Chapter 14: His date was rather pitiful.

In late June, as July approached, the heat in the alley was so intense that you could fry an egg on the ground. Jiang Yueming had actually tried it; he squatted on the ground in the middle of the day, waiting expectantly as the cracked egg sizzled on the scalding ground, only to find it half-cooked, a perfectly good egg wasted.

Does the name "alley" make you feel that the further you go in, the cooler and more shady it gets?

No, no. The only place with some shade is under the locust tree near the convenience store. It's not particularly cool there; the summer breeze makes it hot and dry. As for other places, forget it—staying there for even a second is torture, the kind that would bring misfortune upon your ancestors for eighteen generations. But the area under the locust tree is where the older men play chess; someone like Jiang Yueming, a junior, can't just casually occupy it.

And the closer it gets to summer, the more prone people are to drowsiness. Of course, Jiang Yueming is the most prone to drowsiness.

This kid has a particular way of sleeping. When he's so sleepy he's practically falling asleep, he doesn't care whether he's comfortable or not. He just props his head up with his hand, opens his mouth, and falls asleep. Every time, Yin Guiying grabs his ear and drags him into the office to scold him.

The office is a nice place. It's cool and shady; it's refreshing as soon as you walk in, I don't know if it's the atmosphere or something else. Anyway, this is the first time Jiang Yueming has ever enjoyed being here so much. It's much better than being in a sauna in the classroom. It's not exactly the same as being in a sauna, at least you feel refreshed and relaxed afterward. Being in the classroom, besides being hot, annoyed, and sleepy, there's nothing else.

There was a powerful electric fan in front of Yin Guiying's workstation, and it was coolest when set to the third speed. However, Yin Guiying always set it to the first speed. Jiang Yueming thought that since the electricity was from the school and the electricity bill was also from the school, it didn't matter who was saved for, why should the school be saved? So every time, she would secretly press the third speed and stand in front of the fan, where it was incredibly cool.

There's not much difference between fans. But the fans in an office are very different from those in a classroom.

Much larger.

In modern terms, one is a "Fuxing" (a type of ancient Chinese caravan), and the other is a horse-drawn carriage, or perhaps a donkey cart.

And that's not all; there are only four creaking, low-powered ceiling fans that seem ready to fall at any moment. The only fan that actually reaches about a tenth of Jiang Yueming's speed is, unfortunately, broken. The repair request is submitted, but it disappears without a trace. Cao Fan keeps nagging him like a lullaby, "It's hot, it's hot," but Jiang Yueming has no way to stop it. Fine, he just goes to sleep.

In fact, Jiang Yueming's ability to fall asleep in such harsh conditions could be considered a gift to some extent. Although he himself thought it was a gift, Yin Guiying thought it was hopeless. He was about to enter sixth grade and then had to go through the entrance exam for junior high school. Jiang Yueming wasn't worried, but she was worried for him.

Jiang Yueming casually picked up Yin Guiying's dog-eared lesson plan to fan herself when she suddenly saw an old acquaintance. Li Leshan brought a wisp of breeze when he pushed open the door. Jiang Yueming sometimes wondered why other people brought hot, dry air, while Li Leshan brought a cool breeze.

"Li Leshan!" Jiang Yueming called his name softly.

Li Leshan was used to Jiang Yueming appearing in the office. He stood a distance away and skillfully used sign language to ask, "What's wrong?"

"Come here then," Jiang Yueming said with a malicious smile.

As soon as Li Leshan approached, the man grabbed the hem of his school uniform and dragged him to the electric fan. "Cool down for a bit. You just came back from... just finished PE class, right?"

Upon closer inspection, he noticed a thin layer of sweat on the man's nose and forehead.

Li Leshan shook his head and said he went to the science building to get the materials for Teacher Tian.

"How dare Teacher Tian order you around?" Jiang Yueming pulled over Yin Guiying's chair for Li Leshan to sit on, but Li Leshan politely declined.

He then used Yin Guiying's lesson plan to fan Li Leshan, who glanced at him and asked, "What are you doing in the office again?"

Could Jiang Yueming say he was caught sleeping in class? Just a while ago, he'd shyly asked Li Leshan if he could get into the top high school. If he told Li Leshan that, forget about getting into the top high school, forget about getting 300 points—he might as well go to bed early. Maybe he could get 300 more points in his dreams. But who knows? Jiang Yueming had never dreamed of such a good thing.

"Ask, ask Yin Guiying about the question." Jiang Yueming lied without thinking.

"Asking about Chinese?" Li Leshan looked a little puzzled.

“She speaks English too!” Jiang Yueming said hurriedly.

Li Leshan didn't say anything more, he just stood in front of the fan for a while and then stopped.

Lately, after school, apart from walking home together, Jiang Yueming would stay at Li Leshan's house until he finished his homework before going home. Lin Cuiqin was initially worried about him, but he told her not to worry, saying that the top student in the grade was tutoring him.

Lin Cuiqin was skeptical. After all, Jiang Yueming had lost all credibility with her; his reputation was practically bankrupt. Why was this kid acting so strangely, with the top student in the grade tutoring him? Could it really not be the bottom student leading him to skip class? She eventually confirmed with Yin Guiying that it was indeed the top student in the grade, without a doubt.

She was happy and relieved. Jiang Yueming had finally gotten back on track, and when Yin Guiying told her that he had been doing quite well at school recently, Lin Cuiqin felt that the sky had become much bluer.

"You and your little boy classmate seem to get along quite well," Lin Cuiqin couldn't help but ask during dinner. What kind of boy could possibly make Jiang Yueming study so seriously?

"Are you curious?" Jiang Yueming picked up a piece of food.

"Don't you want me to be curious?" Lin Cuiqin laughed. "Why don't you bring your classmates over to play sometime? I'll cook for you both."

"Are you making braised pork ribs?" Jiang Yueming asked, he had been wanting to eat them for a while.

"I'll make whatever you want to eat." Lin Cuiqin inquired, "Do you know what the child likes to eat?"

Jiang Yueming pondered for a moment. He didn't know, so he could only shake his head and mumble, "He's not a picky eater..."

"That child is so well-behaved," Lin Cuiqin exclaimed. "I think his name is something like Li..."

“Li Leshan,” Jiang Yueming said.

“Oh, yes.” Lin Cuiqin remembered, “I was just thinking that his name is really interesting. If you turn a corner after going out of the third alley, you’ll find Leshan Square.”

Jiang Yueming chatted with her casually, and he thought to himself, "That's true." Because he didn't know the specific meaning of the name Li Leshan, or that it didn't actually have any other meaning, he found it quite strange.

"I heard from your teacher, Ms. Yin, that he's a bit introverted. Does he not talk much?" Lin Cuiqin asked with concern. When she chatted with Yin Guiying, she felt that it would be good for Jiang Yueming to be friends with him. She had heard that the boy always kept to himself, but with Jiang Yueming moving closer, it was a good thing, at least he wouldn't always be alone.

Jiang Yueming alone is as noisy as three people.

“He…” Jiang Yueming hesitated for a moment, then lowered her voice, “He can’t speak.”

Lin Cuiqin let out an "Ah," and then fell silent. She had previously mentioned two famous children from Third Alley: one was Jiang Yueming, incredibly mischievous—it would be strange if he weren't famous. The other was Li Leshan, whose name wasn't widely known, as he was usually referred to as "the mute."

Now Lin Cuiqin understood. No wonder Jiang Yueming had been holed up in his room learning sign language all the time. She had thought he was up to some crazy scheme, chasing after some girl. Turns out it was because of this.

Li Leshan's family affairs were actually the subject of much gossip among the adults in the alley, but Lin Cuiqin didn't chat with the aunties and grandmas at the alley entrance much.

Firstly, although she had been in the North for several years, she still couldn't speak the particularly strong dialect fluently, and chatting with them always left her confused. Because the locals speak incredibly fast, their speech is like a plane taking off, and if you're not careful, you lose track of where the conversation is. One minute they're talking about the Sun family's divorce, and the next they're talking about the Liu family having their third child…

Secondly, Lin Cuiqin wasn't particularly curious about such things. She didn't like to pry into or listen to gossip. All she wanted to do was take care of Jiang Yueming and Tiantian. After all, Jiang Yueming was doing the work of three people, like taking care of three children.

However, even someone like Lin Cuiqin, who didn't know much about such matters, had some understanding of Li Leshan's family background. Things like how he had lived with his grandmother since childhood and how his parents had abandoned him were generally known to everyone.

"Well, he's quite pitiful," Lin Cuiqin said softly. She genuinely felt sorry for the child. Lin Cuiqin was an exceptionally kind-hearted person with a strong sense of compassion. She could cry buckets while watching a melodramatic soap opera and would feed stray dogs and cats at the alley entrance every day after grocery shopping.

Jiang Yueming's hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly, and the food fell onto the table with a "thud." He frowned, but ultimately said nothing.

"Pitiful?" Jiang Yueming thought to himself. Based on his limited language skills, he fumbled in his mind for Yin Guiying's explanation of the word. "Pitiful" meant "worthy of pity." But the word "pity" needed to be rephrased to be understood by Jiang Yueming. "Pity" meant "sympathy," so Li Leshan was worthy of sympathy.

But hearing Lin Cuiqin say that made him feel a tightness in his chest. Jiang Yueming couldn't understand it, so he could only lower his head and eat his rice. But his aunt's words were like a seed, quietly sprouting in his heart.

Gradually, he also felt that Li Leshan seemed... somewhat pitiful.

"I'm full, Auntie." Jiang Yueming finished eating her rice.

"Hey, aren't you going to eat some more? There's still quite a bit left," Lin Cuiqin called out to him.

"I'm not eating anymore!" Jiang Yueming then dashed back into the room.

"Remember to tell your classmate to come over for dinner," Lin Cuiqin's voice came from the living room.

“He might not even come!” Jiang Yueming shouted.

He might not actually come. Jiang Yueming thought to himself, he wasn't entirely sure. But what if Li Leshan was willing to come…

Jiang Yueming jumped out of bed and began frantically tidying the room. Lin Cuiqin, who once stood at the door with a broom (though she was practically useless at it), couldn't get Jiang Yueming to budge, but now she was doing it as diligently as if she were on a date. Of course, Jiang Yueming had no such thought in mind at the moment.

He haphazardly stuffed his last short-sleeved shirt into the chipped wooden wardrobe. Then he carefully took out his beloved car model and placed it in the center of his desk. These days, no kid dislikes such cool models. Jiang Yueming had saved up his breakfast money for a month to buy this, and in the end, it was Cuicui who sponsored him.

Li Leshan would probably like it too. Jiang Yueming looked at the red and white racing car and recalled the first time he saw it on the shelf in the mall. He was not tall enough to reach the top of the shelf, and Lin Cuiqin had to stand on tiptoe to reach it.

The moment Jiang Yueming received the race car, he felt that the month of hunger he endured was absolutely worth it.

Han Jiang had been to his room and was absolutely smitten with the toy race car. He practically called Jiang Yueming "Dad," but of course, nothing he said mattered. He and Jiang Yueming had saved up money together to buy the race car, but Han Jiang's money either ended up in his own pocket or was given to Xu Qing. A month later, Jiang Yueming had the race car, while Han Jiang was practically penniless. Jiang Yueming didn't want to say anything more about this good-for-nothing who went crazy whenever he saw Xu Qing.

Jiang Yueming lay on her back on the bed, her gaze fixed on the toy race car in the center of her desk. Her fondness for it hadn't diminished at all. It was a wind-up car, capable of traveling quite a distance when fully wound up. However, Jiang Yueming didn't want to let it run all the time, and she didn't even take it downstairs.

However, if Li Leshan likes it...

Jiang Yueming thought, let him run away. Even if he runs far away, to a place he can never find again... it seems like that's fine too.

A note from the author:

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Mission accomplished! Updates every other day will resume, my darlings! [hugs]

The next update will be on Tuesday. Thank you all for your patience! Love you all!