[Urban] Campus Maple Leaves in Full (Complete) - 25-27

page views:1 Publication date:2023-03-22

Chapter 1: One Step at a Time (9)

The math teacher's light and graceful figure faded away as the office door gently closed, leaving only the crisp sound of her footsteps. After a brief moment of distraction, Lao Li focused his attention on the system message on the game screen.

It was that the game company was going to make some adjustments to the game's plot, and these adjustments included the task that Lao Li had worked on with others. In fact, not to mention that the game company was going to make some adjustments to the game's plot, just the task that Lao Li had worked on with others to catch the flower thief had given Lao Li a question since he accepted the task. As a player who was catching the flower thief, all he needed to do was catch the flower thief in the prescribed plot. But for those players who accepted the system task to do the flower thief task, how far in the plot did they need to go to complete the task? Furthermore, if the player completing the "flower-picking" task targets a system-defined character, there's still room for maneuver. However, once the task involves female players in the game, and a female player is successfully "picked," the resulting domino effect would likely be beyond the game company's capacity to handle. The

fact that both sides of the "flower-picking" task are players creates a thrilling scenario that will undoubtedly fuel impulsive fervor among many players, significantly boosting the game's popularity. But no matter how exciting the storyline, what happens if a female player is successfully "picked"? How will the game company respond? Even if a system-defined character suffers the same fate, the pressure on the game company will be immense. Regardless of the game company's initial intentions in designing and handling the "flower-picking" plot, it undeniably has the potential to stimulate and induce negative psychological states in players, even potentially inciting crime. Is the game company intentionally using such a controversial plot to attract more attention? Or is the game company testing the limits of public opinion and legal acceptance?

Perhaps the countless clashes between players on the banks of the Qinhuai River last time made the game company realize some consequences. Some storylines, including the "flower-picking" plot, are now being adjusted. However, it's only been said that they're being adjusted, not that the storylines are being stopped. It seems the game company still values the sensational effect of these special storylines.

Closing the game interface, Lao Li clicked the mouse to enter the game's official forum. Sure enough, the forum was flooded with posts, almost all of them revolving around the plotlines to be adjusted, resulting in heated debates.

These posts were almost all from players and casual observers, and all of them boiled down to two viewpoints: those in favor said that this best reflected the realism of the martial arts world, while those against said that even if it's realistic, it absolutely cannot be used to incite crime! However, compared to the usual endless public debates, the official game company itself has maintained maximum silence.

Old Li, after casually clicking on a few posts and skimming through them, couldn't help but sigh as he exited the game forum. He was amazed that the game company had garnered so much attention simply by presenting the age-old duality of human nature—good and evil. They were undeniably adept at self-promotion!

The game itself didn't hold much appeal for Old Li; in fact, if it weren't for his daughter Xiaozhu's interest, he wouldn't have bothered. However, since he'd taken the quest from his daughter, and she'd insisted he level up his character as high as possible, Old Li had both sought help from his student Tan Liang and spent considerable time leveling up himself. Now that his character was at a decent level, and with his daughter on vacation, it seemed he should hand over the thief-catching quest to her for the next month and a half.

After shutting down his computer, Old Li began thinking about the student aid fund.

Old Li wasn't worried about the funding for the scholarship fund, because even if he sponsored twenty or thirty students at a time, the total amount would only be two or three hundred thousand yuan. What Old Li was thinking about was who should lead the establishment of the fund, and there should be a general system for its operation. So, who would be a good person to lead it?

A slight smile appeared on his lips as Old Li took out his phone and dialed Fei'er's number.

Yes, now that Old Li could legitimately take care of Fei'er every day, he was still incredibly uncomfortable under the watchful eye of his mother-in-law. A small scholarship fund, a director managing the fund—if this diverted some of Old Li's attention from watching him and Fei'er's mother-in-law, then even if it didn't achieve a perfect balance, it would at least give Old Li a little breathing room.

Fei'er, on the other hand, perfectly understood what her father-in-law was thinking. Not only would she not expose him, but in their current, somewhat strained interactions, she also craved more of his affection and care. Sure enough, as soon as her father-in-law finished speaking, Fei'er immediately grasped the idea and began the preliminary preparations for establishing the foundation.

The female team members, drenched in sweat, walked in twos and threes towards the bathroom. Xie Xin, who had received a text message from Lao Li earlier, casually made an excuse to Coach Mi, who was walking beside her, and slowed her pace. Seeing that there was no one left, Xie Xin turned and walked in the opposite direction from where everyone else had gone.

Still in the school gymnasium, but in this rarely used small bathroom, Xie Xin, her body bouncy and covered in water droplets, was half-bent over, her hands braced on the edge of the bathtub. Behind her, Old Li, besides being covered in water droplets, was rhythmically moving his body, his hands either slapping or kneading Xie Xin's buttocks…

A creaking sound came from the bathroom door opening. Startled by the sound, Xie Xin hadn't reacted much before Yu Lian, giggling, darted to her side.

While Old Li's movements intensified, Xie Xin, shy and teased by Yu Lian, was busy defending herself. Meanwhile, Lü Na, Tian Tian, and Zhang Nan filed in, making the small bathroom slightly crowded.

Yu Lian, who had been harassing and teasing Xie Xin, now had Old Li's large hand between her legs and no longer had the energy to do anything to Xie Xin. Meanwhile, Lü Na, who had been quickly removing her clothes, ducked between Old Li and Xie Xin. Tian Tian and Zhang Nan, who had also removed their clothes, followed behind Old Li…

Heh… In short, it was a helpless adaptation to survival; more details were being painstakingly compiled…

After dinner at home, Qing Yu and Da Mei, who had been busy outside for the past few days, returned. They brought news that the development of the land near the vocational school was now basically in progress.

Commercial development involves changes in land use rights, but the final decision-making power rests not with the Municipal Education Bureau, but with the Jiangzhong Municipal Government. Among the high-ranking officials of the Jiangzhong Municipal Government, the series of events that occurred at the Jiangzhong North City Fourth Vocational School years ago remained a thorn in their side. Although the thorn in their side has faded considerably over time, as long as the vocational high school sign remains, certain high-ranking government officials in Jiangzhong City will always remember that seemingly hidden thorn, hoping it will be stirred up again at some point.

To prevent this temporarily hidden thorn from being stirred up again by those with ulterior motives, besides ensuring that all those who experienced the incident remain silent, another crucial step is to make people forget about the vocational high school.

The best way to forget is to remove it from people's sight, but in doing so, it must not leave a lasting impression. First, since the original students of the vocational high school have stopped attending classes for various reasons after the incident, and the original teachers have also been transferred away, with neither students nor teachers available, it's best to temporarily close the school.

Considering various social factors, it was imperative to abandon the students who had left the vocational high school. Therefore, another approach was adopted: other schools would gradually accept these students first, followed by further arrangements.

The 33rd Middle School was the last school to accept the vocational high school students, perhaps because it was located next to the vocational high school. Thus, the 33rd Middle School gained management rights over the vocational high school campus.

Frankly speaking, the 33rd Middle School had been declining in recent years. Aside from avoiding some serious incidents like those at the vocational high school, its situation wasn't much better. Giving the 33rd Middle School management rights over the vocational high school seemed more like a way to ensure that, in a few years, with further mismanagement at the 33rd Middle School, both merged schools would disappear from public view. Old

Li arrived at the 33rd Middle School, supposedly to be a gatekeeper for a few years. However, Old Li was somewhat out of touch with reality. In the past year and a half, the 33rd Middle School not only didn't continue to decline but even showed signs of recovery.

A more significant reason is that, in the year and a half that Lao Li has been at No. 33 Middle School, both Qingjiang Province and its capital, Jiangzhong City, have witnessed subtle but significant changes in the political arena at both the provincial and municipal levels. These changes, though imperceptible to those outside the government, have maximized the benefits for No. 33 Middle School. The

disappearance of the vocational school is a fait accompli; whether No. 33 Middle School will necessarily follow suit is less important. Moreover, given the current government structure, it's better to avoid trouble. Besides, emphasizing it further might remind people of the previously hidden thorn in the side of the vocational school. Thus, with the combined efforts of the two opposing sides within the government, the thing Da Mei holds in her hand comes into play.

This document was just issued to the Beicheng Education Bureau. Its main point was to approve the application from No. 33 Middle School regarding its plan to expand its campus using land previously occupied by the vocational school. It also approved the school's use of a portion of the vocational school's land as financing for the expansion, and instructed the Beicheng Education Bureau to implement this as soon as possible.

After reviewing the document Da Mei brought, Qingyu mentioned another matter: relevant city leaders had just spoken with the leadership of Jiangzhong Aluminum Group. Besides the National Aluminum Group's planned inspection of Jiangzhong Aluminum Group, the meeting also touched upon Jiangzhong Aluminum's investment in No. 33 Middle School over the years.

When the No. 33 Middle School itself or the Beicheng District Education Bureau approached Jiangzhong Aluminum to discuss this issue, Jiangzhong Aluminum's leadership might have remained vague. However, now that high-ranking officials from both the provincial and municipal levels have spoken, the aluminum group's leadership immediately gave a clear statement: The No. 33 Middle School has been under the jurisdiction of the Beicheng District Education Bureau for several years, so it is no longer a school for employees of the aluminum group. Therefore, the aluminum group will no longer send cadres to the No. 33 Middle School. The investment in the school's infrastructure over the years will be considered a strong support for education, and this support will continue depending on the company's business situation. However, as a supporter of education, the aluminum group's leadership hopes that the No. 33 Middle School can give preference to the children of aluminum group employees in future enrollment.

Indeed, one can't just give money and expect a good reputation in return, so the aluminum group's request has been affirmed as a necessity. The No. 33 Middle School's future enrollment will primarily consist of the children of employees of the aluminum group and related nearby companies. Originally, he had intended to use his shares in the aluminum group to secure investment from the group in No. 33 Middle School. However, a single conversation between provincial and municipal leaders at the aluminum group resolved the issue. As for the promise of preferential treatment for the children of aluminum group employees during enrollment, Lao Li believed it was merely a polite remark from the group's leaders. There was no need to overthink it; during No. 33 Middle School's heyday, while it was true that its enrollment targets were children of aluminum group employees, the group and its subsidiaries had nearly 20,000 employees. It was more accurate to say that No. 33 Middle School was enrolling the children of middle and higher-level managers within the aluminum group than the employees' children. Now that No. 33 Middle School had declined, since Lao Li arrived, he hadn't seen a single child—not even the children of ordinary employees, let alone the middle-level managers.

However, now seemed like the time not to dwell on this, as Qingyu's intense gaze clearly indicated she wasn't concerned with this matter. Putting all these worries aside, Lao Li and Qingyu discussed the shares Lao Li held in the aluminum group.

A week earlier, Lao Li's shares in the aluminum group wouldn't have interested Qingyu much, but now that the State Aluminum Group had come to inspect the area, the value of those shares had become apparent.

Yes, State Aluminum is state-owned, and Jiangzhong Aluminum is from Qingjiang Province, but whether directly under the state or the province, both are state-owned enterprises. It's certain that regardless of whether State Aluminum ultimately acquires Jiangzhong Aluminum through merger or controlling stake, Jiangzhong Aluminum will never again be in its current predicament. In other words, once Jiangzhong Aluminum overcomes its current difficulties, Lao Li's shares will no longer be just paper.

If State Aluminum Corporation were to fully acquire Jiangzhong Aluminum, the appreciation of Lao Li's shares would be undeniable. However, if, before everything was finalized, he presented these shares to Jiangzhong Aluminum's management, he could potentially secure a much greater profit than the future appreciation.

While share appreciation was certainly desirable, Lao Li wouldn't refuse any additional benefits along the way. However, he wasn't particularly interested in such side benefits. Seeing the burning desire in Qingyu's eyes, he simply said, "These shares are yours. You handle everything."

Lao Li's words excited Qingyu greatly. Without hesitation, she took out her phone and made a call. After hanging up, she looked intently at Lao Li.

Chapter 1: One Step at a Time (10)

The shares of Jiangzhong Aluminum held by Lao Li are different from the circulating shares traded on the stock market. They are the original shares issued by Jiangzhong Aluminum during its first shareholding reform. After Qingyu learned more about Jiangzhong Aluminum, she learned that when Jiangzhong Aluminum was dividing its shares, each ordinary employee of the original Jiangzhong Aluminum Plant was allocated 500 shares, middle-level cadres were allocated 2,000 shares, and senior management personnel were allocated a maximum of 10,000 shares.

According to the shares held by Lao Li, he would need to acquire shares from about 600 to 700 ordinary employees, nearly 200 middle-level cadres, and at least 200 senior executives. The question is, how did Lao Li acquire these shares?

I remember that the reform of Jiangzhong Aluminum Plant was in 1994. At that time, each share of Jiangzhong Aluminum Plant was worth about five yuan. That is to say, Lao Li had to pay at least 1.5 million yuan in cash to acquire these 300,000 shares. Nowadays, 1.5 million RMB isn't much, but for Old Li to come up with that much money in the early 1990s was truly remarkable.

Qingyu was watching Old Li with great interest, wanting him to explain these two questions clearly.

To be honest, in the entire process of acquiring shares from the employees of Jiangzhong Aluminum, Old Li himself only received 2,000 shares from four people, and those were only sold because these four families urgently needed money. As for the other shares acquired, the specific operations were handled by Old Li's grandfather, and Old Li didn't really know the details. However, Old Li did know about the largest share acquisition: the former Party Secretary of the aluminum plant, who later became a member of the board of directors of Jiangzhong Aluminum Group, not only sold his 100,000 shares to the Li family in 1996, just before Jiangzhong Aluminum's listing, but he and his family also emigrated abroad.

Listening to Old Li's explanation of the stock's origin, Qingyu and Damei couldn't help but exchange glances and sigh: So Old Li, even at his age, still has to rely on the legacy of his past life to get where he is today!

Old Li had explained the stock's origin, but how did the Li family accumulate such a large sum of money? Before he could answer, Qingyu and Damei, after exchanging glances, turned their questioning gazes back to Old Li.

The money must have come from Old Li's grandfather's savings, the most important part of which was gold. More than half a century ago, during the war, as the head of the Li family, Old Li's grandfather only preserved the current mansion. He sold everything else he could, without holding back, and then converted the proceeds into gold through various channels. This gold was then sealed in a hole beneath the eight-step bed where Old Li now sleeps.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Old Li's grandfather never touched anything in the underground cave beneath the eight-step bed. However, with the turmoil that began more than a decade after the founding of the PRC, the Li family's old house, except for the ten gatehouses where Old Li and his grandfather lived, was entirely requisitioned by the military region, which had already occupied one-third of the Li family's property. Thus, it wasn't until 1990, a few years after private property was officially recognized by the state, that Old Li, together with his grandfather, went into the underground cave and learned for the first time about his grandfather's savings there.

Old Li had no idea how his grandfather had converted some of the gold savings into RMB, and he had recently been thinking about whether he should move his grandfather's savings in the underground cave to another place.

"Old Li, are you saying that the gold Grandpa stored in the underground cave is still there?"

After listening to Old Li's story, Qingyu asked, suppressing her extreme curiosity.

"Hmm, most of them are still there. Why don't you go and call Fei'er, Qingyu, and we'll go take a look together?"

Even a woman like Qingyu, who isn't particularly materialistic, is interested in things related to money. So, when Qingyu asked, Old Li, while giving an affirmative answer, also wanted to satisfy her and Da Mei's curiosity.

Qingyu knew perfectly well about the closer relationship between Old Li and his daughter-in-law Fei'er. Da Mei, however, had only a vague premonition because Old Li hadn't told her about it, and it was awkward to ask Old Li directly or Qingyu for confirmation. She didn't know the whole story.

Qingyu, knowing Fei'er's importance to Old Li, immediately thought of her and agreed to go find Fei'er without much thought. Da Mei, who already had a vague feeling, was even more certain of her own suspicions.

However, Da Mei knew what her relationship with Lao Li would be like in the future, so even though she was certain of her feelings, she didn't show it. She and Lao Li then got up and left.

Fei'er was mysteriously pulled to her father-in-law's room, and seeing Qing Yu carefully and mysteriously close the door tightly, she couldn't understand why Qing Yu was doing this. Fei'er already knew about her relationship with Qing Yu from her father-in-law, and when Qing Yu brought her to her father-in-law's room, she wondered if it was related. But now, judging from Qing Yu's behavior, it seemed that coming to her father-in-law's room wasn't quite what she thought.

She had already decided to sleep in her father-in-law's bed for the rest of her life, and even her mother, whom she least wanted to know about this, knew. It could be said that even if more people knew, Fei'er was prepared to face everything calmly. Although Fei'er had some suspicions about Qing Yu calling her there, and was somewhat dissatisfied with Qing Yu's behavior, she didn't show it and still came along. Now, Fei'er felt that Qingyu hadn't come to see her about that matter at all, which greatly piqued her curiosity.

Yes, why was she so cautious and secretive in her father-in-law's room? Could it be that aliens had come here?

Qingyu led Fei'er by the hand into Old Li's bedroom. From the outside, the eight-step bed Old Li slept in seemed unchanged, but when Fei'er and Qingyu entered, they discovered a significant change inside. The

bed surface was gone, replaced by a ladder large enough for one person to descend. Old Li and Da Mei stood there. Seeing Qingyu and Da Mei enter, Old Li called them over and casually turned on a switch next to the ladder.

This switch wasn't some kind of mechanism or hidden device; it simply supplied power to a light bulb that illuminated the way down the ladder.

Old Li had mentioned the basement storage room to Fei'er, but although Fei'er was very sentimental and dedicated to her work, she rarely showed much interest in what was in her father-in-law's, and indeed her current and future, home. Because in Fei'er's eyes, it didn't matter whether her father-in-law and her family lived in these ten rooms now or in the future, or whether she and her father-in-law had to rely on salaries to support the family. What mattered was that she and her father-in-law could sleep in the same bed for the rest of their lives.

Now Fei'er finally understood that Qingyu knew about the storage room in the house, which was why she had become so cautious and secretive. This made Fei'er somewhat amused, but she couldn't help but wonder if her father-in-law had mentioned something to her that had made the usually carefree Qingyu act this way. Intrigued

by Qingyu's behavior, Fei'er greeted her father-in-law and walked over to him.

Carefully, with the help of Old Li who had gone down first, the three women carefully descended the 1.5-meter-long staircase. The staircase was only a little over two meters wide and had no more than four steps. After descending, under the light, there was a narrow door about one person's height.

Old Li turned on a light switch again, and opened the door. The four women entered one by one.

Unlike typical basements, it didn't feel stuffy, indicating good ventilation in the roughly fifteen-square-meter room. There were no boxes or similar items; only a workbench, similar to those used by tailors in the past, was placed against the wall. Under

the light, Old Li, who had reached the workbench, pulled back the red silk cloth covering it, revealing a shimmering golden hue that filled the three women's eyes.

Still sleepy and feeling a slight ache in her body, Qingyu lazily stretched and began searching for her scattered clothes on the eight-step bed, which had been restored to its original state the night before.

The strap was broken, so Qingyu had to throw it aside. The silk, which had been drying by the bed overnight, was much drier, but still had a faint dampness, making it impossible for the clean-loving Qingyu to wear it. Muttering curses at that old beast, Lao Li, Qingyu leaned over in bed and pulled open the wardrobe beside the eight-step bed.

She casually pulled out a light purple women's nightgown and, without caring whether it fit, slipped it on and got out of bed. In the bathroom, Qingyu found the water heater already filled with hot water. As she filled the bathtub with the prepared water, a slight smile appeared on her face, a hint of amusement at Lao Li's thoughtfulness.

Soaking in the smooth, warm water, a slight discomfort rose from Qingyu's lower back. While wondering what was causing this discomfort, she got up and checked herself in the large bathroom mirror.

Her once smooth back and her still pert buttocks were now invariably marked with lines.

These lines, regular yet not perfectly round, resembled long, leaf-like marks, clearly reflected in the mirror behind her. Her fingers gently touched these marks, and scenes from the underground storage room last night flashed before Qingyu's eyes…

On the table where the red silk had been removed, three neatly arranged objects, all shimmering with the same golden luster, were the same thing. Qingyu, Damei, and Fei'er were all stunned by the sheer quantity of this identical object before them.

It all started as mere curiosity. They thought they had become indifferent to material possessions, but now, with a sufficient quantity of these gleaming gold objects laid bare before them, the three women felt a raw sense of reality, realizing they were no different from ordinary people.

Someone once publicly challenged everyone to pay the price for betraying love, starting with 5,000 RMB and accumulating to 50 million RMB. At that point, everyone tacitly accepted this amount as justification for betrayal. Perhaps because that scene was real, a saying was validated: so-called loyalty exists only when you haven't offered enough for betrayal.

Faced with a sufficiently tempting and substantial offer, the shock and hesitation would be intense for ordinary people. If, after the final struggle and wavering, you still choose loyalty, then no one has the right to criticize your struggle and hesitation.

We are just ordinary people, our daily lives filled with emotions, desires, and the myriad temptations of this world. Therefore, we don't need to adorn ourselves with nobility, nor should we feel ashamed of the confusion we've experienced. As long as, after the glitz and glamour fades, we can still see a glimpse of our past selves in the slightest regret, then no one in this world understands life better than you. Gradually emerging from their initial shock, the three women briefly examined the objects shimmering with gold, in two shapes: square and rectangular. They were particularly interested in the leaf-shaped objects that also shimmered with gold.

They had heard of these things many times, but this was the first time they had seen real gold leaves. They didn't feel heavy in their hands, and their shimmering light made them seem as real as the vibrant autumn leaves. So, they played with them in their palms, sometimes three, sometimes five at a time.

A beautiful dream from their youth was to play on a bed made of gold. So, they spread out gold leaves on the ground, then covered them with a red silk cloth. Not only did Qingyu, with her girlish dreams, sit and recline on it, but she also enthusiastically pulled the other three people onto this makeshift bed made of gold leaves and red silk. It

was practically a bed paved with gold, or perhaps it was because everyone's girlish dreams were hidden in their hearts, that no one seemed pretentious and sat chatting and laughing on the bed.

Old Li was the last one Qingyu pulled onto the bed, so he sat very close to her. Qingyu, still filled with excitement, felt not only a sense of girlish dreams on the bed, but also a greater sense of closeness and intimacy towards those around her.

After learning about Lao Li and Fei'er's relationship, Qingyu always felt a slight distance between herself and Fei'er when they met. Although Qingyu herself didn't know why this distance existed, after trying to overcome it without success, she chose to maintain a distance from Fei'er whenever they met.

A temporary sleeping mat on the floor, a few childhood memories—in this first close encounter with Fei'er, the distance that Qingyu felt gradually dissipated as they chatted and laughed together. As

they grew closer, their hearts became more intimate, and unknowingly, the affectionate gestures that initially appeared only among the three women began to involve Lao Li. With

the three women's close and harmonious atmosphere, Lao Li's mood improved, and he further fostered this intimacy and harmony. Old Li hadn't expected that his original intention of enhancing the interaction between the three women during their first intimate encounter would unexpectedly lead to him becoming increasingly uncontrollable, both physically and physically, especially his hands.

Fei'er knew her father-in-law's nature well, and as her interactions with Qingyu lessened the lingering resentment, she decided that everyone in the family should try to get along. So, Fei'er actively responded to her father-in-law's increasingly uncontrollable displays of affection.

With Fei'er's subtle encouragement, even the somewhat shy Qingyu and Da Mei gradually opened up. Soon, as the bed covered in gold leaves warmed up, Old Li began kissing Qingyu first in their intimate moments…

Even though gold leaves are much softer than gold bricks and bars, the thin red silk cloth left marks on Qingyu's back and neck that hadn't faded by morning after their playful moments.

Normally, such marks would disappear in ten minutes to an hour on most people (as long as the skin wasn't damaged). But for Qingyu, perhaps because her skin was so incredibly delicate, these marks took half a day to completely fade.

Cursing Old Li's roughness the night before, and tenderly feeling sorry for her delicate skin, Qingyu immersed herself in the warm water again, and began to think of Old Li once more.

Chapter Two: Unintentional? Destined? (1)

"Dad, I'm home!"

A girl's cheerful voice came through the half-open bathroom door, instantly snapping Qingyu out of her reverie.

"It's Xiaozhu!"

Having stayed at Old Li's house for a while now, although she hadn't had much contact with Old Li's precious daughter, Qingyu still recognized the voice that made her heart skip a beat.

Yes, when she was little, she was Xiaozhu's older sister. In the many summer and winter vacations, and the joyful days on weekends, she had grown from a budding teenager into the young girl she was now.

Those carefree years, those seasons that seemed like yesterday, were warm, memorable, and, more than anything, a feeling that she couldn't quite explain before, but which was deeply hidden in her heart, now flowed clearly and deeply within her.

When everything that was hazy and unclear in her youth became clear and tangible, Qingyu knew very well that Old Li's daughter, besides being very affectionate towards her aunt and Fei'er, also showed a hint of unfamiliarity and hostility towards herself and the other women who had been involved with Old Li.

Qingyu could understand Xiaozhu's hostility and unfamiliarity; after all, given her relationship with Old Li, she was practically Xiaozhu's stepmother (even if only one of them). It wasn't easy for Xiaozhu, or any child, to be so tolerant and accepting of someone who had once been like an older sister now becoming her stepmother.

If it weren't for today's situation, Qingyu would have liked to further interact with Xiaozhu to melt away her unfamiliarity and hostility. But now, Xiaozhu was calling out for Old Li from room to room. If Xiaozhu saw her like this, wouldn't Xiaozhu's suppressed hostility and unfamiliarity suddenly erupt?

But now, could she still run away? Hearing Xiaozhu's footsteps and her calls, Qingyu, suddenly deciding to face her directly, dried herself off, put on her bathrobe, and went to greet her.

Her courage was commendable, but when she actually faced Xiaozhu's surprised face, Qingyu realized that her attempt to smile was met with a face full of wrinkles.

"Sister Qingyu, where's my dad?"

Xiaozhu asked before Qingyu could speak, her surprise fleeting.

"Your dad had something to do at school; he went early this morning."

Old Li had told Qingyu last night that he would be going to school this morning, so even while Qingyu was inwardly wondering about Xiaozhu's attitude, she still told her where Old Li had gone.

"Oh, I see! Then I'll go to my sister-in-law's."

Aside from expressing her dissatisfaction at her father's absence, Xiaozhu gave Qingyu a curt reply before turning and leaving.

"What kind of attitude is that?"

Qingyu muttered to herself as Xiaozhu walked away, her tone indifferent.

It's understandable; she had expected Xiaozhu to unleash her hidden hostility and estrangement, and Qingyu was fully prepared for it. But Xiaozhu simply left with a curt remark, leaving Qingyu feeling frustrated instead of receiving a proper scolding. Perhaps that's

how people are; when they're prepared for a good scolding but unexpectedly escape it, they don't feel relieved but rather resentful.

In a few days, the Qingjiang Province Middle School Basketball Tournament will begin, and the No. 33 Middle School girls' basketball team, representing Jiangzhong City, the provincial capital, is now in the final stages of preparation.

The training for actual competition was conducted with reduced technical and high-intensity physical training. Therefore, the training mainly focused on maintaining the players' competitive state and high physical reserves.

The less intensive training schedule allowed the girls' team players from No. 33 Middle School some free time. After discussions with Coach Li and the coaching staff, to ease the pre-competition tension, the girls, who had been in closed training, were allowed more time to leave the training field, in addition to playing warm-up games against the Tiancheng Women's Basketball reserve team. Early in the morning

, Coach Li received a notice from the Beicheng District Education Bureau to attend a meeting. After the meeting, holding the approval from the Municipal Education Bureau for No. 33 Middle School to use the vocational school's land for school expansion, Coach Li hurriedly rushed to his school. Indeed, the Beicheng District Education Bureau had

made it clear at the meeting that the expansion project must be implemented as quickly as possible. Why was a school expansion being rushed so urgently? Old Li didn't delve too deeply into it, because no matter how far-fetched his ideas might be, he couldn't influence the decisions made by his superiors. What made Old Li anxious now was that he wanted to expedite the entire expansion project before certain leaders explicitly expressed any intention to interfere.

It's understandable; some instructions from superiors are just words, and as a subordinate, not only would failing to understand the intentions be a problem, but also acting on one's own initiative would lead to even more scrutiny from superiors in the future, requiring considerable effort to handle.

Old Li wasn't afraid of trouble, but he knew better than to invite it. That's why he rushed back to assign tasks, trying to minimize the attention the 33rd Middle School would receive from superiors later.

Bad things are often remembered because people want to see a spectacle; good things are also often remembered because they are good. There are times when people are always on your mind, good or bad, and this was evident in Old Li's incessantly ringing phone on his drive back to No. 33 Middle School.

Old Li had met the secretary of Vice Mayor Yun, who was in charge of education, but before today, this secretary absolutely did not recall knowing a principal of No. 33 Middle School. However, now the secretary was very friendly, telling Old Li that he wanted to meet with him in a day or two. What should Old Li do?

A call from the deputy director of the Municipal Education Bureau and the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission was at least a work-related interaction, but Director Ma of the Municipal Industry and Commerce Bureau—Old Li couldn't remember ever meeting him before. A barrage of calls came from people with connections and those without, and even though none of them explicitly stated their intentions, Old Li knew that everyone knew about his school's expansion.

He had wanted to avoid the trouble as quickly as possible, but now it seemed he had no time to hide. "If I can't avoid it, I won't try to avoid it," Old Li

thought, remembering he hadn't turned off his phone, and slowly drove towards the school. Director Ma from the Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce? Why would someone he'd never had any dealings with suddenly call him? Old Li was absolutely certain that even if he were Director Ma, he would never do such a thing. In other words, even Vice Mayor Yun, the mayor in charge of education, wouldn't easily issue orders to his subordinate when there was absolutely no prior interaction (although he had the authority, things weren't always that simple). Director Ma's administrative rank was higher than his, but he certainly wouldn't be calling him for that reason. What could be the reason for this call at this time?

Old Li didn't pay much attention to other calls; he was preoccupied with Director Ma's call the whole way. When he finally managed to concentrate, he realized he was just one street away from his school.

Two familiar figures stood at the bus stop. If Old Li hadn't focused his attention at that moment, he would have missed them.

Slowly pulling up beside them, Old Li rolled down the window and called out, "Lulu, Hanyue, where are you going?"

Lately, because they had constantly sensed cars following them, Hanyue and Lulu had become overly sensitive to any approaching vehicles. Sure enough, at the slight sound of brakes, they both tensed up and looked over warily.

Thankfully, as the car window rolled down, Old Li was smiling and waving. The two girls, visibly relieved, smiled and walked towards Old Li's car. The quick-witted Lulu blurted out, "Hehe, it's Teacher Li! If you're not busy, could you give Yueyue and me a ride?"

"Sure, I'm free right now, buddy, I'll take you two there first."

Since going back to school would only cause more trouble, Old Li didn't mind at all. He readily agreed to be the driver for the two girls and opened the car door.

"Teacher Li, guess where Yueyue and I are going?"

Lulu, barely settled in the back seat, asked Old Li mysteriously, clinging to the back of his seat.

Since Old Li escorted Hanyue and Lulu a few times for protection, and with the recent rehearsals for the school's performance, quiet and reserved girls like Hanyue were alright, while lively girls like Lulu, who, in school or other situations requiring a more formal demeanor, showed due respect to their teacher, Old Li, became more casually affectionate in their more relaxed interactions.

Old Li is almost fifty, but it's hard to find any trace of his generation in him. On the contrary, he often makes those around him forget his age, allowing them to interact with him as equals in a very relaxed manner.

Old Li himself also enjoys these interactions, finding pleasure in spending more time in relaxed conversations.

Just like Lulu now, a young girl's cheerful yet slightly mysterious face, fully reflected in the rearview mirror, her clear yet sweet voice, the soft, fragrant breath brushing against her ear in her slightly hurried breathing, was like a gentle breeze blowing through one's heart. The

slightly upturned corners of her mouth, her eyes slightly widened with a hint of mystery, and the uncontrollable expectation in her gaze—Old Li's heart, gently stirred by the breeze, fluttered. Without uttering his guess, Old Li quietly started the car.

With an air of certainty, even though Old Li didn't answer her, Lulu knew very clearly that Old Li had guessed where she and Yueyue were going.

"Could he really have guessed that accurately?" Lulu, surprised, glanced at Old Li's confident half-face in front of her, then turned to look at Han Yue sitting beside her.

Han Yue, seeing Lulu's questioning gaze, smiled slightly and shook her head, indicating she didn't know either. After

a moment's hesitation, she gestured to Lulu. Lulu quickly understood Han Yue's meaning: "That's right! Neither I nor Old Li have said where we're going. Even if Old Li really guessed where Yueyue is going, I won't say, 'Teacher Li, you're such a grown-up, why don't you ask before guessing?' "

Excitedly anticipating her new idea and wanting to tell Old Li more, Lulu, to contain her excitement, reached out and grasped Han Yue's hand.

"Lulu, let me tell you a story,"

Old Li's voice came just as Lulu's hand touched Han Yue's.

A story? Why did you suddenly decide to tell a story? Although quite unexpected, Lulu, already having the idea, wasn't bothered by this surprise. She replied with a grin, "A story! I love listening to stories! Teacher Li, please tell me quickly."

Old Li glanced in the rearview mirror at Han Yue, who had slightly frowned after hearing his suggestion, and then began to tell the story, following Lulu's answer.

Two close friends from a long, long time ago, one quiet and one lively...

Until one day, the lively girl and the quiet girl shared a common wish. They not only made many preparations for this wish but also promised that whoever helped them fulfill it would receive good fortune.

Not long after, a person appeared before the two girls. He told them that he could help them achieve their wish. The two girls were overjoyed because finally someone had come to help them realize their wish! So, together with their helper, they embarked on the journey to fulfill their wish.

A slight smile appeared on Old Li's lips, but he didn't continue his story. Just then, Han Yue secretly stuck out her tender little tongue in the rearview mirror, while Lulu simply slumped against the back of her seat, looking utterly deflated.

"Teacher Li~" Lulu called out weakly from behind, not noticing the two girls in the rearview mirror after just turning a corner.

"What is it?"

With heavy traffic, Old Li only glanced in the rearview mirror before Lulu, who had already sat up straight, asked him.

"Teacher Li!"

Lulu called out to Old Li almost word by word, then interrupted, "You have absolutely no sense of humor! You just ruin people's moods! You..."

Like a little hedgehog suddenly bristling with quills, Lulu roared, but her little hands also pushed and shook the back of Old Li's seat.

Although his driving skills were passable, Old Li, who had a bit of a shaky grip on the busy road, didn't consider himself a match for a driving god. So, seeing a parking sign, he quickly pulled over and stopped. The

arrogant and fiery Lulu, along with Han Yue who kept adding firewood to the car, were there too. Old Li, who thought he was being clever by exposing the little woman's thoughts, was thoroughly criticized. He had no choice but to half-stand up and then turn around, squeezing through the gap between the two seats.

There were two little girls on either side, but they were all a bit flustered by Old Li's sudden appearance between them.

Before the hedgehog-like Lulu could react, Old Li reached out and pulled her close.

His original intention was just a spur-of-the-moment thing to tease the little girl, but when he actually pulled her close, a strange flutter in his heart stirred. His eyes softened instantly as he met the little girl's panicked gaze.

In the quiet carriage, even the bustling noise outside seemed to have vanished. Old Li's gaze softened as he looked into Lulu's eyes. As the panic in Lulu's eyes gradually disappeared, a blush crept onto her face, and a strange light shone in her eyes.

Lulu's cheeks were bathed in the pink of early spring peach blossoms, her hazy, alluring eyes blinking slightly, seemingly half-closed. Her breathing rose and fell softly, her lips moving slightly—this was a girl who seemed to be falling asleep, or perhaps anticipating something. Old Li, no longer thinking of anything, let his long breaths fall gently onto the girl's face…

Is this where the passion ends? Old Li is really afraid of getting his license suspended again!

11-15

Chapter Two: Unintentional? Destined? (2)

As the manufacturing level of various family cars has improved, everyone has noticed that when the car's speed exceeds 20 kilometers per hour, all the doors of the car will automatically lock. Moreover, even if the car stops, the central door lock must be opened before the doors can be opened.

To be honest, locking the car doors at this time is simply to better ensure the personal safety of the passengers. But who knew that it was precisely because of this reason that Han Yue, who was still experiencing a burning pain between her legs, cursed in her heart the car door that she had tried to open for more than an hour but could not. With

another burning pain between her legs, Han Yue, who was cursing that she could not open the car door, couldn't help but turn her head slightly to look at Lulu, who was half-lying and half-sitting next to her.

When Lao Li suddenly got up and came to Lulu and herself, it really startled them. Just as they were still a little panicked, Lao Li had already pulled Lulu into his arms.

In that instant, Lulu, like a little hedgehog, not only retracted all her quills under Old Li's gaze, but without them, she became as soft as water.

When she saw Old Li begin to kiss Lulu, her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. At that moment, for some reason, a sudden, intense fear gripped her; she desperately wanted to open the car door and escape.

However, that car door was utterly awful; it truly deserved to be cursed to the deepest hell, because at that very moment, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't open it.

And so, in this fear and futile effort, she saw Old Li almost meld Lulu into his body, and amidst his increasingly rapid breathing, Lulu, after a series of faint moans, began to cry out.

Lulu's writhing, Lulu's cries—a fear she had never experienced before, something she had never known before, was awakened within her soul!

This fear, intertwined with something deeper that had suddenly been awakened, made him grip the car door switch tightly with three fingers, and made his eyes stare intently at every detail of Old Li and Lulu's every move.

Lulu's clothes, rather than being clothes, revealed every most private part of her body, and Old Li lingered over and over in these girls' most private parts...

Lulu went limp with a low, hoarse moan, and after Old Li had thoroughly comforted her, he slowly reached his large hand towards himself...

Lulu, Old Li only lingered over her countless times with his mouth and large hand, but what about herself? It seemed that the ending stemmed from something suddenly awakened within her.

This sudden awakening, which initially terrified her but later took control of everything, drove her uncontrollably into madness…

Why did such a thing reside within her, and why had it been waiting to be awakened one day? Suddenly, Hanyue remembered something that happened when she was a child at her grandmother's house in the countryside.

Hanyue was born, but instead of feeling joy at the arrival of this little life, her parents were filled with worry for days.

Hanyue's parents didn't have any preference for boys over girls; in fact, her father preferred girls. Hanyue's birth caused them immense distress because the newborn Hanyue was covered in a layer of fine, snow-white down.

Downy fur is the kind of fur we feel for newborn kittens and puppies. But now, it appeared in a place where it shouldn't grow, and this downy fur not only didn't evoke affection but even instilled fear! Yes, what would become of a girl covered in downy fur!

The parents' sorrow was witnessed by Hanyue's maternal grandmother, who had come to care for Hanyue's mother during her postpartum period. While grieving for Hanyue's mother, she secretly made a decision.

The full-moon celebration is an important moment for every newborn child as they face the beginning of their lives! For Hanyue, only a month old, this moment was spent being held tightly in her grandmother's arms as they walked along a snow-covered country road.

One month old, Hanyue grew to three years old under her grandmother's meticulous care. That year, not only did Hanyue's mother give birth to a younger sister, but Hanyue herself also underwent significant changes.

The downy hair that had covered Hanyue's face had completely fallen off within the year.

Hanyue's grandmother was a devout Buddhist. Since bringing little Hanyue home, she had been praying to Buddha, hoping that Buddha would respond to her piety and bless her precious granddaughter.

Now, the changes in Hanyue's face filled her grandmother with joy. So, besides praying more devoutly to Buddha herself, she also wanted her babbling granddaughter to join her in worshiping Buddha.

However, this continued for four years. Now seven years old, Hanyue's facial hair had completely fallen out, but her body hair remained unchanged.

Perhaps her heart wasn't devout enough, or perhaps she was too far removed from Buddha. Looking at her shy granddaughter, who dared not even meet strangers and wore thick clothes to cover herself even in the sweltering summer, the elderly grandmother led her granddaughter on a pilgrimage of over twenty miles through the mountains to a temple.

They didn't see the Buddha statue because, near the temple, the grandmother met a person who had lived there for many years. This person wasn't a monk, but everyone in the temple, from the monks to the worshippers, treated him with great respect. This man not only frequently performed fortune-telling and interpretation of divination slips at the temple, but his medical practice also benefited people from all directions.

Grandma not only knew this man, but he had also treated her illness. Seeing her benefactor before her, Grandma quickly pulled her granddaughter forward to express her gratitude again.

The man being thanked by Grandma spoke to her while constantly glancing at little Hanyue, who was dressed in thick clothes. Finally, he reached out and took out a handkerchief, wiping little Hanyue's sweat-soaked face, and sighed softly.

Grandma was very flustered, believing that this sigh was sealing her granddaughter's fate. But at this moment, the man began to comfort Hanyue's grandmother.

He told her that the downy hair on the child's body would all fall off by the end of the year, and that Hanyue would definitely grow into a beautiful and lovely young woman. However, he hesitated, then stopped speaking.

Terrified that her little granddaughter might suffer any more hardship, the grandmother even knelt down to beg the man for guidance. Unable to refuse her grandmother's pleading, the man began to instruct her.

The guidance wasn't extensive, but the man emphasized that to ensure Hanyue's future life was free of trouble, she must avoid excessive contact with outsiders. He also suggested that since the grandmother was so devout to Buddha, Hanyue should read Buddhist scriptures.

This man lived in a secluded courtyard within the temple. After Hanyue turned seven and shed her pubic hair, her grandmother sent her to this secluded courtyard, where she lived under this man's care for another four years.

At eleven, Hanyue was finally brought back to her parents. Having lived with this man for four years, Hanyue had learned a great deal. After passing the sixth-grade entrance exam directly, Hanyue began her new life.

But after Han Yue's grandmother's words came true in Han Yue's life when she was seven, she treated them as gospel. Moreover, as Han Yue grew older, her grandmother deeply understood why Han Yue should avoid being around people.

Yes, Han Yue was too… too…

Even though she was only a teenager, years of reciting scriptures had given her a subtle, aloof air, but deep within that aura lay something captivating in every smile and gesture—something beyond mere allure; it was almost devastating.

All they wanted was for her to live a peaceful life, free from the burdens of her beauty. Therefore, Han Yue's grandmother and parents risked their lives to persuade her to finish high school as quickly as possible and find her a husband.

Han Yue's parents tried everything to persuade her grandmother, but to no avail. Even Han Yue herself agreed with her grandmother's opinion, and her parents were genuinely afraid that their grandmother might cause trouble because of this. They had no choice but to agree, even if they didn't want to. However, considering how Han Yue could acquire a skill to improve her future, and with vocational schools starting to enroll in clothing design classes, Han Yue, who had excelled academically after junior high, was admitted to the clothing design program amidst much regret. "

A daughter of the Yang family has come of age, hidden away in her chambers, unknown to the world." The third and fourth lines of the "Song of Everlasting Regret" introduce the image of a beauty whose smile could topple kingdoms. However, from the moment her natural beauty was revealed, her tragic end was destined—meeting the moonlit grave in the underworld.

Han Yue emerged from her secluded chambers. On that desolate graveside under the cold moon of a thousand years ago, would her lonely figure also remain?

I dislike the endless cycle of tragedy in this world, yet reality is always unavoidable, leaving me utterly lost and confused...

Han Yue could drive a man to madness, but she herself was equally mad for the man who entered her heart. So when everything that had happened in the cramped carriage resurfaced in her mind, she truly understood why that person she met at seven had said those words. She also understood why her grandmother had risked her life to make such an arrangement for her.

Yes, once Han Yue's body understood love, it was a raging fire that could never be extinguished. It was this fire that, even with Old Li's formidable willpower, finally caused him to erupt completely when Han Yue, who had just lost her virginity, came for the second time.

This outburst brought the somewhat lost Old Li back to his senses. He was extremely reluctant to part with Han Yue's body that was about to take his soul, but once he was clear-headed, Old Li realized that now was not the time to linger. So, after spending some time cuddling with the two girls, Old Li returned to the driver's seat and obediently went back to driving.

Han Yue and Lulu had only one purpose in leaving home today: to visit Old Li. Of course, visiting was one aspect; their deeper thought was that, if the opportunity arose, they wanted to stay at Old Li's house for a few days during their holiday.

From Fei'er onwards, to the girls in the school's girls' team like Fu Yuanyuan, almost every woman who appeared in Lao Li's life was someone he passively and reluctantly accepted. After Bai Xue and Yueyue, Lao Li underwent a significant change, developing a more proactive approach to women. However, in the wake of everything that had just happened, Lao Li suddenly realized that when faced with women who could stir his heart, his possessiveness and aggression had been subconsciously awakened. Male

possessiveness and the aggression it dictates are latent to varying degrees in every male; time, environment, and even changes in mindset are the main factors that bring them to the surface. If time could rewind twenty years, perhaps without all the events in Lao Li's marriage and family, these latent traits within him would still be there, even if he had turned to ashes in a tall chimney.

Life is unpredictable. Has Lao Li, gradually awakened, become the same person he once was?

Han Yue was carefully helped out of the car by Lulu. A series of cheerful voices rang out as Xiao Zhu quickly came to greet them. Holding onto Lao Li's hand, Xiao Zhu politely greeted Han Yue and Lulu, then pulled Lao Li and the two girls into the house.

There were three girls in the living room. One stood up and greeted Lao Li generously as "Uncle Lao Li," while the other two stood up somewhat awkwardly, looking at the group that had come in with Xiao Zhu.

"Hehe, Xiao Lu's here! You're on vacation too, so stay at your uncle's house for a few more days."

Seeing his brother-in-law's daughter, Xiao Lu, Lao Li smiled and said to her, affectionately ruffling the little girl's hair with his large hand.

Xiao Lu's father, Lao Li's brother-in-law, had married while serving in the military, and his wife was also from the same military region, a well-known pillar of the army's cultural troupe.

In the third year of their marriage, they had Xiaolu. However, both parents were busy with their work and didn't have much time to care for her. Eventually, Xiaolu's mother gave up her career and became a civilian cadre in the military region headquartered in Jiangzhong City.

Xiaolu's kindergarten and primary school were right next to Lao Li's house, so even though Lao Li was no longer the principal of the primary school, he practically watched Xiaolu grow up.

Xiaolu's father, whether in the military or in civilian life, was always away from home and rarely provided for his family. When Lao Li met Xiaolu, he was no longer legally her uncle-in-law, but having always been very caring towards his ex-wife's family, he also devoted some of his energy to caring for Xiaolu and her mother.

Having rarely seen her father, and with Lao Li being a very approachable person, Xiaolu developed a very deep bond with him and her sister, Xiaozhu, after they met.

Xiao Lu will be entering her final year of junior high school next semester, and she'll be attending the city's No. 5 Middle School from then on. Although she doesn't see Lao Li as often anymore, her feelings for Lao Li's family remain deep. Now that the holidays have started, she and Xiao Zhu have returned to what is essentially the home she grew up in.

Before Lao Li and Xiao Lu could even exchange a simple greeting, Xiao Zhu, saying, "You two can talk later," pulled Lao Li aside and introduced him to two other girls.

These were Xiao Zhu's classmates and roommates from their time at the boarding school. Although Lao Li had heard a lot about these two girls from Xiao Zhu, this was the first time he had actually met them.

After listening to his daughter's introductions and greeting her classmates, he turned to introduce Lulu and Han Yue, who had come with him, when Fei'er, who had somehow followed him in, stood behind Lao Li, arm in arm with Han Yue.

Fei'er's ambiguous smile sent a chill down Old Li's spine. Judging from Fei'er's arm around Han Yue, she clearly knew what had happened to Han Yue! Even with his masculine possessiveness and aggression fully awakened, Old Li, having done something wrong, would still tremble at the sight of Fei'er, even if he had ten times the courage.

Before her pregnancy, Fei'er, even if she could control herself and not provoke Old Li in public, would have given him a deep, piercing look that sent chills down his spine. That wouldn't be Fei'er. But now, pregnant with Old Li's child and having experienced so much, Fei'er, who greeted several girls with a smile, had learned not to use her eyes or actions to instill fear in some.

Fei'er sat down with Han Yue, and Xiao Zhu, who had been very affectionate with her sister-in-law since she entered the house, naturally sat down next to her as well.

Xiao Zhu's two classmates had just met everyone. Although Han Yue and Lu Lu had met Old Li's family before, they weren't particularly familiar with each other. It was just a brief awkward silence when the women met, but it passed quickly.

Old Li absolutely dared not leave before Fei'er, so even though he couldn't join in the conversation, he stayed by Fei'er's side while she chatted intimately with the group of girls.

A little while later, Fei'er's mother arrived, followed by Qu Rou and the woman in the cheongsam. Then, Old Li's sister-in-law, Tie Yi, and her daughter entered one after the other.

The living room now felt cramped, so everyone, from the older women to the younger girls, went to the garden at Fei'er's invitation. Since Old Li had moved the bluestone blocking the spring, the gushing spring water had overflowed the garden, filling the previously dried-up pond.

The transplanted water lilies now have new buds emerging from the water, and koi carp, bought at the same time, appear and disappear in the water after a group of excited girls throw in their bait.

Bamboo sways in the breeze, and in the pavilion with a few cups of tea, Old Li, Tian Rong, Tie Yi, Da Mei, Qing Yu, and Fei'er sit on one side, while the woman in the cheongsam and Fei'er's mother sit opposite them, keeping a little distance.

The conversation revolves around the expansion of No. 33 Middle School. The school expansion itself isn't much to discuss, as the budget and funding (even though most of the funding is self-raised) require a detailed design and approval from higher authorities. The current issue is the change of land use, and the specific implementation is still under discussion.

Old Li's phone has received several more unfamiliar numbers, so regardless of when the school expansion starts, all specific details regarding the expansion must be finalized beforehand, otherwise, the number of people coming to his door will only increase.

According to the expansion plan submitted by Lao Li to the Education Bureau by No. 33 Middle School, a well-known construction company from another city was to undertake the expansion project. However, Lao Li, Qingyu, and Da Mei all knew that this construction company was just a temporary player brought in by Qingyu; they wouldn't actually participate.

This was because commercial development required a qualified developer. Qingyu and Da Mei wanted to profit from this development, so they were simply using the company's qualifications to secure the development rights; they would handle the rest themselves. In other words, they needed to raise enough funds first and then find a reputable construction company to undertake the project.

When Lao Li submitted the plan, Qingyu and Da Mei initially thought that even if the project was approved, it wouldn't be enough to complete the project based solely on the plan. There might be higher-ups intervening, and it might have to go through a public bidding process.

But now, everything seems to be going too smoothly, and following this smoothness, one unfamiliar call after another is coming in on Lao Li's phone.

It's obvious that delegating all the rights regarding the expansion to No. 33 Middle School is, in essence, a way for someone to keep those rights firmly in their own hands. In other words, someone with sufficient power wants to use that power to interfere in the expansion of No. 33 Middle School, but they're not doing it openly; they're doing it behind the scenes.

Since returning from the meeting at the North District Education Bureau, Old Li has received quite a few calls from people wanting to get involved in the No. 33 Middle School expansion project. However, after analyzing these calls with Da Mei and Qing Yu, none of them seemed to have that kind of influence. Because if it were just the development and expansion of a single school, it wouldn't be a big deal. But if you connect it to the overall development of North District and the connection to the highway, the land around the vocational school will have enormous potential for appreciation.

Only such huge profits could entice someone with enough power to get involved! That said, the North District redevelopment project hasn't been publicly announced yet; anyone who knows about it beforehand is no ordinary person. For some reason, Lao Li was thinking about the phone call from Director Ma of the Industry and Commerce Bureau. This unexpected call, like the mystery before him, left him feeling uncertain.

Chapter Two: Unintentional? Destined? (3)

Anyway, Qingyu and Damei were handling the specific matters of the school expansion. Based on their abilities, Lao Li believed that even if someone in Qingjiang Province wanted to get involved, it wouldn't be easy for them to do so. Now, the rights to expand and develop the school have been completely delegated to No. 33 Middle School. So, everyone discussed how to get all aspects of the work moving forward as soon as possible.

The expansion of the school means an increase in the enrollment scale. However, No. 33 Middle School is now facing not only the problem of finding students, but also the problem of keeping all the existing students at No. 33 Middle School to continue their studies. So, everyone quickly turned to expanding the student body and retaining boarding students.

The student aid fund is one of the measures that must be introduced as soon as possible, because the enrollment for the high school class this year is about to begin. Complementing the student aid fund is a scholarship system, which is also a major measure to attract high-achieving students to study at No. 33 Middle School. However, No. 33 Middle School still has a considerable amount of debt to repay, so it's best if the school itself doesn't handle both the student aid fund and the scholarship system.

Having a third party establish the student aid fund and scholarships means that even the creditors who most want to force No. 33 Middle School to repay its debts have no reason to use this as leverage. Many people in the world know that after implementing a series of measures, No. 33 Middle School may be able to overcome its difficulties and repay its debts, but nothing is safer than having the money they actually have in their own pockets.

On the other hand, with a third party involved, No. 33 Middle School doesn't need to painstakingly explain to each creditor, saving a lot of time and allowing the school to focus its energy on other areas.

Fei'er's mother used to be involved in charity work, and her job at that charity was to sponsor impoverished students to continue their education. During her years working for official charities, Fei'er's mother's biggest feeling was helplessness. There was the helplessness of complicated approval procedures, the helplessness of coordinating countless interpersonal relationships, and most frustratingly, those who truly needed assistance were helplessly deprived of the eligibility criteria due to these approval and coordination processes.

Somewhat disheartened, Fei'er's mother, who had taken a long vacation, decided to spend time with her daughter, who was alone in a foreign land. Her daughter understood her feelings, and now, she wanted to ask Fei'er to handle the same charitable work.

Frankly, a million-yuan charity fund for a school seemed incredibly small to Fei'er, who had seen the world. However, it had one major condition that appealed to Fei'er's mother: all recipients were subject to review and decision-making by a fund manager. In other words, she had complete control over how the fund was managed.

Having witnessed so much helplessness in the real world, Fei'er's mother, on her long vacation, decided to give it a try.

Now, the funds for the scholarship fund are in place, and all the preliminary preparations have been handled by my daughter and the woman in the cheongsam sitting next to me. My daughter mentioned that there will be an unveiling ceremony for the fund, and since the city television station has been recently tracking and reporting on the educational situation of impoverished students, my daughter contacted her colleagues at the station, and the station will also report on the unveiling ceremony.

My daughter has registered the fund under her own name, and she told the television station that she designed the basic operating procedures for the fund. In other words, my daughter has now put herself in the spotlight to help someone with ulterior motives.

Since my daughter first mentioned this scholarship fund, she has asked me many questions about it. Putting aside my dislike for that person with ulterior motives, establishing this scholarship fund is indeed a good thing. Frankly, no matter how much I dislike that person, I cannot let my personal feelings cause children who deserve assistance to lose their opportunity to receive it.

Whether her daughter had exploited her psychology or if her heart was inherently soft, it didn't matter anymore, because she hadn't objected to attending tomorrow's unveiling ceremony.

Looking at her daughter, then at someone else, Fei'er's mother truly didn't know what to feel...

Her daughter quietly got up. Where was she going in the middle of the night? As her mother, she knew without a doubt. But could she stop her now? If she didn't stop her, wouldn't that mean she was tacitly approving?

Tacit approval! That meant she was compromising. Did she...?

After her daughter quietly left, how did the mother fall asleep amidst this intense internal struggle? The mother could no longer know. Meanwhile, her daughter, having reached her destination, was inflicting the most severe punishment on someone in a gentle yet torturous way.

Knowing what Fei'er meant by coming to see him so late, Old Li, who had done something wrong during the day, was already waiting at the gallows. And Fei'er would absolutely not let the mistake go unpunished just because her father-in-law knew he was wrong. So, Fei'er didn't actually put the gallows around her father-in-law's neck, but she definitely did use the stockings she'd taken off her legs to tie his hands to the headboard.

Two bright red nipples, tinged with the pale purple of pregnancy, made her father-in-law's eyes practically pop out of his head with desire. She almost touched them, making him swallow hard, but she wouldn't let him taste them…

The hard, stick-like things seemed about to explode, but Fei'er mostly just gently rubbed them with her delicate toes…

Her eyes reddened, her breathing became heavy, and sweat began to pour down her face. As Fei'er bent down, the stocking tightly binding her father-in-law's hands was easily untied…

The world is going to the dogs; even Old Wood has learned to be lazy and skip writing a thousand or eight hundred words.

In a hazy, drowsy state, a familiar scent, one that seemed to seep into his very bones, flowed past his nose. In his sleep, instinctively, that all-too-familiar scent drew him into Old Li's arms. He instinctively pressed his face close to that familiar scent, and instinctively hugged it tightly. Finally, Old Li drifted off to sleep peacefully.

The unveiling ceremony for the foundation was held in the small auditorium of No. 33 Middle School. The school representative was Tian Rong, the Party Secretary and Vice Principal, and the foundation's authorized agent was Fei'er's mother. The school expressed its gratitude and explained its plans to further expand its teaching methods with the foundation's support. The foundation, on the other hand, explained in more detail its purpose and operating philosophy. Everyone understood that No. 33 Middle School had to make the most of this free advertising opportunity presented by a print and television media outlet; otherwise, it would be a complete waste.

A school's expansion requires a concrete plan, and all the middle-level and above leaders of No. 33 Middle School were discussing this matter in the conference room. This was the first time this matter had been so clearly explained to the middle-level cadres, so it was normal for them to have some discussions.

According to the plan presented by Principal Li, the original layout of No. 33 Middle School would remain unchanged; however, the current teaching building would separate the high school classes to become the junior high school section.

The expansion on the vocational school land would include the high school teaching building, student dormitory, and a shared computer lab for junior and senior high students. As for the existing teaching facilities of No. 33 Middle School, such as dormitories and gymnasiums, some were renovated during this expansion to better suit the school's teaching work after the new teaching area is put into use. Regarding

the school's renovation and expansion, even if the middle-level cadres expressed their opinions, they wouldn't really take it too seriously. What they discussed most was the last thing Principal Li mentioned: through coordination with the developer, a residential complex will be developed on the site of the former vocational school teaching factory, and the school promised to allow school staff to purchase apartments at below-market prices. Is

n't the current location of the vocational school teaching factory too remote? While it's closer to the school, it will make everyone's lives much more inconvenient. Furthermore, how much lower than the market price? Is it tens of yuan per square meter, or a hundred yuan? Since it involves their own work and life interests, the middle-level cadres had much more to say.

Now that welfare housing is no longer provided, the decision to buy a house is entirely up to everyone. The school is just helping to make connections. It will be a while before the houses are completed, so just be aware of this for now. Once the houses are finished and you've discussed it with your families, then make a decision.

Summer vacation has begun, and teachers' summer training is about to start. To facilitate the renovation project of the school's teachers' offices, starting this afternoon, all teachers currently working in the original teaching building will move to temporary offices. Teachers' summer training will also be conducted off-campus. After Secretary Tian Rong's instructions, the meeting in the small conference room temporarily concluded. As the school's middle-level administrators left in twos and threes, now, including Vice Principal Yang Shaohua, who hadn't been seen much at the school before, only six people remained in the small conference room.

This morning, the No. 33 Middle School girls' team played a warm-up match against a combined team from the No. 5 and No. 3 Middle Schools. Overall, after a closed training camp, the No. 33 Middle School girls' team has largely finalized its roster for each position. Now, they need to fine-tune their teamwork between the two lineups, meaning a smooth transition between the starters and substitutes.

The starting lineup consists of center Ya Rou, power forward (the player from Tiancheng Women's Basketball Team), small forward Zhang Nan, point guard Yu Lian, and shooting guard a dark-skinned girl from No. 3 Middle School. Players

who have recovered from their foot injuries and can substitute for center are Yuan Yuan, Lü Na, Tian Tian, and Shu Wen, who will rotate between the two forward positions. Other players will rotate between the guard and forward positions depending on the situation.

Before Ya Rou and others joined the No. 33 Middle School girls' basketball team, their main playing style was fast-paced offense and varied tactics. Now, with Ya Rou and a power forward, the team's speed in both offense and defense has slowed down considerably. This means that because of these two players, the No. 33 Middle School girls' team has to abandon some of their usual tactics to adapt to their presence.

Finding a balance, combining height and speed as much as possible, has been the main focus of Xie Xin and Coach Mi's recent training. After several warm-up matches, especially today's game, Xie Xin and Coach Mi finally felt relieved, as the players' application of tactics on the court basically demonstrated what they had repeatedly emphasized in training.

The school is going to expand, and some construction workers have already appeared on campus in small groups. In a week, the girls' team members will leave the school to familiarize themselves with the venue at the city's competition venue. In other words, including these few days of training, Coach Mi has at most twenty days left before leaving No. 33 Middle School.

There will definitely be more middle school basketball tournaments in the future, and we will still meet the basketball team of No. 33 Middle School again, but the players will not be the same as they are now. Having been a coach for over ten years, and having coached four or five batches of children, I don't know why, but even before parting ways with these children, I've already begun to feel a pang of sadness. I

really don't know how I will feel when we finally say goodbye. With a touch of melancholy, Coach Mi composed himself and got off the bus with the players.

In a small meeting at No. 33 Middle School, a meeting chaired by Secretary Tian Rong was underway. The meeting had two agendas: welcoming new colleagues and making new adjustments to the work assignments of the main school leaders of No. 33 Middle School, according to the arrangements of the Municipal Education Bureau.

There were seven new colleagues, one of whom was a powerful section chief from the former Logistics Department of the Municipal Education Bureau, who reportedly had extensive experience in infrastructure work. The other six were relatively young teachers who had come to No. 33 Middle School to strengthen the teaching staff under the care of the Municipal Education Bureau. All the new colleagues arrived at No. 33 Middle School at 10:00 AM, led by the deputy director of the Municipal Education Bureau and the director of the Personnel Department.

The decision to send an additional vice principal and further increase the number of teachers to No. 33 Middle School was only communicated to the school yesterday afternoon, and these new colleagues appeared less than 18 hours later. After announcing the

organizational decision, the leaders of the Municipal Education Bureau gave a brief speech, politely declined No. 33 Middle School's offer to stay, and left. The academic affairs meeting at No. 33 Middle School continued, chaired by Secretary Tian Rong.

In fact, the so-called work adjustment mainly involved two people: Vice Principal Yang Shaohua, who had finally returned to work, and whose main responsibility was to take over some of the work currently handled by Tie Yi, overseeing the junior high school's teaching; and the newly arrived vice principal, who took over the logistical work previously handled by Vice Principal Xu, while also assisting Principal Li in managing the school's expansion. As for the work content of others, there were basically no major changes.

Because renovations to the school offices and some school buildings had already begun, the planned meeting for all faculty and staff, as well as the new leaders and colleagues, had to be postponed until the summer teacher training. Fortunately, everyone, from the new leaders to the new colleagues, was very understanding and didn't mind the arrangement. After Secretary Tian Rong announced the end of the meeting, everyone chatted and laughed as they prepared to attend the welcome banquet later.

To be honest, Tian Rong hadn't had time to discuss the personnel arrangements with Lao Li after receiving the notification from the Education Bureau that afternoon, and the Education Bureau had already sent the personnel to the school this morning. However, neither Tian Rong nor Lao Li felt that the Education Bureau's arrangement was a bit rushed, but neither felt caught off guard.

Indeed, apart from the shortage of teachers for frontline teaching, the school didn't really need more or less staff for other administrative tasks. With someone coming, some work could be shared; without someone coming, everyone could share more of the workload. The rest were relatively minor matters.

The new leaders and colleagues all left the school to take care of their own affairs, while Lao Li, Tian Rong, and others returned to the school after seeing them off.

Old Li went directly to the school's women's team's residence, while Tian Rong and Old Xu found the person in charge of the school's renovation project. They discussed the renovation details with him and several technicians, comparing the blueprints.

The female players and coaches were watching the recording of the warm-up match they had just played that morning. After greeting each other, Coach Mi continued with the post-match summary.

The high-speed, high-ball tactical approach was evident in this warm-up match. A prominent issue was the disorganized repositioning of the players when fast breaks didn't present good opportunities. Specifically, the power forward and center often overlapped when contesting for position under the basket, resulting in mostly inside-out plays. While this wasn't too difficult against teams like the combined teams of No. 3 and No. 5 Middle Schools, it caused problems against stronger opponents.

Coach Mi, who had extensive experience in positional play, emphasized to the players that the tactical coordination between the power forward and center was not the same as a two-center strategy. The power forward should focus on playmaking and spacing, rather than solely emphasizing offense under the basket. Other players must pay attention to the rotation of the power forward and center, and their passing and cutting plays and opportunity creation should all revolve around this central role.

Coach Mi's coaching level is highly admired by Lao Li and Xie Xin, and it is she who has largely solved the shortcomings of No. 33 Middle School in attacking positional plays. Previously, the No. 33 Middle School girls' team had to desperately run and cut to stretch the opponent's defense in positional plays, but now, thanks to Ya Rou

and the power forward, the players only need to use almost half the energy to achieve the desired effect. In today's basketball games, only teams with a relatively balanced offense and defense have a chance to go far. To defeat a balanced team, one must find multiple ways to handle positional plays, and seeing the current No. 33 Middle School team gives Lao Li hope that they can go further.

After watching their own team's game, the next step is to watch videos of other participating teams' previous games. This will allow the players to understand the opponents' tactical styles and also give them a direct understanding of some key players on each team.

The video was edited, so watching the video of the four participating teams this afternoon only took a little over an hour. After getting up to let the team members do their free time, the members of the coaching team of No. 33 Middle School gathered together.

Chapter 2: Unintentional? Destined? (4)

The newly arrived vice principal and the vice principal who rarely came to work, as well as the researcher of the former teaching and research office of the Beicheng District Education Bureau who enjoyed the treatment of a full section chief (she was also one of the six teachers who were added to the teaching staff of No. 33 Middle School by the Education Bureau this time), gathered in a small private room of a teahouse after attending the welcome lunch held for them by No. 33 Middle School.

From the current point of view, even though No. 33 Middle School has made some progress in various aspects, it is still quite far from being a better middle school. However, whether it is the two newcomers or the ones who rarely came to work before, in the past half month, someone has talked to them several times.

The topics of all the talks were roughly the same, which was to emphasize how to assist the existing leadership team of No. 33 Middle School in trying to get No. 33 Middle School out of its predicament in a short period of time. The Education Bureau will also provide more support to No. 33 Middle School in several aspects such as funding.

If a school that has consistently maintained a high standard of education is now managed by new people, even if the new management keeps the school at the same level or makes only slight progress, then in the eyes of others, you are already a failure. To avoid being seen as a failure, you must build upon the foundation laid by your predecessors to achieve greater recognition (because even then, some will say that everything you've achieved is based on the foundation laid by your predecessors). Like No. 33 Middle School, which persevered through difficulties, perhaps it simply emerged completely from its predicament, but that is something to be commended in the eyes of others. After more than a year, No. 33 Middle School still faces various difficulties, but everyone knows that the school has seen hope in overcoming its difficulties.

Previously, the higher-ups at No. 33 Middle School, for various reasons, were unable to effectively manage the school. Now, with those constraints being eliminated one by one, the higher-ups have not only completely streamlined their management authority over No. 33 Middle School but are also increasing their support.

Entering the main management team of No. 33 Middle School now is an excellent opportunity. Firstly, the most difficult period for No. 33 Middle School has passed. Upon arrival, one only needs to proceed with their work systematically. Secondly, before coming to No. 33 Middle School, superiors promised favorable support. After settling in, as long as these support conditions are utilized effectively, it will be very easy to get the work started.

Successfully carrying out the work will increase one's influence within the school's management structure. Perhaps one day in the future, when No. 33 Middle School is performing exceptionally well, one can completely take over the school.

However, whether now or in the future, having a voice within the management of No. 33 Middle School requires more than just the aforementioned support; it also necessitates the strong support of other members of the management team.

The previous management of No. 33 Middle School were not very familiar with each other, but the three people now sitting together not only have frequent contact but also share relatively similar goals. Therefore, before adapting to a new environment, these three people with essentially the same objective must support each other to a certain extent.

Within the confines of their respective interests, the three reached a consensus in the small private room of the teahouse. Meanwhile, a similar gathering was taking place at No. 33 Middle School.

Old Xu, who would be retiring around this time next year, having spent half his life as a vice-principal, had much to say to Old Li today. Therefore, he was the one who organized this gathering. Having

endured the trials of winter's frost and snow, the peach trees were laden with unripe fruit, their buds still clinging to them. As everyone eagerly anticipated the future harvest, some uninvited guests also joined them under the peach trees, waiting for the harvest together.

Old Xu himself was fine; he had persevered through the school's most difficult times and could accept it. What troubled him was the challenges Old Li and Tian Rong would face in the future, so he wanted to remind them of certain things.

Old Xu picked up his wine glass and put it down again, looking at Old Li sitting next to him and saying, "Little Li, what do you think about what happened this morning?"

"I don't want to leave No. 33 Middle School, and no one can stop me."

Old Li, twirling his glass, spoke earnestly, seemingly unrelated to the question.

"Are you really confident?"

Old Xu was surprised by Old Li's usually calm

demeanor and couldn't help but press him. This was understandable; Old Li's experiences over the years had been remarkably simple, and his seemingly uneventful life was definitely not associated with anyone with deep social connections. Because if someone had deep social connections, how many would still be struggling like Old Li in a dilapidated school like No. 33 Middle School? And even if someone was using such struggle as a facade, they could easily use their connections without actually struggling as miserably as Old Li!

"I'm confident,"

Old Li said, smiling at Old Xu, no longer twirling his glass, and gesturing for Old Xu to take a sip.

The two had known each other for over a year. Based on Lao Xu's understanding of Lao Li, he knew that Lao Li wouldn't just say things to comfort him without thinking. But now that Lao Li had said those words, and knowing that even if he was worried, Lao Xu couldn't do anything to help, he felt a little heavy-hearted. At Lao Li's prompting, he picked up his wine glass.

Words can be spoken easily, but the truth will eventually come out. Old Li knew that simply telling Old Xu now wasn't enough; he needed to demonstrate through actions to put Old Xu's mind at ease. So, while continuing to drink with Old Xu, Old Li subtly steered the conversation elsewhere.

Old Xu had gathered these people together for a get-together, and Tian Rong and Tie Yi understood his intention. However, even though they were more concerned about what had happened that morning than Old Xu, they still wanted to discuss how to deal with it with Old Li privately. Now, Old Xu had directly asked them the question they wanted to ask, so they listened attentively without interrupting.

Old Li's answer surprised them a little, but knowing him better than Old Xu himself, they immediately felt relieved. And people, once their worries are gone, tend to feel elated. And so, under the influence of their good mood, the two women frequently urged the two men to raise their glasses.

Old Xu occasionally enjoys a drink or two, but his alcohol tolerance is at best beginner level. With the two women constantly urging him to drink, and with something still weighing on his mind, he quickly felt he'd had enough.

While his alcohol tolerance isn't high, Old Xu's drinking prowess is quite remarkable: once he feels he's had enough, he quietly heads home.

After seeing Old Xu off, the two women, still wanting more, didn't want to go home so soon. Considering that Xie Xin's team's training wasn't as intense anymore, and that a little pre-match relaxation would be beneficial for performance (pre-match relaxation, it's unclear if this applies to the players), Tie Yi took out her phone and called Xie Xin.

The school's women's team was no longer in closed training; only Coach Mi Fengying and team doctor Xiao Zhang hadn't gone home, and Coach Mi Fengying was even sharing a dormitory with Xie Xin. Now that Tie Yi had extended the invitation, Xie Xin pulled her along with team doctor Xiao Zhang, and then spoke with the female teacher on duty at the girls' dormitory (because the school's women's team was still on campus, so there were still teachers on duty) . The three of them got into Coach Mi's car and met up with Lao Li and the others at the school gate.

Red Shoes KTV seemed to be a destination the women had chosen without discussion. However, before coming here, Tie Yi had Lao Li park the car in front of Biyuan, and then, together with Xie Xin who got out of the car behind, they went to pick up the owner of Biyuan as well.

It was only a few steps away from Red Shoes. Seeing Xie Xin and the other two come out, everyone else got out of their cars as well. However, the women walked ahead, and Lao Li intentionally or unintentionally lagged behind a couple of steps.

Their different moods led to different behaviors in the same lively setting. For example, Coach Mi and team doctor Xiao Zhang, who sat next to her, both remained relatively quiet on one side of the crowd while everyone else was quite enthusiastic.

Similarly, amidst this lively atmosphere, there was one person who remained quiet: Old Li, who was intentionally or unintentionally ignored by the group of women. Thus, repeatedly overlooked by the women, Old Li gradually found himself relegated to the edge of the group, and as he made way for other women, he unknowingly ended up sitting next to Coach Mi and Team Doctor Zhang.

Normally, both Coach Mi and Team Doctor Zhang were the type to easily blend into the lively atmosphere, but with the provincial middle school basketball tournament drawing ever closer, they, who had become accustomed to seeing themselves as members of the No. 33 Middle School girls' team, felt a pang of reluctance at the impending separation.

Sitting next to the two women who weren't particularly involved in the fun, Old Li, wondering if he should start a conversation, raised his glass and invited the two ladies to drink together.

Coach Mi's glass contained beer, while Xiao Zhang, who never drank, had a soft drink. The three of them, on the fringes of the lively crowd, didn't exchange many words even while sharing a drink. After sharing a drink, both women put down their glasses. Old Li, whose glass, like Coach Mi's, had beer, picked up his glass, seemingly examining something intently.

Old Li frowned, shaking his head at his glass. Coach Mi, curious, asked, "Old Li, is there something wrong with this beer?"

"Hehe, it's not bad, it's just that the three of us drinking like this makes it a bit stuffy,"

Old Li replied with a smile, looking at Coach Mi and Xiao Zhang.

"What's wrong? Drinking with us makes you feel stuffy? Then go find someone who doesn't make you feel stuffy and go drink with them!"

Coach Mi's words, though laced with a smile, were anything but ambiguous.

Seemingly oblivious to Coach Mi's obvious meaning, Old Li, still smiling, filled both their glasses and raised his own, gesturing for them to drink. His

expression was one of utter disdain, and he said the same thing. However, Coach Mi's hand seemed oblivious, as he picked up his glass and took a sip.

Xie Xin pulled Xiao Zhang to sing a duet with her, while several women, at someone's suggestion, went to the small dance floor inside the private room and started dancing to the music.

The only man glanced at the dance floor, then stood up and, with a slight smile, invited Coach Mi, who was sitting next to him, to dance. A slight look of surprise flashed across Coach Mi's face, but he readily accepted Lao Li's invitation.

Xie Xin and Xiao Zhang's voices weren't the sweetest, but they sang with passion and a sense of joy. To the soothing rhythm of the music, Lao Li and Coach Mi, the only male-female pair on the dance floor, were now also dancing with a certain enthusiasm.

The night was deep. Even the Li family compound, which had been bustling just moments before, was now shrouded in a hazy silence after the light in Fei'er's room was turned off.

Old Li's fingers were in Fei'er's mouth, sometimes sucking, sometimes biting with a bit of force. Fei'er did this because Old Li, who had just returned, had been intimately entwined with Fei'er, who was waiting for him, before Fei'er pulled him into her room by the hand. After

a more intense embrace, when Old Li's heat lingered on Fei'er's vulva, Fei'er, unable to control her passion, quickly took one of Old Li's hands and put his fingers in her mouth.

Yes, Fei'er's mother's bedroom was right next door to hers. Taking advantage of her mother being asleep, Fei'er wanted to create some time alone with Old Li, genuinely not wanting her moans, which could be considered noise at night, to wake her sleeping mother next door. With Old Li's finger in her mouth, she could barely speak...

Xinrui Real Estate Development Company is a subsidiary of COFCO Group (or perhaps affiliated with it). Its main business focuses on major cities within Qingjiang Province, and its size ranks among the top three in the province. However, unlike other similar real estate companies, its headquarters are not located in the provincial capital, Jiangzhong City, but in another city bordering Jiangzhong City within the same province. Furthermore, unlike other companies, while it operates in almost all other major cities in the province, it rarely conducts business in the provincial capital, Jiangzhong City. The

young man sitting opposite Old Li, a man in his late thirties, is Sun Shouhai, the deputy manager of Xinrui's business department. He is now discussing matters related to land development at the vocational school.

The few pages of documents on the table were all pre-arranged by Lao Li, Qingyu, and Damei. Qingyu and Damei were not only the ones who facilitated Xinrui Company's visit to No. 33 Middle School to discuss the vocational school land development; they were also the investors behind the project.

To be honest, Xinrui Company sending a representative to No. 33 Middle School for this business meeting was just a formality to divert attention. However, sitting opposite Deputy Manager Sun Shouhai, Lao Li couldn't detect any hint of this in his eloquent speech.

Xinrui Company is not wrong, nor is Deputy Manager Sun Shouhai. Is the mistake that Qingyu and Damei didn't explain things clearly, or is it that Deputy Manager Sun's mother never imagined he would become so talkative? Watching Deputy Manager Sun, who had been talking non-stop for over two hours, Tian Rong, who knew everything about this development, cast increasingly questioning glances at him, while simultaneously glancing at Old Li sitting beside her with even greater suspicion. Deputy Manager

Sun's meticulous explanation initially raised Old Li's same questions as Secretary Tian's. However, as Old Li patiently listened to Deputy Manager Sun's explanation, only one question remained in his mind: For whom was Deputy Manager Sun emphasizing and clarifying every detail?

Yes, Deputy Manager Sun was merely playing a minor role for Qingyu and Damei. Even though the script already included a few lines for him, his performance was far too convincing.

Was he acting? For Qingyu? For Damei? Still…

Old Li hadn't figured it out when the impatient Secretary Tian, having already squeezed the empty mineral water bottle for the fourth time with a loud clatter, seemingly brought down Deputy Manager Sun, who was unmoved by anything, to the end of his final, eloquent speech.

Deputy Manager Sun's meticulous attitude impressed Old Li, because the assistant he brought had not only written down every detail Deputy Manager Sun had emphasized over the past two hours, but also handed it to Old Li, saying that all details concerning the cooperation between the two parties should be referenced to this record.

Old Li wasn't a businessman, but the rigor of a professional businessman in front of him gave him a broader perspective. The vocational school was located slightly to the right of the middle of Industrial Road, and extending outwards from there were mostly residential buildings over twenty years old.

If the vocational school, even after merging with No. 33 Middle School, maintained its original size, then future commercial development on this street would have to be divided into two sections, left and right, with the vocational school campus as the boundary.

Now, the vocational school has been moved back more than 200 meters from its original location along the street. This means that, if possible, should all future development of this section of Industrial Road be considered as a single entity? Even if the width is calculated based on the 200-meter reduction in width, the length—whether it's 1000 meters or 1500 meters—is unclear to Old Li and is no longer important. What matters is the development value of this contiguous area of land, which, in Old Li's view, is astonishing.

The land Old Li relinquished by the vocational school is the link and prelude to this grand development plan. However, just as this prelude is about to ignite, Old Li suddenly feels a chilling wind blowing from behind.

Yes, such a large profit and scale... perhaps Qingyu and Damei only need to hold onto the land relinquished by the vocational school and wait for the right price to sell it, earning them an astronomical dowry. But is Xinrui Company, which has sent a meticulous and rigorous deputy manager, already pushing its appetite to its limit, preparing to devour everything here in one bite in the future? Chapter 2: Unintentional, Destined (5)

In recent years, housing prices have been rising like weeds in the ground. If a teacher wants to buy a house he likes with his salary, he would need to save for about fifty years without eating or drinking. Some teachers and staff with long teaching experience at No. 33 Middle School, especially those who were there during the school's heyday, caught the last train of welfare housing allocation and got a relatively good house. However, teachers like Dong Na who were just accepted by No. 33 Middle School have lost this opportunity. If they want to buy a house in the future, they can only buy it at the market price. The school no longer provides welfare housing, but it doesn't mean that the school is not allowed to contact the teachers of the school to find relatively cheaper commercial housing. The vocational school's training factory site has reserved enough land to build two residential buildings. Old Li wants to take advantage of the school's expansion, either by having the school find a contractor directly or by combining the expansion with the construction, to build residential housing for the school's faculty and staff. Although it would mean having the school's people pay for the housing, and Old Li still doesn't know the exact cost of building a house, he firmly believes that the resulting housing will be cheaper than the market price. With the future development along Industrial Road, the previously somewhat desolate area around the vocational school's training factory will become prime real estate, and Old Li believes that the school's faculty and staff will be happy with the school's decision. Old Li, along with Tian Rong and Qing Yu, are now conducting an on-site survey of the land reserved for the vocational school's internship factory. After further discussion with Qing Yu, she indicated that the construction of these two residential buildings is part of the vocational school's overall development, so the approval procedures can be handled uniformly. However, regarding the specific construction of these two buildings, it would be best for No. 33 Middle School to contact the construction company directly, rather than mixing them with the overall vocational school development. In the next day or two, No. 33 Middle School and Xinrui Company began finalizing the details of this cooperation. Old Li brought Tian Rong and Qing Yu to have a professional surveyor conduct an on-site survey to determine the building site for the two buildings, providing specific data to Xinrui Company during negotiations. After determining the benchmark points, the professionals simply stretched a long measuring tape back and forth, resolving the issue in less than half an hour. After seeing the surveyors off, Qingyu looked at Old Li, who was frowning slightly, and said, "Old Li, what are you thinking about now?" Without answering Qingyu, Old Li, with a playful smile, gestured behind her. Among the group, only two or three people in land bureau uniforms walked at the front; the others, though similarly dressed, carried more professional surveying equipment. If the people who had just finished surveying for Old Li and his team were like a makeshift troupe putting on a show, then the group that had now reached them, setting up their surveying instruments and fiddling with them, were the main performers from a proper theater. In the past, these people fiddling with surveying equipment wouldn't have left much of a mark on Qingyu, but today's group truly moved her. Indeed, facing the impending new wave of development, she and Old Li weren't the only ones preparing for the future! Turning her head and smiling slightly at Old Li beside her, Qingyu then beckoned Tian Rong to get into the car. From the change of land use rights to the refinement of urban planning, Qingyu explained some of this to Lao Li and Tian Rong in the car. She also told Lao Li that these departments would be dealing with No. 33 Middle School in a few days. After Qingyu told him twice who was in charge of the Urban Construction Bureau, Lao Li finally had a vague idea. But thinking about who was in charge of the Land Bureau, the Planning Bureau… Lao Li started to get dizzy again. He figured he should leave it to Secretary Tian of No. 33 Middle School to handle. Actually, all of this was handled strictly by official channels, and with the city's strong support and expedited processing, he believed that even if No. 33 Middle School sent a representative to handle the relevant matters, they wouldn't have to put up with much of a fight. Qingyu explained this to Lao Li so that he could have an opportunity to contact those powerful departments in the city; otherwise, Lao Li's social circle was too narrow. Socializing? In Lao Li's subconscious, it was often interpreted as promiscuity. Driven by this subconscious influence, Lao Li keeps his distance from the social ideals championed by modern people. Because these ideals have only one purpose: to paint oneself with various colors and then vigorously promote oneself to others. This vigorous self-promotion is driven by money; do you really need that money? Otherwise, why would you be so eager to promote yourself?

When relationships become entangled with too many inappropriate things, they lose their true nature. Even someone like Old Li, who isn't a cynical or worldly person, rarely participates in modern social interactions.

Watching Old Li hum and haw in response, Qingyu knew her efforts had been completely wasted. However, despite Old Li's passive rejection of her good intentions, Qingyu didn't feel resentment; a slight sense of relief remained, gently rippling in her heart.

In contrast to Qingyu's faint smile, Tian Rong had other thoughts. It wasn't for any other reason than that since coming to No. 33 Middle School, her interactions with Old Li, this sometimes somewhat slow-witted man, had taught her many things. And these things, in Tian Rong's mind, seemed to have vanished from people's sight in the past ten years.

For example, tolerance...

for example, magnanimity...

and humility beneath composure, and so on...

But these weren't what touched Tian Rong the most. What moved her the most was that these qualities in Lao Li, discarded or lost by modern people, were actually just the simplest requirements of being a person. It was only because they had been lost or discarded that Lao Li, who insisted on keeping them, stood out.

The day of the Qingjiang Provincial Middle School Basketball Tournament was drawing near, and the increasingly intense pre-game atmosphere had diminished the smiles on the faces of the No. 33 Middle School girls' team players. Sensing the change in the emotions of his teammates, Lao Li, after finishing the morning training session with the girls' team, went to talk with Xie Xin and Coach Mi.

"Old Li, how about this? You don't have much to do these days anyway, so come to the team more often to help the girls relax and ease their stress. Fengying and I will also talk to them and try to help them relax."

Xie Xin had been paying attention to the girls' changing mindset these past few days. Just when she was about to use Old Li, her "laborer" (or perhaps it would be fair to say that Old Li is the husband of most of the girls in the team), to do some ideological work, Old Li came to her on his own. So Xie Xin didn't hesitate to make arrangements for him.

"Okay, I'll follow the team's training these days. Xiao Xin, you and Fengying, keep an eye on things and try to help the girls adjust their mindset as soon as possible."

Old Li cared a lot about the girls in the team, so even though Xie Xin made this arrangement, he was going to check on them himself. Now that Xie Xin had spoken, Old Li immediately agreed.

If Lao Li stopped caring about the young girls on the team, Xie Xin, who, like most of the girls, had given herself to him, would be heartbroken and would unleash the most vicious curses upon him. But when did Lao Li change his usual address of Coach Mi to 'Feng Ying'? This much more intimate way of addressing her made Xie Xin's eyes flicker across Coach Mi's face, which remained perfectly natural after Lao Li called her that, and Coach Mi's equally natural expression upon hearing it. Xie Xin deeply remembered this.

With a quick glance, Xie Xinxu continued, picking up where Old Li left off: "These past few days, Ya Rou and the other girls in the team have been so focused on the competition that they haven't even had time to prepare their own daily necessities. Tomorrow morning, Fengying and I will take them out to buy some supplies, and Old Li, you can lead the morning training."

Since the city government paid more attention to the No. 33 Middle School girls' team's preparations, their training conditions have improved significantly. For the veteran members of the No. 33 Middle School team who had endured the hardships of training, this improvement was truly something to be grateful for. As a result, the veteran members of the No. 33 Middle School girls' team didn't pick and choose the daily necessities provided by the team; they didn't waste any.

Ya Rou's family was very well-off, but she wasn't one to flaunt her wealth. With this personality, Ya Rou wasn't opposed to using the team's provided daily necessities; however, her skin was a bit sensitive. For example, after getting used to a certain type of bath product, she would have an allergic reaction when using other brands. Therefore, Ya Rou couldn't use the team's standard supplies, even though she didn't want to. So, she brought her own of everything that came into frequent contact with her skin.

In the lead-up to a match, mental preparation is crucial, but Ya Rou's current state was characterized by an excessively strong desire to fight. This mental state not only kept her own mind taut, but as one of the team's core members, she also unconsciously projected this tension onto the other members during training.

For a period of time, especially recently, perhaps influenced by Ya Rou's increasing tension, or perhaps due to the contagious transmission of tension among the team members, all the female team members of No. 33 Middle School were in a slightly agitated state of tension. This was

normal, because even with their relatively strong mental fortitude, they were still just a group of children beginning to grow up. Emotional fluctuations and ups and downs in competitive performance are inevitable even for professional athletes. As coaches, our role is to provide psychological support during these times, helping them adjust their mindset while maintaining a moderately excited competitive state.

Ya Rou was one of the most obvious examples of this restlessness, which intensified as soon as she stepped onto the training field. Going shopping or taking a walk to calm her emotions was an effective and feasible method. Old Li had no objections, and Coach Mi agreed. So, Xiao Zhang, the team doctor who had been silent until now, said, "I'll come shopping with you tomorrow."

Although Old Li wouldn't start training until tomorrow morning, the four of them had just finished their meeting when the girls from the team, who had already showered, approached them.

Off the training field, Xie Xin acted like a big sister to the group of girls, and even the more mature Coach Mi didn't consider herself an aunt. Sure enough, a group of four or five girls, exuding the fresh scents of shower gel and shampoo, casually gathered around the four men, some sitting, some standing.

Yuanyuan and Yu Lian sat on either side of Lao Li, while Tian Tian and Lü Na, who were making small talk with Coach Mi and Team Doctor Zhang, watched. Xie Xin, who had guessed the girls' purpose for coming, glanced at Lao Li out of the corner of her eye and said to Coach Mi, "Sister Fengying, I'm going to take a shower, do you want to come with me?"

"Sure, I just worked up a sweat, let's go together."

Coach Mi replied, standing up.

"Sister Xin, Sister Fengying, I'll go with you too."

As Coach Mi stood up, Team Doctor Zhang also stood up.

After telling Lao Li and the girls to sit down, the three women who had made plans left together.

The door was closed just as Xie Xin and the others' footsteps faded away, and before the door closed, Yuanyuan and Yu Lian had already pushed Lao Li to the ground!

Yes, the women's team had been in closed training for a while. Even though Lao Li and the girls missed each other terribly, he had to minimize their meetings in order to concentrate on training.

The main reason was that the girls were just beginning to experience romantic feelings, while Lao Li, despite his extensive experience, had increasingly weak self-control. Therefore, to reduce the risk of unpredictable and uncontrollable situations arising from frequent meetings, minimizing contact was perhaps an unavoidable choice. The

closed training had already ended, and the women's team had entered the practical training phase, but Lao Li was too busy with the school's expansion project to spend much more time with the women's team.

To avoid seeing each other for training is one thing, and to be busy with other things is another—that's a plausible excuse. But Old Li, having lived half his life, had forgotten one thing: once girls have a man in their hearts, and when something burning within them—a longing, a suppressed yearning, a pull that they can't let go of—that little bit of resentment that accumulates will make them ignore any perfectly reasonable explanation—the explanation the man gives them.

When the girls, still smelling of fresh scents from their baths, came to his side, Old Li, who was slow to react emotionally, suddenly sensed the faint resentment, yet even more intense feelings, emanating from their hearts.

At this moment, the tenderness that had been tugging at the girls in Old Li's heart was completely aroused. At this moment, the guilt that Old Li had hidden deep in his heart for all the girls was also more agitated. This mixture of feelings made Old Li's heart even softer. So, when Yuanyuan and Yulian rushed over together, Old Li made the greatest possible submission...

It is said that many authors have had their articles removed due to the power of censorship. Old Mu still wants to keep his articles permanently, so he will not provoke the power of censorship.

Chapter 2: Unintentional? Destined? (6)

He controlled the rhythm of the venting very well. So, after each girl had sex with Old Li, she stopped bothering him.

A little bit of white turbid juice seeped from the corner of Yulian's mouth. Her eyes were still a little hazy. Her cheeks were flushed. She carefully swallowed the mouthful of juice with her chin slightly raised. Then, her lips parted slightly, and her tender, nimble little tongue merely lingered between her lips, swirling the tiny drops of juice clinging to the corner of her mouth onto the tip of her tongue.

Perhaps it was an exaggeration, or perhaps only with such a gurgling sound could she swallow those drops of juice clinging to her tongue. After Yu Lian swallowed again, Old Li, his heart burning like a flame, pulled her into a tight embrace, and a passionate, deep kiss rolled down onto Yu Lian's tender lips...

After completing the scheduled tactical drills and passing and cutting practice, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. Because of the excessive pre-match tension within the women's team recently, Xie Xin and Coach Mi devised a plan: as one way to relieve pre-match pressure, at four o'clock in the afternoon, light and soothing music would echo across the training ground of the No. 33 Middle School women's team, where the two rows of female team members were doing aerobics in rhythm.

With Lao Li taking charge of the team's training, not only did Xie Xin and Coach Mi disappear without a trace, but even Xiao Zhang, the team doctor who usually sat quietly on the sidelines, was nowhere to be found.

Since the rhythm of the aerobics began echoing across the training field, Xie Xin had been leading the exercises in front of the two rows of female team members. However, today Lao Li was in charge, and having never participated in the team's aerobics before, he wasn't qualified to lead. So, he had to let Lü Na, the best member of the team, lead the exercises, while he himself was pulled by the female team members to stand in the spot where Lü Na usually did her exercises.

The light and graceful rhythm, the compact but not overly difficult choreography, meant that Lao Li, who had a good sense of rhythm and coordination, was able to roughly keep up with the female team members' pace after going through the movements a few times.

Normally, Lü Na stands in the middle of the back row of the aerobics group. Today, Lao Li, who was in her position, was putting in extra effort to keep up with everyone's rhythm so as not to disrupt it. Therefore, he didn't notice that Hui Min, on the far left of the group, had quietly slipped away.

Each time the music entered a gentle rhythm, and everyone began to march in place, it meant the next round of aerobics would begin. Just as Lao Li, already in rhythm and fully prepared to start again, the rhythm of the music echoing across the training ground suddenly changed dramatically.

With this change, the girls in the front row turned to face the girls in the back. Except for Lao Li, who was a little stunned and had his hand and shoulder touched by Yuan Yuan opposite him, everyone else took a step forward, forming pairs like Lao Li and Yuan Yuan.

This is the rhythm of flamenco music, but for many people who don't know much about dance, they prefer to dance to quickstep. Somewhat surprisingly, when Old Li hesitated for a moment, the other girls' groups had already started dancing to the rhythm. Putting

aside the fact that he'd rather do as the Romans do, Old Li would never stop these girls he doted on, unless they were up to no good. In fact, he would always be there to protect and comfort them. Since

the girls' groups were all dancing quickstep, Old Li and Yuanyuan's group didn't stand out and joined in.

When one song ended, another tune began, but this one was so soothing, its rhythm leading the newly paired dancers to a slow waltz.

Old Li's partner was now Huimin, while his former partner, Yuanyuan, had found a partner who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere—the team doctor, Xiao Zhang.

Perhaps the relaxed rhythm makes people feel more relaxed and at ease. In all the girls' groups, the one taking the male steps placed their hands on their partner's waist, while the partner taking the female steps gently placed their hands on their partner's shoulders and neck.

Huimin's hands were on Lao Li's neck. Was she just going along with it? Lao Li didn't know, because when the girls all chose this way, how could he have any other thoughts?

After three or four pieces, when a particularly gentle melody was playing softly, the blinds on the windows of the training ground gently closed, and even the overhead lights went out.

A few dimly lit colored lights, their changing colors not only made everything hazy, but also created an indescribable, almost languid atmosphere that gradually seeped into everyone's hearts.

The dim light faded, even the last few twinkling colored lights went out, and in the lingering rhythm that slowed the heartbeat, Old Li's dance partner had changed to Ya Rou.

Tall and imposing, Ya Rou's arms wrapped around Old Li's neck without hesitation. When Old Li's hands returned slightly to Ya Rou's waist, Ya Rou, who was more than half a head taller than him, smiled gently.

Indeed, with such proportions, if Old Li and Ya Rou were to switch places, they would be the visually perfect pair. But now, nothing could be changed, because an adult cannot alter their height.

Ya Rou's gentle smile wasn't due to any disdain from the man before her, who was significantly shorter. It was the first time a man hadn't looked up to her with such a distant, psychological distance because of her height.

It was probably around the second year of junior high that Ya Rou, whose height was increasing rapidly like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, gradually noticed that every boy around her, whether she knew him or not, would intentionally or unintentionally have to look up to talk to her, creating an invisible yet clearly perceptible distance.

This distance subtly lingered in Ya Rou's heart. It was a feeling of helplessness and annoyance for a girl who was beginning to experience romantic feelings and who felt a sense of being looked up at by the opposite sex.

Although Ya Rou was cheerful and strong-willed, she remained open and confident in front of others despite this lingering feeling. However, when she lay quietly in bed, a mix of helplessness, slight unease, and a sense of expectation and longing would make her gaze linger on the ceiling above her.

He, too, had to look up at her face, but this upward gaze didn't inspire his heart to look up at her in return. He invited her so naturally, so naturally leading her into the rhythm of the dance. There was no distance between them; Ya Rou, who had always danced with men since she learned, always taking the male steps, now smiled softly and began to dance to the female rhythm. The

soft music blurred the vision, revealing only the indistinct outline of the person opposite her. Perhaps not every woman needs to lean on a shoulder higher than herself; perhaps every woman has a place in her heart reserved for someone who no longer looks up at her; perhaps all the helplessness and worries hidden in her heart for so long vanished in that gentle, hazy moment, and the long-held anticipation and longing urged her on even more intensely. Ya Rou, moving slowly but unable to resist, tightened her grip on his hands, her body contorting in a more passionate embrace. As she pressed herself against the person in front of her, she slowly lowered her head, resting quietly on the man's shoulder...

Her face drooped slightly, and the fragrant neck of the over 1.9-meter-tall girl almost touched Old Li's nose. Because Ya Rou's body was pressed close to Old Li from top to bottom, her breasts, which were still there, were now even more compact, fully displaying the elasticity of a young girl. Even through their light and thin summer clothes, this sensation was deeply transmitted to Old Li with every touch.

The girl, tall and truly a girl with a beautiful body, was indeed tall, and as she was held in Old Li's arms, she used her height and her breasts to envelop him as well.

Slightly, a few times, they loosened their grip, then pressed closer together several more times. In the mutual sensations, Old Li, from the bottom of his heart, felt no urge to look up at the girl because of her height and figure. He inhaled her fragrance, savoring the elasticity of her body, and was equally captivated by her alluring presence, completely enveloped by her.

Even though he had lowered his head, from the moment he saw this man, he felt no sense of looking down on her. Few people could inspire such condescension simply because of their perspective. On the contrary, the man holding him in his arms, with his strength, had melted away his pride, leaving him as tall and imprinted in his heart as a father figure to a young girl.

Within her strength lies a gentle tenderness, and within her power lies an undercurrent of warmth. It's in every interaction with this man that she grows to care about each little detail—his arrival, his departure—she enjoys watching his every move from afar, and she finds herself either by his side, or close to him with boundless energy, her emotions fluctuating with both usual joy and unexpected moments of loss.

In the dim light, amidst the music, he embraces her as she has longed for, and she, after countless anticipations, embraces him in return. You embrace, I embrace, hoping this serene and tender time will last forever…

(Writing, writing, but as I wrote, it turned out like this. Is it like prose? But I'm supposed to be writing a novel. There's no way around it; I'm a half-baked writer, and I don't even know how to prepare a concept beforehand. So, I've produced these fragmented pieces for you to bear with. I just hope you won't find them annoying.)

(Hehe, also, the other day I was browsing other authors' works, and in their stories, whenever a woman was involved, regardless of age, her name was made as elegant and beautiful as she was. But when it comes to me, all I can think of are names like Xiuyun or Xiaomei. While a person's name shouldn't be judged by its length, I'm just an ordinary person, and this makes those who read my writing miss out on appreciating elegance and beauty.

Does pregnancy change a woman's thoughts?) Old Li was completely baffled. He couldn't fathom what Fei'er was thinking, especially as her baby grew larger.

For instance, the doors to Fei'er's bedroom and her mother's bedroom were less than two meters apart. Last night, after her mother fell asleep, Fei'er quietly pulled Old Li into her bedroom to stay with her until almost dawn before letting him leave. And tonight, she did the same, pulling him in again in the middle of the night. This couldn't be explained by mere chance.

To be honest, Old Li... In comparing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western medicine, some points of divergence have indeed been identified, particularly regarding women's care during pregnancy and postpartum. During these comparisons, Western medicine, especially contemporary Western medicine, has drawn considerable attention to the psychological changes and tendencies of women during pregnancy and postpartum.

While these changes and tendencies vary in detail from person to person and region to region, some fundamental aspects are almost identical. For example, the joy often experienced in early pregnancy, and the psychological burdens that accompany pregnancy reactions. The anxiety and worry triggered by pregnancy (generally more pronounced in first-time mothers) and the growing maternal instincts that intensify as the pregnancy progresses, especially as the mother feels the baby's growth more clearly, become increasingly strong.

Driven by these two different psychological states, almost all pregnant women share a common psychological tendency: they want their partners to share their joy and to provide them with real and reliable comfort through their constant companionship, thus alleviating the inexplicable anxiety and worry in their hearts. (A brief summary, though...) This leads into the following text; please refer to the full article for details…

It should be said that women at this time experience more emotional fluctuations and are much more sensitive than usual. If we apply these factors to Fei'er, especially considering that she conceived under such circumstances with Lao Li, then Fei'er's emotional changes, even some extreme reactions, under such psychological pressure are understandable.

However, what Lao Li needs to consider now is that if it's normal for pregnant Fei'er to become more dependent on him due to various factors, then what about her mother… When she disliked Lao Li, she tried everything to keep him around, which Lao Li could absolutely understand.

But then again, if Fei'er knew her mother disliked Lao Li so much, why would she risk such discomfort, constantly putting Lao Li under her mother's nose, knowing he was secretly seeing her? What was Fei'er thinking

? Was she worried that her mother would dislike Lao Li even more if she found out? Or was she genuinely using this fait accompli to subtly influence her mother's feelings? Does he have to accept his mother's dislike with a forced acceptance? But what if this completely shatters the fragile psychological balance he's maintaining?

For example, one day, just as dawn is breaking, Old Li, tiptoeing out, suddenly finds Fei'er's mother blocking the doorway with a face as dark as if it's been pouring rain for sixty days. Not only is she beating him mercilessly, but Old Li is also seen being whipped so badly he can't even utter a sound. Is that acceptable?

Given Old Li's deep understanding of Fei'er, he wouldn't overlook anything about her. But in all the... Despite the numerous uncertainties that could have caused the world to collapse, Fei'er still did it. Even though Old Li was terrified, he couldn't tell Fei'er, and he couldn't use even the most plausible excuse to say he couldn't come. Ultimately, it was because Old Li cared too much about Fei'er; he couldn't bear to say no to her under any circumstances.

While Old Li couldn't say no to Fei'er, as Fei'er slept sweetly in his arms in the quiet of the night, he couldn't help but let his mind wander.

Old Li is not Fei'er. Perhaps he will be reborn in his next life and then he will know what changes a pregnant woman will undergo. However, to say that Old Li is not a woman is an understatement. He is not a woman. He understands the seemingly simple psychology of women. When he cares about Fei'er, when he sees Fei'er's mother's face that is always cloudy and rainy, when he is protecting the sleeping Fei'er so that he dares not move, he finds himself many reasons for not being able to sleep.

Yes, as people get older, they have crossed more bridges than young people have walked roads, and they have gained a lot of knowledge. It seems that a long, long time ago, someone thought about many things when he had nothing to do. And many years later, we know a story and are familiar with an idiom that describes worrying about something that is not a good thing.

Chapter 2: Unintentional? Destined? (7)

He didn't sleep well all night and had to sneak into his room as soon as it was light. Seeing that his comfortable eight-step bed now had three people on it, Old Li, not wanting to disturb their sweet dreams by returning, carefully rearranged the bed curtains before quietly climbing into bed. He

was indeed excessively tired, or perhaps it was simply that returning to his own bed allowed him to completely relax. Carefully pulling the corner of the blanket over the person next to him, Old Li's head had only been on the pillow for a few minutes before he was drifting off to sleep. There

it was again, the familiar scent of a woman, and this scent seemed even more invigorating. Old Li, about to enter a deep sleep, slept even more easily, his arms wrapped around her fragrant body as he drifted off to sleep.

Just like the last time he had fallen asleep holding this fragrant body, Old Li woke up half an hour later than usual. The three women who had quietly returned to the bed, just as they had when Old Li returned, left without disturbing his sleep.

Old Li took a deep breath of the familiar scent of her body lingering on his pillow, and just as he stretched, he heard Tian Rong's voice from the outer room: "Don't wake Old Li if he hasn't gotten up yet. When he does, tell him I've gone to contact the school about the summer training location. I'll tell him the details when I get back this afternoon."

"Okay, Sister Rong, you go ahead. I'll tell Old Li when he wakes up."

That voice... Old Li listened carefully; it was Xie Xin's voice.

"Could Xie Xin have been one of the people I slept in the same bed with last night?"

It had been a few days since he'd had a proper chance to spend time with Xie Xin. A sudden surge of warmth filled Old Li's heart, and he quickly grabbed his clothes and started putting them on.

While buttoning his shirt, Old Li lifted the bed curtains and hurried out.

The outer room of the bedroom was empty, as if no one had spoken there at all. Startled for a moment, Old Li immediately widened his eyes and pricked up his ears, searching his surroundings.

The bathroom! It was over there! Hearing the sound of water through his perked ears, his wide eyes snapped to the slightly ajar bathroom door. And through that crack, a figure was moving!

"Hehe… Little Xin'er! You're making my heart race!" A raised eyebrow, followed by a tender smile, and with light steps, Old Li approached the bathroom door. Gently

, he silently opened the door, his footsteps even lighter, and came to the woman holding the showerhead.

After a brief pause, Old Li's hands reached forward, slipping under her slightly parted armpits and encircling her chest. As he pressed his body against her back, he softly murmured, "Little Xin'er… Little Xin'er…"

Ah! The woman's immediate reaction to the silent attack from under her armpits was a high-pitched scream that seemed to pierce the roof!

As the woman cried out in surprise, the tenderness on Old Li's face vanished instantly, replaced by a stunned expression.

"You! You...you let go!"

A moment of stunned silence means a slower reaction. While Old Li was clinging to her in his usual Hong Kong-style foolishness, forgetting to let go, the woman began to struggle and shout in embarrassment and panic!

"Yes...yes...I..."

In a panic, he let go and retreated, desperately trying to explain. Oh dear!

You ... I... When people are unexpectedly startled, every nerve is tense, leading to the most instinctive reaction. A pair of hands suddenly grabbed her chest from under her armpits. The most instinctive reaction after such extreme shock was for the woman to use all her strength to instinctively clamp her armpits together to block the attacking hands, while also struggling and twisting her body violently. Realizing he had hugged the wrong person, even though his reaction was slightly slower, Old Li quickly recovered from the woman's shouts and tried to pull his hands back. However, the instinctive reaction of tension and fright caused even a woman to instinctively clench her armpits with a force that even Old Li, a grown man, found incredibly difficult to muster. Recalling that moment, Old Li had to use all his strength to pull his hands back, while the woman, desperate to escape the attack, gripped his hands even tighter with her armpits, struggling and twisting violently. Finally, with all his might, Old Li managed to pull his right hand free from one of the woman's armpits. The woman, writhing and struggling most violently, suddenly lost her balance and lurched forward, screaming as she fell into the bathtub. In the midst of the struggle, Old Li's remarkably fast reflexes returned. Just as the woman lost her balance and fell into the bathtub, Old Li, with a cry of surprise, reacted instantly. Just as he broke free of the woman's right hand tightly gripping her armpit, a combination of his left arm, still tucked under her other armpit, wrapped around her waist, defusing her powerful forward momentum. With his arms wrapped around her from above and below, Old Li spun her around 270 degrees, turning both of them around so they were both standing steadily. " You…" was the woman's unsure whether to thank him for not letting her fall or to continue scolding Old Li for being so confident in catching her. " I…" Having already tried to explain but not knowing how, and still unsure how to apologize, Old Li uttered another half-sentence. A moment of silence, no more than two seconds, followed. Old Li not only immediately released his grip on the woman but also took a large step back, saying "I'm sorry," before leaving the bathroom. After what seemed like a while, waiting outside the bathroom for the woman to come out and apologize again, and also to explain his actions, Old Li saw Xie Xin, whom he was looking for, walk in after the door opened. Just after greeting Xie Xin, the woman Old Li had been waiting to apologize to in the bathroom came out. "Sister Chu Xiu, did you find the car keys?" Xie Xin asked the woman who came out of the bathroom. "Yes, I found them. They're in the soap dish in the bathroom." The woman, who looked very calm as she came out of the bathroom, casually waved the car keys, still wet with water, to Xie Xin as she answered.

How could Chu Xiu, a woman who loves wearing cheongsams, have left her car keys in the soap dish in her bathroom? Old Li didn't have a chance to find out now. After Chu Xiu left with her keys, he saw Coach Mi, who had also arrived early, walk into his room. Old Li immediately remembered that the two coaches of the school's women's team had entrusted him with the full responsibility of training the team.

Realizing the heavy responsibility on his shoulders, and that even a moment of intimacy with Xie Xin this morning was now a pipe dream, Old Li quickly ate breakfast, got in his car, and drove to the school. The team

's physical reserves and tactical skills had already reached peak performance in daily training. Therefore, the current training for the No. 33 Middle School women's team was to maintain this state until the competition, ensuring that the players fully utilized their accumulated training in every match.

Maintaining the players' condition during training required a delicate balance. In other words, the training volume needs to maintain the athletes' peak performance and competitive form, but the intensity shouldn't be so high that they exhaust their potential during training, leaving them without a strong competitive drive in actual matches. The athletes'

current training reserves can be viewed as a fully inflated balloon, desperately searching for an outlet. Old Li's current task is to maintain this balloon's immense power while keeping it within manageable limits, preventing it from bursting due to excessive pressure. A

certain training volume helps alleviate the physical restlessness resulting from ample energy reserves, while also providing necessary psychological support to allow the athletes to release the psychological tension generated by their physical eagerness. Moreover, this release process must be gradual, even in actual matches. Otherwise, if the players release all their pent-up energy in just two or three games, they won't be able to continue in the later stages.

The reason Old Li was put in charge of this final pre-match training phase was because he was responsible for arranging the women's team's physical training. Now, thanks to his training, all the girls on the team are bursting with energy, like little lionesses ready to tear their prey apart. If Old Li doesn't intervene, who else will?

Take Ya Rou, for example. She's never had such boundless energy before, and this energy has a consequence: it's fueled her restlessness and impulsiveness. She just wants to find an opportunity to release all this excess energy.

Ya Rou, who's always ready to charge into action and scream and yell as soon as she steps onto the field, is the kind of person who's eager to challenge Old Li to a duel.

If it were just Ya Rou, it wouldn't be so bad, but her explosive energy has stirred up all the other energetic girls in the team! They're now standing before Old Li, a pack of little lionesses sharpening their teeth and claws.

Old Li, who arrived at the training ground at 7:30, was leading his group of sharp-toothed little lionesses to burn off their excess energy, ensuring they conserved the necessary energy.

This was a fun and game-like training session, incorporating relatively physically demanding games that effectively engaged the little lionesses and subtly depleted the excess energy that drove them to such ferocity.

Old Li's original idea was to let the lionesses control the pace of the game themselves. But who would have thought that the excess energy within them would not only fuel their restlessness, but also cultivate something else within them—a longing for males that they had accumulated during their psychological and physiological maturation. The lionesses

tacitly drew Old Li, the only male in the training area, so the entire game-like training involved only a dozen or so lionesses and Old Li. The

physical collisions and contact began when Yu Lian faced Old Li, and became the model for all the other lionesses when facing him.

Time and again, one by one, the lionesses took turns in front of and behind him, and Old Li, having adapted and completely opened himself up, immersed himself in the game of training amidst the changing of the lionesses.

Sweat, some thick, some faint, mingled and touched, the girls' flower-like faces and figures swaying before her eyes. Just as Yu Lian, Lü Na, and Tian Tian had slipped past, Zhang Nan and Yuan Yuan approached and then moved away. Ya Rou, who had bumped into her the most, not only pressed her large bottom against her waist, but with a turn, her tall body almost half-pressed onto her shoulder.

Suddenly, the dark-skinned girl, moving with the fastest pace of all the girls in the group, crossed paths with Ya Rou. This girl, even though she had gained some weight, was still the most slender in the group, rushing straight to her side.

Whether before or now, this little dark-skinned girl, who always liked to watch the sunset, was thinner, more silent and stubborn, yet evoked a deep sense of pity, was the one who least approached her closely.

This was the second time she had come to him for this game today. Perhaps she knew the training was nearing its end, or perhaps she had truly entered the rhythm of the training. Aside from yesterday afternoon's hazy training ground, where the dark-skinned girl, whose expression he couldn't see, was so engrossed in dancing two songs with him, this was the first time she had been so close to him like this.

Perhaps the training was truly nearing its end, or perhaps the team members had forgotten to keep changing their opponents. It wasn't until Xie Xin and Coach Mi arrived at the training ground at 9:30 that Lao Li and the dark-skinned girl, who had been playing against each other, stopped their game and rested with everyone, their bodies covered in sweat.

Xie Xin and Coach Mi had come beforehand to take Ya Rou and several other girls from the team to buy some items for the girls outside of school. However, after such a long period of closed training, all the girls in the team, even the dark-skinned girl who rarely liked to go out, wanted to go out.

Yes, it would be best if everyone were together! Even Xie Xin, known for her strict management within the team, had a growing agreement with this idea. However, these girls, still in the prime of their youth, displayed a remarkably disciplined demeanor. Besides the four who had already agreed to go, and including the dark-skinned girl, the girls selected two more girls to represent them in buying supplies. The rest of the girls voluntarily stayed behind to continue training.

Stopping training for half a morning wouldn't have any substantial impact on the overall training plan, but the girls managed to suppress their anticipation and choose to continue training. Old Li, Xie Xin, Coach Mi, and the team doctor, Xiao Zhang, who was watching from the sidelines, all secretly wished the girls could go with them, but they respected the girls' choice. Those who went out rode in Xie Xin and Coach Mi's car, while Old Li and the team doctor continued training with the girls who stayed behind.

It was around 11 a.m. Old Li, who had just finished training with the girls, picked up his water bottle to drink when Yu Lian, who had gone to the locker room, approached him with his cell phone flashing an incoming call notification.

It was an unfamiliar number, a local landline. After a slight hesitation, Old Li answered the call, which was dialing again.

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