Chapter 47 Coward "You step in my footprints, they're not slippery."...

My second uncle left again, just as quietly as he came.

He drove that truck and embarked on a journey to another place. Li Leshan and Jiang Yueming both understood that this journey would be fraught with hardship, and the road ahead would be long and arduous. That dilapidated secondhand truck represented hope, and the people it carried also represented hope.

Hope fell upon them.

He only stayed in Shengping for two nights, spending New Year's Day there. Jiang Yueming didn't know if he had gone home to see his brother and sister, or if he had properly told his second aunt about his journey, his perseverance, and his wishes. He said he would come back; he wouldn't wander forever. He said he would have Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan come to see him again next year at this time.

The final exams were just around the corner after the New Year's Day holiday. Jiang Yueming was frantically studying, and the class was noisy every day, divided into roughly two factions. One faction consisted of the well-behaved students sitting in the first few rows, who sat quietly in their seats every day; the other faction was led by Jiang Yueming, who was at the bottom of the class, although the top student in the grade was sitting next to him.

At the city's New Year's Eve party, Xu Qing's performance won second prize, and the prizes were definitely more generous than those at the school. The cash prize was separate from the award; the certificate of commendation alone was quite substantial. She generously offered to treat everyone to dinner after the holidays.

Jiang Yueming felt a headache coming on as he listened to the student in front of him reciting English. The student would awkwardly repeat the words a dozen or twenty times, while Jiang Yueming had already memorized them, the student was still repeating them.

Winter is not the time to recite lessons under a locust tree. That's something you can only do in the summer.

Besides reciting his lessons during morning reading, Jiang Yueming also memorizes them at home in the evenings. Despite his seemingly carefree and unambitious demeanor, he doesn't want to be at the bottom of the class. Being at the bottom every time is embarrassing, especially since Old Wu said that the parents of the bottom ten students in the final exams would be called in. Although Jiang Yueming felt there was a threatening undertone, Cui Cui had to go to work, and he couldn't very well hire someone to act as his parent.

"Otherwise, how about I ask Grandpa Li?" Jiang Yueming clapped his hands, thinking that this plan was very feasible.

Li Leshan comforted him, "It's alright, Aunt Cuiqin can't come, Grandma can go instead."

Jiang Yueming was even more opposed to that, saying it would be too embarrassing. "No way, Third Alley is so far from the school, I can't let Grandma make the trip. Besides, with my grades, I'm not good enough to be seen in public. Whatever Old Wu says, he definitely won't say anything nice."

“It’s okay,” Li Leshan told him not to think that way. “If it really doesn’t work, we can just have Grandma come.”

After signing, he added, "And I think you can."

Jiang Yueming felt somewhat comforted. Although he couldn't compare to Li Leshan, he was still influenced by Li Leshan to some extent. Being with Li Leshan, he was inexplicably enveloped by an atmosphere of academic excellence, perhaps due to the magnetic field.

"I miss Xiaobai." Jiang Yueming lay on the table during self-study. The surroundings were very quiet, and he spoke quietly.

He missed Xiaobai. Every time Jiang Yueming walked to the door, the little guy would wag its tail and come out to greet him. Although Jiang Yueming always came empty-handed, he never complained. He counted the days, and it had been more than half a year since he had last seen Xiaobai.

"Then let's go play with it this weekend?" Li Leshan gestured.

Xiao Bai and Li Leshan's relationship also became much closer. Han Jiang said that the dog was obsessed with looks. Jiang Yueming thought he was being too stereotypical; what dog is obsessed with looks? But as soon as he said that, Han Jiang would retort, "It's close to me because I've raised it for several years, so why is it so close to you, Li Leshan, and Xu Qing? And you still say it's not obsessed with looks?"

Jiang Yueming then commented, "That just proves you're handsome too."

Han Jiang was completely bewildered and disoriented. He even felt a little embarrassed for some reason, but overall, he could still listen to what Jiang Yueming was saying.

Actually, Han Jiang is quite good-looking, just a bit dark-skinned, and he always seems to be running around, appearing in front of them every now and then, looking like a little lump of coal. Back then, they thought he was just young and would grow out of it. Now that he's older, he looks like a big lump of coal. He didn't inherit any of his parents' skin color; he's made himself look like an African. At least Africans have evenly distributed skin, but Han Jiang's skin is uneven—his upper body is white, and his lower body is black. His upper arms are white, and his lower arms are black.

“Xiao Bai has gone back to his hometown.” Jiang Yueming said unhappily, “He’s gone to live a good life. He’ll be three pounds heavier when he comes back at the end of the year.”

Li Leshan imagined it for a moment, "It's not thin now."

"That's really mean." Jiang Yueming chuckled. Li Leshan could be quite sharp-tongued at times, perhaps without even realizing it himself.

It's been snowing in Shengping for the past two days. The heavy snow covering the ground adds to the desolation. No one is clearing the snow; we can only wait for it to melt. So, we can't ride our bikes these past few days—the roads are too slippery, and it's cold. There's an uphill section on the way back to school, and Jiang Yueming almost fell several times. If she hadn't been holding onto Li Leshan's hand tightly, she probably would have fallen.

The two of them walked slowly, one step at a time. No sooner had one foot passed than the snow began to fall again, completely covering their footprints and leaving no trace.

Not riding a bike has its advantages; your hands won't get cold, and you won't be exposed to the wind. Given this heavy snow, walking is probably faster than riding a bike. Old Wu is very considerate of the day students and, against all odds, shortened the morning reading time by twenty minutes, allowing Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan to walk more leisurely.

As soon as the bell rang, Jiang Yueming seemed to come back to life. He had packed his schoolbag a class early and was ready to head straight for Third Alley.

"Did you bring your English book?" Li Leshan asked.

"I didn't bring any. I'm traveling light." Jiang Yueming proudly shook his backpack.

"There will be a dictation test tomorrow." Li Leshan calmly handed Jiang Yueming the English book on his desk.

"No, nobody told me." Jiang Yueming hurriedly grabbed the English book, flipping through the pages with a shocked expression. "Which unit's vocabulary are we memorizing? Are we reviewing Unit 2?"

Li Leshan made a "4" gesture.

"Heavens..." Jiang Yueming's world collapsed. At this rate, he still owed two units.

Was he going to stay up all night memorizing English? Jiang Yueming felt a sinking sensation at the thought.

"Fine, I'll just copy your answers for the dictation tomorrow." He chose to take a shortcut. Jiang Yueming had brought homework for three subjects. At his homework speed, if he really wanted to memorize English, he would be busy until the wee hours of the morning.

Li Leshan nodded, looking at his utterly dejected expression, "Don't stay up too late."

"You are the one who should be." Jiang Yueming packed his schoolbag, but still took the English book back with him. He felt that as soon as he put the book in, the whole schoolbag weighed a ton. The responsibility of memorizing English was truly heavy, heavier than Mount Tai.

“I’ll be asleep by 11 p.m. no matter how late it gets, don’t stay up any later,” Jiang Yueming said.

Li Leshan nodded and lowered his head to pack his schoolbag.

The ground was covered in snow, and Jiang Yueming walked with extra caution on campus, because if she fell, the embarrassment would be immense. Jiang Yueming would rather take one step and stumble three times outside the school than fall even once inside.

"Be careful, it's slippery, there are steps," Jiang Yueming said.

Using the light, Li Leshan used sign language to explain that once they left the teaching building, the streetlights would dim and his sign language might not be clear.

“I’ll walk in front, you can step in my footprints, it won’t be slippery.” Li Leshan had just finished speaking and was about to walk forward.

“No way,” Jiang Yueming quickly pulled him back. What would he look like if he let Li Leshan clear the way for him? Besides, he would rather fall himself than let Li Leshan fall. “How can you walk in front of me and clear the way? If anyone should walk, it should be me. We can just follow in other people’s footsteps.”

He quickly took two steps to walk alongside Li Leshan and said with a smile, "If we're going to fall, we'll fall together."

"Han Jiang bought a pair of non-slip shoes. He said they feel like walking on flat ground in the snow. We can just follow his footprints tomorrow, since he won't slip anyway." Jiang Yueming looked at his feet. The non-slip shoes were thirty or forty yuan more expensive than regular shoes. He felt it was unnecessary to buy them because the snowy weather would only last a few days, and the weather would clear up in a couple more days. He would only wear them once or twice a year, so there was no need to buy a new pair.

"Anti-slip shoes?" Li Leshan asked, "Where did Han Jiang buy them?"

Jiang Yueming paused for a moment, thinking about the shop Han Jiang mentioned. "It's near Leshan Square. He said it's full of shoe stores and clothing stores... You want to buy something there?"

Li Leshan nodded. "I want to buy a pair for my grandma."

Grandma still goes to the market to buy groceries in the winter. It's a long way and the ground is slippery, so Li Leshan is worried about her. He always says that he'll tell his teacher after his last class in the afternoon and then he can go out of the school gate to help her buy groceries. But Grandma is also worried about him, worried that he might miss his studies, and worried that he might run away on the way.

“She said she would walk very, very slowly,” Li Leshan said in sign language. “But we also walk very slowly, and we all fall down.”

Jiang Yueming choked up for a moment, feeling a lump in his throat. "Okay, let's go buy it. I'll ask Han Jiang for the name of the store tomorrow."

Li Leshan nodded and said thank you.

Jiang Yueming looked at Li Leshan, and his eyes felt a little sore. He quickly blinked to relieve the soreness.

I still have to pass through that alley to get home, and there are still no streetlights. The alley is narrow and long, but there is a faint glow at the end.

Jiang Yueming was no longer so afraid. Although he had to personally experience the long alleyway, he knew Li Leshan was with him. In the instant darkness enveloped him, Jiang Yueming gripped his clothes tightly. It was pitch black all around, and the ground beneath his feet felt unsteady; every step was incredibly difficult.

But Jiang Yueming had no choice but to grit his teeth and move forward. He was such a talkative person, he even forgot to joke for a moment.

Suddenly, his hand was grasped by another, slightly cool hand. Jiang Yueming opened his eyes with trembling hands, and in the dim light from who-knows-where, he could vaguely see Li Leshan's back. Li Leshan, the one who had once said he was afraid, was walking ahead of him, holding his hand tightly.

His feigned bravery crumbled in an instant, and Jiang Yueming felt a warmth in his heart as he realized whose hand was getting warmer.

"I'm the only coward," Jiang Yueming thought to herself.

Snow piled on the windowsill, and the light inside the room was dim. Lin Cuiqin was cleaning the kitchen, the clinking of dishes making a sound. At nine o'clock at night, the Third Alley was already quiet, broken only by the occasional bark of a dog.

"Yueming, where are you going so late?" Lin Cuiqin asked anxiously as he rushed into the room, put down his schoolbag, and prepared to leave.

"Leshan Square! I'll be right back!" Jiang Yueming left these words and rushed out the door.