At this moment,
Professor Lu, who was holding the certificate, still looked as if he had been struck by lightning.
He lowered his head, staring at the certificate in his hands—at the name written on it.
Jiang Mian.
What a huge surprise… or rather, a shock.
A child?
His?!
Judging by that belly, she was about seven or eight months pregnant.
They had only been divorced for half a year.
So, the child really was his.
Lu Heng’s mind was in complete chaos.
Before he could think further, Professor Sun and the others came looking for him.
Lu Heng quickly composed himself, folded the certificate, and slipped it into his pocket.
After finishing his work, Lu Heng went to the Jiefang Hotel.
The conference was being hosted there.
Everyone who had come to the capital for the meeting was staying there.
When Lu Heng arrived, he asked the receptionist:
“Hello, comrade. I’d like to ask—which room is Comrade Jiang Mian from the Beidahuang Farm staying in?”
The receptionist looked at the refined and elegant man in front of her, trying hard to suppress a smile.
“Alright, let me check for you.”
She quickly flipped through the registration book.
“Found it. Third floor, Room 304.”
“Thank you.”
Lu Heng went up to the third floor.
He stopped in front of Room 304.
He knocked, but there was no response.
Clearly, no one was inside.
She had probably gone out.
Or… was she deliberately avoiding him?
But no matter what, Jiang Mian couldn’t possibly not want that certificate.
Lu Heng had spent several years on the farm. He knew how important a national-level award like that was.
Now that the certificate was in his hands, Jiang Mian would definitely come looking for him.
Lu Heng went back downstairs, borrowed a sheet of paper from the front desk, and took out his fountain pen from his pocket to leave a note.
Then he went back upstairs and slipped it through the door.
…
After finishing her bowl of fried soybean paste noodles, Jiang Mian returned from outside.
The others who came to the conference with her had all gone out shopping.
But she didn’t go shopping.
To save money.
To raise a child, she was now extremely frugal.
And just as fiercely, she wouldn’t let go of any opportunity to earn money.
“Jiang Mian, Jiang Mian, hurry and think of a way to get the certificate back! It’s bad enough you embarrassed the farm, now you’ve even lost the award certificate—just wait to be criticized when we get back!”
Xu Hongmei kept nagging in Jiang Mian’s ear the whole way.
Xu Haibin tried to persuade her:
“Hongmei, stop going on and on.”
“What do you mean I’m going on and on? Jiang Mian is the one who caused this problem—she has to make up for it!”
“Jiang Mian will find a way to get the certificate back. Don’t worry.”
“Why do you trust her so much?”
Xu Haibin didn’t answer. He quietly glanced at Jiang Mian, as if waiting for her response.
But Jiang Mian pretended not to understand and said nothing.
She silently returned to the door of Room 304.
Taking out her key, she opened the door.
She was sharing the room with Xu Hongmei, who followed her inside.
As soon as the door opened, Jiang Mian sharply noticed a piece of paper on the floor.
With her big belly, her movements were a bit slow. Just as she was about to bend down to pick it up—
Xu Hongmei saw it and grabbed it first:
“What’s this? Did you leave it here?”
“I didn’t,” Jiang Mian had already guessed who left it, “what does it say?”
“It’s a phone number, and a note—‘Call me’? What’s this? There’s not even a name. Who is it for?”
Jiang Mian snatched the note from Xu Hongmei’s hand:
“Who knows which blind and deaf person got the wrong room. No need to bother with it.”
She grabbed it and took a glance herself.
As expected, it was Professor Lu’s handwriting.
Xu Hongmei, still not satisfied, tried to snatch it back:
“The handwriting is so beautiful—let me look at it again.”
Jiang Mian didn’t let her. She put the note into her pocket.
She rested in the room for a while.
In the afternoon, Jiang Mian went out.
Downstairs, she asked the front desk where she could make a phone call.
The receptionist told her there was a post office next door.
So Jiang Mian went to the post office.
She queued up, dialed the number on the note, and someone quickly picked up on the other end.
“Hello?”
The voice was urgent, carrying a hint of anticipation.