Chapter 41 Li Leshan's life is more precious than yours; let me go instead. ...

The high school entrance exam here includes a physical education component. It's a huge burden on students. The exam includes basketball, an 800-meter run for girls, a 1000-meter run for boys, and rope skipping. Some schools also test soccer, which I've heard is simpler, requiring only one lap, unlike basketball which involves multiple laps. However, No. 1 High School doesn't have that facility; they don't have a grass field for running. They're lucky to have a synthetic basketball court. As for the other equipment, that's only available at Experimental High School.

In addition to its astonishing college entrance rate, No. 1 High School is also incredibly strict about its physical education exams.

Jiang Yueming hadn't quite adjusted to junior high school life before she had to get used to morning exercises. These exercises required a lot of effort; one lap around the school's track was 300 meters, not a standard 400-meter track, but long enough. Students in grades 7, 8, and 9 were treated the same, having to run seven laps. However, grade 9 was even tougher; after morning exercises, there were frog jumps and 50-meter sprints—basically, every trick in the book was used to get a perfect score on the physical education exam.

When they first started running exercises, the two of them, along with Han Jiang and Xu Qing, gathered together for breakfast. The four of them looked at the porridge in front of them and hesitated to eat. They didn't feel like eating and just wanted to vomit.

When Jiang Yueming opened her eyes in the morning, her leg ached. She missed a step and fell hard on the floor, but she still had to rush downstairs and ride her bicycle to take Li Leshan to school.

He had never found going uphill so difficult before, but now his legs felt sore and numb, and he couldn't muster any strength. He groaned softly during class, while Li Leshan gently massaged his legs from below.

Actually, with Li Leshan's score, he'd be a shoo-in for Shishi High School even without the physical education exam. Jiang Yueming can't compare; he needs one or two more points, and the cutoff score is right there.

"Are you still going to take the entrance exam for Shishi High School?" Han Jiang asked him.

Jiang Yueming ate his steamed buns as he jogged along, carrying Li Leshan's breakfast with him. The boy had been called away by the teacher again, supposedly to help grade homework.

"Really, really high." Jiang Yueming swallowed a mouthful of steamed bun with difficulty, nodded at Han Jiang, and muttered, "Give me the soy milk."

Han Jiang obediently handed over the soy milk.

"Damn, that's real." Jiang Yueming downed half a glass in one gulp. "I don't have that kind of grand ambition."

"I don't have any either." Han Jiang took the soy milk back. "Xu Qing doesn't seem to have any either. She said her target school is No. 5 High School."

"There are still three years!" Jiang Yueming snatched the soy milk from his hand. Why was Han Jiang so protective of even soy milk? "Don't think about that now, it's so far away."

"It'll be soon." Han Jiang was a little unhappy that he had taken the soy milk away. He said, "Didn't you go and see? Yesterday, the high school admissions team came to our school to recruit students. They were on the playground, giving presentations to the junior high students."

"Oh," Jiang Yueming did see this scene, but he didn't think of it that way. He thought it was a book sale, and since the final price was 88.88 yuan for a set of books, he didn't have the spare money to buy it, so he didn't join in the fun. "The way they were shouting, I thought they were selling books again."

"No, where would I get the money to buy books..." Han Jiang muttered. "They're all liars, all talk and no action. My dad insisted on buying them before, calling them motivational masters and success secrets, but he didn't even open the first page after we got them."

"Motivational guru," Jiang Yueming sneered, "I think he's more of a con artist."

Once Li Leshan was called away, the seat next to him was empty, and Jiang Yueming was extremely bored. He chatted with Zhao Yuxuan casually, and Zhao Yuxuan asked him if he had ever been to the Dragon Tower on campus.

"No." Jiang Yueming had only glanced at it from afar. The Dragon Pagoda was surrounded by a small garden filled with trees and grass, and several paths. It looked very old, and indeed it was, dating back to the Song Dynasty. How could it not be ancient?

"I did take a look. There's a place to burn incense inside, and there are cushions for kneeling and worshipping. I don't know if this deity is effective. In a school, it should be the God of Literature, right?" Zhao Yuxuan said with a smile.

Jiang Yueming smiled as well. After exchanging only a few words, Li Leshan returned to his seat. He glanced at Zhao Yuxuan, who, for some reason, immediately turned back.

Zhao Yuxuan felt a little uneasy when he saw Li Leshan. He felt that this person was particularly cold, never smiled, never spoke, and his eyes were so sharp they were almost chilling—perhaps it was the innate temperament of a top student.

"Did Lao Wu or Sister Xiumei find you work again?" Jiang Yueming asked, leaning on the table.

Li Leshan pointed to his math textbook, then took out a handful of candy from his pocket and placed it on Jiang Yueming's desk.

"Wedding candy, Sister Xiumei's second marriage..." Jiang Yueming quickly covered her mouth, "Pah, I misspoke."

Li Leshan grinned. "It's wedding candy from her relatives."

“That’s pretty good,” Jiang Yueming said, peeling off the wrapper and eating one. “It’s better to get candy after working than to work for Yin Guiying.”

Teacher Yin is a thing of the past. Ever since starting junior high with morning and evening self-study sessions, I haven't seen Yin Guiying again. There's no chance anymore. Before, Li Leshan could run into her once or twice at the vegetable market, but now, at nine o'clock at night, not to mention the vegetable market, many shops within a few miles are closed, and he can't even catch up with picking up vegetable scraps.

Li Leshan thought of Tian Xiaoyun. Back when they were still at Tieta Elementary School, Tian Xiaoyun would always give him things to eat—biscuits, milk, bread. Some of these he had never even seen before, while others he knew were very expensive in supermarkets. He had also eaten Tian Xiaoyun's wedding candies. A few of those red-wrapped candies are still kept in one of his tin boxes.

“Teacher Yin is also very good.” Li Leshan said in sign language.

“Yes, yes—” Jiang Yueming patted Li Leshan on the shoulder: “They have all helped you. In your eyes, they are all good people, especially good people.”

Jiang Yueming also thought that Teacher Yin and Teacher Tian were good people. None of the staff at Tieta Elementary School were bad; even the old man on duty at the gate affectionately called him Xiaoming. Only Wang Hao and his group were not good; they were particularly wicked. But there are bad people everywhere; it's not surprising, and it's quite normal.

“You’re a good person too.” Li Leshan looked into Jiang Yueming’s eyes.

"Why are you being so serious?" Jiang Yueming laughed, trying hard to suppress his laughter so that the student in front of him wouldn't think he was crazy. "I'm not that old yet, I'm a good kid."

After Jiang Yueming finished speaking, a ripple of emotion stirred within him. He might not be like that either; in first grade, his deskmate was a troublemaker who always spoke ill of him, otherwise he wouldn't have lost his parents.

Jiang Yueming had never bullied anyone, nor had he ever started anything. He just had a bad temper and was easily angered, but he was trying to change. Anyway, Jiang Yueming had forgotten his deskmate's name; it seemed to be three characters, or maybe two. After they were separated into different classes, they never saw each other again. Jiang Yueming remembered that his deskmate's grades were similar to his, perhaps even worse. He guessed he was now at another middle school.

His thoughts drifted elsewhere until they met Li Leshan's eyes, which were deep and unfathomable, like the clear waters of the Lijiang River. This reminded Jiang Yueming of the first time he met Li Leshan, when his bangs were long and half-covered his eyes, making it impossible to see his face clearly.

“Your hair seems to have grown longer again,” Jiang Yueming said.

Li Leshan raised his hand and touched his slightly long bangs. "It seems so. I'll ask Grandma to cut them for me later."

"Grandma knows how to do this?" Jiang Yueming asked in surprise.

Li Leshan nodded. "She always cuts my hair, she figured it out by trial and error. A haircut at a barbershop on the street costs 10 yuan, and that's the cheapest kind, there's no need to spend the money."

"Yes, and they always try to get you to sign up for a membership card," Jiang Yueming said, having figured out their tricks all too well. Hair salons always end up selling membership cards in the end, with discounts for spending a certain amount or more. With that kind of skill, you're lucky if you come back a second time; they won't even get you to spend that much.

"My aunt told me that the neighbor's older sister went to work as an apprentice at a hair salon after junior high. She started by washing hair, and it seems like she's been doing it for a few years now. I wonder if she's made it through yet... When we go there, we should be able to get a discount since we know her," Jiang Yueming pondered.

"Graduated from junior high?" Li Leshan asked.

Jiang Yueming hummed in agreement. "Graduated, got her diploma. She said she didn't want to continue, so it must have been very painful for her. You know, every year at Shishi High School, there are people jumping off buildings or into rivers. It's not just Shishi High School..."

So young, only seventeen or eighteen, some even fifteen or sixteen, how could they have lost all hope for the future? How much suffering must one endure to choose to end their life? How much suffering must one endure to not want to live anymore? Perhaps it wasn't just the hardships of studying, but an even more unbearable hardship in life that made it impossible to go on.

“I know,” Li Leshan gestured quietly, “Grandma has met many people; she met them years ago.”

A crowd gathered around, and family members knelt beside them, weeping uncontrollably. Perhaps they felt their deaths were pointless. Or perhaps they were saying, "Your life is precious; let me go instead."

Jiang Yueming choked up, unsure of what to say. After a long pause, she blurted out, "Going to school feels like a terrifying thing."

Li Leshan slowly took his hand and told him not to be afraid.

Actually, if Jiang Yueming hadn't brought it up today, Li Leshan would hardly have thought about life and death, because he still had his grandmother. She had raised Li Leshan with great difficulty for more than ten years, without complaining that he couldn't speak or that he was a burden. Li Leshan still had to repay her, and before that, he absolutely could not have such a thought.

Li Leshan knew all too well that his life didn't belong to him, but to his grandmother. He had to live until he repaid the debt of "life" he owed her, meticulously and without fail.

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Author's note: To be continued tomorrow. [Okay]