Chapter 62 I really can't bear to part with him, it's just... I simply can't bear to part with him...

Everyone did well in the physical education exam, with an 85% full score rate. After all, it's the culmination of three years of rigorous training in junior high; it would be strange if we didn't do well. We don't boast about our teaching facilities, but we have to mention our physical education exam results – we have the highest number of full scores in the entire city.

Xu Qing did well on the exam and didn't drag down her academic performance. Now she just needs to focus all her energy on studying. As long as she doesn't mess up the high school entrance exam and isn't careless, she'll almost certainly get a high score if she performs normally.

She shyly ran up to Li Leshan and thanked him for running with her all that time. Jiang Yueming teased her, asking why she didn't thank him or Han Jiang. "Fine, you didn't thank me, but what about Han Jiang? He was running with me every day, crying and laughing," she said. Xu Qing gave her a disapproving look.

The incident that happened on that small, narrow bed the night before the physical exam was something Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan tacitly avoided mentioning. Looking back, it seemed like they'd been out of their minds, reacting so strongly. Jiang Yueming felt there really wasn't anything worth mentioning; it was just holding hands, something even elementary school kids wouldn't bother with.

Besides, they had slept in the same bed since they were little, having grown up together. It wasn't like they hadn't slept together before, so there was no concept of "distance" back then. Jiang Yueming would hug and cuddle, almost never letting go. Every time she woke up, she was holding Li Leshan in a very peculiar way.

Jiang Yueming hadn't yet figured out what this feeling was all about, but compared it to the past, she couldn't come to any conclusions.

Has the relationship grown distant over the years?

In the last month, all the teachers were working as hard as they could, stretching every minute into two. For the first time, the sweltering heat didn't affect Jiang Yueming; his summer lethargy temporarily disappeared.

Twenty days before the high school entrance exam, on an afternoon during lunch break, few students were sleeping; everyone was engrossed in writing their exam papers until the bell rang. Of course, a few were fast asleep and already in their dreams.

"Hurry, hurry, students, get ready quickly. Those who are asleep, wash your faces to wake up. Those who are still awake, fix your hair. We're going downstairs to take graduation photos in a bit, okay?" Wu Jinzhong rushed over. Originally, their class was supposed to take photos during lunch break, but Wu Jinzhong overruled everyone's objections and refused. He said righteously that some of his students were sleeping and some were doing exams, and they shouldn't be disturbed.

So we postponed the photo shoot to twenty minutes before the end of lunch break. We used that time to help everyone tidy up; after all, it was a proper graduation photo shoot, and we had to take it seriously.

If Jiang Yueming had any regrets in his life, his graduation photo would definitely be one. He couldn't take a picture with Li Leshan in elementary school, but thankfully he could in middle school. He had to work harder to make sure he and Li Leshan were in the same photo in high school.

Suddenly, the upstairs room shook violently, like an earthquake. Jiang Yueming almost considered running away. At Wu Jinzhong's command, the students rushed out.

As Jiang Yueming ran, he straightened his school uniform. This time, he couldn't dress casually and sloppily. He used to think that looked cool, but now, looking cool couldn't compare to being on camera. He zipped up the zipper until it was level with his shoulders, and he had never dressed like a student before.

"If I'd known we were going to have graduation photos, I would have cut my hair," Jiang Yueming said dejectedly. This was a photo taken with Li Leshan, and it was their first one. She only went to junior high once in her life, and Jiang Yueming wanted it to be a proper graduation photo. She wanted it to be the kind of photo that would instantly amaze everyone when they reminisced later.

Li Leshan glanced at him and gestured, "You're handsome right now."

"...I...of course I know." Jiang Yueming was a little embarrassed. Li Leshan praised people without any preparation, giving them no time to accept the praise.

Li Leshan's lips curled up slightly, and his gaze lingered on Jiang Yueming's face for a moment.

The background of the graduation photo was a tall teaching building. As for why it wasn't another building, it was because other buildings were too dilapidated and wouldn't photograph well. There were also banners hanging on it, such as "Better to endure a hundred days of hardship than to have a lifetime of regret" and "Fight with your back to the wall, sprint for the high school entrance exam." There were also some other banners that Jiang Yueming forgot, because when she looked at the graduation photo later, only these two banners were visible.

What he remembers most clearly is "the east wind blows and the war drums beat".

"How am I? How am I?" Zhao Yuxuan asked everyone, and of course he didn't let the two of them off the hook either.

"So handsome he'd get chopped up." Jiang Yueming gave a thumbs up.

"What kind of metaphor is this?" Li Leshan wondered, but said nothing.

The graduation photo was taken by height, with the taller ones standing in the middle and back. So Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan were undoubtedly in the very center of the group, the "C position".

Actually, if we don't rely on height, there's another thing we can rely on.

That's the face.

You could say that faces made up a large part of it. After all, the photographer who took the graduation photos kept shouting, "Those two handsome guys stand in the middle," and "Those two handsome guys stand closer to the middle."

A slightly crowded line makes the queue look neater and more aesthetically pleasing. Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan were shoulder to shoulder, and at that moment, he suddenly realized that Li Leshan was already as tall as him.

"Okay! I'll count to three, two, one, everyone look at the camera," the photographer instructed.

Jiang Yueming's heart began to beat faster again. He looked directly at the camera, but his memory drifted back to the summer three years ago, when they took their graduation photos at Tieta Elementary School. Back then, he waved frantically at Li Leshan, using sign language to make him smile. This time, he didn't remind Li Leshan; he wondered if he would still smile.

After the graduation photos were handed out, Jiang Yueming wondered if Li Leshan was smiling this time.

With a click of the camera, the moment was frozen in time, along with the photograph, capturing his entire junior high school life. After finishing and returning to class for self-study, Jiang Yueming felt a little dazed as he left the steps. Li Leshan walked ahead, and looking at his back, Jiang Yueming suddenly tried to catch up but tripped.

The remaining twenty days flew by like a rocket, and the high school entrance exam was looming. Jiang Yueming had never felt that time could pass so quickly, leaving him no room to maneuver.

When leaving school, you must take all your textbooks, books, and exam papers home, clean the exam room, and leave nothing behind. If you don't want to move your books, there's another way: just wait for the scrap collector downstairs to come and sell everything at once.

"Are you going to sell these scraps?" Jiang Yueming asked. "Don't sell them. Sell them to the next batch of juniors and seniors. They'll get a few more rip-offs from you."

Li Leshan was somewhat amused. "Sell the test papers and workbooks, and keep the textbooks for Tiantian."

Speaking of test papers, the second midterm exam paper from 2006 at Tieta Elementary School is still on Jiang Yueming's desk. He hasn't touched it since, leaving it there steadily, quietly flowing with time.

“Then I’ll sell mine to the next class,” Jiang Yueming joked, “the top scholar—a friend’s notes.”

Of course, the top student's friend's notes aren't worth much; it would probably take several rounds of giving them away to sell them. Putting that aside, what's more, Jiang Yueming is reluctant to sell them. Every exam paper has Li Leshan's handwriting on it; he painstakingly wrote them one by one. Could he really sell them, including Li Leshan's sentimental value?

Jiang Yueming packed up the last pile of things and took them home, carefully placing them in a corner against the wall.

On the day of the farewell, many people tearfully said goodbye to their classmates, to Wu Jinzhong, and to their teachers. Years would pass, and no one knew when they would meet again. Saying "goodbye" meant going their separate ways, and the chances of meeting again were slim. Just like Jiang Yueming's elementary school classmates, apart from Li Leshan, Han Jiang, Xu Qing, and Cao Fan, almost all the others had gradually lost contact.

Human relationships are so fleeting. No matter how dramatic or unreasonable they may seem when they arrive, they always leave so easily, impossible to grasp or hold onto.

Jiang Yueming sat in her seat waiting for Wu Jinzhong to issue the final ultimatum. After handing out the admission tickets and explaining some important points, she could leave school and go home to prepare for the exam.

"Don't be nervous, don't be nervous," Wu Jinzhong earnestly advised. "It's just an exam, what are you afraid of? You've been practicing for so long in the third year of junior high, once a month. Don't be nervous. As long as you're not nervous, you've already won half the battle."

"Focus on your work, be extremely attentive. Leave the questions you don't know blank first, and if you really can't figure it out, guess. Never leave a question blank! For math, write down the solution first; for physics, write down the formula first. It doesn't matter what the formula is, if you have no idea how to do it, just write it all down. You'll always get one right by chance. For chemistry, remember to balance the equation first; for Chinese, start with famous quotes..."

"We've all seen a lot in life, so there's nothing to be afraid of..."

Jiang Yueming only half-listened to what was said. Looking at the calendar on the wall with two days left, he closed his eyes.

He passed the qualifying score twice out of three mock exams. Jiang Yueming couldn't guarantee that he would definitely pass or get into Shishi High School. He felt he had done his best and left the rest to fate.

As the sun set in the west, sunlight streamed into the alleyway, stinging Jiang Yueming's eyes.

As Li Leshan was leaving, he suddenly asked him in sign language, "Are you scared?"

The silence along the way made Li Leshan a little worried about him. Jiang Yueming paused for a moment, carrying his schoolbag, and stopped to look at Li Leshan quietly for a while. Then he smiled and said, "Is it really that high? I'm not afraid."

He's really not afraid.

From No. 1 High School to his current Shishi High School, he has never been afraid of failing the exam, because Jiang Yueming knows from the bottom of his heart that he most likely won't pass, so there's no need to be afraid.

He simply... couldn't bear to part with it.

"I'm really not afraid," Jiang Yueming said sincerely.

"Don't stay up too late tonight, get some rest." Li Leshan gestured to him, and he smiled. "No matter what the outcome, take me to the river to catch fish during summer vacation."

“Okay,” Jiang Yueming agreed readily. “I’ll take you to catch the biggest one.”

Jiang Yueming watched him walk further and further away, his gaze lingering on Li Leshan's shoulder, unwilling to leave for a long time. He recalled Han Jiang's heart-wrenching cry, "Friends for life, those days are gone forever."

He remained silent for a long time, until his toes started to go numb, before turning around and walking into the stairwell.

Lele, I really can't bear to part with you.