Li Wan’er entered the operating theatre at 3pm.

Xu Tingsheng accompanied her to the entrance.

As Li Wan’er hesitated, refusing to let go, Xu Tingsheng saw many things in her eyes. To her, this might be the final moment of separation…

If Xu Tingsheng had known that night before his death in his previous life that those were the final times of his life, he would definitely have thrown everything else aside in grabbing Xiang Ning and telling her everything.

While death gave people fear, it could also give people courage.

It was just that Xu Tingsheng had not known it at the time, while Li Wan’er knew it now.

Therefore, her final words were, “I love you so much.”

Xu Tingsheng smiled radiantly, emitting a fearless air. This was the response Li Wan’er had been looking forward to seeing. The person Li Wan’er had fallen in love with at the start was actually not Xu Tingsheng but the little hoodlum who had suddenly entered her life, filled with nonsense…

Before she had learnt of his ident.i.ty, she had thought of going off together with him. She didn’t eat much, anyway.

The door of the operating theatre closed.

The surgery that had originally been projected to take three hours persisted all the way till 8, 9, 10 pm.

An overwhelmed You Qinglan began to cry.

Xu Tingsheng said, “The heck you’re crying! Relax, it’s fine.”

Still, his hands were actually trembling too.

Finally, the handsome French doctor exited the operating theatre.

Not knowing French, Xu Tingsheng heard him speaking to You Qinglan.

You Qinglan burst into tears.

Xu Tingsheng’s heart clenched…

Fortunately, You Qinglan quickly recovered as she clutched Xu Tingsheng, saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay. I was just too moved.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“He said that while some difficulties cropped up partway through, it very fortunately succeeded.”

Xu Tingsheng sighed in relief, “That’s good then.”

The entire procedure took eight to twelve hours to complete. With the anesthetic wearing off, she should be waking up soon too. Yet, Li Wan’er only awoke three days later.

Like the doctor had said, the risks in the initial stage after the heart surgery were actually no lower than during the surgery itself.

The first person Li Wan’er saw when she opened her eyes was Xu Tingsheng...she had never felt so rea.s.sured in her life before.

Xu Tingsheng accompanied Li Wan’er for a few more days till she persuaded him to return on her own initiative.

“The recovery period is still very long. Go back first, do what you have to do. I’ll definitely work very hard, be very healthy,” Li Wan’er said.

While Xu Tingsheng wanted to stay, Li Wan’er’s att.i.tude was very firm.

When he had finally left the hospital, You Qinglan asked Li Wan’er, “Are you silly? What a good chance, and you actually got him to leave.”

Li Wan’er smiled, “I just feel like I’m too blissful. I fear that bliss has a limit. I fear that somehow, his time that belongs to me has a countdown timer somewhere as dictated by fate...I have a lot to look forward to this time. So, I must definitely slowly use up the quota.”

Unable to argue with her, You Qinglan asked, “What now then? You need him a lot.”

“Now? My deposited happiness now is already enough to last me a very long time, till I recover and till I become very healthy. I won’t work through the night and push myself so hard in the future...I think that we can go through life slowly. Qinglan, when I’m okay, can we run, go shopping, keep fit and take care of our skin together everyday?”

Looking at the happy Li Wan’er who was smiling in a foolish manner, You QInglan nodded hard.

When Li Wan’er had said that she had deposited her happiness, You Qinglan had understood. It was something that she had to learn to do in the future. It was destined that Xu Tingsheng would not be able to accompany her over the long term. So, Li Wan’er had to learn how to deposit her happiness, keeping it to slowly savour when she was lonely.

“You must keep it up then. Anyway, I’ll be accompanying you throughout,” You Qinglan said.

“Right,” Li Wan’er who was lying on the bed clenched her fist, knowing that some of her spokesperson contracts aside, You Qinglan had already temporarily ceased all her work.

“I just don’t know if he still has anyone else. Otherwise, as long as you put in a bit more effort, you’ll definitely be able to give birth to a baby sooner than Xiang Ning,” You Qinglan a.n.a.lysed and said solemnly, “This is very important.”

A bit embarra.s.sed as well as amused, Li Wan’er smiled, “I won’t try to fight for, s.n.a.t.c.h anything...it’s just that this way, I already don’t know how to face Xiang Ning anymore.

“I get that. Still, you can’t wait for Xiang Ning to give birth first, right? She’s so little. How old would you be then?” You Qinglan looked at Li Wan’er who was gazing exasperatedly at her, adding, “Oops, I made a mistake there. You aren’t old…”

“I also want to...give birth sooner. He said that our child will definitely be very beautiful.”

“Ha.”

……

During Xu Tingsheng’s additional stay here, Huang Yaming had already brought Han Xiu and her mother on a tour around Europe before returning to Paris again.

That night, as Xu Tingsheng was packing his luggage.

Han Xiu’s mother knocked on the door and asked, “h.e.l.lo. Have you seen my daughter and that Huang Yaming?”

Xu Tingsheng shook his head and answered, “I’ve not seen them since dinner.”

Han Xiu’s mother sighed, “My daughter’s becoming more and more disobedient.”

Xu Tingsheng smiled and said, “This is just how girls in love are...relax, they may just have gone shopping.”

After just a few short days, Xu Tingsheng found that Han Xiu had changed very greatly. She was in the midst of interacting with and getting to know this world at the quickest speed. Meanwhile, she and Huang Yaming were so like lovers in a pa.s.sionate relations.h.i.+p.

Xu Tingsheng felt happy for Huang Yaming.

Huang Yaming flew back to Xihu City with Han Xiu and her mother the next day. After returning to Yanzhou, Han Xiu would be listening in on some lessons she was interested in at the training inst.i.tute. One must know that Hucheng’s training inst.i.tute in Yanzhou even held dance and yoga cla.s.ses.

Meanwhile, Xu Tingsheng’s destination was Yanjing.

The day before returning to China, he had unexpectedly received a call from Jianan University’s professor, Yan Zhengyu.

As Yan Zhengyu saw it, he and Xu Tingsheng were a.s.sociating with each other on equal terms.

So, he usually called him little friend, “Little Friend Xu, this old man is relatively closed off. Only recently did I hear that you were facing some problems a while back...are you okay now?”

“Thank you for your concern, Professor Yan. I’m doing very well now. Please rest a.s.sured,” Xu Tingsheng replied respectfully.

“That’s good then,” Yan Zhengyu said, “With how worldly matters are, we can’t always stay fully unaffected by them. You’re much better than me in this aspect. Still, I think that people still need to give themselves some time every once in a while to cleanse their hearts...otherwise, the layer of dust on it will thicken.”

“That’s right.”

“So, why not come hold a seminar with me. Having left it to lie in the dust for so long, you should really properly focus on academia now.”

“...”

Xu Tingsheng had really not expected that Professor Yan would be waiting for him here. After having shocked academia with his paper three years ago, Xu Tingsheng had run off. Professor Yan had looked for him several times over the past three years, but he had evaded it every time, not partic.i.p.ating even once.

“Why hold a seminar? It’s been nearly three years,” Xu Tingsheng said while thinking: It’s been three years. Academia’s efficiency really is very low.

“Academic debate has always been a very complex thing. This was already considered fast,” Professor Yan might be in his office he said in a hushed tone carrying a bit of excitement, “They’re definitely going to dig this time…”

The word ‘digging’ was actually him having been influenced by Xu Tingsheng. Xu Tingsheng always said: Discuss what? You’re not digging anyway. Professor Yan would always say seriously in reply: All you know is digging! That’s called an archaeological excavation.

In the end, it was revealed that he was actually very anxious to dig it up too.

“Really? Why?” Xu Tingsheng was really a bit frightened by this.

If Professor Yan’s news was accurate, it would be equivalent to him having brought the excavation of Anyang Mausoleum forward by two years. Two years...would anything be different?

“Of course it’s true,” Professor Yan said, “It must be dug now. With your paper guiding the way, who knows how many hundred batches of tomb raiders have been over there these past two years. The local police and the relevant departments have been bothered like mad. They took the initiative to apply, even saying that if the higher-ups continue ignoring it, they will also no longer pay attention to it.”

“Sigh, who knows how badly the tomb’s been damaged…”

Xu Tingshengs sensed heartache in his sigh.

“After a thousand years, how many tombs in our country have not been robbed and robbed again...relax, there’ll surely be discoveries. At least, the local government has had some protective measures in place these past two years. It’s definitely still somewhat better, compared to originally when ‘laymen are able to seek, professionals are unable to seek’,” Xu Tingsheng consoled him.

“That is true,” Professor Yan agreed, definitely understanding this aspect much better than Xu Tingsheng did since he was devoted to archaeology, “So, I take it that you’re willing to go then?”

Xu Tingsheng considered it and said, “Alright, I’ll go.”

Just as Professor Yan had said, it might really be time for Xu Tingsheng to stop and cleanse his soul. Moreover, he actually also needed time to avoid some stuff, think about some stuff, making preparations before coming back to face them.

“Regarding my school…” Xu Tingsheng said.

“Regarding your school, I’ll get the relevant department to directly send a mobilisation order over. You needn’t worry about finding a job, anyway,” It turned out Professor Yan had long been prepared.

This last seminar would be held at Yanjing.

Xu Tingsheng called Xiang Ning to explain things to her, obtaining her approval before changing his flight from Paris to one bound for Yanjing.