Chapter 121 And those things from yesterday are still vibrant. Come on, let's go. Anyway…

As it turns out, December 21, 2012, was not the end of the world. Actually, for these high school seniors, whether the world ended or not didn't matter. Mayan prophecies, doomsday celebrations, Noah's Ark—whether they were real or not, whether they could save lives or not, nothing mattered more than a set of science practice papers.

With dark circles under his eyes, Han Jiang walked unsteadily along the camphor tree-lined avenue. Since winter began, he had been wearing thick layers of clothing, making his walk slow and sluggish.

Senior year of high school is truly tough. Han Jiang's dark circles are almost reaching his cheeks, and he keeps yawning. He stayed up all night last night memorizing his political science textbook, and now he only remembers the table of contents.

"Li Leshan!" Han Jiang accurately spotted Li Leshan's back in the crowd. His back was very easy to recognize; among the group of high school students who looked like penguins, he looked exactly like a model.

Li Leshan turned around when he heard the familiar voice, and he immediately saw Han Jiang stumbling towards him. The speed, the pace, the frequency.

Can you run a little faster? I'll be late for morning self-study.

"What a coincidence," Han Jiang started making conversation again, "meeting you here."

Li Leshan looked down at the tips of his shoes. There was only one path between them, so it would be hard to avoid running into each other.

As if remembering something, he hurriedly took out two sets of test papers from his bag and handed them to Han Jiang. The test paper was from the day before yesterday, for liberal arts mathematics.

Han Jiang woke up a bit from his drowsiness and looked at the handwritten words on it. He felt a pang of sadness. "Thank you for your help. I'm just too stupid. I always make so many mistakes."

Han Jiang shoved the exam paper haphazardly into his bag, then took out two steamed buns and a cup of soy milk, still warm. He brought Xu Qing breakfast every day on time, waiting in a long line.

"Here, breakfast." Han Jiang handed it over.

Li Leshan waved his hand and gestured casually, roughly meaning: Thanks, I'll eat in the cafeteria.

"What does that mean?!" Han Jiang shouted from behind.

After a while, Han Jiang's phone vibrated in his pocket. He quietly took it out and glanced at it. It was a message from Li Leshan.

Li Leshan: Thank you. I'm going to the cafeteria. You don't need to bring me food anymore.

Han Jiang, clutching the two steamed buns in his hands, stood bewildered in the wind. Like a desperate, honest man, he shouted, "No, I haven't seen you go to the cafeteria!!"

Li Leshan didn't hear his shouts from behind. He didn't go to the cafeteria much in the morning, as he could catch up on 20 minutes of sleep, but he couldn't skip meals, as it was bad for his stomach and would cause health problems in the long run. Li Leshan knew this better than anyone, because he didn't have time to deal with problems once they arose.

I can't miss a single class; I can't miss a single class. As for minor illnesses, they'll just pass if I just tough it out.

The class had already started standing and reading aloud by this time. They had probably been reading for quite some time long before Li Leshan joined the class.

He put down his schoolbag and casually took out an English dictionary. It was a second-hand dictionary, but second-hand was practically the same as brand new; it had been discounted by half, and by now, under Li Leshan's care, the edges were worn and frayed.

But his thoughts didn't return to the dictionary. Li Leshan quietly thought that he hadn't seen Li Yong for quite some time.

It had been quite a while; the last time he saw him was probably several months ago. Although Li Yong's disappearance allowed him to catch his breath in his busy life, a thorn remained deeply embedded in Li Leshan's heart.

Li Yong has been harassing me for two years since he was released from prison. Why did he suddenly disappear?

Li Leshan couldn't understand. Where had he gone? Why? Had he decided to let him go?

But that was simply impossible. Li Leshan immediately dismissed the idea, and smiled self-deprecatingly to himself. He knew Li Yong better than anyone else; there was no way that was going to happen.

Maybe he's hiding from debt collectors, or something like that.

But whatever happened, it had nothing to do with him anymore. Li Leshan thought to himself that he only needed to do what he was supposed to do and deposit money into his card every month. As for debts, grudges, and resentments, they were all irrelevant to him.

In Shengping, he had no close relatives left. He had no leverage or weakness left with Li Yong.

Li Leshan looked up, his gaze falling on the countdown to the college entrance exam beside the blackboard. Watching the numbers decrease day by day, he felt no tension, no fear, only a sense of relief. In just six months, only six months, his nightmare would be over.

His gaze returned to the words, and Li Leshan shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

Only six months.

Six months later, he finally didn't have to count down the days anymore.

At 10:30, the internet cafe was still noisy. Every day brought new antics; two people were arguing at the computers at the far end against the wall. The reason was unclear, and Liu Yang was trying to break them up. He tried to calm one down while the other tried to persuade him. His calls of "Big Brother" and "Brother" had no effect whatsoever.

Li Leshan glanced in that direction, and was about to grab the broom next to him when his phone on the table vibrated.

Without noticing, he put down the phone, picked up a broom, and went to the place where the argument was taking place.

"Brother, brother," Liu Yang offered cigarettes to the two men, "Don't get angry, it's too late. It's so late at night..."

The cigarettes had no effect; neither side would give in, and the argument continued unabated.

Li Leshan looked at Liu Yang and calmly handed him the broom, meaning, if words fail, then force will do.

Liu Yang was already annoyed, and he was still fuming after losing two rounds of cards. He tried to persuade them for a long time, but it was no use. He took the broom and pointed the broom handle at the two troublemakers. "If you keep arguing, go outside and argue. Do you think this place is a vegetable market?"

"Who the hell are you?!" The man glared angrily, ready to attack.

Li Leshan was still holding a set of physics exercises in his hand. He stretched out his hand and placed it between the man and Liu Yang, glancing at the man.

"What's it to you? Do you want to get beaten up too?" The man immediately turned his attention to Li Leshan.

Li Leshan frowned.

Sure, come on. It's been a while since I've been beaten up.

But it's hard to say who will hit whom.

“If you keep nagging, I’ll call the police,” Liu Yang said, pulling out his phone. “I have connections at the station. When the cops come, you two will both be locked up for three days.”

After these words were spoken, the two looked at each other in bewilderment. One of them left first, while the other, still seething with anger, sat down again.

After things calmed down, Liu Yang cursed, "Damn it!" He hadn't expected him to be so difficult to deal with; he was constantly being given trouble.

"What are you doing here?" Liu Yang asked Li Leshan at the front desk. "Do you even know your place? You're a college student. This isn't something you should be doing. What, you think your physics problems can hold you back?"

Li Leshan ignored him completely and wrote a line: "Do you really have connections in the police station?"

Liu Yang scoffed, "Trying to fool them? You even fooled you?"

Li Leshan's lips curled up slightly as he continued writing: I didn't believe it anyway.

Liu Yang himself is like a troublemaker who should be locked up for three to five days, yet he still has the nerve to threaten others.

"Hey, are you busy later?" Liu Yang saw that he had been working on his homework for a while. "Go in and play a couple of rounds for me. If you win, the money is yours; if you lose, it's on me."

Li Leshan shook his head, meaning he was fine.

Before leaving, he glanced at his phone on the table and saw that it was a call from Jiang Yueming. He stopped in his tracks.

"Something's up." Li Leshan patted Liu Yang's shoulder and placed a piece of paper with those two words written on it in front of him.

"What's up?" Liu Yang took the note. "It's more important than making money for you."

It was noisy inside, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to hear Jiang Yueming's voice, so Li Leshan put his phone in his pocket and pushed open the door.

The cold wind of late December instantly enveloped him. Li Leshan leaned against the wall, zipped his coat all the way up, and dialed Jiang Yueming's number again.

A few seconds later, the call was answered.

"Lele," Jiang Yueming said enthusiastically on the other end of the phone, "Are you busy? Are you still doing your homework?"

I am indeed busy, but not doing homework.

Actually, he was trying to mediate the fight.

It was just discouraging a fight.

"I almost missed morning self-study this morning, haha," Jiang Yueming thought about it and found it a bit funny. He laughed as if he was telling a joke, "I crashed into someone while riding my bike. I fell down and got up instantly without hesitation. The police chased after me and asked if I was okay."

Li Leshan's heart tightened, and he quickly typed in the chat box: Are you alright? Did you go to the hospital?

Upon seeing the message, Jiang Yueming continued, "It's alright. You're wearing thick winter clothes, so the fall wasn't too serious."

Judging from his tone, Li Leshan couldn't tell whether something was wrong or not, since even if something was wrong, he would say nothing was wrong.

Li Leshan sent a text message: Be careful, it's okay if you're late.

“Okay,” Jiang Yueming agreed. “It’s really nothing. The skin isn’t even broken. I just rubbed it on my hand, and it didn’t hurt at all.”

He said he wasn't in pain, but thousands of miles away, Li Leshan was in excruciating pain inside. This kind of pain couldn't be expressed in words, it couldn't be conveyed through language, he could only suffer in silence, adding, "Be careful."

“I will,” Jiang Yueming said. “You too, ride your bike slowly in the morning, and don’t skip breakfast. You can’t skip meals just to do a few more practice problems, understand?”

Upon hearing this, Li Leshan guessed that Han Jiang had complained again. He was always by his side like a spy, and would immediately report any clues to his superiors.

Li Leshan replied to him: I know, I will eat it.

"Then I won't say anything more," Jiang Yueming said. "Go to sleep early, don't study too late. If it's cold at night, cover yourself with another blanket, and wear more clothes in winter..."

Hearing his voice on the other end of the phone, Li Leshan looked up at the night sky and was surprised to see a few snowflakes falling. Looking at the snowflakes, he felt a lump in his throat. Even though they were thousands of miles apart, he felt as if Jiang Yueming was still speaking to him.

The distance of thousands of kilometers seemed both near and far at this moment. A few snowflakes drifted down and landed on Li Leshan's nose. He looked up at the fine snow falling from the sky, shimmering and bright under the streetlights.

Standing here, looking back, fragments of memories flood my mind. I recall them walking in the snow following in others' footsteps, their hands clasped tightly, warm and resolute... Although everything is now in the past, those yesterdays are still vibrant.

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Author's note: The asterisk (*) in the second half of the ending sentence is from Mayday's song "Us and Them".