Chapter 156 A Back View? Where does forgetting someone begin...?

In August 2015, Li Leshan did not return to Shengping this year. During the holiday, he stayed on campus to help his supervisor with a project, spending all his time either in the office or the lab, without even having time to go to the library.

The group meeting went on until 10 p.m., and he went out of the teaching building to eat his first meal, even though he wasn't hungry. If Sister Qiuxin knew that he didn't eat a meal all day, she would definitely scold him, so thinking of this, Li Leshan still went to eat.

"Damn, I'm starving!" Xue Ang said miserably. He had been sitting and listening to the meeting all afternoon, and now his back ached, his head was spinning, and his eyes were blurry. "Let's go get some hot pot, how about it? Hot pot isn't really appropriate for this hot summer, is it? How about some barbecue skewers?"

"I'll just grab something to eat near the school gate." Li Leshan gestured to him. By this time, the school cafeteria would have long since closed, but the food stalls outside the school would definitely still be open. Beijing's nightlife is still quite vibrant.

"You've been in meetings all day, treat yourself better, okay?" Xue Ang earnestly advised. "Anyway, we're free tomorrow, how about I invite Zhuang Jie and the other guy, and we can go out for a team-building activity in our dorm?"

As Xue Ang spoke, he lowered his head to send a message.

Li Leshan hesitated, but before he could refuse, Xue Ang said, "OK, done."

"They're leaving right away. Li Cheng, who was fast asleep, woke up thinking he had to work at 8 a.m. Is he stupid?" Xue Ang laughed.

Li Leshan had no choice. It would be too disappointing to say he wouldn't go now. Hearing Xue Ang's words, he also curled the corners of his mouth.

“I’ve noticed that you’re always so detached in everything you do,” Xue Ang observed Li Leshan for a while. “Your smile is so faint, and even with all the problems your advisor has, and the younger students are all complaining, you’re still so detached. I can’t imagine what you would be like if you were extremely happy or extremely sad.”

Li Leshan is not like Zhuang Jie. People like Zhuang Jie are very expressive of their emotions. When something is happy, they'd practically jump off the roof to cheer; when something is sad, like that time he broke up with his girlfriend, he stayed in his dorm and cried his heart out, and the other three roommates took turns trying to comfort him but couldn't do anything about it.

Of course, apart from Li Cheng's barely effective comfort, Li Leshan had no other options besides handing over tissues, and Xue Ang's comfort was off-target; his words of comfort sounded like sarcasm, and he started wailing again as soon as he finished speaking, even though he hadn't been crying very hard.

Happy or sad?

Li Leshan thought about it carefully. How long had it been since he had been truly happy? Well, it wasn't exactly happiness; he seemed to have lost interest in everything and everyone. Nothing seemed to pique his interest.

“Isn’t this good?” Li Leshan replied.

"Well... you can't say that." Xue Ang scratched his head. "It's not good to keep everything bottled up inside."

Li Leshan agreed with this point, though he didn't understand it at the time. If you asked him now, "Do you regret it? Do you feel even a little bit regret?" If he had been more open about everything, or if he had been more willing to let go of his pride sooner… wouldn't the outcome have been different?

But this ending... well, at least, means Jiang Yueming has one less burden. But if she was going to let him go, she should have done so sooner; dragging Jiang Yueming along for so many years has been far too long.

"Hurry up, has the food been served yet?" Zhuang Jie dragged Li Cheng over late. As he sat down, he complained, "Li Cheng can really sleep. He was thinking of getting up to work at 8 a.m.."

"No, we've been waiting for you two." Xue Ang gestured for them to sit down. "It's common knowledge that he loves to sleep."

"No, that's an incredible amount of sleep." Zhuang Jie clicked his tongue. "When are you going to hold a sleeping contest? I'll nominate Li Cheng from our dorm; he's guaranteed to win first place."

"Why can't I sleep in a little longer during the holiday?" Li Cheng sat down. "Can't you be a little kinder?"

"You two are having a meeting that goes on so late," Zhuang Jie said admiringly. "Good heavens, you've started working life early. I'm impressed."

"Stop gloating," Xue Ang poked Li Leshan's shoulder. "Do you know how much money you can get if the project wins an award?"

"How much?" Zhuang Jie looked at his expression and sensed that it wasn't that simple. "I dare not guess."

“I’ll give you two hundred, he’ll give you five thousand,” Xue Ang laughed.

Zhuang Jie chuckled too. He wouldn't have been happy just hearing about 5,000, but Xue Ang's 200 made him laugh. "Are you out of your mind? You're just asking for trouble. The people in Leshan are twenty-five times your size, hahaha..."

Anyway, he wasn't envious at all of Li Leshan making that money. He went out before dawn every day and didn't return to the dormitory until it was completely dark. He would definitely make a great contribution if the project won an award. As for saying that Xue Ang was a bit dim-witted, that was true. Anyone would be laughing in this situation, but it's a wonder he was.

“What are you laughing at?” Xue Ang said. “You’re laughing so happily even though you don’t have a single penny.”

"So what? Li Cheng didn't have any either," Zhuang Jie said. "I still have someone with me."

“Hey,” Li Cheng said, “Don’t pull me. I have two hundred too.”

"Damn it!" Zhuang Jie jumped up, annoyed. "You can make two hundred just by sleeping all day. I'm going to report this guy. He's too cunning."

After all that fuss, he insisted on having Li Leshan judge the matter. As mentioned before, Zhuang Jie was an extremely emotional person, practically ready to cry, make a scene, and even threaten suicide in front of Li Leshan. So, he had no choice but to ask Xue Ang to translate what he wanted to say: "I'll give Zhuang Jie two hundred yuan so he won't be sad."

“No, Leshan. He’s just faking it,” Xue Ang quickly said. “He’s faking it better than anyone else. He could be an Oscar contender by now.”

"It's alright," Li Leshan shook his head.

"What did Leshan say? Did he speak up for me?" Zhuang Jie asked.

“Mhm,” Xue Ang nodded perfunctorily at him, “He said you deserved it.”

"Xue Ang!!!" Zhuang Jie roared.

"Alright," Xue Ang grabbed Li Leshan's hand and pointed at Zhuang Jie with his other finger, "I'll give you a hundred, okay? Stop messing around."

"Okay." Zhuang Jie quickly stopped joking around.

There were many people around, all busy with their own things, so even someone as boisterous as Zhuang Jie didn't attract much attention.

“I’ll go get the vinegar,” Xue Ang said, getting up and asking Li Leshan, “Do you want some chili sauce?”

"Eat, eat, eat!" Zhuang Jie shouted.

“I didn’t ask you.” Xue Ang saw Li Leshan nod before making his next move. He looked at Zhuang Jie, somewhat speechless, “What food wouldn’t you eat? If you can name three, I’ll be impressed.”

Li Leshan smiled as he watched Zhuang Jie deep in thought. Zhuang Jie sat opposite him in an open-air area with a lively atmosphere.

Yu Guangzhong suddenly spotted a figure in the crowd ahead. Li Leshan was startled, and his heart began to pound violently. "Thump thump thump," he thought, if it weren't for the noisy surroundings, his heartbeat could be heard for miles around.

"What's wrong?" Li Cheng noticed that his expression was off.

Before receiving a reply, Li Leshan had already rushed out. His gaze was fixed on that figure, passing through layer after layer of crowds. As the person walked further and further away, Li Leshan was blocked by the crowd and could not move an inch.

There was a street separating them. Li Leshan stopped at the traffic light, his hands trembling slightly. As the red light slowly turned red, those thirty seconds felt like an eternity.

The moment the red light turned green, Li Leshan finally didn't have to wait and rushed out.

The next second, someone grabbed his wrist tightly and pulled him back a step.

who? !

Li Leshan frowned and turned around, a surge of anger rising within him.

"Damn it! Don't you watch where you're going? Why are you driving on a red light?" Xue Ang pulled him behind him and pointed at the black car in front of them with his other hand.

After calling out to Xue Ang, he quickly turned back to look at Li Leshan, "Are you alright?"

Li Leshan shook his head, his heart still pounding. He had been so focused on the people that he hadn't seen the car. The light was still fifteen seconds long when he looked at Xue Ang's hand gripping his wrist, then slowly pulled his hand away.

"I have something to do, you go back first." Li Leshan hurriedly finished signing and chased after him.

Xue Ang watched his retreating figure, then glanced at his own palms. If he had been a second later, he would have been hit by the car. He couldn't understand why Li Leshan had rushed forward so recklessly. Still reeling from the experience, he stood there for a while before turning back.

Li Leshan kept searching through the crowd, wondering where that figure from a moment ago had gone. Was it Jiang Yueming? But knowing he was in Beijing, would he really come?

He tried his luck at shop after shop, and finally, at a noodle shop, he saw that figure again. Li Leshan's Adam's apple bobbed; his hands trembled with nervousness. What was he going to say? What was he going to do? It was truly, truly, too...

"Hey! Come here, I've been waiting for you for a while." The boy turned around, glanced at the boy in front of him with a bit of doubt, then turned his gaze to the side and waved to the person walking by.

Do you know that person?

"No, no, I don't know him..."

Seeing the two of them looking at him with somewhat strange eyes, Li Leshan stood there blankly, wondering what he was thinking. How could it be Jiang Yueming? And why would Jiang Yueming come to Beijing?

And how long had it been since he'd seen Jiang Yueming's back? He'd seen Jiang Yueming's smile, his crescent-shaped eyes, and his sorrowful, tearful eyes.

But his back view… Li Leshan tried hard to recall, a year, two years…? How many years had it been since he last saw him? Even during their separation, it had been a long time since they last met. So much so that he had almost forgotten that he used to walk in front, with Jiang Yueming following behind him. How many years had it been since he last saw him?

If you let him see it again, even if Jiang Yueming were right in front of him, would he still recognize her?

Where does forgetting someone begin?

Is it just a view from behind?