Chapter 118 Unforgettable and Constantly Thinking of Him: It Seems He'll Always Be Standing on Jiang Yueming's Side...

"The test papers have been handed out. Do your best." Zhang Fang surveyed the class, circling around before continuing, "This is a joint exam with the city's top high schools. Their teachers developed this test, so it's very valuable. Let's try our best to get some good rankings and bring honor to Shishi High School..."

Since becoming a proper senior high school student, weekly tests have become the norm. There are joint exams for nine cities and three provinces. The test takers are left with no choice but to feel a sense of inertia, as if they are being pushed forward.

Li Leshan took the test paper from the student in front of him, glanced at it, wrote his name, and just as the pen tip paused on the last stroke of the character "山" (shan), he felt his phone vibrate inside his school uniform pants. He glanced at the podium; Zhang Fang was looking down at her test paper, not looking in his direction.

He quietly took it out and glanced at it; the sender was Jiang Yueming.

With slightly trembling fingers, I typed on the keyboard, and what I saw was a line of text sent by Jiang Yueming.

"Lele, I'm leaving. Although I told you it would be the day after tomorrow, I don't want you to come see me off. I'm afraid I won't be able to walk anymore if I see you. Please tell Han Jiang and Xu Qing for me that I won't be seeing them one last time."

Li Leshan's heart tightened. He stared at the screen, reading those few lines of text twice, then went back to read them again. His right hand unconsciously clenched, his fingertips turning white.

Because of the exam, all the textbooks, books, and exam-related items around him had been cleared away, leaving only the exam papers on the table. All the books were stacked on the stairs, a sea of ​​students' books as far as the eye could see. Li Leshan, almost without hesitation, picked up a pen and wrote a large line on the exam paper: "Teacher, I'm sorry. I have an urgent matter; I'll be back this afternoon."

After finishing writing, he suddenly stood up. All eyes in the class, along with the astonished gaze of the homeroom teacher, immediately focused on him.

"Leshan? What happened?" Zhang Fang's voice was filled with doubt.

Li Leshan didn't answer or look at anyone. He turned around, headed towards the back door of the classroom, and ran.

!

"Leshan!" Zhang Fang called out towards the door, "Li Leshan!"

But he couldn't hear anything anymore. His ears were filled with the sound of the wind and the heavy pounding of his own heart. He found the nearest corner and went downstairs, taking three steps at a time, in a desperate panic, not wanting to waste a single second.

Bypassing the flowerbeds with faded slogans, passing the horizontal bar where clothes from the family compound were drying, and turning into the narrow alley leading out of the school, the alley was lined with brick walls covered with various tutoring center and "for rent" advertisements.

TRAIN STATION.

TRAIN STATION……

The old train station in the county town, built even earlier, is small in scale and even looks somewhat dilapidated; the three large red characters "Shengping Station" also appear somewhat faded. After sending the message, Jiang Yueming stared blankly at the electronic screen at the train station. Looking at the train schedules displayed, his heart pounded.

The train station was crowded, perhaps because it was relatively small, making it seem crowded. It's the only way to leave Shengping.

"Moonlight, Moonlight," Lin Cuiqin gently patted his shoulder, seeing that he remained silent, "You're leaving so early without even saying goodbye to Leshan and Xiaojiang?"

Seeing her worried expression, Jiang Yueming smiled at her and said, "What's the point of telling them? There's nothing to say."

What kind of melodramatic soap opera is this? It's like a tragic love story from a TV drama, so boring. I don't have the leisure or inclination for that, and it's pointless. He's seen everyone he needed to see, and said goodbye to everyone he needed to say goodbye to.

He'd have to leave eventually anyway; whether he left today, tomorrow, or the day after, it didn't matter. A short, sharp pain was better than a long, drawn-out one. If he could just stay and see Li Leshan one last time, he feared he wouldn't be able to leave.

There wasn't much luggage. His aunt's family lived in Guangdong, so he was just going home; he only needed to bring a few changes of clothes and a few books. Sweetie, however, tugged at his sleeve, looking up at him with a puzzled expression, "Brother, aren't you waiting for Brother Leshan? He hasn't arrived yet."

“He has an exam today.” Jiang Yueming deliberately chose this day, taking advantage of Li Leshan’s exam to leave. There couldn’t be a better time. Exams are good; during exams, one needs to concentrate and can’t leave. This way, they won’t face each other, won’t see the reluctance in the other person’s eyes, and won’t waver in her hard-won decision.

Jiang Yueming put his phone in his pocket, took one last look at the photo of himself and Li Leshan on the screen, and then shifted his gaze from the platform back to the large screen.

"Tickets for those going to Guangzhou South can be checked now! Gate 3! Gate 3!" the ticket inspector shouted through a megaphone.

"Let's go, Yueming!" Lin Cuiqin called to Jiang Yueming, holding Tiantian's hand.

Jiang Yueming quickly greeted them. Pulling his suitcase, he inexplicably turned around and looked at the surging crowd behind him. He knew perfectly well that Li Leshan wouldn't be there, but he still glanced back.

His gaze swept through the crowd once, twice. Jiang Yueming finally stopped searching, turned around, let out a soft breath, and waved to Lin Cuiqin, "Coming!"

...

When Li Leshan arrived at the station square, his bangs were already soaked with sweat, clinging wetly to his skin. Sweat streamed down his temples and into his eyes, causing a stinging, blurry sensation.

Because I ran too fast without stopping, I felt a dryness and pain in my throat.

Security guards were blocking the way outside, shouting, "Families, don't come any further!" and "Don't try to squeeze in!"

Li Leshan could only stay outside. He tried his best to look through the layers of people and quickly located the Guangzhou South train. Next, he searched for Jiang Yueming's figure in the crowd queuing to enter the station.

Sweat streamed down his forehead, blurring his vision. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, blinked hard a few times, and the instant his vision cleared, he saw—

Jiang Yueming.

He took a deep breath, wanting to shout, but couldn't utter a single syllable. He wanted to call Jiang Yueming, his fingers trembling as he turned on the screen, found that familiar number, and hovered over the call button, but couldn't bring himself to press it.

As Jiang Yueming approached Lin Cuiqin with a smile, pulling his luggage, his hand trembled slightly when he clicked "OK".

You made the call, and then what?

Can Jiang Yueming see him from this distance?

Even if we saw it, so what?

Is it possible for Jiang Yueming to run through the crowd, or for him to break through the barriers and rush in? Is it all just to catch a glimpse from such a distance, only to watch the other person disappear into the crowd?

"Make way, young man! Make way!" An aunt with permed hair bumped him rudely with her elbow. The force was not small, and Li Leshan was caught off guard and staggered back two steps.

"Xiaoyi," the aunt said, leaning almost halfway over the barrier through the glass, tightly holding the girl's hand, "Take good care of yourself out there, don't worry about home, and if you need money, just say so! Don't be stingy! Okay!"

Li Leshan had never heard such a conversation before, nor had he ever seen the tears of loved ones parting, so he was momentarily stunned.

He snapped out of his daze and hurriedly went to look for Jiang Yueming, but as more and more people found him to be easier to talk to, they gradually crowded around him. People called out his name and said something. Shouts, instructions, sobs... all kinds of sounds mixed together, forming a huge, noisy wave that almost drowned him out and scattered him.

Forget it.

Li Leshan felt a sudden emptiness in his heart and took a few steps back. He couldn't shout or speak, and even if he saw it, there was nothing he could do. If only eyes could communicate, then he could talk to Jiang Yueming across the crowd.

No need for many words, just a glance is enough.

Li Leshan's Adam's apple bobbed. He looked down at the message on his phone, while the ticket inspector's urging voice through the loudspeaker rang in his ears, "Has everyone at Guangzhou South finished checking their tickets?! Those who haven't gone in yet, hurry up and come in!"

He turned around and didn't linger. Slowly, step by step, he retreated from the most crowded core area of ​​the crowd. His back pressed against the cold wall.

He lowered his head and reopened Jiang Yueming's text message. After reading it for a few seconds, his fingers slowly tapped on the keyboard.

Li Leshan: Okay. Have a safe trip.

Jiang Yueming, who had already followed the crowd through the ticket gate and was heading towards the platform, felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out with some surprise, his first emotion being astonishment.

Isn't Li Leshan taking an exam?!

How did he send messages while taking the exam?

But he had no time to think further. The train came to a quiet stop, its green carriages both familiar and strange. Sitting in his seat, the familiar, low-rise buildings, the distant chimneys of the cement factory, the waving arms and blurry faces on the platform, were all left behind.

Today he is leaving the place where he has lived for seventeen years and going to another place.

Closing my eyes, many images uncontrollably surface: the shimmering Lijiang River on a summer afternoon, where a few children always swam naked; the dimly lit skating rink under the bridge, always filled with pop songs, the sting of my palm scraping against the rough ground when I fell; that ancient iron tower, standing for so long, always shrouded in mystery; the five-cent mung bean popsicles outside the Iron Tower Elementary School; the red brick wall of No. 1 Middle School covered in vines; the row of camphor trees that never seemed to grow very tall beside the playground of No. 3 High School…

Various scenes flashed by like a movie, with the next scene following immediately. In the end, these thoughts, like rivers flowing into the sea, all returned to the Third Alley.

The last image that appeared in Jiang Yueming's mind was Li Leshan's back; he seemed to stand forever at the very end of her memory.

The boy, dressed in a blue and white school uniform, walked slowly down the road, slender and upright, his spine always so straight. The setting sun cast shimmering shadows on his shoulders, making his shadow long and almost unreal. This scene, no matter where Jiang Yueming had been, no matter how many years had passed, remained as clear as yesterday.

Li Leshan turned around one last time, his face backlit. With his back to the setting sun, he smiled at him, his eyes narrowed, a slight grin spreading across his lips, as if trying to say something. But across the warm glow of bygone days; across the years; across the impending separation across countless miles, those words would never be seen again.

All I know is that she looked beautiful, unforgettable, and often on my mind.