Chapter 32 The Brave Girl's Best Friend

Time flowed by like water, heading towards an unknown destination. These days, Jiang Yueming spent all her time with Li Leshan, even during holidays, inseparable. Being with Li Leshan brought her a strange sense of peace, making her studies much more focused. Han Jiang was also diligently preparing for his exams, no longer distracted, and even lacking time to walk his dog, Xiaobai, which his father had to do instead.

The transition from elementary to junior high school is in mid-June, very close to the middle school and college entrance exams. All the exams are concentrated in this month. There are quite a few students living in Sanxiang, ranging from high school students to kindergarteners. Although it's a bit far from the county center, this area is still considered a school district, with three elementary schools, two junior high schools, and one high school nearby. Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan often see boys and girls in various school uniforms on their way home from school, probably heading to evening self-study sessions. When Jiang Yueming sees the blue and white uniforms of Shishi High School, he thinks of Xia Bing again.

It had been a while since Lin Cuiqin had mentioned Xia Bing and Aunt Meng. He'd been busy with exams lately and hadn't even left the Third Alley much, going to and from school every day as usual. While helping Lin Cuiqin peel peanuts, Jiang Yueming asked, a little nervously, "Auntie, is Xia Bing still in school?"

Lin Cuiqin paused in her peanut-peeling motion and said, "I heard from your Aunt Meng that she had several arguments with her father and refused to compromise, saying that she must continue her studies and that she doesn't need a single penny from her family to pay for her university education."

Jiang Yueming felt uneasy after hearing this. She wondered what methods Xia Bing had used to refuse to compromise. Was it like her brother's tantrum about playing games?

He pondered for a while, recalling what Li Leshan had told him that day: tuition, accommodation, living expenses, and book fees. He pursed his lips; he'd heard that tuition could be financed through student loans, to be repaid after starting work. But there were other expenses too, and all the miscellaneous costs would add up to a considerable sum. Xia Bing said she wanted to go to Beijing, to Shanghai… Unlike Shengping, where some places are easily reached by walking, those places were thousands of kilometers away. How could she possibly walk to such distant places?

"Auntie, all the New Year's money you and my uncles and aunts have given me over the years is in the tin box on my desk. Could you give it to Sister Xia Bing for me? It must be given to Sister Xia Bing." Jiang Yueming said, his tone was sincere, and he emphasized again that it must be given to Xia Bing, not to my younger brother or Aunt Meng, only to Xia Bing.

Although the money wasn't much, Jiang Yueming didn't really have a use for it. He originally wanted to save it to buy a game console. Han Jiang's uncle had brought him one when he came back from Shenzhen. It was a novelty that none of them had ever seen before, and all the kids his age were captivated by it. Jiang Yueming liked it too, but what was more important than going to school?

Lin Cuiqin was clearly stunned for a moment, then, realizing what was happening, a faint smile appeared on her face, her voice still gentle, "I'm so glad you think that way. Weren't you saving that money to buy a game console? You like it so much..."

Jiang Yueming shook her head, deliberately making her tone relaxed, "No need, Auntie. These days everyone's into playing that... it's cooler than a game console. I've already switched my affections."

“But your sister Xia Bing probably won’t accept it,” Lin Cuiqin said, her expression somewhat troubled. She knew Xia Bing; despite her quiet and gentle appearance, she was actually very strong-willed, persistent, and resilient. She had also considered giving the money to Meng Ying—Xia Bing’s mother. Jiang Yueming’s words had reminded her that the money Meng Ying had was likely in that man’s hands, and neither she nor her daughter would get a single penny.

"Try it. If she doesn't want it, just say that it's the money I asked her to use to buy me toys, and I'll wait for her to come back."

Jiang Yueming didn't know if the money would be of any use. But in any case, he felt it was a symbol, letting Xia Bing know that her choice was right, that she wasn't acting recklessly or unreasonably, and that she had supporters. She wasn't the only one who wanted her to go to university.

Finally, including Jiang Yueming's share of the money, Lin Cuiqin gave Xia Bing a total of three thousand yuan. Three thousand yuan was more than two months' salary for Lin Cuiqin, but for Xia Bing and for her schooling, it seemed to become insignificant.

Xia Bing declined many times, but after hearing Lin Cuiqin's words on behalf of Jiang Yueming, she finally couldn't hold back and hugged Lin Cuiqin, crying. Her tears soaked Lin Cuiqin's shoulder. She cried and said thank you, and that she would repay her. She said she never thought there were people in this world who were so kind to her besides her mother, and that she was lucky.

Those words were sincere, heartfelt, and unpretentious; they were the true feelings spoken by a girl, her voice choked with sobs.

When Lin Cuiqin returned, she told him that she also wanted to cry; it's really hard being a girl.

Looking at her reddened eyes, Jiang Yueming felt a pang of sadness. He thought that, apart from Sister Xia Bing, he was also lucky.

"Auntie, you are such a wonderful person."

/

"This is the last mock exam." Yin Guiying tapped the blackboard, signaling everyone to take it seriously. "In another month, we'll really be in the exam hall. I hope everyone will persevere, stay calm and focused, and prepare diligently to achieve the results they desire."

Jiang Yueming turned her head to look out the window. The view from the fourth floor was expansive, and she could even see the plane trees outside. Cao Fan had told her that these were transported from somewhere—French plane trees, which were very expensive. Jiang Yueming felt a little helpless. Plane trees are plane trees, but why did they have to give them such a foreign name?

He yawned. After nearly a year of diligent study, Jiang Yueming's score was approaching, and even exceeding, the admission score for No. 1 High School on several occasions. Li Leshan and Yin Guiying both said that as long as he studied diligently, No. 1 High School was a sure thing. Those eight, ten, or even eighteen-horse pullers were now a thing of the past; Jiang Yueming didn't need them to pull him along, he could catch up on his own.

But let's not get into idealism at this point. Jiang Yueming knew that he was really being pulled along by someone: Yin Guiying, Tian Xiaoyun, Xu Lijiao, and Li Leshan.

He said they were pulling him forward.

But Li Leshan said no.

Jiang Yueming was a little stunned, perhaps because of his wording, "Is that being arrogant?"

The word "pulling" sounds a bit too mild, while "dragging" is just right, giving people a sense of realizing they've gone astray.

“You moved forward on your own.” Jiang Yueming’s personality is somewhat rebellious at heart. If he doesn’t want to move forward, if he is stuck in his ways or insists on staying in one place, then no one can pull him forward.

"Am I that stubborn?" Jiang Yueming joked. He knew that Li Leshan wanted to tell him that his own efforts and hard work were the most important thing. "Okay, I am moving forward on my own, but I am being led by you guys."

Li Leshan's lips curled slightly upward. He wanted to say that Jiang Yueming was very stubborn. So stubborn that no matter how many horses pulled him, they couldn't move him, because they simply couldn't pull him.

Li Leshan was in exam room number one, and Jiang Yueming was in number two. That's such a huge difference in distance now. It seems like only yesterday that Li Leshan was in exam room number one, and Jiang Yueming was in an unfinished building. This way of describing it makes the distance feel much closer.

The Chinese language exam was no longer a difficult problem for Jiang Yueming, and his handwriting did indeed have an immediate effect when tracing Li Leshan's paper. Even if it was not six points similar, it was still three points similar, and it was already quite difficult to get even three points similar.

"How similar can a three-pointer look? It's just a three-pointer. This isn't basketball; how good can it be?" Han Jiang sat in front of Jiang Yueming. It wasn't that his grades were higher than Jiang Yueming's; it was purely pure luck. If he had guessed two more questions correctly, he could have passed the exam. He was skeptical of what Jiang Yueming said.

“Let me put it this way,” Jiang Yueming said, giving a very common example for Han Jiang, “I’m three-tenths like Rukawa Kaede, you get it?”

If someone resembles Rukawa Kaede by three points, then they're pretty handsome! Han Jiang should understand now.

Han Jiang pondered for a moment, then said, "You don't really look like it."

Jiang Yueming choked up abruptly, speechless. "Is it so hard to understand? Is Han Jiang illiterate? Did he get in through connections?"

"I think that person looks a bit like him." Although Han Jiang was very reluctant to admit it, "that person" referred to Li Leshan.

“Let me give you another example,” Jiang Yueming said, not having time to guess who the person was. He put it another way, “For example, Xu Qing and Liu Yifei look alike, you understand?”

If you still don't understand, then Jiang Yueming is completely out of ideas.

"Xu Qing?" Han Jiang chuckled. "I think Xu Qing looks about 70% like her."

"Hurry up and turn back, don't dawdle." Jiang Yueming was speechless for a moment, and manually made Han Jiang turn around. He turned back to give Han Jiang a poster that he had kept at the bottom of his drawer. Have you seen the new Condor Heroes? Have you seen Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils? Liu Yifei looks so beautiful in those.

Han Jiang seemed to want to have a good discussion with Jiang Yueming about which parts were similar. Luckily, Han Jiang could say it. His ability to lie through his teeth was second to none.

"I'll report you again, huh?" Jiang Yueming didn't rule out the possibility of sacrificing a friend for the greater good; he was capable of doing it, and it wasn't the first time he'd done it.

"No, I wanted you to see the essay from this exam." Han Jiang tossed the test paper to Jiang Yueming.

"What, should I write Rukawa Kaede or Liu Yifei?" Jiang Yueming handed the test paper behind his back. He wrote his name and class first, and then hurriedly filled in the ancient poem recitation. He had been chatting with Han Jiang for a long time, and if he waited any longer, he would forget it.

After finishing all these things, Jiang Yueming finally turned around to look at the essay. He hoped it wasn't a narrative essay, but rather an argumentative essay. He could write argumentative essays later, but he didn't know how to write them yet.

Upon seeing the essay topic, Jiang Yueming was suddenly stunned. He quickly checked it a few more times; it wasn't an argumentative essay, but an ordinary narrative essay. This time, the focus wasn't on the narrative itself, but on the essay topic.

The essay topic is: Best Friend.