, and work out a more appropriate way of expression before making adjustments.

Therefore, although the work was not much, it was very trivial. For this reason, Su Ting not only studied in the evening, but also sacrificed two naps to work on revising the script.

It was also during this process that Su Ting discovered that the Three Fires series seemed to be popular in their class.

Although the script was not yet complete, in order to save time, the students who were going to perform on stage were already busy with props, costumes, and even the students who were going to perform on stage. Instead of returning to the dormitory to rest at noon, they sat in the classroom to memorize lines or make props.

In the gaps between busy schedules, everyone naturally chats, and the content of the chats is basically related to recent events, which may be new things in school, new movies, or serialized stories and comics.

As Su Ting listened, she found that the Three Fires series appeared quite frequently among her classmates. She wouldn't dare say that the whole class was following it, but at least half of them were readers.

And almost all the female classmates in the class are fans of the protagonist Sanhuo.

As the author, Su Ting couldn't help feeling a little proud.

But she didn't enjoy the joy for two days. During the first evening study session after the script was revised, a few minutes before class, Ma Yan suddenly ran over to sit next to her and asked, "Is your son's name He Yan?"

"Well, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just suddenly thought the name sounded familiar."

"Sound familiar?" Su Ting looked puzzled, and after thinking for a moment, she guessed, "When I came to report last semester, I seemed to have told you his name?"

After registering at the beginning of the year, Ma Yan joined the welcome group. As Su Ting lived off campus and didn't know any of her classmates, she came to school the next day after registering, hoping to find someone to inquire about the class meeting.

That was the first time they met. He Dongchuan and the two children were there, and they introduced themselves to each other.

However, after the official classes started last semester, apart from Man Man attending evening self-study classes with Su Ting, the other two people in the family never showed up among her classmates.

Su Ting thought that maybe it was because a long time had passed and Ma Yan had forgotten what happened at that time. Only when she heard it again did she feel that He Yan's name sounded familiar.

Ma Yan shook her head and said meaningfully: "If you split the word 'Yan' into two parts, it just happens to be three fires."

Left Hand and Right Hand were having fun playing when they heard this and suddenly looked up: "Brother is Sanhuo!"

Su Ting's expression froze, but Ma Yan raised her eyebrows and asked with a smile, "What about you, Man Man?"

"Me?" He slowly pointed at himself, "I'm Sister Sanshui!"

"Brother Sanhuo, sister Sanshui," Ma Yan said, then looked at Su Ting, "Mother Su?"

From Ma Yan's expression and tone, it can be seen that she is very sure that this Su Ting is that Su Ting. Even if Su Ting denies it, she probably won't believe it.

It's not wrong to be stubborn, but it's unnecessary.

The reason why Su Ting doesn't shout out her pen name everywhere is mainly because she is afraid that people she knows well will come to her to discuss and express their thoughts after reading her comic strips.

This kind of thing did happen quite a few times after her pen name was exposed in the compound. Every time this happened, the only reaction she could give was an awkward smile.

But this matter itself is not shameful, and it is even enough to show off.

So after a brief consideration, Su Ting did not deny it, but just smiled and asked: "How did you guess it?"

Ma Yan did not answer this question, but just smiled and said: "You are really a secretive person!"

"Did I conceal it on purpose?" Su Ting asked, "My pen names are all my real names, and I always draw during evening self-study."

Ma Yan was stunned: "It's true now that I think about it."

The name Su Ting is not that popular, after all, the surname Su is not common in life. But it is not uncommon either, as the word Ting is very common.

In addition, the author of the Three Fires series has a good foundation in painting, and readers feel that she has learned a lot of New Year paintings and is already quite old. Moreover, many comic book masters are professors in art schools, so even if she wants to apply for university, she should apply to an art school.

Therefore, classmates have always thought that Su Ting simply has the same name as the author of the Three Fires series, and never associated them together.

Who would have thought that she studied Chinese in college?

If she hadn't met He Yan again at the beginning of the school year, and if the Three Fires series hadn't reached its climax, everyone would have been discussing it heatedly while busy at noon. Ma Yan, who never read comics, would have been persuaded to read the entire series.

Maybe after finishing four years of college, she would not know that Su Ting had such a big secret.

The more she thought about it, the more interesting Ma Yan found it: "If Yang Yu knew that you were Su Ting who drew the Three Fires series, I wonder what her expression would be." Yang Yu is a loyal reader of the Three Fires series and a loyal fan of the protagonist Three Fires.

"Are you going to tell her about this?"

"Some things are more interesting if you discover them yourself," Ma Yan said, winking at Su Ting, "and I don't think this can be kept secret for long."

Su Ting nodded: "I understand."

Last semester, no one linked Su Ting to the Three Fires series because there were no new stories serialized, the discussion was low, and people didn't think about it all the time.

But when the new semester started, the Three Fires series was at its climax, and classmates would often get together to discuss the plot when they had free time.

It was okay for the students who had never met He Yan and didn't know his name, but Yang Yu and the other two had just met He Yan not long ago, and Su Ting had introduced them to each other. Even if their reactions were not as fast as Ma Yan, a bystander, they would have reacted in two or three days at most.

really,

Less than three days later, Zhang Jie took advantage of the break to sit next to Su Ting and asked the same question as Ma Yan: "By the way, is your son's name He Yan?"

Su Ting looked at Zhang Jie, then at Ma Yan, and couldn't help but say, "You two really have a good understanding."

Zhang Jie was stunned for a moment, then reacted after a while. She turned to look at Ma Yan and asked, "She also asked you this question?"

"Um."

"When did she ask?"

"Three days ago."

"What's your answer?" Zhang Jie asked while pricking up her ears. Not only her, but also Yang Yu and Li Ke, who were sitting two seats away, also leaned towards the side.

Su Ting, who had noticed their little actions, smiled and replied, "Yes, my son's name is He Yan, and he also has a nickname, Sanhuo."

The one who reacted the fastest was Yang Yu. She quickly held Ma Yan's shoulders and stood up, staring at Su Ting and asked, "Are you really the Su Ting who painted the Three Fires series?"

Yang Yu was so shocked that she forgot to lower her voice. All the classmates looked over at her. The female classmates swarmed over and surrounded Su Ting, asking her questions:

"Are you really Su Ting?"

"Su Ting from the Three Fires series?"

"Don't you have the same name?"

Su Ting: “…”

…

Because of Yang Yu's shout, not only did Su Ting reveal her identity in the class, but in less than half a day, the whole department knew that she was Su Ting from the Three Fires series.

In the four afternoon classes, she was called up five times, two of which were because the professor wanted to get to know her again.

That night, the counselor who seldom came to class showed up in the classroom and asked Su Ting about the follow-up development of the story she was serializing, when it would be finished, and when she would start drawing the next book and when it would start serializing.

After finally waiting until the evening self-study session was over, students from other majors came running over. Fortunately, Su Ting was smart. As soon as the bell rang, she slowly slipped out through the back door with her child in her arms and went down the stairs which were usually less crowded.

But after meeting the couple on the third floor, Duan Xiaolan teased her again, and the two of them stopped calling her "Man Man" and started calling her "Sanshui sister" instead.

Su Ting was embarrassed: "You guys heard about it too?"

Duan Xiaolan said with a smile: "Our major has spread everywhere, as has Lu Zheng and his major. I guess the whole school knows you."

"Not really?"

"How could it be? I was queuing in the cafeteria in the evening and heard several people talking about this matter." Duan Xiaolan said with a puzzled look on her face, "Didn't you hear what everyone was talking about?"

Su Ting: "...I didn't finish my meal at school today."

Duan Xiaolan laughed even harder: "It's a good thing you didn't go, otherwise we would definitely be blocked."

Su Ting thought that she was almost trapped, and even though she escaped today, it was still unknown whether she could escape tomorrow. She couldn't help but ask, "Is there nothing new in our school?"

"Yes, aren't you?"

Su Ting turned her head and looked at Duan Xiaolan with a look of despair, which softened her heart. She consoled her, "Everyone was so shocked on the first day that they were so excited and showed such enthusiasm. It will be fine in a few days."

In fact, everyone was so enthusiastic not only because they were shocked, but also because Su Ting was so famous.

As the most popular illustrated magazine at the moment, "Lianhuan Pictorial" has a circulation of hundreds of thousands or even millions of copies, and many people have read it since they were young.

The Three Fires series was the most popular story in the Comic Book Magazine, and even if these college students had not read it, they had at least heard of it.

If the author is far away from them, they may not care what she looks like, but when they know that the author is around and goes to the same school as them, even those who don't read comics will want to join in the fun.

But Duan Xiaolan was right about one thing. Such enthusiasm usually doesn't last too long, two or three days at the shortest, and no more than ten days or half a month at the longest. When everyone's enthusiasm fades, Su Ting's life will return to normal.

This is indeed the case.

Those who came to join in the fun dispersed after seeing Su Ting's appearance. In less than a week, her life returned to normal, and even her classmates gradually calmed down.

Well, if we don’t consider the class time, the female classmates in the class often come over and look at my aunt and smile.

Not only did they look at Aunt Manman and smile, they also had their eyes on He Yan.

As soon as the class was over, Yang Yu sat next to Su Ting again and asked, "Are you going to bring your children to the welcome party?"

Su Ting was thinking about the homework assigned by the teacher and answered absentmindedly: "I have this idea."

“Well, then…”

After hearing Yang Yu hesitating for a long time without finishing a sentence, Su Ting couldn't help but look up at her: "What?"

"Will the Three Fires come?" Yang Yu finally finished his words.

Su Ting shook her head: "Not necessarily, it depends on whether he has class that day."

"Isn't Sanhuo in junior high school? Do they have classes on Saturday nights?"

"Not on Saturday night," Su Ting shook her head and asked, "But is the welcome party on Saturday?"

"It's Saturday. I checked the calendar," Yang Yu begged, "Sister Su, please bring him here. The girls in our class are dying to see him."

Su Ting looked up and saw the female classmates sitting around her, some of them tilted their heads to listen, some of them looked sideways to peek, all of them paying close attention to their conversation. She couldn't help but ask, "You won't do anything to him then, will you?"

Yang Yu asked: "What can we do to him?"

The girl who was eavesdropping in front turned around, raised her hands and said, "I swear, we will only watch and not do anything!"

The girl peeking from the left added with a smile: "Of course, it would be even better if I could touch his head and shake his hand."

Looking at the expectant faces in front of her, Su Ting said hesitantly: "Okay, I'll go back and ask Xiao Yan's opinion. If he wants to come, I'll bring him. If he doesn't want to, forget it."

The girls heard this and nodded in unison: "Yeah!"

…

When he came home from self-study that evening and saw He Yan, Su Ting told him that the welcome party was on Saturday and he wanted to see if he could go with her.

At the same time, Su Ting did not forget to tell He Yan that because of her exposure, all the classmates knew that he was Sanhuo, so if he went to the party, he might be watched by others.

He Yan, who grew up as someone else's child, said that he was not afraid of watching, and he had to join in the excitement!

So on the night of the welcome party, Su Ting went to school with her two children.

The party hadn't started yet, so she took the two children to the classroom first.

It's not like Yang Yu and the others had seen He Yan before, but at that time they just thought he was a handsome boy and didn't connect him with the Three Fires at all. But after they learned that He Yan was the prototype of the Three Fires, when they saw him again, they felt that they looked alike, really alike!

Looking at the classmates who only cared about He Yan and didn't even want to move to the auditorium for the welcome party to start, Su Ting fell into deep thought:

Did she bring her children to the welcome party today, or to attend the Sanhuo fan meeting?