Chapter 116 What's the difference? "There are... many different ways."...

"What's up?" Han Jiang rushed downstairs without even putting on his slippers properly. When he received Jiang Yueming's message, he thought it was something important and jumped up and down. "It's a good thing tomorrow is Saturday, otherwise I would have picked a fight with you."

"I'm leaving," Jiang Yueming said.

"What?" Han Jiang looked surprised; he had just come down!

"Hey buddy! You just got here, why are you leaving? I just got off the plane and you're already leaving? Are you kidding me?"

“I’m leaving Shengping,” Jiang Yueming replied, offering a different answer.

Han Jiang was dazed and confused, not quite understanding what was happening. To be honest, he really couldn't process it. "What? What do you mean? What does leaving Shengping mean?"

Looking at Jiang Yueming's expression, which was anything but joking, he finally felt a chill of fear and hurriedly asked, "Where are you going after leaving here? You're already in your final year of high school, are you leaving now?"

"Which year I'm in has nothing to do with me, right?" Jiang Yueming found a way to sit down. Talking to Han Jiang was tiring because he sometimes couldn't understand him, and standing was even more tiring. "My grades aren't that great, so whether I'm in my senior year or not makes no difference."

"Why?" Han Jiang quickly sat down next to him. "It's not April Fool's Day today, is it?"

Even on April Fool's Day, this kind of joke is going too far.

“Grandpa is sick, and Auntie has to go back to take care of him…” Jiang Yueming found it difficult to explain, so he said directly, “I can’t let her do everything by herself, you understand?”

He was too young once. There were things he wanted to do but couldn't.

Now that he's grown up, he wants to do everything he can and can't do.

Han Jiang was stunned for a moment, unable to react for a long time. This was too sudden, and he was a little caught off guard.

"Don't cry yet," Jiang Yueming said, seeing that he hadn't spoken for a while and thinking he was about to cry again, so she reached out and patted his shoulder. "I have something important to tell you."

"What's wrong?" Han Jiang asked, his voice slightly choked with emotion.

Jiang Yueming took out an envelope from his pocket. Inside were cash and a card. He had opened the card at the bank before. Although there was no money in it now, he would deposit money into it later.

"What do you mean?" Han Jiang had a feeling that this wasn't just a casual departure, but a genuine intention to "leave." "Why are you entrusting all your belongings to me?"

“Listen, take this money. Then figure out a way to give it to Li Leshan,” Jiang Yueming instructed. “If he doesn’t want it, buy him something. Give him a couple of sets of clothes for the Spring Festival, a couple of pairs of shoes for the Lantern Festival, and you know his birthday, right? Buy him a lot for his birthday…”

“He has no money on him. Think of a way, buddy, good buddy,” Jiang Yueming continued. “Tell me if you don’t have enough money.”

"No!" Han Jiang was taken aback, then suddenly stood up. "You still remember that we're good buddies!"

Jiang Yueming was caught off guard and startled.

"You're about to leave, and the first thing you say is 'buy Li Leshan something, buy him this and that.' If it weren't for that, would you have just left already?!" Han Jiang was a little angry. He counted on his fingers, "Eleven years, twelve years, thirteen years..."

"Are you counting here?" Jiang Yueming asked, puzzled. "How many years exactly?"

"We've been playing together since we were kids, for so many years. Can you stop only thinking about Li Leshan in everything?" Han Jiang felt a little wronged. They were clearly buddies, so why was there such a big difference between them? "Can't you consider me too? If not, can you at least consider Xiaobai?"

Jiang Yueming opened his mouth, but he wasn't good at such sentimental talk and didn't understand why Han Jiang was jealous. He could only awkwardly say, "You can spend the money in there too..."

"Is that the reason?!" Han Jiang roared, "Is that what I did for money?! Do you think I'm that kind of person?! You just pack up and leave without a word, what are we supposed to do?!"

"What can I do!" Jiang Yueming shouted back. Luckily, Han Jiang's house was in a remote area, otherwise they would definitely be sued for disturbing the peace, and the two of them would be dragged away one after the other. "I don't want to leave either, but I have no choice!"

He didn't want to leave, didn't want to leave this place, and even more so... but he was afraid his aunt wouldn't be able to handle it alone. He was afraid she would suffer too much, afraid she would be too tired, so he had to leave. He couldn't be so heartless. He couldn't do something so heartless.

“Han Jiang,” Jiang Yueming calmed down, pressing Han Jiang’s shoulder to signal him to calm down as well, “I didn’t keep quiet, you were the first person I told. Le… Li Leshan, he’s all alone, he’s had a tough time.”

"But did he even consider us friends?" Han Jiang pointed at Jiang Yueming's chest. He hadn't forgotten what had happened before; it was still vivid in his mind. "Ask yourselves honestly, how have we treated him? We've been good enough, haven't we? We've cared enough, haven't we? But all he thinks about is getting away. He's had it tough, but are we having it easy? Am I the one who has it the easiest?!"

"Han Jiang!" Jiang Yueming was furious. He pointed at Han Jiang and said, "Watch your mouth."

"Jiang Yueming!" Han Jiang gritted his teeth, nodded, and sneered, "Fine! I'll be careful?! Why don't you tell him to be careful? We care about him, but he doesn't appreciate it at all. He doesn't even explain himself and just says 'Stay away from me.' Xu ​​Qing cried, you know? She cried every day recently. You probably didn't know, right? Because all your attention was on Li Leshan!"

Jiang Yueming felt a lump in his throat. He couldn't possibly tell Han Jiang everything about Li Leshan's family affairs; at this moment, he was like a mute, speechless.

"Speechless now, huh?" Han Jiang's eyes were red. "Come on! Tell me, how hard has it been for him? Aside from not being able to speak, does that make a difference? He's always disdained talking to people! Isn't he always like that?"

"Don't force me..." Jiang Yueming clenched her fists and bit her lip hard.

"You're not going to hit me, are you?" Han Jiang asked in astonishment, feeling like he'd seen a ghost. "You're going to hit me for Li Leshan? Then fucking hit me! Hit me however you want!"

"His grandmother is gone!" Jiang Yueming cried out in desperation. His eyes reddened again at the mention of this. "He has no family left..."

Han Jiang and Xu Qing were unaware of this matter. Originally, Jiang Yueming hadn't intended to tell them either, because it was Li Leshan's family matter, and he himself didn't want to talk about it.

Han Jiang was stunned, his anger instantly dissipated, and seeing Jiang Yueming's distraught expression, he himself stood there dumbfounded.

"His...grandmother is gone?" Han Jiang asked.

“The end of March,” Jiang Yueming said hoarsely. He slowly sat back down on the steps, covering his face with his hands. “He told me not to tell you, afraid you would worry.”

Upon hearing this, Han Jiang almost collapsed to the ground.

Jiang Yueming didn't tell them about Li Yong's existence. During that time, Li Leshan really couldn't care about anything else; keeping Han Jiang and Xu Qing away was truly the only option, albeit the best one.

“You two,” Han Jiang took a deep breath, choking back tears, “you don’t say anything, you just leave us here to overthink. How can we possibly understand? Xu Qing will definitely cry again when she finds out you’re gone. I really don’t know what to do.”

Their friendship spanned over a decade, covering two-thirds of their respective ages. Han Jiang had considered the possibility of them parting ways someday; after all, everyone has their own ambitions, and it was impossible to stay in Shengping forever. But he never expected it to happen so quickly, so unexpectedly.

“We can’t understand sign language, but he can type or write it down. We’re not illiterate or illiterate…” Han Jiang rambled on.

“He just doesn’t want to trouble you,” Jiang Yueming said. He doesn’t even want to trouble me, so why would he let you know about these things?

"But we're not afraid of trouble either," Han Jiang said, his voice trembling.

Jiang Yueming's heart clenched. He put his arm around Han Jiang's shoulder and patted him hard. "I'll be most worried about you guys when I leave. Especially you. No one's keeping you from messing around anymore. Surely your grades will improve by now. Stop thinking about playing all day. Put in some effort and get into a university for your Han family, okay?"

"Then will you... will you come back?" Han Jiang asked.

Jiang Yueming was silent for a while. He looked at the flashing streetlights in front of him. The streetlight poles, which were originally clear, gradually became blurry. He forced a smile and said, "Yes."

Under the dim light of the streetlamp, Jiang Yueming turned to look at Han Jiang's swollen eyes, tightened her grip on his shoulder, and said, "I'm still smiling, so don't cry."

Han Jiang sniffed and muttered, "Then you're heartless. I'm just sentimental."

“Yes, yes, yes,” Jiang Yueming echoed him, “I have no conscience. You have the most conscience, you big conscience egg.”

"When are you coming back?" Han Jiang asked again.

“For the New Year,” Jiang Yueming replied, “I will definitely be back for the New Year.”

Han Jiang nodded and stopped crying. After a while, she started crying again, leaning on Jiang Yueming's shoulder, "Tell Xu Qing yourself, I dare not tell her. I can't bear to see her cry..."

“I can’t bear to watch either,” Jiang Yueming hurriedly said. “I definitely have to tell her about this, otherwise I won’t have the face to see her when I come back. You should try harder and win her over when you can, so I don’t have to live in fear every day.”

"Is it because I don't want to?" Han Jiang muttered.

"Han Jiang," Jiang Yueming stopped joking with him and his tone became serious. He stuffed the envelope into his hand again and pressed it firmly. "I'm begging you. Please help him as much as possible. If anything happens to him, be sure to contact me."

He had never asked Han Jiang for anything in his life. Han Jiang only remembered two things: one was in the third year of junior high school, and the other was in the third year of senior high school. But the things he asked for were the same: Li Leshan.

"Okay." Han Jiang wiped his eyes, stuffed the money into his pocket, and exclaimed in surprise, "What are you going to do with this? Are you giving me a bride price?"

"What are you saying?" Jiang Yueming said, but in his heart he thought that the bride price was not enough, far from sufficient.

On the night of his seventeenth birthday, some people were destined to experience separation. He looked up at the night sky, his hands resting on the grass behind him, where pebbles were sharp. Suddenly, he felt that the night sky was no different from when he was a child. They seemed to have grown up, yet they also seemed not to have grown up.

"Keep this safe," Jiang Yueming said after a long pause. "Thank you, thank you for all these years."

"You'll always be my best buddy."

Han Jiang's tears welled up again, but he held them back.

"Don't be like that," Han Jiang said stubbornly, "I'm a little embarrassed for a moment."

"Touched, aren't you?" Jiang Yueming laughed heartily, turning her head to look at him. "What's wrong with you?"

"There are... many tricks."