Li Mo

From childhood to adulthood, many boys have pursued Li Mo, some from wealthy families and some very handsome.

At that time, Li Mo looked down on everyone.

She is an only child and grew up in Shanghai. Her family lived in a famous villa district in Shanghai, a place where land is extremely valuable.

Now, she lives in a tenement building in an urban village in Yuehai.

Li Mo has been studying at Yuehai for two months now, but she still can't adapt to the environment here.

At this time, she met Liang Xinchong.

Tang Keqing asked her if Liang Xinchong liked her. Perhaps if it were her in the past, she would have confidently said, "He definitely likes me."

Otherwise, why would he treat her differently from other girls? He gave her flowers, walked her home, and gave her drinks. He ignored other girls but was exceptionally warm towards her.

Does she like him? Maybe, she definitely has some feelings for him.

He was different from other boys.

He is clean, pure, and passionate.

But Li Mo never thought too much about it.

When people are at their lowest point, they don't have the mind to think about these things.

Li Mo gently shook her head: "Let's focus on our studies and not think about these things."

Tang Keqing looked regretful: "But...that's Liang Xinchong..."

After physical education class, our homeroom teacher, Yuan Hai, announced that there would be a summer basketball tournament before the final exams.

Li Mo sat in her seat listening, thinking that this matter should have nothing to do with her.

Sitting next to him, Liang Xinchong, taking advantage of his long arms and legs, reached over and tapped on her table.

When she turned around, she heard him ask, "Bring me water during the competition, okay?"

Li Mo said, "I don't want to."

Perhaps those two words sounded a bit cold, so Li Mo added, "There will be many people bringing you water that day."

Liang Xinchong said, "They are not you."

Li Mo thought to herself that he was getting more and more shameless. She used to think he was different from other boys.

In retrospect, they were all equally frivolous.

She sighed softly, still wanting to refuse, but when she met his suddenly innocent and expectant gaze, she sighed again: "We'll see."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he heard a soft laugh from the other side.

When Li Mo returned home for the weekend, she ran into Liang Xinchong again at the bicycle shed. He had already pulled out his bicycle and was watching her from the side. Only when she unlocked the bike and the tow truck came out did he hold the handlebars and slowly walk towards her.

Li Mo looked at him warily and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Let's walk together for a while." He actually dragged the bike and walked alongside her.

The setting sun was a beautiful purplish-red, casting long shadows on the two of them.

If either of them were to look back, they would see their shadows embracing and then separating.

You can't come home with me.

Last time was an exception; she thought he was just joking on a whim, but who knew she would actually follow him all the way to the west of the city.

Li Mo was afraid of being seen by Shen Peixian.

If Shen Peixian misunderstands that she is having a relationship at school, she would be very worried.

“I’m not going home with you, I just…” Liang Xinchong suddenly paused.

Li Mo looked at him, quietly waiting for him to continue.

Liang Xinchong finally asked, "I just want to know what your phone number is, or your home landline number? I want to contact you."

Back then, high school students didn't use WeChat very often; everyone used [unclear - possibly a type of phone number] to communicate.

"No."

"Is it that you don't have it, or that you don't want to tell me?"

Li Mo said, "I don't want to tell you."

"But I'd like to contact you this weekend."

"I'm very busy this weekend, I don't have time to chat with you."

"Then I'll take you home."

Li Mo was speechless, glared at him fiercely, and said, "You scoundrel!"

Liang Xinchong was quiet for a moment, then his tone suddenly became cautious: "Are you angry?"

Li Mo did not answer.

"Then I won't bother you anymore." After saying that, Liang Xinchong stared at her profile for a while before finally giving in and turning his bicycle around: "I'm going home, I'm really going home..."

As he spoke, he walked in the opposite direction.

Li Mo turned around and glanced at his back.

His slender, elongated figure exuded an atmosphere of disappointment and loneliness.

"Liang Xinchong," Li Mo finally couldn't help but call out.

Without the slightest hesitation, Liang Xinchong quickly turned the bicycle around and was back in front of her in two seconds.

Li Mo: "..." Why did she think his back looked so lonely just now? It must be her imagination.

Liang Xinchong asked him, "Did you just call me?"

“Hmm,” Li Mo asked him, “Do you have paper and pen?”

Liang Xinchong said, "Yes, it's in my schoolbag."

"Fine, I'll only tell you once. If you don't remember, don't blame me."

"Go on," Liang Xinchong said, his expression becoming more serious.

Li Mo recited her ID number at her normal speaking speed.

Liang Xinchong read it aloud once, then paused, "Could you read it again?"

"..." Li Mo stared at him expressionlessly.

Liang Xinchong softened his tone, and upon closer listening, there was a hint of barely perceptible grievance: "I really can't remember."

Li Mo took a deep breath: "Get me paper and pen."

Liang Xinchong pulled out a paper airplane and a pen.

The literal meaning of "paper airplane".

Liang Xinchong unfolded the paper airplane and handed it to her.

"I thought you'd at least pull out a notebook." Li Mo held up the paper and waved it around.

The crumpled yellow paper fluttered in the wind.

“I don’t read books when I go home on weekends.”

"Liang Xinchong, is your backpack filled with paper airplanes instead of books?"

Liang Xinchong's ears turned slightly red: "Weekends are holidays, aren't they for having fun?" His tone became a little weak towards the end.

Li Mo didn't say much. She looked around for a place where she could put paper and write on it.

It's so soft and limp that it's impossible to write anything.

Her gaze fell on the bicycle seat. Liang Xinchong knew her intention and was looking for a place to write. He stretched out both hands, palms up: "Write on my hands."

Li Mo strongly suspected that he had lost his mind to come up with this method, and also suspected that her own brain had suddenly short-circuited, which was why she thought his idea was quite normal. She actually put the paper in his palm and quickly wrote down an eight-digit number.

After writing the last number, a soft laugh came from above.

Before Li Mo could even ask him what he was laughing at, Liang Xinchong answered first.

"It's a little itchy," he said.

Li Mo returned the paper and pen to him, got on her bicycle and left, glancing back at him once.

Seeing Liang Xinchong still standing there, bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun, he waved to her from his spot.

Judging from his lip movements, it was vaguely discernible that he was saying goodbye to her.

At first glance, he looks a bit like the foolish son of a landlord.

Li Mo rode her bicycle, first turning onto the commercial street near the tenement building, and then saw her mother, Shen Peixian, wiping the table with a rag in the shop.

Shen Peixian never lifted a finger in the first half of her life; she wouldn't even peel a pomegranate herself.

Now he runs a barbecue restaurant in Yuehai, working from dawn till dusk, and his hands have started to develop calluses.

These were once her hands, specifically for playing the piano.

Li Mo put down her schoolbag and went to help out at the store, but Shen Peixian was unwilling and told her to go home early to rest and do her homework.

Li Mo was unwilling and stayed to wipe the table and wash the dishes.

As she turned on the tap, added detergent, and picked up the shower brush to wash the dishes, Shen Peixian, who was standing next to her, couldn't hold back her tears and finally burst into tears.

Shen Peixian is a very strong-willed woman who rarely sheds tears. The last time she cried so hard was in the hospital, and later at the police station. After coming to Yuehai, she became more sentimental and cried more often.

If it weren't for that accident, their home wouldn't be like this now.

Shen Peixian and Li Jiansheng started from scratch and finally built a business in Shanghai, only to have that incident happen, resulting in the confiscation of all their private assets.

Even this restaurant was built on the connections that Shen Peixian and Li Jiansheng had accumulated over the past two years. They lent Shen Peixian money so she could rent a storefront in the commercial street and hire two or three housekeepers.

Li Mo took out a tissue and wiped Shen Peixian's tears, comforting her, "Mom, life isn't so bad right now, things will get better."

No one can predict the future.

But there's nothing we can do but hope things will get better.

Li Mo also had a breakdown.

But she kept telling herself to pull herself together.

After helping out at the store for two hours, Li Mo went home, sat at her desk, and started doing her homework.

Li Mo once owned a smartphone, which cost a five-figure sum when she first bought it. After arriving in Yuehai, she wanted to sell it secondhand, but Shen Peixian refused to sell it.

So she stayed.

She doesn't use her phone much, and she doesn't bring it to school.

It won't be turned on until the weekend.

She received a friend request.

From Liang Xinchong.

After the friend request was accepted, Liang Xinchong immediately sent a new message.

Liang Xinchong: What are you doing right now?

Li Mo didn't reply to him immediately. She glanced at the message, finished writing the two physics papers, and it was more than two hours later.

It was already past 10 p.m. before she leisurely replied to the other party.

Li Mo: I was busy just now.

Liang Xinchong didn't mind that she took so long to reply, nor did he ask her what she had been doing. He just suddenly sent her two photos.

One of them is a close-up photo of a dog.

In another picture, he is reaching out to touch the puppy's head, with his hand in the very center of the image.

Li Mo glanced at both pictures and objectively commented that in the first one, he was seriously taking a picture of the dog, and in the second one, he was seriously taking a picture of his own hand.

After I posted the picture, Liang Xinchong sent me a message: I'm petting my dog.

Liang Xinchong: You can see the picture, right?

Li Mo: Why not?

Liang Xinchong: I have friends who use flip phones. They can't see the pictures, they can only see a long string of code.

Li Mo: Oh, oh.

I've learned something new. She'd never actually used a flip phone before.

Liang Xinchong asked again: You can see the photos, right?

Li Mo: I saw it, the dog is very cute.

Liang Xinchong sent a smiley face.

Li Mo did not reply.

Liang Xinchong: What are you doing right now?

Li Mo: I'm chatting with you.

Liang Xinchong: Only with me?

Li Mo didn't answer, but only asked: Aren't you going to sleep now?

Li Mo: I'm going to sleep now, don't stay up late, young man.

That should allow us to end the conversation peacefully.

Sure enough, after Li Mo sent the message, the "typing" message appeared in the upper left corner and then disappeared, going back and forth for a while before Liang Xinchong sent a "goodnight" message.

Li Mo picked a goodnight emoji and sent it over before putting down her phone.

After thinking for a moment, she plugged in her earphones and started listening to music to fall asleep.

Over the weekend, Li Mo and Liang Xinchong chatted online several times, with Liang Xinchong always starting with "What are you doing?" and Li Mo ending with "I'm busy."

Their conversation was very boring; they talked about studying, their dog, and the weather...

After two days of online communication, Liang Xinchong got the feeling that Li Mo seemed to be ignoring him.

But Li Mo was really busy. Even though Shen Peixian told her to rest, she worked at the family barbecue restaurant for several hours before going home to study and do her homework after the peak hours were over.

After finishing her work at the shop and catching up on her homework, she finally picked up her phone to listen to music and give herself a break.

That evening, when she turned on her phone, she found more than a dozen unread messages from Liang Xinchong.

He sent her several pictures.

Send her a text message for each picture you send.

"Breakfast is pumpkin porridge."

"I'm skateboarding downstairs."

My cousin stole my Lego set to play with.

"I'm having lunch."

"The puppy has been with me for a week, and we still don't have a name for it. We're thinking of a name for it now."

"I've decided, it will be called Little Jasmine."

After looking at all the pictures and messages, Li Mo's first thought was, "Liang Xinchong, are you very free?"

My second thought is, why would a dog be named Jasmine? Is it a coincidence or was it intentional?

Li Mo is more inclined to believe that he did it on purpose.

Li Mo replied to him: Why would a dog be named Little Jasmine?

Liang Xinchong: You finally responded to me.

Li Mo: Why would a dog be named Little Jasmine?

Liang Xinchong: It drew lots itself.

Liang Xinchong: [36s video]

Li Mo: If you don't give it this option, how will it have a chance to catch it?

Liang Xinchong: What should we do? I can't think of anything.

Liang Xinchong: [A sad kitten resting its face on its hand.jpg]

Li Mo didn't want to talk to him anymore.

Liang Xinchong then said: Why don't you help it come up with a name?

Li Mo opened the voice input and said in a less-than-friendly tone, "Just call it 'Little Chongchong'!" Why call it Little Jasmine?! She didn't finish her sentence, put on her headphones, tossed her phone aside, and went to sleep.

On the other side, Liang Xinchong opened the voice message she sent, listened to it, and then opened it again, listening to it countless times.

He blinked rapidly.

What did she just call him?