Chapter 22 Roots, Leaves, Veins "Lele, can you walk?"...

On the way back to Sanxiang, I passed the Lijiang Bridge again. It was already evening, and the Lijiang Bridge was about to be lit up with colorful neon lights. After it was lit up, the beauty of the entire bridge would be elevated to another level, becoming the most eye-catching "trendy" landmark in the small county town at night.

There's music playing under the bridge, for square dancing. I don't know what songs it is, but the "ding-ding-dang-dang" rhythm is quite strong. They change songs frequently, so Jiang Yueming never knows what's playing. Today it's "Sister, You Sit at the Bow of the Boat," tomorrow it'll be "My Heart Will Go On." But in a few years, when Phoenix Legend's "Above the Moon" becomes a nationwide hit, the music playing in this area will be standardized.

This dancing area was carved out from the adjacent skating rink. Back in 1998, this was an open space next to a small park, which became a place for aunties and grandmas to dance "old people's disco." Later, the area under the bridge was converted into a roller skating rink, where teenagers and young men and women would skate around wildly, while the dancing aunties occupied half and half of the space. The two sides coexisted peacefully, occasionally their music would clash, but neither side would give in, and they each enjoyed themselves.

At the third alleyway, it was time to part ways. Jiang Yueming handed "Xiaoming" to Li Leshan and said, "We'll each raise one, and see who raises the biggest one, okay?"

Li Leshan agreed. He accepted Xiaoming, without using sign language, but simply gesturing with his eyes towards the depths of the alley as a farewell, then turned and his tall, thin figure quickly disappeared from sight.

Han Jiang's shoe size was just right, not too big to keep slipping down, nor too small to make his toes stick out. He put them on and walked a couple of steps, somewhat admiring Jiang Yueming, and gave her a thumbs up, "How did you know my shoe size? I didn't know, you're quite thoughtful."

Jiang Yueming chuckled to himself, saying "Of course" but actually thinking "It was just a lucky accident."

It was pure luck. Who would be so bored as to memorize someone else's shoe size?

"Let's go play on the riverbank another day," Han Jiang said excitedly. "My slippers just arrived, let's go fishing in the river."

"Alright, there are at least five of your shoe remains in the Lijiang River now." Jiang Yueming rolled her eyes at this "slipper killer." Anyway, she had lost them quite a few times, retrieved one once, and the rest had drifted off to who knows where. They were probably long ago separated from their soles.

"Then, I'll wear sandals," Han Jiang said, embarrassed.

"I can't go, at least not for the next month," Jiang Yueming said. He didn't have the time. He had to go to tutoring classes in a couple of days, and then he would have to do his homework when he got home in the afternoon. He was busy every day like he was fighting a war, so he didn't have the time to go fishing or catch loaches in the river.

"What's wrong? Is there something else you need?" Han Jiang didn't believe it. Usually, Jiang Yueming was the first to take the lead, but now he was busy and didn't have time to get up. Who would believe that?

“Tutoring classes, bro! Tutoring classes!” Jiang Yueming said, “There’s no point in talking to someone like you who doesn’t know the hardships of life. Didn’t your mom sign you up?”

“Speaking of which, I just remembered,” Han Jiang said, his head drooping, suddenly losing all his strength. “My cousin came home from college, and my mom asked her to tutor me.”

Jiang Yueming felt a little better, but not by much. After all, Han Jiang had more freedom than him, but he could spend every day with Li Leshan, which was still acceptable.

"Are you going to the tutoring class alone?" Han Jiang asked.

"How many more people can I send?" Jiang Yueming countered.

"Yeah, half a person and you'd be seeing a ghost." Han Jiang muttered, feeling sorry for him too. "Sigh, you're really in a bad situation, brother."

"It's alright," Jiang Yueming said, squatting on the ground playing with jacks, tossing them into the air as she spoke, "Just consider it building rapport..."

"What?" Han Jiang was shocked. The sound was so loud that it made the pebbles he was throwing fly out of place.

Jiang Yueming hissed, "What's the point of Han Jiang being a student with such a loud voice? He should go broadcast on the radio. It's a waste of his talent if he doesn't. At least his voice can be heard throughout the entire Third Alley."

"Who are you developing feelings for? Your teacher or your tutor?" Han Jiang wondered if he had misheard.

"What's there for me to cultivate with them, especially with Li Leshan?" Jiang Yueming thought he was a bit silly. At least a teacher is a person, but tutors aren't even people. Where is he supposed to build a relationship with them?

Upon hearing this, Han Jiang silently complained to himself. He had wondered why Jiang Yueming had such a mild reaction to going to the tutoring class; it turned out Li Leshan was there. That explained everything. Jiang Yueming must have been several times happier to see Li Leshan than to see Xiaobai.

But does he still need to cultivate a relationship with Li Leshan? Their relationship is so close... like that of a wife?

No, no, no, that's not right. It doesn't seem to be "like a wife," it should be "as inseparable as glue."

"Yueming, you and Li Leshan are such good friends, does he also consider you his good friend?" Han Jiang squatted down and asked.

The pebble spinning in the air failed to fall back into Jiang Yueming's outstretched palm this time. It fell to the ground with a "plop," rolled a few times, and came to rest next to a few fallen leaves.

"What?" Jiang Yueming looked at his empty palm. He had never thought about this question, or rather, he would never have thought about it. But now that Han Jiang had brought it up, Jiang Yueming had no choice but to force himself to think about it.

"Does Li Leshan also consider you a good friend?" he asked again.

"Oh..." Jiang Yueming was silent for a while, then said "oh" again. She hadn't uttered a single word for a long time.

Han Jiang didn't notice his embarrassment. He continued talking to himself, "I think Li Leshan is like a block of ice. I don't know if it's because he can't speak properly, but I feel like no one can melt him."

Han Jiang and Li Leshan had met many times, but their interactions were mostly limited to eye contact, or rather, they could hardly be called exchanges. An exchange requires a longer period of time, while what they had could at best be described as "eye contact."

“Maybe it’s because I don’t know sign language, so I can’t communicate with him and I don’t know what he’s saying,” Han Jiang scratched his head. “I always feel like he’s very far away from us.”

"You want to say," Jiang Yueming's lips moved slightly, her voice a little dry, "that he's not one of us?"

"Of course!" Han Jiang said. "Even if you get lucky and get into the same middle school as him, what about high school and university? It's not that I'm thinking too far ahead, but after graduation, who knows where he'll go? And us? We'll probably stay in Shengping. Have you ever thought about leaving Shengping? Leaving Sanxiang?"

Jiang Yueming shook his head violently. The Third Alley was his root, his leaves, his veins. He had never thought of leaving this place, just as a fish would not want to leave the water. It wasn't that he couldn't live if he left, it wasn't that serious, but he was too attached to this place. He was too familiar with everything here, and where could he go if he left?

“But that’s still too far ahead.” Jiang Yueming couldn’t imagine that far ahead.

“Yeah, it’s too far,” Han Jiang said. “I just wanted to say that it’s fine if you get along well with him. But we don’t know what he’s really thinking. If you’ve become very close, wouldn’t it be painful to break up?”

He used Xu Qing as an example, "Take Xu Qing for example. If she were to leave Sanxiang, well! I can't use Xu Qing as an example, but anyway, it would be this painful. If someone is destined to leave, destined not to be kept, then getting close to them means getting close to pain?"

"You..." Jiang Yueming felt a little dizzy, "Where did you learn these words?"

"Magazines." Han Jiang chuckled. "I think Xu Qing likes the artsy type."

"Come on, she just likes handsome guys." Jiang Yueming bluntly told Han Jiang this fact.

Han Jiang's words echoed in his mind. He wondered where this guy had gotten those magazines full of melodramatic youth literature. If that person was destined to leave, destined to be unable to stay, then getting close to him was just getting close to pain.

But what if Li Leshan stays? What if he doesn't leave? Or perhaps he won't go too far?

Jiang Yueming looked up at the azure sky, which resembled a vast ocean, and they were all just floating duckweed in it. Jiang Yueming disliked the life of being away from home and alone. When his parents left, he felt nothing but grief and fear. Tears flowed and flowed, forming a river, and now he had become a small fish in that river.

“But I don’t necessarily have to be with Li Leshan for everything,” Jiang Yueming said in a low voice. Whether he stays or leaves is not of much concern to him. Even if there is pain, that’s a long, long time from now, something he doesn’t need to think about now.

“That’s true,” Han Jiang said. “Friends are different from brothers, sisters, and lovers. It’s not like one of them can’t live without the other.”

Yes, Jiang Yueming thought to himself, no one is indispensable. At least, he had never met or heard of anyone who couldn't live without someone else. He could even survive without his parents, so who else couldn't he live without?

"Besides, isn't Third Alley his home too? Even if he leaves, he'll always come home eventually, and he'll always come back for holidays." Han Jiang suddenly stood up from next to Jiang Yueming. He was always so boisterous, and he dashed off in a flash, saying as he ran, "I'm leaving! Come over to my house sometime! To walk the dog!"

"Where are you going?!" Jiang Yueming shouted. Han Jiang had left him an opening, and then ran off as if nothing had happened.

"Looking for...Xu Qing!" His voice came through intermittently.

"Can't you look for someone else!" Jiang Yueming shouted back irritably.

"Then why don't you also look for Li Leshan every day!" Han Jiang shouted back, his voice fading into the distance.

Jiang Yueming fell silent for a moment, then remembered to retort, "That's different!"

Han Jiang had run far away and didn't hear his voice, so he didn't respond to Jiang Yueming.

Jiang Yueming had placed a small water tank on the windowsill; he'd bought it at a two-yuan store for three yuan. The sun shines on this spot, and the little turtle spends its days crawling around in the tank, currently curled up in a corner, sleeping.

Seeing that it hadn't poked its head out, Jiang Yueming tapped the edge of the water tank with his hand. A ripple came from the water, and after a short while, there was movement.

The water rippled gently.

A few seconds later, the dark green hill in the corner moved very slowly and very slightly. A small, pointed head tentatively peeked out from the shell, its black eyes, the size of mung beans, looking blankly at Jiang Yueming outside the jar.

"Lele," Jiang Yueming called out, watching it slowly move, her voice soft and tinged with doubt, "Can you walk?"

He paused, then spoke even softer.

"If they leave, will they ever come back?"

Inside the glass tank, only the water rippled silently.

A note from the author:

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Thank you for the nutritional solution from Zhixin Baby!

Who! Who! Who is it! (shouting)

Thank you everyone! I've accumulated so many Moonstones, hehe. That darn Jianghu (a Chinese video sharing website) is so troublesome and unstable when uploading covers TT Luckily, my little treasures helped me out. Thank you all for your support! [laughing]