Chapter 122 The sky is still the same sky as before. Fireworks are going off again at Lijiang Bridge...

The year 2013 has arrived. With the Lunar New Year approaching, senior high school students practically have no holidays anymore; they can see each other, but they can't really touch them. Lunar New Year's Eve is the 29th, and our school starts its holiday on the 28th, returning to school promptly on the 8th of the first lunar month. During this period, those with many relatives probably just finished visiting before school starts again.

The protests were ineffective. The teachers said that this was the norm; with more holidays, students would become unruly and forget everything they had learned at home, which was counterproductive. Their reasoning was all high-sounding, leaving everyone speechless. There were few holidays, but a lot of homework. Teachers didn't care about holidays at all, focusing solely on assigning tasks, essentially making it a different place to do homework.

Han Jiang complained incessantly, finding no one to reason with, and while finishing his homework, he called Jiang Yueming to vent his frustrations. He had the call on speakerphone, so everyone at the table could hear him. Li Leshan and Xu Qing were also there, each with their test papers spread out in front of them, but their pens had slowed down.

Han Jiang kept rambling on and on, but the other person only occasionally responded with a simple "hmm." It was as if he was incredibly busy. Han Jiang felt that this person had become increasingly perfunctory since going south. How busy could he possibly be? Did he make hundreds of thousands every minute or something?

"Did you hear me?" Han Jiang said, raising his voice in dissatisfaction. "What are you busy with?"

"I'm listening," Jiang Yueming's voice came through, with a deliberately calm tone. "It's like I was trying to harm you by not letting you go to Shigao in the first place."

Han Jiang looked dejected and subconsciously glanced at Xu Qing beside him. Wasn't it all for...for Xu Qing? This didn't conflict with his heavy homework load and short holiday.

"When are you coming back?" Han Jiang asked the question that the three people present were most concerned about. He had been gone for four or five months, not half a year. He could come back whenever he wanted, but he had to come back for the New Year. "The New Year is coming soon."

There was no news from the other end of the phone for a while, then Jiang Yueming's voice came through again, "I don't know, I probably can't go back. It takes two days by train to and from here, and it's hard to buy tickets."

"What?!" Han Jiang was shocked and almost jumped out of his chair.

Li Leshan stopped writing.

"If you're not coming back for the New Year, when are you coming back? Don't you miss us?" Han Jiang said quickly.

"Why would I miss you?" Jiang Yueming had barely finished speaking when she belatedly realized that Han Jiang's words included the word "we," and quickly asked, "You guys? There are other people next to you."

“Yeah,” Han Jiang glanced at it, “Li Leshan and Xu Qing! They’re both here, aren’t you really not coming back?”

There was silence on the other end for a while, until Han Jiang thought there was probably no hope and was about to scold him for being heartless, when Jiang Yueming's voice finally came through, "How about this, I'll see if I can buy a ticket. If I can, I'll be back before New Year's Eve. If I can't, it'll probably be sometime after the New Year."

Han Jiang was relieved and kept saying "good, good, good". It was good that Jiang Yueming could come back. He didn't come back for the New Year. He didn't want to come back when he could. With the college entrance examination approaching, he had to study hard and had no time.

"Um... give the phone to Lele, I want to say a few words to him," Jiang Yueming said. He regretted not knowing that Li Leshan was there, thinking that only Han Jiang was there. He hadn't been very nice earlier, so did Han Jiang hear everything?

"Li Leshan is working on his homework and doesn't have time to deal with you." Han Jiang didn't even think about it. First of all, he didn't know the relationship between the two, and secondly, was this the attitude of asking someone for a favor?

"Hurry up, if you don't give me three seconds, you're doomed when I get back..." Jiang Yueming said, only halfway through his sentence.

Han Jiang wanted to argue, but when Li Leshan reached out his hand, he immediately didn't dare to delay and quickly handed the phone to Li Leshan.

Li Leshan took the phone and left his seat.

He stood at the doorway, the cold air instantly enveloping him. He held the phone to his ear, hearing faint, unfamiliar voices through the receiver, until he heard Jiang Yueming's voice, "Lele, did you answer the phone?"

If there was no sound, then it proves that Li Leshan answered the phone.

Jiang Yueming continued, her tone completely different from when she spoke to Han Jiang earlier—a complete 180-degree reversal—"I'm going home for the New Year, of course I have to go back. I was just joking with Han Jiang. I...I..."

He didn't say the second half of the sentence, just laughed it off and awkwardly changed the subject. He could talk to Li Leshan much more than he could to Han Jiang.

As the call was about to end, Jiang Yueming was still reluctant to let go. He had wanted to say "I miss you," but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to say it and could only keep changing the subject. Although he didn't realize that even though he didn't say the word "miss," every sentence he uttered was actually a way of saying that he missed you.

After hanging up the phone, Li Leshan pushed open the door and went in. Two pairs of eyes stared straight at his face, and he subconsciously took half a step back.

"What did he say? What did he say?" Han Jiang quickly came forward.

"Is he really going home?" Xu Qing asked as well.

Although the two of them didn't know what they had to say outside, despite their curiosity, neither of them dared to eavesdrop; they simply didn't have the guts.

Li Leshan nodded and returned the phone to Han Jiang.

"That's good." Han Jiang breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Although he and Xu Qing felt that they didn't treat Jiang Yueming very well usually, as if they had some kind of grudge against him, they actually cared about him a lot in the end. "Then there's something to look forward to, which is better than the final exams."

Jiang Yueming can bring back some local specialties when he comes back, but what can the final exam bring? It can only take away his already meager dignity.

Ever since he learned that Jiang Yueming would be returning, Li Leshan has started counting down the days again. The first thing he does every day is check the calendar, noting today's date, tomorrow's date, and how many days are left until Jiang Yueming's return.

The specific date hadn't been set yet because he hadn't bought the train tickets. Jiang Yueming told him to send a message to Li Leshan once it was confirmed, so he waited.

As Lunar New Year's Eve approached, there was no ban on fireworks back then, and the festive atmosphere was strong. Unlike now, with restrictions on this and that completely prohibited... In short, Shengping set off fireworks everywhere before the New Year even arrived. The sky near Shigatsu High School was also brightened up by fireworks.

During evening self-study, the surroundings were so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone had their heads down, struggling with the test papers in their hands.

Suddenly, with a loud "bang," a dazzling display of fireworks appeared outside the window. It shattered the heavy silence, adding a touch of relaxation to the serious study atmosphere, and forcefully tearing open a vibrant opening called "the year."

Even though the fireworks outside the window were dazzling, almost no one in the class looked up; the exam papers seemed more important. Li Leshan was startled by the sound of the fireworks. He turned his head to look outside. The fireworks soared, bloomed, and fell before his eyes, with a kind of fearless and heroic grandeur. They were indeed beautiful, and indeed very short-lived.

So much so that the next second, his gaze returned to the test paper.

Compared to the top-tier classes, the other regular classes were much more lively, with everyone craning their necks to watch, not wanting to miss the spectacle. A few bolder individuals even ran outside to watch, crowding the area in front of the safety barriers. Han Jiang was among them, utterly dejected as he worked on his homework, when the fireworks arrived at just the right moment.

After that, he went downstairs excitedly to talk to Li Leshan, not caring whether Li Leshan replied or not, and just kept talking.

"They're setting off fireworks on Lijiang Bridge tonight too. It's so lively during the New Year." Han Jiang couldn't help but say, looking at the physics exam paper in front of Li Leshan, "Damn."

"How come there isn't a single wrong answer?" Han Jiang found this much more amazing than fireworks or anything like that, and quickly picked it up to examine it. His exclamation was a bit loud, causing the people around him to look up at him.

Although Han Jiang is a proper liberal arts student, he was still shocked. You know, his friends in the science class said that the average score for physics in the last test was 38. That was at Shishi High School. In other high schools, it would be even lower, with many people scoring in the teens.

Han Jiang reasonably suspects that Li Leshan single-handedly raised the average score significantly. Is this what a top student is like?

After evening self-study, Li Leshan did not go to participate in the extended service as usual. He packed his schoolbag and was supposed to go to the internet cafe for his shift, but he inexplicably came to Lijiang Bridge. At this moment, there was a lot of people gathered there, all waiting for the fireworks display at ten o'clock.

At 10 o'clock sharp, amidst the enthusiastic sounds of fireworks, the crowd gradually became noisy, and the water under the bridge rippled gently.

Li Leshan took out his phone and sent a message to Jiang Yueming: Fireworks are going off again at Lijiang Bridge, they're so loud.

The reply came quickly: Take a picture of me!

Li Leshan took a picture of the fireworks.

Jiang Yueming: Why aren't you in the shot?

Li Leshan: If I'm in the shot, you won't be able to see the fireworks.

A little while later, another message came through: Who wants to watch fireworks?

To put it bluntly, has he never seen fireworks before? Hasn't he seen enough of them since he was a child?

Li Leshan was somewhat helpless, but he still obediently sent a selfie.

The other end quickly replied: Sure! You even wore a scarf, kudos! :-)

With a loud "bang," the fireworks exploded again beside his ear, seemingly annoyed that Li Leshan hadn't even glanced at them; the sound seemed even louder, illuminating him and the small patch of sky around him.

Li Leshan stood in the middle of the bridge, surrounded by a bustling crowd, but no one noticed that he was all alone.

His eyes sparkled from the fireworks, and Li Leshan gazed silently at each burst of light. The distance between him and the sky was the same as it had been five years ago—equally high and profound. Only time had flown by, like the silent river beneath the bridge, seemingly slow but never ceasing. Five years had passed in the blink of an eye.

The fireworks tonight looked just like the one in 2008; I couldn't tell the difference. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was different.

The sky is still the same sky as it was back then, and the Lijiang Bridge is still the same bridge as it was back then.

The scene of him and Jiang Yueming, shoulder to shoulder, squeezing into the crowd to watch the fireworks, still replays in his mind. In the blink of an eye, time has flown by, and he has been running with time, without stopping for a moment.