Chapter 127 The God of Literature blesses youth; this is how it is—saying goodbye while…

In early spring, the air still carried a slight chill, and the sycamore trees on campus had just sprouted new buds. Li Leshan pulled his collar up a little.

The second semester of senior year was incredibly busy. Students in the class would buy two meals in the morning, usually steamed buns and pancakes, and save them for lunch. This saved them time going to the cafeteria at noon.

He wanted to do that too, because it would save money and time. But perhaps because of Jiang Yueming's instructions, Han Jiang appeared at his classroom door precisely at noon, like a clock, to supervise his lunch.

Actually, it's really unnecessary. He's not a three-year-old. This would only waste other people's time. But Li Leshan couldn't say anything because, judging from Han Jiang's expression, he seemed quite willing, as if it were some kind of amusing thing.

Furthermore, communication between Li Leshan and Han Jiang was almost entirely blocked most of the time. He couldn't understand what he was saying, and he often couldn't understand what Han Jiang was saying either.

Thus, the current situation arose, and Han Jiang sighed for the fourth time in his ear, to the point that Li Leshan had to glance at him.

"What's wrong?" Li Leshan gestured to him.

"Sigh," Han Jiang sighed again, "There are still three months until the college entrance exam, and the mock exam at the end of the month. Xu Qing is so anxious that she can't sleep every day. How am I supposed to comfort her?"

"It's no use comforting her, no one can comfort her. Last time I talked to Jiang Yueming on the phone, I cried the whole time, and you said we should be as smart as you," Han Jiang continued.

Why aren't I smart? This is probably a question that most students will never be able to let go of throughout their lives. The more important something is to you, the more suffocated you become; and the more suffocated you become, the more important you have to be to it.

“She’s not good at math, tell her not to get stuck on difficult problems,” Li Leshan typed on his phone and showed it to Han Jiang. “If she gets all the basic points, she’ll get 110. She’s good at the other subjects, so there’s no need to worry.”

Han Jiang was stunned when he saw the three-digit number. He almost wanted to call the police. The basic score was 110, so why did he only get 60?!

"Okay, okay." Han Jiang stammered.

"When we get back to class, I'll bring you our class's test papers," Li Leshan continued typing.

"Good heavens, we probably won't need your class's test papers." They can't even figure out the test papers for regular classes, how could they possibly understand those?

"It will come in handy." Li Leshan put his phone away. Although it wasn't a smartphone and didn't have many other entertainment functions, it still couldn't be used openly at school.

"Okay." Han Jiang quickly caught up with him a few steps.

"I wonder what Jiang Yueming has been up to lately," he said. He really didn't know. Since he left, the kid had practically vanished into thin air. Sure enough, as the saying goes, once you have a new love, you forget your old one. He must be off having fun somewhere. "He hasn't sent me a single message since. I have to beg and plead with him to get a single reply."

"Do you know how long he hasn't been online on QQ? His avatar has been offline the whole time, and all the vegetables in his QQ space have been stolen!" If Han Jiang weren't afraid to lay a hand on Li Leshan, he would have dragged Li Leshan back and forth long ago.

Because he's busy, probably studying. Li Leshan thought to himself that he usually contacted Jiang Yueming close to midnight, so he figured Jiang Yueming would be studying very late and he didn't want to bother him.

However, he was still a bit better than Han Jiang. At least Jiang Yueming would reply to his messages instead of begging him.

Back in his seat, Li Leshan told Han Jiang not to leave. He sat down and started flipping through the exam papers, one by one, until Han Jiang was almost asleep against the wall. Only then did Li Leshan finish flipping through them.

All of them are math exam papers, "smuggled" from various provinces. The source of these papers is currently unknown; hopefully, they came through legitimate channels.

“The ones circled,” Li Leshan pointed to the questions circled in red pen above, “are all ones that need to be written.”

"Mark it with a checkmark." He wrote the two characters "Xu Qing" next to it, meaning that Xu Qing could do it, and whether Han Jiang wanted to do it was up to him.

"Those marked with an 'X' do not need to be done."

Han Jiang, half-asleep, took the heavy test paper and quickly made a "yes" gesture.

After Han Jiang left, the seats were cleared up again. Li Leshan glanced at his classmates, but none of them looked up; everyone was busy with their own things.

Li Leshan took out his science exam paper from his pocket. The countdown on the wall was almost in double digits, and the 100-day countdown rally might be coming up soon. Watching the numbers change, he felt a real sense of the college entrance exam. Finally, in less than half a year, he would be able to get rid of this place. Actually, it was more like getting rid of Li Yong than getting rid of this place.

Undoubtedly, Li Yong's disappearance gave him a chance to catch his breath. No matter where he went or where he was, as long as he didn't appear in front of him, he could spend his last period of time in peace.

The 100-day countdown rally was a grand and enthusiastic affair. Shigao High School even hired a motivational speaker—yes, the kind of profession Han Jiang vehemently despises—to give a very impassioned and inspiring speech on stage.

Li Leshan would be glad he couldn't speak at this time, otherwise he would definitely be "invited" to the stage and shout "I want to go to Tsinghua University" a hundred times.

One hundred times isn't enough, is it?

All around him were various sounds: shouts, slogans, and expressions of gratitude. On the day of the 100-day countdown rally, all the students' parents were present. Li Leshan stood at the end of the line, looking at everything before him, feeling somewhat dazed.

The words of gratitude they uttered to their parents, and the words of advice they received, were things Li Leshan never heard. If his grandmother were still alive, she would surely be moved and proud of him. She would hold his hand and say, "My Leshan is truly accomplished."

Is getting into Tsinghua or Peking University considered successful? Is getting into a good university and having a good job considered successful? But no matter what, the person she most wanted to see is truly gone.

"Passing the Dragon Gate" is actually a coming-of-age ceremony given by Shishi High School. There are three gates in total: the "Adult Gate", the "University Gate" and the "Top Scholar Gate". The koi and dragon symbols on the gates symbolize passing the imperial examination with flying colors and leaping over the dragon gate.

The students ahead of him were all accompanied by their parents. Li Leshan hesitated for a moment, thinking that he should skip this part and go back to his classroom to study. Just as he was about to step back, his wrist was suddenly pulled hard, and he was unexpectedly pulled to the very center of the red carpet.

"What are you standing there for?" Han Jiang laughed foolishly, completely carefree. "Come on! Once you pass through the gate of the top scholar, you'll have both feet firmly planted in Tsinghua University!"

"Then what are you stepping into with both feet?" Xu Qing asked, standing on the other side of Li Leshan.

"Me?" Han Jiang thought for a moment. "I can do anything, as long as I don't leave the gates of Shishi High School."

If he were to suffer for another year, he wouldn't even be able to get a foothold in the door; he'd probably have to step through the gates of heaven first.

"May the God of Literature bless me, may the Jade Emperor, the Queen Mother of the West, the Buddha, the Bodhisattvas..." Han Jiang chanted, determined to summon all the deities. "I've never asked anyone for anything in my life. I only have this one wish. I'm not picky; one book, two books, three books—any book will do..."

He'd finished talking about China, but hadn't covered the foreign countries yet. Han Jiang then started spouting about Western deities.

Until Xu Qing abruptly interrupted him, "Jesus doesn't care about the college entrance exam!"

Let alone Jesus, she felt that among the gods Han Jiang mentioned, very few of them actually cared.

As the three walked, they all simultaneously pulled out photos of Jiang Yueming. However, photos are photos, and there were still some differences between them.

"Brother, don't say I didn't remember you when I had good stuff. I even took you through Dragon Gate." Han Jiang said, glancing at what Li Leshan was holding, and instantly broke down. "Damn, wait, why don't I have this photo?"

He pulled out a photo of Jiang Yueming when she was a child, wearing baggy shorts and flip-flops, standing proudly by the river with a fish in her hand.

I wonder if, after all these years, all those gods and immortals, like the God of Literature and the Buddha, will recognize Jiang Yueming.

"What are you doing?" Xu Qing glanced at Han Jiang, speechless. "Why are you taking pictures of him when he was little? He's a senior in high school now, not in kindergarten!"

"What am I supposed to do with just this one photo?!" Han Jiang said angrily. Jiang Yueming had already distributed all the graduation photos to others. He didn't have any group photos either. "Then the only photo Jiang Yueming could find of me was probably one of me wearing open-crotch pants."

"Oh well, never mind." Han Jiang stood in the middle and put his arm around Li Leshan and Xu Qing. "You two know, you only get to walk through the Dragon Gate once in your life, so we have to do it in style."

"I'll count to three, two, one, and the three of us will run with Jiang Yueming. We'll walk across with a particularly dashing and composed air..." Han Jiang began chanting, "Three, two, one..."

To put it simply, the three of them ran like they were in a three-legged race, almost falling every step they took, but they finally managed to stagger and sway as they "leaped over the dragon gate".

Li Leshan stood at the last door, looking back at the two doors he had just passed through. He could still hear Han Jiang and Xu Qing chattering away, with Han Jiang still giving way to Xu Qing. He lowered his head and gently stroked Jiang Yueming's face in the photo for a while.

When he looked up again, time seemed to overlap at that moment. He seemed to see his past self, with a still-naive and immature face, waving goodbye to him from the other side of the river.

That's what youth is like: saying goodbye while growing up.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the sycamore trees, dappling their bodies.

Li Leshan couldn't help but smile, and sincerely thanked the past years and the people in front of him.

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The author's note: After countless trials and tribulations.

Lele, you should actually thank yourself the most.

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Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Wishing all babies peace and happiness every year, and may they always be joyful :-D