Chapter 129 Am I stupid? "Brother? Who is that?"

The end of the college entrance examination marks the beginning of the longest summer vacation of one's life.

Han Jiang said he was determined to have a great time this summer vacation and make up for all the things he hadn't done or hadn't done in previous years. In today's trendy terms, this is called retaliatory entertainment.

Xu Qing's plan is to continue attending dance classes. She gained a lot of weight during her senior year of high school due to stress, and she wants to lose it all this summer. Oh, and she also wants to get her hair permed again. She doesn't need to dye it; it'll just make her look too unconventional.

Li Leshan continues to work part-time at Liu Yang's internet cafe. He is now a proper adult and has shed the title of high school student.

"Long time no see, top scholar." Liu Yang met Li Leshan's eyes as he pushed the door open and teased him.

Li Leshan chuckled and naturally accepted the teasing, "Long time no see, boss of the top scholar."

Actually, it wasn't that long, at most two months. In the two months leading up to the college entrance exam, Li Leshan stopped working part-time; he had to devote all his energy to studying.

“Hey, I can understand if you don’t want to go out and have fun after you finish your college entrance exams, you think that’s boring. But you don’t even get a new hairstyle or dye your hair or anything.” Liu Yang propped his chin up and looked at him. “The barbershop next door has been incredibly busy these past few days, it’s full of high school graduates like you, their styles and colors are so trendy.”

During the three years Liu Yang spent with Li Leshan, he gradually picked up sign language. Although he couldn't understand most of it, he could understand about 50-60% of it. He could guess the rest and basically understand what Li Leshan meant. He felt quite proud of himself for saying that.

When Li Leshan entered the shop, he saw that the barbershop next door was indeed full of people, many of whom were students coming out with all sorts of dyed hair—yellow, red, and even green. They happened to be there when the traffic light turned green.

“What do you know?” Li Leshan gestured at him. “That’s outdated.”

"You're showing me this, but you look pretty good like this. You're kind of a melancholic handsome guy just standing there." Liu Yang raised an eyebrow and asked the question he was most concerned about, "How's it going? You know, the college entrance exam, are you confident?"

"How could I not have it?" The thing Li Leshan was most confident about was the college entrance examination.

"Haha," Liu Yang gave a thumbs up, "That's good. Top students are different; they do everything with confidence."

Li Leshan felt that he had exaggerated a bit.

Walking to his computer desk, Li Leshan pulled his chair back and sat down. This time, there were no physics problems or test papers around him, and he felt strangely unfamiliar with them. Of course, he wasn't that unreasonable; these things simply existed, and Li Leshan didn't want to do them anymore. To be honest, he was already a bit tired of them.

"Hey," Liu Yang came out from behind the curtain again, holding something in his hand. He put it in front of Li Leshan, which made Li Leshan a little puzzled. "I'm giving you a gift to celebrate your graduation and your escape from this sea of ​​suffering."

Li Leshan looked at the object in front of him with suspicion before realizing that Liu Yang had given him a smartphone. Of course, it was a popular type of phone, which was not only expensive but also hard to buy.

"How about it?" Liu Yang smiled at him, "When you become successful in the future, don't forget your brother."

"You seem to have gone mad." Li Leshan pushed the phone away. "I don't really need this."

“So you don’t need to go to college? Don’t you keep in touch with your partner or anything, don’t you two have video calls or anything?” Liu Yang pushed it back again, “If it’s really for you, my buddy has connections and can give you the wholesale price, it’s not that expensive.”

"Really, there's no need," Li Leshan continued to decline. "You've helped me a lot over the years. Even if I don't become successful, I'll never forget you."

"Then you should fly," Liu Yang said. "Give me the honor and accept it."

He truly never expected that he would have to beg someone to accept a gift; no one could ever receive such treatment in eight hundred years.

“I really can’t,” Li Leshan said, somewhat embarrassed. “This is too valuable; I can’t accept it.”

"Hey, I've noticed you're such a simpleton," Liu Yang said, getting a little annoyed.

Who cares if he's a simpleton or an idiot? Let Liu Yang say whatever he wants. Li Leshan thinks there are plenty of people who are a cut above him, and look, there's one standing right in front of him—the ultimate simpleton.

"You finally got into university after all this time, as your brother and friend, I have to give you my blessings and stuff." Liu Yang patted Li Leshan on the shoulder, indicating that he didn't need to feel awkward. "Just accept it, I don't care about anything else, you can give it to your girlfriend if you want, it's a girl's..."

Actually, she's not a young girl. Li Leshan thought to himself.

“Thank you,” Li Leshan said in sign language, “but this really won’t work.”

He declined again and again, and the other person tried to persuade him repeatedly. The two remained deadlocked for about an hour and a half, without coming to a conclusion.

"You little brat, do I have to start from the beginning of Pangu creating the world and Nuwa creating humans before I can persuade you?"

...

"Oh my god." Liu Yang was speechless and at a loss. He rubbed his forehead, looking helpless. "Take the phone. I can't stop you from throwing it away outside. Isn't this a token of my goodwill?"

“Your offer is a bit too much,” Li Leshan said honestly. “How much does this cost?”

several thousand?

Could he afford this with several months' salary? Although I really wanted to buy one for Jiang Yueming. Whether he uses it or not is irrelevant; he could buy a cheaper one.

"Don't worry about the money for now," Liu Yang pulled up a stool and sat down next to him, beginning to earnestly persuade him, "Think about it, when you call your partner, he can see your sign language, and it will be easier for you two to communicate."

Li Leshan's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Besides, this thing is free now, so you don't have to send text messages penny by penny anymore. You know WeChat, right? It was launched two years ago. You need to keep up with the times, you know that?"

"Then I'll buy it." Li Leshan finally changed his mind.

"No, Li Leshan, what are you trying to do, you idiot?" Liu Yang was too lazy to talk to him anymore. He had almost made him thirsty after talking for so long. Although he expected it to be difficult, he didn't expect it to be this difficult. He should have just listened to the advice. He might as well have tricked him into thinking he had won the lottery. That would probably have been easier, but that's not certain. This kid has a strong sense of fraud prevention and is very smart. He probably won't fall for it.

"Anyway, this thing is either me or it. If it gets in my way, take your phone and get out of here, okay?" Liu Yang gave the order and headed back home.

Li Leshan watched his departing figure, then returned his gaze to his phone.

Want to make a video call?

Does that mean that no matter how far away he is, he can see Jiang Yueming?

In the end, Liu Yang still found a note and a stack of money on the table.

The note read: "Brother, thank you. I know I don't have enough money, I'll pay you back later. I gave the phone to my girlfriend, I didn't throw it away. Thank you for everything these years."

Liu Yang looked at the familiar handwriting, his lips twitching. He sighed inwardly, thinking, "I should repay it, I should repay it." That's just how he is. He immediately thinks of repaying all the kindness others have shown him. When will he ever be able to repay enough, and how will he do so? This thought continued to grow and spread in his mind until the day he learned the truth.

Anyway, Li Leshan will definitely be successful in the future, so even if he has to pay back the debts, it will be easier for him.

Li Leshan mailed the phone to the address near the city hospital. His aunt had rented a house near the hospital so that she could take better care of his grandfather. Jiang Yueming would spend most of his time there with Tiantian.

He bought himself a cheaper phone. The phone Wu Jinzhong had given him before had also served its purpose and was carefully placed in a drawer by Li Leshan. Li Leshan figured out how to create a WeChat account on his own. He just randomly chose the name "L," capitalizing the first letter of his surname.

That day, when Li Leshan asked Jiang Yueming if he would come back for the summer vacation, he didn't get a definite answer. Judging from his tone, he seemed a little hesitant, probably because he was busy taking care of his family over there. So Li Leshan decided not to force him to come back.

As for the exam results, that's not their concern right now. Regardless of the outcome, Li Leshan felt he had done his best and at least done right by himself. As long as he could be true to himself, that was enough.

During the day, he found a job at the Zhonghua Market, and at night he worked shifts at Liu Yang's shop to save up for his tuition and living expenses. Thinking about it this way, it was actually quite good that Jiang Yueming didn't return to Shengping. Otherwise, seeing him so busy, he would definitely never have a moment to relax, which would be no different from being in the South. And he would have to come all the way back.

Furthermore, he was also somewhat afraid of neglecting Jiang Yueming.

Late at night while on duty, Jiang Yueming called. Li Leshan guessed that he had received the package, so he went outside and found a corner to squat down and answer the call.

"Lele? Why did you send me a phone? Do you even need it? This is too expensive. How much did you spend on it? Why don't you take it back and return it..." The other end of the line went straight to the point.

As Li Leshan listened to his rambling, he typed, though he wasn't quite used to the 26-key layout and was still getting used to it. "I have one. I want to video call you. It didn't cost much, really. A taxi driver I know sold it to me cheaply."

He could only vaguely introduce Liu Yang's identity; he couldn't very well tell Jiang Yueming that this man was his boss, or ask him what kind of work he did and how long he had been there. In short, he couldn't say.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. "Brother? Who is it?"

"You probably don't know him," Li Leshan continued sending messages.

Thinking about it carefully, Liu Yang and Jiang Yueming probably didn't have much interaction. Jiang Yueming rarely even went to the Zhonghua Market, except for the time when she accompanied him to work. However, Shengping was a bit too small. In a place where you might bump into an acquaintance every few steps, the probability was still there, and Li Leshan had too many to count.

After a long silence, Jiang Yueming's voice slowly came through, "You and that guy, what's his name, are quite close?"

Li Leshan was taken aback.

“No,” he replied, “not particularly close.”

"Then why is he so good to you? Why does he..." Jiang Yueming asked hurriedly, then sighed as if realizing something, "Never mind, forget I said anything."

"What's wrong with you?" Li Leshan continued typing.

“It’s alright,” Jiang Yueming’s voice sounded a little tired. “Thank you, Lele, but I really don’t need it.”

This is indeed too expensive; he doesn't need to use something so good.

"If you don't need it, then I don't need it either," Li Leshan texted.

There was a moment of silence before a laugh came from the other end. The voice sounded a bit helpless, or perhaps it was a laugh born of anger. "Are you stupid? Then keep it for yourself. I'll buy it myself."

“I don’t contact anyone else much.” He almost exclusively contacts Jiang Yueming, and he thinks that Jiang Yueming is the first person he thinks of, and he wants to give him the best.

“You’re really silly,” Jiang Yueming said after a long pause. “Really. You’re only smart when it comes to studying.”

Li Leshan remained silent for a while, unsure of what Jiang Yueming was specifically referring to as his foolishness. He felt he was actually quite good. Perhaps there was something he hadn't done well? Li Leshan didn't know.

“I’m stupid too,” Jiang Yueming laughed, her tone tinged with self-deprecation, “but I’m not smart in my studies either, haha.”

Li Leshan typed on the keyboard, but he was still not used to the 26-key layout, so he typed slowly. "I think you are very..." Before he could finish the sentence, he heard Jiang Yueming's voice on the phone, "I'm not going to say anything more, Lele. My aunt is calling me over. I'm leaving."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Li Leshan deleted the message he was about to send, word by word, and slowly changed from a squatting position to sitting on the ground. He leaned against the wall, looked up at the night sky with only a few scattered stars, and closed his eyes.

Am I stupid?