Chapter 24 What am I afraid of? "I'm afraid of being abandoned, afraid of separation, afraid of poverty..."

Cleaning the classroom wasn't difficult at all; it was practically a simple task, even washing dishes was much harder. Li Leshan understood that this was probably arranged by Teacher Tian on purpose, so he wouldn't overthink it or refuse. He knew their good intentions.

He simply had nothing to give Teacher Tian. He had no money, and he couldn't even say anything nice. All Li Leshan could do was study hard, get into the top high school, and maybe that rocket class or elite class she mentioned. He thought that perhaps only in this way could he repay Teacher Tian.

"I'll sweep with you!" Jiang Yueming grabbed the broom next to him without saying a word and started sweeping. He didn't pay any attention to the five words Li Leshan was saying, "You go home first." He actually saw them, but pretended not to.

"Do you know how many times our class has won the rotating red flag?" Jiang Yueming asked with high spirits.

"Eight."

"How did you know?" Jiang Yueming was surprised. He guessed so accurately. Was it something so easy to guess? He felt no surprise at all.

“Because the rotating red flag was only awarded eight times.” Li Leshan silently signed, but he still insisted on taking the broom and dustpan from Jiang Yueming’s hands, since cleaning was something that had nothing to do with him.

"Oh, oh." Jiang Yueming stood obediently to the side, but he couldn't stay still. He was carrying Li Leshan's schoolbag, which also contained his own books, English and math.

One of the workbooks was shared by him and Li Leshan. Li Leshan didn't need to write the problems on the test paper, and sometimes he didn't even need scratch paper. He could just glance at the problem and know the solution steps in his mind. Whether he wrote them on the test paper or not didn't matter to him.

That's right, it's that amazing.

In response, Jiang Yueming joked with him that they could just go to Xinhua Bookstore and look through opened workbooks, any brand would do. A workbook costs ten or twenty yuan on the market, and buying one only to do it once is too wasteful. With Li Leshan's abilities, he could basically finish most of the problems in an afternoon.

"That's too mean," Li Leshan laughed.

The owner of Xinhua Bookstore is a very nice person. Many students, with nothing to do on weekends, would huddle in a corner reading comic books and novels, and the owner never chased them away. Even if some books were worn out from being turned over, he didn't care. After all, it's more worthwhile for these ten-year-olds to spend tens of yuan on comic books than to eat a couple more skewers of fried food.

Anyway, Jiang Yueming wasn't among those kids reading, unless the sun rose all at once from the west, south, and north. He had his own places to go, and bookstores certainly weren't on his list.

The four classrooms were cleaned up quickly. They were all cleaned up in less than an hour.

"Don't wait for me next time," Li Leshan told him.

It wasn't that he didn't want to go home with him after school, but plans can't always go as expected. Going to school all day was already annoying enough, and making Jiang Yueming stay for another hour like after school was something Li Leshan didn't want to do.

"W-why?" Jiang Yueming followed behind him, determined to get a straight answer. "So you're just letting me sweep with you? Wouldn't it be faster if two people swept together?"

Li Leshan stopped in his tracks upon hearing this, looking at Jiang Yueming with a hint of helplessness in his eyes, "What are you trying to achieve? Aren't you tired? There's no honorary red flag for sweeping well here."

"What does the Red Flag of the Republic have to do with this!" Jiang Yueming blocked Li Leshan's way, his tone leaving no room for argument. "You just can't let me leave alone."

Li Leshan was a little embarrassed, and he quickly explained, "I didn't mean for you to go alone."

With so many students from Tieta Elementary School at the tutoring center, they're bound to find a group to walk together. He didn't mean for Jiang Yueming to walk alone; he meant that Jiang Yueming could walk with many people, just not to wait for him.

The two remained locked in a stalemate for a while, their shadows stretched long by the setting sun.

"Why?" Li Leshan finally asked, looking calmly at Jiang Yueming.

Jiang Yueming paused for a moment, but still said with full confidence, "Because I'm afraid to go home alone!"

...

...

...

A very convincing reason.

Li Leshan was silent for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh. He looked at Jiang Yueming; the kid seemed unaware that what he said was hilarious. Jiang Yueming was so tall, almost half a head taller than him, and he fought so fiercely. He seemed fearless; what could he possibly be afraid of?

He finally nodded and let Jiang Yueming do it. He hadn't expected the man to be so stubborn. Li Leshan thought to himself, "Then let's clean as quickly as possible."

"I'm really scared!" Jiang Yueming said, trying to make amends, as he was no longer in such a hurry after seeing that he had agreed.

Despite his seemingly fearless demeanor, Jiang Yueming is afraid of ghosts and the dark. Although he is a staunch materialist, he also avoids walking home at night.

But the fear was still there; when you're truly afraid, what's the point of talking about materialism? It's all Han Jiang's fault. When he was little, he insisted on watching Hong Kong horror movies with him. I don't know where he got those movies from, but Jiang Yueming was so scared that he didn't dare go to the bathroom all night.

"Isn't there anything you're afraid of?" Jiang Yueming asked. He thought it was normal to be afraid of ghosts and the dark; what child isn't afraid of these things? Once you're not afraid, you're no longer a child, you should be an adult. Jiang Yueming comforted himself, thinking that although he was afraid now, he definitely wouldn't be afraid when he grew up. However, he could never have imagined that he would still be afraid when he grew up, and that he would still be apprehensive about walking alone at night.

Li Leshan remained silent for a long time. After walking a considerable distance, he gently shook his head.

Actually, he has things he's afraid of, or rather, he certainly has things he's afraid of.

He was afraid of being abandoned, afraid of separation, and afraid of poverty. But since he had all these fears and had to face them, he couldn't be afraid anymore.

He's choosing not to tell Jiang Yueming yet. If Jiang Yueming asks the same question again much later, he'll ask, "Li Leshan, what are you afraid of?" and then he'll tell her.

It's too early to say anything now. Maybe if Jiang Yueming asks again later, he won't be afraid. He needs some time, some time to overcome his fear.

Anyway, Jiang Yueming still went home with Li Leshan without fail. In order not to make Li Leshan think that he was bored and had nothing to do, Jiang Yueming, unusually, and even though he didn't want to, had to pretend to be willing, started doing math problems while waiting.

Honestly, sweeping the floor is far better than doing math problems. Jiang Yueming really wanted to bang his head against the wall while he was doing math, and he actually did. He hit his head on the wall outside the door, luckily Li Leshan didn't know what was happening outside. Jiang Yueming banged his head for ages, hoping that God would take pity on him and grant him some enlightenment!

However, he has indeed improved; at least now he doesn't need 20 horses to pull him anymore, 15 are enough. The tutoring center isn't far from the high school; sometimes, from a higher vantage point, you can even see the school's ancient buildings.

It is a historical site, though not very famous. It is a tower, and students call it the "Dragon Tower." The tower is not tall, not as tall as the Iron Tower, but it is very old, dating back to the Song Dynasty, and has stood the test of time.

Sometimes Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan would stay behind to continue doing practice problems, because they were usually the last two to leave. There were boarding students in the tutoring center; the dormitories were specially built for some of the older students, with large shared beds where eight to ten people slept in one room.

The tutoring center usually closes at 8 PM, and you can come and go freely at other times. Jiang Yueming had discussed it with Cuicui beforehand. Usually, if he came home late, he would be at the tutoring center or on his way home, so there was no need to wait for him to eat; they could just leave him some food.

Sometimes they studied late, and by the time the two of them got home, it was already getting dark. The lights on the Lijiang Bridge were already on early, and square dance music was playing. A gentle evening breeze was blowing, and standing on the bridge, looking at the Lijiang River, the water was flowing gently, and there were a few fishing boats, like resting water birds.

"I'll recite an English essay for you." Jiang Yueming walked side by side with Li Leshan on the bridge, reciting the English essay they had studied the day before yesterday.

"A busy holiday..." Jiang Yueming felt he really was having a "busy holiday," getting up early and going to bed late every day—how could he not be busy? This short passage really resonated with him; the protagonist ran, played ball, and swam every day, while he went to tutoring classes every day. In terms of being busy, he was definitely busier!

"How was that! Didn't I recite it perfectly?" Jiang Yueming excitedly boasted.

Li Leshan nodded solemnly, giving Jiang Yueming ample emotional support. He then took out a piece of candy from his pocket and handed it to her.

“I know, I know,” Jiang Yueming said. He knew what this trick was called, wasn’t it? “Sugar-coated bullets”? Li Leshan was indeed scheming, trying to bribe him with a piece of English essay with a piece of candy. There was no such thing as a free lunch! You couldn’t find one even with a lantern. It took him two whole days to memorize this essay, memorizing it in the morning, memorizing it in bed, and even continuing to memorize it in his dreams. A piece of candy was not worth it.

At least, at least one grilled sausage, right?

"What do you know?" Li Leshan asked him, actually having no idea what Jiang Yueming knew. He had solved the most difficult math problem quickly today, and the math teacher had given it to him, saying it was some kind of imported candy. He thought it was different from other candies, so he kept it.

"You know perfectly well what I'm asking!" Jiang Yueming thought to himself. He unwrapped the candy; the fruit candy was a bit sweet and sour. The first bite was so sour that he couldn't help but hiss.

This summer was the first vacation in Jiang Yueming's life that was 100% focused on academics.

Anyway, the results were: not two fish, not two loaches, and not even a single time on the roller skates at the skating rink. I had a dozen or so math worksheets piled up, and memorized about ten English essays. I walked across the Lijiang Bridge more than thirty times, and I've gotten a little more familiar with Li Leshan.

A note from the author:

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I'm scared too (trembling)

The best thing I had on the trip was the clay pot soup! I especially loved the pear and mushroom flavor! As for other dishes, the mixed rice noodles were pretty good. I also tried the white sugar cake, which is like rice cake with icing sugar. A friend strongly recommended a shop, but unfortunately, it was spicy and the spiciness level couldn't be adjusted, so I didn't try it TT

My friend's bag went missing at the second stop, but luckily it didn't contain any valuables...