Chapter 149 Our little puppy, those peaceful days, for the rest of his life...

In June 2014, during the best season of the year in Shengping, Xiaobai passed away. It was born in 1999, coinciding with the arrival of the new century, and was brought home by Hanjiang's grandfather when Hanjiang was five years old. Xiaobai's arrival ended Hanjiang's long-held dream of owning a pet, a dream he had always cherished. From then on, Hanjiang had a dog, and everyone in the alley had a dog too.

Little White lived for fifteen years, and its longest companions were Han Jiang and Jiang Yueming. From a young age, it grew up alongside Jiang Yueming and Han Jiang, running together in the sunshine, and faithfully waiting for them at the school gate every day, rain or shine. Its departure also marked the complete end of their childhood.

Li Leshan had just come out of the library when it was getting dark. As he was going down the steps, a phone call came in unexpectedly. He glanced at the contact and saw that it was Han Jiang.

He had a vague feeling in his heart, because Han Jiang usually didn't call him, and if he did, it must be something urgent. So his first thought was that something had happened to Jiang Yueming.

He quickly answered the phone, only to hear Han Jiang sobbing. He was choked up and unable to speak, which made Li Leshan, who was hundreds of kilometers away, feel a sudden pang of anxiety.

"Leshan... Leshan, I want to go home, I want to go home," Han Jiang's voice was heavy with sobs, each complete sentence broken into several parts, "Xiaobai... Xiaobai is gone..."

Li Leshan was stunned. Standing on the steps of the library, he felt light and unsteady as he went down the steps. He felt a lump in his throat, and all he could swallow was pain.

He hurriedly lowered his head to type, then typed a long string of words before deleting them all. What could he say? "Don't be sad?" or something? Such cold words were inappropriate for this scene. In the end, he only left one sentence: "I'm going back to Shengping now."

Han Jiang was still crying, blaming himself between sobs. Why hadn't he spent more time with Xiao Bai? Why hadn't he stayed in Shengping instead of choosing to go elsewhere? He continued, sobbing, "I... I can't contact Jiang, Jiang Yueming. I don't know why. Is he still so busy? What is he busy with? But Xiao Bai is gone... Our little dog is gone..."

Li Leshan hurriedly checked his chat history with Jiang Yueming and suddenly realized that their last video call was a week ago. He hadn't contacted Jiang Yueming in a long time, only exchanging occasional messages. He texted Han Jiang: I'll contact him, don't worry.

He tried calling Jiang Yueming, but the video call went unanswered, and subsequent phone calls went unanswered. While trying to contact Jiang Yueming, he bought a ticket for the next available high-speed train back to Shengping.

Think of Xiaobai. He doesn't know how to tell Jiang Yueming this news. Perhaps he already knows? Or doesn't? Why isn't he answering the phone? To be honest, he has no idea what Jiang Yueming is busy with, or even how he can't take care of Xiaobai.

Li Leshan: Where did you go?

Li Leshan: I answered the phone. I'm back in Shengping.

Li Leshan: I have something to tell you.

Li Leshan: Can you see the news?

...

At this moment, he had no time to pay attention to the information and could only assume that Jiang Yueming had not seen it yet. It was normal for him to be out of touch for a whole day or several days. However, Li Leshan's heart was beating very fast along the way, and he didn't know if it was because of Xiaobai or something else.

He didn't bring any luggage with him on this trip back to Shengping. He took the high-speed train for a few hours to get back to Shengping and rushed to his home in Hanjiang without daring to delay for even a moment.

Han Jiang was closer than him; at that moment, he was kneeling on the ground, holding Xiao Bai and weeping bitterly. June in Shengping was already hot enough, and the current situation was already difficult enough, but the weather was adding to the problem. Having run all the way from the West Station to here, Li Leshan had used up all his strength. His legs were weak, and his bangs and back were soaked with sweat.

Han Jiang was so heartbroken that his heart-wrenching cries could be heard from afar. He never imagined that the pain of growing up would be parting with his little dog who had been with him for fifteen years. Holding Xiao Bai in his arms, he could almost still feel the dog's soft, warm skin.

“Leshan…” Han Jiang was in tears, looking at Li Leshan helplessly, “What should I do? What should I do…”

Li Leshan felt a lump in his throat. He limped forward and patted Han Jiang's shoulder with a slight tremor. He couldn't speak, but even if he could, words of comfort would likely be useless at this moment. There was nothing Han Jiang could do but slowly process what he had to say.

"Where's Jiang Yueming?" Han Jiang cried out, "Where is he?! Xiaobai is its dog too, why doesn't he come back?"

Seeing Han Jiang's red eyes, Li Leshan quickly explained to him that sign language didn't work, and typing was also an option, but Han Jiang's eyes were too blurry with tears to see clearly. So he could only take out a piece of paper he carried with him and write a line of large characters with trembling hands: He may not have seen it.

"Don't lie to me..." Han Jiang covered his face. "Does he not want to come back at all? Does he not care at all? I noticed it a long time ago. Don't you think he's like a completely different person ever since he went to the South?"

"He almost never talks to us. I don't know what he's doing or what he's busy with over there. What the hell is he busy with? Can't he just talk things out?!" Han Jiang poured out all the grievances he had accumulated over the past two years. He had finally managed to convince himself that perhaps their brotherhood had faded, because everyone has their own life, and growing up is different from when you were a child. However, he couldn't convince himself that he was even neglecting Xiao Bai.

“That was his little dog too!” Han Jiang’s tears fell to the ground. “I told you long ago that he had changed. His heart had changed, and so had everything.”

“No,” Li Leshan explained, his eyes also reddening. He patted Han Jiang’s shoulder, gesturing for him to look at him, and hurriedly gestured in sign language, “No. He’s busy. He has to take care of Grandpa, Tian Tian, ​​and he also has to work part-time and go to school, he…”

"I fucking don't understand!" Han Jiang roared. "I don't understand! What's his reasoning? I just can't figure it out! I just don't understand..."

"Leshan," Han Jiang choked up, gripping Li Leshan's shoulders tightly, his eyes red as he looked at him, "Leshan, tell me the truth, can you figure this out? Has he changed? Tell me the truth, stop defending him!"

Li Leshan felt a pain in his shoulder. Looking into Han Jiang's eyes, he felt a sharp pain in his heart and could only shake his head, "I...I don't know..."

He genuinely didn't know. People change, don't they? Nothing is unchanging; everyone changes. Li Leshan knew even he had changed, but he always felt Jiang Yueming hadn't changed. He was still him, still so good. He… he was still so good. No matter who changed, Jiang Yueming wouldn't change.

It should be like this, so where did things go wrong? What went wrong?

Han Jiang cried and shouted for a long time, but then stopped responding. He stared blankly at Xiaobai lying on the ground, saying nothing, doing nothing, and no longer shedding tears. He just stared at it blankly.

Li Leshan looked at him. In his memory, he had only seen Han Jiang cry twice. Once was because of Xu Qing, and once was because of Xiao Bai. Perhaps Jiang Yueming was also a hidden factor in this crying.

He stayed by Han Jiang's side, and perhaps tears streamed down his face, or perhaps not. He wasn't quite sure, and he was almost oblivious to it all.

"Where did you go?" Li Leshan asked himself, hoping that Jiang Yueming simply hadn't seen the message. He didn't dare imagine how heartbroken Jiang Yueming would be if she knew, because he knew how important the puppy was to her. But some things are unavoidable; there's no other way. Life and death are eternal questions that no one, including things, can escape.

After Xu Qing arrived, Li Leshan silently withdrew. He stood at the door and kept calling and texting Jiang Yueming, wanting her to at least see Xiaobai one last time, no matter what. However, the messages went unanswered and the phone remained unresponsive.

Xiao Bai was eventually buried under the old locust tree in the third alley. It was his favorite tree. The reason he loved that tree the most was because Han Jiang and Jiang Yueming always took him there for walks and play. The little thing would run around under the locust tree, sometimes lying down at Li Leshan's feet, keeping him company while he did his homework. In the end, a lucky person would be chosen to go home, usually Xu Qing.

Now, Little White lies here quietly. I wish it could jump, run, and leap again, just like before. But those peaceful days are gone forever.

Late at night, Li Leshan walked home. He subconsciously dialed Jiang Yueming's number, but the line was still busy. He looked up at the tall tenement building and suddenly realized something.

Fifth floor.

The lights are on.

...

A figure that hadn't surfaced in his mind for a long time reappeared—that detestable, utterly loathed person, the one Li Leshan hated to the core…

He hurriedly stuffed his phone into his pocket, his heart pounding. He ran up the stairs as fast as he could, but the iron gate was tightly shut, and the lock on the door had been forcibly broken open.

Li Leshan stood at the door, his fists clenched. Anger overwhelmed his reason in an instant. He didn't understand how Li Yong had the right to return here; he didn't understand… why Li Yong was interfering in his life again?! Why… why was he so fixated on him?!

Because of money? Because of blood ties? But on what grounds? What grounds does Li Yong have?!

With a loud bang, the iron gate was kicked open by Li Leshan.

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Author's Note: This chapter has a lot of information, so please take your time to digest it. [pleading emoji]

There's no turning back once the arrow is released. The story has reached this point, and it really needs to be brought to a close. Some farewells are unavoidable, and some things have to happen and be resolved. Otherwise, wouldn't this story be too long?